Saniya Rivers #22 of the Connecticut Sun reacts during the second half of a WNBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Sparks at PeoplesBank Arena on May 30, 2026 in Hartford, Connecticut.
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Brittney Griner #42 of the Connecticut Sun shoots against Nneka Ogwumike #30 and Cameron Brink #22 of the Los Angeles Sparks during the first half of a WNBA basketball game at PeoplesBank Arena on May 30, 2026 in Hartford, Connecticut.
Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT – MAY 30: Saniya Rivers #22 of the Connecticut Sun drives to the rim against Nneka Ogwumike #30 and Kate Martin #21 of the Los Angeles Sparks during the first half of a WNBA basketball game at PeoplesBank Arena on May 30, 2026 in Hartford, Connecticut. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT – MAY 30: Brittney Griner #42 of the Connecticut Sun grabs the rebound against Dearica Hamby #5 of the Los Angeles Sparks during the first half of a WNBA basketball game at PeoplesBank Arena on May 30, 2026 in Hartford, Connecticut. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT – MAY 30: Leila Lacan #47 of the Connecticut Sun is defended by Chance Gray #2 of the Los Angeles Sparks during the first half of a WNBA basketball game at PeoplesBank Arena on May 30, 2026 in Hartford, Connecticut. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT – MAY 30: Diamond Miller #1 of the Connecticut Sun reacts during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Sparks at PeoplesBank Arena on May 30, 2026 in Hartford, Connecticut. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT – MAY 30: Aneesah Morrow #24 of the Connecticut Sun shoots against Ariel Atkins #7 and Nneka Ogwumike #30 of the Los Angeles Sparks during the first half of a WNBA basketball game at PeoplesBank Arena on May 30, 2026 in Hartford, Connecticut. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT – MAY 30: Leila Lacan #47 of the Connecticut Sun shoots against Cameron Brink #22 of the Los Angeles Sparks during the first half of a WNBA basketball game at PeoplesBank Arena on May 30, 2026 in Hartford, Connecticut. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT – MAY 30: Leila Lacan #47 of the Connecticut Sun gets the steal against Ariel Atkins #7 of the Los Angeles Sparks during the first half of a WNBA basketball game at PeoplesBank Arena on May 30, 2026 in Hartford, Connecticut. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT – MAY 30: Leila Lacan #47 of the Connecticut Sun drives to the rim against Ariel Atkins #7 of the Los Angeles Sparks during the first half of a WNBA basketball game at PeoplesBank Arena on May 30, 2026 in Hartford, Connecticut. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT – MAY 30: Brittney Griner #42 of the Connecticut Sun scores her 6000th career point against the Los Angeles Sparks during the first half of a WNBA basketball game at PeoplesBank Arena on May 30, 2026 in Hartford, Connecticut. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images
HARTFORD — If the Connecticut Sun had rolled into Hartford with an 8-1 record on Saturday night instead of a 1-8 record, this farewell “Sunset Season” would be a lot more fun to follow. There will be no romantic ending from a competitive standpoint, no chance of sending the team off to Houston as WNBA champions, of course.
The departing, last-place team does finally have more victories than feet out the door: two now, after Saturday’s 84-81 win over the Los Angeles Sparks. An announced crowd of 10,478 roared at the buzzer. It was a fun night.
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Losses have piled up, though, and there will be little on the line for any of the team’s remaining games as Connecticut’s only major professional sports franchise. That’s just the way it is. It’s where we are in this basketball timeline.
The Sun (2-8) overhauled their roster in 2024 and are building something for the future. Fans here will have to appreciate, if they can, witnessing the necessary baby steps and a whole lot of growing pains.
Brittney Griner #42 of the Connecticut Sun drives to the rim against Dearica Hamby #5 of the Los Angeles Sparks during the first half of a WNBA basketball game at PeoplesBank Arena on May 30, 2026 in Hartford, Connecticut.
Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images
The Sun, whose sale to the Houston group was announced in March and finalized two weeks ago, are all about the future and a transition now, as they need to be. General manager Morgan Tuck and president Jen Rizzotti — who have the option to remain with the team after its move — have constructed a roster that, coupled with an elite draft pick next April, should land the team in a place to compete for championships.
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Starting, say, a few years from now.
Out of our state’s basketball orbit, and out of most fans’ minds.
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Tuck and Rizzotti have handled every aspect of this situation very well. They’ve said all the right things, honoring the team’s unique place in Connecticut and women’s basketball history, and the fan base. Everyone around the team, and inside the front office, is sad to see it leave.
But the primary responsibility is to continue building for the future, and that means, unfortunately, struggling through the Summer of ’26. The cruel irony of is that fans are essentially watching their team dig a hole for something that will blossom in another market.
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT – MAY 30: Saniya Rivers #22 of the Connecticut Sun is defended by Chance Gray #2 of the Los Angeles Sparks during the first half of a WNBA basketball game at PeoplesBank Arena on May 30, 2026 in Hartford, Connecticut. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images
The team is young, has dealt with injuries to key players and was coming off a 12-day road trip before Saturday’s game. Two road games follow, at Atlanta and Chicago. Two of three games at Mohegan Sun Arena have been losses to the Las Vegas Aces, who have won three of the past four WNBA championships. They will get marginally better throughout the season. And they did show up in Hartford, injecting a little fun into their goodbye tour. But long-term development, to those coaching and playing, is as important as winning any game.
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“I’ve been able to look at both sides of it,” Rizzotti said. “Feel the heartbreak, feel the disappointment as a Connecticut girl and a Connecticut native, and knowing what it means for me and my family and the fans, but also being excited that our players are going to go to a great market and have the resources of an NBA owner.”
There were ownership groups in Boston and Hartford that wanted the Sun and would have paid more than the Houston group. The NBA and WNBA wanted the team in Houston, though, and at least the Mohegan Tribe held out long enough to get the price tag to $300 million. If they were essentially going to be forced to keep the team or sell it to the leagues’ desired location, they had to at least get an offer closer to those in Boston and Hartford.
The Tribe paid just $10 million back in 2003, when the downtown arena was still the Hartford Civic Center and when it was considered edgy to have a professional sports franchise anywhere near a casino. It was a different lifetime, really. Rizzotti, who helped UConn to its first national championship in 1995, was still playing for the WNBA’s Cleveland Rockers and Tuck was just a little kid still nine years away from playing for Geno Auriemma herself.
Connecticut Sun head coach Rachid Meziane reacts to a call during the second half of a WNBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Sparks at PeoplesBank Arena on May 30, 2026 in Hartford, Connecticut.
Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images
Tuck played many games in Hartford while at UConn. The renovated building looks entirely different these days. It still brings forth a special memory for Tuck, who as part of her recruiting visit attended a UConn-Baylor game downtown. Brittney Griner, acquired by the Sun prior to this season, was the Baylor center.
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“It was Stef Dolson and Bria Hartley’s freshman year,” Tuck said. “I was sold when I was in what was XL Center. It was sold out. Sixteen thousand people. I just knew I had to be a part of it. That’s my favorite memory.”
Rizzotti has done a Hartford farewell once before. She was playing for the New England Blizzard, based in Hartford, when the ABL was abruptly shut down.
“A shock to everybody, being midseason and knowing how much we are all giving of ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally, to make a professional women’s basketball league successful in the U.S.,” Rizzotti said. “To have it all crash down in one night was really, really hard. I tried to say a couple times that, although it’s kind of heartbreaking that the [Sun] will be leaving, at least we have a little bit of a runway. Our staff has a runway to think about what’s next, to celebrate our fans, to try to make sure we’re giving our players the experience they deserve and remind them why playing in a Connecticut Sun uniform has been special for 23 years.’
The Sun agreed to play one game in Hartford during that debut season, on July 26, 2003, defeating the now-defunct Charlotte Sting. It was a way to appease some people in Connecticut with loud voices about what a shame it was to have the franchise tucked away in the southeast corner of our state instead of the capital city.
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There was no need for the Sun to return to Hartford over the years, and it didn’t. Until Saturday. A 2024 game in Boston was a success so Rizzotti started exploring more ways to show off the Sun brand and, more broadly, showcase the WNBA. The Sun will return to Hartford July 2 for a game against Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd and the Dallas Wings, and face the Sparks August 18 in Boston. The final game in team history will be Sept. 24 against the Toronto Tempo at Mohegan Sun Arena.
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT – MAY 30: Charlisse Leger-Walker #4 of the Connecticut Sun shoots against Chance Gray #2 of the Los Angeles Sparks during the first half of a WNBA basketball game at PeoplesBank Arena on May 30, 2026 in Hartford, Connecticut. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
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Could a WNBA team make it in Hartford, if ever allowed to try?
“I think we’ve proven over the past couple decades that Connecticut deserves a team,” Rizzotti said. “Not every city can sustain a W team. But a city like Hartford, in Connecticut, I think could.”
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We don’t know for sure. We might never know.
If the Sun — excuse me, the Comets — are winning in Texas a few years from now it will be because of what Tuck and Rizzotti did in Connecticut in 2024-26. Houston fans will reap the benefits of what is taking place. Connecticut fans, on most nights, will have to find ways to enjoy the final snapshots of this team’s existence.