Betty Lennox
Encyclopedia
Betty Bernice Lennox is an American professional basketball player most recently playing for the Tulsa Shock in the WNBA. Her nicknames include "Betty Basketball," "Betty Big Buckets," and her most popular nickname "B-Money."
in Independence, Missouri
, under the coaching of Dale Williams. Betty played her sophomore year at Grant High School in Grant, OK. She originally learned the six-player game of basketball while in Oklahoma. She struggled when her family moved to Missouri, as she was not used to crossing over the center line to be a defensive player, as she had only been an offensive player while in Oklahoma.
in Athens, Texas
for her sophomore year. Trinity Valley was actually her second community college, as she originally enrolled at Butler Community College
, but they did not have a very good basketball program, so she would transfer to Trinity Valley CC after her 1996 freshman year. Her Cardinals Trinity Valley CC team won the 1997 NJCAA Women's Basketball Championship
, an accomplishment she is most proud of. She was the MVP of the tournament, and finished the championship game with 27 points and 20 rebounds. Lennox then transferred to Louisiana Tech University
, and graduated from there in 2000 with a BA in Psychology. She actually took a year off from basketball while at LA Tech in 1998 to devote herself to her studies in order to complete her degree. She would play basketball for LA Tech for her final two years of college in 1999 & 2000. She was named the 2000 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and a U.S. Basketball Writers Association First Team All-American while at Louisiana Tech University
.
as the sixth overall pick in the 2000 WNBA Draft
and later became the WNBA's Rookie of the Year
in 2000. She was also the first Rookie to ever play in the 2000 WNBA All-Star Game
that same year. She also made the All-WNBA 2nd Team in 2000 as well. She broke her hip in 2001, and was originally told that her basketball career would be over after the injury. With the work ethic she learned as a child, she fought back from her injury to come back and continues to thrive as a player.
On June 13, 2002, the Minnesota Lynx
traded Lennox along with a 2003 first-round draft pick to the Miami Sol
in exchange for Tamara Moore
and a 2003 second-round draft pick. After the 2002 season ended, the Miami Sol
folded, and Lennox was selected by the Cleveland Rockers
in the 2003 WNBA Dispersal draft
. When the Rockers folded after the 2003 season ended, Lennox went through another Dispersal Draft before the 2004 season. This time, she was selected by the Seattle Storm
. The Seattle Storm would reach the WNBA quarterfinals with Lennox for both the 2005 and 2006 seasons.
Lennox led the Seattle Storm
to the 2004 WNBA Championship against the Connecticut Sun
. She was named the Finals
Most Valuable Player, and averaged 22.3 points during the Storm's championship run en route to winning the award. In 2005 with the Seattle Storm she hit her 200th career three-pointer.
On February 6, 2008, Lennox was selected by the Atlanta Dream
in the expansion draft. She would play the entire season for the Atlanta Dream
, averaging 17.5 points per game. She was the Eastern Conference leading point scorer for the 2008 season. She reached the 3,000 point and 1,000 rebound milestones in the 2008 season as well.
She was acquired by the Los Angeles Sparks
for the 2009 season as an unrestricted free agent, where she helped lead them to the Western Conference finals in her tenth season with the WNBA. During the 2010 season a left knee injury would sideline her while playing with the Sparks for the remainder of the season after playing only 11 games.
Betty was signed by the Tulsa Shock for the 2011 season.
She comes from a deeply religious background, and has a bible verse inscribed on the toes of her shoes (Philippians 4:13) which she says is the scripture that tells all that she has become today.
Childhood
Betty grew up in the small town of Grant, OK. Daughter of Bernice Jefferies and A. B. Lennox, and was raised by her mother primarily. She was the eighth of nine children and the youngest daughter in the family. She has five brothers, named Freddy, Karl, A. B., Alfred, and Charles. She also has three sisters named Lela, Ruby, and Victoria, all of them older than she is. She learned to play basketball with her four older brothers and one younger, who did not cut her any slack because she was a girl. She would learn to not be intimated by others while playing with her brothers as a child. She also developed her work ethic from growing up on a farm with her family. She was loading bales by age ten, each bale weighing 30 to 40 pounds, and did many daily chores while in primary school in Grant. Her full name is Betty Bernice Lennox, getting her middle name from her mother.High school career
Betty spent three years attending Fort Osage High SchoolFort Osage High School
Fort Osage Senior High School is a high school located at 2101 N. Twyman Rd. in Independence, Missouri, belonging to the Fort Osage R-1 School District. It currently serves approximately 1,500 students from grades 9-12...
in Independence, Missouri
Independence, Missouri
Independence is the fourth largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri, and is contained within the counties of Jackson and Clay. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area...
, under the coaching of Dale Williams. Betty played her sophomore year at Grant High School in Grant, OK. She originally learned the six-player game of basketball while in Oklahoma. She struggled when her family moved to Missouri, as she was not used to crossing over the center line to be a defensive player, as she had only been an offensive player while in Oklahoma.
College years
Lennox played college basketball at Trinity Valley Community CollegeTrinity Valley Community College
Trinity Valley Community College is a community college in the state of Texas.TVCC operates four campuses serving the Texas counties of Anderson, Henderson, and Kaufman, southeast of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex:...
in Athens, Texas
Athens, Texas
Athens is a city in Henderson County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,710. It is the county seat of Henderson County. According to the Texas Legislature, Athens is the "Original Home of the Hamburger"...
for her sophomore year. Trinity Valley was actually her second community college, as she originally enrolled at Butler Community College
Butler Community College
Butler Community College is an accredited 2-year community college located in El Dorado, Kansas, United States. Founded in 1927, it was originally named Butler County Community College, as El Dorado is the Butler County seat, but it was renamed in recent years.- Statistics :Butler is a fairly...
, but they did not have a very good basketball program, so she would transfer to Trinity Valley CC after her 1996 freshman year. Her Cardinals Trinity Valley CC team won the 1997 NJCAA Women's Basketball Championship
NJCAA Women's Basketball Championship
-1975-1991:*NOTE: From 1975 to 1991, the NJCAA had only one class for women's basketball-Division I:-Division II:-Division III:-See also:*NJCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship*NJCAA Men's Division II Basketball Championship...
, an accomplishment she is most proud of. She was the MVP of the tournament, and finished the championship game with 27 points and 20 rebounds. Lennox then transferred to Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University, often referred to as Louisiana Tech, LA Tech, or Tech, is a coeducational public research university located in Ruston, Louisiana. Louisiana Tech is designated as a Tier 1 school in the national universities category by the 2012 U.S. News & World Report college rankings...
, and graduated from there in 2000 with a BA in Psychology. She actually took a year off from basketball while at LA Tech in 1998 to devote herself to her studies in order to complete her degree. She would play basketball for LA Tech for her final two years of college in 1999 & 2000. She was named the 2000 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and a U.S. Basketball Writers Association First Team All-American while at Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University, often referred to as Louisiana Tech, LA Tech, or Tech, is a coeducational public research university located in Ruston, Louisiana. Louisiana Tech is designated as a Tier 1 school in the national universities category by the 2012 U.S. News & World Report college rankings...
.
WNBA career
Lennox was selected by the Minnesota LynxMinnesota Lynx
The Minnesota Lynx are a professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded prior to the 1999 season...
as the sixth overall pick in the 2000 WNBA Draft
WNBA Draft
The WNBA Draft is an annual draft held by the WNBA through which WNBA teams can select new players from a talent pool of college and professional women's basketball players. The first WNBA draft was held in 1997...
and later became the WNBA's Rookie of the Year
Rookie of the Year
The Rookie of the Year award is given by a number of sports leagues, mainly in North America, to the top first-time professional athlete of a season. -Principal sports making award:...
in 2000. She was also the first Rookie to ever play in the 2000 WNBA All-Star Game
2000 WNBA All-Star Game
The 2000 WNBA All-Star Game was played on July 17, 2000 at America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. This was the 2nd annual WNBA All-Star Game.-Rosters:*1 Injured*2 Starting in place of injured player-Coaches:...
that same year. She also made the All-WNBA 2nd Team in 2000 as well. She broke her hip in 2001, and was originally told that her basketball career would be over after the injury. With the work ethic she learned as a child, she fought back from her injury to come back and continues to thrive as a player.
On June 13, 2002, the Minnesota Lynx
Minnesota Lynx
The Minnesota Lynx are a professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded prior to the 1999 season...
traded Lennox along with a 2003 first-round draft pick to the Miami Sol
Miami Sol
The Miami Sol was a women's basketball team which joined the Women's National Basketball Association in 2000. They played their games at American Airlines Arena. The team folded after the 2002 season because of financial problems...
in exchange for Tamara Moore
Tamara Moore
Tamara Tenell Moore is a professional basketball player in the WNBA, currently playing for the Houston Comets....
and a 2003 second-round draft pick. After the 2002 season ended, the Miami Sol
Miami Sol
The Miami Sol was a women's basketball team which joined the Women's National Basketball Association in 2000. They played their games at American Airlines Arena. The team folded after the 2002 season because of financial problems...
folded, and Lennox was selected by the Cleveland Rockers
Cleveland Rockers
This article is about the defunct WNBA team; for the American Basketball Association team, see Cleveland Rockers .The Cleveland Rockers were a Women's National Basketball Association team that played from 1997 until 2003. The Rockers were one of the original eight franchises of the WNBA, which...
in the 2003 WNBA Dispersal draft
Dispersal draft
A dispersal draft is a process in professional sports for assigning players to a new team when their current team goes out of business, consolidates with another team, or for some other reason ceases to exist. Since most sports drafts are held in North America, this is where most dispersal drafts...
. When the Rockers folded after the 2003 season ended, Lennox went through another Dispersal Draft before the 2004 season. This time, she was selected by the Seattle Storm
Seattle Storm
The Seattle Storm is a professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the 2000 season began...
. The Seattle Storm would reach the WNBA quarterfinals with Lennox for both the 2005 and 2006 seasons.
Lennox led the Seattle Storm
Seattle Storm
The Seattle Storm is a professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the 2000 season began...
to the 2004 WNBA Championship against the Connecticut Sun
Connecticut Sun
The Connecticut Sun is a professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded in Orlando, Florida before the 1999 season began; the team moved to Connecticut before the 2003 season...
. She was named the Finals
WNBA Finals
The WNBA Finals is the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association and the conclusion of the sport's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002....
Most Valuable Player, and averaged 22.3 points during the Storm's championship run en route to winning the award. In 2005 with the Seattle Storm she hit her 200th career three-pointer.
On February 6, 2008, Lennox was selected by the Atlanta Dream
Atlanta Dream
The Atlanta Dream is a professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the 2008 WNBA season began. The team is owned by Dream Too LLC, which is composed of two Atlanta...
in the expansion draft. She would play the entire season for the Atlanta Dream
Atlanta Dream
The Atlanta Dream is a professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the 2008 WNBA season began. The team is owned by Dream Too LLC, which is composed of two Atlanta...
, averaging 17.5 points per game. She was the Eastern Conference leading point scorer for the 2008 season. She reached the 3,000 point and 1,000 rebound milestones in the 2008 season as well.
She was acquired by the Los Angeles Sparks
Los Angeles Sparks
The Los Angeles Sparks is a professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season began...
for the 2009 season as an unrestricted free agent, where she helped lead them to the Western Conference finals in her tenth season with the WNBA. During the 2010 season a left knee injury would sideline her while playing with the Sparks for the remainder of the season after playing only 11 games.
Betty was signed by the Tulsa Shock for the 2011 season.
International career
She has been known to play internationally during the off season with the WNBA, playing for many teams throughout the world. She played in Turkey in 2010 for Tarsus Belediyes. She played for Nadezhda in Russia in 2008 & 2009 WNBA off-seasons. Earlier teams have included Coconuda Maddaloni in Italy for 2004–2005. She was in Poland with Lotos Gdynia in 2006–2007. She had been with K. V. Imperial EKA AEL Limassol in Greece during 2007–2008. While in Poland in 2007 her team was the regular season runner-up, and a finalist. In Cyprus 2007–2008 her team was the regular season champion in 2007 and as well as championship winners, and Cyprus Cup Winner in 2008. She was also Eurobasket.com's All-Russian superleague Honorable Mention in 2009. Additional teams and countries have included Israel for the 2000–2001 off-season for Elitzur Cellcom Holon. She also played for Beijing in China during 2005–2006.Personal life
Lennox started the Lennox Foundation 22 in 2005 to support children that were victims of neglect and abuse. The organization’s mission is to give these children better experiences and the chance to succeed with support, education, and love. They learn self-motivation through playing basketball. She was presented with the WNBA’s Community Assist Award in June 2006 for her charitable work.She comes from a deeply religious background, and has a bible verse inscribed on the toes of her shoes (Philippians 4:13) which she says is the scripture that tells all that she has become today.
Vital statistics
- Position: Guard/Forward
- Height: 5 in 8 in (1.73 m)
- College: Louisiana Tech
- Current Team: Tulsa Shock