The 10 All Time Leading Scorers in New York Liberty History

I feel in love with women's basketball during the 1996 Olympics, when Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes and Rebecca Lobo lead a team of former models, singers and business women to a gold model. This medal lead to the formation of the W.N.B.A., which began its 12th season earlier this summer.

As a fan from inception and the child of historians, I find it interesting how the short history of the league is being inscribed. In the league's tenth year, an "All Decade Team" was announced, presumably consisting of the top players from the league's first decade. The team included veteran superstars like Lisa Leslie and Tina Thompson, but omitted some great players from the league's early years like Jennifer Gilom and Natalie Williams. To add insult to injury, the "honorable mention" list included Diana Taurasi, who at the time had only played in the league for a little more than two years.


I have always wondered if the cumulative stats would justify or disprove the hype that surrounds some players and evades others. Wnba.com only contains cumulative stats for the league as a whole. It does not contain team specific cumulative stats, such as most total points as a member of team, etc. Thus, one sleepless night, I decided to scour the website and compile the stats independently. Thus far, I have compiled the stats for total points for the New York Liberty, the Phoenix Mercury, the Los Angeles Sparks, the Houston Comets and the Sacramento Monarchs, the only 5 teams from the league's initial season that still exist (the Utah Starzz became the San Antonio Silver Stars which still exist yet I was only able to find the Utah stats very recently).

Thus, I will start with my favorite team, the New York Liberty, who are having an amazing season. Players in bold still play for the Liberty, while those in italics still play in the league but not for New York. I have put the number of years the player was with the Liberty in parenthesis.


The Top 10 Point Totals as a Member of the New York Liberty are:

1. Vickie Johnson- 3,246 (9)
   
2. Becky Hammon- 2,367 (8)
   
3. Crystal Robinson- 2,301 (7)
   
4. Tari Phillips- 1,826 (5)
   
5. Shameka Christon- 1,703 (5)
6. Tamika Whitmore- 1,394 (5)
   
7. Teresa Weatherspoon- 1,247 (7)
   
8. Sophia Witherspoon- 1,091 (3)
   
9. Catherine Kraayeveld- 979 (4)
10. Elena Baranova- 960 (3)
    

Notable Players Not on List:

Liberty veterans Kym Hampton (838) and Sue Wicks (823) came up just short of making the list. Hampton only played in the league for three years. Wicks was a fan favorite for six years but never became a consistent scorer. Rebecca Lobo (715), who was the first player assigned to the team, was hampered by injuries during her four year stint with the Liberty. Finally, Ann Wauters (465), who is currently racking up points for the first place San Antonio Silver Stars, made a significant mark in just two years with New York.

Current Players Who Could Make the List in the Future :

Loree Moore (671 in 4 years) looks like she will continue to get significant minutes as the Liberty's starting point guard. Erin Thorn (652 in 6 years) just missed the list but hasn't played much this season and is probably nearing the end of her career. Janel McCarville (649 in 2 years) has rapidly become one of New York's biggest scorers and brightest stars. Finally, Tiffany Jackson (381 in 2 years) has vastly improved this season and could become a starter in the future.

Summer Obessions

Summer is here and Degrassi is no longer providing me with mindless entertainment. The season ended with a whimper and the spoilers/ information for next season (via the fabulous fanforum. com posters) sound pretty bleak. Lauren Collins (Paige), Shnae Grimes (Darcy) and others will move on to better things by the end of this season. Degrassi is continuing it's tradition of adding several new ( and presumably annoying) characters. For eternal optimists, Daniel Clark (Sean) is set to return.

I have turned to dumb reality shows to fill my days. A somewhat fun one is I Love Money on VH1. The show brings together wierdos from other sexist (Rock of Love), racist (Flavor of Love) and just plain wrong (I Love New York) VH1 cornerstones to compete in a contest that mimics a Real World/ Road Rules Challenge. My favorite, the dominatrix Nibblz, already got kicked off and www.bourgy.com/wordpress (who has the hookup on spoilers) claims that human horrors like Pumpkin and the Entertainer will be torturing us for several more weeks. I just can't seem to resist a poorly constructed reality competition....

Speaking of which, summer time means Big Brother, the show that makes Orwell's nightmare a reality, is back. The show is essentially Survivor minus the racist "tribal" setting, but the catch is that the Big Brother house can be viewed online 24/7 by those who dare (find the link on your own....I just can't endorse this). I only tried the "feeds" once and I long ago gave up watching the show, but I still enjoy following it through funny and well structured sites like www.hamsterwatch.com and bbdish.blogspot.com. My favorite is Renny but I don't think she has a chance in hell of winning.


I briefly followed the Emmy race but was turned off when nobody from Big Love, one of my favorite shows, was nominated. I'm still rooting for Christina Applegate, Alec Baldwin and others from 30 Rock and Samantha Who?, but I've turned my awards attention to the Oscars. I follow the race through the amazing thefilmexperience.net . The Oscars are months away but that doesn't ever stop film buffs from predicting stuff. All the buzz right now is about The Dark Knight, which I unfortunately have still not seen. I did however see Mama Mia! and am convinced that Meryl Streep should win every award under the sun for her marvelous turn in the film.

Ice melts during the summer so my obsession with figure skating usually cools off. I'm still blindly hoping that next season Alissa Czsiny can find a good shrink and realize her potential, while Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto can re-convince the judges that they are the best ice-dance team currently competing. Crazier things have happened right? Sigh.

And I haven't even mentioned my biggest summer obsession! That would be the Women's National Basketball League's 12th season, which just took a break for the rapidly approaching summer Olympics (a future obsession in the making). I'll post later about this. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the summer!