How Portland’s WNBA team won our hearts

And Kyra, you have been covering the fire for OPB all season and you have been to almost every home game.

And I should probably mention for everyone that we are recording this on September 3rd.

So right now the season is winding down, but it's not quite over.

Anyway, Kyra, what do you see as the big picture narrative of this inaugural season for the team?

Yeah, you know, before the team even started to play here, Portland was already known as a city that just loves women's sports and really shows up in particular for their women athletes.

So I think the big narrative was really like, well, how is the WNBA going to fit into this landscape? And I think the answer is the city just immediately fell in love with the team, really embraced the players.

As soon as the roster was announced, people wanted to know, who are these women? What are they all about? And in turn, a lot of these players have fallen in love with Portland.

They've fallen in love with the fan base.

And you'll hear them talk about how They feel so supported as players and as people.

And even when the team is 10 points down, the crowd at Moda Center is on their feet cheering and just really supportive.

And I just really think that that is the biggest narrative is just seeing how the city, already known for loving women's sports, just really stepped up.

And then in turn, seeing how these women have just, you know, fallen in love with Portland right back.

Yeah.

Rev, what have your personal highlights been for this season?

Yeah, I think firstly, just not... finishing last, you know, being a brand new team that just had the expansion draft to pick from and made the most of that draft.

And we're currently ninth in the league with 16 and 24 record.

It's very respectable.

But the late game comebacks, the few upsets that we had, and just watching how the team culture is really a team, you know, there's not— One standout player, they really go out there and seem to support each other all the time.

And then, of course, yeah, the fans and the attendance was mind-blowing.

I am just going to jump in and say that's actually a big point that I think most people didn't expect the Fire to win, like, any games.

Yeah.

So the fact that they won even more than one is a big deal for their first season.

Expansion teams in general are not known for... being that good.

Exactly.

And so they really just, you know, they beat expectations, even though it wasn't a winning season like people would have maybe liked to have seen.