Columbus Minks

Women’s American Basketball Association (1984)

Background

The Women’s American Basketball Association was the second attempt at launching a women’s pro hoops league in the U.S. The WABA followed in the footsteps of the Women’s Basketball League (WBL) that operated from 1978 to 1981. The new league formed in 1984, hoping to launch itself off of the anticipated Gold Medal performance of the U.S. Women at the 1984 Los Angeles Olmypics.

The WABA would play a 22-game schedule in the summer, with 8-12 franchises operating on $300,000 annual budgets.  Player salaries would range from $5,000 to $10,000 per year.

The WABA was severely disorganized and under-capitalized from the get-go.  Plans for a summer season had to be scrapped and the 1984 tip-off was pushed back to the fall.  Of the nine cities represented at the WABA’s college and free agent draft on April 25th, 1984, four dropped out or relocated before the season began.  The United States won the gold medal in women’s basketball in Los Angeles. But only two U.S. Olympians, Pam McGee and Lea Henry, agreed to play in the rickety-looking WABA.

The WABA debuted in early October 1984 with six teams: the Atlanta Comets, Chicago Spirit, Columbus Minks, Dallas Diamonds, Houston Shamrocks and the Virginia Wave.

Molly & The Minks

The Minks set up shop alongside the league office in WABA founder Bill Byrne’s home base of Columbus, Ohio.   In September 1984 the Minks signed Larry Jones as Head Coach.  Jones, 42, played ten seasons in the NBA and the American Basketball Association between 1964 and 1974.

The Minks star player was expected to be “Machine Gun” Molly Bolin, the all-time leading scorer during the WBL’s three-year run and a player whose striking appearance was often called upon to market her teams. But Bolin left Columbus right before the season opener in early October in a dispute over working conditions.

“<The Minks> were staying on an old army base outside Columbus,” Bolin told FWiL in 2011. “The weather had turned to freezing and we were walking about a mile to the cafeteria and to the gym. But the kicker was they would not turn on the heat in the dormitories for another couple weeks and I was letting the hot water in my shower run to warm up the room.  When some of the girls began to get sick, an owner’s wife took pity on us and moved us into a hotel in Columbus, which was a huge improvement.

I was offered about the same amount I made my first year <in the WPBL in 1978> so I promptly thanked the coach for ending my misery in Columbus and told him I was leaving.”

Bill Byrne convinced Bolin to return to the Minks several weeks later, with the promise of a larger salary and free housing at the Byrne family home.

Season Beyond Reason

The WABA’s start-up dysfunction carried over into a predictably disastrous regular season.  The Atlanta Comets ownership pulled out just prior to the opener.  Seven of Atlanta’s unpaid players boycotted a November home game.  The Chicago Spirit drew an estimated crowd of just 150 to their first game.

The Minks made their home debut on October 9th, 1984, defeating the Atlanta Comets 103-98 in overtime before an announced crowd of 723.  The Minks’ second game on October 30th drew 503 fans. A November 1st match up against the Houston Shamrocks drew just 251.

On November 28th, 1984 Byrne announced that six to twelve games would be cut from the end of the WABA regular season schedule.

“Houston’s 3-15 and there’s no reason in the world to fly them <into Columbus> for $12,000 for a game that won’t affect the standings at all,” Byrne told The Associated Press.  “As far as we’re concerned, these games are being treated just like rainouts in baseball.  If a team is out of the race and has rainouts to make up that don’t affect anybody, they sometimes forget them, and that’s just what we’re doing.”

The End

The following day, disgruntled WABA team investors led by Dallas Diamonds owner Ed Dubaj forced Byrne to resign.  Dubaj shuttered the league office in Columbus and immediately cancelled the remaining games of the three most financially troubled franchises – Atlanta, the Virginia Wave and the Minks.   The Minks finished their only campaign with a 12-5 record, five games short of completing their 22-game schedule.

The WABA played its final contest a few weeks later in December 1984 and faded into history.

Columbus Minks Shop

Contains Affiliate Links

The Legend of Molly Bolin: Women’s Pro Basketball Trailblazer
By Stephen H. Provost

Minks Video

The WABA struck a television deal with the Satellite Programming Network, a Tulsa-based syndicator of old movies and talk shows (which later morphed into CNBC in 1989).  Molly Bolin unearthed this rare broadcast footage from a Minks home game against the Dallas Diamonds at the Ohio State Faigrounds Coliseum and posted it to her Youtube page.

Downloads

2011 FWiL interview with Minks star Molly Bolin

Cheryl Orcholski’s WABA Standard Player Contract

1984 Women’s American Basketball Association Media Guide

Links

Women’s American Basketball Association Media Guides

Women’s American Basketball Association Programs

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