A revered figure within college basketball and WNBA circles, Rebecca Lobo is now one of the latest enshrinees into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
One of the most memorable moments of Lobo’s speech came right at the end—when she gave special thanks to her UConn coach Geno Auriemma, who was on stage to present Lobo with the honor of enshrinement.
When you recruited me, you knew I belonged at UConn, you knew I was meant to play for you. And, fortunately, I knew that too, and I followed my heart. And you have completely changed my life. And for that, I thank you. You have changed my life and I am here tonight completely because of you. Thank you.
–Rebecca Lobo to Geno Auriemma
Much like Lobo’s career—which included leading her 1995 UConn Huskies team to an undefeated 35-0 record plus a national title, her six seasons in the WNBA that included stints with the New York Liberty, Houston Comets, and Connecticut Sun, and being part of the 1996 Olympic team that won gold Atlanta—her speech in Springfield had plenty of highlights.
One of the many stories Lobo told was of when she was in the sixth grade, she wrote a letter to Red Auerbach, the legendary Boston Celtics head coach that said she’d be the first woman to play in the NBA.
Her professional aspirations took a different route—to the WNBA and she praised David Stern, Adam Silver, and other basketball brass for having the vision to establish the W.
Now I get to watch my oldest daughter light up when she talks about Breanna Stewart or my 11-year old beam when she puts on her Tina Charles jersey. I have three daughters who play basketball, so the WNBA means even more to me now than it did when I was playing in it.
On UConn, she said she chose Storrs because she wanted to play for Auriemma—as well as for Chris Dailey.
It was the best basketball decision of my life.
There were also plenty of entertaining moments from the speech too. One of them was in reference to her husband Steve Rushin. Lobo mentioned about two weeks before they met, he wrote a column for Sports Illustrated about attending a New York Liberty game.
Needless to say, Rushin was not the women’s hoops connoisseur he is now.
He had written this article in Sports Illustrated and it had a throwaway line in it. And it said, ‘Much like Wilt Chamberlain, I too slept with 8,000 women last night—I was at a New York Liberty game.’
Lobo said Rushin confessed he had not attended any Liberty games and at the time they met, and cleverly corrected him that he would have been “sleeping with 12,000 women”—the average Liberty attendance at the time.
She mentioned since then, Rushin has attended a litany of women’s basketball games—and that when she found out about the induction, she sent a text to her husband about sleeping “next to a Naismith Hall of Famer.”
And his response was ‘Great! Larry Bird?’
As many a basketball fan also knows, Lobo currently does work with ESPN. It is fitting that Auriemma presented her with the honor of being enshrined—because Lobo began her speech with mentioning a story she told about a few years ago when she interviewed Auriemma.
He said to me, ‘Rebecca, in the future, when you interview me, can you please take off your damn heels?’
She said since then, she has removed said heels whenever she has interviewed Auriemma. Which led to an interesting proposition she mentioned regarding Auriemma bestowing the Hall of Fame honors to Lobo—with the promise she would go heels-free.
And he said, ‘I’ll present you, provided you let me wear your heels.
(Video Credit: Basketball Hall of Fame)
By: Akiem Bailum (@AkiemBailum on Twitter, Instagram)
