Tina Thompson
(Born 1975)
Hall of Fame Induction: 2018
Card Shown:
1999 Skybox Hoops WNBA
Position: F
Height: 6’2″
bb
bb
Tina Thompson grew up dreaming of going to Harvard University and later becoming a lawyer. Instead, due to her tremendous basketball talents, she ended up starring at the University of Southern California (USC) before beginning a seventeen-year career in the WNBA. Tina believes in hard work and credits her basketball success to that hard work.
In college, Tina led USC to a 77-37 record and three NCAA tournament appearances. She went on to star in the Olympics and to have a long and illustrious career in the WNBA. After her retirement as a player, Thompson became an assistant coach and then a head coach at the college level.
Awards and Honors
- Tina was selected as a WNBA All-Star nine times during her NBA career. She was chosen seven times as a member of the Houston Comets and once each while she played for the Los Angeles Sparks and the Seattle Storm. Thompson received the 2000 WNBA All-Star Most Valuable Player Award.
- The Big Three, Thompson, Sheryl Swoopes and Cynthia Cooper, led the Houston Comets to the first four WNBA Championships from 1997-2000.
- Tina retired from the WNBA in 2013 as its all-time leading scorer with 7,488 career points. She also finished her career third all-time in rebounds with 3,070.
- Thompson was recognized with All-WNBA First Team honors three times and All-WNBA Second Team honors five times during her career.
- Tina helped lead Team USA to the gold medal at the Olympics in 2004 in Athens, Greece and again in 2008 in Beijing, China.
Points of Interest
- Tina was the first overall selection in the first WNBA draft.
- Thompson was the first player to be named an All-Star in three different decades. Her first selection was in 1999 and her final all-star selection took place in 2013.
- Tina finished her long and storied WNBA career with averages of 15.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game.
- Thompson was honored as a member of the WNBA All-Decade Team in 2006, the Top 15 Players of All-Time in 2011, and the Top 20@20 in 2016. She is one of the greatest women’s players to ever play the game of basketball.
- In 2018, Tina accepted her first head coaching position at the University of Virginia, where she will lead the Cavaliers.
Statistics
Tina Thompson Statistics
provided by Basketball-Reference.com
Personal Autograph Interaction
At the 2024 Hall of Fame Enshrinement weekend, I had the opportunity to meet Tina Thompson after the Awards Gala. She kidded me about charging money for her signature and then graciously autographed my 2008 Rittenhouse Champions Team USA card. I was fortunate to also be able to get Lisa Leslie, Tamika Catchings, and Seimone Augustus to sign cards from this same subset during the weekend.
Thank you, Tina!
In-Person Autograph Photo
Tina signed my 2008 Rittenhouse Champions Team USA card.