| An original Women's National Basketball Association team. The star players are Andrea Stinson and Dawn Staley; the coach is Anne Donovan. Reached the WNBA Championship Series in 2001, where they lost to the Los Angeles Sparks. It was Donovan's first year with the team.
In 2001, the Sting completed the biggest turnaround in WNBA history, and one of the biggest turnarounds in sports history. After starting the season 1-10, the Sting went 19-6 to finish the regular season with a 20-16 record, good enough for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. There, Charlotte defeated the Cleveland Rockers and the New York Liberty to reach the finals against the Western champ Sparks, but the dominant Los Angeles team swept them 2-0.
The Stings' other seasons were not as successful. In 2000, the Sting finished 8-24, last place in the Eastern Conference; in 1999 they lost to the Liberty in the second round of the playoffs. In 1998 and 1997 they were bumped out of the playoffs in the first round by the Houston Comets.
Update 6/1/2002: The Sting's NBA sibling team is the Charlotte Hornets, an NBA team that's all but moved to New Orleans. Nevertheless, the Sting — who still enjoy strong fan support in Charlotte, unlike the Hornets — vow to remain for at least the 2002 season. If the Sting do stay in Charlotte for good, they'd be the first-ever WNBA team not to have an NBA sibling in the same city.
Source:
http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/wire/stories/0,1169,5288383_73,00.html
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