two-time ABL all-star, Staley is the experienced playmaker the Charlotte Sting needed to boost its offense and advance deeper into the WNBA playoffs. With all-star Andrea Stinson in the
backcourt and the frontcourt of Vicky Bullett, Rhonda Mapp and 1998 WNBA rookie of the year Tracy Reid, the Sting figure to score. It will be Staley's job to get the ball to them.
"My passion is passing and we have very talented players that like to get out and run and that's my style," she said. "Hopefully we get some easy buckets and some easy wins."
Staley's strength pushing the ball upcourt is what Charlotte has been looking for since the league's inception in 1997. Others have tried with uneven results, but Staley has credentials that are among
the best in the sport.
"She brings everything there is to the game of basketball," Sting head coach Marynell Meadors said.
"She's got so much experience at playing the position (point guard). I think her leadership qualities are going to be great...what she does with our guards, she gets the ball in their hands very quickly."
Third round draft pick Charlotte Smith from Shelby, who won a national championship with North Carolina in 1995, knows Staley well from playing against her for two years in the ABL. It's a dream
come true for Smith to be playing on the same team as Staley.
"I was just playing with Dawn Staley actually in the Final Four," she said. "We were playing some
pick-up games and I was thinking to myself, 'you know it would be really exciting to play with Dawn Staley,' and it's so ironic really that we both got drafted to the same team.
"It's going to be really exciting to finally be able to play with her not against her."
How Staley landed with the Sting is a bit surprising. Charlotte had the ninth overall pick in the
WNBA draft and with a wealth of ABL players available after that league folded last December. Staley was still around when the Sting stepped to the podium. Staley wasn't upset not to go higher in round one.
"Ultimately this is a business. I had no control over it so I wasn't going to dwell on it," she said. "But I said any team that chose me definitely would get 110 percent and definitely would get an
experienced point guard and I ended up in Charlotte.
"I don't have any regrets. I'm really happy. You look at the roster, I can't believe the talent we have
on this team and hopefully we can just knock on the door and win the WNBA championship."
The WNBA is where Staley wanted to be even before the ABL folded. She signed a contract with
the WNBA after the ABL season ended last year. Now with all the best athletes in one league, Staley expects the level of play to be very high.
"This is it, this is the cream of the crop," she said. "I think if you're not a woman's basketball fan after we're done with this WNBA season, then you never will be."
The well-traveled Staley, 29, has been a success wherever she's played. In college she was an all-star, as a pro in Spain, Italy, France and Brazil she excelled. With the 1996 Olympic team she
won a gold medal in Atlanta. In the ABL, she played in the league championship series, although Philadelphia lost to Columbus in 1997. She hopes to continue that success in the WNBA.
