Kevin Durant pulled up to Saturday’s WNBA game between the Dallas Wings and Phoenix Mercury. However, the result was not in his favor and it sparked a beef between the two teams on social media.
It led to yet another loss for the Mercury…
Arike Ogunbowale scored 40 points for the Wings en route to a dominant 17-point road win. And not long after the clock hit zero, some of her teammates took a photo with the Suns’ star forward.
Dallas took a jab at the losing side with its caption on X.
Phoenix immediately fired back with a quip of its own.
Old us would have roasted you for being a franchise with zero titles, but we’re in our new era.
— @PhoenixMercury on X
The Mercury was referencing its three WNBA titles in 2007, 2009 and 2014. The Wings have not won a league championship. In fact, last year was the first year that they finished with a winning record.
Unfortunately, that is not what Phoenix’s jab actually said. It was so close to being the perfect kill shot.
However, the caption referenced a “franchise with zero titles,” which is factually incorrect. If it had said “team” or “organization” with zero titles, it would have been true. One word made all of the difference.
As a franchise, Dallas technically has three WNBA championships.
The Detroit Shock became the Tulsa Shock in 2010. The Tulsa Shock became the Dallas Wings in 2016.
Detroit, one of the first 10 teams in league history, won three titles: in 2003, 2006 and 2008. Phoenix, one of the original eight teams, also has three titles. As a franchise, they have the same number.
Oops!
Obviously, the Phoenix Mercury was speaking only to the Wings. It was not trying to reference history. It was not trying to reference anything prior to the relocation to Dallas eight years ago.
But it did… Even though it was an accident, it referenced all of league history with the word “franchise.”
Swing and a miss!