Rhonda Blades

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Rhonda Blades Brown

| image =

| width =

| caption =

| number = 10

| position = Guard

| height_ft = 5

| height_in = 7

| weight_lb = 137

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1972|10|29}}

| birth_place = Springfield, Missouri

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = American

| high_school = Parkview (Springfield, Missouri)

| college = Vanderbilt (1991–1995)

| draft_league = WNBA

| draft_year = 1998

| draft_round = Expansion

| draft_pick = 1

| draft_team = Detroit Shock

| career_start = 1997

| career_end = 1998

| years1 = 1997

| team1 = New York Liberty

| years2 = 1998

| team2 = Detroit Shock

| highlights =

| stats_league = WNBA{{Cite web|url=https://www.wnba.com/archive/wnba/shock/history/rhonda_blades.html|title=SHOCK: Rhonda Blades|website=www.wnba.com}}

| stat1label = Points

| stat1value = 146 (2.6 ppg)

| stat2label = Assists

| stat2value = 71 (1.2 apg)

| stat3label = Steals

| stat3value = 26 (0.5 spg)

| bbr_wnba = bladerh01w

| letter = b

}}

Rhonda Blades Brown (born October 29, 1972) is a former professional basketball player. She was the first pick in the 1998 WNBA expansion draft and was selected by the New York Liberty.{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2245&dat=19980219&id=-8M0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=LyEGAAAAIBAJ&pg=2472,5641472|title=Lodi News-Sentinel - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cEBPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kgMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2842,2408328|title=Toledo Blade - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com}} Blades was a 4-year starting point guard and captain at Vanderbilt University and played 6 years professionally including the WNBA and abroad.

Brown has the distinction of being the very first player in the WNBA to make a 3-Point Shot.{{Cite web |date=2023-08-16 |title=Like WNBA mom, like son: Blades Brown, 16, makes history at U.S. Amateur |url=https://www.nbcsports.com/golf/news/wnba-mom-son-blades-brown-16-makes-history-us-amateur |access-date=2024-02-21 |website=NBC Sports |language=en-US}}

College

Rhonda Blades played basketball for Vanderbilt. During her four seasons (1992–95), she totaled 1,017 points and was named Honorable Mention All-American during her senior year. Blades completed a master's degree in nursing (MSN) and RN from VUSN in 1996.{{Cite web |url=https://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/throughtime/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=90&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=contains&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Brown%2C+Rhonda+Blades&submit_search=Search |title=Rhonda Blades Brown | VUMC Through Time |access-date=2016-05-31 |archive-date=2016-06-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611180037/https://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/throughtime/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=90&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=contains&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Brown%2C+Rhonda+Blades&submit_search=Search |url-status=dead }}

=Vanderbilt statistics=

Source{{Cite web|url=https://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/statsPDFArchive/WBB1/Women's%20Basketball_Women's_Division%20I_1992_736_Vanderbilt%20University.pdf|title=FINAL 1992 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STATISTICS REPORT|website=ncaa.org|access-date=2021-07-21}}{{Cite web|url=https://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/statsPDFArchive/WBB1/Women's%20Basketball_Women's_Division%20I_1993_736_Vanderbilt%20University.pdf|title=FINAL 1993 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STATISTICS REPORT|website=ncaa.org|access-date=2021-07-21}}{{Cite web|url=https://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/statsPDFArchive/WBB1/Women's%20Basketball_Women's_Division%20I_1994_736_Vanderbilt%20University.pdf|title=FINAL 1994 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STATISTICS REPORT|website=ncaa.org|access-date=2021-07-21}}{{Cite web|url=https://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/statsPDFArchive/WBB1/Women's%20Basketball_Women's_Division%20I_1995_736_Vanderbilt%20University.pdf|title=FINAL 1995 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STATISTICS REPORT|website=ncaa.org|access-date=2021-07-21}}

class="wikitable"

|+{{{caption|Ratios}}}

!YEAR

!Team

! scope="col"|{{abbr|GP|Games played}}

! scope="col"|{{abbr|FG%|Field goal percentage}}

! scope="col"|{{abbr|3P%|3-point field-goal percentage}}

! scope="col"|{{abbr|FT%|Free-throw percentage}}

! scope="col"|{{abbr|RBG|Rebounds per game}}

! scope="col"|{{abbr|APG|Assists per game}}

! scope="col"|{{abbr|BPG|Blocks per game}}

! scope="col"|{{abbr|SPG|Steals per game}}

! scope="col"|{{abbr|PPG|Points per game}}

1991-92

|Vanderbilt

|31

|48.0%

| 35.3%

|81.6%

|1.55

|1.48

| 0.06

|0.94

|3.03

1992-93

|Vanderbilt

|33

|42.3%

| 32.3%

|76.6%

|3.12

|4.73

|0.03

|1.94

|7.52

1993-94

|Vanderbilt

|33

|44.7%

|40.1%

|80.4%

|3.97

|4.73

|0.06

|1.88

|11.73

1994-95

|Vanderbilt

|35

|40.0%

|35.1%

|61.7%

|3.60

|4.20

| 0.00

|1.80

|8.23

Career

|132

|42.9%

|36.3%

|75.9%

|3.09

|3.83

| 0.04

|1.65

|7.70

class="wikitable"

|+{{{caption|Totals}}}

!YEAR

!Team

! scope="col"|{{abbr|GP|Games played}}

! scope="col"|{{abbr|FG|Field goals made}}

! scope="col"|{{abbr|FGA|Field goal attempts}}

! scope="col"|{{abbr|3P|3-point field-goals made}}

! scope="col"|{{abbr|3PA|3-point field-goal attempts}}

! scope="col"|{{abbr|FT|Free-throws made}}

! scope="col"|{{abbr|FTA|Free-throws attempted}}

! scope="col"|{{abbr|REB|Total rebounds}}

! scope="col"|{{abbr|A|Assists}}

! scope="col"|{{abbr|BK|Blocks}}

! scope="col"|{{abbr|ST|Steals}}

! scope="col"|{{abbr|PTS|Points}}

1991-92

|Vanderbilt

|31

|24

|50

| 6

| 17

|40

|49

|48

|46

| 2

| 29

|94

1992-93

|Vanderbilt

|33

|66

|156

| 31

| 96

|85

|111

|103

|156

| 1

| 64

|248

1993-94

|Vanderbilt

|33

|115

|257

|67

|167

|90

|112

|131

|156

| 2

| 62

|387

1994-95

|Vanderbilt

|35

|92

|230

|67

|191

|37

|60

|126

|147

| 0

| 63

|288

Career

|132

|297

|693

|171

|471

|252

|332

|408

|505

|218

|1017

WNBA

Brown entered the WNBA in 1997 during its inaugural season and was a member of the New York Liberty. Her debut game was played on June 21, 1997, in a 67 - 57 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks. In that game, Brown became the very first player in the WNBA to score a 3-point shot. Coincidentally, that 3-pointer was Brown's only field goal attempt of the game and she finished the game with 3 points, 1 assist and 1 steal.{{Cite web |title=New York Liberty at Los Angeles Sparks, June 21, 1997 |url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/boxscores/199706210LAS.html |access-date=2024-02-21 |website=Basketball-Reference.com |language=en}} She would play a reserve role for the Liberty and helped the team finish with a record of 17 - 11 while averaging 2.9 points and 1.1 assists in 10.4 minutes per game. The Liberty would reach the inaugural WNBA Finals on August 30, 1997, but would lose to the Houston Comets 51 - 65 with Brown playing for 13 minutes and recording 2 assists, 2 turnovers and 1 foul.{{Cite web |title=New York Liberty at Houston Comets, August 30, 1997 |url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/boxscores/199708300HOU.html |access-date=2024-02-21 |website=Basketball-Reference.com |language=en}}

On February 18, 1998, Rhonda Blades Brown was selected with the first overall pick of the WNBA Expansion Draft by the Detroit Shock.{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=1998-02-19 |title=W.N.B.A.: EXPANSION DRAFT; Liberty Loses Blades To New Detroit Team |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/19/sports/wnba-expansion-draft-liberty-loses-blades-to-new-detroit-team.html |access-date=2024-02-21 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} During her time with the Shock, all of her averages would remain around the same as her time with the Liberty (2.3 points, 1.4 assists in 11.7 minutes per game). She was able to start the first 2 games of the Shock's season but she immediately lost her starting spot to teammate Sandy Brondello for the rest of the season. The Shock would have a rough start to the 1998 season, losing their first 4 games, then winning 6 in a row, and then losing another 4 games to start off 6 - 8. The team resiliently finished the season with a 17 - 13 record but would miss the playoffs.

Before the 1999 WNBA season began, Brown would be waived by the Shock on April 23, 1999. She signed a contract with the Washington Mystics on May 8, but was waived a month later on June 9 (1 day before the Mystics played their first game of the season).{{Cite web |title=SHOCK: Rhonda Blades |url=https://www.wnba.com/archive/wnba/shock/history/rhonda_blades.html |access-date=2024-02-21 |website=www.wnba.com}} After being waived by the Mystics, Brown would miss the 1999 season entirely and also would miss the next season (2000).

Brown would also play professionally overseas in Israel and Turkey, winning the Israeli cup in 2000–2001.

After missing two entire seasons, Brown would sign a contract with the Cleveland Rockers on April 30, 2001. However, she would be waived soon after on May 11.{{Cite web |title=2001 Cleveland Rockers Transactions |url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/teams/CLE/2001_transactions.html |access-date=2024-02-21 |website=Basketball-Reference.com |language=en}} Thus, Brown ended up missing the 2001 season as well and decided to move on from the WNBA after missing three straight seasons. Her final WNBA game was the last regular season game of the Detroit Shock's 1998 season. That game was played on August 19, 1998, and the Shock toppled the Liberty 82 - 68 with Brown recording only recording 1 missed field goal and no other stats in four minutes of playing time.{{Cite web |title=New York Liberty at Detroit Shock, August 19, 1998 |url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/boxscores/199808190DET.html |access-date=2024-02-21 |website=Basketball-Reference.com |language=en}}

WNBA per game stats

=Regular season=

| style="text-align:left;"|1997

| style="text-align:left;"|New York

| 28 || 0 || 10.4 || .357 || .315 || .650 || 0.8 || 1.1 || 0.5 || 0.0 || 1.4 || 2.9

| style="text-align:left;"|1998

| style="text-align:left;"|Detroit

| 29 || 2 || 11.7 || .256 || .240 || .483 || 1.1 || 1.4 || 0.4 || 0.0 || 1.4 || 2.3

| style="text-align:left;"|Career

| style="text-align:left;"|2 years, 2 teams

| 57 || 2 || 11.1 || .304 || .279 || .551 || 0.9 || 1.2 || 0.5 || 0.0 || 1.4 || 2.6

=Playoffs=

| style="text-align:left;"|1997

| style="text-align:left;"|New York

| 1 || 0 || 13.0 || — || — || — || 0.0 || 2.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 2.0 ||0.0

{{Cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/players/b/bladerh01w.html|title=Rhonda Blades WNBA Stats|website=Basketball-Reference.com}}

Life after Professional Basketball

After basketball, Blades became the head varsity girls' basketball coach at Brentwood Academy, in Brentwood, Tennessee.{{Cite web|url=https://vucommodores.com/|title=Vanderbilt Commodores | Official Athletic Site|website=Vanderbilt University Athletics - Official Athletics Website}} She has coached a winning program for 17 seasons (361–162 record), including [http://styleblueprint.com/nashville/everyday/rhonda-brown-faces-of-williamson-county/ 5 state championships] and 4 more state championship appearances. She also teaches Anatomy and Health at Brentwood Academy, for which additional sessions were added to meet demand. Brown is married to Parke Brown (22 years), with two children, Blades and Millie.

References

Category:1972 births

Category:Living people

Category:American women's basketball coaches

Category:American women's basketball players

Category:New York Liberty players

Category:Detroit Shock players

Category:Sportspeople from Springfield, Missouri

Category:Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball players

Category:Guards (basketball)