Kahleah Copper (born August 28, 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 for 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 ...

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 Natio ...

(WNBA). She was drafted by the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was founded pri ...

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 ...

, and was traded to the

the next year. In the 2016 WNBA draft, Copper was drafted with the seventh overall pick by the

. After playing one season for the Mystics, she was traded to the

. After three years as a bench player, she was elevated to a starting role in 2020. She emerged as a star player in 2021, being named a WNBA All-Star for the first time. Copper led the Chicago Sky during the 2021 playoffs, being named

WNBA Finals MVP The Women's National Basketball Association Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the league's inaugural season. During the first four years of the league, the Houston Come ...

as the team won their first title in franchise history.

Early life and playing career

Copper is a native of

North Philadelphia North Philadelphia, nicknamed North Philly, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is immediately north of Center City. Though the full extent of the region is somewhat vague, "North Philadelphia" is regarded as everything north of either ...

. She attended and played for the Preparatory Charter High School in Philadelphia. As a high school player, she was named to the All-Public League team in Philadelphia, the All-State team in Pennsylvania, and the McDonald's All-American team. She played for the

Rutgers Scarlet Knights women's basketball The Rutgers Scarlet Knights women's basketball team is the intercollegiate women's basketball program representing Rutgers University–New Brunswick. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athlet ...

team in college from 2012 to 2016, finishing her college career with the third-most points all time in team history (1,872).

Professional career

Washington Mystics (2016)

Copper was drafted as the 7th overall pick in the 2016 WNBA draft by the

. She was a bench player in her first season, averaging 16.2 minutes and 6.2 points per game. After the season, she was traded to the

as part of a deal that sent

Elena Delle Donne Elena Delle Donne (born September 5, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Delle Donne played college basketball for the Delaware Blue Hens from 2009 ...

to the Mystics and

Stefanie Dolson Stefanie Dolson (born January 8, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted sixth overall in the 2014 WNBA draft. Dolson played center for th ...

, Copper, and the 2nd overall pick in the

2017 WNBA draft The 2017 WNBA draft was the league's draft for the 2017 WNBA season. On March 30, the WNBA announced that the draft would take place on April 13 in New York at Samsung 837. Draft lottery The lottery selection to determine the order of the top fo ...

to the Sky.

Chicago Sky (2017-present)

In her first three seasons with the Sky, Copper generally came off the bench and averaged 6.7 to 7.1 points per game. In 2020, she was re-signed by the Sky. She was elevated to a starting role in the 2020 season, which was played in a "bubble" due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and led the team in scoring with 14.8 points per game. She continued into her starting role in the 2021 season, and was named as an All-Star for the first time. Copper led the Sky to their first championship in 2021 and was named 2021

European Leagues

In the 2021–2022 season Copper played for Perfumerias Avenida in the Spanish League and the Euroleague. She was named the MVP of both leagues.

Career statistics

College

WNBA

Regular season

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2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

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