Women’s League Expects to Add 2 Teams

The proposed Women’s Professional Basketball League, scheduled to begin play in Los Angeles and at least five other cities in April, is expected to confirm at least two additional franchises at a meeting Saturday in Chicago.

The league, a distant relation to the defunct Women’s Basketball League of the early 1980s, has confirmed teams in Chicago, Baltimore, Columbus, Ohio, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla., and New Jersey in addition to Los Angeles. Among the other franchises that will be considered are San Francisco, Austin, Tex., Jackson, Miss., Mobile, Ala., and Nashville, Tenn.

The Los Angeles team, owned by former Seattle SuperSonics’ owner Sam Schulman, has yet to decide on a nickname or a home arena. But Hubie Byrne, one of the team’s organizers, said his group is “looking at smaller facilities, such as Loyola Marymount or Cal State Dominguez Hills.”

A player draft is scheduled for Nov. 15, with the league season going from April to June.

Bill Byrne, Hubie’s father and the president of the WPBL, said the league will use a smaller ball such as one used in women’s collegiate basketball. The league also plans to lower the rims from 10 feet to 9 feet 6 inches so that it will be easier to dunk.