Powered by Cheez-It®, Pulse Check is a series that dives into basketball's rich history and enduring impact. In the fourth of five installments, we’ll explore the history behind the WNBA’s meteoric rise into the mainstream.

It’s 2025, and women’s basketball is undeniable. Plain and simple. What we’re currently witnessing is the dawn of the most prolific era in the women’s game, a period marked by arguably the most talented generation of female hoopers and their unique play styles. 

Names like Caitlin Clark and A’ja Wilson or Paige Beuckers and Angel Reese are evolving into those of the household variety–fronting commercials and campaigns–giving spectators faces to attribute this booming sensation to. Success at the top has inevitably trickled down, elevating the sport for women at every level, with a few promising prospects already standing out in the queue—make sure to keep JuJu Watkins top of mind. 

Another thing we–by which I mean those who are just now getting hip–need to understand is that women’s ball didn’t just suddenly become a sporting phenomenon demanding your attention. While observing these high-level athletes actively rewriting the narrative, viewers should recognize the foundational pieces and formative moments it took to reach a point where one WNBA team can earn 41 nationally televised games in a single season—which, for the record, is more than a few historic NBA franchises tallied last year. 

In the 1890s, women were early adopters of basketball during the sport’s infant years. At a time when there was little gender equity in most areas of culture, the budding game allowed women to push boundaries and make significant headway in this regard. Seeing basketball’s latent potential, author and physical education instructor Senda Berenson Abbott arrived as the first prominent figure helping advance and grow the sport for women. Recognized as the “Mother of Women’s Basketball,” Abbott, a temporary professor at Massachusetts’ Smith College in 1892, adapted the rules to ensure students who participated upheld their “ladylike nature” without completely compromising the activities’s enjoyability. Following successful trials at Smith, Abbott’s version of the hoops quickly captivated women of all ages, spreading to different colleges and recreational organizations across America.  

Basketball was now a fixture in early women’s sports as more and more institutions brought the game under their umbrella. By the 1970s, women’s hoops had done away with the archaic regulations and shifted to mirror the more physical and active gameplay we usually associate with the sport. Still, it was the implementation of Title IX in 1972, a landmark law prohibiting sex discrimination in sports, that inspired even more women to lace up and take the court. In the years following the influential legislation, the Women’s Basketball League was formed in 1978, marking the beginning of women’s pro ball in the States. While the league only lasted three seasons and failed due to financial instability, it left a lasting imprint on a new crop of hungry competitors who realized just how far the game could take them. 

Without legitimized professional hoops, women’s college basketball filled the void. Icons like USC’s Cheryl Miller, Tennesse’s Pat Summitt, and UConn’s Geno Auriemma shouldered the sport in the intermediary–racking up countless national titles, developing elite talent, and garnering well-deserved attention for a sport continuing to make surging progress. This collegiate boom sustained the game through the ‘80s and ‘90s as it prepared for its next transformational chapter.  

Almost two decades later, in 1996, the NBA Board of Governors approved a proposal to create the WNBA, bringing back pro basketball for female athletes in a meaningful way. 1997 marked the W’s genesis, with the original eight teams scattered across cities like Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, and Houston—setting the stage for several legends to dominate the hardwood. All-time greats like Sheryl Swoops, Lisa Leslie, and Rebecca Lobo stand as the founding cohort who set the tone for the nascent organization, giving the league strong cornerstones to build around. Through the 2000s, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, and Candace Parker helped establish a clear identity for the league—one defined by its status as a top professional league in the world.

What exists today are the fruits of decades spent substantiating the women’s game globally–and we, as spectators, are reaping the benefits. The modern W produces blockbuster stars on the regular, ones that transcend the stat sheet. From signature shoe deals to custom collabs with heritage luxury houses, the major players of the moment are certified cultural figures in their own right. Carrying on the legacy of the game’s predecessors, these ballers are reshaping what it means to be a contemporary athlete, using their profession to create more opportunities for themselves and those around them. 

Just eclipsing its 25th anniversary, the WNBA is far from its beginning and perhaps even further from its end. Finally receiving their just-due recognition, never has there been more eyes on the league and its roster of generational talent. But if it’s one thing about big-time performers, they always shine brightest under the spotlight.  

Stay tuned for more from Pulse Check and Highsnobiety.