Kym Hampton Recalls Coach Nancy Darsch ‘Not Really Liking’ Inaugural New York Liberty Team — Then They Started Winning (Exclusive)

Head coach Nancy Darsch of the New York Liberty in 1997
Credit: Nathaniel S. Butler/WNBAE/Getty

"We knew very early on what our team identity was. We were the oldest team in the league," she shares. "And I distinctly remember [head coach] Nancy Darsch not really liking the team because she wanted to rely more on the collegiate players, because she felt like, ‘Who are these players?' "

Along with Hampton, the team was anchored by Rebecca Lobo, Teresa Weatherspoon, Sophia Witherspoon, and Vickie Johnson.

"Carol Blazejowski, who happened to have been the general manager, I think she was the vice president as well, she understood and knew about players, she probably put her foot down and picked the team," she adds.

However, when the team started winning, Hampton jokes that the coach quickly came around.

“When we started out 7-0, Nancy was like, ‘Oh, okay. That's what it is,'" she remembers.

The identity of the original iteration of the New York Liberty, according to Hampton, was “blue-collar basketball.”

Kym Hampton in 2019
Credit: Theo Wargo/Getty

“We knew we didn't have the big names, Lisa Leslie, and all that. We did have Rebecca Lobo, but she was new. She was fresh, coming out of college," the athlete explains. "We took some of that pressure off of her and just made it more about a team thing. We were gritty on defense. You weren't gonna get anything easy if we had anything to do with it, and we tried our best."

"We understood that early on and that's what we lived by,” Hampton adds.

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Hampton went down in New York Liberty history as the first player to ever score points for the team, and from early on, she knew they were building “something really different.”

Hampton, who played basketball overseas for 12 years before being drafted, was with the New York-based team for three seasons before retiring in 2000 due to a knee injury.

While they were never able to win it all, she watched the team finally hoist the championship trophy in 2024, and admits it brought tears to her eyes.

“We have always been one of the premier teams in the league. Getting back to that and maintaining that and creating that culture is just so important,” Hampton says.

“I'm super happy about where things are,” she adds. “When you stop and look at it, these women are the best in the world at what they do. It's entertaining, it's great basketball. And so I know that there's a time and a place for everything."

"I feel proud that fans are just coming out and they're supporting and they're seeing it for what it is, outside of any and everything else, women's basketball is exciting," she adds.

Hampton is not only proud of the way the league has developed, but is also "proud of the women, the way they carry themselves, how they understand the call and how important it is to show up every game and to play."

“It's an amazing thing. As an auntie, I feel completely proud of everything and everybody.”

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