Jamila Wideman

Jamila Wideman (born October 16, 1975) is an American lawyer, activist, and former professional basketball player. She is the daughter of author John Edgar Wideman.

Jamila Wideman

Personal information
Born	(1975-10-16) October 16, 1975 (age 47)
Education	Stanford University (BA) New York University
Years active	1997–2000
Sport
Sport	Basketball
Position	Point guard
Team	Los Angeles Sparks (1997–98) Cleveland Rockers (1999) Portland Fire (2000) Elitzur Ramla (1999–2000)

Early life

Wideman was born on October 16, 1975. Her father, John Edgar Wideman, is an African-American author and a professor at Brown University. Her mother, Judith Ann Goldman, is a lawyer.^[1][2][3][4]

Until she was 10 years old, Wideman lived in Laramie, Wyoming, where her father taught Creative Writing at the University of Wyoming. In 1986, she moved to Amherst, Massachusetts, where her father accepted a tenured teaching position at the University of Massachusetts.

Education

High school

Wideman started on the Amherst Regional High School Varsity team for six straight years, beginning in 7th grade.

In her senior year, leading her team to the high school state championship, Wideman averaged 17 points, 6 steals, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds per game. In the State Championship game, she scored 27 points, had 14 steals and 8 assists, with 7 rebounds.^{[citation needed]}

In 1992–1993, Wideman was named USA Today First Team High School All-American, Converse High School All-American, Nike High School All-American, Kodak High School All-American, New England High School Player of the Year, Massachusetts High School Player of the Year, and High School All-American by the WBCA.^[5] She participated in the WBCA High School All-America Game in 1993, scoring 10 points.^[6]

Her high school basketball team was the subject of a book, In These Girls Hope is a Muscle, by Madeleine Blais.^[7] While in high school, Wideman published poems on the complexities of her racial identity in her high school newspaper. Shortly after the Los Angeles uprisings of 1992, she wrote and published a poem titled Black.^[8]

College

Wideman attended Stanford University, where she continued with basketball. As a 5'6" point guard, Wideman was the smallest player on her college team.

While at Stanford University, she completed a double major, earning a B.A. in political science and African-American studies in 1997. After playing professional basketball, she earned a J.D. from New York University School of Law.^[9]

Professional basketball career

Wideman was selected as the 3rd overall draft pick by the Los Angeles Sparks in the inaugural WNBA draft of collegiate players in the summer of 1997.

Wideman played for four seasons in the WNBA,^[9] playing for the Los Angeles Sparks, Cleveland Rockers, and Portland Fire.

Wideman spent the 1999–2000 winter season in Israel, playing for the Elitzur Ramla club in the Israeli Basketball League. Her team won the national championship.

During the winter of 2005, Wideman reunited with college teammate Kate Starbird and played professionally in Ibiza, Spain.

Activism

Upon graduation from Stanford, and during the off-seasons of the WNBA, Wideman founded and directed the Stanford Athletic Alliance.^[10] In 1997, Wideman founded and implemented another youth program called "Hoopin' with Jamila". The program was funded by Nike. USA Today honored Wideman as the "Most Caring Athlete" in 1998.^[11] The program also earned the National Council on Crime and Delinquency "Community Award", given annually to programs that attempt to provide creative alternatives to juvenile incarceration.

In 2001, Wideman participated in the Connecticut Forum,^[10] where she shared the stage with Stanley Crouch, Anita Hill, Spike Lee, and Bill Russell to talk candidly about race.

Writing

Wideman collaborated with Juniper Lesnik to publish an article on playground basketball in the Sunday New York Times.^[12]

Post-basketball accomplishments

Following her graduation from New York University Law School, Wideman began working as a staff attorney at Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) in Montgomery, Alabama, where she litigated on behalf of death sentences individuals in state and federal courts, and later became a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society in New York City.^[13]

In September 2018, Wideman was hired by the NBA as Vice President of Player Development.^[14]

Career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
Bold	Career high	°	League leader

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1997	Los Angeles	28	14	22.6	.236	.194	.794	2.0	3.7	0.9	0.0	1.8	3.0
1998	Los Angeles	25	0	13.2	.279	.250	.724	0.9	2.3	0.4	0.0	1.4	1.9
1999	Cleveland	26	13	15.4	.273	.136	.647	1.3	2.0	0.8	0.0	1.5	2.2
2000	Portland	5	0	7.0	.000	—	—	0.8	0.4	0.4	0.0	1.2	0.0
Career	4 years, 3 teams	84	27	16.6	.254	.186	.738	1.4	2.5	0.7	0.0	1.6	2.2

See also

• List of select Jewish basketball players

References

1. Kroichick, Ron (March 14, 1997). "Two Worlds of Jamila Wideman". SFGate. from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
2. Goldman, David J. (September 1, 2013). Jewish Sports Stars (2nd Revised Edition): Athletic Heroes Past and Present. Kar-Ben. ISBN 9781467716499. from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
3. Lee, Laura (August 12, 2001). "Perspective; Changing Courts: Brother's Incarceration Shapes Player's Goals". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on October 9, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
4. "Former Stanford hoopster adds firepower to Israeli team". December 10, 1999. from the original on June 25, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
5. . Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
6. . Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
7. Blais, Madeleine (1995). In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle (1st ed.). New York: Atlantic Monthly Press. ISBN 0871135728. OCLC 30894248.
8. Smith, Gary (March 17, 1997). "Out of the Shadows". Sports Illustrated. Time, Inc. from the original on May 25, 2014. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
9. "Stanford Fast Break Club - Where Are They Now?". www.stanfordfbc.org. from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
10. "The Connecticut Forum - The Connecticut Forum". www.ctforum.org. from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
11. "Wideman, Jamila". Jews In Sports.org. from the original on March 31, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
12. Wideman, Jamila (August 12, 2001). "Perspective; A Basketball Journey to the American South". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
13. "Stanford Fast Break Club - Where Are They Now?". www.stanfordfbc.org. from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
14. "Former WNBA player Jamila Wideman joins NBA's Player Development department". Hoopfeed.com. September 6, 2018. from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.

External links

• "Jamila Wideman WNBA Stats". Basketball-Reference.com.