Oregon's WNBA team stepped back in time for its new name, reintroducing the Portland Fire.

The expansion franchise, which begins play next season along with the Toronto Tempo, announced its name and branding on Tuesday, reviving the moniker of the city's previous WNBA team that played from 2000 to 2002.

"Our feeling is that the fire never died," interim Fire president Clare Hamill said. "Fans have been waiting for us to come back, and we're back with the Portland Fire."

In addition to the name, the team has a new "Rose on Fire" logo and a colour palette of red, brown, blue and pink.

Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft who died in 2018, was chairman of the original Fire and the two teams played at the Rose Garden, now the Moda Center.

The NBA owned the WNBA teams until 2002, then sold them to affiliated NBA teams or independent owners. Allen declined to buy the Fire and the team folded.

Portland was awarded a new WNBA team last September. The team is run by Raj Sports, led by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal, who also own the Portland Thorns of the National Women's Soccer League. They paid $125 million US for the WNBA franchise.

The Fire and Thorns will share a new joint-training facility in the first such partnership between the two women's leagues.

The Fire already have sold more than 11,000 season tickets, surpassing the WNBA's previous best. The team will play at the Moda Center, where the original Fire averaged some 8,000 fans a game.

Team president left team in June

But the launch of the team hasn't been smooth.

Indications the team planned to return to the Fire name were previously revealed when a local publication, the Rose Garden Report, published the team's trademark application.

The team's president, Inky Son, parted ways with the team late last month after less than three months on the job. Son was announced as the first employee of the team in early April, tasked with leading all aspects of the business, including marketing, ticket and sponsorship sales, and community relations.

The Tempo, meanwhile, announced a team name back in December and already have a general manager.

Hamill, a former Nike executive, took over for Son until a permanent president can be found. She said the launch of the team name and logo is just a slice of what the team is activating on Tuesday.

 "We're pointing everybody to the launch and the pace at which we're moving, and just giving everyone confidence that we have our arms around it," Hamill said. "We're moving fast, and you're going to hear from us a lot."

The team planned to celebrate the name and logo launch with a community party on Tuesday afternoon at the Moda Center.

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Clark, Ionescu, Gray headline all-star 3-point contest

Caitlin Clark will be in a 3-point contest for the first time in her pro career as the Indiana Fever guard will compete Friday night in the WNBA all-star competition.

She'll be joined by contest record holder Sabrina Ionescu, who last entered the contest in 2023 and hit 25 of her 27 shots in the final round, scoring 37 points. It was the most shots made in a 3-point contest in either the WNBA or NBA.

The Liberty's star guard wanted to make sure she was completely healthy before officially entering the contest. She said she'll be trying to break her own mark.

Clark's management team said earlier this year when she turned down competing in some fashion at NBA all-star weekend that the young star wanted her first 3-point contest to be in Indianapolis at the WNBA weekend.

Allisha Gray, who made her own history last season, winning the 3-point and Skills Challenge, will try and defend her title in both competitions. She beat Jonquel Jones 22-21 to win the 3-point shootout. Gray beat Sophie Cunningham by two seconds to win the skills competition.

The Atlanta Dream star received $110,000 US from Aflac as part of a partnership with the WNBPA. The 3-point contest winner this year will get an extra $5,000 from Aflac. Gray also got $2,575 from the league for each of her two victories.

Other participants in the 3-point contest are Washington rookie Sonia Citron and Los Angeles' Kelsey Plum.

The other players competing in the skills challenge will be New York's Natasha Cloud, Seattle's Skylar Diggins and Erica Wheeler, and Minnesota's Courtney Williams.