The Dallas Wings are an American professional basketball team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Wings compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team is owned by a group led by chairman Bill Cameron. Greg Bibb is president and CEO. Brad Hilsabeck joined the Dallas Wings ownership group in March 2019 with the acquisition of Mark Yancey's interest in the Wings.
The team was founded in Auburn Hills, Michigan, as the Detroit Shock before the 1998 WNBA season began. It then moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, before the 2010 season and became the Tulsa Shock. On July 20, 2015, Cameron announced that the franchise would move to Arlington for the 2016 WNBA season.
The team qualified for the WNBA playoffs in eight of their twelve years in Detroit and in one of their six years in Tulsa. As the Wings, the team qualified for the playoffs in five of their ten years in Dallas. In 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2008 the franchise went to the WNBA Finals; they lost to Phoenix in 2007, but won the title in 2003, 2006 and 2008 over Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Antonio respectively.
The franchise has been home to players such as Deanna Nolan, one of women's basketball's all-time leading scorers, Katie Smith, Cheryl Ford, Swin Cash, Skylar Diggins, Odyssey Sims, Australian center Liz Cambage, Arike Ogunbowale, 2025 No. 1 pick Rookie of the year Paige Bueckers and 2026 No. 1 pick Azzi Fudd.
History 1998–2009: The Detroit Shock years
The Shock were one of the first WNBA expansion teams and began play in 1998. The Shock quickly brought in a blend of rookies and veterans, but only qualified for the postseason once in its first five years of existence. The Shock went through two coaches (hall of famer Nancy Lieberman and Greg Williams) before hiring former Detroit Pistons legend Bill Laimbeer. Rumors arose that the Shock would fold after the team's awful 2002 season. Laimbeer convinced the owners to keep the team for another year, certain that he could turn things around. The Shock finished the next season with a 25–9 record and defeated the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Sparks in the 2003 WNBA Finals. Detroit became the first team in league history to go from last place one season to WNBA champions the next season.
After a couple of seasons of losing in the first round of the playoffs, the Detroit Shock returned to success and appeared in three straight finals from 2006 to 2008. They won the WNBA championship in 2006 over the Sacramento Monarchs and 2008 over the San Antonio Silver Stars but lost to the Phoenix Mercury in 2007.
2010–2015: The Tulsa Shock years
Tulsa had been mentioned as a possible future city for WNBA expansion, but efforts did not come together until the middle of 2009. An organizing committee with Tulsa businesspeople and politicians began the effort to attract an expansion team. The group was originally given a September 1 deadline, but WNBA President Donna Orender extended that deadline into October. The investment group hired former University of Arkansas head coach Nolan Richardson as the potential franchise general manager and head coach, and on October 15, 2009, the group made its official request to join the league.
On October 20, 2009, WNBA President Donna Orender, lead investors Bill Cameron and David Box, Tulsa mayor Kathy Taylor, Oklahoma governor Brad Henry, and head coach Nolan Richardson were present for a press conference announcing that the Detroit Shock would relocate to Tulsa. On January 23, 2010, the franchise announced that the team would remain as the Shock, but their colors were changed to black, red, and gold.
On July 20, 2015, majority owner Bill Cameron announced he was moving the team to Dallas-Fort Worth.
2016–2024: The start of the Dallas Wings On July 23, 2015, WNBA league owners unanimously approved the Tulsa Shock's relocation to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex to play out of the College Park Center at the University of Texas at Arlington. College Park Center is also home to the UT Arlington Mavericks basketball and volleyball teams. At a press conference at College Park Center on November 2, 2015, the team was announced to be renamed the Dallas Wings.WNBA's Dallas Wings Introduced in DFW Metroplex , WNBA.com, November 2, 2015 Uniforms were revealed at the First Annual Wings Draft Party on April 14, 2016. The light uniforms were primarily lime green, while the dark uniforms were predominantly blue. As a result of a league-wide initiative for its 20th season, all games featured all-color uniform matchups, thus no white uniforms were unveiled for this season.
The team began their first season as the Dallas Wings on May 14, 2016, following two pre-season losses, with a 90–79 victory over the Indiana Fever. The team played its first home game in Dallas on May 21, defeating in-state rivals San Antonio Stars 82–77 in front of a sell-out crowd. The game was highlighted by Irving native Odyssey Sims, who led all scorers with 23 points and would go on to finish the season as the team’s leading scorer, averaging 14.0 points per game. Despite a promising 3–1 start—even in the absence of star guard Skylar Diggins, who was recovering from an ACL injury—the Wings struggled with inconsistency throughout the season. After dropping six straight games following their strong start, Diggins' return to the lineup helped spark a four-game winning streak in June. However, the momentum was short-lived, and the team posted a 2–9 record from June 25 onward. Plagued by injuries, the Wings had a full roster available for only 12 of their 34 games. Ultimately, Dallas finished the season with a 11–23 record, placing fifth in the Western Conference and missing the playoffs by a significant margin—marking a downturn compared to their final season in Tulsa.
Ahead of the season, on April 11, 2017, it was announced that Mary O’Connor had stepped down as president and CEO of the Dallas Wings, less than a year after assuming the role. General Manager Greg Bibb took over O’Connor’s responsibilities. The Wings opened the regular season on May 14 and posted an even 8–8 record through May and June. Although they endured a difficult July (3–6), the team rebounded in August with a 5–3 performance, securing a playoff berth on August 31 with a 99–96 win over the Chicago Sky. Finishing the regular season at 16–18, the Wings entered the playoffs as the 7th seed but were eliminated in the first round by the Washington Mystics, 86–76, on September 6. Led by All-Star guard Skylar Diggins and forward Glory Johnson, the Wings featured the youngest roster in the league but still managed to exceed expectations. On September 19, Allisha Gray was named the 2017 WNBA Rookie of the Year, becoming the second player in franchise history to earn the honor, joining Cheryl Ford, who won the award in 2003 with the Detroit Shock.
On February 5, 2018, the team announced the return of Australian center Liz Cambage, who signed a multiyear contract with the franchise that drafted her second overall in 2011. The season tipped off on May 18 with a 86–78 loss to the Phoenix Mercury. The Wings had a mixed start, going 2–3 in May and 5–4 in June, with six of their seven early-season losses coming against eventual playoff teams. On July 17, Cambage set a new WNBA single-game scoring record with 53 points in a 104–87 win over the New York Liberty, surpassing the previous mark of 51 points set by Riquna Williams during her time with the Tulsa Shock. Dallas posted a 8–5 record in July, including a dominant stretch in which they won seven out of eight games. However, three straight losses at the end of the month marked the start of a nine-game losing streak. Amid this losing streak, the team made a major coaching change. On August 12, head coach Fred Williams was relieved of his duties following a reported altercation with CEO Greg Bibb after a loss to the Washington Mystics. Assistant coach Taj McWilliams-Franklin was named interim head coach for the remainder of the season, leading the team to a 1–2 record over the final three games. Despite a 1–7 record in August, the Wings secured a crucial win over the Las Vegas Aces, clinching the 8th and final playoff spot by a one-game margin. Dallas ended the regular season with a 15–19 record and was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Phoenix Mercury, 101–83. On December 18, the Wings announced the hiring of two-time WNBA champion Brian Agler as the team’s new head coach. Agler, who had recently stepped down from the Los Angeles Sparks after leading them to the 2016 WNBA Championship and two Finals appearances, joined Dallas with more victories than any other coach in U.S. women’s professional basketball history.
On May 16, 2019, the team traded star center Liz Cambage to the Las Vegas Aces in exchange for guard Moriah Jefferson and forward Isabelle Harrison. Additionally, All-Star guard Skylar Diggins missed the entire season due to childbirth, leaving the Wings without their two leading players from the previous year. The season began on May 24 with a 77–72 loss to the Atlanta Dream and started with a five-game losing streak. The team showed signs of improvement in June, winning four of their next six games to close the month with a 4–7 record. However, July proved challenging, as the Wings posted a 1–8 record, with their only win coming on July 9 against the Los Angeles Sparks. Dallas slightly improved in August, going 5–6, but ended the season on a four-game losing streak. They finished with a 10–24 record, their worst since relocating to Dallas in 2016 and their lowest win total since 2012. The absence of Cambage and Diggins led to a decline in team production. Despite this, rookie guard Arike Ogunbowale averaged the third-most points per game in the league and finished second in total points (630). She set WNBA rookie records with 11 consecutive games of 20 or more points and four straight games of 30 or more points. Ogunbowale also tied a franchise record with 18 games of at least 20 points and recorded a season-high 35 points on two occasions—becoming the only rookie in league history to do so twice. Her breakout performance established her as one of the league’s rising stars and a foundational piece for the Wings’ future.