Uniform

Object/Artifact

-

Shanaman Sports Museum

Name/Title

Uniform

Entry/Object ID

1998.01.01

Description

A signed Kate Starbird jersey for the Seattle Reign, the first women’s professional basketball franchise in Seattle. The Reign were a founding member of the American Basketball League and played just two seasons from 1996-98. The team played its home games at Mercer Arena that was typically filled by an average of 4,500 fans. Occasionally the team would play at KeyArena, home of the now former Seattle SuperSonics of the NBA. The ABL was founded in 1995 and hoped to play off the excitement and success of the then-upcoming U.S. Women’s Olympic basketball team which eventually won a gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games. The league was successful in luring many of the Olympic champions to various teams. The Reign selected Venus Lacy as their first-round draft pick in 1996, a 29-year-old center on the U.S. team. Seattle finished its first season with a 17-23 record and failed to make the playoffs. The next season the Reign added rookie Kate Starbird, a standout guard from Stanford University who was the Naismith winner as the college player of the year. Starbird was a Lakewood product who graduated from Lakes High School and played at Washington State. The team also added forward Shalonda Enis, a former University of Alabama star who finished fifth in the ABL in scoring (18 ppg) and was named the league’s Rookie of the Year. Despite the depth, the Reign finished last in the Western Conference at 15-29. The Reign began their third season but the league was financially unstable due to lack of sponsors and television contracts. The Reign plays 15 games into the 1997-98 season before the ABL ran out of money and shut down on Dec. 22, 1998.

Lexicon

Search Terms

Basketball, Women's, Seattle Reign, Professional/Semi-Pro, Basketball, Clothing-Outerware

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

NBA

Person or Organization

American Basketball League

Person or Organization

U.S. Women's Olympic basketball team

Person or Organization

1996 Atlanta Games

Person or Organization

Starbird, Kate

Person or Organization

Stanford University

Person or Organization

Lakewood High School

Person or Organization

Washington State University