In 1979, she signed a contract with the Indiana Pacers and took the court at their training camp, becoming the first woman ever signed to an NBA contract and the first to compete for a roster spot against professional men. That same year, she helped Team USA win gold at the FIBA World Championship, silver at the Pan American Games, and gold at the William Jones Cup, then earned an All-Star selection in her first season in the Women's Professional Basketball League. She followed it with a Co-MVP award in 1980, cementing her as the best player in the first professional league built for women in the sport's history. She later moved into broadcasting, becoming one of the first women to call NBA games on air, then spent years in the booth for the Phoenix Suns before moving into the Phoenix Mercury's front office as a team executive.

She married Hall of Fame pitcher Don Drysdale in 1986, a partnership between two athletes who had each already built their own careers before they met. Together they raised three children, and basketball stayed a family language long after her own playing days ended. In her memoir, You Let Some Girl Beat You?, she wrote about the doors that were closed to her outright and the ones she had to force open by simply playing better than the people guarding them. She never waited for the game to catch up to her.