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Nancy Lieberman
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Nancy Elizabeth Lieberman (born July 1, 1958, in Brooklyn, New York), nicknamed "Lady Magic", was a professional basketball player who played and coached in the WNBA.
Lieberman is regarded as one of the greatest figures in women's basketball.
In 2000, she was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame. Lieberman is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
974, while attending Far Rockaway High School in Queens, New York, she established herself as one of the top women's basketball players in the country by earning one of only 12 slots on the USA's National Team.
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Encyclopedia
Nancy Elizabeth Lieberman (born July 1, 1958, in Brooklyn, New York), nicknamed "Lady Magic", was a professional basketball player who played and coached in the WNBA.
Lieberman is regarded as one of the greatest figures in women's basketball.
In 2000, she was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame. Lieberman is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
Early years
In 1974, while attending Far Rockaway High School in Queens, New York, she established herself as one of the top women's basketball players in the country by earning one of only 12 slots on the USA's National Team. The following year, Lieberman was named to the USA Team designated to play in the World Championships and Pan American Games, where she brought home a gold medal in 1975 and a silver medal in 1979.
At age 17, Lieberman was named to the 1976 USA Women's Olympic Basketball Team, which she would compete at the Montreal Games in the first-ever Women's Olympic Basketball Team Competition. Shortly after turning 18, Lieberman became the youngest basketball player in Olympic history to win a medal as the United States captured the Silver Medal.
College years
From 1976 to 1980, Lieberman attended Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, and played on the women's basketball team there. During that time, she and her team won two consecutive AIAW National Championships (1979, 1980) and one NWIT (Women's National Invitation Tournament) Championship in 1978. She was the first two-time winner of the prestigious Wade Trophy, a national "player of the year" award in college women's basketball, and was selected as the Broderick Award winner for basketball as the top women's player in America. Lieberman also won three consecutive Kodak All-America awards (1978, '79, '80). Lieberman was one of six young adults to win the Young American Award from the Boy Scouts of America in 1980.
Professional career
In 1980, Lieberman earned a slot on the 1980 Olympic team, but withdrew from the squad in support of U.S. President Jimmy Carter's boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
In the 1980s, she dropped out of college to embark on a professional career in basketball. She played for several basketball teams and leagues, including the Dallas Diamonds of the Women's Pro Basketball League (WBL), a men's league called the United States Basketball League (USBL), and also with the Washington Generals, who served as the regular opponent of the Harlem Globetrotters. One of her teammates with the Generals was Tim Cline, and the two eventually married. They have since divorced.
Lieberman's WBL career is featured in the book "Mad Seasons: The Story of the First Women's Professional Basketball League, 1978-1981," by Karra Porter (University of Nebraska Press, 2006).
She was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1996 and to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.
In the newly-formed WNBA's inaugural year in 1997, Lieberman played for the Phoenix Mercury. At the age of 39, she was the WBNA's oldest player in history.
In 1998, she was hired as General Manager and Head Coach of the WNBA's Detroit Shock. She coached for three seasons but left after accusations, by unnamed players, of a sexual affair with rookie point guard Anna DeForge. After leaving the Shock, Lieberman worked as a women's basketball analyst on ESPN.
On July 24, 2008, Lieberman signed a seven-day contract with the Detroit Shock, breaking her previous record as the oldest player in league history, at 50 years old. She played one game and had two assists and two turnovers against the Houston Comets. The Comets defeated the Shock 79-61.
On August 13, 2008, she was part of the inaugural class to be inducted into the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame, honoring athletes, coaches and administrators who made contributions to sports in Southeastern Virginia.
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