The Women's Professional Basketball League (abbreviated WBL) was a professional

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It was first played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large parts via women's college compet ...

league in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The league played three seasons from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1981. The league was the first professional women's basketball league in the United States.

Formation and 1978–79 season

The WPBL was founded by sports entrepreneur Bill Byrne. The league began with a player draft held in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

's Essex House in July 1978, with eight teams participating. While few of the teams had firm commitments on playing locations (or team names, for that matter), the league planned to play a 34-game season with teams in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Houston drafted

Ann Meyers Ann Meyers Drysdale (born Ann Elizabeth Meyers; March 26, 1955) is an American retired pro basketball player and a sportscaster. She was a standout player in high school, college, the Olympic Games, international tournaments, and at professiona ...

from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, while New Jersey's top choice

Carol Blazejowski Carol Ann Blazejowski (born September 29, 1956) is an American former basketball player and the former president and general manager of the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Blazejowski was inducted in the in ...

Montclair State College Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Clifton and into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public un ...

said that she wanted to retain her amateur standing to be eligible to play in the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

Lusia Harris Lusia Mae Harris (February 10, 1955 – January 18, 2022) was an American professional basketball player. Harris is considered to be one of the pioneers of women's basketball. She played for Delta State University and won three consecutive Ass ...

, a collegiate star at

Delta State University Delta State University (DSU) is a public university in Cleveland, Mississippi, a city in the Mississippi Delta. History The school was established in 1924 by the State of Mississippi, using the facilities of the former Bolivar County Agricultu ...

, was selected by the Houston team, but was reluctant to commit to playing after hearing the $3,000 to $5,000 salaries estimated by the Minnesota franchise. With its last pick in the draft, the Cornets selected

Uljana Semjonova Iulijana Larionovna Semjonova (; born 9 March 1952) is a retired Latvian basketball player of Russian descent who competed for the Soviet Union. Semjonova was the leading women's basketball player in the world in the 1970s and 1980s. Wearing a m ...

, a 6-foot-11-inch player for the

Soviet Union women's national basketball team The Soviet Union women's national basketball team () was the women's basketball side that represented the Soviet Union in international competitions. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Post-Soviet states, successor countries ...

who would be inducted as an inaugural member of the

Women's Basketball Hall of Fame The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's bask ...

in the class of 1999, but would never play a game in the WBL. 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 ...

selected

from

, but she announced while on tour in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

with the U.S. national women's team through her coach

Maureen Wendelken Maureen is a female name, the female form of the male name Maurice. In Gaelic, it is Máirín, a pet form of ''Máire'' (the Irish cognate of Mary), which is derived from the Hebrew Miriam. Some notable bearers of the name are: People * Maure ...

that she had no intention of playing professionally and that her goal was to retain her amateur standing to be able to play for the U.S. at the

Molly Bolin "Machine Gun" Molly Bolin (born Monna Lea Van Benthuysen; November 13, 1957) is an American former basketball player. Following a college basketball, college career at Grand View University, she went on to star at the first women's professional ba ...

, who grew up in Moravia, Iowa, became the first player signed by any team in the WBL when she was signed by the Iowa Cornets. The league played its first game on December 9, 1978, between the Chicago Hustle and the Milwaukee Does at the Milwaukee Arena, with the league's inaugural game attracting four minutes of coverage in the previous night's ''

CBS Evening News The ''CBS Evening News'' is the flagship evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The ''CBS Evening News'' is a daily evening broadcast featu ...

'' with

Walter Cronkite Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' from 1962 to 1981. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trust ...

. Milwaukee mayor

Henry Maier Henry Walter Maier (February 7, 1918 – July 17, 1994) was an American politician and the longest-serving mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, holding office from 1960 to 1988. A Democrat, Maier was a powerful and controversial figure, presiding ove ...

issued a proclamation likening this first game to the first professional football game, played in

Latrobe, Pennsylvania Latrobe ( ) is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,060 as of the 2020 census. A part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, it is located near Pennsylvania's scenic Chestnut Ridge. Latrobe was incorpo ...

, and the first pro baseball game, played in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

.Harvin, Al
"Female Pros Make History; Playing Game Alone"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', December 10, 1978. Accessed July 26, 2010. The Does had a crowd of 7,824 at the game, which saw the hometown team lose to Chicago 92–87, with Debra Waddy Rossow scoring 30 points to lead the Hustle. The league was divided into two divisions, with Chicago, Milwaukee, Iowa and Minnesota Fillies playing in the Western Division, while the Dayton Rockettes, Houston Angels,

and New York Stars were in the East. The eight initial teams paid $50,000 for their franchise, while the four teams to be added for the 1979–80 season were expected to pay $100,000, and $250,000 per team for each of four more teams in the following season. The league was able to arrange an All-Star game in 1979, which was played at the

Felt Forum The Theater at Madison Square Garden is a Theater (structure), theater located in New York City's Madison Square Garden (MSG). It seats between 2,000 and 5,600 people and is used for concerts, shows, sports, meetings, and other events. It is situ ...

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 Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

in front of 2,731 fans. The game was hastily arranged and inserted into the league's schedule, using a court borrowed from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

at West Point, and forcing some players to have to make hectic travel arrangements to get to their next regular season game. The East beat the Midwest by a score of 112–99. Althea Gwyn of the New York Stars led the East with 19 points and 16 rebounds, while Chicago Hustle players Debra Waddy Rossow with 26 points and Rita Easterling with 19 points led the Midwest. Easterling, who also had 18 assists, was named the game's most valuable player. Behind 36 points by Paula Mayo, the Houston Angels defeated the Iowa Cornets on May 2, 1979, to take the league's first championship, 111–104 in the final game of a best three-out-of-five competition.

1979–80 season

The league made it through its first season with all eight teams in operation, though the Dayton Rockettes had been taken over by the league in February 1979 and was to be relocated to either

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Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. New franchises had been awarded to

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, while applications were received for potential franchises from

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Los Angeles,

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and

The Eastern Division included the New Jersey Gems, New Orleans Pride, New York Stars, Philadelphia Fox, St. Louis Streak and Washington Metros. The Midwest Division included the Chicago Hustle, Iowa Cornets, Milwaukee Does and Minnesota Fillies. The Western Division included the California Dreams, Dallas Diamonds, Houston Angels and San Francisco Pioneers. On January 30, 1980, the West defeated the East, 115–112, in the 1980 WBL All-Star Game. On April 9, 1980, despite Iowa's league-leading scorer

's 36 points, the New York Stars held on to win game four of the finals 125–114, behind 27 points by Pearl Moore and 22 by Janice Thomas. Stars coach Dean Meminger called the game the "culmination of a year of hard work". In what proved to be a harbinger of things to come, however, the Stars asked to go on a two-year hiatus not long after winning the title.

1980–81 season and demise

In a game scheduled in

on March 21, 1981, players of the Minnesota Fillies, one of only three teams to play in all three seasons that the league was in existence, walked off the court before the starting lineups were announced in a game against the Chicago Hustle in a protest over unpaid salaries. Referees and team coach Terry Kunze tried to cajole the players back onto the court to play their game, but were unsuccessful. The team, which had been averaging 1,000 to 1,500 in attendance per game, were suspended from the WPBL by commissioner Sherwin Fischer, who called the walkout as "very detrimental to the league". On February 7, 1981, Nebraska Wranglers player Connie Kunzmann was reported missing and was later pronounced dead. Police arrested Lance Tibke, who later pleaded guilty to her second degree murder. The Nebraska Wranglers won the league's 1980–81 title, defeating the

Dallas Diamonds The Dallas Diamonds was a women's Professional sports, professional American football team in the Women's Football Alliance (WFA). The Diamonds were made up of 46 Player (game), players and a coaching staff of 10. The Diamonds won four nation ...

three games to two. In the fifth and final game,

Rosie Walker Rosie Walker (born 1957) is an American former basketball player. She played college basketball for Stephen F. Austin State University. After college, she was drafted by the Nebraska Wranglers in the 1980 Women's Professional Basketball League (W ...

led the victors with 39 points, while the Wranglers' defense held

Nancy Lieberman Nancy Ilizabeth Lieberman (born July 1, 1958), nicknamed "Lady Magic", is an American former professional basketball player and coach in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) who is currently a broadcaster for the Oklahoma City Thun ...

of Dallas to 12 points, less than half of her season average. Bill Byrne had founded the league hoping that the

would showcase the game's stars and bring media and public attention to

, but the United States-led boycott of the

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

games only added to the league's misfortunes. By the fall of 1981, the league was showing what ''

'' described as "feeble flickers of life." That November, commissioner Dave Almstead announced the league had disbanded, having generated $14 million in losses in its three years on the court. Almstead, who had succeeded Fischer as league commissioner in May 1981, announced the league's shutdown after trying unsuccessfully to contact the surviving eight teams' investors and team owners. Fischer, owner of the Chicago Hustle, insisted that he would field a team that would go barnstorming if the league went out of existence, and thought that teams would be fielded for a fourth season by Chicago, Nebraska and New Orleans. Some of the players were able to play professionally again in the 1984 Women's American Basketball Association.Rogers, Thomas
"SPORTS WORLD SPECIALS; Dead or Alive?"
''

'', November 23, 1981. Accessed July 26, 2010.

Teams

California Dreams ''California Dreams'' is an American teen sitcom that aired on NBC. It was part of the network's Saturday morning block, TNBC, premiering on September 12, 1992. Created by writers Brett Dewey and Ronald B. Solomon, and executive produced by ...

(1979–80) * Chicago Hustle (1978–81) *

(1979–81) * Dayton Rockettes (1978–79) * Houston Angels (1978–80) * Iowa Cornets (1978–80) * Milwaukee Does (1978–80) * Minnesota Fillies (1978–81) * Nebraska Wranglers (1980–81) *

New England Gulls 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 ...

(1980–81) *

(1978–81) * New Orleans Pride (1979–81) * New York Stars (1978–80) * Philadelphia Fox (1979–80) * St. Louis Streak (1979–81) * San Francisco Pioneers (1979–81) * Tampa Bay Sun (planned expansion team in 1980, sold before the start of the season and became the New England Gulls) *

Washington Metros The Washington Metros were a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. that was a member of the Eastern Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketbal ...

(1979–80)

League champions

*1978–79 Houston Angels *1979–80 New York Stars *1980–81 Nebraska Wranglers

Selected notable players

, now the general manager for the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Confer ...

*"Machine Gun"

, co-MVP for the 1979–80 season *

Brenda Chapman Brenda Chapman (born ) is an American animator, screenwriter, storyboard artist, and director. In 1998, she became the first woman to direct an animated feature from a major studio, DreamWorks Animation's ''The Prince of Egypt''. In 2012, she ...

, the WBL scoring leader in the 1978–79 season * Denise "Neicy" Craig, former Dayton Rockettes player, Hall of Fame inductee of

Shaw University Shaw University is a private historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded on December 1, 1865, Shaw University is the oldest HBCU to begin offering courses in the Southern United States. The school had its origin in the fo ...

, Hall of Fame inductee of CIAA, Hall of Fame inductee of Princeton High School Athletics, Princeton, New Jersey * Rita Easterling, MVP for the 1978–79 season *Donna Geils, now Donna Orender, former president of the WNBA * Althea Gwyn * Cardie Hicks, one of the first women known to have dunked in a professional game, doing so while playing professionally in the Netherlands in 1978. * Marie Kocurek *

, former

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

player, first-ever coach of the

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. Th ...

, now a basketball analyst on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

Muffet McGraw Muffet McGraw (; born December 5, 1955) is an American former college basketball coach and analyst, who served as the head women's basketball coach at Notre Dame from 1987 to 2020, compiling a 848–252 (.771) record over 33 seasons. Career McG ...

, former head coach at

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

, top pick in the WBL draft in 1978 for the Houston Angels, WBL Co-MVP for the 1979–1980 season playing for the New Jersey Gems, now the general manager for the

* Anita Ortega, played with the San Francisco Pioneers and a brief stint with the Minnesota Fillies. She was one of the women that decided not to play in a Fillies game due to contractual violations by the owners. She was a 1980 WBL All-Star and described as the "Dr.J" of her time because of her crafty athletic moves. She later became the highest ranking Afro-Puerto Rican in the

Los Angeles Police Department The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...

. * Mary Jo Peppler, renowned volleyball player and coach and ABC '' Superstars'' champion who played for the New Jersey Gems in 1978-79 * Rhonda Rompola, head coach at

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

from 1991 to 2016 * Susan Summons, 3rd round draft pick by the

and later traded to the New England Gulls, now head coach at

Miami Dade College Miami Dade College (MDC) is a public university, public college located in Miami, Miami, Florida, United States. Established in 1959, MDC operates eight campuses and numerous outreach centers throughout Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade Count ...

, MVP for the 1980–81 season * Kaye Young, later known as Kaye Young Cowher, the late wife of

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach Bill Cowher

References

External links

WBL history with standings

Women's Professional basketball research
{{Major women's sport leagues in North America 1978 establishments in New York City