Imani Trishawn McGee-Stafford (born October 11, 1994) 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. She played college basketball for
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
.
College
In 2015, while at
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, McGee-Stafford was awarded the
Honda Inspiration Award which is given to a collegiate athlete "who has overcome hardship and was able to return to play at the collegiate level". She grew up in a challenging home environment, but overcame the challenge and became a voice for others.
Texas statistics
Source
Professional career
WNBA
McGee-Stafford was drafted 10th overall by 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 the
2016 WNBA Draft. In her rookie season, she was ranked seventh in the league in blocks 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 ...
. In her first playoff game, she broke the WNBA playoff rookie record for blocks in a game with 6. Midway through the 2017 season, McGee-Stafford was traded to the
Atlanta Dream
The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded for the 2008 WNBA season. The team is owned by real ...
along with teammate
Tamera Young
Tamera "Ty" Young (born October 30, 1986) is a former American basketball player who is currently a free agent. After playing collegiately for James Madison University, Young was drafted by the Atlanta Dream with the 8th overall pick of the 2008 ...
in exchange for
Jordan Hooper
Jordan Hooper (born February 20, 1992) is an American basketball player. She last played for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was an All-American forward at the college level for the University of Nebr ...
and a first-round draft pick. She continued on with Atlanta in 2018 before joining 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 ...
for the 2019 season.
Overseas
In December 2016, McGee-Stafford moved to Israel to play for Bnot Hertzeliya. In 16 games during the 2016–17 season, she averaged 14.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 2.6 blocks per game. Between November and December 2017, she played in China for Beijing Great Wall of the
Women's Chinese Basketball Association
The Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA) is the first-tier professional women's basketball league in China. It was established in 2002 as the women's counterpart to the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).
Current clubs
There are cu ...
. She returned to China a year later, where she played for the
Liaoning Flying Eagles between October and November 2018. In February 2019, she had a four-game stint in Turkey with Adana Basketbol.
On June 13, 2019, McGee-Stafford signed with the
Perth Lynx
The Perth Lynx are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Lynx compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at Bendat Basketball Centre. For sponsorship reasons, t ...
in Australia for the
2019–20 WNBL season
The 2019–20 WNBL season is the 40th season of the competition since its establishment in 1981. The Canberra Capitals were the defending champions and they successfully defended their title with a 2–0 win over Southside. The 2019–20 title was ...
.
WNBA career statistics
Regular season
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Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, , 31, , 16, , 18.9, , .554, , .000, , .660, , 5.6, , 0.6, , 0.6, , 1.3, , 0.9, , 6.7
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Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, , 22, , 4, , 15.5, , .444, , .333, , .706, , 4.4, , 0.5, , 0.4, , 0.8, , 1.0, , 4.6
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Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, , 10, , 0, , 9.2, , .542, , .000, , .500, , 2.9, , 0.2, , 0.1, , 0.7, , 0.3, , 2.9
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, , 32, , 4, , 13.5, , .463, , .333, , .652, , 3.9, , 0.4, , 0.3, , 0.8, , 0.8, , 4.1
, -
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, style="text-align:left;", 2 years, 2 teams
, 63 , , 20 , , 16.2 , , .514 , , .333 , , .658 , , 4.8 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 1.0 , , 0.8 , , 5.3
Playoffs
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2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
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Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, , 5, , 5, , 20.4, , .500, , .000, , .600, , 8.2, , 0.8, , 0.0, , 2.0, , 1.0, , 8.4
, -
, style="text-align:left;", Career
, style="text-align:left;", 1 year, 1 team
, , 5, , 5, , 20.4, , .500, , .000, , .600, , 8.2, , 0.8, , 0.0, , 2.0, , 1.0, , 8.4
Personal life
McGee-Stafford was married to former
Texas Longhorns football
The Texas Longhorns football program is the intercollegiate team representing the University of Texas at Austin (variously Texas or UT) in the sport of American football. The Texas Longhorns, Longhorns compete in the NCAA Division I Football ...
player Paul Boyette Jr. in 2015, but the couple divorced in 2017. She is the daughter of former WNBA player
Pamela McGee
Pamela Denise McGee (born December 1, 1962) is an American former professional women's basketball player, 2012 Women's Basketball Hall of Famer, and mother of two professional basketball players. She is the first WNBA mom to have a son and dau ...
, the younger maternal half-sister of current
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
player
JaVale McGee, and a cousin of
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
player
Jarron Gilbert
Jarron Kendrick Gilbert (born September 30, 1986) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at San Jose State. Gilbert has also been a m ...
. She also appeared on ''
Let's Make a Deal
''Let's Make a Deal'' (also known as ''LMAD'') is an American television musical comedy variety-game show that originated in the United States in 1963 and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The program was created an ...
'' with her grandmother on March 8, 2018 and received a pair of scooters. In the spring of 2020, she announced that she is stepping away for the next two WNBA seasons to pursue a
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
degree from
Southwestern Law School
Southwestern Law School is a private law school in Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and enrolls nearly 1,000 students. Its campus includes the Bullocks Wilshire building, an art deco National Register ...
in Los Angeles.
References
External links
Texas Longhorns bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGee-Stafford, Imani
1994 births
Living people
African-American basketball players
American expatriate basketball people in Australia
American expatriate basketball people in China
American expatriate basketball people in Israel
American expatriate basketball people in Turkey
American women's basketball players
Atlanta Dream players
Basketball players from Los Angeles
Beijing Great Wall players
Centers (basketball)
Chicago Sky draft picks
Chicago Sky players
Dallas Wings players
Liaoning Flying Eagles players
McDonald's High School All-Americans
Perth Lynx players
Texas Longhorns women's basketball players
21st-century African-American sportspeople
21st-century African-American women