The Houston Comets
was a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston, Texas, United States. Formed in 1997, the team is one of the original eight WNBA teams and won all four championships in the first four years of the league's existence. The Comets were the first dynasty of the WNBA and they have won more championships than any other team in the WNBA. They began as the sister team of the Houston Rockets. The team was folded and disbanded by the league in 2008 because new ownership was not found.
The Comets were also known for courting great women's basketball stars. The team had among its members Cynthia Cooper (the WNBA's first MVP), college and national team standout Sheryl Swoopes, Kim Perrot, who succumbed to cancer in 1999, and college stars Michelle Snow and Tina Thompson.
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HOUSTON COMETS TICKETS
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Franchise history
Building the First Dynasty of the WNBA (1997-2000)
The Comets were one of the founding teams in the WNBA. They capped off the league's inaugural season in 1997 with a win over the
New York Liberty in the WNBA championship game to win the WNBA's first championship. When the league expanded the next season, the Comets were moved from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference. In 1998, they repeated the championship, although by then the championship game had been extended into a three game championship series. They beat the
Phoenix Mercury in the first-ever WNBA Finals that year.
In 1999, led by what was already known as the
Big Three
, (Cythnia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson), the Comets survived a highlight film last second, court-to-court, game winning shot by the Liberty's
Teresa Weatherspoon in Game 2 of the finals to beat the Liberty in three games and win their third straight title, this one after the death of teammate
Kim Perrot, who died of
cancer. In 2000, the Comets went all the way to the Finals again, and beat the Liberty in two games to win their fourth title in a row. 2000 was the Comets' last championship and last
WNBA Finals appearance in franchise history.
The Years of Change and Rebuilding (2001-06)
After Cooper retired in 2001, Houston clinched the playoffs with a 19-13 record, but lost in the first round in a sweep to the 2001 eventual champion
Los Angeles Sparks. In 2002, when Swoopes was injured most of the year with a torn ACL, the Comets were able to qualify for the playoffs with a 24-8 record, but lost to the
Utah Starzz in 3 games. In 2003, they qualified to the playoffs for the 7th straight year, but losing first round to the Sacramento Monarchs in 3 games. They missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history with a record of 13-21 in 2004, but returned to the playoffs with a 19-15 record, finishing 3rd. In the first round, the Comets knocked out the 2004 defending champion
Seattle Storm in 3 games, but lost in the conference finals to the
Sacramento Monarchs in a sweep, which Sacramento later became WNBA Champions in 2005. Houston would return to the playoffs with an 18-16 record, but lost to the 2005 defending champion
Sacramento Monarchs in another sweep. 2006 was the last playoff appearance for the Houston Comets. After the Comets' season ended in 2006, the Comets underwent major front-office changes during the off-season. In October 2006, team owner Leslie Alexander (who also owns the NBA's
Houston Rockets team) announced he was selling the Comets, and longtime Head Coach
Van Chancellor resigned in January 2007.
New Ownership and a New Home (2007)
On
January 31,
2007, the WNBA Board of Governors approved the sale of the team to
Hilton Koch, a Houston-based
mattress and
furniture businessman. Two weeks later, Comets assistant coach Karleen Thompson was named to become the team's new Head Coach and General Manager for the 2007 season.
For the 2007 season, they would miss the playoffs for the second time in franchise history after starting the season 0-10, resulting in a 13-21 record.
On December 12, 2007, team owner Hilton Koch announced that the Comets would be moving from the
Toyota Center to
Reliant Arena for the 2008 WNBA season.
[1] This resulted in a loss of fans. The Compaq Center drew 13,000 fans, but the Reliant Arena could only house 7,200. In 2008, the Comets' final year, they only drew an average 6,000 fans per game and sold out four games.
[2]
End of the Era (2008)
In 2008, Koch put the team up for sale, asking $10 million USD. No investors stepped up. The WNBA took over management of the Comets and disbanded the team in December 2008.
[3] They stated that they would only be suspending operations in 2009, which some people saw as a sign that the franchise could be revived if an investor came in. Comets players were sent off to other teams in a dispersal draft.
[4]
League president Donna Orender said that the collapse of the Comets was not a sign that the WNBA was in trouble. Former player Cynthia Cooper-Dyke said that the loss of the Comets was "disturbing news" and that the Comets were integral to the WNBA.
The Comets played their final home game on September 15, 2008 at the
Strahan Coliseum on the campus of
Texas State due to
Hurricane Ike. They defeated the
Sacramento Monarchs 90-81. They finished the season 17-17 and missed the playoffs for the third time in their history.
Season-by-season records
Note:
W = Wins, L = Losses, % = Win–Loss %''
| Season
| W
| L
| %
| Playoffs
| Results
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| Houston Comets
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| 1997
| 18
| 10
| .643
| Won WNBA Semifinals
Won WNBA Finals
| Houston 70, Charlotte 54
Houston 65, New York 51
|
| 1998
| 27
| 3
| .900
| Won WNBA Semifinals
Won WNBA Finals
| Houston 2, Charlotte 0
Houston 2, Phoenix 1
|
| 1999
| 26
| 6
| .813
| Won Conference Finals
Won WNBA Finals
| Houston 2, Los Angeles 1
Houston 2, New York 1
|
| 2000
| 27
| 5
| .844
| Won First Round
Won Conference Finals
Won WNBA Finals
| Houston 2, Sacramento 0
Houston 2, Los Angeles 0
Houston 2, New York 0
|
| 2001
| 19
| 13
| .594
| Lost First Round
| Los Angeles 2, Houston 0
|
| 2002
| 24
| 8
| .750
| Lost First Round
| Utah 2, Houston 1
|
| 2003
| 20
| 14
| .588
| Lost First Round
| Sacramento 2, Houston 1
|
| 2004
| 13
| 21
| .382
|
|
|
| 2005
| 19
| 15
| .559
| Won First Round
Lost Conference Finals
| Houston 2, Seattle 1
Sacramento 2, Houston 0
|
| 2006
| 18
| 16
| .529
| Lost First Round
| Sacramento 2, Houston 0
|
| 2007
| 13
| 21
| .382
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|
| 2008
| 17
| 17
| .500
|
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|
| Totals
| 241
| 149
| .618
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| Playoffs
| 20
| 14
| .588
| 4 WNBA Championships
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Team owners
- Leslie Alexander (1997-2006)
- Hilton Koch (2007-2008)
- WNBA (2008)
Players of note
Final roster
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Retired numbers
- 10. Kim Perrot
- 14. Cynthia Cooper
Former Comets
- Matee Ajavon, now a member of the Washington Mystics
- Janeth Arcain, played nine seasons with the Comets (1997-2005) and overseas before retiring. A key player during the Comets WNBA dynasty from 1997-2000, her breakout season was 2001, when she got the WNBA Most Improved Player Award & First Team All-WNBA honors.
- Octavia Blue
- Latasha Byears
- Dominique Canty, now a member of the Chicago Sky
- Cynthia Cooper, now the Head Coach at Prairie View A&M University
- Tamecka Dixon
- Ukari Figgs
- Sonja Henning
- Tammy Jackson
- Shannon Johnson
- Amanda Lassiter
- Edwige Lawson, now a member of the San Antonio Silver Stars
- Tynesha Lewis
- Sancho Lyttle, now a member of the Atlanta Dream
- Mwadi Mabika
- Hamchétou Maïga-Ba
- Kim Perrot
- Jennifer Rizzotti, now the head coach at Hartford University
- Michelle Snow
- Dawn Staley, now the head coach at the University of South Carolina
- Sheryl Swoopes, now a member of the Seattle Storm
- Lindsay Taylor
- Tina Thompson, now a member of the Los Angeles Sparks
- Amaya Valdemoro
- Coquese Washington, now the head coach at Penn State University
- Kara Wolters
- Monica Lamb-Powell, now the president of the Monica Lamb Wellness Foundation
Coaches and others
Head Coaches
:
- Van Chancellor (1997-2006)
- Karleen Thompson (2007-2008)
References
- Comets moving to Reliant from Houston Chronicle
- Dial, Jenny. The Houston Chronicle. "WNBA TO SHUT DOWN COMETS :DISPERSAL DRAFT PLANNED FOR NEXT WEEK. " Seattle Post - Intelligencer Wash. 2 Dec. 2008,E.2.
- Altavilla, John. "LEAGUE LOOKS AHEAD AFTER COMETS' DEMISE :WNBA. " Hartford Courant Conn. 5 Dec. 2008,B.3. Hartford Courant.
- Tim Lemke, THE WASHINGTON TIMES. "Comets just flamed out :Economic troubles cause WNBA team to close shop. " Washington Times D.C. 3 Dec. 2008,C.2