kudos8 Rebecca Lobo Helped Build the W.N.B.A. Now She’s Calling Its Next Chapter.

Rebecca Lobo’s shoelace was untied.

If it were anyone else dressed in morning sweats, standing in line for mediocre coffee in a hotel lobby this month, the stray lace might have gone unnoticed. But in New York City, hours before her former team, the New York Liberty, was set to play just a few subway stops away at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, her fans couldn’t let it go.

As Lobo waited for her caffeine fix, two different people cautiously reached up to tap the 6-foot-4 Lobo on the shoulder and let her know about the shoelace. Each time, she was grateful and gracious.

“I’m like my own children — ignoring the good advice I’m getting,” she said with a smile.

Lobo’s approachability belies the fact that, in the history of women’s basketball, she is royalty. At the University of Connecticut, she was the star of the 1995 team that won the first of the program’s 11 national championships. She was part of the United States’ gold-medal-winning team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. And Lobo, Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes were the first three players to sign with the Women’s National Basketball Association when it was founded in 1997.

Now, more than 20 years since her playing days ended, Lobo, 50, again finds herself in the middle of a pivotal moment in the sport’s history. As the top analyst for ESPN’s W.N.B.A. coverage, she will be calling perhaps the most anticipated postseason the league has ever seen.

“We’re on the ascent,” Lobo said of the sport in an interview.

The W.N.B.A., whose playoffs began over the weekend, has been one of the hottest topics in sports for months. A star-studded rookie class, led by Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, has generated unprecedented interest, shattering television ratings and game attendance records. That has also invited a wide range of commentary, from the informed to those approaching the game as though it had come out of nowhere.

What sets Lobo apart from the hot takes of social media is her depth of knowledge. It’s difficult to get more institutionally aware than someone who has been with the W.N.B.A. since its founding.

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