Nouvelle arrivée
The W
The Sports Plus take
Thirty years of the WNBA, start to now.
Journalist Tamryn Spruill, a former editor in chief of Swish Appeal, tells the full story of the WNBA from its 1996 launch to today's boom. It covers the Houston Comets' four straight titles, the lean years when games were hard to find on TV, and how players used social media to build their own audiences. It's a thorough league history from someone who has reported on the W since 2014.
Shelf
How it reads
Moderate
Best for
- WNBA fans
- Basketball history readers
- Fans new to the league
About this book
- Author
- Tamryn Spruill
- Publisher
- Abrams
- Published
- September 22, 2026
- Format
- Hardcover
- Pages
- 496
- ISBN-10
- 1419758810
- ISBN-13
- 978-1419758812
Book description
A roller-coaster history of the WNBA, from celebrated start-up to lean years and on to the recent boom, from a passionate sports journalist.
The history of the WNBA is an epic one, and in The W, journalist Tamryn Spruill tells the full story. This is a three-decade tale of tenacious athletes, devoted fans, and a vibrant, diverse league that struggled for years to find a firm footing in the wider sports culture.
When the WNBA launched to much fanfare in 1996, the nascent league was treated like a kid sister with a lot of potential. Eight teams collectively owned by the NBA played a short schedule during the men's offseason. Fans flocked to arenas to see stars Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, and Rebecca Lobo, and the Houston Comets won their first of four consecutive championships.
But television broadcasts were hard to find, the conversation around the league was often blatantly sexist, and less than a decade after their "four-peat," the dynastic Comets had been disbanded.
Social media helped players upend that dynamic, be their authentic selves, and engender change inside the league and beyond it. College stars became pros, legends broke records, and the women of the WNBA became undeniable. Thirty years after its founding, this is a comprehensive account of the league and the women whose drive, on court and off, built the W.
About the author
Tamryn Spruill is an award-winning independent journalist and the former editor in chief of Swish Appeal. She has written for The Athletic, Harper's BAZAAR, The New York Times, The Red Bulletin, SLAM and elsewhere, and has reported on the WNBA since 2014. She lives in Massachusetts.
