Cheryl Ford (born June 6, 1981) is an American former 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. As a member of the Detroit Shock, she won the WNBA championship three times.

Personal life

Cheryl Ford is the daughter of Bonita Ford and former NBA player

Karl Malone Karl Anthony Malone (born July 24, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Mailman", he is considered one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history. Malone sp ...

. She has a twin brother named Daryl and is the half sister of former NFL offensive tackle

Demetress Bell Demetress Carte Bell (born May 3, 1984), formerly known as Demetrius Bell, is a former American football offensive tackle. After playing college football for Northwestern State, he was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the seventh round of the 2008 ...

High school

Ford played for Summerfield High School in Summerfield, Louisiana, where she was named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the 1999 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored two points.

College career

Ford was a standout collegiate player at

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activ ...

. In 2003, she was named to the

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All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

Honorable Mention team. She was also named the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

"Player of the Year" in 2002 and 2003.

Louisiana Tech statistics

Source

Professional career

In 2003, Ford was drafted as the No. 3 overall pick in the first round by the Detroit Shock in the WNBA Draft. In just her first year in the league, Ford led the Shock from worst to the best record and a

WNBA championship The WNBA Finals are the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. Starting 2016 Verizon is the officia ...

in 2003. She is the first player to have won the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award and a WNBA championship in the same year. Afterwards, she played for the Dallas Fury in the

National Women's Basketball League The National Women's Basketball League, often abbreviated to the NWBL, was an organization governing professional basketball leagues for women in the United States. The league was founded in 1997 and began play in the Fall of that year. The league ...

(NWBL) under Coach

Nancy Lieberman Nancy Elizabeth Lieberman (born July 1, 1958), nicknamed "Lady Magic", is an American former professional basketball player and coach in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) who is currently a broadcaster for the Oklahoma City Thun ...

. Ford spent the 2005–2006 season in Israel, playing for Anda Ramat Hasharon. On July 15, 2007, Ford won the WNBA All-Star Game MVP Award in Washington, D.C. when the East beat the West 103–99. Ford missed the rest of the 2008 WNBA season due to an

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

injury in her right knee, sustained on July 22, 2008 during a game against 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 ...

. A brawl had broken out and Ford sustained the injury while attempting to restrain her teammate. During the 2009 WNBA season, Ford averaged 7.4 rebounds per game and 8.6 points per game. In January 2010, Ford signed a deal with Polish team CCC Aquapark Polkowice from 1st division league Ford Germaz Ekstraklasa ( PLKK). Ford spent the 2011–2012 season with Beretta Famila Schio, averaging 11.3 points and 11.9 rebounds per game. On September 12, 2012, The Canik Belediyesi basketball club was announced as having signed Ford, as well as New York Liberty veteran

Janel McCarville Janel McCarville (born November 3, 1982) is an American professional basketball player from Custer, Wisconsin who is currently a WNBA free agent. High school years Born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, McCarville attended Stevens Point Area Senio ...

. In March 2013, she signed with the New York Liberty. She missed most of the preseason due to a left knee injury, appearing in one preseason game before being released in June.

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 2003 , align="left" ,

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, 32 , , 32 , , 29.9 , , .474 , , .000 , , .682 , , 10.4 , , 0.8 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 2.47 , , 10.8 , - , align="left" , 2004 , align="left" ,

, 31 , , 31 , , 29.4 , , .411 , , .000 , , .589 , , 9.6 , , 1.1 , , 1.3 , , 0.8 , , 1.74 , , 10.6 , - , align="left" , 2005 , align="left" ,

, 33 , , 33 , , 28.2 , , .430 , , .000 , , .487 , , style="background:#D3D3D3", 9.8° , , 0.8 , , 1.0 , , 1.4 , , 2.09 , , 9.5 , - , align="left" ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, align="left" ,

, 32 , , 32 , , 28.7 , , .498 , , .000 , , .648 , , style="background:#D3D3D3", 11.3° , , 1.4 , , 1.2 , , 0.8 , , 1.81 , , 13.8 , - , align="left" , 2007 , align="left" ,

, 15 , , 15 , , 30.7 , , .497 , , .000 , , .639 , , 11.2 , , 1.5 , , 1.9 , , 0.7 , , 2.80 , , 13.0 , - , align="left" , 2008 , align="left" ,

, 24 , , 24 , , 26.5 , , .481 , , .000 , , .560 , , 8.7 , , 0.9 , , 1.0 , , 0.4 , , 0.96 , , 10.1 , - , align="left" , 2009 , align="left" ,

, 29 , , 29 , , 26.0 , , .427 , , .000 , , .550 , , 7.4 , , 0.9 , , 1.0 , , 0.4 , , 1.69 , , 8.6 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 7 years, 1 team , 196 , , 196 , , 28.4 , , .457 , , .000 , , .595 , , 9.7 , , 1.0 , , 1.1 , , 0.8 , , 1.91 , , 10.8

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 2003 , align="left" ,

, 8 , , 8 , , 29.0 , , .324 , , .000 , , .826 , , style="background:#D3D3D3", 10.0° , , 0.5 , , 1.4 , , 0.8 , , 1.25 , , 8.4 , - , align="left" , 2004 , align="left" ,

, 3 , , 3 , , 37.0 , , .447 , , .000 , , .636 , , style="background:#D3D3D3", 10.7° , , 0.3 , , 1.3 , , 2.3 , , 2.67 , , 16.0 , - , align="left" , 2005 , align="left" ,

, 2 , , 2 , , 24.5 , , .444 , , .000 , , .600 , , 7.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.5 , , 1.0 , , 1.50 , , 9.5 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 10 , , 10 , , 28.7 , , .523 , , .000 , , .750 , , style="background:#D3D3D3", 10.3° , , 1.2 , , 1.3 , , 0.7 , , 1.90 , , 13.4 , - , align="left" , 2007 , align="left" ,

, 10 , , 8 , , 22.8 , , .415 , , .000 , , .455 , , 9.2 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 1.40 , , 6.9 , - , align="left" , 2009 , align="left" ,

, 5 , , 5 , , 29.6 , , .448 , , .000 , , .813 , , 10.0 , , 1.2 , , 1.4 , , 0.2 , , 3.60 , , 7.8 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 6 years, 1 team , 38 , , 36 , , 27.8 , , .433 , , .000 , , .684 , , 9.8 , , 0.8 , , 1.1 , , 0.7 , , 1.89 , , 9.9

National team career

Ford was named to the National team representing the USA at the 2006 World Championships, held in

Barueri Barueri ( or ) is a Brazilian municipality in the State of São Paulo located in the northwestern part of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. The population is 276,982 (2020 est.) in an area of . Its boundaries are Santana de Parnaíba to th ...

and

Sao Paulo, Brazil SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S. ...

. The team won eight of their nine contests, but the lone loss came in the semifinal medal round to Russia. The USA beat Brazil in the final game to earn the bronze medal. Ford averaged 3.4 points per game.

References

External links

WNBA profile
at WNBA.com

at Basketball-Reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Cheryl 1981 births Living people American women's basketball players Basketball players from Louisiana Centers (basketball) Detroit Shock players Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters basketball players People from Homer, Louisiana Women's National Basketball Association All-Stars United States women's national basketball team players Twin sportspeople