The Weight She Carried Into the Arena

On September 20, 1973, Billie Jean King walked onto the floor of the Houston Astrodome before 30,472 spectators and an estimated 90 million television viewers worldwide. Her opponent, Bobby Riggs, had spent months taunting female athletes, insisting women could never compete with men. He had already beaten Margaret Court earlier that year in what the press dubbed the "Mother's Day Massacre."…