Lobo, WNBA still here 14 years later

What would Rebecca Lobo have said if you had told her in 1997 that 14 years later, the WNBA still would be around -- and that she still would be around it as a television analyst?

Not much, probably. She was 23 and busy playing ball.

"I don't think I thought about it in those terms," she said. "I didn't think of myself as a 37-year-old."

She does now because she is one, complete with four children under 61/2, not to mention a sportswriter -- Steve Rushin -- for a husband.

(When I told her I was impressed that she had stuck with a sportswriter for eight years, she said, "It's either impressive or showcases my lack of judgment.")

With age has come understanding of the value of the longest-running pro women's team sports league in United States history. "I've come to really appreciate the fact it is around," she said.

ESPN2 will celebrate that Tuesday night when it televises the Liberty against the Sparks in Los Angeles, a rematch of the WNBA's first game on June 21, 1997, in which Lobo played for the Liberty.

Lobo will be there, and other past and present WNBA luminaries will be part of the telecast.

The WNBA has had its difficulties, from uneven attendance to financially troubled teams to logistical challenges such as the Liberty's relocation to Newark for home games during the Garden's renovation.

But with the backing of the NBA and the infusion of strong independent owners, the league has persevered.

Lobo said this much is certain: The level of play continually has improved.

"I think the best players from 1997 would still be some of the best players in the league now," she said. "But the talent from one through 11 on the roster is better . . . It's leaps and bounds better than it was in that first year."

(Until it folded in December 1998, the ABL competed for top players with the WNBA.)

Lobo last played for the Connecticut Sun in 2003, in the state where she rose to stardom at the beginning of the University of Connecticut's dynasty.

She still lives there, balancing family and hoops. "Right now, I'm living my dream job," she said. She limits herself to about 20 pro and 20 college games each year.

March and September are hectic, but the rest of the year she mostly is home. Her two youngest children arrived in October 2008 and 2010, showing excellent timing.

"It's been a lot of fun, and I think I've definitely gotten better as I've gone along; I would hope so," she said. "There's nothing I would rather do as a job."

Do young players see her as a TV personality or do they know she actually played?

"They probably assume I played because I'm 6-4," she said. "But I would be surprised if very many of them actually saw me."

WNBA loyalists frequently remind skeptics of the decades of growing pains the NBA endured before it rose to its current status. But Lobo knows the league is far from taking anything for granted.

"It seems like it is pretty strong, but it needs to grow," she said. At the depths of the recession, no one was quite sure what would happen. "My thought was if it can survive this, then we'll be all right," she said.

The New York franchise will be tested like never before during the next three summers, with the Liberty taking temporary refuge at Prudential Center.

"It's too bad, but I understand why they're doing it," Lobo said. "There is a magic and energy about the Liberty fan base. Hopefully, some of that will transfer over."