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The D-League today. The NBA tomorrow.

Why not?

If there ever will be a female NBA head coach in my lifetime, I'm thinking Nancy Lieberman has got a shot. Lieberman took the first step toward that Thursday when she was named head coach of the Dallas Mavericks' D-League team in Frisco, Texas, that will begin play next year.

"If I am successful, I'm sure that I will be looked at (by the NBA),'' Lieberman, while on her way to her press conference to be introduced, told FanHouse by phone. "If I'm not successful, I won't be.''

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When Spartak owner Shabtai von Kalmanovic was murdered in Moscow on Monday, the women's basketball world was rocked. Kalmanonic put together a powerhouse team in Russia with Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson. He showered his players with huge paychecks and opulent accommodations, and he raised the standard for top U.S. players overseas.

And he won championships.

The WNBA has not commented on Kalmanovic's death but has to be watching the investigation closely considering that some of the league's biggest names are tied in here. Spartak's current roster includes Taurasi, Sylvia Fowles and Janel McCarville, with Bird and Jackson yet to report because of injuries.

Nolan Richardson was doing his research, trying to decide if he wanted to accept the offer of the ownership group trying to bring a WNBA team to Tulsa, asking old friends what it was like to coach in the women's game.

One of the phone calls he made was to LSU women's coach Van Chancellor, whom Richardson knew from their SEC days (Chancellor coached the Mississippi women when Richardson was at Arkansas.) Chancellor spent 10 years in the WNBA coaching the Houston Comets to four WNBA titles.

"He told me that once you've dealt with women athletes, you are going to wish that you had coached them all your life," Richardson said.

It's a bit of whiplash that two weeks after fans filled arenas in Indianapolis and Phoenix, after the WNBA got some momentum out of a fabulous Finals series, one of the league's most successful franchises is packing up and leaving its town.

The Detroit Shock reportedly are headed to Tulsa, a new ownership group ready to take over with former Arkansas men's basketball coach Nolan Richardson at the helm. It's another blow to a league that has gotten awfully adept at absorbing them over the years.

The Detroit Shock debuted in 1998. They earned a reputation as a hard-nosed, battle-ready reflection of coach Bill Laimbeer and won titles in 2003, 2006 and 2008. Just a few weeks ago, the Shock were facing off with the Indiana Fever in the Eastern Conference Finals. And now, they are off to Oklahoma.

The Indiana Fever, who came within one game of winning its first WNBA title last week, is not on the verge of extinction after all.

In an open letter to fans -- who filled Conseco Fieldhouse with sold-out games during the WNBA Finals -- team ownership indicated they are committed to keeping the team for the immediate future after owner Herbert Simon indicated earlier this season that the franchise might be in danger of folding.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Lisa Leslie is arguably the greatest player in WNBA history. In her career, Leslie collected two WNBA titles, three MVP awards, eight All-Star appearances and four Olympic gold medals. But after starting for the Los Angeles Sparks since 1997, this past season was her last. In this FanHouse exclusive, we catch up with Lisa at her farewell party in the heart of Hollywood, where we found friends, family, fans and celebrities.

Check out the video after the jump.

PHOENIX -- The best Finals series in the history of the WNBA ended Friday night with the Phoenix Mercury hoisting the trophy for the second time in three seasons.

Phoenix finished off the best-of-five series against the Indiana Fever by winning two straight games, including a 94-86 win at the US Airways Center that gave them the title in front of a boisterous, sold-out home crowd.

They finished as the best team in the league from start to finish, but they also finished as battered and tired as they were victorious after an intense, fiercely competitive series.

People came, they saw and they cheered.

WNBA fans have filled the US Airways Center in Phoenix and Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. They have purchased jerseys and T-shirts and, most importantly, tickets.

They have given the league a huge boost, a proper sendoff for a 13th season that has been marked by the retirement of a legend (Lisa Leslie), stories about comebacks and motherhood (Candace Parker) and a knock-down, drag-out final between two teams sporting some of the most exciting, talented players in the world. It's a fight that ends Friday night in Phoenix with the host Mercury taking on the visiting Indiana Fever in a winner-take-all title game.

This was the Indiana Fever's big chance, a golden opportunity to celebrate the franchise's first WNBA championship -- not to mention the city's first pro basketball title in some 30 years -- in front of the a sold-out arena and the city that has so heartily embraced them.

But the Fever missed their big chance -- and may well have missed their chance at the title, as well, as the visiting Phoenix Mercury dominated en route to a 90-77 win in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals Wednesday night, forcing a championship-deciding Game 5 Friday night back in Phoenix.

All Indiana had to do was win Wednesday and it would have captured the best-of-five championship series three games to one. Instead, the series is now tied 2-2 and heads back to the Mercury's homecourt in the Valley of the Sun, where the Mercury have momentum, a big home crowd and a return of the swagger that disappeared for a few days.

Camp Geno breaks today.

The current incarnation of the U.S. women's national team, coached by Geno Auriemma, leaves today for Ekaterinburg, Russia to take on a group of club teams in an invitational tournament.

Following six days of training camp in Washington, the 13-player roster was selected for Monday's flight. It includes 2008 Olympians Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles and Candace Parker, as well as newcomers Swin Cash, Tina Charles, Shameka Christon, Candice Dupree, Lindsey Harding, Ashja Jones, Crystal Langhorne, Angel McCoughtry, Renee Montgomery and Candice Wiggins.

This is Auriemma's first chance to serve as the head coach for the program -- a stint he will continue through the 2012 Olympics in London.

It's a chance he's always coveted and he's not shy about admitting that. Not that the Huskies coach is shy about much.