WNBA should be proud of reaching latest milestone

My 8-year-old daughter Kelsey has just started to really get into basketball.

She was on a couple of teams this past winter and spring and she likes the Chicago Sky. She recently asked me if it would be possible for me to get her a kid-sized Sylvia Fowles uniform, complete with jersey and shorts.

Too cute.

I love it that she can aspire to be anything, including a professional women’s basketball player.

Not so long ago, that wasn’t the case for little girls who dreamed of basketball greatness.

About 15 years ago, to be exact.

Hard to believe, but the WNBA is celebrating its 15th anniversary this summer.

The league marked the milestone Tuesday with a game in Los Angeles between the Sparks and the New York Liberty. Exactly 15 years earlier, the WNBA tipped off its inaugural season with a game between the same two teams.

On June 21, 1997, the Liberty defeated the Sparks 67-57 in front of 14,284 fans at the Great Western Forum.

“I remember trying to broadcast that game while being really overcome with emotion,” said ESPN’s Doris Burke, who was the analyst for that first game and recalled her memories during halftime of Tuesday’s Sparks-Liberty game. “I actually remember being struck by the pressure (the players) were playing under. They had the weight of that ‘We Got Next’ campaign and basically the fate of what was a fledgling basketball league, something unprecedented in the history of women’s sports.”

Former New York Liberty center Rebecca Lobo remembers how overwhelming it was to finally be living the dream.

“I had goals and aspirations (of playing basketball beyond college), but for the first time, I had an opportunity and a forum (in the United States) in which to play,” Lobo said. “It was the first time the opportunity met the dream, not just for me but for so many women. I always felt really blessed by that.

“I also felt so happy for all the players who had been forced to play overseas for all those years to come back and be reintroduced to all these great fans.”

Early WNBA fans were lucky to be able to watch stars (some long lost) like Cynthia Cooper, Lisa Leslie, Tina Thompson, Teresa Weatherspoon, Sheryl Swoopes, Dawn Staley and Ruthie Bolton.

I can’t help but think how lucky my daughter is that the NBA and the women who played during those early years persevered and believed in the league as much as they did.

Along the way, there have been many ups and downs, but the fact that the WNBA is still standing 15 years later makes me proud.

It also gives me hope that the WNBA will be around for another 15 years, when Kelsey is old enough to play.

Ÿ Patricia Babcock McGraw, who covers the WNBA for the Daily Herald, also provides color commentary for Chicago Sky broadcasts.