Miami Sol

From Hoopedia

Miami Sol

League	WNBA
Conference	Eastern Conference
Founded	2000
Folded	2002
Arena	American Airlines Arena
City	Miami, Florida
Colors	Fiery Red, Yellow, Black, White
WNBA Championships	0

The Miami Sol was a Women's National Basketball Association team which began play in 2000. They played their games at American Airlines Arena. The team folded after the 2002 season because of financial problems. They were the former sister team to the Miami Heat. Lisa Leslie threw down the first WNBA dunk against them. They are the only defunct team in the WNBA to finish a season with fewer than twenty losses.

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Franchise History

In their short history, the Miami Sol put together a talented roster of players. Coached for three seasons by Ron Rothstein, their combination of veteran leadership in Debbie Black, Elena Baranova and Sandy Brondello as well youth in Ruth Riley and Sheri Sam, lead them to the playoffs in 2001, but lost in the first round to the New York Liberty in 3 games. This was the only playoff appearance for the Sol.

After losing to the New York Liberty in the playoffs, the Miami Sol finished the 2002 season with a 15-17 record. This season proved to be the Sol's last. Citing the inability to raise enough funds to continue operation under the WNBA's new restructuring agreement, the organization ceased operations. The team finished with a franchise record of 48 wins and 48 losses.

The other Florida team, the Orlando Miracle, also folded at the end of the 2002 season.

A new team, the Connecticut Sun, joined the league in 2003 with a nickname and logo which were extremely reminiscent of the Miami Sol. However, the new Connecticut Sun franchise was actually the successor to the Orlando Miracle, who managed to find new ownership.

Since the folding of the Miami Sol, former members of the team have found success elsewhere. After being reassigned to the Detroit Shock, Ruth Riley won two WNBA championships in 2003 and 2006. Betty Lennox and Sandy Brondello won a WNBA championship with the Seattle Storm in 2004, with Lennox winning the WNBA Finals Most Valuable Player award.