No matter the NBA journey, players never forget the moment they get drafted. Now, imagine a woman getting into the NBA. That insurpassable hurdle was breached by Denise Long Rife in 1969. The Warriors drafted her straight out of high school, marking a monumental moment for women’s basketball. However, how did this all happen?
Here’s a look into Long Rife’s legendary chapter and everything to know about the pioneering basketball player.
Who is Denis Long Rife? All to know about the first woman drafted in the NBA
Denise Long Rife was born in Whitten, Iowa. The small town consisted of no more than 200 people. Nobody knew that a historic gem, somebody who would be a transcending figure for women’s basketball, sat among them.
From the time she grew up in Iowa, basketball meant everything to Denise Long Rife. She played relentlessly at a time when women’s basketball still had six players on the court. Her dominance created a sudden crater in the world of sports. Standing at 5’11”, Long Rife was a dominant force. Understanding the landscape of women’s basketball, she made her fame as a formidable scorer.
It meant making inventions. Denise Long Rife remembers inventing a “screw shot” during her prolific high school career. She never expected or even knew about the teams in the NBA. Yet, in 1969, the unthought and the unexpected happened. In the same draft where the Milwaukee Bucks selected Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with the top pick, the Warriors selected Long Rife from straight out of high school.
That moment was unprecedented. No woman had ever been drafted into the NBA. The Warriors’ then-owner Franklin Mieuli believed in her as the beacon of progress for women’s basketball. Rife never got to play in the NBA. Her drafting was nullified since the league didn’t allow teams to draft players straight out of high school. But that wasn’t the end of her journey.
Mieuli launched the ‘Warriors Women’s Basketball League’ with Rife assuming the position of the league’s star. It was a four-team league that played games before the Warriors’ home contests. She signed a contract with the team that included benefits such as tuition for studying at the University of San Francisco. The league only went on for one season.
Following that, Denise Long Rife didn’t continue basketball since there wasn’t a professional women’s league at the time. She later worked as a pharmacist after acquiring higher education and retired in 2015.
Know what makes her great? A look into her career, stats, records, achievements, and more
Denise Long Rife is as legendary a basketball player as it gets. For context, nobody in the NBA has ever surpassed Wilt Chamberlain’s mark of 100 points. While in high school in Iowa, Long Rife did so on three different occasions. During one occasion, she was subbed out with nearly four minutes in the game. Her points tally on that day stood at 111 points before she was forced out.
“If I would have stayed in those extra four minutes, I would have made 128 points or more,” she recently said.
In his senior season, Denise Logn Rife finished the year averaging 69 points per game. In her junior year, she led Union-Whitten to a state championship. The game garnered 3.5 million viewers, with highlights of Long Rife’s spectacle still available on YouTube. She scored 64 points that night, and that doesn’t even rank as her craziest achievement.
“If I would have stayed in those extra four minutes, I would have made 128 points or more”
Denise Long Rife, drafted by the Warriors out of HS in 1969, describes scoring in 111 points in a high school game.
Yes: ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN points in one game. pic.twitter.com/gWlIDkOHR5
— Joseph Dycus (@joseph_dycus) March 3, 2026
Most of that came as a result of her conquests on the court. Notably, the moment the Warriors drafted her instantly became a sensation. She was invited to ‘The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson’ a week after being selected by the Warriors. Long Rife also shared the court with Warriors star Nate Thurmond. Essentially, she set the precedent. Her life and achievements proved basketball had no limits.
The WNBA didn’t come into existence until 1996. However, when it did, Denise Long Rife was seen as the launching pad for the development. She has been honored for her incredible career and achievements on numerous occasions. As the Warriors launched the Valkyries for the WNBA, her story became the foundational blocks. In 2018, she was honored at halftime during Women’s History Month.
All being said, Denise Long Rife was ahead of her time. She didn’t get to enjoy what women’s basketball has become now. But without her, even the thought wouldn’t exist. She broke down barriers and showed unmatched courage. Her efforts now sees women pursue basketball as a profession and the launch of multiple leagues across the globe.
Without any doubt, Denise Long Rife is a basketball legend.