{picture from WNBA.com}
From 1999 to 2004, two different versions of Chamique Holdsclaw played in Washington D.C.
The first version was drafted by the Washington Mystics first overall in 1999 out of Tennessee and started in the inaugural WNBA All-Star game as a rookie. Holdsclaw led the team to two playoff appearances, and averaged 18.4 points and 9.1 rebounds a game during her tenure. She created so much buzz and excitement for women’s professional basketball in Washington D.C. that the Mystics led the league in attendance five out of her six years with the team, averaging well over 15,000 fans per game (close to what the Wizards averaged during that same span, until someone named Jordan came back and spiked the numbers). Attendance banners were put up in the Verizon Center to recognize this achievement, and this was largely due to Holdsclaw.
But in 2004, another side of Holdsclaw began to emerge, and the positive press about her began to subside. She missed a series of games down the stretch during the 2004 season, and rumors swirled about whether she was pregnant, suffering from some type of drug addiction, or just plain unhappy with playing in Washington. Just a few months after the season ended, Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post, broke the story that Holdsclaw had been diagnosed with depression, and she had been too ashamed to speak up about it earlier. She never wore a Mystics uniform again.
Tags: chamique holdsclaw, Washington Mystics, WNBA Basketball
