Kym Hampton

Kym Hampton (born November 3, 1962) is a retired professional basketball player. A 6'2" center, Kym was drafted as the number four pick in the 1997 WNBA Elite draft and played three seasons for the New York Liberty (1997–1999). Following a 12-year professional stint in Europe along with her three years in the WNBA, Kym retired from basketball in 2000, due to worn cartilage in her right knee. Since retiring, Kym's focus has shifted to many things including singing and TV.

Kym Hampton
Singing the national anthem at the 2012 Maggie Dixon Classic
Personal information
Born (1962-11-03) November 3, 1962
Louisville, Kentucky
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High schoolIroquois (Louisville, Kentucky)
CollegeArizona State (1980–1984)
WNBA draft1997 / Round: 1 / Pick: 4th overall
Selected by the New York Liberty
PositionCenter
Career history
1997–1999New York Liberty
Career highlights and awards
Stats at WNBA.com

Personal

Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Kym is one of seven children born to Donald and Joyce Hampton. Kym attributes her athletic ability to her father's side of the family and her uncle, Charlie Hampton, was a Central High School standout. Kym also shares the honor of joining her uncle in being selected on the prestigious Kentucky All-Star team.

High school

Kym attended Iroquois High School in Louisville, Kentucky. She joined the basketball team during her freshman year in 1976, at the urging of the head coach Marshall Abstain. Hampton ultimately scored 1,198 career points, averaging 23.5 points per game and 728 rebounds, averaging 14 per game. Kym was the starting center on both Kentucky All-Star and Kentucky East/West All-Star teams.

Hampton was a track star at Iroquois as well. She won the state championship in the shot put, 3 of her 4 years at Iroquois and set the state record 46' 4" in her senior year (1980). Kym was asked by her track coach Bob Hanley, to compete in the high jump and discus during Iroquois Track Classic, and set two school records that day. 5'2" in the high jump and 116'6.5" in the discus.

College

Hampton attended Arizona State University from 1980 to 1984. During her college career, the Sun Devils made two consecutive trips, during the 1982 and 1983 seasons, to the Sweet 16, before being eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.[1] In addition to playing basketball, Kym's second passion was singing and obtained her B.A. in theatre from Arizona State University in 1984. In 1989, Kym was inducted into the Arizona State Hall of Fame. In 2014, Arizona State honored her by retiring her No. 32 jersey in a ceremony at Wells Fargo Arena.[2]

Career

After graduation, Hampton played internationally, spending six years in Spain, four and one half years in Italy, one year in France, and one year in Japan. In 1997, Hampton was selected as the number four pick in the WNBA Elite Draft, by the New York Liberty, in its inaugural season. During her three-year WNBA career, she started every game including the inaugural WNBA All-Star Game where she was voted starting center. When Hampton retired in 2000, due to worn cartilage in her right knee, she averaged 9.3ppg, 5.8rpg, and 1.0 apg.[3]

Post-career

Off the court, Hampton has pursued modeling, acting, and singing. She is an original CoverGirl Queen Collection model featured in print and a nationwide commercial. She was one of the original Lane Bryant "V-Girls" in a national V-Girl campaign. She's graced the pages of Glamour Magazine, Essence Magazine and other magazines. In 2012 Hampton was one of the women featured on ABC's The Revolution daytime TV show trying to improve themselves, particularly with regard to weight loss.[4] Over a five-month period Hampton got her weight down to what it had been when she played professional basketball.[5]

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References
  1. Arizona State University. Archived 2008-10-02 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Sun Devil WBB to Honor No. 32 Jersey of Hall of Famer Kym Hampton on Dec. 6". TheSunDevils.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-07. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
  3. "WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved 2017-09-08.
  4. Leon Mccormack, Myrdith (May 18, 2012). "She's Got Game: Legendary Kym Hampton is Revealed". huffingtonpost.com. Huffington Post. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  5. "An Athlete's Struggle: Kym Hampton". wabc.typepad.com. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
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