UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Taj McWilliams-Franklin got off a plane in Connecticut 21 years ago, and immediately noticed one thing. It was cold.
She wasn’t in Orlando any longer, and nor was her team. The Orlando Miracle were moving to a casino to become the Connecticut Sun.
“My daughter was born in January 2003, so I was the last one to find out,” she said. “There was no Instagram or anything like that so somebody literally had to call me and say the team was moving to Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. ‘I don’t know what that is.’ There was a sadness because the team we started with was gone, but hopefulness that a long-term solution was going to be something of strength.
“… The first month, you’re kind of in shock. My daughter was six months old, my husband was in the military and couldn’t come, and it was kind of a shock here. ‘Oh, people are nice here.'”
McWilliams-Franklin, “Mama Taj,” did what she had always done, and has always done since, settled in, adapted, thrived. She had outlasted teams and leagues, and stayed in Connecticut four seasons, making the All-Star Game twice, helping the Sun win the WNBA’s Eastern Conference and make the finals in 2004 and ’05. The mark she left is still felt to this day, so much so that Alyssa Thomas, one of the current core players, had been lobbying team president Jennifer Rizzotti to retire McWilliams-Franklin’s jersey.
The early Sun teams made the franchise relevant, in Connecticut and beyond, and the tenacious, can-do attitude McWilliams-Franklin helped instill was much in evidence Sunday, with the Sun fighting to remain relevant. After the current team, with its new coach and cast, turned in an inspired performance in the home opener, coming from 11 points down to beat Washington 80-74 before 7,048, McWilliams-Franklin’s name and No. 11 was added to the Sun Legends, Margo Dydek (12), Nykesha Sales (42), Katie Douglas (23), Lindsay Whalen (13), and Asjha Jones (15), in the rafters. McWilliams-Franklin had to fight back the tears.
“I wanted to be part of something special,” she told the fans who stayed for the postgame ceremonies. “And I found it in Connecticut.”
The arc of McWilliams-Franklin’s career is a timeline of how far the women’s game has come. After she had her first child, she was told at Georgia State, as she has often told the story, that “school is no place for kids.” She then went to St. Edward’s, an NAIA school in Texas, then played pro ball overseas, and in the long-defunct ABL from 1996-98. After it folded, she was drafted by Orlando and became an All-Star there.
“Taj is one of the all-time greats, a face of our league,” said Stephanie White, who is now 2-0 as the Sun coach. “My welcome to the WNBA moment when I was a rookie playing in Charlotte, we were playing in Orlando and I tried to drive down the middle of the lane and Taj put me on my butt. Welcome to the league.”
In Sun history, McWilliams-Franklin is first in rebounds (1,814) and offensive rebounds (649), second in defensive rebounds (1165) and blocks (267), third in points (3,019) and double-doubles (50), fourth in game played (243) and steals (350), and ninth in assists (444).
After she left the Sun, McWilliams-Franklin played in the W until 2012, to age 42, helping championship teams in Los Angeles and Minnesota.
“A champion in every sense of the word,” said Lindsay Whalen, McWilliams-Franklin’s teammate with the Sun and colleague in among the legends in the rafters.
“It’s a little overwhelming to know it’s been 20 years since we came to Connecticut,” McWilliams-Franklin said. “And to see all the fans that were here from day one. Everyone has just been amazing and embraced us.”
When her playing days ended, McWilliams-Franklin, 52, wasn’t sure what to do. She did some coaching in college and in the pros. Now she is in a position created for her, the WNBA’s player relations and development manager.
“I help former and current players figure out what they want to do after they’re done playing,” she said. “I help them solidify what’s next, and how we can help facilitate that.”
In going from the NAIA college level to one of the most important players in the history of the WNBA, as she and her husband, Reggie Franklin, raised a family and became grandparents, McWilliams-Franklin became a symbol of determination, perseverance, as her former coach, Mike Thibault, noted during the ceremony.
“Someone who truly believed in herself, what she could do, persevered,” Thibault said. “Mama Taj. She was that in every way possible. I knew from our (first) conversations and how she carried herself what a true pro was.”
After 20 plus years, much has changed, much hasn’t. McWilliams-Franklin is still working, still leading, still has the magnetic smile to which Connecticut fans responded.
And the Sun franchise feels kind of new again, still chasing that elusive championship after four trips to the league finals, but now in an era of “super teams” like New York and Vegas.
But listen to Mama Taj: Don’t confuse super rosters with super teams.
“You see a ‘super team?’ she said. “I see a lot of good players on all these teams and that creates a parity in our league. I’ve been doing this a long time. I don’t subscribe to super teams unless you mean ‘teamwork.’ There are some great teams that have great chemistry, and I really think there are going to be some shocking things that happen this season.”
