Nikki McCray

Nikki Kesangane McCray-Penson (McCray; December 17, 1971 – July 7, 2023) was an American basketball player and coach.

While playing in the American Basketball League, she was named Most Valuable Player for the 1996–97 season.

McCray also played basketball at the international level.

She won gold medals at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics, and she participated on America's 1998 FIBA World Championship team.

She made a name for herself in women's basketball as a world class defender by shutting down a number of the world's best players.

McCray was selected as part of the initial player allocation by the Washington Mystics on January 27, 1998.

Her debut game was played on June 11, 1998 in a 57 - 83 loss to the Charlotte Sting where she recorded 19 points and 6 assists.

McCray would be a starting Guard for the Mystics in her first four seasons in the WNBA.

She played in 125 games for the Mystics in that four seasons and started in 124 of them, with averages of 15.4 points, 2.4 assists, 1.2 steals in 31.1 minutes per game.

The Mystics missed the playoffs in 1998, 1999 and 2001 but made it in 2000 with a losing record of 14 - 18 (this was possible due to the Mystics being 4th in the Eastern Conference and the top 4 teams of each conference made the postseason).

However, the team's playoff run was short lived as they were eliminated in the first round by the New York Liberty in two games.

In the second game of that playoff series, McCray was held scoreless throughout her entire 30 minutes on the floor and shot 0-3 FG.

She was named to three WNBA All-Star teams (in 1999, 2000, and 2001).

In 2000, she was named a member of the President's Fitness Council, and was also chosen for the 2000 USA Olympic basketball team.

On December 5, 2001, McCray was traded to the Indiana Fever along with a 2002 2nd round pick and a 2002 4th round pick in exchange for Angie Braziel, a 2002 1st round pick and a 2002 3rd round pick.

Her position as a starting Guard would transfer to her new team, as she started in 64 of the 66 games for Indiana in her two seasons with them.

During her first season with the team (2002), the Fever made it to the playoffs but McCrary would once again be eliminated in the first round by the Liberty (2 - 1).

Although she played in the WNBA for four more seasons, McCray would not reach the playoffs after the 2002 season.

Her second season with the Fever (although she was still a starter) saw her minutes per game drop drastically to only 21.6 minutes per game.

After the 2003 season, McCray would then play for three different teams in three years.

On April 27, 2004 she was signed to the Phoenix Mercury as a free agent.

This was McCray's first season as a reserve player and she only started in 9 of her 27 games played for Phoenix.

She averaged her highest FG % in a season at 44.8%, but she also averaged the lowest points per game of her career at that point at only 2.6 ppg.

The Mercury finished 17 - 17 and missed the playoffs.

On April 19, 2005 she signed with the San Antonio Silver Stars.

On the Silver Stars, McCray averaged her lowest FG% in a season and an even lower points per game than the prior season (24.2% FG and 1.7 ppg).

The Silver Stars would finish the 2005 season with their lowest record in franchise history at 7-27 (a record they would later tie in the 2016 season and it still stands as their lowest record ever).

McCray signed with the Chicago Sky on April 21, 2006.

Coincidentally, the Sky would also have their worst season in franchise history, as they finished the 2006 season at 5-29.

McCray only played in the team's first 11 games of the season (averaging 2 ppg) and missed the final 23 games.

In the 11 games that McCray played, the Sky held a 1 - 10 record.

The 11th game that McCray played during the 2006 season ended up being her final WNBA game ever.

That game was played on June 21, 2006 and the Sky were defeated by the Fever 55 - 77 with McCray recording 1 steal and 2 rebounds.

McCray was an assistant coach at University of South Carolina.

She made a new home for herself at the University of South Carolina with a former teammate as head coach, Dawn Staley.

In 2008 after leaving the WNBA, McCray joined the coaching staff as an assistant coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks.

McCray-Penson was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.

A 5 ft guard from the University of Tennessee, McCray was a star in the now-defunct American Basketball League.

She was the head coach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs women's basketball team from 2020 to 2021 and a professional basketball player from 1996 to 2006.

She played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for eight seasons.