Teresa Weatherspoon

Teresa Gaye Weatherspoon (born December 8, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

She played for the New York Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA and served as the head basketball coach of the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters.

In 1988, her senior season, she led the Lady Techsters to the NCAA national title.

After college, Weatherspoon played overseas in Italy, France and Russia for 8 years.

Weatherspoon is one of the original players of the WNBA in 1997 when she joined the New York Liberty in the WNBA's inaugural season.

Her debut game was played on June 21, 1997 in a 67 - 57 win over the Los Angeles Sparks.

In her first game, Weatherspoon recorded 3 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists (the first player in WNBA history to record double-digit assists in a game).

A talented ball-handler and charismatic leader, her energetic play quickly endeared her to the fans and media in New York.

The Liberty reached the first WNBA finals, but fell short to the Houston Comets.

Weatherspoon was the first winner of the league's Defensive Player of the Year Award.

From 1997 to 2003, she played in 220 games and started in every one of them.

The Liberty finished the 1998 season 18 - 12 behind Weatherspoon's averages of 6.8 points, 4 rebounds and 6.4 assists.

However, the team missed the playoffs.

Weatherspoon would win the Defensive Player of the Year Award again in 1998 becoming the first back to back recipient of the award.

Having a similar productive season with the Liberty in 1999 (in addition to being selected as a 1999 All-Star), Weatherspoon and the team were able to make it back to the Finals with an 18 - 14 record.

During the 1999 WNBA Finals, Weatherspoon had one of the most memorable feats in WNBA history; in Game 2 on September 4, 1999 the Liberty were down 67–65 against the Houston Comets with no timeouts left and 2.4 seconds left on the game clock after a shot made by Tina Thompson.

After receiving the inbound pass, Weatherspoon dribbled the ball up to half court and made a game-winning shot 50 feet away from the basket to force a Game 3.

That moment would later be referred to as "The Shot".

From 2000 to 2003, Weatherspoon would make the All-Star Team every year and have the same productivity throughout the years with no drastic dip in her scoring or rebounding abilities, showing her reliance and toughness to the organization.

The Liberty would make the Finals in 2000 and 2002 (making it 4 final appearances for Weatherspoon and the team) but unfortunately lost the Finals both times.

Being swept by the Comets in 2000 and being swept by the Sparks in 2002.

The 2003 season would be the first time the Liberty had a losing record, as they finished the season 16 - 18 and missed the playoffs for only the 2nd time in 6 years.

Weatherspoon also had the distinction of being the only WNBA player to start every one of her games until the 2004 season.

Weatherspoon would finally say goodbye to her time with the Liberty, as for the 2004 season, she would not resign with the team and instead signed with the Sparks on February 4, 2004.

Her time with the Sparks saw a strong change in Weatherspoon's role on a team, as she would finally come off the bench for the first time in her career and play an average of only 8.6 minutes per game (after averaging 31.1 on the Liberty).

The Sparks finished 25 - 9 but would not make the Finals, as they were eliminated in the first round of the 2004 playoffs.

Weatherspoon's final WNBA game ever was Game 2 of the 2004 Western Conference First Round on September 26, 2004 against the Sacramento Monarchs.

The Sparks won the game 71 – 57 and evened the series 1 – 1 with Weatherspoon recording 2 rebounds in 3 minutes.

However, Weatherspoon did not play in Game 3 and the Sparks lost that game 58 – 73 and were eliminated from the playoffs.

After her 2004 season with the Sparks, Weatherspoon retired.

In 2007 Weatherspoon was the head coach of the Westchester Phantoms of the American Basketball Association.

In April 2008 she joined the coaching staff of the Lady Techsters of Louisiana Tech.

On February 9, 2009, she was promoted to interim head coach to replace former head coach Chris Long.

April 2, 2009 saw Louisiana Tech shed the interim label and name Teresa head women's basketball coach.

Weatherspoon was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010, and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.

In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history.

In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in the fifteen-year history of the WNBA.

In 2016, Weatherspoon was chosen to the WNBA Top 20@20, a list of the league's best 20 players ever in celebration of the WNBA's twentieth anniversary.

Born in Pineland, Texas, Weatherspoon was a health and physical education major and star basketball player at Louisiana Tech.

In 2016, Weatherspoon was named in the WNBA Top 20@20.