Cleveland Rockers

This article is about the defunct WNBA team; for the American Basketball Association (2000) team, see Cleveland Rockers (ABA).

Cleveland Rockers
Conference	Eastern
Founded	1997
Folded	2003
History	Cleveland Rockers (1997–2003)
Arena	Gund Arena
Location	Cleveland, Ohio
Team colors	Black, Blue, Silver, Orange, White
Championships	0
Conference titles	0

The Cleveland Rockers were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team that played from 1997 until 2003. The Rockers were one of the original eight franchises of the WNBA, which started in 1997. The owner was Gordon Gund, who at the time also owned the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers. In September 2003, Gund announced that his Gund Arena Company would no longer operate the Rockers. The team folded after the 2003 season as the league was not able to find new ownership for the team.

Franchise history

The city of Cleveland was granted one of the original 8 franchises of the WNBA. The Cleveland Rockers got their nickname from Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1997, they started with such players like Isabelle Fijalkowski and former Harlem Globetrotters member Lynette Woodard, who had been the first female player in Globetrotter history.

The Rockers finished 15-13 in the first WNBA season ever, missing the playoffs in 1997. In 1998, the Rockers went 20-10 and won the Eastern Conference title. However, the Rockers lost to the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA semi-finals (before the WNBA split the playoffs by conference).

The Rockers had their best regular season in 2001, going 22-10 and winning the Eastern Conference, getting the #1 seed. But the Rockers would be up-ended by the Charlotte Sting in the 1st round, losing 2 games to 1. The 2002 Rockers fell by 12 games over the previous year's mark, posting a 10-22 record. In 2003, the Rockers would go 17-17, good enough for the #4 seed in the East, however they would fall in the first round of the playoffs to the eventual champion Detroit Shock, 2-1. 2003 was the Rockers' last playoff appearance. This is also the only team in the WNBA to qualify for the playoffs in their last season of play.

Folding

After the 2002 season, the Gunds decided to buy the Rockers from the WNBA, seemingly ensuring the Rockers future. However, despite fielding competitive teams and having decent attendance for most games, the Gund family decided they did not wish to operate the Rockers after the 2003 season. No local ownership was found for the team, forcing the Rockers to fold. The Rockers ceased operation after 7 seasons, posting an all-time record of 108-112. This wouldn't happen again until in 2008 when the Houston Comets ceased operations because of lack of ownership.

Hall of famers

• Lynette Woodard (Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame)

Notable players

Mery Andrade Lucienne Berthieu Tully Bevilaqua, now a member of the San Antonio Silver Stars Tricia Bader Binford, now coaches at Montana State University Cindy Blodgett, now coaches at the University of Maine Jenny Boucek, now an assistant coach at the Seattle Storm Rushia Brown Helen Darling Michelle Edwards Isabelle Fijalkowski Tracy Henderson Deanna Jackson Pollyanna Johns-Kimbrough

Merlakia Jones Betty Lennox, now a member of the Tulsa Shock Anita Maxwell Suzie McConnell Serio, now coaches at Duquesne University Chasity Melvin, now a member of the Chicago Sky Eva Nemcova Jennifer Rizzotti, now coaches at the University of Hartford Paige Sauer, now an assistant coach at the University of Northern Colorado Raegon Scott, now coaches at Utah State University Penny Taylor, now a member of the Phoenix Mercury LaToya Thomas, now a member of the Minnesota Lynx Ann Wauters, now a member of the San Antonio Silver Stars Lynette Woodard

Coaches and others

Head Coaches:

• Linda Hill-MacDonald (1997–1999), now coaches at the University at Buffalo
• Dan Hughes (2000–2003)