Tina Thompson

Tina Thompson

WNBA's Seattle Storm  – No. 7
Forward
Born	(1975-02-10) February 10, 1975 Los Angeles, California
Nationality	American
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	178 lb (81 kg)
College	USC
Draft	1st overall, 1997 Houston Comets
WNBA career	1997–present
Profile	WNBA player profile
WNBA Teams
Houston Comets (1997–2008) Los Angeles Sparks (2009–2011) Seattle Storm (2012–present)
Awards and Honors
4× WNBA champion (1997-2000) 8× WNBA All-Star (1999-2003, 2006, 2007, 2009)
Medal record Women's Basketball Competitor for United States Olympic Games Gold 2004 Athens National Team Gold 2008 Beijing National Team World Championship Bronze 2006 Brazil National Team

Tina Marie Thompson (born February 10, 1975 in Los Angeles, California) is a professional basketball player in the WNBA for the Seattle Storm. The first draft pick in WNBA history, Thompson was selected first by the Houston Comets. She helped lead the Comets to four WNBA Championships. She has won two Olympic Gold Medals and has made 9 WNBA All-Star Game appearances, the most recent being 2009. She is the WNBA's all-time leading scorer. In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history. She is also the only player to play in every WNBA season (16).

Early years

Tina grew up playing basketball with her brother TJ and his friends at Robertson Park in West Los Angeles, California. She recorded more than 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds in her high school career at Morningside High School in Inglewood, California, where she also played volleyball. She then went on to play basketball at the University of Southern California, where she graduated in 1997. She attended both high school and college with fellow WNBA player Lisa Leslie.

WNBA career

Thompson was selected No. 1 overall in the first round of the inaugural 1997 WNBA draft by the Houston Comets. There, she was a member of a dynasty that won four consecutive WNBA championships from 1997-2000. Thompson is a nine-time All-Star, winning MVP honors at the 2000 All-Star Game. She led all Western Conference players in All-Star voting in 2001. Thompson has been named to the All-WNBA First Team three times (1997, 1998, 2004) and All-WNBA Second Team four times (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002).

She gave birth to her first child, a son whose father is NBA player Damon Jones, in May 2005; she resumed playing with the Comets only two months later.

After the Comets were disbanded in 2008, Thompson joined the Los Angeles sparks, where, on August 2010, she became the WNBA's all-time leading scorer, passing Lisa Leslie. In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in the fifteen-year history of the WNBA.

An unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2011 season, Thompson signed with the Seattle Storm on February 27, 2012, to fill gaps left by Australia's Lauren Jackson, concurrent with power forward Jackson's commitment to the Australian national team for the 2012 Olympics, and small forward Swin Cash, who was traded to the Chicago Sky as part of a package deal for the second overall pick in the 2012 WNBA Draft.

She has several game-day superstitions, including taking a shower after shootaround, taking a 45-minute nap, wearing lipstick to play every game and dressing in a specific order. Atypically of the traditional power forward, Thompson exhibits the ability to step out and make three-point shots from NBA range, and, in fact, after Sheryl Swoopes left Houston for Seattle, Thompson stepped into more of a cornerman role.

WNBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game
PPG	Points per game	TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage	Bold	Career high		League leader

International career

Thompson was an alternate for the 2000 Olympic squad. Thompson was a member of the U.S. women's basketball team and she earned a gold medal at the Summer Olympic Games: Beijing 2008. She was named to the '98 and 2002 USA World Championship teams, but injuries kept her from both competitions. She would earn her gold medal in 2004 in Greece.

Thompson has also participated in other professional leagues overseas. Following the 2001 WNBA season, Thompson played for Rovereto Basket in Rovereto, Italy and in 2003 she played for the Kumho Falcons of the Women’s Korea Basketball League (WKBL).

Overseas

• 2001-2002: Rovereto Basket
• 2003: Kumho Falcons
• 2006-2007: Spartak Moscow Region
• 2010: Municipal MCM Târgovişte.

Vital statistics

• Position: Forward
• Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
• College: University of Southern California
• Team(s): Houston Comets, Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA)

Awards and achievements

• 4 time WNBA Championship
• 2 time Olympic Gold Medalist
• 2000 WNBA All-Star Selection (MVP)
• 9 time WNBA All-Star Selection
• Named to the All-WNBA team 8 times.
• Member of the WNBA All-Decade Team
• 1st in WNBA all-time scoring

References

• David L. Porter, ed. (2005). Basketball: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-30952-6. 

External links

• Tina Thompson at WNBA.com
• USA Basketball Profile
• Tina Thompson's U.S. Olympic Team bio