The Mystics' Sanford Is Just Getting Started
Melvin Trade Opened the Door for Former Role Player
By the end of her senior year with the Kansas Jayhawks in 2000, Nakia Sanford had etched her name in the school's record book. But she figured her playing career was over.
(Jessica Hill - AP)
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Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Earlier this season, just hours after the Washington Mystics traded starting center Chasity Melvin to Chicago, General Manager Linda Hargrove looked for Nakia Sanford. They needed to talk.
Melvin had been the Mystics' starter since 2004, and Sanford had been her backup. Their lockers were side-by-side and the two had become best friends, with Melvin mentoring the 6-foot-4 Sanford. The trade meant that Sanford would become the team's starting center, and Hargrove wanted to share a simple message.
"We felt that she had shown that she was a starter in the league," Hargrove said.
They were words that Sanford had waited a long time to hear.
When the Mystics play San Antonio at Verizon Center tonight, Sanford is expected to take the court for the tip-off for the 14th time this season. She has started in parts of two seasons since joining the team in 2003, but never as the team's primary inside player.
"I think she's responded really well," Hargrove said.
This season, Sanford has averaged 10.1 points and seven rebounds per game, and played an average of 27 minutes, all career highs. She has stayed out of foul trouble enough to take some pressure off the Mystics' reserves in the post, a rotation that features two rookies and two players who weren't even on the training camp roster before the season.
"We're constantly reminding her not to take chances, especially early," said interim coach Tree Rollins, who has acknowledged Sanford's contribution to the team's turnaround since its 0-8 start.
Sanford, 31, never possessed what she called "the right pedigree" for stardom. She never planned for a career in basketball. She never wanted to be obsessed with the game. Yet, when Sanford finished high school, the University of Kansas offered her a spot on its women's basketball team.
In college, when the weekends came, Sanford and her teammates flocked to the hip-hop clubs, even though a dark jazz joint was more her scene. While her teammates talked basketball, Sanford, who enjoys writing, attended poetry readings. While her teammates wore team gear off the court, Sanford preferred clothes she borrowed from a roommate whom Sanford called "a hippie."
"I never wanted to be just another athlete that you could put it a box," Sanford said. "I didn't want to be labeled."
By the end of her senior year with the Jayhawks in 2000, Sanford had etched her name in the school's record book by finishing in the all-time top 10 in rebounding.
