Ivory Latta (born September 25, 1984) is an American former 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. She was drafted 11th overall by the

Detroit Shock The Detroit Shock were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006, and 2008 WNBA champions. Debuting in 1998, the Shock were one of the league's first expansion franchises. Th ...

in the 2007 WNBA Draft. A guard noted for her three-point shooting and on-court enthusiasm, she played college basketball for the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels (also Carolina Tar Heels) are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to ...

. She is the all-time leading scorer in South Carolina high school basketball history (men's and women's) with a total of 4,319 career points.

Early life

Born in

McConnells, South Carolina McConnells is a town in York County, South Carolina, York County, South Carolina, United States and a suburb of York, South Carolina, York. The population was 255 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 census. History The Bethesda Presbyterian C ...

, Latta played for York Comprehensive High School in York, South Carolina, where she was named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the 2003 WBCA High School All-America Game where she scored seventeen points, and earned MVP honors.

College career

Latta was named the 2006 Player of the Year by

ESPN.com ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc. History Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including ...

, USBWA, GballMag.com and Basketball Times National Player of the Year, Nancy Lieberman Award Winner as Point Guard of the Year (2006), Consensus All-American (2006), ACC Player of the Year (2006), ACC Tournament MVP (2005), WBCA National Player for the Month of March (2005), All-ACC First Team (2007, 2005), AP All-American Third Team (2005), ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year (2004), All-ACC Second Team (2004), All-ACC Freshmen Team (2004). Latta averaged 14.0 points per game as a freshman, 16.2 as a senior, and 16.6 for her career at North Carolina.

College statistics

Source

Professional career

Latta was drafted by the

with the 11th pick in the

2007 WNBA draft The 2007 WNBA draft was the league's annual process for determining which teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. A lottery was held on October 26, 2006, among the teams with the worst records in the previous se ...

. She averaged 3.0 points per game as a rookie, and had the second-best 3-point field goal percentage in the WNBA for the 2007 regular season. Latta appeared in her first WNBA Finals during her rookie season with the Shock, where they lost in 5 games 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 ...

. On February 6, 2008, Latta was traded to the

Atlanta Dream The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Dream compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded for the ...

for the Dream's 2008 second round pick and LaToya Thomas. She played for Ceyhan in Turkey during the 2008–09 WNBA off-season. She was originally released by the Atlanta Dream at the start of the 2009 WNBA season, but then signed on July 3, 2009, after the Dream released

Nikki Teasley Nikki Teasley (born March 22, 1979) is a former American basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Born in Washington, D.C., she played college basketball at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In the ...

instead. Latta played for the

Tulsa Shock The Tulsa Shock were a professional basketball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded in Detroit, Michigan before the 1998 WNBA season began; ...

from 2010 to 2012, and joined the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was ...

in 2013. In 2013, she was selected to the

WNBA All-Star Game The Women's National Basketball Association All-Star Game, commonly referred to as the WNBA All-Star Game, is an annual exhibition basketball game played in the United States between the best players of the Western and Eastern Conference of ...

for the first time. In 2014, Latta was selected as an all-star replacement for the injured

Elena Delle Donne Elena Delle Donne (born September 5, 1989) is an American former professional basketball player for 10 seasons as a member of the Washington Mystics and Chicago Sky. Delle Donne played college basketball for the Delaware Blue Hens from 2009 to ...

, making it her second all-star game appearance. In July 2016, Latta suffered a left knee injury during practice at the Verizon Center that would sideline her for the rest of the season after playing 22 games. In 2017, Latta was healthy and played all 34 games. The Mystics advanced past the second round for the first time in franchise history, but were swept by 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 ...

in the semi-finals.

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

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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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Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

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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 ...

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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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, 24 , , 0 , , 14.6 , , .409 , , .360 , , .826 , , 0.7 , , 1.4 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 6.1 , - , style="text-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 ...

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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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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 ...

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, 24 , , 24 , , 28.5 , , .414 , , .351 , , .830 , , 2.0 , , 3.2 , , 1.2 , , 0.0 , , 2.8 , , 12.2 , - , style="text-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 ...

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, 34 , , 18 , , 28.3 , , .430 , , .390 , , .840 , , 2.2 , , 3.3 , , 0.9 , , 0.0 , , 2.1 , , 14.3 , - , style="text-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 ...

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Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

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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 ...

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, 34 , , 33 , , 31.7 , , .395 , , .377 , , .833 , , 2.4 , , 3.3 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 1.9 , , 12.8 , - , style="text-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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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Playoffs

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European career

*2007–2008: Elitzur Holon *2008–2009:

Ceyhan Belediyesi Ceyhan () is a municipality and district of Adana Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,426 km2, and its population is 158,922 (2022). It is the most populous district of the province, outside the city of Adana. Ceyhan is the transportation hub for ...

*2009–2010:

Mersin BŞB Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates, each having its own municipality: Akdeniz, Mez ...

*2010–2011: Maccabi Ramat Hen *2011–2012: Tarsus Belediye *2013: Maccabi Ramat Hen *2015–2016:

Edirne Belediyesi Edirnespor Edirne (; ), historically known as Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second capital city of the Ottoman ...

Personal life

On January 9, 2003, a resolution was read on the floor of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

by U.S. Representative

John Spratt John McKee Spratt Jr. (November 1, 1942 – December 14, 2024) was an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 1983 to 2011. The 5th Congressional District covers all or part of 14 counties in north-central South Carolina. Th ...

honoring Latta. She would also receive the key to the city of

York, South Carolina York is a city in and the county seat of York County, South Carolina, United States. The population was approximately 6,985 at the 2000 census and up to 7,736 at the 2010 census. York is located approximately southwest of Charlotte, North Ca ...

(where she attended high school and Spratt's hometown), which celebrated Ivory Latta Day on January 10, 2003. Latta's father and paternal grandmother both live with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

and she has been very outspoken about how her father's diagnosis impacted her. As a result, Latta serves as an ambassador for the

Parkinson's Disease Foundation The Parkinson's Foundation is a national organization that funds research and provides educational resources to Parkinson's disease patients and caregivers. The Parkinson's Foundation was established in 2016 through the merger of the National Par ...

(PDF). In this role, she is involved with fundraising campaigns for PDF and generating awareness about Parkinson's disease, and enlists other professional athletes to support the cause. Latta's friendships with

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

superstar

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. ( ; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and ...

and actor/rapper Chris "

Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, spoken as "ludicrous" in American English), is an American rapper and songwriter. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at age ...

" Bridges have been well documented.

Awards and honors

* 2006 –

Nancy Lieberman Award The Nancy Lieberman Award, named for Basketball Hall of Fame legend Nancy Lieberman is given to the nation's top collegiate point guard in women's Division I basketball. Sue Bird won the inaugural award in 2000, making her the first of only thre ...

Notes

External links

WNBA profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latta, Ivory 1984 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American women's basketball coaches American women's basketball players Atlanta Dream players Basketball players from South Carolina Detroit Shock players McDonald's High School All-Americans Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi women's basketball players North Carolina Tar Heels women's basketball coaches North Carolina Tar Heels women's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) People from York County, South Carolina Point guards Tulsa Shock players Washington Mystics players WNBA All-Stars 21st-century African-American sportswomen 21st-century American sportswomen 20th-century African-American sportswomen 20th-century American sportswomen