The Chicago Hustle was a team in the

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 w ...

(WBL) from 1978 to 1981. The team's colors were red and blue.

History

The Hustle played in all three WBL seasons and led the league in attendance each year. The WBL's inaugural game was played on Dec. 9, 1978 in Milwaukee, with the Hustle defeating the Milwaukee Does 92-87 before a crowd of 7,824. In their first season, the Hustle tied the Iowa Cornets for the Midwest Division title, but Iowa had home-court advantage for the playoffs and won the series 2 games to 1. Rita Easterling was the WBL's Most Valuable Player that first year and led the league in assists. Debbie Waddy-Rossow (cousin of

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wide receiver

Billy Waddy Billy Waddy (February 19, 1954 – January 21, 2022) was an American professional football player who played wide receiver for seven seasons for the Los Angeles Rams and the Minnesota Vikings. Waddy was a legitimate deep threat, who averaged 16 ...

) was the league's leading scorer. Easterling was voted MVP of the league's first All-Star Game in 1979, which was played at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

. In their second year, the Hustle missed the playoffs. Coach

Doug Bruno Richard Douglas Bruno (born November 7, 1950) is the head coach of the DePaul Blue Demons women's basketball team. In 2016, he completed his 30th season as head coach. Under his tenure, the Blue Demons have qualified for post-season competition p ...

left to become an assistant to Gene Sullivan for

Loyola University of Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic universities in the United States. Its namesake is Saint Ign ...

's men's team and is now the DePaul women's team coach. In the third and final season, the Hustle added

Inge Nissen Inge Nissen is a Danish basketball player and coach. A 2012 inductee to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, Nissen was a star for the Danish national team and a college All-American at Old Dominion University. After her playing career, Nissen ...

from

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and veteran

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(now Orender), who from 2005 to 2010 served as president of the WNBA. The team's play-by-play announcer for all three seasons was Les Grobstein, who later became the radio voice of the WNBA's

Chicago Sky The Chicago Sky are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Sky compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The franchise was founded prior to the 2 ...

before his passing on January 16, 2022.

End of WBL

The WBL disbanded in 1981 because of financial problems throughout the league, mostly due to owners who did not pay their bills and who bounced several

payroll A payroll is the list of employees of some company that is entitled to receive payments as well as other work benefits and the amounts that each should receive. Along with the amounts that each employee should receive for time worked or tasks pe ...

checks to players and other employees. In 1981, the Minnesota Fillies players who were promised paychecks by Commissioner Sherwin Fischer, only to have him not follow through, walked off the court in Chicago ten minutes before a scheduled game with the Hustle. The game was not played despite a full house at DePaul Alumni Hall, and before long it became clear that the WBL was doomed.

References

Hustle 1978 establishments in Illinois 1981 disestablishments in Illinois Women's Professional Basketball League teams Basketball teams established in 1978 Sports clubs disestablished in 1981 Women's sports in Illinois Women in Chicago {{Illinois-basketball-team-stub