"We were the guinea pigs of professional league": South Carolina HC Dawn Staley shares how the '96 Team USA pioneered women's basketball

Dawn Staley shares how the success of Team USA in the 1996 Olympics changed the course of women's basketball. She said that her teammates were like "guinea pigs" for the NBA board before the creation of the WNBA and ABL. The head coach of the South Carolina basketball team was part of Team USA, which had an undefeated run to the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

In a video shared by the Instagram page of 'All the Smoke,' she recounted her experiences with training, victory, and the impact the 1996 Olympic victory had on the history of women's basketball.

"We were the guinea pigs of professional league because after that after we were done with the Olympic games two professional leagues were birthed: The WNBA and the ABL," Staley said.

Dawn Staley shared that 9 out of 12 Olympians played in the ABL. Further, she said that three players—Lisa Leslie, Rebecca Lobo, and Sheryl Swoopes—played in the WNBA.

Prior to Team USA's success at the 1996 Olympics, women's basketball was limited to the college level. Because of the lack of professional leagues, top intercollegiate basketball players would either fade from the national stage or go to play overseas due to the absence of professional leagues.

Riding on the wave of popularity of women's basketball, the NBA gave the green light to the creation of the WNBA in April 1996. The first season of the league began in 1997.

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Staley has won three gold medals as a player and one gold as a coach in the Olympic Games.

As a player, Staley won gold at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and the Athens Olympics in 2004. She was the head coach of Team USA at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which were held in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

What do you think about the perspective of Dawn Staley about how impactful the 1996 Olympic victory was for women's basketball? Let us know in the comments section below.