Next steps for Mercury after Sarver NBA, WNBA Phoenix sale

The Phoenix Mercury have won three WNBA championships and have perhaps the greatest player in the history of women’s basketball.

Robert Sarver, the majority owner of the Phoenix Suns and the Mercury, is selling the franchises. The Suns are an enticing pinnacle property in the NBA in a warm-weather city. But the Mercury — the NBA’s “sister” organization — has the titles and is an original WNBA team with one of the more engaged fan bases.

There is no guarantee the franchises will be sold together, although that appears to be Sarver’s intention, just as it was for Minnesota Timberwolves/Minnesota Lynx owner Glen Taylor when he sold both franchises last year.

The Mercury were one of eight teams that launched the WNBA in 1997, all then owned by NBA teams. The WNBA expanded to allow outside ownership (separate from NBA teams) starting in the 2003 season. As of now, five of the 12 WNBA teams are affiliated with NBA teams: the Mercury, Lynx, Indiana Fever, New York Liberty and Washington Mystics.

The new Mercury owner(s) will inherit an organization that is an integral part of the league’s history. Phoenix has hosted a WNBA All-Star Game (2014) and the Commissioner’s Cup final (2021), and is noted for its fan support.

But history is one thing; the present isn’t on stable ground with the franchises for sale. Once new ownership takes over, leadership will be more important than ever.

The Mercury had an inordinate amount of personnel conflict this past season and at some point will lose the face of the franchise and one of the faces of women’s basketball, Diana Taurasi. How much hands-on decision-making a new owner or ownership group would want to do with the Mercury remains to be seen. Longtime Suns/Mercury executive Jim Pitman, the WNBA team’s general…