40 Fun Facts About Sheryl Swoopes

Which sportswear company gave Sheryl Swoopes a signature basketball shoe, the first ever named for a woman?

Nike launched the Air Swoopes in October 1995, well before the WNBA played its first game, and built a big advertising campaign around her.

Sheryl Swoopes named her only child after which NBA superstar, to whom she was often compared?

Michael Jordan is the namesake of her only child, Jordan Jackson. Swoopes, often called the female version of the Bulls star, also once played him one-on-one.

Why did Sheryl Swoopes miss the first six weeks of the WNBA's inaugural season in 1997?

Her son's birth came that June, and Swoopes made her debut for the Houston Comets about six weeks later, in time to help win the league's first title.

Sheryl Swoopes made headlines in 2005 as one of the highest-profile team-sport athletes to do what?

Come out as gay is what Swoopes did in October 2005, the year of her third WNBA MVP award, saying she could not help who she fell in love with.

Sheryl Swoopes returned at age 40 to join which WNBA team, snapping its 20-game losing streak with a buzzer-beater?

Tulsa Shock brought her back three years after her last WNBA game. Her shot beat Los Angeles 77–75 in August 2011 and ended a league-record skid.

Sheryl Swoopes holds which place in WNBA history, secured months before the Houston Comets ever took the court?

First player signed by the new league, Swoopes was then assigned to the Houston Comets rather than chosen in a draft.

Sheryl Swoopes won the first of her three Olympic gold medals at the Games held in which American city?

Atlanta hosted the 1996 Games, where the US women won every game after spending a full year training and touring together as a national team.

Sheryl Swoopes entered the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2016 alongside Allen Iverson, Yao Ming and which dominant center?

Shaquille O'Neal headlined the 2016 class with her. Swoopes was enshrined again a decade later, when her 1996 US Olympic team went in as a unit.

Sheryl Swoopes scored 47 points in the 1993 NCAA final, topping a title-game record set by which UCLA legend?

Bill Walton scored 44 for UCLA in the 1973 men's final. No player, man or woman, had scored more in an NCAA championship game than Swoopes's 47.

Why did Sheryl Swoopes give up a full scholarship to the University of Texas after only four days?

Homesickness sent her back: Austin lay about 400 miles from her mother's house, so Swoopes went home and enrolled at a junior college within easy driving distance.

Sheryl Swoopes scored 47 points as Texas Tech edged which Big Ten school 84–82 for the 1993 NCAA title?

Ohio State, led by star freshman Katie Smith, grabbed the lead midway through the second half before Swoopes sealed the win with a late three-point play.

Which coach guided Sheryl Swoopes and Texas Tech to the 1993 NCAA title, the school's first in any sport?

Marsha Sharp landed Swoopes as a junior college transfer, and their two seasons together produced 58 wins against only 8 losses.

Sheryl Swoopes scored 53 points against Texas in the 1993 title game of which now-defunct college league?

Southwest Conference play ended in 1996, when Texas Tech and three rivals left for the Big 12. Her 53 came against the very school she had quit after four days.

Sheryl Swoopes starred for Texas Tech University, whose campus is in which West Texas city?

Lubbock stayed part of her life: she later returned to Texas Tech as a broadcast analyst and then as an assistant coach.

At age seven, Sheryl Swoopes began playing in a local children's basketball league known by which name?

Little Dribblers gave her a first taste of organized games at seven. By high school she was an All-State and All-American player.

Sheryl Swoopes grew up playing basketball against her older brothers in which small West Texas town?

Brownfield is where her mother, Louise, raised the family. Swoopes credited physical games against her brothers for toughening her up.

Sheryl Swoopes was named Female Athlete of the Year for 1993 by which news organization?

Associated Press voters chose her after a college season that also brought the Naismith and WBCA player of the year awards.

Sheryl Swoopes played her first professional games in 1993 for a club in which European country?

Italy was a short stay: she played only ten games for Bari before coming home, citing contract disputes, the language barrier and an unfamiliar culture.

Sheryl Swoopes and Team USA beat which country 111–87 in the 1996 Olympic women's basketball final?

Brazil had beaten the Americans 110–107 at the 1994 world championship, where Swoopes's team settled for bronze. The Olympic final reversed that result.

Which Houston Comets guard, Finals MVP in all four title runs, formed a star trio with Sheryl Swoopes?

Cynthia Cooper had spent a decade with European clubs before the WNBA existed and was already in her thirties when the league tipped off.

Which Houston Comets forward, the first college draft pick in WNBA history, won four titles with Sheryl Swoopes?

Tina Thompson went on to become the WNBA's all-time leading scorer, a mark she held until 2017.

Which coach led Sheryl Swoopes and the Houston Comets to four straight WNBA titles from 1997 to 2000?

Van Chancellor had applied to six of the league's eight original teams, doubting any would hire him. He later coached Swoopes to Olympic gold in 2004.

Sheryl Swoopes, a three-time WNBA MVP, was also the first to win which other league award three times?

Defensive Player of the Year went to Swoopes in 2000, 2002 and 2003. In the first two of those seasons she was the league MVP as well.

Sheryl Swoopes was the first WNBA player to record which statistical feat in both the regular season and playoffs?

A triple-double means reaching double figures in three statistical categories. Swoopes had already managed three of them in college at Texas Tech.

Sheryl Swoopes was the second player to win WNBA season MVP and All-Star Game MVP in one year; who was first?

Lisa Leslie did it first. She and Swoopes were also teammates on three straight gold-medal Olympic teams, in 1996, 2000 and 2004.

After 11 seasons with the Houston Comets, Sheryl Swoopes joined which WNBA team in 2008?

Seattle Storm kept her for a single season before waiving her in February 2009. Her old Houston club had folded two months earlier.

Sheryl Swoopes's Houston Comets beat which team 65–51 to win the first WNBA championship in 1997?

New York Liberty had beaten Houston in three of their four regular-season meetings that year, then lost the one game that decided the title.

Sheryl Swoopes and the Houston Comets won the 1999 WNBA title weeks after which teammate died of cancer?

Kim Perrot, the starting point guard on the first two title teams, was diagnosed with lung cancer that February and died in August 1999.

Sheryl Swoopes's life story was told in a 2013 film for which ESPN documentary series?

Nine for IX takes its name from Title IX, the 1972 law that opened school sports to women. Every film in the series was directed by a woman.

Which coach took a year away from her college program to lead Sheryl Swoopes's 1996 US Olympic team?

Tara VanDerveer stepped away from Stanford for a season, and her national team went 60–0 over the course of the year on its way to the gold medal.

Which former UConn star joined Sheryl Swoopes at the 1996 announcement of the WNBA's creation?

Rebecca Lobo had just led UConn through an unbeaten 35–0 championship season in 1995, and the new league built its early marketing around her and Swoopes.

Sheryl Swoopes won her second Olympic gold medal by beating which country in the final?

Australia lost the Sydney final 76–54. Swoopes averaged 13.4 points a game for the gold medalists across the tournament.

Sheryl Swoopes won her third and final Olympic gold medal at the Games held in which city?

Athens brought her third straight Olympic gold. Swoopes is one of a small group of players who own an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA title, a world championship gold and a WNBA title.

Sheryl Swoopes got her first head coaching job in 2013 at which university in Chicago?

Loyola hired her to lead the Ramblers women's team, three years after she had started out in coaching as a high school assistant.

Which injury forced Sheryl Swoopes to miss the entire 2001 WNBA season, a year before her second MVP award?

Torn ACL and meniscus damage in her left knee kept her out. Houston, champion four years running, lost in the first round without her.

Sheryl Swoopes joined the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017; which Tennessee city is home to it?

Knoxville is also home to the University of Tennessee's Lady Vols, whose coach Pat Summitt was part of the first class the hall inducted.

Which rival women's pro circuit tipped off in 1996, months before Sheryl Swoopes and the WNBA took the court?

American Basketball League games began in the fall of 1996, riding the same wave as the Olympic win, but the league lasted only two full seasons.

Sheryl Swoopes was enshrined in 2016 at the Naismith Hall of Fame, which stands in which Massachusetts city?

Springfield is where James Naismith invented basketball, and the hall that carries his name inducted its first class in 1959.

Sheryl Swoopes's Texas Tech women's basketball team has long played under which nickname?

Lady Raiders is the women's twist on Texas Tech's Red Raiders name. The Lady Techsters, a frequent mix-up, play for Louisiana Tech.

Sheryl Swoopes and Texas Tech beat which Midwest Regional top seed in the 1993 Final Four semifinals?

Vanderbilt, like Texas Tech, was playing in its first Final Four. All four teams that year were newcomers to the event.