The WNBA has been building toward this moment. Can it capitalize?

Cynthia Cooper thought girls were going to dream new dreams the first time she glanced into the stands during the inaugural WNBA season and saw a little girl wearing her No. 14 Houston Comets jersey in 1997. Even then, Cooper knew this new league would allow her to prop up the game before she — or any of her peers — could truly profit from it.