American Basketball League (1996-1998)
Tombstone
Born: February 7, 1996 – ABL founding franchise
Folded: December 22, 1998
First Game: October 18, 1996 (W 82-75 vs. Seattle Reign)
Last Game: December 20, 1998 (W 66-57 vs. Chicago Condors)
ABL Championships: None
Arenas
Denver Coliseum (9,600)11997-98 American Basketball League Media Guide
Opened: 1951
McNichols Arena (17,171)21997-98 American Basketball League Media Guide
Opened: 1975
Demolished: 2000
Marketing
Team Colors: Black, Blue (PMS 282) & Yellow (PMS 109)31997-98 American Basketball League Media Guide
Ownership
Owner: American Basketball League
Attendance
The Xplosion split their home games between McNichols Arena and the smaller Denver Coliseum in each of their seasons.
A February 1st, 1998 game at McNichols against the New England Blizzard set the club’s all-time mark with 13,489 fans on hand.
Tilting your mobile device may offer better viewing.
Sources:
- 1997-98 American Basketball League Media Guide (1996-97 Figures)
- 1998-99 San Jose Lasers Media Guide (1997-98 Figures)
- Fun While It Lasted box score analysis of all 63 1998-99 ABL games from NewspapersArchives.com.
Record Book
ABL Defensive Player-of-the-Year
- 1996-97: Debbie Black
ABL New Pro Award (first-year pro)
- 1996-97: Crystal Robinson
Background
The Colorado Xplosion were the Denver franchise in the women’s American Basketball League, which lasted for two-and-a-half seasons from 1996 to 1998. After the 1996 Olympics, two rival women’s leagues sprung up. The bootstrap ABL launched first, played in the winter time, offered the best pay, and initially signed many of the best Olympic-caliber women’s players. The NBA-backed Women’s National Basketball Association had David Stern’s marketing machine behind it, richer owners and better television and media deals. In less than three years, the WNBA and the generally challenging marketplace for women’s pro sports drove the ABL to bankruptcy in December 1998.
The Xplosion were a pretty strong club. In the ABL’s inaugural season, they had the second best record in the regular season at 25-15. But the Richmond Rage bounced Colorado in the first round of the playoffs. During their second season, the Xplosion regressed a bit, barely making the playoffs at 21-23. Once again, they lost in the first round, this time to the Long Beach Stingrays. Season three saw the Xplosion off to slow start and in last place in their division at 5-8 when the ABL abruptly shut down on December 22, 1998, having run out of money to continue operations.
Black, Robinson Top Performers
Top players included two-time ABL All-Stars Debbie Black and Crystal Robinson. Black was the shortest player in the league at 5′ 3″. Remarkably, she ranked among the league’s top 15 total rebounders during the ABL’s first two seasons. She also was the ABL’s all-time steals leader and ranked third in assists for the two full seasons the league completed. Robinson led the Colorado Xplosion in scoring both seasons was among the league’s top three-point threats.
Sylvia Crawley drew the most national media attention for the team. The 6′ 5″ forward executed a blindfolded dunk at the 1998 ABL All-Star Game and won what was billed as the first ever slam dunk contest for women.
Colorado Xplosion Shop
Links
###
2 Responses
I have a 1996 Colorado xplosion team poster signed by all the players and coach can anyone tell me the value? it has no coas. thanks
Like anything else from the minor leagues – women’s sports in particular – there are no firm “values”. It’s whatever the right buyer is willing to pay. And, of course, the condition. If there are small rips or tears to the corners, or if the signatures are smudged, faded or in ballpoint pen rather than bold, clear Sharpie, the value won’t be much. The normal place to sell such items is eBay – but the audience for women’s basketball memorabilia is so small that you are unlikely to generate the kind of bidding war that will drive up the value. My best guess is that it would fetch about $25.00 – $30.00 eventually if you listed it as a “Buy It Now” item on e-Bay – but might take weeks or months to find a buyer interested in the Coloradoo Xplosion or the ABL. We sell a bunch of women’s basketball and women’s pro soccer memorabilia in our store, but frankly it just sits there. Very limited market. Sorry to be a downer. Good luck! AC