The American Basketball League , often abbreviated to the ABL of 1996 was a professional women's basketball league in the United States. At the same time the ABL was being formed, the National Basketball Association (NBA) was creating the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The ABL began league competition in the Fall of 1996, while the WNBA launched its first game in June 1997. Both organizations came into existence during a surge in popularity for women's basketball in the United States that followed the perfect 35–0 national championship season for the Connecticut Huskies in 1995 and the undefeated, gold medal-winning performance of the United States Women's basketball team at the 1996 Summer Olympics .
7-539: The Chicago Condors were a very short-lived member of the American Basketball League (ABL). Their hometown was much larger than usual for the ABL, which mainly targeted mid-market cities, and initial team merchandising was successful. The team appeared to have a solid base. General manager Allison Hodges was the wife of former Chicago Bulls star Craig Hodges , and former Bulls assistant Jim Cleamons
14-532: A call that the ABL was about to fold. Minutes later, she got another call saying that the season was back on. Only 12 games into their first season, the team was forced to disband when, on December 22, 1998, the ABL suddenly went bankrupt and folded, though Hodges told The New York Times that she believed the league was on its last legs before then. American Basketball League (1996%E2%80%931998) The ABL lasted two full seasons: 1996–97 and 1997–98. The Atlanta Glory and Long Beach Stingrays folded prior to
21-667: The ABL cities, Chicago , Seattle , and Atlanta now have WNBA teams. The 1996–97 ABL All-Star Game was played on December 15, 1996, at the Hartford Civic Center . The Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference, 81–65, and the game's MVP was Tari Phillips . The 1997–98 ABL All-Star Game was played on January 18, 1998, at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida . The Eastern Conference defeated
28-584: The ABL found the WNBA's stronger financial resources—augmented by the NBA's marketing machine—to be too much to overcome. The league operated as a single-entity structure, which was intended to control costs until it found its feet. However, it also meant that even the most basic decisions related to team operations had to go through the league office in Palo Alto, California . The ABL was also under-financed. Of all
35-435: The rival league. This was partly due to the league's signing of a majority of players from the 1996 USA women's national team. Although the WNBA was bankrolled by the NBA, the ABL offered higher salaries. The two leagues did not compete directly; the ABL played during the winter while the WNBA played during the summer. However, this arrangement put the ABL in competition with the established men's NBA for an audience. Ultimately,
42-468: The start of the 1998–99 season, and were replaced by two expansion teams, the Chicago Condors and Nashville Noise . On December 22, 1998, with almost no warning, the ABL declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy and suspended operations. Each team had played between 12 and 15 games of the 1998–99 season. The ABL got off the ground before the WNBA, and at least early on its quality of play was higher than
49-480: Was head coach. In the ABL expansion draft leading up to the team's first season, the Condors selected Tausha Mills , Ashley Berggren , Ryneldi Becenti , Cathy Boswell , E.C. Hill , Anita Kaplan and Dana Wilkerson . They later added Joanne McCarthy and Beverly Williams to the roster. The team's existence almost ended before it began. According to Hodges, she was about to announce the team's name when she got
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