Women's Basketball History

“We Got Next”. This phrase is most commonly used around the asphalt when vying to play the next game of pick up basketball. Founded on April 24, 1996, the NBA Board of Governors approved the concept of a Women’s National Basketball Association. The Women’s National Basketball Association is the most prevalently known professional basketball league in the United States for women, most commonly referred to as its’ acronym WNBA. It was finally the ladies’ turn as they made their statement that they would be playing the next game. The first season for the Women’s National Basketball Association began in 1997. Sheryl Swoopes, one of the league’s first sixteen players, was the first player signed by the WNBA on October 23, 1996. She signed with the Houston Comets, one of the eight teams in the

Indeed, who would have predicted ten years ago? That women's basketball so wildly popular? Well, people who have watched the growth of women's basketball in southern states. The enormous campus arenas at the state universities in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia filled to capacity for home games. The coach for Tennessee's Lady Vols, Pat Summitt. She has achieved nearly godlike stature in that state. A tall, striking figure on- and off-court. Summitt commands respect. Wherever she goes. My youngest sister, Ruth Ann, who lives in Tennessee. She says you can't near Pat Summitt after a game. "You'd think she a rock star," she says. Although Geno Auriemma, Coach of the UConn women's team. Not yet enjoying that kind of support. He rapidly becoming

Women sports have come a long way, since the days when women were only allowed

Many years ago and until recently people did not really accept the fact that women could play sports as well as men, or even play at all. Over the years, people started to accept some women as athletes at some sports, but not all of them. Sports like rugby, football and handball were only played by men. Nowadays, however, you could easily find a women playing football and many other sports they never used to play better than any of the men you know. People changed their perspective of women being involved in sports when they would see how capable the women were of being good at a sport they play. Women were not allowed at the first olympics ever played but

On April 24, 1996, women’s basketball announced “We Got Next” as the NBA Board of Governors approved the concept of a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) to begin in June 1997. Since that day in 1996 there have been many firsts for the WNBA: Val Ackerman -- the first president of the WNBA; Sheryl Swoopes -- the first player signed to the WNBA; Cynthia Cooper -- the league’s first Most Valuable Player; the Houston Comets -- the first WNBA Champions; Lisa Leslie -- the first WNBA player to capture all three MVP awards (regular season, All-Star and Championship) in one season.

Everyone knows of the famous sports organizations known as the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) and the NBA (National Basketball Association. While these organizations represent the same sport, there are many differences between them.

The Women’s National Basketball Association, more commonly known as the WNBA, is a professional basketball league consisting of 12 teams spanning across the United States. The league was founded in 1996 but didn’t officially kick off until 1997. While it’s not the first major women’s professional basketball league in the United States, the WNBA is the only league that has received full backing from the National Basketball Association, more commonly, the NBA. Now in its 20th season under the direction of league president Lisa Borders, the regular season is played from June to September with the playoffs spanning through the remainder of September into the middle of October. Although they have the full backing from the NBA, there are still a few discrepancies between the two leagues. Even though WNBA games are not as exciting as NBA games, the players of the WNBA deserve equal pay because the team mindset makes the game more challenging, players continue to show their hard work in the offseason by playing overseas, and they inspire young girls by providing for charities as a result of their work.

Before we told our daughters that they could be anyone, or anything they wanted to be, we told them that they could only be what was acceptable for women to be, and that they could only do things that were considered "ladylike." It was at this time, when the nation was frenzied with the business of war, that the women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League decided that they could do and be whatever it was that they chose. These women broke free of the limitations that their family and society had set for them, and publicly broke into what had been an exclusively male sport up until that time.

Have you ever wondered about how women now have their own sports or how they became accepted? Well, it all started with women who had perseverance and a dream, even if they didn't get recognized for it. ***(Marcenia Lyle was an incredible baseball player and impacted the game tremendously by never giving up on her dream, being a woman playing in a men’s league, and by changing the normal way of sports.)***

Female athletes are discriminated against in modern sports because they have lower salaries than the male athletes. Over the years the wage gap between male and female athletes has increased tremendously. The wage gap that has been viewed as one of the most extraordinary is the gap between men and women basketball players. An article by David Berri talks about this outrageous money difference. Diana Taurasi plays a big part in the Women’s National Basketball Association, especially being the one that led the Phoenix Mercury to win the league championship in 2014. Taurasi was

In today’s world, men’s sports seem to always be in the spotlight while women’s sports do not draw much attention, as if women who play sports are not taken seriously. This happens on all levels of sports, and I have personally experienced it myself through basketball in high school. While the gym would be full for any of the boys’ games, our games had very little support with almost empty bleachers. When it comes to the professional level, when women’s sports do get covered by the media, most people judge female athletes more on their looks rather than their athletic skill, which is negative and unfair.

The sports world has been a new area where women are recognized. In previous times women’s sports were almost non-existent. In schools many girl teams did not receive adequate funds for uniforms and equipment. Boys sports were much more popular, such as football or basketball. If a girl wanted to play a guy sport she would be labeled as a

Although men and women’s basketball are closer to being equal than softball and baseball, the leagues are still separate. America has a women’s league and a men’s league and never the two shall meet. A woman is not allowed in the NBA since she has the WNBA. The separation is strong, obvious, and seemingly permanent. Like basketball, they created softball to play indoors during the winter. The game earned the name softball and due to its easier properties was often “regarded as baseball’s stepchild” (Ring, p. 60). They passed the game down to women, as it seemed safe enough to limit the risk of injury. And so the separation began.

The NBA and WNBA give the equal opportunity of playing professional basketball to both men and women, but the ages at which they are allowed to start their career differ. These age eligibility rules are believed by some to give an unequal opportunity to female basketball players. In the article, “Hoop Dreams Deferred: The WNBA, The NBA, And The Long-Standing Gender Inequality At The Game’s Highest Level”, N. Jeremi Duru discusses the age eligibility rules for the NBA and WNBA. Topics included are how they are different, how the difference is unfair to females, and how the NBA can be held responsible for the inequality to women. As a professor of law, Duru has a professional approach to the topic with a lengthy article that has claims backed by laws and has a legal case feel.

Women first started taking great strides in professional sports during World War II. When the male professional baseball players went off to war, a group of team owners started a professional league for woman (the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League). This league turned out to be successful. After the men came back from war, however the woman’s league could no longer sustain itself financially and had to shut down. Over the past twenty years, however there have been more and more professional women sports leagues opening and prospering. One such league is the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association), while the league opened being financially backed by the male league (NBA) over its first five years it has become a financial success with high profits and good TV ratings on major and cable networks. Some woman’s leagues even become just as or ever more successful that there male counterparts. An example of such a league in the women’s professional tennis tour which lately has had better television ratings and draws more fans than its male counterpart. In 2001 for the first time, ever the woman’s Final at the US Open Tennis Championship (the tours most prestigious played in the United States) was broadcast on a major television network (NBC) in primetime (8pm). Media coverage of women's sports is considered important because it increases the level of