Kahleah Copper joins forces with the WNBA to raise breast cancer awareness in honor of her mother
Copper, a North Philly native, says her mother's battle with breast cancer inspired her to speak up about the importance of early detection.
Kahleah Copper took part in a WNBA Twitter Spaces chat to share why spreading awareness of breast cancer screenings is personal for her.
Copper explained that since her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother battled breast cancer, she has become an advocate for people knowing their family history and asking their doctors for genetic cancer screenings as well as requesting mammograms well before the recommended age of 40 if family history merits the change.
“It’s different for me because I have the family history, so you should knock off maybe about 10 years,” Copper said during the talk, which also featured the Connecticut Sun’s Jasmine Thomas and was hosted by Tyra Carter. “No matter what your lifestyle is like, really be proactive when it comes to breast cancer. And when you’re reading those statistics about Black women and just women in general, triple negative breast cancer is what really kills a lot of Black women. It’s the most aggressive form, and that is what early detection is most important to, you know, prevent losing those lives.”
Thomas said the WNBA, with athletes who are majority Black women, has a responsibility to advocate for that community. The league has held fundraising events and participated in pink nights for games to help raise awareness of the dangers of breast cancer and the role early detection and treatment can play in making a difference.
“We would not have had that success without the work that we’ve been doing with the Players’ Association and everybody kind of recognizing the work,” Thomas said.
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Copper’s mother, Leticia, was diagnosed when Kahleah still was in high school. Copper explained how that was a key reason she decided to play collegiately at Rutgers instead of DePaul, which she had considered before her mother was diagnosed. Copper referred to her mother’s experience as an example of how crucial it is for patients to advocate for themselves.
“The first time that my mom went to the doctor when she felt a lump, they were like, ‘It’s OK, like we can schedule you.’ And she’s like, ‘No,’” Copper said. “She literally did not leave the place that she was at. It was a hospital here, a small hospital here in Philly, and she was just super adamant.”
Her mother’s awareness of something in her body not feeling right and her insistence on getting screened immediately led to the decision to get a double mastectomy. Leticia Copper was declared cancer-free in 2015.
After being by her mother’s side through the whole journey, Copper entered the WNBA draft in 2016, became a league champion with the Sky in 2021, and was the WNBA Finals MVP that year. In 2022, she helped the USA women’s team win a FIBA championship. She has never lost her passion for advocating for breast cancer survivors.
“Early detection is where we need to start,” Copper said.
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