Eminem attempting to bring WNBA team to Detroit
Eminem is looking to bring a WNBA team to Detroit. Slim Shady is reportedly part of a group led by Tom Gores, the billionaire owner of the Detroit Pistons, in expanding women’s basketball across the US.
The group allegedly includes some of the city’s most prominent sports owners, executives and athletes, including owners of the Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers and Detroit Lions.
An anonymous source reported the news to Sportico. However, a representative for Eminem told Rolling Stone that he had only “expressed interest” and “discussed joining” the group, but “no deal has been finalised.”
The Women’s National Basketball Association includes 13 teams and will grow in the coming years, with San Francisco, Portland and Toronto already confirmed. In 2028, the league will add at least one more team, with Detroit hoping to join the fold. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert is set to decide within the next year.
Eminem’s involvement in welcoming a WNBA team to Detroit doesn’t come as too much of a surprise, considering the rapper grew up in the city. During a 2013 interview with Shade 45, he delivered an ode to Detroit.
“You got to live it and you got to be there,” he said. “You have to just be part of it, man. Despite all the bad shit that you hear in the press and all that shit, I love my city and I feel like definitely Detroit – every aspect of my life – helped me, you know, it shaped me.
“Detroit especially, man, like the inspiration I get from it … I love the people. You know what I’m saying? So I don’t know, man, I kind of feel like, you know, coming from Detroit, we’re the underdogs and everyone looks down on our city. And I want to be there to say, ‘What the fuck?'”
He added, “I love my city. and I take pride in it, so you know, definitely, it made me. It shaped me in every which way possible.”