One year ago on Dec. 22, the U.S. became a one pro-league place as the American Basketball League ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy protection.

	The Monarchs are missing Yolanda Griffith's 16.2 ppg and 11.2 rpg averages from a year ago.

Approximately $22 million in debt, according to figures supplied by the league's bankruptcy counsel, the ABL became No. 13 in the long line of women's professional basketball leagues that have failed in this country.

Existing now only in fond memories and legal documents, there are those who would like to think that the ABL will leave a lasting legacy. But even the league's founders admit that years from now the ABL will most likely be lumped in with all the rest of the league's that didn't make it.

"That's probably going to happen, to some extent," said former CEO Gary Cavalli, now doing consulting work. "People will remember that we did things a little differently. But ultimately, we will be one of the carcasses."

It was a devastating loss for those who invested financially, those who left steady jobs to take a risk on something they believed in, those who stuffed envelopes and never earned a paycheck and for those who did earn the paychecks for their play on the court.

More than 200 league employees, including players, coaches and front-office personnel lost their jobs. Season-ticket holders lost money. Investors lost millions. The grass-roots supporters who stuffed envelopes and threw parties lost their newfound communities.

But now the game goes on, represented solely by the WNBA.

The WNBA, with its summer schedule, corporate backing and network television deals, ultimately won the battle. Whether it was a fair battle is likely to be the subject of a lawsuit to be filed against the NBA by the ABL alleging the NBA used illegal business practices to stifle the ABL's bid for sponsors and a television deal. Mike Lubick, the ABL's bankruptcy counsel, confirmed in late December the possibility of a suit existed, but had not yet been filed. The WNBA will not comment on the possibility of the suit.

There are more than 30 former ABL players now employed in the WNBA, a number that will surely go up this season as the league has lifted the limits it negotiated with the WNBA Players Association last spring.

Has two been better than one? Many figured it had to be. It hasn't necessarily been the case so far.

The new players changed the league in terms of the level of play on the floor -- at least for teams like Sacramento and Utah, who improved drastically with the infusion of talent -- but frankly did little for its stature overall. Television ratings and attendance figures remained flat. The corporate sponsors who started with the league have largely remained, but there doesn't seem to be any big line at the door for new suitors.

For those ABL players who did play in the WNBA last summer, life has changed quite a bit. While the average salary in the ABL was $80,000, the WNBA's average salary is $36,500. And all of the ABL players who came into the league last season were paid rookie salaries -- as high as $50,000 and as low as $20,000 per season -- another agreement with the WNBA's players union.

While former ABL star Yolanda Griffith had a breakthrough season to become the WNBA's 1999 Most Valuable Player, most ABL players have seen their brief WNBA careers marked with struggles and bench-warming (ie. 1997 co-national players of the year Kate Starbird and Kara Wolters).

Of the 22 players voted on to the WNBA All-Star team, only four were former ABL players, not including Nikki McCray and Dawn Staley, each of whom jumped to the rival league before the ABL folded. And of the 24 players taken in last week's WNBA expansion draft, 10 of those were former ABLers.

Another subject of concern has been the league's hiring practices when it comes to coaches. Of the league's 16 teams, nine are coached by men. All three of the league's end-of-season openings were filled by men, not including the four new expansion franchises.

Four former ABL coaches have found head coaching jobs in the WNBA, three of which were hired to head a trio of the league's four new expansion franchises. The fourth is Minnesota coach Brian Agler, who jumped to the WNBA from the ABL's two-time defending champion Columbus Quest just weeks before the ABL folded. Two other former ABL head coaches have hooked on as assistants.

	“	People will remember that we did things a little differently. But ultimately, we will be one of the carcasses. ”
		— Former ABL CEO Gary Cavalli

Former San Jose Lasers coach Angela Beck is not among those who was hired.

"I'm an outsider now for the first time in my life," Beck said. "The people in the WNBA who are making the decisions don't know who Angela Beck is."

Perhaps the most disturbing is the fact that players, from the borderline roster talent to front-line stars, are heading back overseas in order to supplement their WNBA income. For example, Kristin Folkl, one of the biggest names on the Minnesota Lynx roster is spending her winter playing in the Australian league. Edna Campbell, a star talent in both leagues, also is back overseas. Even four-time Olympian Teresa Edwards, who refused to play in the WNBA last season at rookie pay scale, had admitted she may finish her career overseas.

Others, like Jennifer Azzi, refuse to go. But Azzi has her own business -- offseason training camps -- to keep her occupied.

There is even disappointment in league circle that it's come -- or rather come back -- to this.

"Wasn't that why we did this in the first place?" asked one prominent WNBA figure.

The solutions aren't simple. Does a longer season and thus a higher salary fix the problem? How about a winter league sponsored by the WNBA? Neither of these propositions are likely to appeal to the owners of the WNBA teams, who only bought into the idea in the first place because it was a chance to augment the operation of their NBA franchises, not interfere with them.

And there in lies the biggest problem.

Unlike the ABL, this is not a league run with the best interests of the women's game at heart. This is a league where the best interest is the bottom line. Maybe that's why the ABL failed, because it was more of a cause than a cold, hard business. Maybe that's why the WNBA will survive.

It has to. There's nothing else to fall back on anymore.

Michelle Smith of the San Francisco Examiner is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.