Last weekend’s mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton have given rise to renewed calls to prevent gun violence, but the New York Liberty have been working on this and other important social issues for the past several years. This year’s topic is the mass incarceration of women: the Liberty hosted a panel discussion with experts/activists/policymakers on Thursday and on Sunday they will host a youth basketball clinic for youth with incarcerated family members. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Liberty head coach Katie Smith about her Hall of Fame playing career and the importance of her team’s push for equality and social progress.
In the 1993 NCAA tourney title game as a freshman at Ohio State you scored 28 PTS in a 2-PT loss to Texas Tech: where does tourney MOP Sheryl Swoopes’ performance (a title-game record 47 PTS) rank among the most amazing that you have ever seen? It was huge but it was more than just that 1 game. Sheryl had an amazing season and was putting up absurd numbers all year long. It was a tight game in the final so every bucket counted.
In 2001 as a player for Minnesota you led the WNBA with 23.1 PPG and you remain the all-time leading scorer in women’s pro basketball history with almost 8000 PTS during your ABL/WNBA careers: what is the key to being a great scorer? Obviously being able to knock down shots but you also need the mentality to always be probing for shots. You need good decision-making, the ability to finish at the rim, and then get to the line and make some FTs. There are many layers to it but you need to stay aggressive.
You won 2 straight ABL titles with the Columbus Quest in 1997/1998 and later won 2 WNBA titles with Detroit and were named 2008 Finals MVP: how were you able to play your best when it mattered the most? It is about the habits that you build during practice and taking game-like shots. It is just another game even when the stakes are higher in the playoffs so you need to stay relaxed and just do what you do every day while relying on your training. You cannot get too amped up even if you did not sleep very well the night before.
You won 3 straight Olympic gold medals from 2000-2008: what did it mean to you to represent your country, and what did it mean to win 3 gold medals? It was really unbelievable. I grew up watching the Olympics and had so much pride watching our athletes represent our country. I tried to work toward that and was so full of pride representing not only my country but also my family/hometown/university. To say that you are the best in the world also does not hurt!
Your father/brothers all played college football and your sisters-in-law both played college sports: who is the best athlete in the family? I think I am pretty close and would put my money on me. My brothers were big so it was hard to score against them in the post, and my sister-in-law Carol Ann was an All-American basketball player at Minnesota.
In 2016 you were named 1 of the top-20 WNBA players of all-time: how has the women’s pro game changed over the past 2 decades? The players are such great/talented athletes: there are post players with guard skills and bigs who can stretch the floor. The personalities and the way they use their platform for causes they love is also key. It is so hard to make a WNBA team when you see the level of competition on the court every night.
In 2017 you were named head coach of the New York Liberty: how is it going so far, and do you think that Tina Charles is going to join you in the Hall of Fame 1 day? It is going well. We are trying to really build something here with a combination of young players/veterans so we need to keep plugging away each day. I am enjoying the process as we try to get better. I think Tina will be in the Hall 1 day and has had a phenomenal career.
In 2018 you were inducted into both the Naismith and Women’s Basketball Halls of Fame: where did that rank among the highlights of your career? It topped it all off. It is not something you set out to do 1 day: you just go about your business every single day as hard as you can. It was unreal but made me feel good that what I did was respected/appreciated by others. The best part was reminiscing about my career and the fun times I had.
The Liberty have tackled several social issues over the past 2 years, from wearing Black Lives Matter t-shirts before a game in 2016 and organizing a UNITY-themed panel discussion focusing on racial injustice and gun violence in 2017: what are some of the issues that are most important to you, and what was your reaction after hearing about the gun violence in Dayton last weekend (about 1 hour west of where you went to college in Columbus)? All of those issues matter to me and we can all have a voice. We need to stand up for those who do not have a voice. It was hard to hear about the gun violence in Dayton but I hope things can get changed/addressed to help our country do better. I also think diversity/inclusion is huge so that we can bring the best of everything to the forefront. Everyone has something to give and is important.
On Thursday the team addressed the issue of the mass incarceration of women via a panel discussion featuring Topeka Sam (Founder and Executive Director of The Ladies of Hope Ministries, which helps the formerly incarcerated) and Jamila Davis (co-founder of womenoverincarcerated.org), and on Sunday the team will host a youth basketball clinic for children with parents in prison: why is this issue so important, and what can we do to try to resolve it? It was not an issue I was really aware of before so it was an important topic during our panel on Thursday to learn about the numbers of women in prison and how it affects their children. It is such an important issue and was very eye-opening for me. It is special to see that our players want to do more and give back to the community: I am very proud of our team/organization.