Donnie Wahlberg leads group looking to bring WNBA team to Boston
Could Boston one day have two professional basketball teams?
No one’s competing with the Celtics in the NBA, but a recent report suggests that the WNBA could soon expand to Boston. A business group led by entertainer Donnie Wahlberg and former NBA player Michael Carter-Williams are “preparing an offer” for a Boston WNBA team, according to Gary Washburn at the Boston Globe.
There are clear local connections at play. Wahlberg, best known as a member of New Kids on the Block and his appearance in movies such as “The Sixth Sense” and “Saw II,” famously grew up in Dorchester, along with his brother Mark Wahlberg. Carter-Williams, who played nine seasons in the NBA, is a native of Hamilton, Massachusetts.
“As a longtime Boston Celtics fan who attended countless NBA games in my lifetime, nothing would bring me more joy than to have a WNBA franchise in the city of Boston,” Donnie Wahlberg told the Globe. “I look forward to the day I can walk into the Garden, along with thousands of the greatest (and most knowledgeable) basketball fans on the planet, to root for Boston’s hometown WNBA team.”
The WNBA hasn’t been without a New England-based team, as the Connecticut Sun have been in the league since 2003, after the former Orlando Miracle relocated. The Sun played the first-ever WNBA game at TD Garden in 2024. The playing venue would be just one of many major considerations for a potential expansion WNBA team in Boston, where Mayor Michelle Wu and Mass. Governor Maura Healey have endorsed the idea.
Wahlberg’s group, known as Boston Women’s Basketball Partners, would need to apply and be approved by the WNBA’s other owners, as well as pay a big expansion fee, as explained by Washburn.
The WNBA has never had more buzz, since the arrival of all-time college scoring leader Caitlin Clark to the league. Boston sold out the Garden for the Connecticut Sun’s debut at the arena, so it’s feasible that fans would come out to see an actual Boston WNBA team. But Wahlberg, Carter-Williams and their partners have a long way to go before this becomes a reality.
Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.
