The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
The Urge To Win: Dyllan Thompson In His Own Words
05.23.2017 | Women's Basketball
A look back at Tina Thompson’s professional career and impact through the eyes of her son, Dyllan Thompson.
The WNBA tipped off its 21st season on May 13, which means it's been four years since Tina Thompson retired from professional basketball. Her stamp on the game remains. In 17 league seasons, Thompson won four titles and ended her career as the all-time leading scorer with 7,488 points in 496 career games.
Now, TexasSports.com reflects on Thompson's playing days through the unique lens of her son, 12-year-old Dyllan Thompson, as told to Natalie England.
***
A lot of people ask me about my mom and what she was like as a basketball player. I can probably describe that in one word.
Legendary.
My mom, Tina Thompson, was there for the first WNBA season, all the way to the 17th season. I always tell her if she would have played three more years, she would have been there.
Twenty years. Two decades.
Mom, why did you have to retire?
When she told me she was ready to retire, I cried. I was so sad. I loved to watch her play.
Nobody plays the way she did. She'd post you up probably four or five times each game, and she could get to the basket really well.
What I remember the most is her mentality. She had a good mentality every game. She had the urge to win, and she wouldn't let anything get in her way.
Her professional career began as the WNBA's first overall draft pick in 1997 and ended as the league's all-time leading scorer in 2013. In between, she was a four-time WNBA champion with the Houston Comets, nine-time WNBA All-Star and WNBA All-Star MVP in 2000.
Legendary.
***
I have a really good memory. I can tell you what I got for my sixth birthday. But when I think about all the places basketball has taken my mom and me, I have to stop and recalculate.
We've been to at least four or five countries where she played professional basketball during the WNBA "offseason." Italy, Korea, Russia, Australia. China and Mexico. There's probably another one. Oh yeah, Greece and the Czech Republic. Some of those, I was little, so I don't really remember.
I've spent a lot of time around a basketball court. Basically my whole life. I just love the game. Growing up, my friends were my mom's teammates, like Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi. My mom always exposed me to exceptional people and players. LeBron James, Dwight Howard and Chris Paul. I've hung out with them all. Her basketball life is my life.
I've thought about it through the years. Sometimes I wonder, "Why is she doing this for me?"
I'll ask for something, thinking she would say no. And she said yes. I always thought that was a blessing. I am blessed.
This past year, living in Austin, where mom is an assistant women's basketball coach at The University of Texas, I played on my first AAU team. We get to play all over – Houston, Dallas, Vegas. My coach is serious about basketball, and I love my teammates. I feel like I fit on the team. We can have fun and joke around, but if our coach gets mad, we have to run suicides. It makes us strong, and I like that. Because in games, we push through. Even when our legs feel like they're about to break off, we just go.
My mom, she teaches me a lot. She helps me almost every day. I don't post up like she did. They're trying to get me to, because I'm taller than anyone on the team. But I just don't like it. I don't like the way it feels.
I love the competition, the back and forth. I finally hit a game-winning shot for my team. I really wanted to hit one that day, and I told my teammates I was going to. We were down by two, and I made a 3-pointer to win the game.
Resilience is a big thing for me. I appreciate when players don't get sad or hang their heads. If they lose, they move on. You probably didn't want to lose, but you just have to move on. Before, I would get mad if I lost a game. Over and over in my head, how did we lose? We probably didn't focus. But my mom, she would just tell me what I needed to work on, and what I also did good in the game. That made me think more about the process of work, and not just about winning or losing.
Ten years from now, I hope to be starting my professional basketball career. I'll be 21, and I'll probably turn pro after my first year of college. Mom and I have some talking still to do on that. She insists I take the Tim Duncan route, get a college degree and then I can do whatever I want. Until then, I know I still have a lot of work to do. Being around mom's college team has shown me what I'll have to do. Wake up early, go to class, take care of your work and your body.
***
I probably should have known Mom was going to retire before she told me. I was only 8 then, but I always tried to check on her. I remember her being tired, and I was always telling her to get more rest. I didn't understand. My goals for the day were to wake up, and not be tired. Brush my teeth, wash my face, put on deodorant, do my school work and then I'd ask her to take me to the gym.
Basketball players don't get much time to rest. If you're not practicing or playing, you're preparing. It's constant work, and my mom always worked. So I feel like it's my place to do the same now.
My goals have changed.
My goal is to be better than her, or do what she did -- at the level that she did it.
I might not play 17 seasons. I might play more. It just goes where it goes.