The date was June 21, 1997, at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California.
After a little more than a year of preparation, the Women’s National Basketball Association was ready to begin its inaugural season.
Lisa Leslie, who played high school basketball a few blocks from the venue, won the opening tip for the Los Angeles Sparks, who were facing off against the New York Liberty and Leslie’s Team USA teammate Rebecca Lobo.
The duo won a gold medal together at the 1996 Summer Olympics, but Lobo got the best of Leslie on this day, scoring 16 points to lead New York to a 67-57 victory.
Nearly 24 years later, L.A. and New York faced off once again — albeit this time at the Los Angeles Convention Center — as the WNBA celebrated its 25th anniversary season with a rematch of its first game.
The result was more of the same, as the Liberty once again got the best of the Sparks.
Many of the players on both teams were quite young (or not even born!) when the league kicked off.
Looking back
In 1996, one year before games were to be played, then-NBA commissioner David Stern announced a plan for a women’s basketball league that would partner with the NBA. At last, some of the best athletes in the world could find a professional home on a basketball court in North America.
The…
