25 years of WNBA

At the end of the 2021 season in this month of September, the first 25 years of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) will be celebrated, a league in which 12 teams currently participate in two conferences.

The development of women’s basketball in the United States has been going on for many years, both at the university level and professionally. In fact, the WNBA was born in 1996 as an element that responds to the success of the NBA, and the pressure of women for the professionalism of the sport homogeneous burst to the male.

At first there was the WBL (Women Basketball League), then the National Women’s Basketball League (NWBL), which coexisted with the new League for some years, but the WNBA is the one that has the full support of the NBA only.

We could exemplify something similar what happened in men with the extinct ABA and the NBA, which ultimately ceased to exist to give way only to the NBA. There was also the NWBL, which closed operations in 2007, and today there is an alternate League: the Women’s American Basketball Association (WABA). Undoubtedly, American women’s basketball has a history and a lot of demand.

There is always a beginning: for the WNBA, the first games were held in 1997 and there were eight teams: Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Houston Comets and New York Liberty in the Eastern Conference; with the Los Angeles Sparks, Phoenix Mercury, Sacramento Monarchs and Utah Starzz in the Western Conference.

The League has obviously been expanding, so in 1998 the Detroit and Washington franchises were born, in 1999 were Orlando and Minnesota, bringing the number of teams in the league to twelve.

At practically 25 years only four franchises of the original persist, but the popularity and level of competition has placed the WNBA as one of the most important women’s leagues in the world and with a good fans in the stands.

Three franchises: Houston Comets, Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm are the ones that have reached the most titles, with 4 each, which by the way the Seattle Storms are the current champions.

Without a doubt, it must be said: it is great news that this League reaches its first 25 years of creation and that its players are inspiration for the practice of this sport by girls and young women, who will surely be able to do it professionally in the coming years. An aspirational method.

For now, let’s get ready to see the playoffs for the WNBA silver season, from which the 25th champion of this League will emerge.