Azurá Breeona Stevens (born February 1, 1996) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

of the

Women’s National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Nation ...

(WNBA). Stevens played collegiately for the

Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Associatio ...

and the

Connecticut Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, located in Storrs. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big East Conference. The university's fo ...

. She was drafted with the 6th overall pick in the

2018 WNBA draft The 2018 WNBA draft was the WNBA, league's draft for the 2018 WNBA season. On March 12, the league announced the draft would be held on April 12 at Nike, Inc., Nike New York City, New York Headquarters, a recently opened secondary headquarters for ...

by the

Dallas Wings The Dallas Wings are an American basketball team based in Arlington, Texas. The Wings play in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team is owned by a group which is led by chairman Bill Cameron. Greg ...

Background

Stevens was born in

Pawtucket, Rhode Island Pawtucket is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence and East Providence to the south, Central Falls ...

, the daughter of Damon and Kaasha Stevens. She attended

Cary High School Cary High School is one of six public high schools in Cary, North Carolina and is part of the Wake County Public School System. In 1907, Cary High School became the first state-funded public high school in North Carolina.Byrd, Thomas M. and Costo ...

Cary, North Carolina Cary is a town in Wake and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Raleigh–Cary, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2020 Census, its population was 174,721, making it the seventh largest muni ...

, graduating in 2014. She played basketball at Cary High, where she averaged 30 points, 20 rebounds, and four blocks her senior year. As a sophomore and junior in high school, she played basketball with The Miracle League of the Triangle. Stevens was an All-Academic selection all four years of high school. Her senior year, she was selected as an All-American by Parade Magazine. In 2014, she was selected for All-State by the Associated Press and for All-North Carolina First Team by USA Today.

Career

College career

Stevens played for the Duke Blue Devils during the 2014–15 and 2015-16 season. At Duke, she was named to the All-

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

Second Team as a freshman and to the First Team as a sophomore. She sat out the following due to transfer rules before playing for the

UConn Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, located in Storrs. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big East Conference. The university's fo ...

in the 2017-18 season. At UConn, she was named to the All-

AAC AAC may refer to: Aviation * Advanced Aircraft, a company from Carlsbad, California * Alaskan Air Command, a radar network * American Aeronautical Corporation, a company from Port Washington, New York * American Aviation, a company from Cleveland, ...

Second Team and received the AAC Sixth Player of Year and AAC Newcomer of Year awards.

Duke and Connecticut statistics

Source

WNBA career

In April 2018, Stevens decided to forgo her senior year of college and declare for the

. She was a highly rated player expected to be taken in the first round of the draft, and noted for her ability to play "positionless" basketball. In her rookie season for the Wings, Stevens mostly came off the bench, averaging 20.6 minutes, 8.9 points, and 4.6 rebounds per game, and was named to the

WNBA All-Rookie Team The WNBA All-Rookie Team is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) honor given since the 2005 WNBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the WNBA head coaches, who are not allowed to vote fo ...

. Although the Wings ended the season with a 15–19 losing record, they entered the playoffs as the eighth seed and lost in the first round to the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league ...

. Stevens missed most of the 2019 season with an injury, playing only 9 games where she averaged 16 minutes and 4.8 points per game. She later had surgery on her injured foot. Ahead of the 2020 season, the Wings traded Stevens to the

Chicago Sky The Chicago Sky are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Sky compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The franchise was founded prior to the 20 ...

in exchange for

Katie Lou Samuelson Katie Lou Samuelson (born June 13, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the UConn Huskies. High school career Samu ...

and first-round pick in the

2021 WNBA draft The 2021 WNBA draft was the WNBA's draft for the 2021 WNBA season. A draft lottery was held on December 4, 2020, and the New York Liberty were awarded the first overall pick once again in the draft. The draft was held on April 15, and televised o ...

. In reporting ahead of the 2018 draft, multiple outlets had expected the Sky to draft Stevens with the third or fourth pick. With the Sky, Stevens was expected to fill a gap in the forward position created by the departure of Astou Ndour.

Overseas

On 3 August 2022, she signed with

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

of the Turkish

Women's Basketball Super League The Women's Basketball Super League ( tr, Kadınlar Basketbol Süper Ligi, KBSL), also known as the Herbalife Nutrition Women's Basketball Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the top women's professional basketball division of the Turkish wom ...

(TKBL).

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

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2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

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Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, 34 , , 9 , , 20.6 , , .430 , , .318 , , .788 , , 4.6 , , 1.3 , , 0.9 , , 1.1 , , 1.5 , , 8.9 , - , style='text-align:left;',

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

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, 9 , , 1 , , 16.0 , , .358 , , .111 , , .800 , , 3.6 , , 0.6 , , 0.6 , , 1.1 , , 1.0 , , 4.8 , - , style='text-align:left;',

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

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Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, 13, , 13 , , 27.3 , , .500 , , .385 , , .850 , , 5.9 , , 1.5 , , 0.9 , , 1.8 , , 1.5 , , 11.5 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

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, 30 , , 11 , , 19.6 , , .500 , , .333 , , .813 , , '4.6 , , 0.8 , , 0.8 , , 0.7 , , 0.9 , , 7.4 , - , style='text-align:left;',

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

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Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, 35 , , 8 , , 21.9 , , .472 , , .362 , , .744 , , 3.9 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 1.1 , , 0.7 , , 10.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 5 years, 2 teams , 121 , , 42 , , 21.1 , , .463 , , .340 , , .790 , , 4.4 , , 1.0 , , 0.7 , , 1.1 , , 1.1 , , 9.0

Playoffs

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, 1 , , 0 , , 13.0 , , 1.000 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 7.0 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

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Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, 10 , , 10 , , 25.4 , , .477 , , .263 , , .786 , , 6.9 , , 0.8 , , 0.7 , , 0.8 , , 0.9 , , 9.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, 8 , , 0 , , 18.8 , , .472 , , .188 , , .667 , , 3.8 , , 0.5 , , 1.0 , , 0.9 , , 0.8 , , 7.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 3 years, 2 teams , 19 , , 10 , , 21.9 , , .486 , , .250 , , .739 , , 5.3 , , 0.6 , , 0.8 , , 0.8 , , 0.8 , , 8.6

Notes

External links

* Career statistics and player information fro
WNBA.com
an

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Azurá 1996 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in China American women's basketball players Basketball players from North Carolina Basketball players from Rhode Island Centers (basketball) Chicago Sky players Dallas Wings draft picks Dallas Wings players Duke Blue Devils women's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) People from Cary, North Carolina Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from Providence, Rhode Island UConn Huskies women's basketball players Galatasaray S.K. (women's basketball) players