Kahleah Copper came in on Sunday for Team USA during the gold medal match despite playing limited minutes this Olympics and was the absolute spark plug the team needed to win gold.
For those of you who have been missing out, Kahleah Copper has always been,”that b—h”!
Copper has coined the hashtag, #JustAKidFromNorFPhilly, to describe herself. Copper grew up in North Philadelphia and attended Girard College and the Preparatory Charter High School in Philadelphia. She was named to the All-Public League team in Philadelphia, the All-State team in Pennsylvania and earned 2012 McDonald’s All-American accolades in high school. In addition, she was rated No. 17 overall and the fifth-best wing player according to ESPNU HoopGurlz Top-100 and led her team to a Public League Championship as a junior.
Copper chose Rutgers University in order to be closer to her mom, Leticia, who was undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She played there from 2012 to 2016 and finished with the third-most points all time in team history (1,872), only beyond Cappie Pondexter and Sue Wicks. Copper also majored in criminal justice while attending Rutgers.
Copper earned a lot of accolades while in college. To name a few: All-Big Ten First Team, Drysdale Award Watch List, WNIT MVP, First Team All-American Athletic Conference, Big East All-Freshman Team.
Copper was then drafted No. 7 overall by the Washington Mystics in the 2016 WNBA Draft. She spent one season in Washington before being traded to the Sky in February 2017, where she really found her footing. By the 2020 season she was one of three Sky players to start in every game. She averaged a then career highs in points (14.8), rebounds (5.5), assists (2.1), steals (1.0) and minutes per game (31.3). She shot an astounding 49.6% from the field this year.
Copper continued her dominance in 2021 leading her Sky to the franchise’s first WNBA Championship. She won the 2021 WNBA Finals MVP after averaging 17.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game during the four-game series. This season she was also named a WNBA All-Star for the first time in her career.
In 2022, she re-signed with Chicago on a multi-year deal. She earned her second WNBA All-Star Team, led the Sky in scoring and was No. 13 in the league in points per game (15.7). Copper also reached 2,000 career points, 600 career rebounds, 200 games played and 100 career steals this season.
Copper scored a then career-high in points per game (18.7) in 2023 with the Sky again. However in a huge trade in February 2024 Copper landed with the Phoenix Mercury. This year she is now averaging her career high in points per game (23.3), minutes per game (32.4) and tied her career high in assists (2.3).
Phoenix managed to get back on the right track after a rocky start to the 2024 WNBA season. They now have a playoff spot, sitting in sixth place with a 13-12 record.
Copper seems to found a new home in Phoenix, playing her best basketball of her career.
After making the Olympic team, she was barely seeing any action during the games. She played less than 20 minutes combined across Team USA’s group phase and did not play at all versus Belgium. She played 11:16 minutes in the quarterfinal game with 5 points and 3 rebounds, however had a team worst +/- of -13. However, she got more time in the semifinals with 20:08 and had 11 points with 6 rebounds and 3 assists.
However, it was her performance in the gold medal match that got the world talking. In her 22:17 minutes, she shot 3-8 from the field and a perfect 6-6 from the free-throw line, with her last two being the USA’s final points. She finished with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals and willed the United States to the win.
When the U.S. was in scoring lulls, Copper took charge and energized the team. She was absolutely an X factor in the game for America and is a great example of persistence and hard work.
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