August 10, 2022
Locked on Women’s Basketball: Molly Bolin Kazmer made women’s basketball history, there’s no WNBA without WBL
By The Next
Howard gets to chat with Molly about all things women's basketball in this must-listen history lesson
It’s time for another episode of the Locked on Women’s Basketball podcast. This episode features host Howard Megdal. Following up on Tee Baker’s exceptional story about Molly Bolin Kazmer, a driving force for the WBL. Our host Howard gets to chat with Molly about all things women’s basketball in this must-listen history lesson.
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Molly Bolin talks about the history of the WBL:
“You know, I think over the years, your perspectives do shift a little bit. And while we were all in and dedicated and excited to pave the way for women’s pro basketball. We also believed in it 1,000 percent. I mean, I would have done anything to help that league succeed. And I did basically, I took low salaries, I did marketing and promotions all over the league and with the media and stuff like that.
But you know, you go through a period of time where it happened, we pursued, I was involved with five different attempts at women’s pro basketball prior to the WNBA. So it’s incredibly rewarding for those of us who know that we broke down some barriers and paved the trail for the WNBA.”
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Molly talks about the success of the WBL in the early years:
“When I was going back with our organization Legends of the Ball Inc., I put together a narrative of the league and I realized after we succeeded the first year, getting through the season with all eight teams attack, there was a huge amount of interest and people wanted to be owners. The NBA was looking at us. You know, Larry O’Brien showed up at our draft. There was so much going for us in that year two; Ann Meyers-Drysdale had just tried out with the Indiana Pacers and they came over to the league and we needed that name recognition. So we started the season on such a high note that it was so easy to visualize that success.”
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