50-year old N Lieberman rejoins WNBA

Former Old Dominion University Lady Monarch Nancy Lieberman has been signed to a 7-day contract with the WNBA’s Detroit Shock. (Lieberman was a couple of years ahead of me at ODU but lived in the same apartment complex and since my roommate was another Lady Monarch player, I hung out with them.) At 50, Lieberman is the oldest player ever in the WNBA, a title she already held by virtue of having played at the age of 39.

Apparently, there was an altercation Tuesday night between the Shock and the Los Angeles Sparks. As it turns out, 11 people were suspended, including Shock assistant coach Rick Mahorn. (Mahorn was a senior at Hampton University when I was a freshman there.) Mahorn supposedly pushed Sparks center Lisa Leslie to the ground, although Shock coach Bill Lambeer and Sparks coach Michael Cooper both said that Mahorn was just trying to play peace maker. (Oh, and the assistant coach of the Sparks is Marianne Stanley, Lieberman’s coach at ODU.)

In any event, the melee resulted in a season-ending knee injury for Shock forward Cheryl Ford (daughter of NBA great Karl Malone). That, along with the suspensions, opened up a spot for Lieberman. The Shock only has eight players on the team tonight.

(I have to admit that while I was a WNBA fan, the game changed with the addition of all of these male coaches. I rarely watch now. Still, it’s kinda fun to read about players and coaches that I knew still being involved in the sport.)