Take Your Pick : After Years of No U.S. Pro Basketball Leagues, Women Have Their Choice of Two

In U.S. basketball, there is one Dream Team and another team living its dream.

Awash in cash from the blockbuster debut of NBA players at Barcelona, USA Basketball is now ushering the women’s team into a new, big-budget, high-profile day.

Promoted by the NBA’s crack marketers, subsidized by a host of eager corporations, shown on cable and network TV, the women have recently completed a yearlong, four-continent tour in which they went 52-0.

American players are accustomed to attention each Olympiad and nothing for four years, but now there are two new leagues preparing to begin play, enabling women such as Teresa Edwards, a nine-year veteran who has played in Italy, France, Spain and Japan, to earn their living at home for the first time.

The American Basketball League will play during the winter. The other league will be run by the NBA and operate during the spring and summer.

The Women’s NBA Tuesday announced a split cable deal with ESPN and Lifetime. NBC had previously been announced as the commercial network for the WNBA, which begins play in June 1997. Both ESPN and Lifetime will cover one WNBA game per week, NBC a Saturday afternoon game.

NBA officials say their league won’t compete directly with the ABL, which is fortunate. Otherwise, it might be awkward to promote an Olympic team, most of whose members, including stars Lisa Leslie and Edwards, have signed with the ABL.

“Would we like to have all the members from this team?” says Val Ackerman, an NBA marketing official who’s on the board of USA Basketball. “I guess my answer would have to be yes. They’re great players and great women.

“We’ve made it clear that women can play in either league or both. I’m just glad they have both opportunities.”