Top 10 players from the Philly area in WNBA history

There’s an unprecedented amount of star power from the Philadelphia area in the WNBA these days. But the history books show a long tradition of players from the region in the league.

I dug through all the stats over the WNBA’s 27 seasons — and called Philly’s women’s hoops guru, Mel Greenberg, for the finishing touches — to rank the top 10 WNBA players from here of all time.

The only rule was a player had to be in the region for high school or earlier. This list isn’t about where you went to college. There have been lots of WNBA players from Philly-area colleges, most recently Maddy Siegrist of Villanova and the Dallas Wings. But because she’s from New York state, she wouldn’t count. Nor would others like Temple alumna Candice Dupree, who’s from Florida.

» READ MORE: Maddy Siegrist is the latest City 6 player picked in the WNBA draft. Who are the others?

Originally from Mount Holly and Rancocas Valley High School, she played for five WNBA teams from 2000-12, and was an All-Star and champion with the Sacramento Monarchs in 2005. She averaged 14.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists that season.

This one admittedly isn’t about her accomplishments in the WNBA as much it’s about being an outstanding player who at one point played in the league.

A Camden County native, Still played 12 pro seasons in Italy, where she was an eight-time all-star and won a championship with Pool Comense in 1991. She then came back to the U.S. to play for the Columbus Quest in the ABL, which ran for two seasons from 1996-98 and competed against the WNBA for players. (Dawn Staley played in the ABL for one year with the Philadelphia Rage.) Columbus won the championship in both seasons.

After that, Still played one season with the Washington Mystics in 1999.

» READ MORE: In 2021, Valerie Still celebrated the 200th anniversary of her abolitionist uncle’s birth

The Coatesville native and alumna of the pre-split Downingtown High was a first-round pick in the WNBA’s college draft for its first season in 1997. So you could say she was the first Philly player in the league. She played three seasons, two for the Charlotte Sting and one for the Orlando Miracle.

A name that still commands reverence from people who watched her star at Archbishop Wood and St. Joseph’s, where she led the Hawks to two Big 5 titles and an Atlantic 10 crown.

Black started her pro career in the ABL, then played six seasons in the WNBA for the Utah Starzz, Miami Sol, and Connecticut Sun. When she retired, she was No. 8 all-time in the league in career steals (315) and No. 10 in assists (612).

Now we get to current players from the Philly area. In her eighth season as a pro, the daughter of Philly hoops legend Yolanda Laney was the WNBA’s most improved player in 2020, an All-Star in 2021, and now is a stalwart of the New York Liberty’s superteam.

» READ MORE: Betnijah Laney watched her mother give back to the Philly basketball community. Now the WNBA standout is following her lead.

The Broomall native and St. Joseph’s grad won a championship with Washington in 2019 and last year was the WNBA’s assists leader and on the all-defensive first team. For all the attention lavished on the Liberty and Las Vegas Aces, if the Mystics get their offense to match their elite defense this year, they could win another title.

» READ MORE: Philly’s Natasha Cloud, a WNBA star and social justice activist, is ‘tired of the crumbs’

The new pride of North Philly might be playing even better right now than when she was the WNBA Finals MVP of the Chicago Sky’s triumph in 2021. Not only is she scoring 18 points per game this season, but she’s shooting 45% from three-point range.

It’s Copper’s fourth straight season scoring at least 14 points per game, and with so many former stars gone — Candace Parker, Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley, Emma Meesseman, and Azurá Stevens — she has had to step up for the Sky. She has done it and then some.

» READ MORE: Philly native and WNBA star Kahleah Copper poses for Sixers’ originals clothing line

Born in New York and raised in South Jersey, the Willingboro grad was The Inquirer’s South Jersey Player of the Year in 2004. After starring collegiately at Maryland, she played 13 seasons in the WNBA.

Though Langhorne’s most prolific years statistically were her early seasons with the Mystics, moving to Seattle in 2014 brought her the biggest wins of all: championships in 2018 and 2020.

Here’s another if-you’re-new-here item, and yes, it’s for a current player. This is the Wilmington native’s 11th year as a pro, and she is scoring 19.8 points per game with the Mystics — coincidentally right on her career average.

That’s despite missing all of 2020 and almost all of 2021 because of medical precautions as a Lyme disease sufferer and herniated disks suffered in the 2019 Finals.

Her career stats are amazing: 19.8 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.5 blocks, and just 1.2 turnovers per game. And she has piled up awards: 2013 rookie of the year, 2015 scoring champion, 2015 and 2019 MVP, six-time All-Star, four times a first-teamer, and Olympic gold in 2016. There surely are more triumphs to come.

» READ MORE: A list of the WNBA’s current Philly connections

Someday, someone else might top this list. Maybe it will be Copper, or maybe it will be a youngster who’s just now growing up and dreams of playing for a future Philly WNBA team.

For now, though, there’s only one No. 1. Staley was a five-time WNBA All-Star, made the playoffs six times (including a run to the 2001 Finals), and a three-time Olympic gold medalist. In 2011, she was voted as one of the top 15 players in WNBA history at that point.

If you’re too young to have watched Staley as a player and only know her as a coach, maybe you’ve heard stories about how great her playing days were. They’re true, even as those days recede further into history.

» READ MORE: Dawn Staley’s second NCAA championship as South Carolina's coach was s a triumph beyond basketball

Tamika Catchings was born in Stratford, Camden County, but grew up in the Chicago and Dallas areas before becoming one of the all-time greats of the sport.

Breanna Stewart, you may not know, played for the Philadelphia Belles AAU team during her high school years.