"New York Liberty" Katie Smith Hand Signed 3X5 Card Todd Mueller COA

Description

Up for auction the
"New York Liberty" Katie Smith Hand Signed 3X5 Card.
This item is certified authentic by Todd Mueller Autographs and comes with their Certificate of Authenticity.
ES-1815
Katie Smith
(born June 4, 1974) is lead assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx of the
Women's National Basketball Association
. She is the former head coach of the
New York Liberty
. A retired professional
basketball
player, Smith's primary position was
shooting guard
, although she sometimes played
small forward
or
point guard
. She is the all-time leading scorer in women's professional basketball, having notched over 7000 points in both her ABL and WNBA career. In 2016, she was voted one of the
WNBA Top 20@20
. On March 31, 2018, Smith was named to the 2018 class of inductees for the
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
. In the same year, Smith was also inducted into the
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
. Smith was born in
Logan, Ohio
, where she spent her formative years. She began playing basketball as early as the 5th grade on a boys' team and took
tap dance
and
ballet
lessons as a youngster. She grew up in a family of student-athletes. Her father, John, Jr., played
football
at
Ohio University
(OU), and won three
varsity letters
in the 1960s before becoming a
dentist
. Her younger brother, Tom, earned three
varsity letters
playing football at
Ohio University
as well as being a member on their
track and field
team. Tom won the 1996
Mid-American Conference
championship in the
discus throw
. Her older brother, John, was a member of one of 11
University of Mount Union
football
teams that won the
NCAA Division III title
. He now is the head football coach at
Bexley High School
. Smith attended
Ohio State University
in
Columbus, Ohio
from 1992 to 1996, and helped lead the
Buckeyes
to a
Big Ten
championship and the NCAA title game her
freshman year
. During her career at OSU, Smith broke the Big Ten scoring record for points scored in a career, in men's or women's basketball. She earned two
Big Ten Conference
player of the year awards as a senior: the
conference's own award
and the
Chicago Tribune
Silver Basketball
. Smith graduated in 1996 with a degree in
zoology
. On January 21, 2001, Ohio State honored her as the first female Buckeye athlete to have her number retired. She was also inducted into the
Ohio State Varsity O Hall of Fame
in October 2001. In 2005, she became the first American female basketball player to score 5,000 total points in a professional career. On August 16, 2007 she became the first professional women's basketball player to score 6,000 career points (ABL and WNBA combined). At the end of her career in 2013 Katie had a total of 7,885 professional career points, including 1,433 from the ABL and 6,452 from the WNBA. From 1999 to 2005 Smith played for the
Minnesota Lynx
, where her outside shooting was the central focus of the Lynx offense. On July 30, 2005, Smith was traded to the
Detroit Shock
along with the Lynx's 2006 second round pick, for
Chandi Jones
,
Stacey Thomas
and the Shock's 2006 first round draft pick. In 2006, Smith became the first WNBA player to win All Star games as a member of both the Eastern and Western Conference teams. She also became the only player to earn both ABL and WNBA championship rings when the Shock won the WNBA title, defeating the
Sacramento Monarchs
, the same year. Smith was the MVP of the 2008 WNBA Finals, when the Detroit Shock beat the San Antonio Silver Stars 3–0.
On March 16, 2010, Katie Smith signed a contract with the Washington Mystics as a free agent.
On April 29, 2011, Smith was acquired by the Seattle Storm in a three-team trade with the Washington Mystics and Indiana Fever. At the
2011 WNBA All-Star Game
, she was announced as one of the Top 15 players in the fifteen-year history of the WNBA as voted by fans.
On September 11, 2011 Katie Smith became the third player to score 6,000 points in her WNBA career.
In 2013, Smith was picked up by the
New York Liberty
and announced that the 2013 season would be her last.