Catching’s Call to Greatness
Photo: Harry How / Getty Images
From Childhood Challenges to the Hall of Fame, Tamika Catchings is The Underdog Personified
Every once in a while, generational athletes give us sportswriters a story beyond sports. They transcend games and athletic achievements. They impact millions. Today’s Underdog is one of them, and she’s one of my favorites.
Earlier this year, the 2020 Basketball Hall of Fame class made its claim as arguably the greatest of all-time. With names like Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan, it stacks up as a lineup for the ages. Among those inductees will be Tamika Catchings, a legend in women’s basketball and an underdog with a story like no other.
We talked with Catch this week about life in 2020, from the death of Kobe Bryant to the pandemic and racial injustice. [Her call to action: ‘We need to be comfortable with being uncomfortable’]
But first, her personal journey to the Hall of Fame (through tragedies and triumphs) needs its due.
If you don’t know Catch, you’re missing out. She’s an icon in women’s basketball who’s Hall of Fame personality might be greater than her Hall of Fame achievements. Her father Harvey was a former pro basketball player in the 1970s and 80s. He played with the 76ers, Nets, Bucks, and Clippers. Needless to say, the Catchings moved around a lot.
At an early age, her parents noticed something — something she wasn’t even aware of.
“I was born with a moderate-to-severe hearing disability,” she said. “I didn’t really know the difference. Soon after I got fitted into my first pair of big, brown, bulky not-so-beautiful hearing aids.”
Her hearing challenges continued throughout her childhood, but she was just 3 years old and the moves kept coming. Harvey finished his basketball career in Italy, and a friendship blossomed between his daughter and the son of a teammate. That teammate was Joe “Jellybean” Bryant. His son? Kobe…
The pair of basketball royalty were just 7 years old when they became pals in Italy. In a nation where soccer was king, both Tamika Catchings and Kobe Bryant formed an unlikely bond over basketball. No way those first-graders ever thought they’d be inducted in the same Hall of Fame class 30-plus years later.
But when Catchings returned to the United States at 8 years old, she was made fun of for her hearing aids. At one point, she was so frustrated that she threw them in the trash.
“That was the first year I realized I was different from everybody else. I got made fun of for the way that I talked, for the hearing aids I had to wear. Frankly, just for being different… (I was trying) to be as invisible as I possibly could.”
It was in those childhood challenges that Catchings learned to become the person she is today; a motivational speaker who exudes a positive attitude in all situations. She persevered, learned to read lips, and stayed after class to catch up on what she missed. While other kids fired insults, Catchings fired back with positivity, always reminding herself: “This is going to be a great day.” Soon, she began releasing that frustration by dominating opponents on the court.
The Legend of the Quintuple-Double
In high school at Duncanville, Texas, Catchings did something basketball had never seen before. You’re familiar with the double-double and the triple-double, but what about the quintuple-double? You read that right. That’s five statistical categories in double figures (25 points, 18 rebounds, 11 assists, 10 steals, and 10 blocks). It was the first officially recorded quintuple-double in basketball history at any level — a once-in-a-lifetime box score tallied by a 17-year-old girl. No one was making fun of Tamika Catchings now.
Scholarship offers poured in from all over the country. She narrowed her search to just four visits — Arkansas, USC, Illinois, and Tennessee — but she wrote thank you letters in response to every school that made her an offer… [And that little anecdote should tell you everything you need to know about Tamika]. She chose Tennessee to play for the legendary head coach Pat Summitt from 1997 — 2001.
“I wanted to play with the best, against the best, and for the best… Pat was the epitome of the best.”
The Lady Vols went undefeated in Catchings’ freshman season and won the NCAA National Championship. In 2000, Tamika garnered a clean sweep of Player of the Year awards (AP, Naismith, etc.). Summitt passed away from Alzheimer’s in 2016, but she and Catchings formed a lifelong bond.
“I think the level of greatness… With being great, responsibility comes. The thing that I respect most is she was always so humble… She always figured out ways to meet people where they were… She once told me: ‘One day, you will impact millions of people with your story.’”
After college, Catchings was drafted 3rd overall by the Indiana Fever in 2001. She was a 10-time all-star in 15 seasons with a WNBA title in 2012 and accolades that are off the charts — Rookie of the Year (2002), MVP (2011), Finals MVP (2012), 5-time Defensive Player of the Year and the WNBA all-time steals leader. At 2.4 steals per game, she averaged more than the NBA’s all-time ball-thief (John Stockton, 2.2 steals per game). She also won four gold medals in the Olympics (2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016).
We could list pages of numbers and stats and it would do little to truly tell the greatness of Tamika Catchings. Her No. 24 jersey hangs in the rafters in Indianapolis, and she’ll soon become immortalized in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Today, Catch is the VP of Basketball Operations for the Fever. She’s also a motivational speaker and a kind-hearted person whose story, like all great underdogs, has impacted millions. Pat Summitt was right… Hopefully her story impacts a few more today.