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The Women's National Basketball Association or WNBA is an organization governing a professional basketball league for women in the United States. Formed in 1996, the league started play in 1997. Penny Toler was the first woman to score a point in the league, and Lisa Leslie was the first one to make a dunk basket.
Although most WNBA teams play in the same venue as their counterpart NBA teams, they do not garner the same attendance, nor the TV ratings.
Officially approved by the NBA Board of Governors on April 24, 1996, the creation of the WNBA was first announced at a press conference with Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes in attendance. While not the first major women's professional basketball league in the United States (a distinction held by the now defunct ABL), the WNBA is the only league to receive full backing of the NBA, the world's most competitive professional basketball league.
On the heels of a much-publicized gold medal run by the USA Women's Basketball team at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, the WNBA started its first season in June 1997 to much fanfare. The league started its first season with eight teams; the first WNBA game featured the New York Liberty facing the Los Angeles SparksThe Los Angeles Sparks are a Women's National Basketball Association team that was formed in 1997, being one of the teams that participated in the league's inaugural game. They play at the Staples Center. Uniform Golden with purple lines on the side at ho in Los Angeles. The game was televised nationally in the United States on the NBCSteff Geissbuhler. The feathers are said to represent the network's six divisions. NBC Universal Television is an American television network based in New York's Rockefeller Center. As of May 2004, it became part of NBC Universal. NBC supplies programming television network. At the start of the 1997 season, the WNBA had television deals in place with NBCSteff Geissbuhler. The feathers are said to represent the network's six divisions. NBC Universal Television is an American television network based in New York's Rockefeller Center. As of May 2004, it became part of NBC Universal. NBC supplies programming, ESPNESPN which stood for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network was founded as an American cable TV network dedicated to sports 24 hours a day, by Scott Rasmussen and his father Bill Rasmussen. It launched on September 7, 1979. Its signature telecast, S and the Lifetime Television Network .
The WNBA centered its marketing campaign, dubbed "We Got Next", around stars Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes. However, in the league's first season, Leslie's team underperformed and Swoopes sat out the season due to her pregnancy. The league's true star emerged in 1997 WNBA MVP Cynthia Cooper, who led her Houston Comets team to victory over the New York Liberty in the first WNBA Championship game.