It’s Time to Complete the Story. 

On June 21st, 1997, Lisa Leslie, center for the Los Angeles Sparks, and Kym Hampton, center for the New York Liberty, took the ceremonial “jump ball” marking the official start of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). The WNBA’s birth is rooted in history, weighed down by forces that have sought to stifle the existence of women’s team sports, and inspired by men and women who believed that women could and should play in a professional league in the United States.