Lusia Harris, the only woman to be officially drafted into the NBA, died Tuesday in her home state of Mississippi at the age of 66. ” We are deeply saddened to announce that our Angel, Matriarch, Sister, Mother, Grandmother, Olympic Medalist, Queen of Basketball, Lusia Harris passed away unexpectedly today. “, said his family in a press release.
Harris is best known for being selected in the 1977 NBA Draft by the Jazz, who were then playing in New Orleans. Before her, Denise Long had also been drafted by the San Francisco Warriors in 1969. But the American pro league had canceled her selection. Lusia Harris, however, never showed up for Jazz training camp and never played for that team, as she was pregnant at the time.
Silver medalist at the Games in 1976
In 1976, the American player, who played at the pivot position, had participated in the Olympic tournament of the Montreal Games, the first in the history of the Olympic Games. She had scored the first points of the tournament and had won the silver medal, behind the USSR (the tournament had been played in the form of a round robin).
Harris had also been a three-time NCAA champion with Delta State University. She then played a season with the Houston Angels in the short-lived Women’s Professional Basketball League, which existed from 1978 to 1981. Lusia Harris was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.
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