The Tulsa Shock’s debut in the WNBA may have been disappointing when the final score was tallied, but the sellout crowd and collegiate atmosphere bodes well for the future of the franchise.
The former Detroit Shock — an annual contender in the WNBA playoffs — arrived in BOK Center in unaccustomed style, losing to the Minnesota Lynx, 80-74. To much of the crowd, the final score may not have mattered: this, after all, is the first major-league-level sports franchise in Tulsa history, and that’s really what mattered. The team will be OK — Nolan Richardson is a fine coach, and most of the Detroit players bailed, leaving him with a practically new roster — but the game was the secondary concern.
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