The Celtics’ performance in the Eastern Conference finals has raised some questions. Can the team maintain its momentum next season, possibly reaching the NBA finals? Can they score more in each game to improve their point average? Will they be able to sign Rodney Rogers? But here’s one we haven’t heard yet: when will Boston get an WNBA team?

Boston fans of women’s basketball have been waiting for a WNBA team to call their own since the league began in 1996. The way the league works is that teams are sponsored by established NBA franchises. So the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks play in the same arena as the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers, wearing the same purple and gold as the men’s team. The same goes for the NBA’s New York Knicks and the WNBA’s New York Liberty. Recently, the WNBA made an agreement with the San Antonio Spurs, in which the NBA franchise will sponsor a WNBA team if 6000 people each pay $50 for a season-ticket deposit by November 15. So it’s up to the Celtics to work with the WNBA to bring a team to Boston.

When the Boston Celtics were approached with the idea in 2000 after Boston mayor Tom Menino expressed interest in seeing a WNBA franchise brought to Boston, the team basically said no. "We haven’t entertained the thought of having [a WNBA team] come to Boston because we’re concentrating on men’s basketball, the Celtics, on getting them into the championship playoffs," a Celtics spokesman told the Associated Press two years ago.

Well, mission accomplished. So what about a women’s team now?

A spokesperson for the Celtics didn’t return the Phoenix's phone calls. As for the WNBA, its president, Val Ackerman, said last week that the league hopes to have teams "someday" in some major cities, including Boston, but that such a move hasn’t been scheduled.

With the Celtics established and ready for a new project and the WNBA ready for expansion, it's time for Boston women’s basketball fans to press for a new reason to fill the FleetCenter on game night.