Karalis: WNBA rocks again at TD Garden, showing us it's time to bring it to Boston for good

Canal Street thumped with bass. The normal clear view of TD Garden was blocked by thousands of basketball fans in orange and blue. There were dancers, mascots, and street vendors. Jaylen Brown stopped by his pop up shop to take advantage of the excitement. 

A Tuesday night in the middle of July isn't normally a money maker for this part of town, but with the Connecticut Sun hosting the Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark at the Garden, this felt like a crowd ready for a playoff game. 

Inside the arena, the normal parquet floor was replaced by Connecticut’s home floor, but Celtics banners still hung overhead and nearly all of the 19,000 seats were filled. Brown made his way in to watch the game from the baseline. New Celtic and Massachusetts native Georges Niang was in the house, too. 

“I was fortunate to always see that playing at Madison Square Garden,” Sun forward Tina Charles said. “When Kobe Bryant was around, he was the one who was really starring that, being an NBA figure, really supporting women's basketball. And then NBA players started to come out and support us as well. So I look forward to the teams that are able to be in NBA cities, and being able to have their support. It really goes a long way.

These are boom times in the WNBA. The league saw sellouts triple last season and average attendance grow by more than 40%. Ratings have been surging in recent years on the backs of super-popular players like A’ja Wilson and Sabrina Ionescu. The arrival of the immensely popular Clark, Angel Reese, and Paige Bueckers has tied a rocket to those numbers, and with players like JuJu Watkins in the pipeline, there's even more fuel on the way. 

The league is growing in a hurry, leaving the Sun in the past. They play in the middle of nowhere as part of a casino sideshow. They have spent practices during deep playoff runs within earshot of birthday parties at local community centers. No one is going to argue that the league is big enough for the same kind of sprawling practice facilities like the Auerbach Center, but I think we’re past the days of sharing a YMCA floor with 10-year-olds. 

I do enjoy a trip to Mohegan Sun to watch them play. My wife and I will take in a game, grab some dinner, and make a donation to the tribe through their slot machines and leave with a smile. But the league is bigger than that now. They lost most of their marquee players this past summer because of their situation, and if they really want to play for championships, things simply have to change. 

The Mohegan tribe opened the season by announcing it was open to a sale and relocation of the team. Rhode Island is getting in line, with Governor Dan McKee touring the Amica Mutual Pavilion as part of a reported pitch for the Sun to move to Providence. Donnie Wahlberg and former NBA player Michael Carter-Williams have reported interest in bringing a team to Boston. If other cities with more pro-worthy facilities are smart, like maybe Hartford (PeoplesBank arena seats more than 15,000 for basketball) or even Worcester (DCU Center seats 13,000), they’ll get in on the action too. 

“(The league) is more than ready,” Charles said about the NBA coming to Boston. “I think it’ll put pressure on other cities, other franchises, when you see experiences such as that.”  

There have been two successful Sun games here at TD Garden over the past two seasons. As much as we can argue, the Clark phenomenon filled the gym on this night, the Sun packed the house last season for a game against the LA Sparks. The appetite for WNBA basketball in Boston is there. 

“I think anytime you come into an arena and there’s just so much history hanging from the rafters, you certainly look up and soak it in and take it in,” Clark said before the game. “I’m not sure they have any more space for any banners or recognitions, whether it’s championships or players’ jerseys going up in the rafters. So they may have to find a way to make some more room. Certainly cool getting to play here.”

No one is going to argue that the Sun would sell the Garden out every night of a WNBA season if they played here. Part of the two sellouts is the uniqueness of the event. WNBA fans around New England don’t usually get down to Uncasville, Connecticut, but they can get to the Garden in Boston. 

But the league is big enough that markets like Uncasville can’t handle what the players need. Even if the revenues can’t support building practice facilities, a city like Boston or Providence has enough schools with good facilities to support a professional summer tenant. Logistics would need to be worked out, but it wouldn’t be hard. 

And let’s not forget the human beings who are paid to play the game. How about giving young 20 and 30-somethings a decent place to live with things to do and places to go? TripAdvisor’s top non-casino thing to do in Uncasville is the Tantaquidgeon Museum. Six of their top 15 things to do are churches. Even Ned Flanders would probably start looking for a town with more to do. 

The time to move the team is now, and Boston is ready to give the WNBA a real home. In fact, the Sun can follow the old Celtics blueprint of scheduling some games in Hartford or Providence to spread the wealth and add a few bucks to their coffers as they cash in on similar sellouts fueled by people who can’t easily travel. The WNBA is following a very similar path as the NBA at this stage of its growth. In fact, 29 years into the NBA’s lifespan was the forgettable 1970s, so the WNBA is actually in a pretty good place. 

The 12 home games left on the Sun schedule should be their last in Connecticut. Boston wants the WNBA. It’s time to bring it here.