Seimone Augustus - Hoop Muses: An Insiders Guide to Pop Culture and the (Womens) Game

Copyright 2023 by Seimone Augustus and Kate Fagan

Cover design and illustration by Sophia Chang.

Cover copyright 2023 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

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First Edition: March 2023

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Augustus, Seimone, 1984- author. | Fagan, Kate (Sports writer) author. | Chang, Sophia, illustrator.

Title: Hoop muses : an insiders guide to pop culture and the (womens) game / Seimone Augustus and Kate Fagan ; [illustrated by Sophia Chang].

Description: First edition | New York, N.Y. : Twelve, 2023.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022047925 | ISBN 9781538709146 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781538709160 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Basketball for womenUnited StatesHistory. | Women basketball playersUnited StatesBiography.

Classification: LCC GV886 .A94 2023 | DDC 796.323082dc23/eng/20221103

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022047925

ISBNs: 978-1-5387-0914-6 (hardcover); 978-1-5387-0916-0 (ebook)

E3-20230216-JV-NF-ORI

NEW YORK, 2071Jacklyn Jones is the best basketball player in the world. Everyone agrees. The media is constantly arguing about all kinds of topics: did agreeing to play the Washington Mystics on Mars in 2070 cost the Seattle Storm that years title? Are the Los Angeles Sparks the greatest franchise in the WNBAs seventy-five-year history? But Jacklyns dominance thats universally agreed upon. She can dunk with either hand. And her outside shotwell, nobodys seen anything like her range and smoothness.

Jacklyn is the future. Which is especially relevant on this night, as the league honors its past: the New York Liberty are playing the Phoenix Mercury on the eve of the WNBAs seventy-fifth anniversary. Jacklyn just signed a $100 million contract extension with her hometown team, the Liberty. Its the first nine-figure deal in WNBA history. So, while the greats of the game will converge on sold-out Madison Square Garden for the star-studded event, all eyes will still be on Jacklyn. Shes used to it. Its been like this since she was thirteen years old, when she would take her coachs Aeromobil Xthe self-flying modelto play showcases across the country.

Inside the Liberty locker room, Jacklyn is sitting alone. Shes early; its still hours before tip-off. Shes turned off all notifications to her wrist chip, seeking just a moment of quiet and clarity before the arena begins filling. She takes a deep breath, but as she exhales, a long chime cuts through the silence. She knows what the sound means: someone has entered. She assumes one of her teammates had the same idea she did: a moment of solitude before the madness.

Jacklyn keeps her eyes closed. Then, slowly, reluctantly, she opens them.

Standing in front of her is a stranger, and for a beat Jacklyn is uneasy. How did this woman get inside? But then Jacklyn realizes the woman is older, much older, and seemingly no threat at all. Maybe shes lost? The womans hair is dark, contrasted against a bright orange hoodie that features a symbol Jacklyn doesnt recognize, but that vaguely reminds her of the current WNBA logo.

Hi, Jacklyn says tentatively. Are you lost?

The woman smiles and says, No, I dont believe so. Perhaps you are?

Ah. Jacklyn puts the pieces together. You must be here for tonights halftime celebration? Maybe there was an usher outside she could call, who could help this woman find her way.

You know who you remind me of? the woman says, pulling a phone from her pocket. Jacklyn stares at the device. Shes only seen one of thesethe iPhone, they once called itin a museum. Jacklyn cant imagine having to use your hands to communicate; so cumbersome. The woman continues, You remind me of a young Maya Mooreoh, goodness, could she play!

Jacklyn is confused, and before she can stop herself, she says, Who?

The womans eyes fly to Jacklyns, and for a moment they stare at each other. The woman squints and says, Oh, child, you dont know Maya Moore? Oh, no, no, no. This cannot stand. She glances down at the artifact in her hand, and Jacklyn notices the screen is lit up. Shes never seen a working iPhone before! How fascinating

How about a little trip? the woman says, raising one eyebrow. She looks down again at her phone, hits a button, then looks up and says, Well have you back by tip-off, I promise.

then thirty years old and working at the Springfield (Massachusetts) YMCA and Springfield College, was asked by his boss to create an indoor game to keep his rowdy (male, of course) students engaged during the winter monthsyou know, between the outdoor seasons of football and baseball.

On the morning of December 12, 1891, Naismith mounted peach baskets on either side of the indoor space and posted on the wall the thirteen rules he had devised. He watched as his physical education students entered the gym and began reading:

The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands.

The ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands (never with the fist).

A player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it, allowance to be made for a man who catches the ball when running at a good speed if he tries to stop.

The ball must be held in or between the hands; the arms or body must not be used for holding it.

No shouldering, holding, pushing, tripping, or striking in any way the person of an opponent shall be allowed; the first infringement of this rule by any player shall count as a foul, the second shall disqualify him until the next goal is made, or, if there was evident intent to injure the person, for the whole of the game, no substitute allowed.