(dr) WNBA
Ticha Penicheiro, former Portuguese WNBA basketball player.
Figueirense is the first Portuguese athlete to have this “historic recognition by FIBA”.
Ticha Penicheirothe most renowned Portuguese basketball player of all time, who ended her career in 2012, joins the FIBA Hall of Famea distinction given to players with the greatest contribution in the sport.
The former basketball player, born in Figueira da Foz, was nominated this Thursday by the international basketball federation, in a 2025 list in which she appears along with names such as the Spaniard and former Laker Pau Gasol and the Australian and NBA champion with the 2015 Golden State Warriors, Andrew Bogutbut also the North American Dawn Staley and the Cuban Leonor Borrell.
Ticha Penicheiro is the first Portuguese athlete to have this “historic recognition by FIBA”the Portuguese Basketball Federation (FPB). The nomination also follows Penicheiro’s election as a candidate for the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, in the United States.
On its official page, FIBA reminds that the Portuguese base won several titlesincluding the Women’s North American League (WNBA) in 2005.
In her WNBA career, Ticha wore the jerseys of the Sacramento Monarchs, LA Sparks and Chicago Fire, always with the number 21. In 2021, she was recognized as a member of the American Women’s Basketball League.
It was while serving the Sacramento Monarchs that Ticha became champion, and throughout her career made the All-Star team four times, duas o All-WNBA First Team, foi All- Defensive First Teamand it was seven-time assists leader not championship.
Your record for assists in WNBA history lasted until 2017being considered the leader with 1,121 assists made.
During the WNBA breaks, he also played for several European teams, namely Spartak Moscow, USK Prague, Galatasaray, TTT Riga, Vallencienes, Ekaterinburg, Gdynia or Lavezzini Parma.
FIBA’s nominees for the Hall of Fame will be honored at a ceremony to be held on May 17, on the occasion of the body’s congress, in Bahrain.
