The Women's Professional Basketball League 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 women's basketball league in the United States.
Women's basketball became popular, spreading from the east to west coast of the United States in large part via women's college competitions. As of 2020, women's basketball is played globally, with basketball being one of the most popular and fastest growing sports in the world.
Nancy Elizabeth Lieberman, 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 Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA) as well as the head coach of Power, a team in the BIG3 which she led to its 2018 Championship. Lieberman is regarded as one of the greatest figures in American women's basketball.
Ann Meyers Drysdale is an American former basketball player and sportscaster. She was a standout player in high school, college, the Olympic Games, international tournaments, and the professional levels.
Donna Geils Orender is a sports executive and a former collegiate and professional basketball player. She was formerly president of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and senior vice president of the PGA. Currently, Orender is the founder and CEO of Orender Unlimited, a Jacksonville, FL based advisory and consultancy firm. She travels the world as a motivational speaker and advocating for the empowerment of women and young girls through her non-profit organization Generation W.
Lusia Harris-Stewart is a former American 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 Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) National Championships, the predecessors to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships, from 1975 to 1977. In international level, she represented the United States' national team and won the silver medal in the 1976 Olympic Games, the first women's basketball tournament in the Olympic Games. She played professional basketball with the Houston Angels of the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL) and was the first and only woman ever officially drafted by the National Basketball Association (NBA), a men's professional basketball league. For her achievements, Harris has been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
The Chicago Hustle was a team in the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL) from 1978 to 1981. The team's colors were red and blue.
Greg Williams is a retired American basketball coach, most recently head coach of the women's basketball program at Rice University.
{{Infobox sportsperson | birth_date = 24 December 1982 | birth_place = | birth_name = Natalie Purcell | death_date = | death_place = | team = [[SWMP Basketball [South West Metro Pirates]] | position = Small forward | medaltemplates = |- ! Representing New Zealand |- ! Women's Basketball |- ! Commonwealth Games |- | | 2018 Gold Coast | Team competition }}
Işıl Alben is a Turkish professional basketball player for Botaş, who is often considered to be among the top Turkish female athletes. She is the legendary former captain of Galatasaray. She was the captain of the team that won the EuroLeague title in 2014.
The Iowa Cornets was a team that played for two seasons in the Women's Professional Basketball League. George Nissen purchased the first franchise in the fledgling league on March 21, 1978 for $50,000. Nissen, who had been a star gymnast at the University of Iowa in the 1930s, pioneered the manufacture and sale of the modern trampoline at his Griswold-Nissen Trampoline & Tumbling Co. in Cedar Rapids. The team made it to the league's championship series both seasons, falling to the Houston Angels in 1978-79 and to the New York Stars in 1979–80. The team played their games at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines, Iowa and at the Five Seasons Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The Women's Basketball League (WBL) is the highest level of women's basketball in the Netherlands. The first season was played in 1949. Blue Stars is the record titleholder of the league with 20 championships. As of 2021, the league consists of nine teams.
The Basketball Champions League (BCL) is an annual professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the top-level competition organised by FIBA Europe, therefore the champion participates in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
"Machine Gun" Molly Bolin is a retired American basketball player who mainly played for the Women's Professional Basketball League. Although her accomplishments for the most part went unrecognized, Bolin, who was the first player signed to play in the WBL, became a pioneering figure in women's basketball, both as a formidable scoring threat and as a sex symbol of the league. Among her accolades, Bolin holds the record for the most points scored in a single game by any professional women's basketball player (55) and the highest single-season scoring average (32.8).
Pearl Moore is a retired American professional basketball player who played for the Women's Professional Basketball League. During her collegiate career at Francis Marion University, Moore established herself as one of the most prolific scorers in college history, male or female, and is the all-time career-scoring leader in women's college basketball. In 1979, she began her WBL career, playing with the New York Stars, then, the following season, Moore joined the St. Louis Streak. Moore was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.
Brasheedah Elohim is an American-Israeli basketball player and tennis player. During her professional women's basketball career in Israel, she played for Ramat HaSharon, Ashdod, Ramla, and Jerusalem. She was a member of the 2016 Israel women's national basketball team.
Martini Sparks is a Dutch women's basketball club based in Haren. Since its establishment in 2018, it plays in the Vrouwen Basketball League (VBL), the highest tier in the Netherlands.
Batouwe Basketball is a Dutch basketball club based in Bemmel. Its women's team separated in 2010 to play as Lecdetec.nl Women's Basketball League. The women won the national championship two times, in 2015 and 2017. The men's team plays in the Promotiedivisie as Dreamfield Dolphins.
