This item might have slipped under my radar if not for a Fox Valley contact -- my thanks to, Stevie Wonder, who keeps his eyes open for items of interest (and is a regular companion at Opening Day).
Oshkosh, home of the G-League Wisconsin Herd, the team owned by the Milwaukee Bucks, will add a women's pro basketball franchise to the Menominee Nation Arena.
While the NBA has set up the G-League as a minor league feeder system, the WNBA has no such organization. The WNBA has, for years, been propped up financially by the NBA. Closest WNBA franchises are the Minnesota Lynx and the Chicago Sky.
I get the desire by the Menominee Nation Arena to get more bookings. After all, there's only so many home dates for the Herd. And there are just so many concerts and performers out there for the facility. And an empty building doesn't pay any bills.
One of the names being considered is Oshkosh Does. Not really a new concept, as back in the early 1980s, there were the Milwaukee Does of the Women's Professional Basketball League. The team played the 1978-79 and 1979-80 seasons, and then the league fell apart. I still have a ticket from that team.
Greg Pierce is the president of Fox Valley Pro Basketball Inc. I would be curious to hear what the break-even point is for this new franchise, as well as hopes for attendance. I worked with the Wisconsin Flyers of the Continental Basketball Association in 1983-84. This was an established pro league that attracted players, and coaches, who were hoping to raise their game high enough to get an NBA contract.
Several of players from the league got 10-day contracts. Joe Kopicki of the Flyers comes first to mind. He spent the 1982-83 season with the Flyers, got a contract with the Washington Bullets (now Wizards) and spent another season with the Denver Nuggets before playing in Spain for five years.
Can the Oshkosh women use this as a road to the WNBA? Time will tell, and I wish them luck and success.
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