Don't assume that silence means indifference. And don't assume that the NBA isn't deadly serious about its women's league.

Just because it's harder to pry information about the WNBA from the league's New York headquarters than it is to find out what hotel room Bill Clinton will sleep in from the Secret Service is no reason for the ABL to get complacent -- not that the people closely involved in that league aren't already looking a little nervously over their shoulders.

Peter Land, the NBA's Director of Marketing and Communications, did say that the league plans to have a press conference in October to announced which eight NBA cities will get WNBA franchises. They'll announce some player signings then, and maybe some coaches. Maybe not.

How many of the 29 NBA teams want one of those women's teams? Land isn't telling. He let slip that it was almost twice as many as there are slots available, which leads one to believe that 14 or 15 franchises think they can make money with a women's team next summer.

How will the NBA determine which cities win? "A variety of factors will go into the decision," said Land.

What factors would those be? A reply -- but no answer. Wait 'til October.

It may seem odd that the WNBA is leaving the field clear for the ABL to make a good first impression, as those eight teams head off to training camps in early September, but behind the scenes, you can wager your Kings' season tickets that the wheels are turning at warp speed. Val Ackerman, who heads the WNBA, is unavailable for interviews. Decisions on rules, roster sizes and the other nuts and bolts of a new league are as yet undetermined. Or at least unannounced. Until October.

We do know there will be a 10-week, 28-game season, starting in June and ending Aug. 30 with a one-game championship at 1 p.m. (PDT) on NBC. Four of the eight teams will make the playoffs, which will be a single-elimination affair.

Though no specific names have been announced, the WNBA will allow anyone to play regardless of where they're from, unlike the ABL, and will not sign players to exclusive contracts, unlike the ABL.

This means Katrina McClain can return from Turkey and play in the WNBA next summer. This means refugees from the ABL -- of which there are increasing number (look for Nikki McCray to be the next to bolt) -- can play in the WNBA, and then go off to Europe if they like. This means Yelena Baranova can come over from Russia to pick up some spare change. And it means Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes can take a few months off before getting back into basketball.

Will the WNBA remain a summer league? Maybe. In fact, most likely, for the foreseeable future. What about conflicts with the World Championships in June 1998?

"We're going to do what's best for the WNBA and international basketball," said Land. Does that mean the schedule might be adjusted? Maybe.

Maybe not.

In the short run, this uncertainty is a bit frustrating, but the NBA isn't going to rush into anything. The league is one of the most media-savvy and culturally attuned organizations on the planet, and its franchises are, for the most part, brilliantly run businesses that didn't get to be that way by making dumb decisions.

For example, Land isn't worried about crowds of 2,000 or 3,000 being lost in huge NBA arenas (where the teams must play). "The teams know what's going to work," he said, and the 14 or 15 who want WNBA franchises must be fairly confident they can keep the whistles from echoing through section after section of empty seats.

Land's contention is that there is a pent-up demand for professional basketball, and that people who can't get tickets, or don't want to pay the inflated prices for tickets, to NBA games will welcome the opportunity to spend some money to see the best female players in the world on hot summer nights. "It's not a price issue," he said, "it's a supply-and-demand issue."

Right, there's a little too much supply. In fact, precisely one women's league worth of too much supply. The WNBA party line is that it doesn't care what the ABL does or doesn't do. The WNBA will do what the WNBA is going to do -- even if nobody has any idea exactly what that's going to be.

Or, at least, nobody's telling.

8/25/96