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The Connecticut Sun is an American professional women's basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut that competes in the Eastern Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Along with the Minnesota Lynx, the club was established in 1999 as part of the league's expansion from ten to twelve teams. The Miracle, the club's previous moniker, originated that year in Orlando, Florida as the sister team to the NBA's Orlando Magic. Financial straits left the Miracle teetering on the brink of disbanding before the Mohegan Indian tribe purchased and relocated the team to Mohegan Sun, becoming the first Native American tribe to own a professional sports franchise. The derivative of the club's name comes from its affiliation with Mohegan Sun, while the team's logo is reflective of a modern interpretation to an ancient Mohegan symbol.
Capitalizing on the popularity of women's basketball in the state as a result of the success of the UConn Huskies, the Sun also held the distinction of being the only WNBA franchise not to share its market with an NBA team from 2003 until the Seattle SuperSonics relocated, leaving the Storm as an independent team in Seattle. The Sun is considered by many to be the most successful franchise in the WNBA yet to have won a championship.
The Sun has qualified for the WNBA Playoffs in eight of its fourteen years in Connecticut. The Sun has featured such notable players as the late 7-foot-2 Margo Dydek, Indiana native Katie Douglas, veteran sharpshooter Kara Lawson, University of Connecticut icons Asjha Jones and Nykesha Sales, 2008 MVP runner-up point guard Lindsay Whalen and 2012 MVP recipient Tina Charles. In 2004 and 2005, the Sun went to the WNBA Finals but fell short to Seattle and Sacramento, respectively.