Tina Thompson
On Saturday night, Tina Thompson was officially inducted into the University of Southern California Athletic Hall of Fame at the 2012 Trojan Hall of Fame induction dinner. Tina is a women’s basketball icon for her success at USC, the Olympics and the WNBA.
At Troy, Thompson was a first team All-American in 1997. She sits fifth all-time in the Trojan record books in scoring and rebounding.
After leaving USC, she became the first player ever drafted into the WNBA. In her 15 years in the league, Thompson has made the all-star team nine times and won four consecutive titles with the Houston Comets.
The WNBA legend is the only player to compete in every season of the league’s history. She is the all-time leader in points and games played.
Teaming with fellow Trojan Lisa Leslie, Thompson has brought home gold twice from the Olympics in 2004 and 2008.
This year’s Trojan Athletic Hall of Fame class also included Art Bartner, Lindsay Benko, Steve Bisheff, Tony Boselli, Clarence Davis, Barbara Hallquist, Barbara Hedges, Bob Hughes, Wayne Hughes, Bryan Ivie, Keyshawn Johnson, Randy Johnson, Jill McGill, Forrest Twogood, Quincy Watts and Adrian Young
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Tina Thompson is very succinct when writing about who she is.
“Dyllan’s Mom!” the bio tagline on Twitter reads.
Tweets follow about her son acing school projects, first football practices and new haircuts. But like any 6-year-old, Dyllan lives for the summer. That’s when the expanded version of Thompson’s bio is revealed.
That’s the Thompson who won four consecutive WNBA championships as part of the defunct Houston Comets’ “Big Three.” The Thompson who owns the league record for points (6,751). The Thompson who is the only player remaining from the inaugural 1997 WNBA season.
The Thompson that Seattle is getting to see because Dyllan said it was cool.
“I’m able to play, still, at this point because Dyllan allows me to. If he didn’t, I would have to find something else to do,” said Thompson, 37, with a serious face. Born on May 12, 2005, Dyllan was an easy addition as Thompson blossomed into a basketball globetrotter, winning Russian league and EuroLeague titles with Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson.
Category : Blog
Tina Thompson wrote this blog post on her WNBA Draft experience for the Huffington Post.
I wish I could actually start this blog describing my emotions of how nervous and anxious I was in anticipation of my name being called and placed on the Draft board. Um, not so much!
The WNBA has come a long way since then, to say the least. My Draft Day experience was just a little different from what you all see on television today. There was no nervousness, very little anxiety and no anticipation. I actually knew I was going No. 1 overall and so did everyone else participating in the Draft; no uncertainty in any of our futures. This was all possible in large part to our Draft being what was referred to at that time as a Mock Draft. Therefore, any emotion you saw, credit my acting skills. How did I do? No Academy Award, but I think I did a pretty good job of looking surprised.
My decision to play in the WNBA had more drama than my Draft Day itself. I was very unsure whether the WNBA was my future or not. I had just graduated from college. I was in the middle of taking an LSAT prep class in hopes of getting into a top law school. Then there was the other league, the ABL (American Basketball League), referred to by most as the “players” league. Decisions, decisions, decisions! Too many decisions for a kid right out of college.
So there I was with a clear plan of what my future would look like. I had prepared most of my life to get to this point. And in a matter of days it was turned upside down. What I remember most from this experience is my cell phone ringing in the middle of my evening LSAT class and me struggling to stop it from ringing in the midst of sheer embarrassment! Everyone I knew was aware I was in class studying, so why is my phone ringing? I didn’t recognize the number at all; it would have to wait at least until class was over.
On the walk back to campus I listened to my voicemail; there was a message from a lady by the name of Renee Brown (WNBA Chief of Basketball Operations and Player Relations). She was calling to inform me that the WNBA was inviting me to play in their league. I have to admit — I listened to the message at least five times! Was she sure? Did she have the right number? Did she say Tina Thompson? Dude, was I stoked!
Category : Blog
The Seattle Storm has signed forward Tina Thompson, the all-time leading scorer in the history of the WNBA, Storm Head Coach and General Manager Brian Agler announced today. The team has also re-signed Ewelina Kobryn. A reserved player, Kobryn signed the team’s qualifying offer and has been added to the Storm’s training camp roster. Per team policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed.
Thompson, who spent the previous three years with the Los Angeles Sparks, finished the 2011 season with 6,751 points over 15 seasons. With her addition, the Storm boasts the top three active WNBA players in career scoring, as veteran Katie Smith stands at No. 2 with 6,015 points and Lauren Jackson is No. 3 with 5,915. Along with former L.A. center Lisa Leslie, the Storm’s trio makes up three of the four leading scorers in league history.
Thompson was selected by Houston with the No. 1 overall pick in the inaugural WNBA Draft in 1997. She played 12 years with the Comets, leading the team to an unprecedented four WNBA championships, before the team disbanded. Thompson was acquired by the Los Angeles Sparks when she became a free agent in 2009.
An eight-time All-Star and three-time All-WNBA First Team selection, Thompson was recognized as one of the WNBA’s Top 15 Players of All-Time in 2011. She teamed with Storm veteran Sue Bird to lead the USA National Team to Olympic gold medals in the 2004 and 2008 Games.
“I couldn’t be more excited at the opportunity to coach Tina,” Agler said. “I’ve been coaching against her for more than a decade and I sure prefer having her on my side.”
“Adding a player of Tina Thompson’s experience and championship caliber further complements our vision of building a championship team,” Storm CEO and President Karen Bryant added. “She knows what it takes to win a championship.”
Thompson joins newly acquired Ann Wauters (2000), Jackson (2001) and Bird (2002) as the fourth No. 1 pick to play for the Storm. Never before has a WNBA team had more than three No. 1 overall picks at the same time. Previously, Seimone Augustus (2006), Lindsey Harding (2007) and LaToya Thomas (2003) played together for the Minnesota Lynx in 2008.
Kobryn, a 6-4 forward/center from Poland, played in 18 games for the Storm last season after joining the team in late June.
Seattle previously re-signed veteran starters Bird and Tanisha Wright to multi-year contracts and added Wauters, a former All-Star center, as a free agent.
The Storm opens the 2012 season by hosting the Los Angeles Sparks on May 18 at KeyArena.
Category : Blog
Los Angeles Sparks forward and WNBA legend Tina Thompson will be honored by Reverend Al Sharpton’s National Action Network during the organization’s second-annual Triumph Awards on Wednesday, Oct. 19 at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York.
The Triumph Awards recognize those who have made a positive impact beyond their performance on stage, in the arts, in sports and in the community. The event begins at 8 p.m. ET.
“I am extremely proud, grateful and honored by this recognition,” Thompson said. “Being that this is the second-annual Triumph Awards, I am humbly honored even more so. There are so many people deserving of this award, and I was chosen? Wow! I can’t wait to dress up!”
Thompson recently completed her third season with the Sparks, and is the only player to compete in all 15 WNBA seasons dating back to the league’s inception in 1997. She is the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer with 6,751 career points, and helped lead the Houston Comets to four consecutive league championships from 1997 to 2000. An eight-time WNBA All-Star, Thompson also won gold medals while representing the United States at both the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. In July, she was named one of the Top-15 Players in WNBA history.
Off-the-court, Thompson has been actively involved with WNBA Cares community relations initiatives throughout her 15-year career, such as serving as an original member of the Jr. NBA/WNBA Advisory Council and conducting numerous “Basketball and Books” clinics. Most recently the Los Angeles native participated in the WNBA Cares Day of Service during the 2011 NBA All-Star Weekend in February, and joined Sparks teammates for a Heal the Bay beach clean-up event in Santa Monica in August. Thompson is also the co-owner and creativity director of Blueprint Collective, LLC, a marketing and branding agency that hosts philanthropic events throughout Southern California.
Joining Thompson as this year’s Triumph Award honorees are Tyler Perry, Tyler Perry Studios, who is receiving the Chairman’s Award for Historic and Transformative Service and Chris & Malaak Rock, The Angel Rock Project, who are being honored with the President’s Award for Service and Humanitarian Efforts. Additional honorees include: Marva Smalls, Viacom/Nickelodeon, Jimmie Lee Solomon, Major League Baseball, Maurice Cox, PepsiCo, Attorney General Kamala Harris, State of California and the Honorable Judge Greg Mathis.
The evening will feature a performance by the cast of Layon Gray’s award-winning play Black Angels Over Tuskegee starring Lamman Rucker as well as a special musical performance by multi-platinum recording artist Joe. The event will be hosted by NBC News correspondent Mara Schiavocampo. The National Action Network Triumph Awards co-chairs are author and producer Tonya Lee and Paula Madison, CEO of Madison Media Management who also serves as Chairperson of the Los Angeles Sparks’ ownership group.
For more information, visit http://nationalactionnetwork.net/triumph.
UPDATE: Here are some photos of Tina accepting her award.
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