The San Antonio Silver Stars are a team in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) based in San Antonio, Texas. They are one of the original eight founding teams in the WNBA. Originally based in Salt Lake City, Utah under the name the Utah Starzz, the team moved to Texas in 2003. The Stars are the sister team of the San Antonio Spurs.
One of the eight original WNBA teams, the Utah Starzz (partially named after the old ABA team, the Utah Stars, but with the zz at the end like the Utah Jazz) never met the same success as their (former) NBA counterpart, the Utah Jazz. They held the distinction of having the worst record in the WNBA in 1997 and were the first team to select in the 1998 WNBA Draft. With their selection, they picked 7 ft. 2 in. center Margo Dydek, who easily became the tallest player in WNBA history. Unfortunately, the pickup of Dydek did little to help their cause and they again finished near the bottom of the league in the 1998 & 1999 seasons. The Starzz finally posted a winning record in 2000, but did not make the playoffs. In 2001, the Utah Starzz made it to the playoffs for the first time, but they were quickly swept in the first round by the Sacramento Monarchs. In 2002, the Starzz made it to the playoffs again, and this time beat the Houston Comets in the Western Conference Semifinals 2 games to 1. Their playoff run ended in the Western Finals, however, as they were swept aside by the eventual champs, the Los Angeles Sparks.
When the NBA divested itself of all of its WNBA franchises at the end of the 2002 season, the Utah Jazz ownership did not wish to retain ownership of the Starzz. The Starzz then looked for local Utah potential buyers, but none were found. After months of looking, the franchise would have to be sold to an out-of-town group or fold. This resulted in the franchise being sold to Peter Holt, the owner of the San Antonio Spurs, and relocating to San Antonio, Texas. The team's name was changed to the San Antonio Silver Stars and would change its team colors to the silver and black motif used by the Spurs.
Immediately after moving, the new Silver Stars made major roster moves, as they traded star Natalie Williams along with Coretta Brown to the Indiana Fever in exchange for Sylvia Crawley and Gwen Jackson. After losing seasons in 2003 and 2004, the team then traded away star Margo Dydek.
For the first four seasons (2003-2006) after moving to San Antonio, the franchise was unable to change its old losing trend and did not make the playoffs, in sharp contrast to their current NBA counterpart, the San Antonio Spurs. From 1997-2002, the Utah Starzz had a record of 87-99. From 2003-2006, the San Antonio Silver Stars record was 41-88.
The 2007 season brought a lot of change for the Silver Stars. They acquired stars Becky Hammon, Ruth Riley, and Sandora Irvin in trades, selected Helen Darling in Charlotte Sting's dispersal draft, drafted Camille Little in the second round, signed Erin Buescher during the off-season, and retained key players, such as Marie Ferdinand-Harris, Vickie Johnson, Shanna Crossley, Kendra Wecker, and Sophia Young. The new-look Silver Stars became an instant contender in the Western Conference.
On August 4, 2007 the Silver Stars clinched their first playoff berth since the franchise relocated to San Antonio in 2003. In the first round, the Silver Stars were matched up against the Sacramento Monarchs. After losing game 1 in Sacramento, the Silver Stars would win games 2 and 3 to advance to the Western Finals. The Silver Stars faced off against a strong Phoenix Mercury team, which had the number 1 seed in the Western Conference. The Silver Stars would lose Game 1 at home 102-100 on a controversial call by ref Lisa Mattingly. Mattingly called a foul on Shanna Crossley with 2.1 seconds left in the game and the score tied at 100. Replay showed that Crossley made no contact with Phoenix's Cappie Pondexter. However, Pondexter was sent to the line and made both free throws and Crossley's half-court shot to win the game nearly went in. On September 1, 2007 the Silver Stars' season came to an end after the Stars lost Game 2 98-92 in Phoenix.
