HOOPS ELITE MAGAZINE
He noticed my passion for youth and told
me that he’d love to help put on a basketball camp/clinic. We hosted the camp,
added a fitness clinic the following year
and added mentoring programs from
there. Due to the success of our programs,
we decided to incorporate, so in 2004 I established the Catch the Stars Foundation.
Our mission is to empower youth to
achieve their dreams by providing
goal-setting programs that promote literacy, fitness and mentoring. We just celebrated our 10th anniversary and over the
past decade we’ve reached over 7,500
youth through our camp, fitness clinics,
STARS & CHAMPS mentoring programs,
reading corners and back to school celebrations. We’ve also granted over $80,000
in college scholarships to local students
that excel in the classroom & community.
8. Ten WNBA-record setting playoff appearances. Nine time WNBA All Star.
Five time WNBA Defensive Player of the
Year. Three time Olympic Gold Medalist.
WNBA MVP, 2012 WNBA Champion and
WNBA Finals MVP. Member of the All-Decade Team and Top 15 Team. A certain
future Hall of Famer. What else are you
looking to accomplish in basketball?
Not trying to be greedy, but I want to win
another championship! The thing that
motivates me is that I know I can be better. My motivation is that by the end of my
playing days I will retire as the best that
Tamika Catchings can be.
18 | Issue 2 - March 2015
9. You have announced your retirement from the WNBA in 2016. What are
your plans for retirement?
When I’m finished and at some point I
would like to be a GM in either the NBA
or WNBA. Before that, I would love to be
an ambassador for the league and travel
around talking about the WNBA and all of
the positive things it has to offer.
10. It is very uncommon in a professional sport that a player stays with on team
their entire career. What does it mean
for you to be such a tremendous part of
building a legacy with the Indiana Fever?
11. One of your many accolades not
mentioned is you won the Kim Perrot
Sportsmanship Award twice. How important is sportsmanship in basketball
and how does it translate off the court?
It was truly an honor to win the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship award two times. It is
so important that we teach our youth the
value of being a good sport on and off
the court. We’re not always going to win
in life, and being able to handle the wins
and losses, along with showing strong
character, is part of being a good sport.
12. Some may not remember, but your
rookie season you missed completely
due to injury. Most will remember that
you came back the next year and was
the WNBA Rookie of the Year. How did
you motivate yourself to come back
from such as serious injury?
At first I was scared that I wouldn’t be able
to play in the WNBA when I got hurt. I didn’t
think that anyone would want to draft an
injured player. But, I knew that I would work
super hard to get myself back and to have
an opportunity to fulfill my dreams.
13. You have so many records in the
WNBA. Is there one that is most important to you?
The records that stand out to me would
be my steals. Since my days at the University of Tennessee, defense has become
something that I’ve valued and worked
really hard on. The steals are an indication
of the way I play the game.
14. Only in video games a person can
record a quintuple double, and even
then it is next to impossible. However
in high school, you got 25 points, 18
rebounds, 11 assists, 10 steals and 10
blocks. Do you think this is a feat that
can ever happen again?
Definitely!! Records are made to be broken. I don’t kn