Harlem Globetrotters' Lynette Woodard became the team's first woman 40 years ago : NPR

In 1926 the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team was founded, more than 20 years before Black men were allowed on professional basketball teams. But this squad composed of only African American players gradually gained popularity in the basketball world.

When their founder, Abe Saperstein, died 40 years later, the team struggled to maintain that popularity. Over the next two decades the Harlem Globetrotters team was sold twice, and by 1984 the new owner was looking for ways to freshen up the performance. In 1985, the team put out a newspaper ad offering tryouts to women.

Of the 60 women that responded to the ad, only 20 moved on to the second round of tryouts, and one of the players at the top of the list was University of Kansas basketball star Lynette Woodard.

The Wichita, Kan., nativ