Philadelphia is set for a professional women’s basketball revival Friday.
The city, which has not hosted a pro women’s team since 1998 when the Philadelphia Rage and the American Basketball League ceased operations due to bankruptcy, has Unrivaled coming to town — and North Philadelphia native Kahleah Copper is thrilled to help bring pro hoops back.
The Miami-based 3-on-3 league, which was founded by Liberty star Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier and is currently in its second season, will make a tour stop at Xfinity Mobile Arena for one night featuring two games, along with community events leading up to the doubleheader.
The opening game pits Paige Bueckers’ Breeze against the Phantom, whose roster includes Liberty guard and Philadelphia-area native Natasha Cloud. Copper’s Rose close the show against the Lunar Owls.
The barnstorming stop was announced in October, and on Jan. 14 the league announced a 21,000-seat sellout.
That was enough for Copper to interrupt The Post’s question during a phone interview about how ready Philadelphia — which is slated for a WNBA expansion franchise in 2030 — is for pro women’s basketball.
“It really set the tone, and it really shows everybody that we’re ready and we’ve been ready,” said the Mercury guard, a four-time WNBA All-Star. “For sure, we’re ready.”
The city was previously home to the Philadelphia Fox as part of the short-lived Women’s Professional Basketball League (WBL) in the late 1970s. The Rage — who featured Dawn Staley, now a Philadelphia icon and three-time NCAA national champion coach — played two seasons in the city after relocating from Richmond in the late 1990s.
From there, Philadelphia has only lived off of the women’s college game. Philadelphia was home for Staley when she coached at Temple and Cloud when she played at Saint Joseph’s, as well as Maddy Siegrist’s run at Villanova, where she became the Big East’s all-time leading scorer.
Copper didn’t have many professional Philadelphia-based women’s basketball influences growing up, but is honored to be a part of the city’s legacy and to put professional roots in the ground. To the 31-year-old, her legacy ties back to when she did everything to follow in the footsteps of a former WNBA player.
While attending a preparatory boarding school, Girard College, from first grade through 10th, Copper would ask permission to leave the campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays to train with Philadelphia native Keisha Hampton and play in a competitive league outside of school. Hampton, who is four years older than Copper and retired from playing in October, took the guard under her wing at the time when she was the “best player in the city,” Copper explained. The pair still remain close and continue to give back to their Philadelphia community through their basketball development program, 2K Skills and Drills Academy, to inspire young women. It’s something they both never had while growing up.
“I’m from a city where nothing was given to me,” Copper said. “Kind of gotta work for what you want, and then it’s just an inspiring story for little girls in Philly who don’t have an easy route but can look to someone who is from where they’re from and look like them and it just gives them the inspiration and the belief in themselves that they can accomplish anything.”
Unrivaled’s visit will be a first taste, and the Prep Charter graduate said it’s coming at the perfect time, comparing it to the WNBA exhibition game in Toronto in 2023 (with the expansion Tempo set to join the league this year).
Copper — the “#JustAKidFromNorFPhilly” who uses the hashtag on social media and uses the saying on a personalized briefcase — will continue to bring notice to her city as one of the foundational pieces of its expanding professional women’s basketball legacy.
“I’m just excited for the love from the city. People can really see this as a basketball city. One of the best cities in the world,” Copper said.
Of course, Copper also has been a tour guide for her Rose teammates in Philadelphia this week. First stop: Dalessandro’s for a cheesesteak.
