Kamila Vodičková (born December 19, 1972, in

Litoměřice Litoměřice (; german: Leitmeritz) is a town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation. The town is the seat ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

) is a Czech women's

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 for the North American WNBA's

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...

and

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 ...

. She represented Czechoslovakia at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

.Olympic results
/ref>

WNBA career

The Storm made her the first draft choice of the franchise, a move that caused Vodičková some initial concern. However, after being quickly embraced by the Seattle fans, the redubbed "Vodka" became the centerpiece of the offense, with

Edna Campbell Edna Campbell (born November 26, 1968) is a retired women's basketball player who played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The 5 ft 8 in guard played with the Sacramento Monarchs as well as three other teams, but is ...

as the outside threat. The team did not improve from its initial poor showings until Vodičková got a running mate inside,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n Lauren Jackson. In the 2004 season, Vodičková was faced with a tough choice, as her home country's

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

team demanded that she skip the WNBA season if she wanted to play in the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. Vodičková refused to go home, and the decision proved prescient, as the Storm ran to a

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

that year. The salary-capped Storm lost three of its

marquee player A marquee player is an athlete who is considered exceptionally popular, skilled, or otherwise outstanding, especially in professional sports. Its name comes from theater marquees, on which the names of the stars of productions in said theater ar ...

s after the championship, with Vodičková going to the

. Despite strong play from Vodičková,

Penny Taylor Penelope Jane Taylor (born 24 May 1981) is an Australian retired professional basketball player and assistant coach. During her 19-year career, Taylor spent the most time with the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, where she won three championships. ...

, Anna DeForge,

Maria Stepanova Maria Alexandrovna Stepanova (russian: Мари́я Алекса́ндровна Степа́нова; born 23 February 1979) is a Russian professional and Olympic basketball player. In the United States, she played for the Phoenix ...

, and

Diana Taurasi Diana Lorena Taurasi (born June 11, 1982) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted by Phoenix first overall in the 2004 WNBA draft. Taurasi has w ...

, the Mercury missed the playoffs in 2005. After the Mercury narrowly missed the playoffs again in 2006, announced she was expecting a child and will be on

maternity leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and ...

during the entire 2007 WNBA season.

International career

Vodičková has been known to be a dominant player in the Czech circuit. In 2005, she played for the Dynamo in the Russian super league.

Vital statistics

*Position:

Forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

*Height: 6 ft. 4 in. / 1.93 m *College:

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

*Team(s):

, Seattle Storm (WNBA); Dynamo (EuroLeague)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vodickova, Kamila 1972 births Living people Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Czech expatriate basketball people in the United States Czechoslovak women's basketball players Czech women's basketball players Olympic basketball players of Czechoslovakia People from Litoměřice Phoenix Mercury players Power forwards (basketball) Seattle Storm draft picks Seattle Storm players Sportspeople from the Ústí nad Labem Region