WNBA Women's National Basketball Association

NBA TV/WNBA.com to offer comprehensive coverage of WNBA Draft

April 13, 2004 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) News Release


NEW YORK, April 13, 2004 – NBA TV, the league's 24-hour television channel, and WNBA.com will provide fans with comprehensive coverage of the entire 2004 WNBA Draft on Saturday, April 17 beginning at noon ET from the NBA Entertainment studios in Secaucus, New Jersey highlighted by live television interviews and online chats with top draftees, including the number one overall pick, moments after being selected.

For the first time, NBA TV will televise all three rounds of the draft and WNBA.com will feature a live interactive cybercast on WNBA.com for basketball fans around the world. Along with top draftee interviews and cybercast chats, NBA TV and WNBA.com coverage will include expert analysis and insight from:

- NBA TV analyst and former WNBA star Rebecca Lobo - Sacramento Monarchs guard and ESPN analyst Kara Lawson - Basketball Hall of Famer and ESPN analyst Ann Meyers - Minnesota Lynx center and NBA TV draft co-host Tamika Williams - WNBA players including New York Liberty guard Becky Hammon and Connecticut Sun guard Debbie Black

NBA TV: 2004 WNBA Draft highlights: · Pre-Draft Coverage - Analysis, insight and predictions from a host of basketball experts on every potential WNBA draft choice, WNBA team and developing stories. · Special WNBA Highlights – Profiles and highlights on each WNBA draft pick, including a look at their college history, overall strengths and weaknesses. · Live Interviews – In-studio interviews with top WNBA draft picks and special reports from locations around the country, including live reports from ESPN Zone in New York City and with WNBA team personnel through "NBA TV Videoconference presented by Sony."

WNBA.com: 2004 WNBA Draft Highlights: · Pre-Draft Coverage - Leading up to draft day, WNBA.com's draft section will preview the upcoming event with a variety of exclusives, including content from WNBA coaches and GMs, current players, analysts as well as the prospects themselves, including Diana Taurasi, Alana Beard, Swin Cash, Sue Bird, Bill Laimbeer and Vera Jones, WNBA team-by-team draft history section and extensive profiles on 60 draft prospects complete with highlights and statistics. · Live Draft Board - A live, updating draft board and scrolling ticker will provide up-to-the-minute information as each pick happens, including any breaking news involving trades and roster moves. · Crest Fan Forum - In the Crest Fan Forum, WNBA.com will present several draft-related polls and topics for an open discussion where fans can email thoughts and opinions. The most insightful and creative comments will be posted on the site for all to see both before and after the draft. · Audio & Video Highlights - Soundbites and video clips of the draftees and their reaction to being drafted will be updated throughout the afternoon.

Coverage of the WNBA Draft will also be featured on ESPN, which will televise the first round, and Telemundo and its cable sister station mun2 televising the entire draft in Spanish.

The WNBA will tip off its eighth season Thursday, May 20 with three Western Conference games featuring San Antonio against the Comets at the Compaq Center, the Sacramento Monarchs vs. Phoenix at America West Arena and the Seattle Storm hosting the Minnesota Lynx at Key Arena. Last year marked the fourth consecutive season more than 2 million fans attended WNBA games, including a WNBA-record 22,076 fans that attended Game 3 of the WNBA Finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills to see the Detroit Shock capture its first WNBA Championship.

About NBA TV

NBA TV, launched November 2, 1999, is the league's 24-hour television channel and the first television network launched by a professional sports league. NBA TV is available to 66 million U.S. homes and seen in 38 other countries, including Azerbaijan, France, Israel, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Spain, Russia and Turkey. The channel provides viewers behind-the-scenes access, basketball authenticity and insider perspective featuring original programming, including reality miniseries, news and interview programs, documentary series and features shows that focus solely on fantasy basketball, international basketball and the video game industry; and exclusive coverage of special events.

WNBA.com

Launched in 1997, WNBA.com is the single most authoritative source of information for the league, offering WNBA fans around the world late-breaking league news, real-time scores and statistics, as well as complete behind-the-scenes access, live chats with WNBA players and personalities, and expert analysis from WNBA insiders. In May 2003, WNBA.com conducted the first-ever live video webcast of a game in women's professional sports history, and featured more than 10 live webcasts of games during the 2003 WNBA season through the site's new multimedia subscription service, "WNBA Broadband Season Pass."

CONTACT: John Acunto, NBA, 212-407-8255 or jacunto@nba.com David Cooper, NBA, 212-407-8095 or dcooper@nba.com

NBA Playoffs begin Saturday on ESPN!

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