Tamika Catchings has had a long and exciting career in the WNBA, but she has finally decided to call it quits at the end of this season. Her impact on the WNBA is immeasurable along with her contributions to the US Olympic Women’s Basketball Team and she has become one of the most influential women on the basketball court during her 14-year career. That’s why Tamika Catchings is this week’s SportsAsToldByAGirl Spotlight.
Catchings was born in New Jersey but moved to Texas. In Texas, she played for Duncansville High School where she was named a Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s All-American, playing in the association’s game. During her high school career, she became the first player “to be officially credited with scoring a quintuple-double.” Offers came pouring in for Catchings who decided to play for the University Of Tennesse under coach, Pat Summit. She played from 1997-2001 before declaring for the WNBA draft in 2001.
She was drafted third overall by the Indiana Fever but didn’t play during her rookie year. She was still recovering from an injury she sustained during her senior year. In 2002, Catchings finally got a chance to play and she was absolutely dominant. She was named the WNBA Rookie Of The Year that same year. She continued to dominate the league so I’ll just give you some highlights since Catching has an extremely impressive resume.
She helped take the Indiana Fever to the WNBA playoffs for ten straight years, setting a WNBA record. The team won the championship in 2012 finally after making the playoffs since 2005. That same year, she was named the WNBA Finals MVP. She was named the league’s most valuable player in 2011, is a 10x WNBA All-Star, was named to the All-WNBA First Team seven times and the All-WNBA Second Team five times. She is also a 5-time Defensive Player Of the Year.
She was the fastest WNBA player to score 2,000 points and is the all-time WNBA leader in steals. She is second in career scoring, first in free-throws made, second in rebounds and field goals. She cracks the top ten in all almost of the WNBA records, showcasing not only her true talent but her dedication to getting better.
She has played in four Olympic games during her career. She played as a part of Team USA in 2004, 2008, 2012 and most recently, 2016. 2016 will be the last Olympics Catchings will play in which she announced in 2014 saying, “I will be retiring in 2016, Lord willing, if my body holds up. Although I plan to step away as a player that is not to say I’ll step away from the game, hopefully. I am so thankful and blessed to have had an opportunity to play the game I have loved for so long. God has truly blessed me with an amazing playing career, and now it’s time to start transitioning to what He has for me beyond the lines of the basketball floor.” She finished out her Olympic career with 4 gold medals.
One thing that people might not know about Catchings is she was born with hearing loss. She began wearing hearing aids when she was young. She was awarded the Reynolds Society Achievement Award in 2008 by Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston. Her career in Indiana has made her a huge public figure in Indianapolis where Catchings started a charity, Catch The Stars Foundation. The foundation helps disadvantaged kids reach their dreams and resulted in Catchings being awarded the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award twice.
Catchings is an activist for Black Lives Matter and standing up against police brutality. Members of three different WNBA teams including Catchings wore t-shirts supporting Black Lives Matter. She partnered with Carmelo Anthony to hold a town hall meeting in LA to discuss violence by and towards police officers. As recent as this week, the entire team knelt during the National Anthem.
Catchings’ impact on and off the court shows why she is a truly one of the greatest of all time. If you don’t love Tamika Catchings after this, then what’s wrong with you?!
