The MSR is the only local media that has covered the Minnesota Lynx from the start of its 25-year existence, as the team became the Twin Cities’ most successful pro franchise. Before this season, the team chose its top-25 players in Lynx history and held their 25th-anniversary celebration the weekend of June 9-11, where the MSR spoke to several of the honored players. This week: Monica Wright (2010-15)
Sports Odds and Ends
After Tina Charles was selected first overall in the 2010 WNBA draft, Monica Wright was selected second, by Minnesota out of Virginia. She was among three Black women chosen in the first five picks of that draft.
The 5’10” Wright hit the 1,000-point mark in her sophomore year at Virginia. Her individual honors were bookmarked between ACC Rookie of the Year (freshman year) and Defensive Player of the Year (ACC and national) in her senior year.
With the Lynx, Wright primarily played off the bench at both guard and forward. She made the WNBA’s All-Rookie Team after her first season (2010). In 2013, she was the team’s primary backup at shooting guard and point guard.
Wright averaged 11 points a game and shot nearly 40 percent from the field in her rookie summer. She shot almost 43 percent and averaged a career-high 2.3 assists per game in 2013, playing 21 minutes as a key reserve. She scored 9.1 points per game as well.
Midway through the 2015 season, a year when Wright also dealt with a season-ending knee injury, Minnesota traded her to Seattle for Renee Montgomery and a 2016 second-round pick. She finished her pro career in the Emerald City, forced to retire in 2016, due to nagging knee injuries.
A member of Minnesota’s championship teams in 2011 and 2013, Wright went into college coaching (Liberty assistant, 2018-19; Virginia assistant, 2019-21).
Now married, Wright Rogers, a mother of one, and now the assistant general manager for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, she said, “It’s been an honor to be a part of the league, especially during our dynasty run. In retrospect, looking back I feel like I should have appreciated it a lot more. But I had a blast playing with these phenomenal women.”
Named to the All-25 Minnesota Lynx team, Wright Rogers concluded a successful playing career and is currently a front-office executive. “I feel like I can impact in ways that others can’t because of the career that I had here.”
Sheriff Witt honored
Last Saturday, Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt was honored during the Minnesota-Las Vegas contest. She became the county’s first Black elected sheriff when she won her election last November.
“It feels wonderful. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude,” Witt told us after receiving a Lynx autographed basketball at half court. A city native, Witt is an unabashed Lynx fan: “They’re my hometown team,” she stressed.
Next featured Lynx Greats player: Tamika Williams