Ann Meyers he didn’t want to be just one of the boys. She wanted to be better than them, and for a while she was better than many.
On September 5, 1979, Meyers signed a $ 50,000 deal with the Indiana Pacers, becoming the first woman to receive an NBA audition.
Meyers resisted, survived the first round of cuts and left an impression that will last forever.
“I’ll tell you what. She was better. She was better. We had a bunch of guys who came to try and she was better than a whole bunch of them,” the Pacers coach then Slick Leonard he told Indy Star in 2015.
Meyers came from a basketball family, a large family. She was one of 11 children. His brother, Dave Meyers, was the No. 2 overall in the 1975 NBA Draft. He spent five years with the Milwaukee Bucks before surprisingly announcing his retirement to focus on his family and faith.
But Ann wanted to play where her brother did: in the NBA.
She was an All-American at UCLA, 5 foot 9 and played almost all five positions before she became a thing in basketball, male or female.
With the Pacers, he had to try as a point guard. She was warned not to disturb, by family, by friends, by the Pacers coach himself.
“Slick really tried to convince me,” Meyers once said. “He wasn’t used to that. I mean, he came from a time when, you know, women belonged to the family who raised their children and took care of their man.”
Eventually, Leonard stepped forward. Meyers wanted a shot and the Pacers were more than curious. They wanted to see if it could help them win. It was never intended as a publicity stunt.
Meyers was 24 at the time. She joined the Pacers for the rookie pitch at Butler University’s famous Hinkle Fieldhouse, the scene of the championship game in the movie “Hoosiers”. In 1979, the film wasn’t even a thought (it didn’t come out in theaters until 1986). But just like the Hickory Huskers, Meyers was looking for a basketball miracle.
It’s almost there.
The first three days came and went. Meyers did not receive any special treatment. Leonard made cuts, and Meyers was not among them. He practiced for a few more days. Then came another round of cuts.
Like many former college stars, the NBA wasn’t in Meyers’ cards.
“I cut it just like any other player,” Leonard said. “I felt bad when we started the cut. I felt bad about it. She did a really great job. I was proud of her.”
Like many college stars, Meyers thanked her professional coach for the opportunity. And like many former college stars, she then went to her hotel room and cried after receiving the news.
However, Meyers never left the game. She stood out for the New Jersey gems of the old women’s professional basketball league. She became an analyst in Pacers game broadcasts at a time when there were hardly any women in the sports news. She has worked on a few television shows of women’s NCAA tournaments and has become a management team in the WNBA.
During that time, Meyers married the former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale, who tragically died of a heart attack in 1993 at the age of 56. Meyers continues to go by the surname Meyers-Drysdale.
Mostly, she’s been a pioneer who has proven she can play basketball with some of the best, regardless of gender.
“I’ve been involved in a lot of firsts in my life,” Meyers said.
