The Legendarium: A Preview

A series. A time capsule. A window into how women's basketball came to be what we know it as now. This is the Legendarium.

Courtesy: Delta State Athletics

In the spring of 2024, women’s basketball made a never-before-seen push into the cultural zeitgeist of America. Where the sport existed along the periphery of mainstream sports fandom, the post-pandemic years vaulted it firmly into the lexicon of the average fan. There’s always been household names. Your Leslie’s, Taurasi’s, Parker’s, Stewart’s and Wilson’s. But in the last couple of years, throngs of new fans have stormed the beaches of WNBA and women’s basketball corners of the internet like a conquering force.

Naturally, it’s led to plenty of discourse. Who gets to be a fan? What is the knowledge that you need? How much deference or respect does one need to pay to legends to be able to properly appreciate the current era of stars in the game?

Most of what we’ve heard from longtime fans is actually exceedingly simple: do some research. Figure out who was here and built up the game. You don’t need to be an expert nor do you need to be someone that spends years sitting back and letting others speak. But you at least should have some background in what you’re discussing before you get the authority to speak on it. But with a lot of women’s basketball media fragmented and sources sort of everywhere, we figured we could help fill that void.

Introducing: The Legendarium.

It’s a comprehensive series detailing some of the most consequential teams, programs, players and coaches who had a hand in building the game and how their impact is felt today. We’ll begin with programs that were pioneers on the forefront of the sport that might not be the power programs we know today. As our series continues, we’ll be highlighting legendary teams whose runs either kickstarted dynasties, punctuated magical years or sunk shots that we consider all-time clutch. Our general rule of thumb with legendary teams will be groups that are 20 years or older. As the series continues and we get more requests, we’ll be diving into some other recent legendary squads.

If you have a program or season you’d like us to dig into, let us know and leave a comment! We’re still deciding on releases of either bi-weekly or once-monthly, depending on our workload. We still got full-time jobs, after all. In the meantime, we’ll tease a list for you soon. So enjoy, share with your friends (new and old) in the game and we’ll keep No Cap Space a spot where we all come together, speak knowledgably and hate ethically. Stay tuned!