Naismith Hall of Fame Inductees Lauren Jackson and Yolanda Griffith
The 2021 Naismith Hall of Fame class was announced which includes WNBA legends Lauren Jackson and Yolanda Griffith among the inductees.
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The 2021 Naismith Hall of Fame Class was recently named and among the list of inductees were two women’s basketball legends: Lauren Jackson and Yolanda Griffith. Both are extremely elite players who left their mark on the WNBA during their playing careers.
Lauren Jackson and Yolanda Griffith were two extraordinary players. Lauren Jackson helped change the WNBA in terms of bringing global exposure to the WNBA brand. Yolanda Griffith was a tremendous defender and tenacious rebounder. Both are WNBA champions, WNBA MVPs, WNBA Finals MVP, and were named Defensive Player of the Year. Both players were named to the WNBA Top 20 @ 20 team. In addition to facing each other regularly in the WNBA, they played one season together in 2008 for Seattle.
Yolanda Griffith was drafted No. 2 overall in the 1999 WNBA Draft and played in the WNBA for nine seasons with the Sacramento Monarchs, one season with the Seattle Storm, and her final season was with the Indiana Fever. She is primarily known for playing with the Monarchs from 1999 to 2007. She won a WNBA championship in 2005 and was named the WNBA Finals MVP as well. She was the WNBA MVP in 1999, her first in the league after playing in the ABL. She was an 8x WNBA All-Star, a 2x All-WNBA First Team, 3x All-WNBA Second Team, and a 2x rebounding champion. Griffith also earned her the WNBA Defensive Player Award in 1999. She also made the WNBA All-Decade Team as well as the list of WNBA Top 15 Players of All Time in 2011. She is also a 2x Olympic gold medallist with Team USA.
Griffith still ranks third all-time in WNBA offensive rebounds with 1049. She ranks No. 6 all-time in FG percentage at 50.6% FG. She had a tremendous impact on the teams she played for. Her former teammate and all-time great Ticha Penicheiro had plenty of praise for Yolanda Griffith. They won a WNBA championship together in 2005. Penicheiro recently took time out to answer some questions regarding Yolanda Griffith’s impact for Her Hoop Stats.
HHS: Yolanda Griffith was your teammate from 1999 to 2007 for Sacramento. How would you describe her as a player? As her teammate, what stood out most to you about her during your playing time together?
Ticha: She was a competitor. She was very passionate about the game. What stood out to me was her competitive spirit and her desire to win.
HHS: As the point guard for the Sacramento Monarchs, many of your assists went to Yolanda Griffith. Why was she your favorite target? What made her so good?
Ticha: Yolanda was a point guard’s dream. A post player that can run the floor and is athletic. Her hands were amazing. The pass did not have to be perfect, but she still grabbed it. We had great chemistry together which was developed over the years. She is someone who I truly enjoyed playing with.
HHS: During the 2005 WNBA Finals, Yolanda Griffith was named the WNBA Finals MVP. What was so special about those WNBA Finals that made her stand out from everyone else?
Ticha: 2005 was a special year. We had been trying so hard to get to the Finals and win a championship. Playing in the West was so tough. We had to face off against Houston, LA, and Seattle. Yo (Yolanda) her heart and passion stood out. Her determination. Offensively and defensively, no one could match her presence. She played her heart out in front of our fans. Game 4 vs Connecticut, in which we closed out the series, we had over 17,000 fans in attendance and it was truly a special moment.
HHS: Yolanda Griffith was one of the best defensive players in the league during her tenure. What stood out about her defense/rebounding?
Ticha: Yo (Yolanda) was an amazing defensive player. Obviously, a lot of people know about her rebounding. She took a lot of pride in it. In the West, you had to face Lauren Jackson, Lisa Leslie, Tina Thompson. She had pride in her defense and rebounding. Our team philosophy was defense. People knew us for our defense. We did not care about offense. As the saying goes, defense wins championships. It started with Yolanda. She was the anchor of our defense.
HHS: Last question. When it was announced that Yolanda Griffith was going to be inducted into the Naismith HOF, what did you say to her? And do you have any last words for Yolanda Griffith and her impact on the league?
Ticha: When they announced the finalists a couple of months ago, I saw her name was in the mix and I just texted her right away. I thanked her for being an amazing teammate and how much I enjoyed going to war with her every night. I congratulated her for going to the Naismith HOF. Her story is incredible. She was a young mother taking care of her daughters. She was more than a basketball player. She did so much for the community. When it was announced that she was among the inductees, I picked up the phone and told her that I was just so proud of her. We had an amazing connection on the court and it was a joy to see that she was being inducted.
Yolanda Griffith often faced off against another WNBA legend in Lauren Jackson. Lauren Jackson came into the WNBA at a young age and transformed the way forwards and centers play. She had the unique ability to step behind the three-point line and knock them down. She had a variety of post moves which often made her a difficult assignment night in and night out in the WNBA. Many of the WNBA forwards/centers now all have these types of moves in their toolkit and they can thank Lauren Jackson for being one of the early post players to implement it along with Tina Thompson.
Lauren Jackson was drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm in 2001. She is a 3x WNBA MVP, a 2x WNBA champion, a WNBA Finals MVP, a WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, a 7x All-WNBA First Team, a 2x All-Defensive First Team, and a 7x WNBA All-Star. She was also named to the WNBA All-Decade Team as well as the WNBA Top 15 Team. She is a 3x Olympic silver and 1x Olympic bronze medallist for the Australian National Team.
Lauren Jackson helped the WNBA in terms of bringing over international players to come to play in the WNBA. The Australian national team has many players playing in the WNBA today as well as in the past. Present players include Liz Cambage who plays for the Las Vegas Aces as well as Rebecca Allen for the New York Liberty as well as many others. Past players include Phoenix Mercury great Penny Taylor as well as Tully Bevilaqua who played for the Seattle Storm, Indiana Fever, and the San Antonio Stars.
Tully Bevilaqua was a teammate of Lauren Jackson for two seasons with the Seattle Storm and was a part of the WNBA championship team in 2004. She was also teammates with Lauren Jackson on the Australian national team. She recently took time out to talk to Her Hoop Stats about Lauren Jackson’s impact on the WNBA as well as for Team Australia.
HHS: You and Lauren Jackson were teammates for Australia for many years and Lauren Jackson was the face of Australia basketball. What can you say about Lauren Jackson's impact on Australian basketball during this time?
Tully: Lauren (aka Loz) and I go way back now and I regard her as one of my best friends. Her impact on Australian basketball was mind-blowing. She led our country in terms of medal contention consistently in all International competitions and her dominance both home and abroad elevated the status of women's basketball in Australia immeasurably. Australia became a top 3 team in the world with Lauren Jackson!
HHS: Can you describe what Lauren Jackson was able to accomplish in the WNBA and how it helped more international players come over to the WNBA to play as well?
Tully: I think Loz (Lauren) can look back on her WNBA career and take pride in the fact knowing she changed the definition of a post player or a "5 man" as we use to label them. Loz changed it to a "stretch post" one who could dominate both inside and out and off the dribble. Now when you look at the WNBA most successful teams have a "stretch 5".
HHS: You and Lauren Jackson faced off in the WNBA as both teammates (2003 &2004) and as rivals (Fever and the Stars). What can you say about Lauren Jackson as a teammate and as a rival since you did both? (As a rival, how did your team(s) prepare to play against her?)
Tully: As a teammate, it was such a privilege to play alongside her and it made my job a hell of a lot easier but there were expectations for all of us and she kept us accountable in terms of us doing our jobs. In terms of being rivals, the respect was always mutual even as opponents. There were times when she was mean to me. One time, as a member of the Indiana Fever, I was at the free-throw line and I was shooting poorly (around 38%) and just as I was about to shoot the free throw, Loz (Lauren) yelled out 38%!! I can’t remember if I made the shot or not but I did exchange some words with her. She, after all, did know her scouting report.
As an opponent, it wasn’t just one person guarding Loz (Lauren). It was all five of us and we did a lot of switching so I ended up defending her on the perimeter. I told my teammates to try to make her mad and get a couple of technicals so she could get off the court. Turns out by the time I was an opponent of hers, you couldn’t do that to her anymore. She had matured.
HHS: Do you have any last words for Lauren Jackson? What did you say to her about getting inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame?
Tully: Loz (Lauren) knows how much I love her as a friend and as the athlete I was in total awe of her! How could you not be with all her accomplishments and successes while dealing with a lot of adversities along the way as athletes do. I heard she was inducted while calling a Fever game so I sent her a tweet and a text with lovely words to congratulate my mate. To finish off with though, this is for you Loz (in my best singing voice) "you're simply the best, better than all the rest, better than anyone, anyone I've ever met"!
Both Lauren Jackson and Yolanda Griffith have left tremendous impacts on the WNBA and their former teammates have nothing but praise for these two legendary players. Their desire to compete and win makes them stand apart from the rest. Both are scheduled to be inducted in September 2021 with a televised induction program that will be set at a later date.
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