The Guru’s WNBA Report: Alysha Clark: The Big Assist - Athletes Helping Others

By Andy Lipton

Leading the ‘Break

 

When it comes to community, Alysha Clark shows up. And she shows up in a big way.

 

For Alysha, those communities have been the basketball teams for whom and the cities in which she has played.

 

She just finished her 13th season as a WNBA player, (including one year she missed with an injury), the last two with the Las Vegas Aces.

 

Clark has played overseas in almost every WNBA off-season.  It’s been a very long and successful WNBA career.

 

Basketball teams are small communities where every member is relied upon to do its part in order to achieve success. And Alysha has been an important part of those teams.

 

If you’re familiar with the Passover seder, feel free to melodically say “dayenu” after each of the following Alysha accomplishments listed below.

 

Clark had a storied college career, after being named as a high school senior, Tennessee Gatorade Player of the Year. She led the NCAA in scoring her junior and senior years, years in which she was an All-American and the Sun Belt Player of the Year.

 

In the WNBA, with the Seattle Storm, Clark worked her way up from a bench player to become a full-time starter her last six years there, two in which the Storm won the WNBA Championship.

 

She was on the WNBA’s All-Defensive First and Second Teams in 2020 and 2019, respectively.

 

And if that wasn’t enough, Clark became a third-time WNBA champ with the Las Vegas Aces in 2023 and was named the WNBA’s Sixth Player of the Year that season.

 

There have been honors playing overseas as well.

 

In a long and distinguished WNBA career (including one season with the Washington Mystics), Clark has been an indispensable important part of her teams, an all-around player, particularly noted for her defense, but also an excellent shooter, even if most offensive opportunities were designed for teammates.

 

And just as Clark knew how she could benefit her teams, early on in her WNBA career she realized that off-the court if she could make “one person smile… validated, heard or seen” she would want to do that.

 

Most recently, Clark is one of twelve WNBA players participating in a mentoring program with Voice in Sport designed to help young female athletes learn about a variety of topics designed to help them stay in sports and find their identity outside the sports arenas.

So far Clark has hosted virtual sessions on the topics of overcoming adversity, nutrition, and finding identity outside of sports.

 

Going back to her early days with the Seattle Storm, circa 2014, Clark held annual toy drives to benefit the young patients at the Seattle Children’s Hospital, collecting thousands of toys.

 

Clark would visit and comfort the children and their parents at the hospital.

 

She also donated $25 for each three-point shot she made to Strong Against Cancer, which helps fight pediatric cancer, most of her years with the Storm.

 

She participated in the Storm’s Community Practice helping youngsters learn basketball skills and in the Storm’s Academy, where she was able to work on leadership, positivity, and work ethic skills with local youth.

 

While in Seattle, Clark also took part in a leadership session at Seattle’s Swedish Medical Center.

 

And with the Mystics in Washington, D.C., Clark’s passion for the importance of literacy and book reading, manifested itself with her support for anti-censorship of books.

 

“During the [2022] season, she was also apart of our Mystics’ Stics’ and Kicks Auction, where a lucky winner won custom shoes inspired and worn by Alysha Clark.

 

The benefits from this auction went to the American Library Association, which supports the canceling of banned books in the education system…”  

 

https://mystics.wnba.com/news/mystics-player-rewind-alysha-clark-edition

 

Clark credits her parents for instilling in her the desire to help others.

 

Her parents were “always making sure others felt welcome, making sure others were taken care of and seen.” And Clark wants to represent the character of the Almighty in what she does.

 

Maybe you’ve said “dayenu” as you’ve read this story. But if I had to guess, when it comes to helping others, it’s never enough for Alysha Clark.