American Basketball League (1996–1998)

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Template:Short description {{#invoke:other uses|otheruses}} Template:Infobox sports league 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<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the undefeated, gold medal-winning performance of the United States Women's basketball team at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

The ABL lasted two full seasons: 1996–97 and 1997–98. The Atlanta Glory and Long Beach Stingrays folded prior to 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 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, 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.<ref>Former Team Official Recounts the A.B.L.'s Dizzying Descent</ref>

Of all the ABL cities, Chicago, Seattle, and Atlanta now have WNBA teams.

1996–98 clubs

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 width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
 bar:Glory color:coral from:1996 till:1998 text:Atlanta Glory
 bar:Quest color:coral from:1996 till:end text:Columbus Quest
 bar:Blizzard color:coral from:1996 till:end text:New England Blizzard
 bar:Rage color:magenta from:1996 till:1997 text:Richmond Rage
 bar:Rage color:coral from:1997 till:end text:Philadelphia Rage
 bar:Condors color:coral from:1998 till:1999 text:Chicago Condors
 bar:Noise color:coral from:1998 till:end text:Nashville Noise
 bar:Xplosion color:skyblue from:1996 till:end text:Colorado Xplosion
 bar:Power color:skyblue from:1996 till:end text:Portland Power
 bar:Lasers color:skyblue from:1996 till:end text:San Jose Lasers
 bar:Reign color:skyblue from:1996 till:end text:Seattle Reign
 bar:Stingrays color:skyblue from:1997 till:1998 text:Long Beach Stingrays

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:1996

</timeline>

Seasons

1996–97

Template:Col-begin Template:Col-break

Eastern Conference Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip
Columbus Quest 31 9 .775
Richmond Rage 21 19 .525
Atlanta Glory 18 22 .450
New England Blizzard 16 24 .400

Template:Col-break

Western Conference Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip
Colorado Xplosion 25 15 .625
San Jose Lasers 18 22 .450
Seattle Reign 17 23 .425
Portland Power 14 26 .350

Template:Col-end 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.<ref>West beat East, according to Spokesman</ref> Template:4TeamBracket

1997–98

Template:Col-begin Template:Col-break

Eastern Conference Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip
Columbus Quest 36 8 .818
New England Blizzard 24 20 .545
Atlanta Glory 15 29 .341
Philadelphia Rage 13 31 .295

Template:Col-break

Western Conference Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip
Portland Power 27 17 .614
Long Beach Stingrays 26 18 .591
Colorado Xplosion 21 23 .477
San Jose Lasers 21 23 .477
Seattle Reign 15 29 .341

Template:Col-end 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 the Western Conference, 102–73. Template:6TeamBracket

1998–99

Template:Col-begin Template:Col-break

Eastern Conference Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip
Columbus Quest 11 3 .786
Philadelphia Rage 9 5 .643
Chicago Condors 4 8 .333
Nashville Noise 4 11 .267
New England Blizzard 3 10 .231

Template:Col-break

Western Conference Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip
Portland Power 9 4 .692
San Jose Lasers 9 6 .600
Seattle Reign 8 7 .533
Colorado Xplosion 5 8 .387

Template:Col-end The 1998–99 ABL All-Star Game was scheduled to be played on January 24, 1999, in San Jose, California, but was canceled when the league ceased operations in December 1998.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Notable players

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See also

References

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Template:Major women's sport leagues in North America

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