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Growing up in Far Rockaway, NY, and
playing hoops on the
rough-and-tumble Harlem basketball
courts, Nancy Lieberman developed a
tough style of basketball that led
her on an unprecedented basketball
career. As a 5-foot-10 point guard,
Lieberman was taller than many of
her opponents, allowing her to play
a physical, aggressive style then
uncommon to the women's game. Her
ability to drive to the hoop, dish
out assists, and grab hard-fought
rebounds made her one of the game's
premier players. At the age of 18,
she became the youngest basketball
player in Olympic history to win a
medal as the US team captured a
silver medal at the 1976 Olympics. A
three-time All-America at Old
Dominion University, Lieberman had a
stellar career in leading the Lady
Monarchs to back-to-back AIAW
National Championships in 1979 and
1980. She was twice named as the
Wade Trophy winner, symbolic of the
women's National Player of the Year,
and is the only two-time winner in
history. For her outstanding play
during those two seasons, Lieberman
was twice named as the Broderick Cup
winner as the nation's top female
athlete. In her career at ODU,
Lieberman scored 2,430 points,
grabbed 1,167 rebounds, and dished
out a record 961 assists, a mark
that still stands upon her
enshrinement into the Basketball
Hall of Fame. Over those two
championship seasons, Lieberman
guided the Lady Monarchs to a 72-2
record...
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Her prolific scoring abilities and
dynamic style on the court made her
a number one draft choice of the
Dallas Diamonds of the Women's
American Basketball Association in
1980. After leading the Diamonds to
the league title in 1985, Lieberman
made history once again in 1986 and
1987 as she became the first female
to play in a men's professional
league, signing with the Springfield
Fame of the United States Basketball
League. She followed that
achievement with another milestone
when she joined the 1987-88
Washington Generals on a world tour
with the Harlem Globetrotters. In a
career filled with firsts, Lieberman
enjoyed yet another first as she
became the first female ever
inducted in the New York City
Basketball Hall of Fame. Lieberman
returned briefly to professional
basketball with the WNBA's Phoenix
Mercury (1998) for one season. She
retired to become head coach and
general manager of the league's
Detroit Shock from 1998 to 2000.
Currently, Lieberman works as a
basketball analyst and studio
analyst for ESPN's coverage of men's
and women's college basketball, the
WNBA and the NBDL. On January 16,
2004, she became coach of the Dallas
Fury of the National Women's
Basketball League.
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