By Southern C
The Southern Star of the Week is Atlanta Dream forward Chamique Holdsclaw in her first season back in the WNBA.
In 2007, Holdsclaw abruptly retired five games into the season, when she played for the Los Angeles Sparks.
It was not as if the six-time All Star had lost her talent, she was still among the top players in the league.
Holdsclaw simply did not want to play basketball anymore.
“I made my decision because I just didn’t feel like it anymore,” Holdsclaw told the Los Angeles times in after her sudden retirement. “It was like, ‘This is it.’”
In her interview with the LA newspaper, the 6’2 guard explained that she had contemplated ending her career in 2006. She was, however, talked out of this decision, but decided to change her mind after struggling with trying to play a game she no longer loved.
Though Holdsclaw cited her loss of passion the game, personal misfortune also played a large roll in her decision to walk away from basketball. She suffered a great deal over the course of her WNBA career.
Holdsclaw had to deal with the death of her grandmother, the person who raised her. Her death set off a battle with depression, which resulted in her requesting a trade to the Los Angeles Sparks.
Holdsclaw also dealt with serious injuries, having surgeries on both her left foot and knee. Shortly thereafter, her stepfather was diagnosed with cancer and her birth father began suffering from schizophrenia.
Holdscalw told the Times in 2007 that she might eventually consider a return to professional basketball, giving a possibly it a return a “20 percent chance.”
And we are all ecstatic that she did.
Earlier this year, she conducted the following interview with wnba.com.
WNBA.com: First of all, welcome back to the WNBA. Obviously, I have to start by asking you why you chose to come back to the WNBA at this time.
Holdsclaw: “One of the things that really prompted me to come back was that I love it here in Atlanta. I’ve been living here now for three or four years and this is a great city. It’s a sports town; the people are just really into sports; they love it; and they come out and support. For me personally, there’s a huge following here, especially because Tennessee is not too far, it’s SEC land, and the people really respect women’s basketball. So just being here and having the support, it made me want to come back.”
WNBA.com: So was it going to the games that really brought that hunger back to the point where you said to yourself “I have to do this?”
Holdsclaw: “It was really all about location, location, location with [the WNBA] getting a team here. I’m comfortable here, this is where I want to live, this is my home and just having the support. These people here in Atlanta that support women’s’ basketball and any sport in general, so you just have people that appreciate your work and that even makes it more exciting. I went to games where the Dream, they won four games last year, you would have thought they lost four games (laughs). The people, the fans were just rowdy, cheering, when the moment the game started until the buzzer sounded and the game was over, they really supported the team. It just reminded me of the fans that we had in Washington D.C. for the Mystics early on for the franchise; it was just unbelievable. I think my whole career in D.C. we probably led the league in attendance.”
WNBA.com: I saw that you said that “It all comes to an end one day and that’s why I came back.” Did you just realize that the window of opportunity to play competitively was coming to an end and it was time to give it one more run?
Holdsclaw: “Yeah, definitely. I was like, ‘Okay, I can’t play basketball forever and I’m overseas in Europe playing and the people that supported me throughout my career, they don’t really get to see me play.’ If you ask just a typical person that followed me throughout my career but doesn’t follow women’s basketball and overseas play, they would think that I retired, that I was finished. I get that a lot, ‘Mique why did you retire?’ I’m like, ‘I’ve been playing over in Europe’ and they’re like ‘Really?’ They’re shocked. So by me coming back, it’s like let me just knock this out, let me go out there and just play, everyone can see me, my family. If this is the last go around, it will be an exciting one.”
WNBA.com: I remember when you retired from the Sparks you said that the one thing that bothered you is that you won on every level, but the WNBA. Does that still drive you?
Holdsclaw: “It’s definitely something that I would love, but I’m not going to put that pressure on myself anymore. I want to go out there and compete and be with people that want to win, but I had the chance, if I wanted to, I could have went to a team that is more in a position to win than Atlanta. I came to a second year team, so I know what I’m coming into but I’m excited about it. I’m not going to put that pressure on myself like I did out of college where I felt I have to turn this around. It’s not going to just take Chamique, its going to take all 11 players on the team to make Atlanta into a contender.”
And with Holdsclaw leading her team in scoring at 14.6 points per game, her ability and leadership should make Atlanta just that.
