Athletes - Latasha Byears

Home > Listing Index > Athletes > Latasha Byears

	Athletes - Latasha Byears

Latasha Nashay Byears (born August 12, 1973 in Memphis, Tennessee) is a former professional basketball player who played for the Sacramento Monarchs and the Los Angeles Sparks in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). At the time of her departure from the WNBA in 2003, she ranked eighth all-time in field goal percentage (.514) and was among the top 10 rebounders in the league's history.

Nicknamed "Tot", Byears usually played the position of power forward. However, the openly gay Byears became more well-known for her troubles on and off the basketball court.

College years

Byears grew up in Millington, Tennessee and went to high school in nearby Arlington, Tennessee. Afterwards, Byears played two years in Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, located in Miami, Oklahoma. She later transferred to DePaul University in Chicago, where she averaged 22.8 points and 11.7 rebounds per game during the 1995-1996 season, a performance that earned her a first team All-American.

WNBA Career

Despite not being selected at the first WNBA Draft, the Sacramento Monarchs invited Byears to their training camp prior to their inaugural season in 1997. Byears then starred for the Monarchs for the next four seasons, making headlines for her rough play, including throwing a ball at the face of Seattle Storm player Michelle Marciniak.

Byears was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks after the 2000 season ended, where she excelled. However, following a June 5, 2003 Sparks game, Byears and three men unconnected to the Sparks were investigated for an alleged rape of a WNBA player. Byears was cut by the Sparks at the end of the season.

Byears is also one of the few professional athletes who is openly lesbian.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Latasha Byears ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Latasha Byears; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay