1997

On Jan. 22, 1997, Swoopes was assigned to the Houston Comets, along with Cynthia Cooper, as part of the WNBA’s initial player allocation.

But with its inaugural season set to tip off on June 21, 1997, the WNBA opened play without one of its biggest stars on the floor as Swoopes was pregnant with her son Jordan, who was born just four days after the WNBA’s first game.

Swoopes was determined to get back on the court as soon as possible and made her WNBA debut on August 7, just six weeks after giving birth. After missing the first 19 games of the season, Swoopes was able to play in the final nine games of the 1997 regular season, when she averaged 7.1 points and 1.7 rebounds in 14.3 minutes off the bench.

On Aug. 30, 1997, the Houston Comets won the first WNBA championship, defeating the New York Liberty, 65-51, in the championship game.

1998

Perhaps the most daunting aspect of Houston’s first championship for the rest of the league was that they won it without Swoopes being at 100 percent. By the time the 1998 season tipped off, Swoopes was ready to take the league by storm.

Swoopes averaged 15.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.5 steals per game as the Comets went 27-3 (.900) — the best single-season winning percentage in WNBA history. Swoopes was named to the All-WNBA First Team for the first time; she would go on to earn First Team honors five times in her career, with two Second Team honors as well.

The Comets followed up their record-setting regular season with a semifinal sweep of the Charlotte Sting and went on to defeat the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA Finals, 2-1, for their second straight championship. Swoopes averaged 12.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists in the three-game Finals series.

1999

Swoopes was voted in as a starter for the Western Conference in the WNBA’s first All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden. She finished with eight points and eight rebounds in the West’s win over the East in the first of her six All-Star appearances.

Shortly after the All-Star break, Swoopes added her name to the WNBA record books by recording the first triple-double in league history as she finished with 14 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in Houston’s 85-46 win over Detroit on July 27.

Once again the Comets finished with the league’s best record, going 26-6 in the regular season, with Swoopes and Cynthia Cooper putting up dominant numbers. Cooper (22.1) and Swoopes (18.3) ranked first and third, respectively, in points per game. They each ranked in the top 10 in assists per game, while Swoopes added a No. 4 ranking in steals (2.4) and No. 5 ranking in blocks (1.4) as well.

The Comets swept the L.A. Sparks in the Western Conference Finals before defeating the New York Liberty in three games in the WNBA Finals to win their third consecutive title.