Tanisha Wright

Tanisha Lovely Wright (born November 29, 1983) is an American basketball coach and former player. Wright is currently the head coach of the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA. She began her coaching career as an assistant coach at Charlotte.[1] As a player, Wright played 14 WNBA seasons for the Seattle Storm, New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx and played college basketball for the Penn State Nittany Lions. She ranks fourth in school history in points scored with 1,995 points in 134 career games for Penn State. She was drafted in the 2005 WNBA draft by the Seattle Storm.

Tanisha Wright
Wright in 2018
Atlanta Dream
PositionHead coach
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (1983-11-29) November 29, 1983
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Listed height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Listed weight165 lb (75 kg)
Career information
High schoolWest Mifflin
(West Mifflin, Pennsylvania)
CollegePenn State (2001–2005)
WNBA draft2005: 1st round, 12th overall pick
Selected by the Seattle Storm
Playing career2005–2019
PositionShooting guard
Number30
Career history
As player:
2005–2014Seattle Storm
2015–2016New York Liberty
2018Minnesota Lynx
2019New York Liberty
As coach:
2017–2020Charlotte (assistant)
2020–2021Las Vegas Aces (assistant)
2021–presentAtlanta Dream
Career highlights and awards
Stats at WNBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

High school career

Born in West Mifflin, she attended the suburban Pittsburgh West Mifflin Area High School, where she played basketball and soccer. She led the team to the W.P.I.A.L (Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League) basketball district finals in her junior year. The team lost a close game 81–78 to Blackhawk High School in Triple Overtime. Tanisha fouled out in the beginning of the final overtime. She led the game with 51 points. She went on to lead her team to the next seasons finals once again against Blackhawk, where she led the team in a 63–53 victory. She went on to take her team to the state finals, where they lost a close game to Allentown Central Catholic high school 56–45. The team's record was 31–1, their only loss coming in the state finals.

College career
Seasons College
2001–2005 Penn State University

Penn State statistics

Source[2]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2001-02 Penn State 35 355 45.4 10.5 78.2 4.0 2.8 1.8 0.6 10.1
2002-03 Penn State 35 560 50.7 25.0 76.2 5.4 4.0 2.6 0.5 16.0
2003-04 Penn State 34 502 48.3 25.0 83.2 4.7 4.1 1.7 0.3 14.8
2004-05 Penn State 30 578 41.4 20.0 80.3 4.5 3.6 1.9 0.4 19.3
Career Penn State 134 1995 46.3 20.0 79.5 4.6 3.6 2.0 0.5 14.9

WNBA career
Wright at Madison Square Garden in 2015
Wright in 2018
Seasons Team
2005–2014 Seattle Storm
2015–2016 New York Liberty
2018-2019 Minnesota Lynx

Wright helped the Seattle Storm win their second championship in 2010.[3]

On February 2, 2015, Wright signed as a free agent with the New York Liberty[4]

In 2017, it was announced that Wright would be sitting out part of the 2017 WNBA season to rest.[5]

On March 13, 2018, Wright signed a free agent contract with the Minnesota Lynx.[6]

Wright was traded back to the New York Liberty on April 11, 2019, in exchange for a second-round draft pick in the 2020 WNBA draft. Following the 2019 season, Wright announced her retirement.

Coaching career

The Las Vegas Aces announced the hiring of Wright as an assistant coach in 2020.[7] Wright was known as a defensive specialist and helped coach the Aces into one of the league's best defensive teams.

Head Coach

On October 12, 2021, Wright was announced as the head coach of the Atlanta Dream.

WNBA career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader
† Denotes seasons in which Wright won a WNBA championship

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2005 Seattle 34815.5.462.000.6671.71.60.50.11.23.6
2006 Seattle 33015.4.353.143.8441.81.20.30.11.63.8
2007 Seattle 34516.1.400.273.8461.32.00.90.11.64.1
2008 Seattle 341423.8.432.167.7873.42.50.90.22.37.9
2009 Seattle 333332.5.463.267.9063.53.91.50.32.612.2
2010† Seattle 343429.1.410.411.8443.34.51.20.32.19.2
2011 Seattle 333228.9.492.367.8973.22.91.20.02.710.1
2012 Seattle 323229.8.373.192.8593.04.41.20.12.77.9
2013 Seattle 343430.9.440.283.8553.74.11.10.22.911.9
2014 Seattle 292925.5.417.278.7952.33.60.90.12.18.0
2015 New York 343423.7.420.364.8452.43.50.80.12.17.4
2016 New York 292823.0.401.235.7172.33.60.90.22.36.7
2018 Minnesota 33417.8.383.396.7411.62.00.50.11.34.3
2019 New York 311719.8.415.368.8062.84.11.00.31.84.7
Career 14 years, 3 teams 45730423.7.424.308.8332.63.10.90.22.17.3

Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2005 Seattle 3012.7.200.0001.0001.72.31.00.00.73.0
2006 Seattle 206.0.000.000.0000.00.50.00.01.00.0
2007 Seattle 2021.0.467.0001.0002.52.50.50.53.09.0
2008 Seattle 3334.3.412.500.7505.72.72.00.03.713.7
2009 Seattle 3332.7.342.2501.0005.35.31.70.03.011.7
2010† Seattle 7728.7.446.357.5712.62.91.30.12.79.6
2011 Seattle 3328.0.588.600.8334.02.31.70.33.018.7
2012 Seattle 3337.3.462.400.8893.76.01.00.02.311.3
2013 Seattle 2235.0.583.333.0002.03.02.00.03.014.5
2015 New York 6627.3.516.500.7142.73.81.50.01.76.5
2016 New York 1128.0.714.333.0001.05.00.00.04.021.0
2018 Minnesota 1023.0.333.000.0003.02.00.00.02.04.0
Career 12 years, 3 teams 362827.1.469.388.7763.03.31.30.12.49.8

Head coaching record
Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Atlanta 2022 361422.3895th in Eastern————Missed playoffs
Atlanta 2023 401921.4753rd in Eastern202.000Lost in 1st Round
Career 763343.434202.000

Overseas career
Seasons Team Country
2007–2008 Hapoel Tel Aviv B.C.  Israel
2008–2009 Tarbes GB  France
2009–2010 Lotos VBW Clima Gdynia  Poland
2010–2011 Elitzur Ramla  Israel
2013–2015
2016–present		 Abdullah Gul University Kayseri  Turkey

References
  1. "Aces Finalize 2020 Coaching Staff As 14-Year WNBA Veteran Tanisha Wright Joins Laimbeer, Johnson". WNBA.com. 13 May 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  2. "Women's Basketball Player stats". NCAA. Retrieved 26 Sep 2015.
  3. Voepel, Mechelle (16 September 2010). "Second title even sweeter for Storm". ESPN. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  4. Liberty Sign Wright, Swords and Allen Archived 2015-02-03 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "WNBA: Wright to rest, will miss upcoming season". Swish Appeal. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
  6. Andrews, Julian (March 14, 2018). "Tanisha Wright To Bring Defensive Grit To Lynx". lynx.wnba.com. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  7. Destin, Andrew (May 13, 2020). "Former Penn State women's basketball star hired as WNBA assistant". Daily Collegian. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
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