Luisa Harris-Stewart the First Woman to Ever be Drafted into the NBA
- Aditi Anand
- Nov 1, 2020
- 3 min read
Edited by Nishat Raihana
Many young girls aspire to be the first women at something. Well, Luisa Harris Stewart was the first woman to get drafted for the NBA. The NBA is the National Basketball Association, which mainly men are a part of, so for a woman to get in is a big deal! Though Harris-Stewart did not get to play in the NBA, she will always go down in history as being the first woman to receive the opportunity to play as part of the NBA.
Childhood and College
Her career and
Legacy/Later Life
Childhood and College
Luisa Harris-Stewart was born in Mississippi with a large family, her parents were vegetable farmers and she was the tenth child out of eleven in her family. She was also the fourth out of five daughters. Throughout her childhood she was surrounded by basketball, all of her family members played and in school she won MVP for three years and was captain of her basketball team. She also made the All Star team! Her record was 46 points in a game, which later in her career turned into a record of 58 points in a single game. Harris-Stewart led her team to the state championship in Mississippi. After high school, her plan was to go to Alcorn University. However, Alcorn University did not have a women's basketball team, so she decided to attend a different university so that she would have the option to pursue basketball. As a result, Harris-Stewart went to Delta State University, where she was recruited by a college coach. This was before women could get sports scholarships to, here she attended her university and soon made her career on the college courts.
Her career as a basketball player
Lusia Harris Stewart was a six foot and three inches tall woman who wanted to become a professional basketball player. As a basketball player, Harris-Stewart achieved multiple well known position while in high school and eventually as an adult, through her immense work and dedication. She was one of the best centers to ever play in women's college basketball. Even after being recognized for all the amazing things she had done, Harris-Stewart continued to make history and set a record of making 58 points in one game, this was the highest point score for a period of time before someone else later surpassed it. When Harris-Stewart graduated college, she had 15 out of 18 career records. Eventually after her graduation, she was picked in the seventh round of the 1977 NBA draft. At first, she thought it was a joke, as she couldn’t understand why the NBA wanted a woman to play on a men's team. The environment and structure of a men's basketball team is very different compared to a women's team. Men’s games for basketball tend to be faster paced and much more aggressive, which made Harris-Stewart take a long look at the big decision. She was tall for a woman, but for the men’s team she was average height, which meant she wouldn't be able to play as center, the very position she had been playing since college and was trained the most in. On top of it all, Stewart was expecting a baby as well, which prevented her from being able to attend training. Although, she decided that though the time was not right for her, Luisa Harris-Stewart was still an amazing player who set many records and had many titles, she is now regarded as one of the most important woman in basketball history.
Her significance and legacy
Luisa Harris-Stewart is known in history as being one of the first women to ever be included into the National Basketball Hall of Fame. She was also included in the Women's National Basketball Hall of Fame. After her long career she got married and had her child, and is now a teacher in a town in Mississippi. Harris-Stewart hasn’t thought of returning to play basketball even though she is known for her amazing talent. This is partly due to her thinking that she can go back to playing the way she once did. She also is a basketball coach for girls, but is said to not do it for the fame but does it for the girls and their love for basketball. She is now known as the first woman to ever be inducted into the NBA, and is widely known for this achievement that was never even expected in the first place!
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