Lindsey Marcie Harding (born June 12, 1984) is an American 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 ...

coach and former player. She is an assistant coach for the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

of the

National Basketball Association 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 ...

(NBA). Throughout her playing career, Harding 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

of 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) and has played overseas in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. She was previously a scout and a player development coach for the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

. She was born in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

, but grew up in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and also holds a Belarusian passport.

College career

Harding had a standout career at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

. As a freshman in 2002–2003 she was named to the All-ACC Freshman Team, averaging 6.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.8 steals and had an ACC-best 2.1 assist/turnover ratio. As a sophomore in 2003–04 she averaged 7.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 2.0 steals and had an ACC-best 2.2 assist/turnover ratio. Harding was redshirted for the 2004–05 season because of violation of team rules. She returned as a junior for 2005–2006 and was an Honorable Mention Kodak and Associated Press All-America, ACC Defensive Player of the Year. She averaged 10.7 points, 4.5 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 2.1 steals as a junior. Harding finished her college career with 1,298 points, 25 blocks, 579 assists, 296 steals and 565 rebounds in 128 games (school record). She was only the sixth player in ACC history to register 1,000 points, 500 assists, 500 rebounds and 250 steals. Despite her tremendous career numbers, contributions and a 32–2 record, she left Duke without winning an NCAA championship. Harding's senior season at Duke ended with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights' upset of the Blue Devils in the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA tournament, a one-point upset sealed by Harding's missing two free throws with 0.1 seconds remaining in the game. Following her senior season, Harding entered 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 ...

. On January 20, 2008, Harding was honored by having her jersey number (10) retired, becoming only the second Duke women's basketball player after former teammate

Alana Beard Alana Monique Beard (born May 14, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. After playing college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils, she was drafted second overall by the Washington Mystics in the 2004 WNBA draft. She signed ...

to be bestowed that honor. Some have questioned whether Duke should have bestowed such an honor, given the undisclosed reasons behind her redshirt year. In addition, on December 18, 2007, her jersey No. 12 was retired by Cy-Fair High School.

College statistics

College awards

* 2003 ACC All-Rookie team * 2006 Duke Classic MVP * 2006, 2007 ACC Defensive Player of the Year * 2007 Naismith National Player of the Year * 2007 WBCA National Defensive Player * 2007 ESPN.com National Player of the Year * 2007 Nancy Lieberman Award * 2007

Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award The Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award was an annual college basketball award in the United States intended to honor players who excelled on the court in spite of their height. The award, named in honor of James Naismith's daughter-in-law, was establi ...

* 2007 USBWA All-American * 2007 John R. Wooden Award All-American * 2007 Associated Press First Team All-American * 2007 ACC Player of the Year * 2007 All ACC First Team * 2007 Duke Offensive Player of the Year * 2007 Duke Practice Player of the Year * 2007 Duke Heart and Hustle Award

Professional career

WNBA

Harding was drafted first overall in the

by the

and was traded to the

for forward Tangela Smith the same day. During the 2007 season, Harding was leading all rookies in scoring before a knee injury ended her season on July 10. She was named to the

WNBA All-Rookie Team The WNBA All-Rookie Team is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) honor given since the 2005 WNBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the WNBA head coaches, who are not allowed to vote f ...

by the end of the season and finished with averages of 11.7 points and 3.9 assists per game. On January 30, 2009, Harding was traded to the

for the first and second round picks in the 2009 WNBA draft. She had a stellar season with the Mystics, averaging a career-high 12.8 points and 4.6 assists per game. In her second season with the Mystics, Harding scored a career-high 33 points against 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 ...

. On April 11, 2011, Harding was traded to the

along with the 2012 2nd round draft pick in exchange for Ta'Shia Phillips, Kelly Miller, and the Dream's 2012 1st round draft pick. In her first season with the Dream, Harding was the starting point guard on the team's roster. Along with Izi Castro Marques, Érika de Souza, Sancho Lyttle and Angel McCoughtry, the Dream were a championship contender in the league. Harding experienced her first WNBA Finals appearance with the team as they had advanced all the way to the WNBA Finals for the second year in a row, but lost to her former team, the Minnesota Lynx in a 3-game sweep. On February 5, 2013, Harding signed with the

. In her first season with the Sparks, Harding was ranked 5th in assists with a career-high 5.2 assists per game. On August 4, 2013, Harding had 11 points along with a career-high 14 assists in a regular season victory against her other former team, the Washington Mystics. Despite being an effective distributor on a talented team, the Sparks were nowhere near championship contention as they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. In 2015, the Sparks waived Harding after two seasons with the team. On April 18, 2016, Harding signed with the

. She was waived on June 15, after appearing in five games with the Liberty. On June 24, 2016, Harding signed with the

. She was brought in to back up All-Star point guard

Diana Taurasi Diana Lorena Taurasi (born June 11, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for 20 seasons, spending her entire career with the Phoenix Mercury. Taurasi is widely ...

, and coach Sandy Brondello, who worked with Harding while she was with the Sparks, felt that she fit the position. Harding appeared in 21 regular season games and then 5 playoff games while helping the Mercury advance all the way to the league semifinals. Following the team's elimination by the Minnesota Lynx, Harding announced her retirement from the WNBA after playing 9 seasons in the league.

Overseas

In the 2008-09 off-season, Harding played for Mersin BSB. S.K. in Turkey. In the 2009-10 off-season, Harding played in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

for VICI Aistes Kaunas. In the 2012-13 off-season, Harding played in

for

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

. In the 2014-15 off-season, Harding played for Edirne Belediyesi in Turkey. In the 2015-16 off-season, Harding played for Dynamo Kursk in

for the first portion and spent the rest of the off-season playing for Yakin Dogu in Turkey. Following her retirement from the WNBA, Harding signed with Beşiktaş J.K. for the 2016-17 off-season.

National team career

USA Basketball

Harding was twice part of the long list for the

United States women's national basketball team The USA Basketball Women's National Team, commonly known as Team USA, is governed by USA Basketball and competes in FIBA Americas. The team is by far the most successful in international women's basketball, having won 10 out of the 12 Olympic to ...

, but missed out on both the

2010 FIBA World Championship The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the List of men's national basketball teams, men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 Septem ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, and the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London. She is the first Naismith winner since Kate Starbird to not have played for Team USA.

Belarus

In 2015, Harding was invited to play for the Belarus women's national basketball team, who needed more point guards. She was approved to the EuroBasket Women 2015 roster after getting a

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

ian passport, and helped the team finish the tournament in fourth. This led to Harding playing for Belarus in the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women, that could get her an Olympic spot. With Harding as its leading scorer, Belarus won the fifth and final place for the 2016 Olympic tournament. Harding was listed for the Belarusian roster, though she missed part of the preparation while solving her WNBA commitments.

Coaching career

NBA and G League

Harding was a player development coach and scout with the

during the 2018–19 season. Between 2019 and 2023, Harding spent four seasons with the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

as an assistant coach/player development coach. She was a full-time assistant in the 2022–23 season. On June 20, 2023, Harding was named head coach of the

Stockton Kings The Stockton Kings are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Stockton, California, and are affiliated with the Sacramento Kings. The Kings play their home games at the Adventist Health Arena and compete in the G ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

. She led the team to the best record in the 2023–24 season, going 24–10 overall and clinching the No. 1 overall seed in the Western Conference. She was subsequently named the NBA G League Coach of the Year, becoming the first head coach in Stockton Kings history to win the award and made history as the first-ever woman to receive the recognition. In July 2024, Harding was named an assistant coach of the

National team

In 2021, Harding was named the inaugural head coach of the South Sudan women's national basketball team. As of June 2023, Harding was head coach of the

Mexico women's national basketball team The Mexico women's national basketball team, is controlled by the Asociación Deportiva Mexicana de Baloncesto ''ADEMEBA'' Mexican Basketball Association and represents Mexico in international competitions. Honours Pan American Games Silver Med ...

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , 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 ...

, align="left" ,

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 ...

, 20 , , 20 , , 30.1 , , .354 , , .229 , , .679 , , 4.4 , , 3.9 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 2.3 , , 11.7 , - , 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" ,

, 24 , , 11 , , 24.6 , , .367 , , .080 , , .694 , , 2.3 , , 3.2 , , 1.1 , , 0.1 , , 2.2 , , 6.4 , - , 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 ...

, align="left" ,

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 ...

, 34 , , 34 , , 35.1 , , .435 , , .323 , , .748 , , 4.0 , , 4.5 , , 1.2 , , 0.3 , , 2.9 , , 12.8 , - , 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" ,

, 34 , , 34 , , 33.2 , , .445 , , .288 , , .766 , , 3.0 , , 4.0 , , 1.3 , , 0.1 , , 2.7 , , 12.1 , - , 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" ,

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 , , 30.5 , , .455 , , .303 , , .733 , , 3.2 , , 4.8 , , 1.0 , , 0.1 , , 2.3 , , 10.5 , - , 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" ,

, 34 , , 32 , , 30.6 , , .425 , , .241 , , .818 , , 2.8 , , 4.5 , , 1.3 , , 0.2 , , 2.0 , , 12.3 , - , 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" ,

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, ...

, 33 , , 33 , , 30.6 , , .441 , , .182 , , .759 , , 2.7 , , 5.2 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 2.4 , , 10.9 , - , 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" ,

, 31 , , 10 , , 22.7 , , .333 , , .227 , , .786 , , 1.8 , , 3.2 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.4 , , 5.7 , - , 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" ,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, 5 , , 3 , , 22.9 , , .320 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 2.8 , , 3.6 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 1.2 , , 3.6 , - , align="left" ,

* , align="left" , Phoenix , 21 , , 0 , , 15.6 , , .370 , , .400 , , .870 , , 1.7 , , 2.1 , , 0.5 , , 0.1 , , 0.9 , , 3.9 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 9 years, 6 teams , 270 , , 210 , , 28.7 , , .414 , , .252 , , .755 , , 2.9 , , 4.0 , , 1.1 , , 0.2 , , 2.2 , , 9.8

Postseason

, - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 2 , , 2 , , style="background:#D3D3D3", 40.5° , , .385 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 2.5 , , 4.0 , , 1.5 , , 0.0 , , 5.0 , , 10.5 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 2 , , 2 , , 33.5 , , .219 , , .400 , , .625 , , 2.5 , , 3.0 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 3.0 , , 10.5 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 8 , , 8 , , style="background:#D3D3D3", 37.8° , , .391 , , .250 , , .743 , , 3.0 , , style="background:#D3D3D3", 5.9° , , 1.8 , , 0.2 , , 1.6 , , 14.5 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 3 , , 3 , , style="background:#D3D3D3", 38.0° , , .426 , , .250 , , .889 , , 4.7 , , 5.3 , , 2.6 , , 0.3 , , 3.6 , , 19.0 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 3 , , 3 , , 32.9 , , .333 , , .000 , , .765 , , 3.0 , , 3.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 2.3 , , 11.7 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 2 , , 0 , , 9.8 , , .500 , , .000 , , .667 , , 0.5 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 4.0 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , Phoenix , 5 , , 0 , , 9.1 , , .462 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.4 , , 1.4 , , 0.0 , , 0.2 , , 1.0, , 2.4 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 7 years, 4 teams , 25 , , 18 , , 29.1 , , .376 , , .214 , , .733 , , 2.4 , , 3.9 , , 1.3 , , 0.2 , , 2.1 , , 10.8

References

External links

*
WNBA Chat Transcript
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Lindsey 1984 births Living people Belarusian women's basketball players 21st-century Belarusian sportswomen American women's basketball players American emigrants to Belarus All-American college women's basketball players Atlanta Dream players Basketball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Duke Blue Devils women's basketball players Galatasaray S.K. (women's basketball) players Los Angeles Sparks players Minnesota Lynx players New York Liberty players Olympic basketball players for Belarus Philadelphia 76ers scouts Phoenix Mercury draft picks Phoenix Mercury players Point guards Basketball players from Houston Basketball players from Mobile, Alabama Washington Mystics players First overall WNBA draft picks Naturalised basketball players 21st-century American sportswomen