Tamika Catchings

At 44 years old, Tamika Catchings has this physical status:

Tamika Devonne Catchings (born July 21, 1979) is an American retired basketball player who competed for the Women's National Basketball Association for the entire 15 years (WNBA).

Catchings has earned the WNBA Most Valuable Player Award (2011), five WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Awards (2005, 2006, 2012, and 2010), as well as the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award (2002).

She is one of only 11 women to have received all four awards.

She has also been selected to ten WNBA All-Star teams, 12 All-Defensive clubs, 12 All-Defensive teams, and led the league in steals eight times.

Fans voted Catchings as one of the top ten players of All Time in 2011. Tamika Catchings is a prolific scorer near and far from the basket, as well as a solid rebounder, ball handler, and defender.

Tamika Catchings made a name for herself by playing at Adlai E. Stevenson High School and graduating from Duncanville High School.

She was drafted by the Indiana Fever in 2001.

She had an all-star rookie season in 2002 after being drafted due to sickness for the entire year.

She was known for achieving the first female quintuple-double (25 points, 18 rebounds, 11 assists, 10 kills, and ten blocks) in 1997 and served as President of the WNBA Players Association from 2012 to 2016.

Life after basketball

On SEC Network, Catchings will serve as a game analyst for Women's Basketball Games in January 2017.

Catchings purchased Tea's Me Cafe from the previous owners on Indianapolis' near north side of Indianapolis, which she had been frequenting while playing for the Indiana Fever in February 2017.

Catchings was named Director of Player Programs and Franchise Development for Pacers Sports & Entertainment in April 2017.

In Season 11 of American Ninja Warrior, the catchings featured in the Baltimore qualifying round. On July 1, 2019, the episode aired on NBC.

Catchings spent time as both Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager for the Indiana Fever.

Personal life

Catchings is the niece of former NBA player Harvey Catchings. Tauja was both drafted by the WNBA and now plays in Sweden, and she also played basketball at Stevenson and the University of Illinois. Bobby is Tamika's cousin and a starting point for the Eastern Illinois University basketball team. Tamika studied Sports Management at the University of Tennessee.

Catchings helped Stevenson High School earn the IHSA Div. in Illinois. In 1995, AA State Championships were held in Sophomore, under head coach Frank Mattucci before heading to Texas. She received Illinois Ms. Basketball during her sophomore year at Stevenson (at the time she was the youngest player to win the award). In addition to leading Duncanville High to the state basketball championship in her senior season (she spent only two years at Duncanville after moving from Chicago), she also helped the volleyball team win their first state championship as a freshman.

As a young child, catchings were hard to hear; she used a hearing aid. The Reynolds Society Achievement Award was given to her by the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston in 2000. Catchings was given the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award for her work in the Indianapolis area with her Catch the Stars foundation on June 24, 2008.

Catchings refereed a game of 3-on-3 basketball played by Barack Obama with local students from Kokomo, Indiana, at the Maple Crest Middle School on April 25, 2008. Alison Bales, a former teammate, also served on Obama's team.

Parnell Smith, a former basketball player for the University of Buffalo, was married by Catchings in February 2016. The couple first met in July 2014 through a mutual friend.

Catchings are also a Christian. In an interview, she spoke about her faith in the sense that "God is certainly my Savior." He's the one who walks alongside me through my ups and downs, as well as the one that keeps me focused on what I'm going to do in life. He shields me from harming me. He has enough to do for me. "He leads me and leads me."

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Early life and college career

In New Jersey, catchings were invented. She competed for both Adlai E. Stevenson High School and the Duncanville High School, where she was named a WBCA All-American. Catchings earned 12 points in the WBCA High School All-America Game. She is also the first person to be credited with scoring a quintuple-double (25 points, 18 rebounds, 11 assists, 10 steals, and 10 blocks).

Catchings was an All-American with the Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball from 1997-2001. In 2000, she received the Naismith College Player of the Year award, the AP Women's National Player of the Year award, the USBWA Women's National Player of the Year award, and the WBCA Player of the Year award. She was a freshman on the undefeated 1997–98 National champions, and she was a member of the Semeka Randall and Chamique Holdsc law.

WNBA career

By the Indiana Fever in 2001, Catchings had been drafted 3rd overall. Although she was unable to play in the 2001 season due to an ACL injury suffered during her senior year at Tennessee, she had an excellent year in 2002 and was named WNBA Rookie of the Year, averaging 18.6 ppg, making a huge difference on the Fever roster in her first year as a pro. Catchings had tied for nine steals in her first season against the Minnesota Lynx, a record that has since been beaten by Ticha Penicheiro). Despite losing 2–1 in the first round, the Fever made it to the playoffs this year, and Catchings had a strong run, averaging 20.3 ppg.

In the 2003 season, Catchings' best season of her career would have been in 2004, when she averaged a career-high 19.7 ppg but the Fever never made it to the playoffs that year.

Catchings earned her 2,000th point in the Women's National Basketball Association in 2005. With this, she became the first player to score 2000 points in the WNBA, marking the record in just four seasons of play. She is also the fastest to 1,000 points, 400 assists, and 300 steals. Catchings was also named WNBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2005. In 2006, the catchings were then named Defensive Player of the Year. In 2009 and 2010, she was named Defensive Player of the Year again.

Catchings was first elected into the 2006 WNBA All-Star Game and was also the top vote getter, but she had to cancel due to a foot injury. At halftime, she was announced as a member of the All-Decade Team, alongside nine other players and former Comets coach Van Chancellor Van Chancellor. Fans also voted her as one of the Top 15 players in the WNBA's fifteen-year history.

The Fever traded Katie Douglas, a hometown all-star shooting guard who will play with the team until 2013, to team up with Catchings, creating an all-star team to fight for a championship and expand their lineup months before the 2008 season. The Fever fell way short of championship contention in 2008 after being eliminated in the first round by the Detroit Shock during the playoffs.

The Fever will have more success in 2009 as the team'schemistry developed between Catchings and Douglas. The Fever will make it to the WNBA finals, making it Catchings' first finals appearance. Catchings led the league in stealings with 2.9 spg prior to this and played a key role in the Fever's 22-12 record, earning the top seed in the Eastern Conference. They met the Phoenix Mercury in the finals and had a 2–1 series lead, but they would lose the next two games, resulting in the finals 3–2.

Catchings captured the WNBA Most Valuable Player award in 2011, 4.3 rpg, 3.5 apg, and 2.0 spg were all leading the Fever to a 21–13 record in 2011, top the Eastern Conference standings. However, she did a good job offensively in the playoffs, averaging 10.0 ppg in a playoff career. The Fever would make it to the Eastern Conference finals, where they were disqualified 2–1 to the Atlanta Dream. Catchings sustained a right foot injury in game 2 of the series. Despite being able to play in game 3, she had a subpar performance as a result of the injury, was 0 for 4 from the field, and was unable to recover from the field.

The Fever made some changes in their starting lineup in 2012, with Douglas playing the small forward, Catchings at power forward, and Shavonte Zellous at shooting guard. The Fever took second place in the Eastern Conference with a 22–12 record. Despite playing without Katie Douglas, who suffered an ankle injury in the Conference finals, the women made it back to the finals this year, this time against the championship defending Minnesota Lynx. In the final game of the season, the catchings scored a game-high 25 points and also took home a WNBA Finals MVP award.

Catchings missed the Fever's first 17 games of the season in 2014 due to a sore back and return 6 games before the 2014 WNBA All-Star Game in which she was chosen to play. During the all-star game, Catchings put up 125-124 for overtime. With a 16–18 record, the Fever finished second in the East on the season. Catchings became the WNBA's all-time top playoff scorer in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Washington Mystics, defeating Lisa Leslie's 908 career playoff points in August 23, 2014. She had 22 points, ten rebounds, and 7 steals while also tops Lisa Leslie for most WNBA playoff rebounds (471). The Fever would then advance to the Conference Finals, just one win away from advancing to the 2014 WNBA Finals, but the Chicago Sky defeated 2–1.

She said:

Catchings was voted a WNBA All-Star for the 10th time in her career, averaging 13.1 ppg, beating Tina Thompson for the most all-star appearances. The Fever finished third in the Eastern Conference with 20–14 records and made it back to the finals for the first time in three years, this time with Minnesota winning the series 3–2.

Catchings saw her 3,308th rebound in a regular season game loss to the Minnesota Lynx, with former WNBA All-time leader Lisa Leslie taking her all-time titles in regular season rebounds. Catchings was also the second player in WNBA history to have 7,000 points and 3,000 rebounds in the month of May before becoming the WNBA's top rebounder. The last WNBA game to lose to the Phoenix Mercury in the first round of playoffs, where the first and second rounds feature only a single elimination bracket rather than the traditional best-of-3 series. With the top two seeded teams receiving double byes to the semifinals (the last round before the WNBA championships), as well as the third and fourth seeded teams being seeded byes to the second round, both teams will be seeded based on league standings rather than conference standings. In 30 minutes of play, the catchers scored 13 points and grabbed ten rebounds.

Catchings was ranked 1st all-time in career playoff scoring, 1st all-time in career rebounds, 2nd in all-time regular season scoring, 1st in total career steals and 1st in career steals per game average, 1st in career all-time career scoring, 2nd in career playoff rebounds, 2nd in all-time regular season scoring, 2nd in all-time regular season scoring, 1st in total career rebounds, 1st She also holds the longest streak of 12 consecutive seasons in a row. Catchings had also appeared in three WNBA finals. She was also included in the WNBA Top 20@20, a list of the top 20 players in the WNBA's 20th season in 2016, and The W25, a similar list of 25 players who have played in 2021 during the league's 25th season in 2021.

Overseas career

Catchings spent her first year in a foreign country during the WNBA offseason in 2003. She worked for Asan Woori Bank Wibee in South Korea. Catchings played for Spartak Moscow in the Russian League from 2005-06 off-season. In the 2006 and 2007 off-seasons, the catchers would play in South Korea for Chuncheon Woori Bank Hansae. Catchings played in Poland for Lotos VBW Clima Gdynia and played in two consecutive off-seasons in the Turkish League from 2009 to 2011 for Galatasaray. She spent time with Katie Douglas, a former Indiana Fever teammate, during Catchings' first season with Galatasaray.

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Awards and achievements

• 2011 WNBA MVP
• 2012 WNBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award
• Ten-time WNBA All-Star Selection; appeared in nine All-Star Games. She has sole possession of the record for most appearances and selections.
• Six-time All-WNBA Team
• The first of three recorded Quintuple-double with Duncanville High School (Duncanville, Texas) with 25 points, 18 rebounds, 11 assists, 10 steals and 10 blocks in 1997.
• WBCBL Professional Basketball Trailblazer Award
• WKBL (South Korea League) 2003 Winter League, 2003 Summer League, 2006 Winter League Finals MVP
• 2010—Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award
• 2013—Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award
• 2016—Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award
• 2016—awarded a star (#37) on The Flag for Hope on May 9, 2016, in recognition of her outstanding basketball career and philanthropic efforts.
• 2020 - Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee