(Editor’s note: The WNBA is celebrating its 30th anniversary, commemorating the first contest between the New York Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks with a game on Sunday. Sue Wicks, a Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer, was a forward on the original Liberty roster.)By Sue WicksDear Liberty,On June 21, 1997, I stood in Los Angeles for the first game in WNBA history and knew we were part of something historic. Now, as you celebrate the Liberty’s 30th season, I find myself back in that moment as I watch you carry this franchise forward.I knew it was historic because I was wearing “Liberty” across my chest. I spent years overseas, playing for small crowds, building a life in basketball because I loved it. Then, suddenly, there were lights, cameras, national television — attention and care placed on our game in a way we had never experienced. It felt like women’s basketball was finally being treated as something worthy.The gravity of it was not subtle. A league led by Val Ackerman. Rebecca Lobo standing beside me. Lisa Leslie. Kym Hampton. Cynthia Cooper. Sheryl Swoopes. Everyone wanted to get the moment right because everyone understood that it mattered. For players who had spent so much of our lives making something out of very little, walking into that kind of presentation felt extraordinary.Coming home to New York made it even more personal. I grew up here, so I knew what basketball means to New Yorkers. I knew the pride, the responsibility and the edge that came with representing this city. To put on that uniform, to see my name on it, to stand there with my family and friends watching, and to hear the national anthem in my own country after so many years overseas overwhelmed me. I had tears streaming down my face, not just once, but repeatedly, because every time I stood there, I felt a little girl’s dream coming true.Still, those early days, as magical as they were, were also fragile. We didn’t know if the league would last. After games, we hugged not just to say, “good game,” but “we did this” and “I hope we get to do it again tomorrow.”That’s the foundation you stand on. It was built by dreamers, not daydreamers — women who gave everything to something that had promised nothing in return. Our dream was simple: that it would last, and that the next generation would walk in with more confidence and more power than we had.Now I watch, and I see that dream expanding. Fans don’t just watch your games — they know your stories, your lives, your joy. They’re connecting with the full truth of who you are. You are champions, mothers, wives, leaders, shooters, defenders, creators, artists, activists, businesswomen and dreamers. You are funny, fierce, glamorous, serious, generous and complicated. That’s not just progress for basketball. That’s progress for culture.