As Jackie Stiles put on the Portland Fire’s red “Explorer” jersey on Wednesday afternoon, it was like a weight of 20-plus years was finally lifted.
A 5-foot-8 guard out of Missouri State, Stiles was one of the true highlights of the Portland Fire’s first run.
She was selected with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2001 WNBA Draft and quickly made an impact on the league. Stiles led the Fire in scoring in 2001 with 14.9 points per game and made 40.5% of her shots from beyond the arc.
She was named WNBA’s Rookie of the Year and was a WNBA All-Star, wowing audiences with her ability to shoot 3-pointers.
In 2002, Stiles missed significant playing time with injuries. She played in 21 games and only started three times while averaging six points per game.
And then the Fire was gone.
Jackie Stiles takes the court during starting line-up announcements at a Fire game in 2001. LC- THE OREGONIAN
“It was just crushing when you know, I finished my second season and all of a sudden, I’m at home in the off season and I get a phone call that the Portland Fire is no longer going to exist,” Stiles said. “And it was a grieving period because it’s like, OK, what do you do now? And it was really difficult not having that closure.”
Stiles spent a year playing for the Lubbock Hawks of the National Women’s Basketball League. She spent a year playing for Australia’s Canberra Capitals. Then she spent a decade as an assistant coach at multiple colleges.
Twenty-four years have passed and Stiles said she finally felt at peace when hearing that the Portland Fire were returning in 2026.
“I feel like I’ve gotten that closure now when now we’re promoting this brand new team,” she said as part of a panel aboard the Portland Spirit on Wednesday afternoon to view the giant Fire jersey suspended over the Willamette River.
Stiles said she felt a tremendous amount of pressure when she was a rookie with the Fire, as she was the team’s first draft pick in 2001, set the NCAA record for scoring (3,393 points) and quickly felt a wave of support from the Portland fans.
“Just the way the community supported us, I wanted to make them proud,” she said.
Portland Fire players Jackie Stiles, left, Kristin Folkl, middle, and Carolyn Young joke around in the locker room after a Fire game in 2001.LC- THE OREGONIAN
Stiles said that pressure turned into a strong competitive fire. She looked back to an exhibition game from her rookie season. With the game tied up, Stiles demanded the ball in the team huddle.
Reminiscing on the game, Stiles said she can’t believe how bold she was, asking to take the final shot as a rookie.
“I wanted to give them something to cheer about,” Stiles said. “So I put my heart on the floor every time I stepped out.”
A member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2016, Stiles has been involved with a lot of the Fire’s marketing heading into the 2026 debut season.
She said she is looking forward to seeing the return of Fire basketball to Portland this year.
“I told my second grade teacher I was going to play professional basketball one day but the WNBA didn’t exist at that point,” she said. “So now with the opportunity to play in Portland, it’s a tremendous city and (the players) have that platform to be able to inspire so many people watching these girls or these young women run out and do something that they love.”