• Faith: Christian
• Career: Athlete
• Birthday:  July 21, 1979

Tamika Catchings is a retired professional basketball player who played her entire 15-year career for the Indiana Fever of the WNBA. She’s won a WNBA championship, MVP Award, Finals MVP Award, five Defensive Player of the Year Awards, and Rookie of the Year. She’s one of only 11 women to receive an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship, a Fiba World Cup gold, and a WNBA championship.

She’s also been selected to ten WNBA All-Star teams, 12 All-WNBA teams, 12 All-Defensive teams, and led the league in steals eight times. In 2011, Catchings was voted in by fans as one of the WNBA’s Top 15 Players of All Time and would be named to two more all-time WNBA teams, the WNBA Top20@20 and the W25 in 2021. She served as President of the WNBA Players Association from 2012 to 2016, and she was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020.

Catchings was born in New Jersey and lived in Italy for one year while her father, Harvey Catchings, played professional basketball for Segafredo Gorizia, during which time she befriended Kobe Bryant. She played for both Adlai E. Stevenson High School and Duncanville High School, where she was named a WBCA All-American. Catchings participated in the WBCA High School All-America Game, scoring 12 points. She’s also the first player at any level in history to be officially credited with scoring a quintuple-double.

Catchings was an All-American with the Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team from 1997-2001. She earned the Naismith College Player of the Year award, the AP Player of the Year award, the USBWA Women’s National Player of the Year award, and the WBCA Player of the Year award in 2000. As a freshman on the undefeated 1997-98 national championships, she was part of the “Three Meeks” with Semeka Randall and Chamique Holdsclaw. Catchings was drafted third overall by the Indiana Fever in 2001, but she was unable to play in the 2001 season due to an ACL injury sustained during her senior year at Tennessee.

However, she had an outstanding year in 2002 and was named WNBA Rookie of the Year while averaging 18.6 ppg, immediately making an impact on the Fever roster in her first year as a pro. During her rookie season, in a regular season game against the Minnesota Lynx, Catchings had tied a then-WNBA record, nine steals, which Ticha Penicheiro has since broken.

What religion is Tamia Catchings?

Tamia Catchings identifies as a Christian. She opened up about her faith in an interview, saying, “God is definitely my Savior. He’s the one who walks beside me through my ups and downs and the one who keeps me focused on where I’m going in life. He protects me. He provides for me. He guides me, and He leads me.”