It’s early 1996 and there is no professional basketball league for women in the United States. Players have to move abroad to play the sport they love. But that year, everything changes. Two leagues get off the ground almost at the same time: the ABL and the WNBA. They’re competing for talent and fans. The WNBA knows that to build momentum, they need a rivalry. And they have an obvious one in mind: Los Angeles vs New York. But things don’t always go as planned… 

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Season 2 of Biggest Rivalries of All Time, hosted by Cari Champion, takes us back to the early days of the WNBA and the league’s first real rivalry: the Houston Comets vs the New York Liberty. They faced each other in three of the first four WNBA championship finals. This is the story of two powerhouse teams and the players who dominated the sport — the women whose names are often forgotten but whose excellence, sacrifices and love for the game built the foundations for the league’s popularity today.

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Chris has one more shot at beating her rival. Martina goes back home to Czechoslovakia for the first time since she defected 10 years earlier. This last episode explores the end of these two giants’ careers, their rivalry-turned-friendship and their legacy for the sport. 

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Martina is dominant, even as her team is falling apart, and the media is turning her into a villain. On the court, no one can stop her – not even Chris. But Chris is determined to prove to everyone that she is not done. For the first time, she tries changing her game. And the two meet in the final of the US Open.

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After a humiliating loss to Chris, Martina meets someone new – a woman who believes she can transform her. Martina begins to assemble a team of unconventional characters who may be able to help her reach new heights. With their support, she can finally take on Chris. But in the conservative climate of the 1980s, rumors start to swirl around Martina. 

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In the world of tennis, Wimbledon is sacred ground. It is the tournament that every great player dreams of winning. When Martina and Chris meet there in the 1978 final, history is on the line. Chris is still dominating, but Martina has been working on her mental game. Can she upset her rival? And what if Chris has something else on her mind, something that has little to do with tennis? 

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In the aftermath of her defection from Communist Czechoslovakia, Martina is feeling lost, both on and off the court. But she and Chris start to become friends, and decide to compete as a team in doubles. Until Chris, concerned her singles rival may be getting too familiar with her game, breaks it off. 

CORRECTION: The final score of the 1975 US Open final between Chris Evert and Evonne Goolagong was 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. The final score mentioned in this episode (6-3, 6-0) is from the 1976 final. 

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In the 1970s, Chris Evert is the face of women’s tennis. Female players have just rebelled over equal pay and started their own tour, and Chris is their superstar -- cool, composed and all but unbeatable. But when a young woman from Czechoslovakia shows up, Chris senses that she may have some real competition. This first episode traces the origins of the rivalry between Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, and the fateful moment that will change both their lives.

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