The American Basketball League, often abbreviated to the ABL of 1996 was a professional women's
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
league in the United States. At the same time the ABL was being formed, the National Basketball Association (NBA) was creating the
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 Natio ...
(WNBA). The ABL began league competition in the Fall of 1996, while the WNBA launched its first game in June 1997. Both organizations came into existence during a surge in popularity for women's basketball in the United States that followed the perfect 35–0 national championship season for the
Connecticut Huskies
The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, located in Storrs. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big East Conference. The university's fo ...
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta ...
.
The ABL lasted two full seasons: 1996–97 and 1997–98. The
Atlanta Glory
The Atlanta Glory was a women's professional basketball team in Atlanta, Georgia. It was a member of the American Basketball League. The Glory played its home games in Forbes Arena.
The team folded before the start of the abortive third ABL s ...
and
Long Beach Stingrays
The Long Beach Stingrays was a women's professional basketball team. It existed for only the 1997–98 season, and was a member of the American Basketball League (ABL).
The Stingrays played most of their home games at the Walter Pyramid on the ...
folded prior to the start of the 1998–99 season, and were replaced by two expansion teams, the Chicago Condors and
Nashville Noise
The Nashville Noise was a short-lived member of the American Basketball League (ABL). The site was a sound one, capitalizing on the long-time success and well established fan support of the University of Tennessee
The University of Tenness ...
. On December 22, 1998, with almost no warning, the ABL declared
Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...
and suspended operations. Each team had played between 12 and 15 games of the 1998–99 season.
The ABL got off the ground before the WNBA, and at least early on its quality of play was higher than the rival league. This was partly due to the league's signing of a majority of players from the 1996 USA women's national team. Although the WNBA was bankrolled by the NBA, the ABL offered higher salaries. The two leagues did not compete directly; the ABL played during the winter while the WNBA played during the summer. However, this arrangement put the ABL in competition with the established men's NBA for an audience. Ultimately, the ABL found the WNBA's stronger financial resources—augmented by the NBA's marketing machine—to be too much to overcome.
The league operated as a single-entity structure, which was intended to control costs until it found its feet. However, it also meant that even the most basic decisions related to team operations had to go through the league office in Palo Alto, California. League officials were so fixated on national sponsorships that they hamstrung the teams' efforts to market themselves locally. The ABL was also underfinanced. Allison Hodges, general manager of the short-lived Condors, later told '' The New York Times'' that she was led to believe league officials rejected her marketing ideas because they clashed with its national focus, only to find out that the league did not have enough money to finance them. Hodges also believed the league had already planned to shut down before announcing the Chapter 11 filing.
Of all the ABL cities, Chicago, Seattle, and
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
Atlanta Glory
The Atlanta Glory was a women's professional basketball team in Atlanta, Georgia. It was a member of the American Basketball League. The Glory played its home games in Forbes Arena.
The team folded before the start of the abortive third ABL s ...
bar:Quest color:coral from:1996 till:end text:
Columbus Quest
The Columbus Quest was a professional women's basketball franchise located in Columbus, Ohio in the now-defunct American Basketball League (ABL). They were one of the league's original eight teams that started play in 1996. In the league's bri ...
bar:Blizzard color:coral from:1996 till:end text: New England Blizzard
bar:Rage color:magenta from:1996 till:1997 text:Richmond Rage
bar:Rage color:coral from:1997 till:end text: Philadelphia Rage
bar:Condors color:coral from:1998 till:1999 text: Chicago Condors
bar:Noise color:coral from:1998 till:end text:
Nashville Noise
The Nashville Noise was a short-lived member of the American Basketball League (ABL). The site was a sound one, capitalizing on the long-time success and well established fan support of the University of Tennessee
The University of Tenness ...
San Jose Lasers
The San Jose Lasers were a women's professional basketball team in San Jose, California
San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Va ...
Long Beach Stingrays
The Long Beach Stingrays was a women's professional basketball team. It existed for only the 1997–98 season, and was a member of the American Basketball League (ABL).
The Stingrays played most of their home games at the Walter Pyramid on the ...
The 1996–97 ABL All-Star Game was played on December 15, 1996, at the Hartford Civic Center. The Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference, 81–65, and the game's MVP was
Tari Phillips
Tari L. Phillips (born March 6, 1969) is an American professional women's basketball player. She currently plays with Acer ERG Priolo, an Italian A1 team based in Priolo Gargallo, Sicily. Her cousin Tayyiba Haneef-Park plays for USA Volleyball. ...
.
1997–98
The 1997–98 ABL All-Star Game was played on January 18, 1998, at
Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex
The ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex is a multi-purpose sports complex located in the Walt Disney World Resort, in Bay Lake, Florida, United States, near Orlando. The complex includes nine venues and hosts numerous professional and amateur s ...
The 1998–99 ABL All-Star Game was scheduled to be played on January 24, 1999, in San Jose, California, but was canceled when the league ceased operations in December 1998.
Notable players
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Jennifer Azzi
Jennifer Lynn Azzi (born August 31, 1968) is a former basketball coach, most recently the head coach of the women's team at the University of San Francisco. Azzi is also a former collegiate and professional basketball player, as well as an Olympic ...
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Debbie Black
Debbie Black (born July 29, 1966) is an American women's basketball former player and current coach. During her professional career, Black played for the Women's National Basketball League in Australia, the American Basketball League and the Wome ...
Edna Campbell
Edna Campbell (born November 26, 1968) is a retired women's basketball player who played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The 5 ft 8 in guard played with the Sacramento Monarchs as well as three other teams, but i ...
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Sylvia Crawley
Sylvia Crawley (born September 27, 1972) is a former American professional women's basketball forward, licensed minister and motivational speaker. She was also the head women's basketball coach of the Boston College Eagles, from 2008 to 2012, and ...
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Teresa Edwards
Teresa Edwards (born July 19, 1964) is an American former women's basketball player and four time Olympic gold medalist.
In 2000, ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine placed her as 22nd of the "100 Greatest Female Athletes of the 20th Century". Sh ...
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Tonya Edwards
Tonya LaRay Edwards (born March 13, 1968) is an American retired professional basketball player born in Flint, Michigan, currently an assistant coach of the Chicago Sky in the WNBA. She was previously head coach of the Alcorn State Lady Braves ...
, now head coach at
Alcorn State University
Alcorn State University (Alcorn State, ASU or Alcorn) is a public historically black land-grant university adjacent to Lorman, Mississippi. It was founded in 1871 and was the first black land grant college established in the United States.
On ...
Yolanda Griffith
Yolanda Evette Griffith (born March 1, 1970) is an American professional basketball hall of fame player who played in both the ABL and WNBA. A former WNBA MVP, she is considered one of the greatest rebounders and defensive players in the histor ...
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Sonja Henning
Sonja L. Henning (born October 4, 1969) is an American attorney and former collegiate and professional women's basketball player. Born in Jackson, Tennessee, she grew up in Racine, Wisconsin, where she attended Horlick High School. ...
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Kedra Holland-Corn
Kedra Holland-Corn (born November 5, 1974) is an American professional women's basketball player with the Detroit Shock of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). After attending the University of Georgia, she played for the Sacramento ...
Andrea Lloyd-Curry
Andrea Lane Lloyd (born September 2, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player, a 2007 inductee into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, and previous television analyst for the Minnesota Lynx. Currently she is working as a te ...
Nikki McCray
Nikki Kesangane McCray-Penson (born December 17, 1971) is the former head coach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs women's basketball team and a former professional women's basketball player. She played in the Women's National Basketball Associat ...
Chasity Melvin
Chasity Melvin (born May 3, 1976) is a retired American professional basketball player, originally from Roseboro, North Carolina.
A 6'3" (1.90 m) forward, Melvin entered the WNBA in 1999, and played for the Cleveland Rockers, the Washington M ...
Taj McWilliams-Franklin
Taj McWilliams-Franklin (born October 20, 1970) is a former American professional women's basketball player.
A two-time WNBA champion with the Detroit Shock and Minnesota Lynx and six-time all-star, McWilliams-Franklin's professional career has s ...
Tari Phillips
Tari L. Phillips (born March 6, 1969) is an American professional women's basketball player. She currently plays with Acer ERG Priolo, an Italian A1 team based in Priolo Gargallo, Sicily. Her cousin Tayyiba Haneef-Park plays for USA Volleyball. ...
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Elaine Powell
Elaine Powell (born August 9, 1975) is an American assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx and former professional basketball player. A point guard born in Monroe, Louisiana, she played in the WNBA from 1999 to 2008.Katrina Price
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Jennifer Rizzotti
Jennifer Marie Rizzotti (born May 15, 1974) is a retired American collegiate and professional basketball player, and former Division I coach at George Washington University. She is the president of the Connecticut Sun. Rizzotti was inducted into ...
, now the President of the
Connecticut Sun
The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut that competes in the Eastern Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
The team was established as the Orlando Miracle in ...
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Crystal Robinson
Crystal LaTresa Robinson (born January 22, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former player, who is currently an assistant coach for the Phoenix Mercury. She grew up in Atoka, Oklahoma, and first garnered national recognition during her col ...
Sheri Sam
Sheri Lynette Sam (born May 5, 1974) is an American professional women's basketball coach and player who played in the WNBA. She was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana as the youngest of eight siblings, and where she was a standout at Acadia ...
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Katie Smith
Katie Smith (born June 4, 1974) is lead assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is the former head coach of the New York Liberty.
A retired professional basketball player, Smith's primary ...
, now an assistant coach for the
Minnesota Lynx
The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017.
Founded pr ...
Elon University
Elon University is a private university in Elon, North Carolina. Founded in 1889 as Elon College, Elon is organized into six schools, most of which offer bachelor's degrees and several of which offer master's degrees or professional doctorate ...
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Dawn Staley
Dawn Michelle Staley (born May 4, 1970) is an American basketball Hall of Fame player and coach, who is currently the head coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks. Staley won three Olympic gold medals with Team USA as a player and later was head c ...
Katy Steding
Kathryn Suzanne Steding (born December 11, 1967) is a former collegiate and professional basketball player. She is currently an assistant coach for the Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team.
College career
Steding was born in Portland, Oreg ...
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Kate Starbird
Catherine Evelyn Starbird (born July 30, 1975) is an American computer scientist and former professional basketball player.
Playing at the guard position, Starbird earned All-American honors as a high school athlete at Lakes High School in Lake ...
Natalie Williams
Natalie Jean Williams (born November 30, 1970) is an American basketball executive and former player in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Williams was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. She was also an acc ...
National Women's Basketball League
The National Women's Basketball League, often abbreviated to the NWBL, was an organization governing professional basketball leagues for women in the United States. The league was founded in 1997 and began play in the Fall of that year. The league ...
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Women's American Basketball Association
The Women's American Basketball Association (WABA) is a league that began in 2017 with seven teams. It now has over 20 teams across the country. Season 4 was cancelled in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. There have been previous women's ...
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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 Natio ...
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Women's Professional Basketball League
The Women's Professional Basketball League (abbreviated WBL) was a professional women's basketball league in the United States. The league played three seasons from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1981. The league was the first professional ...