Azurá Stevens
![]() Stevens in 2018 | |||||||||||||||
No. 23 – Los Angeles Sparks | |||||||||||||||
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Position | Power forward / center | ||||||||||||||
League | WNBA | ||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
Born | Pawtucket, Rhode Island, U.S. | February 1, 1996||||||||||||||
Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | ||||||||||||||
Listed weight | 180 lb (82 kg) | ||||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||||
High school | Cary (Cary, North Carolina) | ||||||||||||||
College | |||||||||||||||
WNBA draft | 2018: 1st round, 6th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
Selected by the Dallas Wings | |||||||||||||||
Playing career | 2018–present | ||||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||||
2018–2019 | Dallas Wings | ||||||||||||||
2018–2019 | Hebei Win Power | ||||||||||||||
2020–2022 | Chicago Sky | ||||||||||||||
2021–2022 | Nika Syktyvkar | ||||||||||||||
2022–2023 | Galatasaray | ||||||||||||||
2023–present | Los Angeles Sparks | ||||||||||||||
2024 | Xinjiang Magic Deer | ||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Azurá Breeona Stevens (born February 1, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).[1] Stevens played collegiately for the Duke Blue Devils[1] and the Connecticut Huskies.[2][3] She was drafted with the 6th overall pick in the 2018 WNBA draft by the Dallas Wings.
Background
[edit]Stevens was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the daughter of Damon and Kaasha Stevens.[1] She attended Cary High School in Cary, North Carolina, graduating in 2014.[1] She played basketball at Cary High, where she averaged 30 points, 20 rebounds, and four blocks her senior year.[4][5] As a sophomore and junior in high school, she played basketball with The Miracle League of the Triangle.[1]
Stevens was an All-Academic selection all four years of high school.[1] Her senior year, she was selected as an All-American by Parade Magazine.[1] In 2014, she was selected for All-State by the Associated Press and for All-North Carolina First Team by USA Today.[1]
Career
[edit]College career
[edit]Stevens played for the Duke Blue Devils during the 2014–15 and 2015-16 season. At Duke, she was named to the All-ACC Second Team as a freshman and to the First Team as a sophomore. She sat out the following due to transfer rules before playing for the UConn Huskies in the 2017-18 season. At UConn, she was named to the All-AAC Second Team and received the AAC Sixth Player of Year and AAC Newcomer of Year awards.[6]
Duke and Connecticut statistics
[edit]Source[7]
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Year | Team | GP | Points | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014-15 | Duke | 33 | 466 | 51.2% | 28.3% | 59.6% | 8.2 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 14.1 |
2015-16 | Duke | 25 | 472 | 53.5% | 35.8% | 75.0% | 9.6 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 18.9 |
2016-17 | Connecticut | Sat due to NCAA transfer rules | |||||||||
2017-18 | Connecticut | 37 | 543 | 60.6% | 17.6% | 79.1% | 7.4 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 14.7 |
Career | 95 | 1481 | 55.2% | 27.3% | 70.7% | 8.3 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 15.6 |
WNBA career
[edit]Dallas Wings (2018–2019)
[edit]In April 2018, Stevens decided to forgo her senior year of college and declare for the 2018 WNBA draft.[8][9] She was a highly rated player expected to be taken in the first round of the draft, and noted for her ability to play "positionless" basketball.[10][11][12][13]
In her rookie season for the Wings, Stevens mostly came off the bench, averaging 20.6 minutes, 8.9 points, and 4.6 rebounds per game, and was named to the WNBA All-Rookie Team.[14] Although the Wings ended the season with a 15–19 losing record, they entered the playoffs as the eighth seed and lost in the first round to the Phoenix Mercury. Stevens missed most of the 2019 season with an injury, playing only 9 games where she averaged 16 minutes and 4.8 points per game.[15] She later had surgery on her injured foot.[15]
Chicago Sky (2020–2022)
[edit]Ahead of the 2020 season, the Wings traded Stevens to the Chicago Sky in exchange for Katie Lou Samuelson and first-round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft.[16] In reporting ahead of the 2018 draft, multiple outlets had expected the Sky to draft Stevens with the third or fourth pick.[11][12][13] With the Sky, Stevens was expected to fill a gap in the forward position created by the departure of Astou Ndour.[15]
Los Angeles Sparks (2023–present)
[edit]Ahead of the 2023 season, Stevens signed a two-year contract with the Los Angeles Sparks.[17]
Overseas
[edit]Galatasaray
[edit]On 3 August 2022, she signed with Galatasaray of the Turkish Women's Basketball Super League (TKBL).[18]
As of July 2023, her contract has expired. Galatasaray club said goodbye to the player on July 6, 2023 by publishing a thank you message.[19]
Career statistics
[edit]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 best | ° | League leader |
† | Denotes seasons in which Stevens won a WNBA championship |
WNBA
[edit]Regular season
[edit]Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Dallas | 34 | 9 | 20.6 | .430 | .318 | .788 | 4.6 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 8.9 |
2019 | Dallas | 9 | 1 | 16.0 | .358 | .111 | .800 | 3.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 4.8 |
2020 | Chicago | 13 | 13 | 27.3 | .500 | .385 | .850 | 5.9 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 11.5 |
2021† | Chicago | 30 | 11 | 19.6 | .500 | .333 | .813 | 4.6 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 7.4 |
2022 | Chicago | 35 | 8 | 21.9 | .472 | .362 | .744 | 3.9 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 10.6 |
2023 | Los Angeles | 35 | 29 | 26.0 | .404 | .321 | .754 | 5.9 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 10.8 |
Career | 6 years, 3 teams | 156 | 71 | 22.2 | .446 | .335 | .780 | 4.8 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 9.4 |
Playoffs
[edit]Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Dallas | 1 | 0 | 13.0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | .000 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 7.0 |
2021† | Chicago | 10 | 10 | 25.4 | .477 | .263 | .786 | 6.9 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 9.8 |
2022 | Chicago | 8 | 0 | 18.8 | .472 | .188 | .667 | 3.8 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 7.4 |
Career | 3 years, 2 teams | 19 | 10 | 21.9 | .486 | .250 | .739 | 5.3 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 8.6 |
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h "Azurá Stevens - 2015-16 - Women's Basketball". Duke Athletics. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
- ^ "23 Azurá Stevens". CBS Interactive (UConn Huskies). Archived from the original on May 26, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
- ^ "UConn's Azura Stevens skipping final year to enter WNBA". ESPN. Associated Press. April 6, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
- ^ Moody, Aaron (February 26, 2012). "Cary Girls Upset East Wake: Two Imps - Stevens and Coleman - Outscore Entire Warrior Team". The News and Observer. p. A6. Retrieved January 31, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Azura Stevens: 5 Things To Know About UConn Women's Newest Player". Hartford Courant. May 2, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
- ^ "Azura Stevens". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
- ^ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
- ^ Associated Press (2018-04-02). "UConn forward Stevens to enter WNBA draft". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 2018-04-05. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
- ^ Anthony, Mike. "UConn's Azura Stevens Declares For WNBA Draft, Forgoing Senior Season". courant.com. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
- ^ Ellentuck, Matt (2018-04-10). "Dallas Wings get future of the WNBA in Azura Stevens". SBNation.com. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
- ^ a b Voepel, Michelle (2018-04-11). "How will UConn's Azurá Stevens impact the WNBA draft?". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 2018-04-12. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
- ^ a b "WNBA mock draft: Projecting all three rounds". ESPN.com. 2018-04-10. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
- ^ a b Ellentuck, Matt (2018-04-09). "WNBA mock draft: A'ja Wilson will go No. 1. After that, anything can happen". SBNation.com. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
- ^ "Azura Stevens WNBA Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
- ^ a b c Kenney, Madeline (2020-07-04). "Sky look to Azura Stevens for 'big season' after injury-plagued 2019". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
- ^ "Sky trade Katie Lou Samuelson and a 1st-round pick to the Dallas Wings for Azura Stevens". chicagotribune.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
- ^ "Sparks Sign WNBA Champion Azurá Stevens". Los Angeles Sparks. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
- ^ "Azura Stevens Galatasaray'da!" (in Turkish). Galatasaray. August 3, 2022. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
- ^ "Teşekkürler!". Galatasaray S.K. July 6, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
External links
[edit]- Career statistics and player information from WNBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com
- UConn Huskies bio
- 1996 births
- Living people
- 3x3 basketball players at the 2023 Pan American Games
- American expatriate basketball people in China
- American women's basketball players
- Basketball players at the 2023 Pan American Games
- Basketball players from North Carolina
- Basketball players from Rhode Island
- Centers (basketball)
- Chicago Sky players
- Dallas Wings draft picks
- Dallas Wings players
- Duke Blue Devils women's basketball players
- Galatasaray S.K. (women's basketball) players
- Los Angeles Sparks players
- Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games
- Pan American Games 3x3 basketball players
- Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in basketball
- Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball)
- Power forwards
- Sportspeople from Cary, North Carolina
- Sportspeople from Pawtucket, Rhode Island
- UConn Huskies women's basketball players