Fans & coaches crave more WNBA in Kansas City after Lynx game: ‘We need a team’
It’s been a while since WNBA hoops was played in Kansas City. Nearly 21 years ago, actually. Yet, many fans had the same thoughts when it came to the idea of a professional basketball team in KC.
The consensus? Bring em’ on.
The Minnesota Lynx played the Nigerian women’s national team Monday for a preseason game at the T-Mobile Center. The Lynx won 88-79, giving fans a glimpse of what life would be like with a WNBA team in KC. Recently, KC struck out on a bid to bring an NBA team back to town, while the city was left out of the 2026-2028 WNBA expansion.
For many people in the arena, Monday was their first time experiencing a live WNBA game. The Lynx are geographically the closest WNBA team to KC.
One of those first-timers was April Peters. She lives in Lawrence and had to leave work early to make sure she got to the T-Mobile Center on time. She donned a Courtney Williams jersey, who dropped 17 points in 12 minutes of play during the contest.
“We’ve already got the KC Current up here, and I think that’s drawn a lot of attention. As a woman and as a lesbian, it’s important for me to see representation, especially in sports,” she said. “With the way Kansas City shows up for the Chiefs, for the Royals, how could we not support a women’s basketball team or other professional women’s sports?”
While this was a WNBA game, the night wasn’t just about the Lynx. Fans also came out to support the Nigerian women’s team. One of those fans was Quinton Jones, a KC resident with Nigerian roots. While KC did have an NBA team way back in the day, Jones thinks it’s time for professional hoops to make its way to KC, and that includes the women’s side of it.
“With the connection to KU, people really care about basketball here. And I feel like it kind of goes under the radar, just because we haven’t had a team for a long time,” Jones said. “This is a great sports town. People love sports here, and I think that the next time the WNBA expands, they got to check us out.”
Coaches, players praise KC’s WNBA support
Someone else that thinks KC should get a shot at a WNBA team is Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve. She said she’s always enjoyed Kansas City. She was even thrilled to be in the city has the world’s only stadium built for a women’s professional team, referring to CPKC Stadium, home of the Current.
“We build facilities for every possible men’s sport, including the esports. We build facilities for that, despite losing money over and over and over again. That’s what we do for men’s sports,” Reeve said. “Being here in Kansas City, I’m giddy about it, because I like being here. I hope that this is a sports town that gets professional sports if they want it, and hopefully they support it.”
Reeve’s new point guard, Olivia Miles, was just in Kansas City last month, playing in the Big 12 tournament for TCU. She noted how more fans were here for this game than the tournament. She credited the Lynx fans who showed up for Monday’s preseason matchup.
“They’re our sixth man at the end of the day. They help us to get over any adversity and help us to stay in the game and get momentum,” Miles said. “It’s important to have fans who care and who travel and who want to see us play and want to see us succeed.”
Of course, you have to get the kids involved when it comes to helping the game grow. Many young basketball teams were in attendance for the matchup. That included Ty Hawkins and his team of youngsters of the Missouri Phenom AAU program.
Monday is usually his girls team’s practice day, but they were excited when he surprised them with a trip to the game as a reward for their hard work.
“I think we’ll be a great city to have a professional women’s team. As you can see today, they would have a lot of support, a lot of a lot of eyes be on the games weekly,” Hawkins said. “If anybody’s listening right now, we need a team, and they need to bring it here as soon as possible.”
