Bucks investor Valerie Daniels-Carter almost played pro basketball...for the Milwaukee Does

While Junior Bridgeman, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Aaron Rodgers and Caron Butler all missed out (for now) on buying a piece of the Milwaukee Bucks, it turns out there's at least one new investor with professional sports experience: Valerie Daniels-Carter.

A successful entrepreneur whose resume also includes being the first African-American woman to serve on the Green Bay Packers' board, Daniels-Carter told the New York Times in 2012 that her first job out of college also required that she give up on her pro hoops aspirations.

After graduating with a business degree in 1978, I got a job offer from what is now U.S. Bank in Milwaukee. I had played basketball from middle school through college, and along with the bank's offer, I received one from the Milwaukee Does to play professional basketball. After the first few practices, I didn't think it would be a career that would sustain me, so I took the bank job. In those years, women's basketball did not have the stature it does now.

Smart move, Valerie.

After starting her career at US Bank, Daniels-Carter went on to open her first Burger King franchise with her brother John Daniels in 1982, and the rest is history. Her V&J foods now operates over 100 franchises across the country, many of which are in the Milwaukee area (my personal fave: the Auntie Anne's at Mitchell International).

For those unfamiliar with the Does (you know, as in deer), they were a team in the short-lived Women's Professional Basketball league that existed from 1978-1980. And as it turns out, Daniels-Carter missed out on a chance to play in the first women's professional game in the U.S., which took place on December 9, 1978 at the Milwaukee Arena between the Does and the Chicago Hustle.

Interestingly, the Does were coached for part of the 79/80 season by none other than former Bucks coach Larry Costello, though he departed before the season finished after complaining of not being paid. Turns out that was a sign of things to come, as the Does folded after that second season and the league disbanded one year later.