Seattle Reign (1996-1998)

American Basketball League (1996-1998)

Background

The Seattle Reign were a cleverly named women’s professional basketball team that competed for two-and-a-half seasons in the American Basketball League. The Reign had a modest but dedicated fan base that consistently filled the 4,500-seat Mercer Arena to three quarters of capacity, creating a better atmosphere than many ABL clubs that played in oversized buildings. The club also played occasional home dates at KeyArena, home of the NBA’s Seattle Sonics.

The ABL was founded in late 1995 with the aim of capitalizing on the expected strong performance of the United States women’s basketball team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.  The NBA was backing a rival start-up – the WNBA – which would fill dates at NBA arenas during the slow summer months and wouldn’t start until 1997. As expected, the Americans won Gold in Atlanta. Thanks to an earlier start in October 1996 and more generous salaries and benefits, the ABL initially lured the majority of the Olympic champions to their league.

Key Players

The Reign used their 1st round draft pick in 1996 to select 29-year old Venus Lacy, a 6′ 4″ center on the U.S. Olympic team. Lacy signed with the ABL and the Reign expected a dominant presence. Instead, Lacy endured a cursed campaign that included an arthroscopic knee surgery in midseason, followed  by a serious car accident that ended her season. Lacy was shipped to the ABL’s Long Beach Stingrays expansion franchise after the season and was never a major factor for the Reign. Seattle finished the ABL’s inaugural season 17-23 and out of the playoffs.

Prior to the ABL’s second season in 1997-98, the Reign added two outstanding rookies to the roster. Kate Starbird came out of Stanford University as the all-time leading scorer for that powerhouse program and as the Naismith Award winner as the nation’s College Player-of-the-Year. Starbird also had Washington state ties as a graduate of Lakes High School in Lakewood. The 22-year old’s three-year ABL deal came with a base salary of $150,000 plus perhaps another $100,000 in endorsements. The Seattle Times speculated that Starbird owned the richest contract in the women’s game at the time.

6′ 1″ forward Shalonda Enis was less heralded than Starbird, but ended up more impactful. The former University of Alabama star finished 5th in the ABL in scoring (18.0 ppg) and winning league Rookie-of-the-Year honors.

Despite the arrival of Enis and Starbird, the Reign finished last in the Western Conference at 15-29.

Demise & Aftermath

The Reign returned for a third season in October 1998, but by this time the ABL was financially hobbled by lack of sponsor & television interest, and competition from the far wealthier (but lower paying) WNBA.  The team played only 15 games of the 1997-98 season before the ABL ran out of money and closed its doors on December 22, 1998.

The Reign played 49 regular season home dates during their two-and-a-half year history. The club averaged 3,374 fans per game over that time. During the Reign’s debut season in 1996-97 they sold 1,155 season tickets according to The Seattle Times.

Professional women’s basketball returned to Seattle in 2000 with the arrival of the Seattle Storm expansion team in the WNBA.  The Storm have since won two WNBA championships in 2004 and 2010.

In 2013, Seattle’s new entry in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) gave new life to the “Reign” nickname, adopting the identity of Seattle Reign FC.  Reign FC owner Bill Predmore acknowledged that the name was in part a tribute to the original Reign basketball team.

Seattle Reign Shop

Links

American Basketball League Media Guides

American Basketball League Programs

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