Debbie "The Pearl" Mason is an American former professional basketball player who played 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). Mason played for the

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the Queens borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its 80-acre campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body representing more than 170 ...

women's basketball team from 1971 to 1975. She went on to play professional basketball in Sweden for a single season before returning to the United States to play for the

New York Stars New York Stars could refer to: *New York Stars (WBL), a team that played two seasons in the Women's Professional Basketball League before disbanding in 1980 *New York Stars (WFL), a team in the World Football League that relocated in 1974 and becam ...

. She was cut from the Stars due to her small stature (5 ft 5 in), and then signed to the

New Jersey Gems The New Jersey Gems was a franchise that played in the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL), one of only three teams in the league to survive through all three seasons, from 1978–79 to 1980–81. The team made the league playoffs once, lo ...

, who felt her skills could make up for size. Mason was inducted into the

NYC Basketball Hall of Fame The New York City Basketball Hall of Fame is a hall of fame that celebrates over 120 years of basketball in New York by recognizing and honoring the best basketball players, coaches, referees, promoters and contributors in the history of New ...

in 2011 in recognition of her contributions to basketball history, the third woman to ever receive this honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Debbie Living people Queens College, City University of New York alumni Queens Knights athletes Women's Professional Basketball League players American women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Sweden Year of birth missing (living people)