Thirty years is long enough for a league to go from an experiment to an institution. And it is also long enough for the people who introduced it to a national audience to still be around to watch it grow. That’s what made Tuesday night different. Geno Auriemma and Robin Roberts, the pair who called the WNBA’s very first ESPN broadcast in 1997, sat back down together for the Dallas Wings-New York Liberty game. The reunion said as much about how far the league has traveled as any stat could.

Both spoke with ESPN’s Christine Williamson during the broadcast about what it meant to be back.

“Oh my goodness. You know what, Christine, thank you for asking that, and I’ve been very blessed to do a lot of different things in my long career,” Roberts said (via espnW). “But this is special because, as you showed, we were there in the beginning, and to be here 30 seasons later, and to see the atmosphere, to see the level of play on the court, means everything.”

That sense of distance traveled is exactly why this wasn’t just a nostalgia booking. Roberts and Auriemma called ESPN’s first-ever WNBA broadcast on June 23, 1997, when the Utah Starzz beat the Los Angeles Sparks, and stayed together on the call for two seasons after that. Since then, both built separate legacies. Roberts became an Emmy-winning broadcaster and Good Morning America anchor while Auriemma emerged as the winningest coach in college basketball history at UConn. Getting them back in the same booth after three decades apart isn’t something most leagues get to do. Mostly because most leagues haven’t lasted long enough to try.

Roberts also gave a glimpse of what their dynamic used to look like behind the scenes.

“And then to be with this knucklehead (Auriemma), you know, just brilliant. And you know, I felt like a kid in class again because I had my notes and I’m trying to hide them because he’s like stealing my notes and everything because he comes nothing in front of him,” he said. “But he doesn’t need it. He’s like a legend, and he just says what’s on his mind.”

“I just say what they tell me to say. It’s a lot safer that way. I don’t get into much trouble,” Auriemma replied, smirking.

That teasing is easy to miss as just chemistry, but it’s really the point. It’s the kind of shorthand that only comes from having actually done this before, not from two broadcasters meeting for a one-off alignment.

Quite fittingly, the game itself gave them plenty of material. Auriemma’s former UConn players Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd suited up for Dallas, while Breanna Stewart, another ex-Husky, played for New York. The reunion gave us a real basketball throughline instead of just a ceremony.

That same instinct, honoring the people who built the league rather than just marking a date, has been running through the WNBA’s whole 30th anniversary season.

The WNBA Is Rolling Back The Clock For The 30th Anniversary Celebrations

Just this past week, the league announced that Cynthia Cooper and Teresa Weatherspoon will serve as honorary general managers for the 2026 All-Star Game. This replaces the usual format where the top vote getters serve as team captains.

Both are Hall of Famers, and both were the faces of the league’s first true rivalry. While Cooper brought the scoring punch for the Houston Comets, Weatherspoon brought the defensive edge for the New York Liberty. That matchup defined three of the WNBA’s first four Finals in 1997, 1999, and 2000.

Handing them the GM role is a small change, but the intent behind it is clear. It puts two of the league’s foundational stars back in the spotlight during the same season that brought Roberts and Auriemma back to the booth. Both moves point to the same idea: the WNBA’s 30 years didn’t happen by accident, and the people who built it are still part of telling that story.

Cooper and Weatherspoon will draft their rosters from the pool of 22 All-Stars in the coming days, with the full teams, Team Cooper and Team Weatherspoon, set to be announced ahead of All-Star Weekend on July 24-25 in Chicago. The game tips off July 25 at the United Center, and it won’t be the only nod to the league’s history that weekend, with the 3-Point Contest and Shooting Stars event on July 24 rounding out a slate built entirely around the 30th season.