Kamila Vodičková is a Czech

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

 women's basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 player. She currently plays for the North American WNBA's Phoenix Mercury

Phoenix Mercury

The Phoenix Mercury is a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season began; it is one of the eight original franchises...

. She represented Czechoslovakia at the 1992 Summer Olympics

Basketball at the 1992 Summer Olympics

The Basketball games of the 1992 Summer Olympics were played at the Pavelló Olímpic de Badalona. 12 men's teams and 8 women's teams participated in the tournament....

.

WNBA career

The Storm made her the first draft choice of the franchise, a move that caused Vodičková some initial concern. However, after being quickly embraced by the Seattle fans, the redubbed "Vodka" became the centerpiece of the offense, with Edna Campbell

Edna Campbell

Edna Campbell is a retired women's basketball player who played in the Women's National Basketball Association . The 5' 8" guard was a star player for the Sacramento Monarchs and has also played for three other teams, but is well known for continuing to play despite suffering breast cancer...

 as the outside threat. The team did not improve from its initial poor showings until Vodičková got a running mate inside, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n Lauren Jackson

Lauren Jackson

Lauren Elizabeth Jackson is an Australian professional basketball player. Jackson began her professional career at the Australian Institute of Sport in the WNBL before moving on to the Canberra Capitals. She is currently a forward/centre with the Seattle Storm of the WNBA and the Australian...

.

In the 2004 season, Vodičková was faced with a tough choice, as her home country's Olympic

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 team demanded that she skip the WNBA season if she wanted to play in the 2004 Summer Olympics

2004 Summer Olympics

The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...

. Vodičková refused to go home, and the decision proved prescient, as the Storm ran to a championship

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....

 that year.

The salary-capped Storm lost three of its marquee players after the championship, with Vodičková going to the Phoenix Mercury

Phoenix Mercury

The Phoenix Mercury is a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season began; it is one of the eight original franchises...

. Despite strong play from Vodičková, Penny Taylor, Anna DeForge

Anna DeForge

Anna Louise DeForge is an American professional basketball player who most recently played for the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA. She is the first player from the University of Nebraska to ever play in the WNBA. After finding little success and playing time for several WNBA teams, she finally earned...

, Maria Stepanova

Maria Stepanova

Maria Alexandrovna Stepanova is a Russian professional and Olympic basketball player. In the United States, she plays for the Phoenix Mercury in the Women's National Basketball Association ....

, and Diana Taurasi

Diana Taurasi

Diana Lorena Taurasi is a professional basketball player who plays for the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA and Galatasaray Medical Park from Turkey...

, the Mercury missed the playoffs in 2005.

After the Mercury narrowly missed the playoffs again in 2006, announced she was expecting a child and will be on maternity leave during the entire 2007 WNBA season.

International career

Vodičková has been known to be a dominant player in the Czech circuit. In 2005, she played for the Dynamo in the Russian super league.

Vital statistics

• Position: Forward/Center
• Height: 6 ft. 4 in. / 1.93 m
• College: Czech Republic
  Czech Republic
  The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
  
  
• Team(s):Phoenix Mercury
  Phoenix Mercury
  The Phoenix Mercury is a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season began; it is one of the eight original franchises...
  
  , Seattle Storm (WNBA); Dynamo (EuroLeague)