Lakers want LeBron James to return for another season alongside Luka Doncic, GM Rob Pelinka says
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka wants LeBron James to return for another season alongside Luka Doncic.
The Jacksonville Waves women's basketball team, led by Rennia Davis, is set to debut in the Upshot League on May 15 against the Charlotte Crown. This marks the first professional women's basketball team for the city.
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From sea to shining sea, and sometimes all the way across the seas, Rennia Davis has chased her hoop dreams.
Now, as a charter member of the Jacksonville Waves, she's ready to help lead the First Coast's newest sports team into action.
"To have this option right here at home, it just makes it even more special to me," she said.
The Waves are gathering speed ahead of the May 15 Upshot League opening game against the Charlotte Crown inside VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, which will mark the city's debut in women's professional basketball.
"It's here. It's real," Waves head coach Jess Bogia said. "Sometimes, you've got to pinch yourself to make sure you believe it."
The 7 p.m. Friday start marks day one on the court for the four-team league, which has planned future expansion to Baltimore and to Nashville, Tenn.
Zawyer Sports & Entertainment, which also owns the Jacksonville Icemen, operates the Upshot League, with former WNBA president Donna Orender as commissioner.
On and off the hardwood, the Waves have taken shape quickly. The club has assembled an 11-player active roster, eight of them with prior WNBA experience in some form, as well as corporate partnerships with The CSI Companies, Acuvue, Florida Blue and RadiFi Credit Union.
For many on the First Coast, the headline attraction is Jacksonville native Davis, a repeat state champion at Ribault High School — she also led the Trojans to national honors by winning the Dick's Sporting Goods Nationals at Madison Square Garden — and an All-SEC honoree in college with the Lady Vols of Tennessee.
Selected in the first round of the WNBA Draft in 2021, she's battled through injuries to play all over the world, most recently averaging 20.5 points and 11.8 rebounds at Nesibe Aydin in Turkey during the past season. She competed in camp with the WNBA's Seattle Storm before her release at the start of May.
Now back in Jacksonville, she's eager for the chance to inspire young fans with grit on both sides of the court.
The season opener for the Jacksonville Waves is on May 15.
Rennia Davis is a charter member of the Jacksonville Waves and is set to help lead the team in their inaugural season.
The Jacksonville Waves represent the city's debut in women's professional basketball, bringing a new sports option to the First Coast.
The head coach of the Jacksonville Waves is Jess Bogia.
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka wants LeBron James to return for another season alongside Luka Doncic.
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Jacksonville Waves players and coaches gather at Media Day on May 12, 2026. [Clayton Freeman/Florida Times-Union]
"That's just the embodiment of Jacksonville, of Duval County," Davis said. "We get after it, and I think the Waves are going to show that."
In a short time, the Waves have quickly built team chemistry, with a young core joining experienced players like Davis and veteran point guard Ariel Hearn.
"I've told my teammates a couple of times, 'Y'all are going to make being a point guard so easy,'" said Hearn, who scored nearly 2,000 points in college at Memphis.
Friday's opener begins a tightly-packed 34-game schedule, with 17 at home, between May 15 and Aug. 23.
"You're going to come out and you're going to see energy, enthusiasm and that competitive fire," Bogia said. "It's a group that's hungry. They're going to compete and they're going to represent the Jacksonville Waves and also the city of Jacksonville."
JACKSONVILLE WAVES OPENING DAY ROSTER
C Adut Bulgak, F Rennia Davis, G Madison Griggs, G Ariel Hearn, G Janasia Law, G Khalya Pointer, G Lindsey Pulliam, G Shyanne Sellers, G Taylor Soule, F Brianna Turnage, G Emma Von Essen, F Jasmine Walker
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Waves prepare for Upshot League women's basketball opening