Former Huskies Named To WNBA’s Greatest Players List

[JavaMan]

In celebration of its landmark 20th season, the WNBA will honor the 20 greatest and most influential players in its history and announced today the 60 official nominees for the WNBA Top 20@20 presented by Verizon.

The WNBA Top 20@20 presented by Verizon will be unveiled on ESPN’s SportsCenter: Face-to-Face with Hannah Storm during the 10 a.m. ET hour on June 21. That date was chosen to honor the date of the league’s inaugural regular-season game in 1997. ESPN Networks will promote the list throughout the day on various programs, including during ESPN’s noon ET SportsCenter: Coast- to- Coast with a Cari Champion interview with four-time WNBA champion Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, as well as ESPN2’s telecast of the Phoenix Mercury vs. Dallas Wings game at 8 p.m. ET.

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The 60 nominees were selected based on factors like on-court performance and ability, leadership and sportsmanship, as well as contributions to team success. In addition, all players must have been a member of a WNBA team for two seasons and met three of the following seven criteria: the winner of a major individual award; a selection to either the All-WNBA First Team or All-WNBA Second Team; a selection to either the WNBA All-Defensive First Team or WNBA All-Defensive Second Team; a selection to the WNBA All-Star Game; a member of a WNBA Championship team; a current ranking among the top 30 career leaders in at least one major statistical category; and a selection to either the WNBA’s All-Decade Team (voted on in 2006) or the WNBA’s Top 15 Players (voted on in 2011).

Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Tina Charles, Maya Moore, Diana Taurasi and Nykesha Sales were all named to the list.

No Rebecca Lobo!

[LINK] to story

See complete list of the 60 nominees [HERE]

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[DaddyChoc]

whoa... I had Bird, DT and Lobo. everyone else is still too young

let me check the list

 

[DaddyChoc]

Kym Hampton... or was that the ABL?

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Kym Hampton... or was that the ABL?

Kym actually had a relatively short career. She was older when the league started, and was more of a fan favorite and team leader than huge star.

 

[UcMiami]

Lobo unfortunately had a very short career as her body broke down. In the professional world she has made a bigger impact as a sportscaster.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Lobo unfortunately had a very short career as her body broke down. In the professional world she has made a bigger impact as a sportscaster.

And symbolically, as well. Really one of the first big names to "sell" the league. We had Liberty season tix for about 10 years starting at the beginning. I mean, I knew who Wicks was (never saw her play before, but played for Rutgers). Most of the rest of the players were unknowns. Hampton? Weatherspoon and Witherspoon? Jasmilla Peraszik-Gipe (sp.)?

That and her superb play at UConn made Lobo an instant draw. And yes, if she hadn't had the injuries I think she would have had a solid career. In a way (different than that mentioned in another thread about other players) she was a bit of a "tweener", solid at a lot of different skills from different positions without truly excelling (in the W) at any one.

 

[JavaMan]

4 Huskies Make The List:

WNBA Top 20@20
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Seimone Augustus
Sue Bird
Swin Cash
Tamika Catchings
Cynthia Cooper
Yolanda Griffith
Becky Hammon
Lauren Jackson
Lisa Leslie
Maya Moore
Deanna Nolan
Candace Parker
Ticha Penicheiro
Cappie Pondexter
Katie Smith
Sheryl Swoopes
Diana Taurasi
Tina Thompson
Teresa Weatherspoon
Lindsay Whalen

[LINK]

 

[MilfordHusky]

That's a great list. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any major omissions, except maybe for Tina Charles, who is in her 7th season.

I think Sue and Diana were locks. Maya will be the best player in the league over her first decade. She's the youngest player on the list by at least 3 years. Congrats to Swin as well. She has a very nice resume!

 

[EricLA]

I don't know about stats, but back to Milford's point - Tina Charles vs. who? Who would you take off to put Tina on? I think Tina has not been in the league long enough. Probably the will do a 25 year list too and I'd expect Tina to be on that list then.

Bottom line congrats to all the deserving ladies! Hard to argue with that list for sure!

 

[MilfordHusky]

I don't know about stats, but back to Milford's point - Tina Charles vs. who? Who would you take off to put Tina on? I think Tina has not been in the league long enough. Probably the will do a 25 year list too and I'd expect Tina to be on that list then.

Bottom line congrats to all the deserving ladies! Hard to argue with that list for sure!

Tough competition. Tina has played 1 year more than Maya and was also Rookie of the Year and MVP, but has not won a championship yet. Tina was WNBA 1st team 3x and WNBA 2nd team 3x in her first 6 seasons. She also has led the league in rebounding 3x. The only things she lacks are longevity and WNBA championships.

 

[stwainfan]

That's a good list. There are a few players like EDD, Stewart, and a few others. That will be all time greats. Once they have enough time in the league.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

Mechelle Voepel: Penny Taylor and Delisha Milton-Jones deserve to be in the Top 20
Taylor, Milton-Jones belonged on WNBA's top 20

As an aside, the two names likely to be left off the next grouping are Ticha Penicheiro and Teresa Weatherspoon. Both were great floor generals and among the all-time leaders in assists. Both were very good defenders. But neither was a scorer; in fact, their respective lack of offense hurt their teams at times. Penicheiro averaged over 7 ppg only three times in 15 years (the most being 8.6 ppg in 2008). Weatherspoon had a career average of 5.0 ppg, with only two years (out of eight) above 6.9 ppg. Neither was a great shooter (Ticha was a 35 percent shooter for her career, while T-Spoon was at 41 percent).

Again, both were great leaders and floor generals. But as the league gets older and the players get better, former WNBA stars like Penicheiro and Weatherspoon will be part of the league's history and nostalgia, rather than on "best ever" lists.

 

[Blueballer]

The thing that I thought when I saw this list was they were putting a big value on Championships. I love Swin but to me she hasn't been quite as good a WNBA player as Tina.

 

[PacoSwede]

cappie? yolanda?

c'mon, they were good players, but 2o best? gimmeabreak.

 

[UcMiami]

The thing that I thought when I saw this list was they were putting a big value on Championships. I love Swin but to me she hasn't been quite as good a WNBA player as Tina.

Swin was really good early in her career, and after rehabbing came back to play very well - she has been in the twilight of her career for a few years now, but with 14 years has the longevity factor over Charles as well.

Good list. There are probably arguments to be made for 3 or 4 other players and against 3 or 4 on the list, but they are debates and not really disagreements.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

cappie? yolanda?

c'mon, they were good players, but 2o best? gimmeabreak.

I was surprised to see (RU was advertising it, duh) that Cappie was the 7th player to score 6000 points in the league. That said, she has never really been "the star" anywhere.

 

[j66kicker]

I was surprised to see (RU was advertising it, duh) that Cappie was the 7th player to score 6000 points in the league. That said, she has never really been "the star" anywhere.

Cappie wasn't THE star, but she was definitely the co-star with Taurasi in Phoenix the year they won the championship together. Mercury woudn't have won that title without her.

 

[mkwstar23]

my only complaint you can't tell me that Weatherspoon and Penicheiro are both more deserving than Penny Taylor...other than that i think they got it right

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Cappie wasn't THE star, but she was definitely the co-star with Taurasi in Phoenix the year they won the championship together. Mercury woudn't have won that title without her.

I agree. We were rooting for her, of course, although we were still in NJ.

I do feel, however, that it has been a quiet career, all things being equal. Of course, Katie Smith's career wasn't "flashy" for all the points she poured in, either. Much as I rooted for her - and value her contributions to a team - I don't think of her as among the top players at any given moment, even in her prime. Given her career scoring (and she has a few years left, I expect) I think she deserved the honor, but like some of the other players mentioned probably will not be on some future lists. Or maybe she will, what do I know.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

cappie? yolanda?

c'mon, they were good players, but 2o best? gimmeabreak.

Yolanda Griffith

• WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award (1999)

• WNBA MVP (1999)

• 2x First Team All-WNBA (1999, 2005)

• 3x Second Team All-WNBA (2000, 2001, 2004)

• 8× WNBA All-Star (1999–2001, 2003–2007)

• WNBA champion (2005)

• WNBA Finals MVP (2005)

MVP and Finals MVP (in two different seasons), plus MVP and DPOY in the same year, plus being an 8-time All Star (and someone who was already 29 years old in her first WNBA season in 1999).

She was one of only four players to win MVP and DPOY in the same year - and she was the first (Griffith in 1999; Jackson in 2007; Leslie in 2004; Swoopes in 2000 and 2002)

She is one of only six players to win an MVP award and a Finals MVP award (Griffith, Taurasi, Moore, Jackson, Leslie, Cooper - no, not even Sheryl Swoopes can claim that).

The criteria were as follows:
[A]ll players must have been a member of a WNBA team for two seasons and met three of the following seven criteria: the winner of a major individual award; a selection to either the All-WNBA First Team or All-WNBA Second Team; a selection to either the WNBA All-Defensive First Team or WNBA All-Defensive Second Team; a selection to the WNBA All-Star Game; a member of a WNBA Championship team; a current ranking among the top 30 career leaders in at least one major statistical category; and a selection to either the WNBA’s All-Decade Team (voted on in 2006) or the WNBA’s Top 15 Players (voted on in 2011).

Griffith met all seven criteria (she made the All-Defensive team in 2005, the first year the league had an All-Defensive team; she still ranks in the top 10 in total rebounds and rebound per game average, and she still ranks in the top 13 in total steals and steals per game average).

So yes, Yolanda Griffith is undoubtedly a Top 20 member.

 

[mkwstar23]

I agree. We were rooting for her, of course, although we were still in NJ.

I do feel, however, that it has been a quiet career, all things being equal. Of course, Katie Smith's career wasn't "flashy" for all the points she poured in, either. Much as I rooted for her - and value her contributions to a team - I don't think of her as among the top players at any given moment, even in her prime. Given her career scoring (and she has a few years left, I expect) I think she deserved the honor, but like some of the other players mentioned probably will not be on some future lists. Or maybe she will, what do I know.

Katie still was a much better player than Weatherspoon and Penicheiro...just me but i think she might be the most underated player every in the league's history...she played with no help at all in Minnesota for the most part and was a constant top 3 vote getter for MVP...if she had played the 3 years that she was in the ABL (won both championships that ABL had) not sure anyone would ever catch her scoring and 3 pointers records...DT says she is one of if not the toughest defenders to go against and the hardest to guard in her prime...i am bias i think she was DT type player before DT came along...just me...i respect your thoughts
before you ask Diana is and probably will always be the best guard to ever play the game

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Katie still was a much better player than Weatherspoon and Penicheiro...just me but i think she might be the most underated player every in the league's history...she played with no help at all in Minnesota for the most part and was a constant top 3 vote getter for MVP...if she had played the 3 years that she was in the ABL (won both championships that ABL had) not sure anyone would ever catch her scoring and 3 pointers records...DT says she is one of if not the toughest defenders to go against and the hardest to guard in her prime...i am bias i think she was DT type player before DT came along...just me...i respect your thoughts
before you ask Diana is and probably will always be the best guard to ever play the game

I think you misunderstood - I was talking about Cappie. I was saying that her career hasn't been "flashy", as I don't think Katie Smith's career was "flashy". Both productive, Katie more-so, obviously. The comments following the comparison were about Cappie.

Swin Cash and Tina Thompson were also not "flashy", IMHO. The other 16 were, at least in their prime, players that folks talked about.

 

[mkwstar23]

I think you misunderstood - I was talking about Cappie. I was saying that her career hasn't been "flashy", as I don't think Katie Smith's career was "flashy". Both productive, Katie more-so, obviously. The comments following the comparison were about Cappie.

Swin Cash and Tina Thompson were also not "flashy", IMHO. The other 16 were, at least in their prime, players that folks talked about.

please accept my apology...told you i was a big Katie fan...i agree with you on Swin and Tina i think that Penny is better than both of them...Tina was never the same without Swoopes...simply a shooter and moderate rebounder...unfortunately they did not ask me for my opinion...lol...like the way you think tho