1-on-1 with WNBA legend Tamika Catchings: On her many roles at All-Star weekend, coaching Rising Stars and her message to the team
1-on-1 with WNBA legend Tamika Catchings: On her many roles at All-Star weekend, coaching Rising Stars and her message to the team
Tamika Catchings is a Hall of Famer. She also emceed a major All-Star event and coached one of four Rising Stars teams. Afterward, she discussed her experience and how it was all such a blessing.
Tamika Catchings is sports royalty in Indianapolis.
She’s part of a small group of Hall of Fame professional athletes who everyone knows by one name in these parts: There’s Peyton, Reggie and Tamika.
Like Reggie Miller before her, she spent her entire career playing for the Indiana franchise. She was a superstar, one of the best ever in her sport. And now she’s staying involved in the game in several different ways.
She still lives in Indianapolis, is college basketball analyst for ESPN and served as a co-chair for Indy’s NBA All-Star 2024 host committee. On top of that, she owns Tea’s Me Indy, is on several different company boards, and often flies around to different teams and groups to discuss her experience and leadership.
On Friday, she was one of four former players to serve as coaches for the Rising Stars games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The other three coaches were Jalen Rose, Detlef Schrempf and Pau Gasol.
Just some of Catch’s credentials: Hall of Famer, WNBA Champion and 10-time WNBA All-Star. She also participated in the Shooting Stars challenge several times at NBA All-Star Weekend so she experienced a lot more than most, especially the young guys.
And she received a loud introduction at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where she spent the entirety of her career. And fittingly, they showed her banner that hung in the rafters since the franchise retired it.
Not bad.
The night before, she co-hosted The Pacers’ Tip-off Party with Mike Epps — a first-of-its-kind opening ceremony for All-Star Weekend. And they crushed it.
After their game 1 loss to Team Jalen, which included Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin, she had a positive moment with Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivey of the Pistons, both of whom were on her team.
Then, she talked with Fieldhouse Files about coaching, her weekend so far and how it’s all a culmination of seven years of hard work by many.
Of note, Catchings later received the Pioneer Award at the NBA Legends Brunch on Sunday at the Indiana Convention Center. I mean, what hasn’t she won by now?
How special has it been for you to have a lead role at the Pacers’ All-Star tip-off party and then tonight with Team Tamika?
This was fun. We’ve been planning this since 2017. Stepping onto the stage Thursday night and coming into the airport a couple weeks ago with the court out there and people excited about it, it’s been hit on by every single news outlet just the court being in the airport.
(Note: Catchings serves on the Indianapolis Airport Authority board.)
Now you get to the actual weekend and all the people that are coming in, and it’s just a blessing. It’s a blessing to be part of it, it’s a blessing to still be so instrumental in this city and have such an important role with a lot of these other people. And I think even celebrating Rick’s (Fuson) last time. I’m like, ‘don’t cry!’ But his last time in being able to be a part of something like this and what he’s meant to this organization, what the Simons have meant to this city.
I just think overall, it’s a blessing.
What was our message to these first- and second-year players even before the game because I just saw an interaction right here — and that was coaching. That was a little love, but it was also coaching in a game that is an exhibition, but you were taking it seriously.
The goal was to win. You come into this and you want to win. Before the game, (it was) really come out and showcases your talents. Not a lot of people know who the rookie and the sophomores are. Obviously, you know who Paolo (Banchero) is and you know who Victor (Wembanyama) is, you know players like that. But you don’t know all of the rookies and sophomores, so I’m like this is your opportunity where the whole world has an opportunity to watch you. So come out and show what you can do. Win or loss — obviously I want to win — but if this is your best performance, then that’s what you do.
After the game, we take the L but really enjoy the experience. For those of them that are going to stay and stick around All-Stars, I’m like ‘Look, one day your goal is to be playing on Sunday night. Not Friday, not Saturday. Saturday is cool, but your ultimate goal is to be an All-Star. So enjoy the environment, hang with the players, see what they have to deal with. You have to elevate your game in order to put yourself on that All-Star stage.’
I think a lot of them — and you could see it in their eyes — were like, ‘Yeah, my dream is to have this opportunity.’
You watch Bennedict Mathurin all the time with the Pacers, were you surprised at all that by that competitiveness out there?
No, he was mad at me because I didn’t pick him. (Laughs) If you ask Jalen Rose when the selection was going on, I had to pick Jaden. I wanted to pick Jaden. We go back to Niele (Ivey) and the full-circle moment of pulling it and bringing it all back together. But I was going to pick Benn next. And honestly, the way the picks go, if it would’ve been the right way I should’ve actually had that pick. But I’m not going to go there.
So Jalen picked Benn and I was like, ‘No! That was my pick.’ And he was like, ‘You snooze, you lose.’ Yeah, Benn was a little upset with me. (So during the game he was like) that’s because of you! He said ‘I’m going to have 25 points on y’all.’
So now that your responsibilities are done for tonight, are you able to enjoy it the rest of All-Star weekend and all that you helped plan?
I’m enjoying this. I’ve been rolling and I’ll roll Saturday and on Sunday with a lot of different appearances. I’m enjoying this because we put so much work into it and it’s fun to see
I’m co-chair of the whole thing, but there are so many committees of people that were doing so many different things. To see it all come together and now free to go to this activation and that activation and able to pop in here, pop in there, this is honestly like the beginning. The Tip-off Show, this, (Saturday) will be a little bit more chill and I’ll do the pitch competition and a few other things. And then Sunday, we have the legends brunch (and the All-Star game).
After talking with Catch, I asked Ivey how much, if anything, he remembered about her from his childhood.
“I don’t remember too much, but I remember seeing pictures as a baby,” he said. “And my mom was telling me how on the (Fever) plane rides she would take me on, everybody would take turns holding me on the team — and Tamika Catchings was one of them.
“Obviously, I don’t remember it but seeing pictures and me growing up around her throughout my childhood and seeing what she’s done as a basketball player and as a person, I really just admire her for what she’s done for this season. She’s such a humble person and it’s always good to see her.”
(Click here to watch a great interaction between the two at Rising Stars practice)