Betty Lennox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Betty Lennox | |
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| WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks – No. 22 | |
| Guard | |
| Born | December 4, 1976 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| Nationality | American |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
| Weight | 143 lb (65 kg) |
| College | Louisiana Tech |
| Draft | 6th overall, 2000 Minnesota Lynx |
| WNBA career | 2000–present |
| Profile | WNBA Info Page |
| WNBA Teams | |
| Minnesota Lynx (2000-2002) Miami Sol (2002 - the team folded after the 2002 season) Cleveland Rockers (2003 - the team folded after the 2003 season) Seattle Storm (2004-2007) Atlanta Dream (2008) Los Angeles Sparks (2009-present) |
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| Awards and Honors | |
| Rookie of the Year (2000) WNBA Finals MVP (2004) |
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Betty Bernice Lennox (born December 4, 1976 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is an American professional basketball player currently playing for the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA. Her nicknames include "Betty Basketball," "Betty Big Buckets," and her most popular nickname "B-Money."
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[edit] Childhood
Betty grew up in the small town of Hugo, OK. Daughter of Bernice Jefferies and A. B. Lennox, and was raised by her mother primarily. She was the eighth of nine children and the youngest daughter in the family. She learned to play basketball with her five older brothers, who did not cut her any slack because she was a girl. She would learn to not be intimated by others while playing with her brothers as a child. She also developed her work ethic from growing up on a farm with her family. She was loading bales by age ten, each bale weighing 30 to 40 pounds, and did many daily chores while in primary school in Hugo. Her full name is Betty Bernice Lennox, getting her middle name from her mother.
[edit] High School Career
Betty spent her high school years attending Fort Osage High School in Independence, Missouri, under the coaching of Dale Williams. Betty also spent her sophomore year at Grant High School in Grant, OK before her family moved to Missouri. She originally learned the six-player game of basketball while in Oklahoma. She struggled when her family moved to Missouri, as she was not used to crossing over the center line to be a defensive player, as she had only been an offensive player while in Oklahoma.
[edit] College Years
Lennox played college basketball at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas. Her Tigers team won the 1998 Junior College National Championship, an accomplishment she is most proud of. Lennox then transferred to Louisiana Tech University, and graduated from there in 2000 with a BA in Psychology. She actually to a year off from basketball to devote herself to her studies in order to complete her degree. She was named the 2000 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and a U. S. Basketball Writers Association First Team All-American while at Louisiana Tech University.
[edit] WNBA career
Lennox was selected by the Minnesota Lynx as the sixth overall pick in the 2000 WNBA Draft and later became the WNBA's Rookie of the Year in 2000. She was also the first Rookie to ever play in the 2000 WNBA All-Star Game that same year. She broke her hip in 2001, and was originally told that her basketball career would be over after the injury. With the work ethic she learned as a child, she fought back from her injury to come back and continues to thrive as a player.
On June 13, 2002, the Minnesota Lynx traded Lennox along with a 2003 first-round draft pick to the Miami Sol in exchange for Tamara Moore and a 2003 second-round draft pick. After the 2002 season ended, the Miami Sol folded, and Lennox was selected by the Cleveland Rockers in the 2003 WNBA Dispersal draft. When the Rockers folded after the 2003 season ended, Lennox went through another Dispersal Draft before the 2004 season. This time, she was selected by the Seattle Storm.
Lennox led the Seattle Storm to the 2004 WNBA Championship against the Connecticut Sun. She was named the recipient of the WNBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for the Storm's championship run. Betty averaged 22.3 points during the Storm's championship run en route to winning the award.
On February 6, 2008, Lennox was selected by the Atlanta Dream in the expansion draft. She would play the entire season for the Atlanta Dream, averaging 17.5 points per game. She was the Eastern Conference leading point scorer for the 2008 season. She reached the 3,000 point and 1,000 rebound milestones in the 2008 season as well.
She was acquired by the Los Angeles Sparks for the 2009 season as an unrestricted free agent, where she helped lead them to the Western Conference finals in her tenth season with the WNBA.
She is has been known to play internationally during the off season with the WNBA, playing for many teams throughout the world. She recently played for Nadezhda in Russia during the 2008-09 WNBA off-season.[1]
[edit] Personal life
Lennox started the Lennox Foundation in 2005 to support children that were victims of neglect and abuse. The organization’s mission is to give these children better experiences and the chance to succeed with support, education, and love. They learn self-motivation through playing basketball. She was presented with the WNBA’s Community Assist Award in June 2006 for her charitable work.
She comes from a deeply religious background, and has a bible verse inscribed on the toes of her shoes (Philippians 4:13) which she says is the scripture that tells all that she has become today.
[edit] Vital statistics
- Position: Guard/Forward
- Height: 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
- College: Louisiana Tech
- Team(s): Los Angeles Sparks
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Betty Lennox |
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