WNBA Seattle Storm

Bird and Jackson Among Nominees for WNBA All-Decade Team

April 27, 2006 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Seattle Storm News Release


SEATTLE - With the WNBA's 10th Anniversary season set to tip off on May 20, 2006, the league today announced that Seattle Storm All-Stars Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson are among 30 nominees for the 10 coveted spots on the WNBA All-Decade Team. The list of players - selected by a panel of national media, coaches, former players and WNBA personnel - also includes seven of the league's original players and represents the very best in women's professional basketball.

Voting for the WNBA All-Decade Team will begin this Friday, April 28, and will be conducted among fans of the game, select national and WNBA-market media and current WNBA players and coaches. Fans are encouraged to vote by logging on to storm.wnba.com and each fan is allowed to vote once each day. The All-Decade Team will be announced in June and honored at the 2006 WNBA All-Star Game set to take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City on July 12.

Jackson, the WNBA's MVP in 2003, is one of three international players on the list of nominees. The native Australian ranks second in league history with a career scoring average of 18.4 points per game and owns the WNBA record for most field goals in a game (17 vs. Los Angeles on Aug. 6, 2003). Jackson, a four-time league All-Star, received the ESPY Award for "Best WNBA Player" following both the 2003 and 2004 seasons and led the Storm to the WNBA Championship in 2004.

Bird's résumé boasts a WNBA Championship along with an Olympic gold medal from the 2004 summer games in Athens. Bird holds the distinction of being the first guard ever selected with the top pick in a WNBA Draft and is one of just two players in WNBA history to earn All-WNBA First Team honors following each of her first four seasons in the league. Bird is the reigning WNBA assist champion after averaging a league-best 5.9 assists per game last year and has never finished a season ranked lower than second in the league in assists per game.

Members of the All-Decade Team will be selected on the basis of their overall contribution to the WNBA, with consideration given to on-court performance and ability, leadership, sportsmanship and community service, as well as contribution to team success and the growth of women's basketball.

The list of the 30 nominees for the WNBA All-Decade Team is below.

The Storm will open their 2006 season against Western Conference rival Los Angeles at KeyArena beginning at 6 p.m. on Sunday, May 21. The following Tuesday, May 23, Seattle will host the Houston Comets at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.

Single-game tickets for all of the Storm's 2006 regular-season home games, as well as their May 7 preseason game against the New York Liberty at KeyArena, will go on sale this Monday, May 1 at 10 a.m. All Storm home games will be played at the Key this summer, the team's seventh season in the WNBA. For additional information on 2006 Storm single-game tickets or ticket packages, call 206-217-WNBA or log on to storm.wnba.com.

The Seattle Sonics & Storm organization manages the Puget Sound region's professional basketball franchises - the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics and the WNBA's Seattle Storm. The organization oversees all sales, marketing, finance, public relations and basketball operations for the teams. The Basketball Club of Seattle LLC owns both teams.

WNBA All-Decade Team Nominees

Name WNBA Team (Current/Last) Previous Team(s)

Janeth Arcain Houston Comets (1997-Current)

Sue Bird Seattle Storm (2002-Current)

Ruthie Bolton* Sacramento Monarchs (1997-2004)

Swin Cash Detroit Shock (2002-Current)

Tamika Catchings Indiana Fever (2001-Current)

Cynthia Cooper* Houston Comets (1997-2000, 2003)

Tamecka Dixon Houston Comets (Current) Los Angeles Sparks (1997-2005)

Jennifer Gillom* Los Angeles Sparks (2003) Phoenix Mercury (1997-2002)

Yolanda Griffith Sacramento Monarchs (1999-Current)

Becky Hammon New York Liberty (1999-Current)

Chamique Holdsclaw Los Angeles Sparks (2005-Current) Washington Mystics (1999-2004)

Lauren Jackson Seattle Storm (2001-Current)

Shannon Johnson San Antonio Silver Stars (2004-Current) Connecticut Sun (2003), Orlando Miracle (1999-2002)

Vickie Johnson San Antonio Silver Stars (Current) New York Liberty (1997-2005)

Lisa Leslie Los Angeles Sparks (1997-Current)

Rebecca Lobo* Connecticut Sun (2003) Houston Comets (2002), New York Liberty (1997-2001)

Mwadi Mabika Los Angeles Sparks (1997-Current)

Taj McWilliams-Franklin Connecticut Sun (2003-Current) Orlando Miracle (1999-2002)

DeLisha Milton-Jones Washington Mystics (2005-Current) Los Angeles Sparks (1999-2004)

Deanna Nolan Detroit Shock (2001-Current)

Ticha Penicheiro Sacramento Monarchs (1998-Current)

Nykesha Sales Connecticut Sun (2003-Current) Orlando Miracle (1999-2002)

Katie Smith Detroit Shock (2005-Current) Minnesota Lynx (1999-2005)

Dawn Staley Houston Comets (2005-Current) Charlotte Sting (1999-2005)

Andrea Stinson Detroit Shock (2005) Charlotte Sting (1997-2004)

Sheryl Swoopes Houston Comets (1997-Current)

Diana Taurasi Phoenix Mercury (2004-Current)

Tina Thompson Houston Comets (1997-Current)

Teresa Weatherspoon* Los Angeles Sparks (2004) New York Liberty (1997-2003)

Natalie Williams* Indiana Fever (2003-2005) Utah Starzz (1999-2002)

*Retired

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