Sheryl Swoopes

BORN: MARCH 25, 1971, BROWNFIELD, TX

At times, I get it in my mind that there is no way I can miss.

Sheryl Swoopes was the first player to be signed to the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) in 1997. Recruited by the Houston Comets, she joined the team only six weeks after giving birth to her son, playing the last third of the initial season and leading her team to the championship. During her WNBA career, Sheryl was a four-time champion and a three-time MVP selection. In 2011, she was named one of the league’s top fifteen players of all time.

During her professional career, Sheryl, who stands six feet tall, displayed such athleticism and formidable hoop skills that she was often referred to as Her Airness. Her legendary career helped stabilize the WNBA as a popular professional sport. Players in the WNBA don’t receive big salaries like NBA players. Many played for international teams during the off-season to augment their WNBA incomes. So did Sheryl.

Sheryl was the first female athlete to secure a major shoe sponsorship when Nike introduced her brand, Air Swoopes. She also won three Olympic gold medals as a member of the United States national team in 1996, 2000, and 2004. In 2005, Sheryl became the highest-profile team sport athlete to come out publicly as a lesbian.

Sheryl grew up in Brownfield, Texas, with her mother, Louise Swoopes, who was divorced. Sheryl started playing organized basketball at the age of seven, but she also shot hoops with her three brothers and developed her famous skills while competing with them. Sheryl was recruited by the University of Texas, transferred to South Plains College, then played for Texas Tech University as a Lady Raider. Sheryl was the only player, male or female, to score forty-seven points in a collegiate national championship game. Her moves on the court were electrifying. Even the sound of her last name, Swoopes, evoked the basketball lexicon, combining swish and hoops.

After retiring from active play in 2011, Sheryl became a college basketball coach. She was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.