Tamecka Dixon

Personal information
Born	(1975-12-14)December 14, 1975 (age 50) Linden, New Jersey, U.S.
Listed height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Listed weight	148 lb (67 kg)
Career information
High school	Linden (Linden, New Jersey)
College	Kansas (1993–1997)
WNBA draft	1997: 2nd round, 14th overall pick
Drafted by	Los Angeles Sparks
Playing career	1997–2009
Position	Shooting guard
Number	21, 20
Career history
1997–2005	Los Angeles Sparks
2006–2008	Houston Comets
2009	Indiana Fever
Career highlights
3×WNBA All-Star (2001–2003) 2×WNBA champion (2001,2002) All-WNBA Second Team (2001) All-American –USBWA,Kodak(1997) Second-team All-American –AP (1997) Big 12 Player of the Year (1997) Big 8 Player of the Year (1996) First-team All-Big 12 (1997) First-team All-Big 8 (1996)
Stats at WNBA.com
Stats atBasketball Reference
Medals Women's Basketball RepresentingUSA FIBA World Championship for Women 2002 Nanjing Team Competition

Tamecka Michelle Dixon (born December 14, 1975) is an American former professionalbasketball player. She played in theWomen's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 to 2009 for three different teams, was part ofWNBA championship teams in2001 and2002, was a three-timeWNBA All-Star and announced her retirement prior to the 2010 WNBA season.

Dixon attendedLinden High School inLinden, New Jersey, where she was named a High School All-American by theWBCA.^[1] She participated in the WBCA High School All-America Game in 1993, scoring ten points.^[2]

For theKansas Jayhawks women's basketball team, Dixon averaged 14.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.8 steals in 119 career games.^[3] She was named Big 12 Player of the Year and was also named to the 1996–97 Kodak All-American Team.^[4]

In 2002, Dixon was named to the national team which competed in the World Championships inZhangjiagang,Changzhou andNanjing,China.^[3] The team was coached byVan Chancellor. Dixon scored 3.4 points per game. The USA team won all nine games, including a close title game against Russia, which was a one-point game late in the game.^[5]

Dixon was selected in the first round of the1997 WNBA draft (14th overall) by theLos Angeles Sparks. Her debut game was played on June 21, 1997, in a 57–67 loss to theNew York Liberty where she recorded 2 points and 2 assists.^[6]

Dixon played for the Sparks for nine seasons (1997–2005), was selected as an all-star for three consecutive seasons (2001–2003), and won a WNBA championship with the team in two back-to-back seasons (2001 and 2002). Before the start of the 2006 season, Dixon would sign with theHouston Comets on February 28, 2006.^[7] The 2006 season is the only season that Dixon made the playoffs with the Comets, but they were swept in the first round by theSacramento Monarchs.

She was waived by the Comets on January 11, 2007^[8] but was re-signed a month into the 2007 season on July 4.^[9]

The Comets missed the playoffs in 2007 and 2008, finishing with a 13–21 and 17–17 record respectively. The Comets would also cease operations at the end of the 2008 season and adispersal draft would be held in December 2008 to send all of the Houston Comets players to different teams.^[10] Unfortunately, Dixon (along with teammateShannon Johnson) were the only Comets players that were eligible to be selected in the dispersal draft that were not chosen.^[11] The both of them thus became free agents and Johnson signed with theSeattle Storm while Dixon signed with theIndiana Fever.^[12]

This 2009 season with the Fever ended up being Dixon's final year in the league. The Fever defeated theWashington Mystics and theDetroit Shock en route to theWNBA Finals (the 4th Finals appearance in Dixon's career). They battled thePhoenix Mercury in a grueling Finals series, even taking a 2–1 lead after game 3. Unfortunately the Fever would fall to the Mercury in games 4 and 5, thus losing the opportunity to win the title that year. Game 5 of the Finals series which was played on October 9, 2009, was Dixon's final WNBA game ever. The Fever lost the game 86–94 with Dixon recording 2 rebounds.^[13]

After a 12-year career, Dixon announced her retirement on February 18, 2010. At the time of her retirement, Dixon was one of the four remaining players from the WNBA's inaugural season (along withLisa Leslie,Tina Thompson andVickie Johnson). Speaking on her retirement, Dixon stated "I always wanted to go out on my own terms. After the Houston franchise disbanded, I was at a crossroads because I thought I would finish my career there. I was contemplating retirement then, but I still felt I had a little left to give the game and wanted to go out on my own terms.....I fell a little short of my goal to help Indiana obtain the championship. So I definitely thought about coming back for 2010. It was hard to come so close and fall short, but I do think now is the right time for me. I have no regrets in making this decision now".^[14]

Dixon has been a resident ofWestfield, New Jersey.^[15]

• 1975 births
• Living people
• All-American college women's basketball players
• American expatriate basketball people in Italy
• American women's basketball players
• Houston Comets players
• Indiana Fever players
• Kansas Jayhawks women's basketball players
• LGBTQ basketball players
• LGBTQ people from New Jersey
• American lesbian sportswomen
• Linden High School (New Jersey) alumni
• Los Angeles Sparks draft picks
• Los Angeles Sparks players
• Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball)
• Sportspeople from Linden, New Jersey
• Sportspeople from Westfield, New Jersey
• Shooting guards
• Basketball players from Union County, New Jersey
• WNBA All-Stars
• United States women's national basketball team players

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata