The Dallas Wings, one of the 12 professional WNBA teams, will honor Nancy Lieberman on Sunday, June 11, during its game against the Minnesota Lynx.
In honor of her No. 10 Phoenix Mercury Jersey, The Dallas Wings are offering $10 tickets in select sections of the court using the promo code NANCYLDW10.
Throughout the game, special tributes featuring messages from Dallas Wings players and coaches and looks back on her hall of fame career will be shown – leading up to a special halftime presentation where Dallas Wings President and CEO Greg Bibb and WNBA President Lisa Borders will recognize Lieberman.
Lieberman is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and the New York, Virginia and Hampton Roads Hall of Fames.
Lieberman is a two-time Olympian, earning a silver medal for Team USA in 1976, the first year women’s basketball was included in the Olympics. At 18, she was also the youngest basketball player, male or female, to medal in Olympic history.
Lieberman is one of the most decorated female athletes in the U.S. having been the first-ever two-time winner of the Wade Trophy – an award that recognized the women’s basketball “Player of the Year” – and was once selected as the Broderick Award Winner for Basketball as the top women’s player in America.
Additionally, she is a three-time All American, two-tome collegiate national champion and two-time National Player of the Year at Old Dominion University, where, under her leadership, the Lady Monarchs attended two consecutive National Championships (’79-’80) and a WNIT Championship.
In 1981 Lieberman was a first draft pick in the first Women’s Professional Basketball League (WBL) and by 1984 she was named league MVP. She is also recognized as the only woman to play in a men’s professional sports league from her time with the United States Basketball League’s Springfield Fame in 1986 and Long Island Knights in 1987.
Lieberman came out of retirement in 1997 and became the oldest player ever to play in the WNBA at 39 with Phoenix Mercury before breaking her own record in 2008, playing at 50 with the Detroit Shock.
She was the first female coach of an NBA-umbrella team when, in 2010, she was Head Coach for the Texas Legends, the Dallas Mavericks’ NBA D-League team. Then, in 2015, she became the second woman in history to join the coaching staff of an NBA team when she served as the Assistant Coach for the Sacramento Kings.
Lieberman’s history is that of a successful and decorated athlete and coach, and shows her work as a WNBA player, WNBA and NBA coach, an author, newspaper contributor and speaker, and a general manager and sports caster. Additionally, she has worked as an analyst for ESPN/ABC and Fox Sports Oklahoma.
But in addition to all of her on the court accomplishments and work on the sidelines, Lieberman has a history of advocating for women in leadership and for women’s sports, but her community engagement does not stop there. Through the work of Nancy Lieberman Charities, established in 2009, she has helped to give scholarships and DreamCourts – safe spaces for kids to interact and play – to underserved youth. Additionally, throughout the past 37 years, Nancy Lieberman Charities has helped 3.9 million children attend basketball camps.