Bridget Pettis (born January 1, 1971) is an American former college and 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 (appro ...

player who was a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

in the WNBA for eight seasons during the 1990s and 2000s. Pettis played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

, and professionally for 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 ...

and the

Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Fever compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was founded for ...

of the WNBA.

Early life

Pettis was born in

East Chicago, Indiana East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 26,370 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Centered around heavy industry, the city is home to the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, an artificial freshwa ...

. She attended

East Chicago Central High School East Chicago Central High School or commonly known as Central or EC Central, is a public high school in the industrial City of East Chicago, Indiana, located in the eastern portion of the Chicago metropolitan area. All of East Chicago is in the ...

, and played

high school basketball High school basketball, also known as prep basketball, is the sport of basketball as played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. Top high school athletes often go on to play college basketball after ...

for the EC Central Cardinals.

College career

Pettis attended

Central Arizona College Central Arizona College (CAC) is a public community college near Coolidge, Arizona. CAC serves the population of Pinal County. History and campus Central Arizona College was founded in 1969. With five campuses and three centers located thr ...

in Coolidge, Arizona, and played junior college basketball for the Central Arizona Vaqueras. She accepted an athletic scholarship to transfer to the

in Gainesville, Florida, where she played for coach

Carol Ross Carol Ross (born June 11, 1959) is an American college and professional basketball coach. Ross has served as the head women's basketball coach for the University of Florida and the University of Mississippi, and also as the head coach of the Lo ...

Florida Gators women's basketball The Florida Gators women's basketball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of basketball. The Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Gator ...

team from 1991 to 1993. Memorably, she completed eight three-point shots against the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...

on January 20, 1993—still the Gators' single-game record. She graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in 1993.

Professional career

Phoenix Mercury (first stint)

The

selected Pettis in the first round (seventh pick overall) of the 1997 WNBA Elite Draft. Her debut game was played on June 22, 1997 in a 76 - 59 win over the

Charlotte Sting The Charlotte Sting were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the league's eight original teams. The team disbanded on January 3, 2007. The Sting was originally the sister organization ...

where she recorded 17 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds and 1 block. For the first five seasons of her career, Pettis would be a productive member of the Mercury team. For the first two specifically, she was a starting guard averaging 12.6 points and 2.8 assists in her rookie season, then 11.3 points and 2.1 assists in her sophomore season. In her first playoff appearance on August 28, 1997, Pettis recorded 4 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, but the Mercury fell short to the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Confer ...

41 - 59 and were eliminated. The next season in 1998, the Mercury finished 19 - 11 and made a deeper playoff run. In the semi-finals, Pettis recorded her first double-double of 27 points and 11 rebounds and helped the Mercury overcome the

Cleveland Rockers The Cleveland Rockers were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Cleveland, that played from 1997 until 2003. The Rockers were one of the original eight franchises of the WNBA, which started in 1997. The owner was Gordon ...

in a 71 - 60 closeout game on August 25, 1998. Thanks to this victory, the Mercury would make it to their first WNBA Finals appearance. But the team would lose the series to the

Houston Comets The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. They are one of two ...

2 - 1. This was Pettis' only Finals appearance. Pettis remained on the Mercury for the 1999, 2000 and 2001 seasons, but she would mostly come off the bench, only starting in 15 of her 96 games played for those 3 seasons. Through those 96 games from 1999 to 2001, Pettis averaged 5.6 points, 1.4 assists and 1.8 rebounds in 16.8 minutes per game. The Mercury missed the playoffs in 1999 and 2001, but the 2000 season saw the Mercury finish with a then franchise record 20 - 12 and be matched against the

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 ...

in the semi-finals. Despite Pettis averaging 10.5 points, 3 assists and 2.5 rebounds in the series, the Mercury would be swept by the Sparks, including a 25-point loss in Game 2. This remained as the biggest playoff loss in Mercury history until the 2011 Western Conference Finals, where they lost to the Lynx by 28 points on September 22, 2011.

Indiana Fever

On March 4, 2002 Pettis would be part of the first four-team deal in WNBA trade history when the Mercury traded her and a 2002 1st round pick ( Tawana McDonald was later selected with this pick) to the

for

Gordana Grubin Gordana Grubin (Serbian Cyrillic:Гордана Грубин, born August 20, 1972, in Zrenjanin, SFR Yugoslavia) is a former Serbian professional basketball player who played in Europe and the United States. WNBA career Grubin played six seasons ...

. She played for the Fever for two seasons, coming off the bench for every game and averaged 2.6 points, 0.4 assists and 0.9 rebounds in 8.3 minutes for the team. During her second season with the team, the Fever reached the playoffs but were eliminated in the semi-finals by the Liberty in 3 games. This was Pettis' final playoff appearance and she averaged 5.3 points, 0.6 assists and 3 rebounds in those 3 games.

Phoenix Mercury (second stint)

Pettis completely missed the 2004 and 2005 WNBA seasons, but on April 20, 2006, she signed a contract with her former team Phoenix Mercury and played her final year with them. Pettis played in 11 of the team's first 12 games and averaged 1.3 points, 0.9 assists and 0.8 rebounds. Unfortunately, she was waived on June 29, 2006 causing her to retire shortly after. Pettis' final WNBA game was played on June 25, 2006 in a 90 - 77 win over the

Chicago Sky The Chicago Sky are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Sky compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The franchise was founded prior to the 2006 season. Th ...

where she played for 4 minutes and only recorded 1 steal as a statistic. In her eight-season WNBA career, Pettis played in 228 games (starting in 71 games) and has career averages of 6.2 points, 2 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 17.1 minutes per game.

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

, - , align="left" ,

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, align="left" , Phoenix , 28, , 28, , 30.1, , 33.4, , 30.6, , 89.8, , 3.8, , 2.8, , 1.8, , 0.4, , 2.9, , 12.6 , - , align="left" ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, align="left" , Phoenix , 30, , 28, , 28.3, , 37.7, , 28.5, , 86.5, , 3.4, , 2.1, , 1.0, , 0.3, , 2.1, , 11.3 , - , align="left" ,

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, align="left" , Phoenix , 32, , 8, , 16.9, , 30.4, , 22.4, , 61.7, , 1.8, , 1.4 , , 0.8, , 0.1, , 0.9, , 5.7 , - , align="left" ,

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 ...

, align="left" , Phoenix , 32, , 6, , 18.2, , 35.7, , 26.7, , 80.3, , 1.9, , 1.4, , 1.0, , 0.1, , 1.2, , 5.9 , - , align="left" ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, align="left" , Phoenix , 32, , 8, , 16.9, , 30.4, , 22.4, , 61.7, , 1.8, , 1.4, , 0.8, , 0.1, , 0.9, , 5.7 , - , align="left" ,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, align="left" ,

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, 32, , 0, , 11.7, , 35.5, , 20.9, , 71.8, , 1.2, , 0.5, , 0.3, , 0.0, , 0.8, , 3.5 , - , align="left" ,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, align="left" ,

, 31, , 0, , 4.8, , 28.8, , 22.2, , 76.5, , 0.6, , 0.3 , , 0.1, , 0.0, , 0.3, , 1.6 , - , align="left" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;" colspan="13" , ''Did not play (did not appear in WNBA)'' , - , align="left" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;" colspan="13" , ''Did not play (did not appear in WNBA)'' , - , 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 ...

, align="left" ,

, 11, , 0, , 6.1, , 26.3, , 12.5, , 50.0, , 0.8, , 0.9 , , 0.3, , 0.0, , 0.2, , 1.3 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 4 years, 2 teams , 228, , 71, , 17.1, , 34.1, , 27.0, , 80.9, , 2.0, , 1.4 , , 0.8, , 0.1, , 1.3, , 6.2

Playoffs

, - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , Phoenix , 1, , 1, , 27.0, , 13.3, , 0.0, , 0.0, , 6.0, , 2.0, , 2.0, , 0.0, , 2.0, , 4.0 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , Phoenix , 6, , 6, , 30.5, , 50.0, , 20.0, , 78.9, , 3.7, , 2.2, , 1.8, , 0.3, , 1.8, , 12.8 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , Phoenix , 2, , 0, , 20.5, , 38.9, , 45.5, , 100.0, , 2.5, , 3.0, , 0.5, , 0.0, , 1.5, , 10.5 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 3, , 0, , 14.3, , 33.3, , 33.3, , 71.4, , 3.0, , 0.7, , 0.0 , , 0.0, , 1.3, , 5.3 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 4 years, 2 teams , 12, , 7, , 24.5, , 40.7, , 27.6, , 78.6, , 3.5, , 1.9, , 1.2 , , 0.2, , 1.7, , 9.8

College

, - , style="text-align:left;" , 1991–92 , style="text-align:left;" ,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, 27, , -, , -, , 37.7, , 31.9, , 74.0, , 4.8, , 2.8, , 1.8, , 0.4, , -, , 14.6 , - , style="text-align:left;" , 1992–93 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 26, , -, , -, , 38.1, , 30.7, , 76.7, , 4.7, , 2.3, , 2.2, , 0.4, , -, , 15.8 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2 , Career , 53, , -, , -, , 37.9, , 31.3, , 75.6, , 4.7, , 2.5, , 2.0, , 0.4, , -, , 15.2 , - 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 ...

Post WNBA

Pettis instantly joined the Mercury coaching staff as an assistant in 2006, helping the team win their first 2 championships in 2007 and 2009. She then served as the Mercury’s director of basketball operations from 2010 to 2013. In 2013, Pettis and Frank and Eddie Johnson started a club team called Team 2j Thunder. Three months later, Pettis was hired as an assistant coach for the

LA 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 ...

. On March 6, 2014 Pettis was named Assistant Coach for the

Dallas Wings The Dallas Wings are an American professional basketball team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Wings compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team is owned by a group ...

(then known as the Tulsa Shock). In October, 2017 (after 4 seasons) Pettis announced her retirement from the Wings organization. On January 23, 2019 Coach Pettis returned from retirement to accept a position as Assistant Coach with the

of the WNBA. Prior to the 2020 season, Coach Pettis left coaching to focus on her

Nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

Project Roots. The purpose of Project Roots is to educate and feed the homeless through a mobile kitchen service and local community garden. Pettis has described her mission for her nonprofit organization as “My mission is to end all homelessness in Phoenix and my hometown, through the help of our community gardens programs. This is the impact I want to leave for my community and my family.”

Relationship With Skylar Diggins-Smith

Notre Dame star and 2013 3rd overall pick

Skylar Diggins-Smith Skylar Kierra Diggins (born August 2, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Diggins was drafted third overall by the Tulsa Shock in the 2013 WNBA draft. I ...

has strongly credited Pettis for being a helpful mentor throughout her WNBA career. After averaging 8.5 points and 3.8 assists as a starter in her rookie season for the Shock, Diggins-Smith was very discouraged in continuing her WNBA career and felt that going overseas would be the better option. But it was Pettis who encouraged her to stay in the league and just work harder on her game. In October 2022, Diggins-Smith announced that she was expecting her second child. This pregnancy caused her to miss the entire 2023 season and even further take time away from the league to focus on her health and her family. Initially, her time away from the league made her question whether or not she wanted to continue her WNBA career at all, due to complications of postpartum depression and weight issues. But Diggins-Smith has gone on record stating that Pettis' grace, compassion and helpful training has reignited her spark to continue her basketball career. Stating: “She pushed me...she got me back to that belief where I feel like now I feel stronger than I was before and I didn’t think that was possible. Going through postpartum stuff you just never know where you’re going to be. I can’t say enough about what Bridget means to this journey and just lighting another fire—like I’m coming for everything.".

References

External links

Bridget Pettis
– Official WNBA player profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Pettis, Bridget 1971 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American women's basketball coaches American women's basketball players Basketball coaches from Indiana Chicago Sky coaches Dallas Wings coaches Florida Gators women's basketball players Guards (basketball) Indiana Fever players Junior college women's basketball players in the United States LGBTQ basketball players LGBTQ people from Indiana American lesbian sportswomen Phoenix Mercury players Basketball players from East Chicago, Indiana Tulsa Shock coaches Phoenix Mercury draft picks

Early life

College career

Professional career

Phoenix Mercury (first stint)

Indiana Fever

Phoenix Mercury (second stint)

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

Playoffs

College

Post WNBA

Relationship With Skylar Diggins-Smith

See also

References

External links