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A Passion For Playing
Low pay, no perks, just a place for these ladies to compete and showcase their hoop skills.

Dan Hickling
MinorLeagueNews.com

Springfield, Mass. -- It stretches the imagination.

The thought of NBA Commissioner David Stern, having to personally remind the Lakers that they are 10 minutes late for the pre-game shoot around, at the Finals.

For that matter, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue pulling out his checkbook to pay game officials during the Super Bowl, also seems pretty far-fetched.

Yet, there was Pat Alexander, founder and president of the National Women's Basketball League (NWBL), attending to such mundane details during his league's showcase event, Pro Cup 2003.

That's what it's like when you are hanging around the bottom rung of the
professional sports ladder.

If something needs doing, you do it.

"I guess I should be enjoying this," said Alexander comically, as he glanced out at the floor after writing another check.

Actually, Alexander knows he is doing exactly what he wants to be doing.

Helping the dreamers, women who want to make it in professional basketball, keep the dream alive.

"The reason they play is not for money, but to be able to stay Stateside and train for about 20 weeks instead of going overseas," Alexander said. That's really what we offer."

Alexander's dream is to keep the NWBL, which has just wrapped up its third season, viable for year four, and beyond.

The league flies well beneath the radar on the sports recognition screen.
There are teams in Houston, Chicago, Springfield, Grand Rapids, Knoxville, and Birmingham, plus a new expansion franchise coming to Fort Collins, Colo.

They play in secondary venues before crowds that are a third the size of the WNBA's. .

They don't fly on company jets, or get mints on their hotel pillows.

"We wash our own uniforms," said Stacey Thomas, one of more than two dozen players that toil in both leagues

They may not have the razzle or dazzle of the WNBA, nor its NBA lifeline,
but neither does it have the gaping money hemorrhage that has threatened the WNBA's existence.

The NWBL prides itself on its frugality, which Alexander says, is the only way it can stick around.

"We looked at what has worked and what hasn't," he said. "There are three basic models. 'You pay your way, I'll pay mine', and that didn't work well in the early pro leagues. The next one, which was the ABL model is 'I own the whole league, and when I run out of money, everybody goes.' We went with the good old fashioned entrepreneurial franchise model," Alexander stated. "We sell franchises, so that everybody has a vested interest in their community to see that this succeeds."

The players have a stake in the NWBL's survival, too. There is little doubt about that.

Why else would they strain so hard just to divvy up the $22,000 or so that each team budgets for salaries?

"We're here to play the game out of love," said Stacey Thomas.

"There are a lot of individuals that would want to be in the position we're in. We're playing in a semi-pro league, but a lot of girls would love to be in our position," she added. "So for us, we can't take it for granted. We're all here, enjoying it, and improving our game."

Alexander feels the NWBL has surpassed its minor league status.

"Basically what we are is the OTHER women's professional league in the
country," he said. "The WNBA plays in the summer, we play in the spring."

"It's kind of hard when you've got Sheryl Swoopes running down the court to call us minor league. We have some of the best players in the world. The difference, obviously, is our season is a little bit shorter, we have fewer teams, and our pay scale is a lot less. At the end of the day, the product is world class. We're the real deal."

WNBA coaches and scouts were well represented at the Pro Cup, hoping to find a diamond in the rough.

"I think the likelihood is that one or two players from each of these teams will be invited to compete for a WNBA roster spot," said Detroit Shock coach Bill Laimbeer, who won a pair of NBA titles with the Pistons.

"Whether they secure that roster spot depends on how they play and the situation they work their way into," Laimbeer added. "There are a lot of ladies who that think they have game, and can play. This is their chance to show if they can make it."

In a larger sense, it's the NWBL that is auditioning for a roster spot. A spot in the heart of the paying public.

Alexander would love nothing better than to have someone else write the checks, or hustle the teams out onto the hardwood.

He figures, if that what it takes, so be it. That's how dreams become real.

"We're going to be okay," he said. " When you're only a year or two old, you don't really have a lot of credibility. But by the end of the fourth year, you're going to know a lot more about our league."

Imagine that.