Former WNBA Player: Tulsa Team Is Great For Fans, Community, Young Girls

By Craig Day, The News On 6

MCALESTER, OK -- One of the best basketball players Oklahoma has ever produced is excited about the WNBA's move to Tulsa.

Former WNBA player and coach Crystal Robinson is now well in her first year as a teacher and girls basketball coach at McAlester. She says a WNBA team in Oklahoma will be great for basketball fans, the community and young girls with big dreams.

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"Excited is an understatement. Yes I'm excited, I'm very excited. The WNBA changed my life," said Crystal Robinson, former WNBA player.

Robinson knows a thing or two about basketball and the WNBA.

The Atoka native played eight years in the WNBA, with the New York Liberty and Washington Mystics and was an assistant coach on the pro level.

"I'll make a lot of the games for sure. I still have a lot of friends that play in the league. First of all I'll get to see them. Second of all, I get to watch some good basketball," said Robinson.

Robinson says landing a WNBA franchise is huge for Tulsa. She says fans will be impressed with the talent on the court and service in the community.

"The WNBA players and the teams spend a lot of times in the communities; they give back to the communities big time," said Robinson.

Robinson believes a Tulsa team will not only be great entertainment, but also will have a lasting impact on young girls.

"It gives the young female athlete the opportunity to be able to look up to someone and say, ‘wow, I want to be like you one day,'" said Robinson.

Though she's excited about her new teaching and coaching career in McAlester, Robinson is looking forward to the team's first tipoff.

Robinson says she looks forward to taking the girls she coaches to watch pro games in Tulsa.