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Rare Gems: How Four Generations of Women Paved the Way For the WNBA
An expansive and compelling chronicle tracing the rise of modern women's basketball
Elvera “Peps” Neuman got lost in the sounds and rhythms of basketball, dribbling and shooting on a hoop affixed to her family's barn in Eden Valley, Minnesota. In the years preceding Title IX, Neuman's dreams of playing the game professionally meant a life away from home on barnstorming tours and even forming a team of her own, the Arkansas Gems.
Sixty years later, she got to witness what a sold-out Target Center in downtown Minneapolis looked like on the Friday night of the 2022 Women’s Final Four. Neuman’s cheers joined with a crowd of 18,268 to send a wall of sound toward Paige Bueckers and her Connecticut teammates. The 5’11 Bueckers may have worn her ponytail a little differently than Neuman, but Neuman certainly saw something of herself in the young superstar.
This is the story of the pioneers who shaped so much of the modern infrastructure for women's basketball, whose histories intersect and wind their way through the state of Minnesota. It is the story of forcing open doors—to ensure teams even existed, to allow those teams to play in conditions resembling those men could take for granted, to ensure that the color of your skin or who you love would not be a barrier to building a life centered around basketball. To end the double-standard that treats every undeniable success by women as a one-off, but every setback as a referendum.
Four generations of women have played essential and diverse Neuman and her friend and collaborator of a half-century, Vicky Nelson; Cheryl Reeve and her wife, Carley Knox; Lindsay Whalen, Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus, Sylvia Fowles, and WNBA's Minnesota Lynx; right through to the future of the game in Bueckers and the stars of tomorrow.
Through meticulous research and evocative storytelling, this captivating narrative gives due recognition to the luminaries who ushered in women's basketball's modern era.
Elvera “Peps” Neuman got lost in the sounds and rhythms of basketball, dribbling and shooting on a hoop affixed to her family's barn in Eden Valley, Minnesota. In the years preceding Title IX, Neuman's dreams of playing the game professionally meant a life away from home on barnstorming tours and even forming a team of her own, the Arkansas Gems.
Sixty years later, she got to witness what a sold-out Target Center in downtown Minneapolis looked like on the Friday night of the 2022 Women’s Final Four. Neuman’s cheers joined with a crowd of 18,268 to send a wall of sound toward Paige Bueckers and her Connecticut teammates. The 5’11 Bueckers may have worn her ponytail a little differently than Neuman, but Neuman certainly saw something of herself in the young superstar.
This is the story of the pioneers who shaped so much of the modern infrastructure for women's basketball, whose histories intersect and wind their way through the state of Minnesota. It is the story of forcing open doors—to ensure teams even existed, to allow those teams to play in conditions resembling those men could take for granted, to ensure that the color of your skin or who you love would not be a barrier to building a life centered around basketball. To end the double-standard that treats every undeniable success by women as a one-off, but every setback as a referendum.
Four generations of women have played essential and diverse Neuman and her friend and collaborator of a half-century, Vicky Nelson; Cheryl Reeve and her wife, Carley Knox; Lindsay Whalen, Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus, Sylvia Fowles, and WNBA's Minnesota Lynx; right through to the future of the game in Bueckers and the stars of tomorrow.
Through meticulous research and evocative storytelling, this captivating narrative gives due recognition to the luminaries who ushered in women's basketball's modern era.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published May 7, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
January 26, 2025
January only has a week left. I think the worst of my mental health issues are over. I detest winter and I know it does not officially end until mid March, but the days are starting to last a little longer and the temperature is creeping up, and that is enough. There are only three football games left for the year and then a long seven weeks until baseball season starts. I haven’t watched basketball in years, not since Air Jordan retired. Men and women both haven’t played defense like they used to, and stars have actually called out the league for not putting a quality product on the court. Lately, I have noticed that I wax nostalgic for 1990s basketball where defensive struggles were normal, and the Bulls were kings of the court. What I do not broadcast too often is that in high school I was also a tad obsessed with women’s basketball and for a good reason. My high school won the state championship in girls basketball during my sophomore and junior years. The team featured future WNBA players, and I had the luxury of doing their stats. The WNBA was just getting started at this time following the success of the women at the 1996 Olympics. It was an exciting time to be a fan of the emerging women’s game, but these early stars admittedly took a back seat to the Bulls. That would change as the Bulls broke up and in many instances the women’s game was more fun to watch than that of the men’s. After college I severed most of my relationship with basketball. In the last few years, a superstar has put my alma mater at the center of the basketball universe and has incrementally piqued my interest in basketball. I have been in a reading rut and my co-pilot at the baseball book club told me that I would enjoy a book about women’s basketball history. How right he turned out to be.
Growing up in the 1940s Elvera “Peps” Neuman did not have a future as a professional athlete. She came of age at the same time as Betty Friedan and was wowed by The Feminine Mystique as a young woman. As a girl growing up the youngest of five siblings on a Minnesota farm, basketball was not something that a girl would aspire. There were no leagues and few college opportunities besides swimming and cheerleading. Until the 1972 passage of Title IX, women’s sports generally did not exist. I did a report on Title IX at the end of my eleventh grade history class. I wish I still had it. Part of my presentation was a before and after. The before was a clip from A League of Their Own depicting women playing baseball in skirts. Women’s basketball existed in the 1940s and had since the 1890s, and the players wore bloomers. They also played a half court game because the early argument against women’s athletes that persisted for decades was that the exertion was not good for a woman’s body, especially in the realm of reproductive health. A century and a quarter later, we can look back and see how wrong this argument is, but that was the argument until the days of Rosie the Riveter right before Peps Neuman was born. She wanted to be a basketball player and fought to create a high school league in her home state of Minnesota. Following high school, she joined a barnstorming team and played until her early forties, still scoring baskets at will. Neuman and her persistence paved the way for the generations of women depicted in this book.
By the 1970s-1980s, Title IX underwent birth pangs. The law was supposed to give equal funding to men and women at all levels of education and did not necessarily apply to sports; however it soon became “the sports equality law” as female athletes saw this as their opportunity to achieve equal funding as the men. It would come in baby steps. For example, I was born in 1979. I have been a sports since day one but it never occurred to my parents that I should play little league- although I would have loved it. I joined a park district softball team the year it started, but prior to that time, girls would compete on boys teams, myself not included. Schools did have girls teams in the 1980s but did not get the same funding or fan support as boys teams. My high school team that won state? Barely anyone showed up until the end of the year when it was apparent that the girls would go to the state finals. The boys team at the time was lousy but played before packed gyms. This was the norm. It was the late 1990s at the dawn of the WNBA. Remember it was also when the Bulls ruled the NBA, and this was in a Chicago suburb. Enough said. Yet, according to Megdal, the women in this book experienced similar issues throughout high school. As recently as four years ago, Amaya Battle of Hopkins High in Minnesota noted that few fans went to her team’s games until the state tournament but the also ran boys team received much fan support. Farther back, current WNBA coach Cheryl Reeves began her coaching career taking a backseat to men. It took the first twelve years of the league before quality female coaches began making inroads, perhaps a generational thing as those in charge got used to the idea of women as athletes, and, hence, former athletes would qualify as qualified to coach women athletes (what a concept). This perception did not shift until after the turn of the 21st century, again baby steps. By then girls who grew up playing sports had entered the coaching ranks and changed the narrative. By the time of this publication, it is even seen as normal for women to be on coaching staffs of men’s teams in various sports. Women like Peps Neuman and Cheryl Reeve would get big bucks to play today but their generations’ allowed the stars of today to shine.
Megdal focuses on women’s basketball in Minnesota because that is his home. By default he focuses on the University of Minnesota’s women’s team and the Lynx of the WNBA. The third generation he examines in the book still faced gender disparity with the men. Coaches got paid a fraction of top men’s coaches and women’s teams played at venues that hold less fans than those of the men. Personally, I think if women played in the same stadiums as men, people would come but they aren’t given the same opportunities. In 2004 it took a broken pipe in the women’s field house at the University of Minnesota for the women’s team to play at the same stadium as the men. They sold out. Lead by native daughter Lindsey Whelan, the Lady Gophers went to the final four in her senior year. Whelan put Minnesota girls’ basketball on the national map. The program’s goal was for girls from Minnesota to stay in Minnesota, not easy in the ultra competitive Big Ten conference. I know. I attended a Big Ten school and even twenty five years ago games were heated before packed arenas. Whelan’s success lead to more Minnesota girls wanting to play basketball, the same girls who begged their parents to take them to Lynx games. The Lynx have been the most successful franchise in the WNBA both financially and competitively. They created a business model and ran with it and won five WNBA titles. One of their star players: Lindsey Whelan. It is no secret that Whelan coming home to play in Minnesota lead to more fans in the stands for the Lynx, who remain an top franchise today.
Rare Gems would have been a solid four star read for me if the author did not insert politics into the book. My daughters called me out on it telling me that I should enjoy the book, but I read to escape the news. The truth is, women’s sports are always going to be political. Until women athletes receive equal pay as the men, they are always going to be considered also ran to men’s sports. Tonight, for example, there is a top NBA game on tv, featuring aging stars who have encouraged their teammates to play better defense. My daughter who has grown obsessed with the WNBA has no inclination to watch with me. That shows me that today girls even younger than her can rattle off names of women’s sports stars in all sports and are more likely to want to watch women’s sports than men’s because they see these athletes as role models. At over fifty years old, Title IX has reached the point where it is natural for girls to play a multitude of sports and have endless opportunities after college. A girl not wanting to watch the NBA in lieu of women’s sports is considered the norm. It is indeed generational as I grew up when Title IX was young and all my early exposure to sports had been through watching men. Howard Megdal did his homework. He traced sixty plus years of women’s basketball history to show how the game has progressed. Next summer I might even return as a women’s basketball fan. There’s still time and the game is still growing. For young girls today, being an athlete is no longer a novel idea, and that is a beautiful thing.
3.75 stars
Growing up in the 1940s Elvera “Peps” Neuman did not have a future as a professional athlete. She came of age at the same time as Betty Friedan and was wowed by The Feminine Mystique as a young woman. As a girl growing up the youngest of five siblings on a Minnesota farm, basketball was not something that a girl would aspire. There were no leagues and few college opportunities besides swimming and cheerleading. Until the 1972 passage of Title IX, women’s sports generally did not exist. I did a report on Title IX at the end of my eleventh grade history class. I wish I still had it. Part of my presentation was a before and after. The before was a clip from A League of Their Own depicting women playing baseball in skirts. Women’s basketball existed in the 1940s and had since the 1890s, and the players wore bloomers. They also played a half court game because the early argument against women’s athletes that persisted for decades was that the exertion was not good for a woman’s body, especially in the realm of reproductive health. A century and a quarter later, we can look back and see how wrong this argument is, but that was the argument until the days of Rosie the Riveter right before Peps Neuman was born. She wanted to be a basketball player and fought to create a high school league in her home state of Minnesota. Following high school, she joined a barnstorming team and played until her early forties, still scoring baskets at will. Neuman and her persistence paved the way for the generations of women depicted in this book.
By the 1970s-1980s, Title IX underwent birth pangs. The law was supposed to give equal funding to men and women at all levels of education and did not necessarily apply to sports; however it soon became “the sports equality law” as female athletes saw this as their opportunity to achieve equal funding as the men. It would come in baby steps. For example, I was born in 1979. I have been a sports since day one but it never occurred to my parents that I should play little league- although I would have loved it. I joined a park district softball team the year it started, but prior to that time, girls would compete on boys teams, myself not included. Schools did have girls teams in the 1980s but did not get the same funding or fan support as boys teams. My high school team that won state? Barely anyone showed up until the end of the year when it was apparent that the girls would go to the state finals. The boys team at the time was lousy but played before packed gyms. This was the norm. It was the late 1990s at the dawn of the WNBA. Remember it was also when the Bulls ruled the NBA, and this was in a Chicago suburb. Enough said. Yet, according to Megdal, the women in this book experienced similar issues throughout high school. As recently as four years ago, Amaya Battle of Hopkins High in Minnesota noted that few fans went to her team’s games until the state tournament but the also ran boys team received much fan support. Farther back, current WNBA coach Cheryl Reeves began her coaching career taking a backseat to men. It took the first twelve years of the league before quality female coaches began making inroads, perhaps a generational thing as those in charge got used to the idea of women as athletes, and, hence, former athletes would qualify as qualified to coach women athletes (what a concept). This perception did not shift until after the turn of the 21st century, again baby steps. By then girls who grew up playing sports had entered the coaching ranks and changed the narrative. By the time of this publication, it is even seen as normal for women to be on coaching staffs of men’s teams in various sports. Women like Peps Neuman and Cheryl Reeve would get big bucks to play today but their generations’ allowed the stars of today to shine.
Megdal focuses on women’s basketball in Minnesota because that is his home. By default he focuses on the University of Minnesota’s women’s team and the Lynx of the WNBA. The third generation he examines in the book still faced gender disparity with the men. Coaches got paid a fraction of top men’s coaches and women’s teams played at venues that hold less fans than those of the men. Personally, I think if women played in the same stadiums as men, people would come but they aren’t given the same opportunities. In 2004 it took a broken pipe in the women’s field house at the University of Minnesota for the women’s team to play at the same stadium as the men. They sold out. Lead by native daughter Lindsey Whelan, the Lady Gophers went to the final four in her senior year. Whelan put Minnesota girls’ basketball on the national map. The program’s goal was for girls from Minnesota to stay in Minnesota, not easy in the ultra competitive Big Ten conference. I know. I attended a Big Ten school and even twenty five years ago games were heated before packed arenas. Whelan’s success lead to more Minnesota girls wanting to play basketball, the same girls who begged their parents to take them to Lynx games. The Lynx have been the most successful franchise in the WNBA both financially and competitively. They created a business model and ran with it and won five WNBA titles. One of their star players: Lindsey Whelan. It is no secret that Whelan coming home to play in Minnesota lead to more fans in the stands for the Lynx, who remain an top franchise today.
Rare Gems would have been a solid four star read for me if the author did not insert politics into the book. My daughters called me out on it telling me that I should enjoy the book, but I read to escape the news. The truth is, women’s sports are always going to be political. Until women athletes receive equal pay as the men, they are always going to be considered also ran to men’s sports. Tonight, for example, there is a top NBA game on tv, featuring aging stars who have encouraged their teammates to play better defense. My daughter who has grown obsessed with the WNBA has no inclination to watch with me. That shows me that today girls even younger than her can rattle off names of women’s sports stars in all sports and are more likely to want to watch women’s sports than men’s because they see these athletes as role models. At over fifty years old, Title IX has reached the point where it is natural for girls to play a multitude of sports and have endless opportunities after college. A girl not wanting to watch the NBA in lieu of women’s sports is considered the norm. It is indeed generational as I grew up when Title IX was young and all my early exposure to sports had been through watching men. Howard Megdal did his homework. He traced sixty plus years of women’s basketball history to show how the game has progressed. Next summer I might even return as a women’s basketball fan. There’s still time and the game is still growing. For young girls today, being an athlete is no longer a novel idea, and that is a beautiful thing.
3.75 stars
November 4, 2024
This is one of those instances where the subject matter of the book is 5-star worthy, but the execution of the book knocks it down a few pegs. I'm a huge WNBA fan with a massive amount of respect for Howard Megdal and the reporting he does - his sense of humor on the Locked On podcast is top notch, too - but I don't think his style translates to book writing. Paragraph to paragraph, things got very choppy and it took me far too long to get through what is a very reasonably sized nonfiction book because it was hard to get into any sort of flow. I felt like I had square tires, lumping my way through the last 50 or so pages.
It was a joy to learn more about the role Minnesota and notable Minnesotans have played in growing the game. I'm a newer WNBA fan (no, I did not hop on the Caitlin Clark bandwagon - I became a fan in 2021, thank you very much) and reading some history about the league was illuminating. So many names I recognized but didn't realize the significance of before reading this!
I even took this book with me to Minnesota, where I went to a Lynx game and saw Rachel Banham play against them as a member of the Chicago Sky (she was RIGHT THERE and I didn't have my book for her to sign! Drat!). None of these cool things made this a better book, I fear.
I am, however, rooting for the Lynx to go to the finals this year. Rawr. 🐾
Click here to hear more of my thoughts on this book over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!
It was a joy to learn more about the role Minnesota and notable Minnesotans have played in growing the game. I'm a newer WNBA fan (no, I did not hop on the Caitlin Clark bandwagon - I became a fan in 2021, thank you very much) and reading some history about the league was illuminating. So many names I recognized but didn't realize the significance of before reading this!
I even took this book with me to Minnesota, where I went to a Lynx game and saw Rachel Banham play against them as a member of the Chicago Sky (she was RIGHT THERE and I didn't have my book for her to sign! Drat!). None of these cool things made this a better book, I fear.
I am, however, rooting for the Lynx to go to the finals this year. Rawr. 🐾
Click here to hear more of my thoughts on this book over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!
May 26, 2024
This is a nice book that might lose some attention because it focuses on women's basketball in the state of Minnesota. But the stories it tells should resonate for anyone interested in the history of the sport. The best parts tell the story of Elvera Neuman, Cheryl Reeve, and Lindsay Whalen (whose history will remind anyone of the path followed by Caitlin Clark). You end up wishing there was a little bit more because the author clearly knows his stuff.
July 3, 2024
Having been a fan of women’s basketball, especially players and teams with a connection to my home state of Minnesota, I was eager to read this book by Howard Megdal about the many women who have helped shape the game to the level of popularity it is now enjoying in the North Star State. For the most part, it lived up to my expectations.
Getting the one downside of the book out of the way now, it would have been nice if some of the stories had more details. For me, this is especially true for two of the early pioneers Megdal profiles, Elvera “Peps” Neuman and Vicky Nelson. Both of their stories are great, especially Neuman, who found a way to build a career out of basketball in an era where there was no WNBA and no Title IX so that women had more opportunities to have that dream basketball career. While the stories are good, more detail about their struggles and how they overcame them would have made good writing even better. Also, some more details on players named in later eras, such as important players for the Minnesota Lynx who weren’t stars such as Candice Wiggins and even current stars like Napheesa Collier, would have made a very good book even better.
The stories and information that IS shared in the book is excellent for any fan of women’s basketball. This is especially true for fans of the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA. The best writing and story of how far a woman can go in the sport is about the power couple for the Lynx – head coach Cheryl Reeve and her wife Carley Knox, currently the President of Business Operations for the Lynx. They met while both were working for the Detroit Shock – Knox in the office and Reeve as an assistant coach. Not only did they grow together in their respective roles to become cornerstones of the Lynx franchise, it is also how they met and from there their relationship grew to marriage and starting a family with their son Oliver.
But for me, the best part of the book, no matter how much or little material may be wanted, was to learn about Neuman and her determination to play the game she loved. From starting off with a hoop in her parents’ driveway to playing for a barnstorming professional team when there was no organized professional women’s basketball, I loved reading about her enthusiasm and positive vibes. No matter what hurdles she encountered - and women basketball players encountered many of them, some of which still exist today – she always made sure to remain upbeat. The tale of her blanket that she waves at University of Minnesota games was excellent.
Other Minnesota stars such as Paige Bueckers, Maya Moore, and of course Hall of Famer Lindsay Whalen are featured. While some of the information may leave readers wanting to know more about some of these women, it is still a very good source for the important women in Minnesota basketball.
I wish to thank the publisher for providing a review copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
Getting the one downside of the book out of the way now, it would have been nice if some of the stories had more details. For me, this is especially true for two of the early pioneers Megdal profiles, Elvera “Peps” Neuman and Vicky Nelson. Both of their stories are great, especially Neuman, who found a way to build a career out of basketball in an era where there was no WNBA and no Title IX so that women had more opportunities to have that dream basketball career. While the stories are good, more detail about their struggles and how they overcame them would have made good writing even better. Also, some more details on players named in later eras, such as important players for the Minnesota Lynx who weren’t stars such as Candice Wiggins and even current stars like Napheesa Collier, would have made a very good book even better.
The stories and information that IS shared in the book is excellent for any fan of women’s basketball. This is especially true for fans of the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA. The best writing and story of how far a woman can go in the sport is about the power couple for the Lynx – head coach Cheryl Reeve and her wife Carley Knox, currently the President of Business Operations for the Lynx. They met while both were working for the Detroit Shock – Knox in the office and Reeve as an assistant coach. Not only did they grow together in their respective roles to become cornerstones of the Lynx franchise, it is also how they met and from there their relationship grew to marriage and starting a family with their son Oliver.
But for me, the best part of the book, no matter how much or little material may be wanted, was to learn about Neuman and her determination to play the game she loved. From starting off with a hoop in her parents’ driveway to playing for a barnstorming professional team when there was no organized professional women’s basketball, I loved reading about her enthusiasm and positive vibes. No matter what hurdles she encountered - and women basketball players encountered many of them, some of which still exist today – she always made sure to remain upbeat. The tale of her blanket that she waves at University of Minnesota games was excellent.
Other Minnesota stars such as Paige Bueckers, Maya Moore, and of course Hall of Famer Lindsay Whalen are featured. While some of the information may leave readers wanting to know more about some of these women, it is still a very good source for the important women in Minnesota basketball.
I wish to thank the publisher for providing a review copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
May 28, 2024
Loooooooveeeeeddddd reading this! As someone who wants to work in women’s basketball long term, this was such a good and informative read. Working at the HOF has allowed me to meet and work with a lot of the players interviewed so I’m so so grateful but it led me to this book and this career and I’m so so glad! I recommend this to anyone who is wanting to further their support from college ball to professional.
August 15, 2024
Megdal is a favorite journalist of mine and I liked the book (which was heavily based in Minnesota; however, it felt like two separate books. The first part was amazing and it chronicled some key figures in the women's game. I really liked this part. The second half of the book felt like it was more about a chronicle of the Minnesota Lynx WNBA dynasty from the 2010s and while I appreciated this writing here, I didn't get as much out of it.
August 6, 2024
Fun and informative, but a little disjointed. But definitely a cool deep dive into Minnesota Women’s basketball through the primary perspective of four figures.
Wish the author had dove deeper into some of the issues with revenue/salary imbalances in the sport
Wish the author had dove deeper into some of the issues with revenue/salary imbalances in the sport
March 23, 2025
Content is a 4, writing is a 2. I learned so much about the history of professional women's basketball in the United States, and as such would recommend it to anyone interested in sports history. Each chapter profiled a different person or era. It began with Peps Neuman, who grew up in central Minnesota and set up girl's high school games so she could play, because she wanted to and the opportunity didn't exist because it was the early 1960s. She eventually went on to play professionally in Texas and with the Arkansas Gems, which she eventually took ownership of, and did whatever it took to make basketball her "thing" in life. Vicky Nelson also played for the Gems, and the two of them live together in Minnesota to this day (I met them!! At the book club!! They signed my library book!!). There were also chapters about Cheryl Reeve, Lindsay Whalen, Rachel Banham and her success with the Minnesota Gophers (and beyond), the rise and fall of the Gophers in general, the Lynx and how Cheryl Reeve and her partner Carley rebuilt the team, Maya Moore and the rest of the team that won so many championships in the 2010s, and a bit about Paige Bueckers.
I really did learn a lot and enjoy this book, but in some ways it kept me wanting more. If you couldn't tell already, this was very Minnesota-focused, which I found to be a cool lens for the book, especially living here myself, but I am sure there was lots of cool basketball stuff happening other places. This book kind of made it seem like Minnesota is the sun of the basketball solar system. The biggest missing spot is I felt like there could and should have been more discussion of race and racism, but it did not come up very often. There was lots about the differences in resource allocation between men's and women's sports, especially with the Gopher men's and women's basketball team and the contrast between the finances, salaries, and fates of the Detroit Shock in the WNBA and the Detroit Pistons of the MNBA in the mid-late 2000s. 13 Pistons players EACH making more annually than the ENTIRE Shock roster is beyond ridiculous. I appreciated this, and even with how much has changed in the last few years we all know this was and is a huge issue. There was some discussion of sexism and homophobia faced by players, and especially coaches, over the years, and the impact that had on job prospects and opportunities - and later, how some WNBA teams and players, and the league to an extent, worked over the years to bring public knowledge and attention to marriage equality, racism, and police brutality.
And like I said...2 stars for writing. It's readable, and worth it, but you have to work for it. Everything felt like a run-on sentence, and paragraphs would bounce between topics with no clear transition or connecting thread. There were moments where I read a sentence 2 or 3 times, and still felt like I had no clue what he was talking about. Even though I was really interested in the topic, this made huge parts of the book feel like a drag to read. Here's one example about the 2016 Lynx: "They'd begun 2012 10-0 but ran their record to 13-0 in 2016 with a victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on June 21, 2016, before L.A finally ended their unbeaten streak in a rematch at Target Center on June 24, 2016, in fromt of 13,003 fans energized by the growing rivalry, a precursor to the playoff battles ahead." What? That should have been 3 or 4 sentences - and the book jacket says the author is an editor! hmm...
I had a few bones to pick, but I am glad this book exists, and I enjoyed reading it and having the opportunity to meet some of the legends it profiled.
I really did learn a lot and enjoy this book, but in some ways it kept me wanting more. If you couldn't tell already, this was very Minnesota-focused, which I found to be a cool lens for the book, especially living here myself, but I am sure there was lots of cool basketball stuff happening other places. This book kind of made it seem like Minnesota is the sun of the basketball solar system. The biggest missing spot is I felt like there could and should have been more discussion of race and racism, but it did not come up very often. There was lots about the differences in resource allocation between men's and women's sports, especially with the Gopher men's and women's basketball team and the contrast between the finances, salaries, and fates of the Detroit Shock in the WNBA and the Detroit Pistons of the MNBA in the mid-late 2000s. 13 Pistons players EACH making more annually than the ENTIRE Shock roster is beyond ridiculous. I appreciated this, and even with how much has changed in the last few years we all know this was and is a huge issue. There was some discussion of sexism and homophobia faced by players, and especially coaches, over the years, and the impact that had on job prospects and opportunities - and later, how some WNBA teams and players, and the league to an extent, worked over the years to bring public knowledge and attention to marriage equality, racism, and police brutality.
And like I said...2 stars for writing. It's readable, and worth it, but you have to work for it. Everything felt like a run-on sentence, and paragraphs would bounce between topics with no clear transition or connecting thread. There were moments where I read a sentence 2 or 3 times, and still felt like I had no clue what he was talking about. Even though I was really interested in the topic, this made huge parts of the book feel like a drag to read. Here's one example about the 2016 Lynx: "They'd begun 2012 10-0 but ran their record to 13-0 in 2016 with a victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on June 21, 2016, before L.A finally ended their unbeaten streak in a rematch at Target Center on June 24, 2016, in fromt of 13,003 fans energized by the growing rivalry, a precursor to the playoff battles ahead." What? That should have been 3 or 4 sentences - and the book jacket says the author is an editor! hmm...
I had a few bones to pick, but I am glad this book exists, and I enjoyed reading it and having the opportunity to meet some of the legends it profiled.
April 29, 2025
Incredible women who built the sport that we know and love today.
I may not have known enough about the women discussed in this book to follow but I found the timelines really confusing as it switched back and forth between both people and time to cover the four generations. Paige shouldn't be on the cover. She gets 3 paragraphs in the last chapter.
I may not have known enough about the women discussed in this book to follow but I found the timelines really confusing as it switched back and forth between both people and time to cover the four generations. Paige shouldn't be on the cover. She gets 3 paragraphs in the last chapter.
December 30, 2024
I didn't love the quitting style. However, the information was good and it's amazing to see how far we have come since the sexism started in Basketball.
June 16, 2024
A must read for fans of women’s basketball. Howard Megdal gives a detailed and deeply reported history of the sport by vividly telling important stories about its biggest figures connected to the state of Minnesota.
May 14, 2024
A big-hearted, inspiring, and generous book that shows what a consciously feminist sports history could look like. In part it's a generational history of women's basketball in Minnesota (which apparently boasts the largest per-capita participation in the sport in the country, not a stat I would have expected) over the last 60 years, from Peps Neuman creating essentially her own feminist barnstorming team, through the Minneapolis Lynx's 2010's dynasty, and then the recent stardom of local products like Paige Bueckers and return of UM star Lindsay Whalen as player and coach. Megdal both does the storytelling bit, as in your standard sports history, and repeatedly points out the structural factors that inhibit, say, the equal opportunities for women's sports--only when a pipe ruptured did UM allow the women to share the men's arena, which they proceeded to pack. He's also alert to the social implications of the team's quick response to the Philando Castile shooting and to anti-gay marriage proposals, arguing that the Lynx set the pattern for modern athlete activism, which again reframes this question in valuable ways. Lots and lots of interview notes here (a young Caitlin Clark got to get on the court with the Lynx a decade or so ago) to capture how much previous players inspired their successors and showed what could in fact be possible, if you just refused to accept what men told you.
May 19, 2024
This is basically the back story that enables Caitlin and everyone else to be stars of today compared to even my time at UConn with Taurasi... And for weirdness there's even a Gloucester County section that explains basically female sports in South Jersey with Gloucester Catholic involved as well... So while this focuses on Minnesota it's surprising more... And now I wanna go to a Lynx game and the new female sports bar in Minneapolis
March 30, 2024
I wish this book had started with the Minnesota Lynx dynasty and worked backwards from there. Then I might have understood better what each person's connection to the WNBA was. While that might seem like a major issue, it's actually only a quibble. (And the only reason this book didn't get five stars). Otherwise it was a really interesting read. Each one of the "rare gems" profiled proved to be just that, especially Pep. I'm sorry I didn't known her story when I was writing about the history of women's basketball a decade ago!
Megdal used a career's worth of research and interviews to tell each person's story in detail. I loved all the behind the scenes stuff...made me feel like I was reliving the Lynx dynasty from a different angle. Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of this book. It's well worth a read.
Megdal used a career's worth of research and interviews to tell each person's story in detail. I loved all the behind the scenes stuff...made me feel like I was reliving the Lynx dynasty from a different angle. Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of this book. It's well worth a read.
January 23, 2025
First DNF of 2025. I challenged myself this year to set down books I’m not enjoying. Got through the first 75 pages, but it felt like a slog—I feel like this book could benefit from more engaging narrative storytelling, and clearer thesis structure.
By thesis structure, I just mean what’s the overall point of the book? What is the point of each chapter? I need something more compelling than generations of women athletes built women’s basketball today—it’s so vanilla. I enjoyed some of the small snapshots in the book but the sheer number of stats regurgitation was hard to get into a flow with.
It’s a shame, because as a big W fan, I was looking forward to learning more about the history of league and the people who built it. We need someone to write a better book!
By thesis structure, I just mean what’s the overall point of the book? What is the point of each chapter? I need something more compelling than generations of women athletes built women’s basketball today—it’s so vanilla. I enjoyed some of the small snapshots in the book but the sheer number of stats regurgitation was hard to get into a flow with.
It’s a shame, because as a big W fan, I was looking forward to learning more about the history of league and the people who built it. We need someone to write a better book!
January 23, 2025
I wanted to love this book, but I wish the stories of these incredible women were told in a more organized way. These stories deserve to be told and these women given the credit and respect they deserve for moving women’s basketball forward. I loved reading about them, but the organization of the book and run-on paragraphs full of stats distracted from the content.
Additionally, I wasn’t reading the book to read solely about Paige Bueckers, but I think the cover is incredibly misleading. Paige Bueckers is featured twice, but is hardly mentioned. Figures more relevant to the bulk of the book would have been more fitting. Featuring Paige twice without discussing her more feels like the author and team are capitalizing upon her fame.
Additionally, I wasn’t reading the book to read solely about Paige Bueckers, but I think the cover is incredibly misleading. Paige Bueckers is featured twice, but is hardly mentioned. Figures more relevant to the bulk of the book would have been more fitting. Featuring Paige twice without discussing her more feels like the author and team are capitalizing upon her fame.
August 21, 2024
When I read David Shoemaker’s The Squared Circle, I felt it failed because it tried to capture the entire history of pro wrestling. So what we got were vignettes of different things but nothing engaging.
With Rare Gems, Howard Megdal focuses on the history of women’s basketball by focusing on Minnesota. I am a casual women’s hoops fan who is growing more into my fandom and this book gave me a much better appreciation for how it got here.
He focuses on a handful of women and does a great job telling the story. The book is only about 217 pages and it did so much. Awesome book. Would love to see a follow up in a few years.
With Rare Gems, Howard Megdal focuses on the history of women’s basketball by focusing on Minnesota. I am a casual women’s hoops fan who is growing more into my fandom and this book gave me a much better appreciation for how it got here.
He focuses on a handful of women and does a great job telling the story. The book is only about 217 pages and it did so much. Awesome book. Would love to see a follow up in a few years.
May 14, 2024
The content is really good. Lots of awesome interviews and information about Minnesota basketball. The chapter about the Lynx dynasty really shines. But overall, the writing had some real take-me-out-of-it moments. I think a stronger editor could’ve cleaned these up and made the reading experience better.
June 30, 2024
I was looking for a book on WNBA history and “Rare Gems” gives us a slice of it through the lens of Minnesota. It’s almost too short, but I learned a good amount about legends like Maya Moore, Lindsay Whalen, Seimone Augustus, Sylvia Fowles and coach Cheryl Reeve. Now I just need someone to write a comprehensive history.
March 2, 2025
This is a great accounting of Minnesota women’s basketball. It should have Minnesota in the title though. The writing is a bit clunky and the stories can be hard to follow at times- but they’re stories worth learning. With so few books on women’s basketball, it definitely adds needed documentation to the ncaa and wnba histories.
July 8, 2024
Sports fans: this is your next summer read. A look at women’s basketball in Minnesota from the beginning until now… it’ll warm your heart and give you hope for women’s sports and how these athletes are making change both on and off the court. Read it and let me know what you think!
July 10, 2024
The content in here is good. I just feel like there could have been multiple books that expanded on some of these people (the Lynx dynasty, Peps, etc.). At times, it just feels rushed to get to all of the "gems" to the point that Paige feels barely covered.
September 29, 2024
There are so few history books on the W, I was incredible happy to see that one of them focused on the Lynx! Read this in a day, and get to go watch game one of the semi-finals at Target Center tonight. Happy especially to know more about Coach Reeve’s journey. Fun read.
June 6, 2024
The discrimination of women struggles to make women’s basketball happen is crazy. Thank goodness these women didn’t give up.
February 4, 2025
I loved this book as a Lynx fan, and a women's basketball fan!
July 22, 2025
Hard to find a history on women’s basketball, so great to have this one. Downside is the focus primarily on Minnesota history of women’s basketball, and not as much on the entirety of women’s hoops
January 21, 2026
A must-read for anyone who loves MN hoops.
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