Cappie Marie Pondexter (born January 7, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. She was born in

Oceanside, California Oceanside is a beach city in the North County (San Diego area), North County area of San Diego County, California, United States. The city had a population of 174,068 at the 2020 United States census, making it the most populous city in the Nort ...

and raised in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois. Pondexter is known for her scrappy play, quick crossovers and midrange jumpshot. In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in

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) history.

High school

While growing up in Chicago, Pondexter was a close friend of basketball star Dee Brown. Pondexter played for John Marshall Metropolitan High School in Chicago where she was named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the 2001 WBCA High School All-America Game where she scored sixteen points, and earned MVP honors.

College

Pondexter attended college at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

. She led the Scarlet Knights to a 97–22 record and back-to-back Big East Championships in 2005 and 2006. She competed in four NCAA Tournaments, including an Elite Eight appearance in 2005. During the 2005–2006 season, Rutgers compiled a 27–5 record, including a 16–0 record in Big East Conference play. Pondexter took home several awards, including the 2006 Women's Basketball News Service National Player of the year. In her career, the guard scored over 2,000 points.

Rutgers statistics

Source

WNBA career

Pondexter was selected second overall in the 2006 WNBA draft by 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 ...

. As a rookie, she was named to the western conference WNBA all star team. In 2007, alongside Diana Taurasi and Penny Taylor, Pondexter played a key role in the Mercury's championship run, and was named 2007

WNBA Finals The WNBA Finals is 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. The series is played between the win ...

Most Valuable Player after averaging 22 points per game during the hard-fought five-game series. During the

2009 WNBA season The 2009 WNBA season was the 13th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. It is the first WNBA season without a Houston franchise, the Houston Comets, Comets having folded in December 2008. The season ended with the Phoenix Mercury ...

, Pondexter became the first player in WNBA history to win three consecutive Western Conference Player of the week awards. She was also named to her third WNBA All-star team as a Western Conference reserve. At the end of the 2009 season, Pondexter helped the Mercury defeat 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 ...

3 games to 2 to win the WNBA championship, the second title for the team in three years. In March 2010, Pondexter was traded 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 ...

as part of a three-team, multiplayer deal. Pondexter indicated in interviews that she had requested the trade. In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in the fifteen-year history of the WNBA. In February 2015, Pondexter was traded to the Chicago Sky for Epiphanny Prince. In 2016, Pondexter was named in the WNBA Top 20@20, a list of the top 20 players of all-time in the WNBA in celebration of the league's twentieth anniversary. In 2018, Pondexter signed with 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 ...

. On June 28, 2018 Pondexter was released by the Sparks. On July 1, 2018, the Indiana Fever signed Pondexter to a free-agent contract. On April 16, 2019, Pondexter announced her retirement from the WNBA after 13 seasons in a post on Instagram.

Overseas career

The 2006–07 campaign marked Cappie Pondexter's first campaign in Europe. She was a major contributor to the success of the Fenerbahçe Istanbul club. When her side's quarter-final match-up against Ros Casares was tied at 67, Pondexter scored the winning basket with just seconds remaining to lift Fenerbahçe to victory. In that same game, she registered 10 assists and 4 steals. Pondexter was among the top five in scoring throughout the season. * Fenerbahçe Istanbul (2006–08) ** Turkish Championship: 2007, 2008 **Turkish Cup: 2007 **Turkish Presidents Cup: 2007, 2008 ** 2006–07 FIBA Euro All-Star

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

* UMMC Ekaterinburg (2008–12) **Russian Championship: 2009, 2010 **Russian Cup: 2009, 2010, 2011 * Fenerbahçe Istanbul (2012–14) ** Turkish Championship: 2012, 2013 **Turkish Presidents Cup: 2012, 2013 After successful two seasons at Fenerbahçe, Pondexter signed with the UMMC Ekaterinburg club in the Russian Superleague, where she played during the winters of 2008–09 and 2009–10. She signed again with Fenerbahçe Istanbul for the 2012–13, 2013–14 European seasons. In 2015, Pondexter signed with

Beşiktaş JK Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

for the 2015-16 European season. In November 2016, Pondexter signed with Girne Üniversitesi for the 2016-17 European season.

USA Basketball

On the international stage, Pondexter was a member of the USA Women's U18 team which won the gold medal at the FIBA Americas Championship in

Mar Del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Argentine Sea, Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. The event was held in July 2000, when the USA team defeated Cuba to win the championship. Pondexter averaged 6.6 points per game. Pondexter was named to the USA Women's U19 team which represented the USA in the 2001 U19 World's Championship, held in Brno, Czech Republic in July 2001. Pondexter scored 11.0 points per game, and helped the USA team to a 6–1 record and the bronze medal. Pondexter won gold medals with the USA at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

in Beijing, 2005 World University Games, 2003 FIBA World Championship for Young Women, 2002 World Championship for Young Women Qualifying Tournament and 2000 Junior World Championship Qualifying Tournament.

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

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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" , Phoenix , 32 , , 32 , , 33.4 , , .442 , , .373 , , .853 , , 3.3 , , 3.1 , , 1.2 , , 0.1 , , 1.4 , , 19.5 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

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 ...

^† , align="left" , Phoenix , 31 , , 31 , , 31.2 , , .431 , , .333 , , .815 , , 3.6 , , 4.0 , , 0.9 , , 0.3 , , 2.2 , , 17.2 , - , align="left" ,

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 ...

, align="left" , Phoenix , 32 , , 32 , , 31.3 , , .413 , , .313 , , .846 , , 3.7 , , 4.2 , , 1.2 , , 0.2 , , 2.9 , , 21.2 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

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 ...

^† , align="left" , Phoenix , 34 , , 34 , , 31.6 , , .460 , , .358 , , .881 , , 4.2 , , 5.0 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 2.5 , , 19.1 , - , align="left" ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, align="left" , New York , 34 , , 34 , , style="background:#D3D3D3", 34.3° , , .483 , , .430 , , .892 , , 4.5 , , 4.9 , , 0.9 , , 0.1 , , 2.3 , , 21.4 , - , align="left" ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, align="left" , New York , 34 , , 34 , , 33.9 , , .402 , , .345 , , .815 , , 4.1 , , 4.7 , , 1.3 , , 0.3 , , 2.7 , , 17.4 , - , align="left" ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, align="left" , New York , 34 , , 34 , , 34.2 , , .435 , , .327 , , .867 , , 4.5 , , 4.3 , , 1.3 , , 0.2 , , 3.1 , , 20.4 , - , align="left" ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, align="left" , New York , 30 , , 30 , , style="background:#D3D3D3", 34.2° , , .360 , , .369 , , .814 , , 4.5 , , 4.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.1 , , 3.4 , , 16.9 , - , align="left" ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, align="left" , New York , 34 , , 34 , , 30.8 , , .388 , , .277 , , .769 , , 3.4 , , 3.9 , , 1.0 , , 0.1 , , 2.6 , , 13.2 , - , align="left" ,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, align="left" ,

, 29 , , 29 , , 30.2 , , .439 , , .381 , , .824 , , 3.8 , , 2.1 , , 0.9 , , 0.2 , , 1.4 , , 15.1 , - , align="left" ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, align="left" ,

, 33 , , 29 , , 27.4 , , .429 , , .362 , , .882 , , 2.8 , , 2.7 , , 0.9 , , 0.0 , , 1.5, , 12.9 , - , align="left" ,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, align="left" ,

, 29 , , 15 , , 27.2 , , .367 , , .257 , , .795 , , 2.9 , , 4.3 , , 0.6 , , 0.1 , , 2.3 , , 9.6 , - , align="left" , 018, align="left" ,

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, ...

, 13 , , 0 , , 10.3 , , .349 , , .000 , , .895 , , 1.2 , , 0.8 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 3.6 , - , align="left" , 2018 , 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 ...

, 17 , , 14 , , 24.2 , , .389 , , .393 , , .846 , , 2.4 , , 2.6 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 1.4 , , 10.2 , - , align="left" ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, align="left" , Total , 30 , , 14 , , 18.2 , , .381 , , .367 , , .867 , , 1.9 , , 1.8 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.9 , , 7.3 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 13 years, 5 teams , 416 , , 382 , , 30.7 , , .422 , , .350 , , .842 , , 3.7 , , 3.8 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 2.3 , , 16.4

Postseason

, - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

^† , align="left" , Phoenix , 9 , , 9 , , 33.3 , , .463 , , .316 , , .873 , , 4.8 , , 5.8 , , 1.2 , , 0.1 , , 1.8 , , 23.9 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

^† , align="left" , Phoenix , 11 , , 11 , , 30.9 , , .463 , , .250 , , .886 , , 3.6 , , 3.5 , , 1.2 , , 0.0 , , 1.4 , , 18.2 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , New York , 5 , , 5 , , 37.2 , , .440 , , .480 , , .903 , , 4.2 , , 4.6 , , 1.2 , , 0.0 , , 1.8 , , style="background:#D3D3D3", 28.4° , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , New York , 3 , , 3 , , 34.7 , , .341 , , .214 , , 1.000 , , 5.0 , , 5.3 , , 0.3 , , 1.0 , , 2.3 , , 14.3 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , New York , 2 , , 2 , , 33.0 , , .289 , , .100 , , 1.000 , , 4.5 , , 5.0 , , 2.5 , , 0.0 , , 1.5 , , 17.0 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 3 , , 1 , , 22.5 , , .308 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 1.0 , , 1.3 , , 0.6 , , 0.0 , , 0.6 , , 6.0 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 5 , , 5 , , 28.1 , , .407 , , .200 , , 1.000 , , 1.2 , , 1.8 , , 1.4 , , 0.2 , , 2.2 , , 12.4 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 7 years, 3 teams , 38 , , 36 , , 31.7 , , .427 , , .292 , , .908 , , 4.4 , , 4.0 , , 1.2 , , 0.1 , , 1.7 , , 18.8

Awards and achievements

* 2003 Big East Rookie of the Year * 2006 Big East Player of the Year * 2009 WNBA All-Star Selection

4 Seasons Style Management

Cappie started a style management company, 4 Seasons Style Management. 4 Seasons has now rebranded and moved to Los Angeles, California. While rebranding was happening in 2014, they continued to operate out of the New York headquarters.:

Controversy

In March 2011, Pondexter drew controversy after posting comments on her Twitter account regarding the devastating

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

in Japan. Pondexter tweeted: "What if God was tired of the way they treated their own people in there own country! Idk guys he makes no mistakes." She later tweeted: "u just never knw! They did pearl harbor so u can't expect anything less." In response to the negative response to her comments, Pondexter replied: "I wanna apologize to anyone I may hurt or offended during this tragic time. I didnt realize that my words could be interpreted in the manner which they were people that knw me would tell u 1st hand im a very spiritual person and believe that everything, even disasters happen 4 a reason and that god will shouldnt be questioned. But this is a very sensistive subject at a very tragic time and I shouldnt even have given a reason for the choice of words I used. If youve lost respect for me thats totally fine but please dont let me or my words lose the respect of u the WNBA and what it stands for."

Notes

External links

Official websiteUSA Basketball BioBBALLX college and pro profilePlayer profile at ''fenerbahce.org''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pondexter, Cappie 1983 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Russia American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American women's basketball players Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Chicago Chicago Sky players Fenerbahçe women's basketball players LGBTQ basketball players LGBTQ people from California American lesbian sportswomen Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics New York Liberty players Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball Phoenix Mercury draft picks Point guards Rutgers Scarlet Knights women's basketball players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Oceanside, California Basketball players from San Diego County, California FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States Summer World University Games medalists in basketball WNBA All-Stars Medalists at the 2005 Summer Universiade Expatriate basketball people in Northern Cyprus 21st-century American sportswomen