One for the Team

By John Greenwald

Night after night she shows up to play, as if she were just another gym rat. And not many of the guys at Crunch Fitness in Atlanta recognize the point guard with the braided hair, even when she starts raining jumpers on them.

So let us make the introduction: Teresa Edwards is the most decorated Olympic basketball player ever--male or female--with three gold medals and one bronze to her credit in four trips to the Games. She has been training here on her own for this year's Summer Games, when at 36 she will become the senior member of the U.S. women's squad that is favored to bring home the gold again.

Teresa Edwards has been leaving her calling card since 1984, when she won her first gold medal in Los Angeles as the baby of the team and went on to become the Michael Jordan of women's international basketball. No other U.S. woman has represented her country on as many national teams (18), or scored as many points (1,760), or taken home so rich a trove of medals during her career (17, including 13 gold). Such records led Edwards' hometown of Cairo, Ga., to name a street in her honor--not far from the one that celebrates Jackie Robinson, Cairo's other local hero.

So why is the storied Edwards dribbling in obscurity in Atlanta instead of getting ready for Sydney with her sister Olympians? Short answer: the money woes and uneven support that still beset women's basketball. As a co-founder and star of the American Basketball League, Edwards found herself out of work last year when the league was buried by the rival WNBA--which is backed by the NBA The WNBA clearly coveted Edwards' star power, but it refused to pay her more than the $65,000-a-season rookie rate--about half Edwards' ABL pay and far less than the $200,000 she earned in Japan from 1989 to 1993. Legends are not available at a discount. "I don't care how you say it," Edwards explains. "As far as I'm concerned, we could not come to terms."

So "T" picked up her ball and went home, while her Olympic teammates--including such stars as Lisa Leslie of the Los Angeles Sparks and Chamique Holdsclaw of the Washington Mystics--run the WNBA hardwoods. Edwards will then rejoin them in August to prepare for a gold-medal defense in Sydney. That could prove more grueling than anything the men's Dream Team faces. The women's game is far more competitive at the top, and powerhouse women's teams like Russia and Cuba will make any American outfit earn its medal.

Edwards has been working out fiercely for months. Her daily routine includes 2 1/2 hours of speed, strength and agility drills with a personal trainer plus two to three hours of basketball against former men's college players and other local hotshots. "I don't worry for a second about her not being in shape," says U.S. women's coach Nell Fortner.

On the court at Crunch, Edwards exhibits quick hands and a fluid court movement. She plays without wasted motion, whether passing or weaving through traffic, showing the form that made her the only ABL player to score 40 points in a single game. "It's not a concern to me that I'm not in the [WNBA] this summer," Edwards says. "I think the [Crunch] games are not too far off the pace."

What does concern Edwards is her future after basketball. While she would love to host a women's-sports talk show, she despairs over her lack of experience outside hoops. "I've said to myself, 'O.K., girl, it's time to make a career change.' But that's the hardest part about being an athlete--taking that passion off the court and into something else." For now, though, that passion will be poured into another gold-medal run, even if she has to do it by herself.

--With reporting by Greg Fulton/Atlanta

With reporting by Greg Fulton/Atlanta