Jeff Metcalfe

azcentral sports

Diana Taurasi turned 15 in 1997, coming off a freshman basketball season averaging more than 30 points for Don Lugo High School in Chino, Calif., about an hour drive from the Forum in Los Angeles, which added a new tenant that summer.

The Los Angeles Sparks, one of eight original WNBA teams.

"I remember that energy and how special it was going to the Forum and watching the Sparks play the (Phoenix) Mercury and the (New York) Liberty and the (Houston) Comets," Taurasi said. "I was so impressionable as a little kid when I saw that. It made me want to go outside and play harder. It made me want to go to practice and go to the games."

The WNBA provided Taurasi and an entire generation of girls with the missing piece – a U.S. professional league – for their Title IX-fueled athletic dreams. Now at 33, going into her 12th Mercury season in a league celebrating its 20th anniversary starting Saturday. Taurasi is the standard that she aspired to become when the WNBA launched, marketing We Got Next around the 1996 U.S. Olympic gold medalists Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes and Rebecca Lobo.

But with two women's professional leagues splitting talent coming out of the Atlanta Olympics and no blueprint for women's pro team success in any sport, there was no guarantee that the WNBA would even exist for Taurasi when she finished with a third NCAA title at Connecticut in 2004.

RELATED: Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner rejoin Mercury as season nears

The American Basketball League debuted first in October 1997, featuring stars such as Teresa Edwards, Dawn Staley, Natalie Williams, Katie Smith and Nikki McCray. The WNBA would be a summer league, built with the financial support of the NBA to help fill in arena calendars during the men's offseason. Then, Phoenix Suns President Jerry Colangelo was on the NBA committee that created the WNBA, saying at the time that there was an "apples and oranges" difference between the women's leagues.

"If you were a betting man, you'd bet on the strength of the WNBA," said Colangelo, USA Basketball chairman since 2009.

His prediction proved correct. The underfunded ABL folded partway through its third season in December 1998, providing a talent infusion that pushed the WNBA to double in size to 16 teams by 2000. Financial success, though, remained elusive so the league structure changed after 2002 from being collectively owned by the NBA to individual ownership, either by an NBA team like the Suns or a non-NBA group. Half of the now 12-team league is not directly affiliated with an NBA team.

Only three original WNBA teams still are operating in their original city after two decades -- the Liberty, Sparks and Mercury. For Phoenix to be in that exclusive group required a confluence of experience, upper management support and some fortuitous timing that allowed the Mercury to turn the WNBA No. 1 overall drafts picks in 2004 and 2013 into Taurasi and 6-foot-9 Brittney Griner. In the Taurasi era, the Mercury are three-time WNBA champions (2007, 2009, 2014), one short of the record four titles won by the Comets (1997-2000).

Phoenix Arena Sports Corporation, formed in 1989 to program events at Talking Stick Resort Arena (which opened in June 1992), already had experimented with indoor football (Arizona Rattlers), soccer (Arizona Sandsharks) and tennis (Phoenix Smash) before taking on the Mercury.

"We knew how to connect fans to our players," said Seth Sulka, Mercury vice president of operations and later general manager from inception to 2006. "That allowed for our blazing out of the gate connection."

An astounding 9,677 turned out at Arizona State's Wells Fargo Arena for a 1997 Mercury preseason game against the Sparks and for the first three seasons Mercury home attendance didn't dip below 10,000. Last season, the Mercury averaged a league-high 9,946, their most since 2000, even with Taurasi being paid by her Russian team to take time off.

"Even for those of us who had seen sold-out Rattler crowds, it was electric" in the inaugural season, Sulka said. "There was pressure right out of the gate. We weren't easing into anything. It was on. When Cheryl (Miller) instinctively grabbed the mic to thank everyone and say we are so grateful you're here, it was real and not two years of planning anymore."

Miller, who elevated U.S. women's basketball in the 1980s, was the first WNBA coach hired in January 1997.

''I've learned not to interject so much personality that you drown out the team," she said at an introductory news conference then proceeded to light up the league with a mercurial temperament that exponentially amplified the entertainment quotient.

RELATED: Complete Mercury coverage

Miller danced with the Hip Hop team and argued with officials and stoked the crowd, even passing out after a playoff-clinching overtime win against the Sparks.

"This is the biggest high of my sports career," said Miller, who won NCAA championships at USC and a 1984 Olympic gold medal and by then was a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer.

"You can't put enough importance on the Cheryl factor in all of this," said Sulka, comparing Miller's hiring to that of Danny White as coach of the Rattlers. "It was critical to have a super knowledgeable women's basketball person, and she checked off those boxes. What we didn't know was her incredible passion and connection to players and fans. I would never say we predicted that."

Or necessarily that the Mercury's first three – Michele Timms and Jennifer Gillom, allocated by the league, and Bridget Pettis, taken in an elite draft – would become franchise legends for their relatively brief time together from 1997-2001, a stretch including the 1998 WNBA Finals. To this day, the X factor, as Mercury fans are widely known, sing along with Gillom's recorded voice leading them in a Mighty Mercury chant.

"We energized them, and they energized us," said Gillom, who went on to become head coach of the Minnesota Lynx and Sparks. "I can't believe they're still playing that song. To come in as an opposing coach and hear that was a little distracting. My heart will also be with the Mercury. You know you helped get it started and you're always a part."

Pettis, now an assistant coach with the Dallas Wings, said, "Just the energy of it felt so new and exciting. It was that feel that the world was ready for it. We had the right demeanor for it. There was no ego, it was purely from our heart being grateful and excited. We were happy people there. Nothing was taken for granted. Everything was so appreciated, and we just enjoyed it."

MORE: Mercury's Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner named to U.S. Olympic team

Gillom turned 33 in the Mercury's first season -- Taurasi's age now -- and Timms 32. Nancy Lieberman, who played in the first U.S. women's pro league in 1980, turned 39 in her one season with the Mercury. Gillom, Timms and Pettis had played for years in Europe and Timms in her native Australia without any prospect of an American league, increasing their appreciation for the opportunity and for their role as WNBA pioneers. Current Mercury coach Sandy Brondello, one of many Australians to follow in Timms' footsteps to Phoenix, remembers seeing her first WNBA game here while visiting in 1997.

"I was just amazed the support women's basketball was getting," Brondello said. "Timmsy was like a superstar here. We walked down the street and everybody was wow. It gave me the bug to want to play in it," something she did for five years before starting her coaching career. "It's amazing it's gone so fast. The league has just gotten better and better. The players are faster, stronger, more skilled. We have a great product that will continue to get better."

Mercury forward Penny Taylor, 34, is another Australian who understands the legacy built by her predecessors.

"Timmsy was someone that I admired growing up," Taylor said. "She had gone out and taken on the world. She represented us at the Olympics. I remember just being so proud of her. To be here in Phoenix and able to continue that along with Sandy and other Australians that have played here is pretty special. The WNBA is the best league in the world, and I never take for granted the fact I get to play here."

This year's anniversary aside, the WNBA cannot afford to rest on its unprecedented and for some unexpected longevity. League average attendance dipped to 7,318 -- the lowest ever -- last season with TV viewership down 14 percent on ESPN networks from 2014. The once dominant Comets folded after the 2008 season. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver set off an alarm last September by saying the WNBA is "not where we hoped it would be." The WNBA maximum salary for 2016 is $111,500 under terms of a collective bargaining agreement that runs through the 2021 season. At the low end, players earn $40,000.

To be fair, the NBA at 20 -- in 1965-66 -- was not exactly setting the country on fire with the eight-time champion Boston Celtics averaging 7,942 in home attendance for a team that included Bill Russell, John Havlicek and Sam Jones. NBA Finals were still being telecast on tape delay into the early 1980s.

"Five years ago, I got a little scared it might fold," Gillom said. "Some teams are trying to play in smaller arenas and holding on by a thread. I still think they have good enough players to keep this league going. It can be salvaged. The timing may be right with Nike back in the picture (as the NBA/WNBA apparel partner starting in 2017-18). It could go either way."

Reach Metcalfe at 602-444-8053 or jeff.metcalfe@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him at twitter.com/jeffmetcalfe.

Phoenix Mercury at Minnesota Lynx

When: 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Target Center, Minneapolis.

TV: ESPN.

Mercury update: The Mercury's 2015 season ended against Minnesota with 67-60 and 72-71 losses in the Western Conference Finals. Diana Taurasi and Penny Taylor are back after missing last season, reuniting the 2014 WNBA champion starting lineup along with Brittney Griner, Candice Dupree and DeWanna Bonner. Newcomers include draft picks Isabelle Harrison, who missed last season due to injury, and Courtney Williams and Serbian F Sonja Petrovic. The Mercury also play at Indiana on Wednesday before opening at home against Seattle on May 20.

Lynx update: Returners from the 2015 WNBA championship team include Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus, Sylvia Fowles, Rebekkah Brunson and Lindsay Whalen. Janel McCarville is back after sitting out 2015, the Lynx traded to acquire Natasha Howard and Jia Perkins and drafted Bashaara Graves from Tennessee. Minnesota also won the WNBA in 2011 and 2013.

Mercury opening day roster

No., Player, Pos., Ht./Wt.

8, Mistie Bass, F, 6-3/189

24, DeWanna Bonner, G/F, 6-4/143

4, Candice Dupree, F, 6-2/178

21, Nirra Fields, G, 5-9/158

42, Brittney Griner, C, 6-9/205

12, Alex Harden, G, 6-0/173

20, Isabelle Harrison, C, 6-3/183

5, Sonja Petrovic, F, 6-2/169

45, Noelle Quinn, G, 6-0/178

3, Diana Taurasi, G, 6-0/163

13, Penny Taylor, F, 6-1/165

11, Courtney Williams, G, 5-8/136

2016 schedule

May 14, at Minnesota, 4:30 p.m.

May 18, at Indiana, 4 p.m.

May 20, vs. Seattle, 7 p.m.

May 25, vs. Minnesota, 7 p.m.

May 29, vs. Washington, 3 p.m.

May 31, vs. Connecticut, 7 p.m.

June 3, at Seattle, 7 p.m.

June 7, at Minnesota, 5 p.m.

June 9, vs. San Antonio, 7 p.m.

June 12, vs. Chicago, 3 p.m.

June 17, at Los Angeles, 7;30 p.m.

June 18, vs. Dallas, 7 p.m.

June 21, at Dallas, 5 p.m.

June 24, at Washington, 4 p.m.

June 26, at New York, noon

June 29, vs. Connecticut, 7 p.m.

July 1, vs. New York, 7 p.m.

July 3, at Atlanta, 3 p.m.

July 5, at Dallas, 5:30 p.m.

July 8, vs. Indiana, 7 p.m.

July 10, at Chicago, 3 p.m.

July 13, vs. Washington, 12:30 p.m.

July 16, vs. San Antonio, 7 p.m.

July 19, vs. Chicago, 7 p.m.

Aug. 26, vs. Dallas, 7 p.m.

Aug. 28, vs. Los Angeles, 6 p.m.

Aug. 30, at Indiana, 4 p.m.

Sept. 2, at Connecticut, 4 p.m.

Sept. 3, at New York, 3 p.m.

Sept. 6, at Atlanta, 5 p.m.

Sept. 11, vs. Atlanta, 3 p.m.

Sept. 13, at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 15, vs. Seattle, 7 p.m.

Sept. 18, at San Antonio, 1:30 p.m.