I Saw This Tweet About The First Woman Ever Drafted In The NBA, And It Got Me Wondering About Other People In History Who Deserve Way More Recognition
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Last week, I stumbled across this now-viral tweet about the Jan. 18 death of Lusia Harris, who was the first and only woman to ever be drafted in the NBA.
Learning her name for the first time in death?!?!?! https://t.co/kwOK8vnFWa
All of the reply tweets shared similar sentiments: being the first woman drafted in the NBA is a huge deal, but very few people had ever learned about Harris and her story.
@YahooSportsNBA Why this my 1st time hearin bout this !?
This isn't talked about enough. I didn't know about Lusia Harris until today, but she was the first and only woman that was ever drafted in the NBA. She put up some amazing numbers and was a real pioneer for women going into the sport. R.I.P. Ms. Harris 🙏https://t.co/aPx8pg1qv7
@YahooSportsNBA She made HISTORY and nobody ever talked about it🤦🏽♂️
After seeing how many people were shocked that they had never learned about Harris, I decided to dig a little deeper to learn more about her legendary career.
She was basically sports royalty! In fact, USA Basketball dubbed her The Queen of Basketball.
Harris was the first (and so far, only!) woman ever officially drafted in the NBA. In the seventh round of the 1977 NBA draft, she was selected by the New Orleans Jazz with the 137th overall pick, chosen above 33 male players.
In 1969, Denise Long was selected by the Golden State Warriors, but the NBA voided the selection (likely due to her gender), so Harris is technically the only woman to be officially drafted.
While Harris never actually played for the Jazz (she was pregnant at the time of her selection, so she was unable to attend training camp), she went on to play for the Houston Angels as part of the Women's Basketball League.
In college at Delta State University, Harris won three consecutive national championships in the 1970s. She was the only Black player on the team.
She also played on the US Women's Basketball team in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, which were the first games that included women's basketball. Harris was the first woman to ever score in an Olympic basketball game.
Harris was also the first Black woman inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and was one of the 26 inaugural inductees to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
In 2021, fellow basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal partnered with the New York Times to produce a documentary about Harris's life and basketball career.
O'Neal told USA Today that he wanted to make the documentary to ensure that trailblazing players like Harris aren't ever forgotten. “With Lucy’s story, you have to ask a question,” he said. “Who are we sidelining in sports today? How can we make sure what happened in Lucy’s time isn’t happening again?"
This whole thing got me thinking about all of the other people out there who have done incredible things but never get the recognition they deserve for their accomplishments.
SAG Awards/giphy.com
So, here's where you come in: In the comments, tell us about a trailblazer from history you wish more people knew about.
ABC/giphy.com
