Sue Wicks: Excited to share basketball with Pinoys
“You have to give 100 percent and you have to give your whole heart,” says basketball Hall of Famer Sue Wicks.
Sue Wicks is not just a WNBA legend, she’s a basketball Hall of Famer!
So, when she says something, everyone listens.
A graduate of Rutgers University, 1984-1988, she’s got impressive numbers as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,655 points and rebounder with 1,357 boards. She played internationally in Italy, Japan, Spain, Israel, Turkey, Hungary, and France, then in the WNBA with the New York Liberty leading them to four Finals appearances.
She was recently in the country as part of the JR. NBA program to help develop the country’s promising players.
PHILIPPINE STAR: What do you expect from your trip here?
SUE WICKS: I’m just excited to be back, I was here eight years ago and it was a fantastic trip. Excited to share basketball with people who love basketball and have a passion for it. I’m excited to meet the young players from all over the Philippines, the highest and who’ve earned this trip to come here and to see how they played. I’m just especially excited to see the top girl players. Last time, it was 80-percent boys, but now somehow 50/50.
The women’s game has grown all around the world, you must be happy about that?
Of course, we should have it, right? It’s so positive for kids to play sport, it’s not about being professional, it’s about keeping yourself healthy, working on a team, determination, sacrifice, hard work, and setting goals as a team. Those different things also give self-respect, self- worth, to see yourself as a physically strong body and a really positive image for a lot of girls that I think suffer from image about their bodies and who they are.
What would you say was the turning point as far as women’s sport is concerned, especially basketball?
I think it’ s just giving it opportunity, keep putting opportunity out there, I think a lot of guys working on girls, encouraging them and thinking it’s fantastic what they’re doing and then a lot of women encouraging them and being there and just a new generation of girls are a little bit more of “hey, I can do this,” it’s confidence, that is beautiful to watch.
You were not just able to play and excel in the sport, you also made the Hall of Fame. How special is that?
I don’t really know. I always think that when the young players do this, all you have to do is finish today, finish this practice. Give it 100 percent, go and you advance those days together, you’re gonna have a professional career or be in the Hall of Fame. You just achieved to be the best player you can be. So, I think that’s always my advice to give them, your biggest day, the most competitive important game for you is not the NBA Finals, it is the game you’re playing in today. This is your big game, so always look at it that way, moving one step at a time.
With the foundation in place by people like you, it should be easy for them, technically speaking?
It’s never easy! Cause it’s hard work, determination, even if you can see how they get to a place, there’s a trail. Whatever it is, becoming a doctor, becoming a lawyer, any profession requires a lot of hard work and dedication and focus. You have to work day in and day out, and you have to give 100 percent and you have to give your whole heart.
Do you want to keep helping kids learn and grow in the sport of basketball?
I think I always wanted to talk about basketball, but I also wanted to talk about human potential and finding what you love, and sometimes it takes a little bit of searching. When I was young, basketball wasn’t that popular so it took a little bit of work. I was already 15 years old before I was really playing basketball because it took me long to find it. But once I found it, oh my gosh, I loved it.! There’s something I love and I feel like I do well at it. So it took me a lot of searching, so we encourage the girls to try a lot of things. Go out there and find things, and don’t worry about if it’s popular or not. All you have to do is love something and that is what you go after.
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