Betty Bernice Lennox (born December 4, 1976) is an American retired professional basketball player. She played for the

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Lynx compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team won the WNBA ...

Miami Sol The Miami Sol were a professional women's basketball team that was based in Miami and entered the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in 2000. They played their games at American Airlines Arena as the sister team to the Miami Heat of the ...

, Cleveland Rockers,

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team was founded by Gi ...

, Atlanta Dream,

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles 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 of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Crypto.co ...

and Tulsa Shock in the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA). Her nicknames include "Betty Basketball," "Betty Big Buckets," and her most popular nickname "B-Money."

Childhood

Born in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

, Oklahoma, Lennox grew up in the small town of Grant. Daughter of Bernice Jefferies and A. B. Lennox, and was raised by her mother primarily. She was the eighth of nine children and the youngest daughter in the family. She has five brothers, named Freddy, Karl, A. B., Alfred, and Charles. She also has three sisters named Lela, Ruby, and Victoria, all of them older than she is. She learned to play basketball with her four older brothers and one younger, who did not cut her any slack because she was a girl. She would learn to not be intimated by others while playing with her brothers as a child. She also developed her work ethic from growing up on a farm with her family. She was loading bales by age ten, each bale weighing 30 to 40 pounds, and did many daily chores while in primary school in Grant. Her full name is Betty Bernice Lennox, getting her middle name from her mother.

High school career

Betty spent three years attending Fort Osage High School in

Independence, Missouri Independence is a city in and one of two county seats of Jackson County, Missouri, United States. It is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metropolitan area. In 2020 Unite ...

, under the coaching of Dale Williams. Betty played her sophomore year at Grant High School in Grant, OK. She originally learned the six-player game of basketball while in Oklahoma. She struggled when her family moved to Missouri, as she was not used to crossing over the center line to be a defensive player, as she had only been an offensive player while in Oklahoma.

College years

Lennox played college basketball at Trinity Valley Community College in

Athens, Texas Athens is a city and the county seat of Henderson County, Texas, Henderson County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population was 12,857. The city has called itself the "black-eyed pea, Bla ...

for her sophomore year. Trinity Valley was her second community college, as she originally enrolled and played her Freshman year at Butler Community College in Kansas garnering all conference honors. She would transfer to Trinity Valley CC after her freshman year in 1996. Her Cardinals Trinity Valley CC team won the 1997 NJCAA Women's Basketball Championship, an accomplishment she is most proud of. She was the MVP of the tournament, and finished the championship game with 27 points and 20 rebounds. Lennox then transferred to

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public university, public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and Carnegie Classification of Institu ...

, and graduated from there in 2000 with a BA in psychology. She took a year off from basketball while at LA Tech in 1998 to devote herself to her studies in order to complete her degree. She would play basketball for LA Tech for her final two years of college in 1999 & 2000. She was named the 2000 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and a U.S. Basketball Writers Association First Team All-American while at

WNBA career

Lennox was selected by the

as the sixth overall pick in the 2000

WNBA draft The WNBA draft is an annual draft (sports), draft held by the Women's National Basketball Association, WNBA through which WNBA teams can select new players from a talent pool of college and List of WNBA players, professional women's basketball p ...

and later became the WNBA's Rookie of the Year in 2000. She was also the first rookie to ever play in a WNBA All-Star Game that same year. She also made the All-WNBA 2nd Team in 2000 as well. She broke her hip in 2001, and was originally told that her basketball career would be over after the injury. With the work ethic she learned as a child, she fought back from her injury to come back and continued to thrive as a player. On June 13, 2002, the

traded Lennox along with a 2003 first-round draft pick to the

in exchange for Tamara Moore and a 2003 second-round draft pick. After the 2002 season ended, the

folded and Lennox was selected by the Cleveland Rockers in the dispersal draft. When the Rockers folded after the 2003 season ended, Lennox went through another dispersal draft before the 2004 season. This time, she was selected by the

. Playing alongside Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson, Lennox helped lead the

to the 2004 WNBA Championship against the

Connecticut Sun The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut. The Sun compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team i ...

, winning 2–1 in the series. She was named the

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

Most Valuable Player, averaging 22.3 points per game during the series en route to winning the award. In 2005 with the Seattle Storm, Lennox made her 200th career three-pointer. On February 6, 2008, Lennox was selected by the newly formed Atlanta Dream in the

expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or sports franchising, franchises. This occurs mainly in Sports in North America, North American sports and closed leagues. O ...

. During the 2008 season with the Dream, Lennox averaged a career-high 17.5 points per game and scored a career-high 44 points against the Connecticut Sun. She was the Eastern Conference leading point scorer for the year. She reached the 3,000 point and 1,000 rebound milestones in the 2008 season as well. Lennox was acquired by the

for the 2009 season as an unrestricted free agent to join forces with Candace Parker,

Lisa Leslie Lisa Deshaun Leslie (born July 7, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player. She is formerly the head coach for Triplets (basketball), Triplets in the BIG3 professional basketball league, as well as a studio analyst for Orlando ...

and Tina Thompson. Lennox helped lead the Sparks to the Western Conference finals where they were one win shy of advancing to the 2009 WNBA Finals, losing 2–1 to the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

who ended up being the champions. During the 2010 season, a left knee injury would sideline Lennox while playing with the Sparks for the remainder of the season after playing only 11 games. Lennox signed with the Tulsa Shock for the 2011 season, then waived before the start of the season, later re-signed for the remainder of the 2011 season, playing only 9 games. She would be sidelined for the later part of the season with a concussion. The 2011 season would be Lennox's last season in the WNBA before retiring. Lennox played a total of 12 seasons in the WNBA.

Overseas career

Lennox has played overseas for a total of 7 off-season years during her 12-year career with the WNBA. She has been known to play internationally during the off season with the WNBA, playing for many teams throughout the world. She played in Turkey in 2010 for Tarsus Belediyes. She played for

Nadezhda Orenburg PBK Nadezhda Orenburg () is a Russian professional women's basketball club from Orenburg founded in 1994. Nadezhda has been 3rd in the Russian Women's Basketball Premier League, Russian Premier League in 2010 and 2011, and reached the Russian Wo ...

in Russia in 2008 & 2009 WNBA off-seasons. Earlier teams have included Coconuda Maddaloni in Italy for 2004–2005. She was in Poland with Lotos Gdynia in 2006–2007. She had been with K.V. Imperial EKA AEL Limassol in Greece during 2007–2008. While in Poland in 2007 her team was the regular season runner-up, and a finalist. In Cyprus during 2007–2008 her team was the regular season champion in 2007 and as well as championship winners, and Cyprus Cup Winner in 2008. She was also Eurobasket.com's All-Russian superleague Honorable Mention in 2009. Additional teams and countries have included Israel for the 2000–2001 off-season for Elitzur Cellcom Holon. She also played for Beijing Great Wall in China during 2005–2006.

Philanthropy

Lennox started the Lennox Foundation 22 in 2005 to support children who were victims of neglect and abuse. The organization's mission is to give these children better experiences and the chance to succeed with support, education, and love. They learn self-motivation through playing basketball. She was presented with the WNBA's Community Assist Award in June 2006 for her charitable work.

Life after basketball

Since retiring from professional basketball, Lennox has been a basketball trainer for college students. She also travels nationwide to do motivational speaking and youth mentoring through her foundation. In March 2016, Lennox won the award for Woman of the Year at the 2016 Women of Distinction Awards.

Personal life

Lennox is also a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

who comes from a deeply religious background and had a bible verse inscribed on the toes of her shoes that she wore during games (Philippians 4:13) which she says is the scripture that tells all about her life journey.

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

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2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

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Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

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Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

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Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, 34 , , 1 , , 16.5 , , .372 , , .311 , , .722 , , 2.6 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 1.7, , 7.6 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

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Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

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2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

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, 28 , , 26 , , 28.6 , , .392 , , .308 , , .874 , , 4.4 , , 2.0 , , 1.2 , , 0.1 , , 2.6 , , 12.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

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, 34 , , 34 , , 26.1 , , .452 , , .322 , , .761 , , 4.0 , , 2.1 , , 1.0 , , 0.1 , , 2.8 , , 13.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

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2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

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Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, 34 , , 33, , 29.7 , , .415 , , .358 , , .855 , , 4.2 , , 2.4 , , 1.3 , , 0.0 , , 3.3 , , 17.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

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Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, 30 , , 13 , , 21.3, , .414 , , .301 , , .894 , , 4.5 , , 1.8 , , 0.8 , , 0.1 , , 2.3 , , 10.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

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Playoffs

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, 2, , 2, , 31.0, , .361, , .385, , 1.000, , 6.5, , 2.0, , 1.0, , 0.0, , 2.0, , 18.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 6, , 0, , 21.3, , .414, , .440, , 1.000, , 3.0, , 1.5, , 0.8, , 0.0, , 1.8, , 12.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 6 years, 3 teams , 25, , 16, , 26.8, , .404, , .370, , .881, , 3.9, , 2.4, , 1.0, , 0.0, , 2.2, , 13.2

College

, - , style="text-align:left;" , 1998–99 , style="text-align:left;" , Louisiana Tech , 33, , -, , -, , 60.9, , 29.5, , 63.5, , 4.1, , 1.8, , 1.6, , 0.2, , -, , 10.1 , - , style="text-align:left;" , 1999–00 , style="text-align:left;" , Louisiana Tech , 34, , -, , -, , 44.1, , 38.0, , 78.2, , 5.9, , 3.4, , 2.9, , 0.2, , -, , 17.3 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2 , Career , 67, , -, , -, , 49.1, , 35.1, , 72.3, , 5.0, , 2.6, , 2.3, , 0.2, , -, , 13.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="14", Statistics retrieved from

Sports-Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey Ref ...

References

External links

*
Betty Lennox's Charity Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lennox, Betty 1976 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in Poland American expatriate basketball people in Russia American women's basketball players Atlanta Dream players Beijing Great Wall players Cleveland Rockers players Los Angeles Sparks players Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters basketball players Miami Sol players Minnesota Lynx draft picks Minnesota Lynx players Seattle Storm players Shooting guards Small forwards Basketball players from Oklahoma City Trinity Valley Cardinals women's basketball players WNBA All-Stars Atlanta Dream draft picks