Since its beginning as one of the eight original teams in the WNBA, the San Antonio Silver Stars have been a team marked by a rough road.
With many changes in the history, including a move from Utah all the way to Texas, the team has not had it easy. However, these ladies can still boast of a few great accomplishments.
Early Achievements
The San Antonio Silver Stars began as the Utah Starzz in 1997. A fledgling team, they had a very hard time scraping together a winning season, let alone a conference title. In 1997, the team finished fourth in the Western Conference, only to finish fifth in 1998, and sixth in 1999.
However, in 2001, the team was able to make it to the conference semi-finals. Though they fought hard they lost to the Sacramento Monarchs, and finished third overall. Still, in light of their struggles in past seasons with their win-loss record, this was a great accomplishment for the Starzz.
Then, in 2002, they made their first conference finals appearance, but ended up losing to the Los Angeles Sparks.
On the Rise
The Starzz relocation to San Antonio and their name change to the Silver Stars did nothing to help their game performance. For the first four years in San Antonio, the Stars only placed as high as sixth in the conference.
The year 2007, however, marked a major turning point for the team, where they finally made another appearance in the conference semi-finals, this time losing the conference title to the Phoenix Mercury. However, the following year the Silver Stars were finally able to clinch a conference title by defeating the Los Angeles Sparks two games to one.
This was undoubtedly an incredibly moment for the Silver Stars. Having come such a long way from their days in Utah, the team seemed to finally be meshing together. Unfortunately, they were unable to obtain the WNBA championship, as they lost the Detroit Shock three games to zero. But, this was certainly the farthest the team had gone toward finally getting some WNBA glory.
Today’s Silver Stars
After their incredible appearance in the WNBA finals in 2008, the team has reverted to a struggling group. In both 2009 and 2010, the Silver Stars made it to the Western Conference Semi-Finals, losing both years to the Phoenix Mercury. Still, for both of these years, the team has managed to keep their win-loss ratio above .400, a marked difference from their early days.
The 2011 All-Star Game
This year, the San Antonio Silver Stars have been given the great honor of hosting the 2011 WNBA All-Star game at their ATT&T Center in San Antonio. On July 23, 2011, the team will make history as being only second team ever in the Western Conference to hold this revered game.
Further, it will be the first time the Silver Stars has been given the opportunity to hold this game. The honor of hosting the All-Star game is compounded by the fact that this year marks the WNBA’s fifteenth birthday.
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