The Chicago Condors were a very short-lived member of the
American Basketball League (ABL). Their hometown was much larger than usual for the ABL, which mainly targeted mid-market cities, and initial team merchandising was successful. The team appeared to have a solid base. General manager Allison Hodges was the wife of former
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...
star
Craig Hodges
Craig Anthony Hodges (born June 27, 1960)
''basketball-reference.com''. Retrieved March 19, 2011 is an ...
, and former Bulls assistant
Jim Cleamons was head coach.
[Former Team Official Recounts the A.B.L.'s Dizzying Descent]
/ref>
In the ABL expansion draft leading up to the team's first season, the Condors selected Tausha Mills, Ashley Berggren, Ryneldi Becenti, Cathy Boswell, E.C. Hill, Anita Kaplan and Dana Wilkerson. They later added Joanne McCarthy and Beverly Williams to the roster.Association for Professional Basketball Research; History of the ABL
/ref>
The team's existence almost ended before it began. According to Hodges, she was about to announce the team's name when she got a call that the ABL was about to fold. Minutes later, she got another call saying that the season was back on. Only 12 games into their first season, the team was forced to disband when, on December 22, 1998, the ABL suddenly went bankrupt and folded, though Hodges told ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' that she believed the league was on its last legs before then.[
]
Team Record
{, class="wikitable"
, -
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" , Season
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" , W
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" , L
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" , Win %
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" , Result
, -
, align=center , 1998 , , align=center , 4 , , align=center , 8 , , align=center , .333 , , align=center , 3rd Place, Eastern Conference
References
American Basketball League (1996–1998) teams
Defunct basketball teams in the United States
Basketball teams established in 1998
Basketball teams disestablished in 1998
Basketball teams in Chicago
1998 establishments in Illinois
1998 disestablishments in Illinois
Women's sports in Illinois