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San Antonio Stars
The San Antonio Stars were a professional basketball team based in San Antonio, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, as the Utah Starzz before the league's inaugural 1997 season began; then moved to San Antonio before the 2003 season and became the San Antonio Silver Stars, then simply the San Antonio Stars in 2014. The team was owned by Spurs Sports & Entertainment, which also owned the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA. The team was sold to MGM Resorts International in 2017 and became the Las Vegas Aces for the 2018 season. The Stars qualified for the WNBA Playoffs in seven of their fourteen years in San Antonio. The franchise has been home to many high-quality players such as all-star point guard Becky Hammon, solid power-forward Sophia Young, former first-overall draft pick Ann Wauters, and seven-foot-two-inch center Margo Dydek. In 2008, the Silver Stars went to the WNBA Finals ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Women's National Basketball Association
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association (NBA), and league play started in 1997. The regular season is played from May to September, with the All Star game being played midway through the season in July (except in Olympic years) and the WNBA Finals at the end of September until the beginning of October. Five WNBA teams have direct NBA counterparts and normally play in the same arena. They play in the same arena as funding is sparse due to lack of spectators. Indiana Fever, Los Angeles Sparks, Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, and Phoenix Mercury. The Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, Dallas Wings, Las Vegas Aces, Seattle Storm, and Washington Mystics do not share an arena with a direct NBA counterpart, although four of the seven (t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sacramento Monarchs
The Sacramento Monarchs were a basketball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009. They played their home games at ARCO Arena. The Monarchs were one of the WNBA's eight original franchises and were noted early on for standout players Ticha Penicheiro, Ruthie Bolton and Yolanda Griffith. They were the sister franchise of the Sacramento Kings National Basketball Association (NBA) team. They were one of the more successful WNBA franchises on the court, though they often trailed behind perennial Western Conference champions the Houston Comets and the Los Angeles Sparks. However, in 2005, the team brought Sacramento its first championship, winning the WNBA Finals for the only time. Franchise history Origins (1997–2003) The Monarchs made an impact in the WNBA almost immediately. With the hiring of Portuguese national team player Ticha Penicheiro, popular player Ruthie Bol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Małgorzata Dydek
Małgorzata Dydek (known as Margo Dydek in the United States, 28 April 1974 – 27 May 2011) was a Polish professional basketball player. Standing tall, she was famous for being the tallest professional female basketball player in the world. She played center position for multiple teams in the WNBA and was a coach for the Northside Wizards in the Queensland Basketball League. She was awarded the Polish Gold Cross of Merit (1999). She was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2019. Early life Margo Dydek was born 28 April 1974 in Warsaw, Poland, to a father and a mother. She had two sisters, her elder sister, Katarzyna() used to play for the Colorado Xplosion of the now defunct ABL. Her younger sister (12 years younger), Marta (), graduated from the University of Texas–El Paso where she played basketball, and played in Spain professionally in the 2000s. WNBA career Dydek made her first trip to the United States in May 1998 for WNBA pre-draft camp. Dydek was drafted 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. It is the premier men's professional basketball league in the world. The league was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946, as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). It changed its name to the National Basketball Association on August 3, 1949, after merging with the competing National Basketball League (NBL). In 1976, the NBA and the American Basketball Association (ABA) merged, adding four franchises to the NBA. The NBA's regular season runs from October to April, with each team playing 82 games. The league's playoff tournament extends into June. , NBA players are the world's best paid athletes by average annual salary per player. The NBA is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division. Since the 1991–92 Utah Jazz season, 1991–92 season, the team has played its home games at Vivint Arena. The franchise began play as an expansion team in the 1974–75 New Orleans Jazz season, 1974–75 season as the New Orleans Jazz (as a tribute to Dixieland, New Orleans' history of originating jazz music). The Jazz List of relocated National Basketball Association teams, relocated from New Orleans to Salt Lake City on June 8, 1979. The Jazz were one of the least successful teams in the league in their early years. Although 10 seasons elapsed before the Jazz qualified for their first NBA playoffs, playoff appearance in 1983–84 Utah Jazz season, 1984, they did not miss the playoffs again until 2003–04 Utah Jazz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Utah Stars
The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround. History prior to moving to Utah (1967–1970) The team was founded as the Anaheim Amigos, a charter member of the ABA based in Anaheim, California. They played at the Anaheim Convention Center. The team's colors were orange and black. The Anaheim Amigos were founded by Art Kim, a Hawaii native who had long been active in basketball as a player, Amateur Athletic Union administrator and owner. The Amigos lost the very first ABA game to Oakland, 132-129. They finished their first season with 25 wins and 53 losses, good for fifth place in the Western Division but not good enough to make the playoffs. The Amigos lost $500,000 in their first season, largely due to poor attendance; they only averaged 1,500 fans per game in a 7,500-seat arena. Kim realized he did not h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Basketball Association (1967-1976)
The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, leading to four ABA teams joining the National Basketball Association (NBA) and to the introduction of the 3-point shot in the NBA in 1979. League history The ABA was conceived at a time stretching from 1960 through the mid-1970s when numerous upstart leagues were challenging, with varying degrees of success, the established major professional sports leagues in the United States. Basketball was seen as particularly vulnerable to a challenge; its major league, the National Basketball Association, was the youngest of the Big Four major leagues, having only played 21 seasons to that point, and was still fending off contemporary challenging leagues (it had been less than five years since the American Basketball League (ABL) shut down). According to one o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Detroit Shock
The Detroit Shock were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006, and 2008 WNBA champions. Debuting in 1998, the Shock were one of the league's first expansion franchises. They were also the first WNBA expansion franchise to win a WNBA Championship. The team was the sister team of the Detroit Pistons and from 2002 to the 2009 season was coached by Pistons legend Bill Laimbeer. On October 20, 2009, it was announced that the Shock would be moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma to play in the new downtown arena, the BOK Center. Former men's college coach Nolan Richardson was named the team's new head coach. The Shock roster and history was retained along with the Shock name, but the team colors were changed to black, red, and gold. The franchise is currently known as Dallas Wings. Franchise history The early years (1998–2002) The Detroit Shock were one of the first WNBA expansion teams and began play in 1998. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WNBA Finals
The WNBA Finals are the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. Starting 2016 Verizon is the official sponsor. The series is played between the winners of the playoff semifinals. At the conclusion of the championship round, the winner of the WNBA Finals is presented the championship trophy. The WNBA Finals has been played at the conclusion of every WNBA season in history, the first being held in 1997. Since 2005, the winner of the WNBA Finals has been determined through a 2–2–1 format. The first, second, and fifth games of the series are played at the arena of the team who earned home court advantage by having the better record during the regular season. History The WNBA's playoff format has changed several times in the league's history. From 1997 to 1998, a single championship game was held to decide the champion. In 1998, afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
