THE N.B.A.'S SISTER ACT

PRO HOOPS GETS A NEW SEASON AND A NEW GENDER WITH THE SUCCESSFUL START-UP OF THE W.N.B.A.

An hour and a half before the tip-off last Wednesday, the doors of the Charlotte Coliseum swung open, and America came pouring in. Families, senior citizens, teenage girls and boys--still damp from the rains that had pelted the Carolinas--entered the arena popularly known as the Hive and began buzzing around the souvenir stands and the floor on which the players practiced. Charlotte was about to play New York, and the excitement was as palpable as it would be before any game between the Hornets and the Knicks.

Except this was July, the teams were called the Sting and the Liberty, and...

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