Rhonda Blades

Rhonda Blades Brown (born October 29, 1972) is a former professional basketball player. She was the first pick in the 1998 WNBA expansion draft and was selected by the New York Liberty. Blades was a 4-year starting point guard and captain at Vanderbilt University and played 6 years professionally including the WNBA and abroad.

Rhonda Blades Brown

Personal information
Born	(1972-10-29) October 29, 1972 Springfield, Missouri
Nationality	American
Listed height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Listed weight	137 lb (62 kg)
Career information
High school	Parkview (Springfield, Missouri)
College	Vanderbilt (1991–1995)
WNBA draft	1998: Expansion round, 1st overall pick
Selected by the Detroit Shock
Playing career	1997–1998
Position	Guard
Number	10
Career history
1997	New York Liberty
1998	Detroit Shock
Career WNBA statistics
Points	146 (2.6 ppg)
Assists	71 (1.2 apg)
Steals	26 (0.5 spg)
Stats at Basketball Reference

Brown has the distinction of being the very first player in the WNBA to make a 3-Point Shot.

College

Rhonda Blades played basketball for Vanderbilt. During her four seasons (1992–95), she totaled 1,017 points and was named Honorable Mention All-American during her senior year. Blades completed a master's degree in nursing (MSN) and RN from VUSN in 1996.

Vanderbilt statistics

Source

Ratios

YEAR	Team	GP	FG%	3P%	FT%	RBG	APG	BPG	SPG	PPG
1991-92	Vanderbilt	31	48.0%	35.3%	81.6%	1.55	1.48	0.06	0.94	3.03
1992-93	Vanderbilt	33	42.3%	32.3%	76.6%	3.12	4.73	0.03	1.94	7.52
1993-94	Vanderbilt	33	44.7%	40.1%	80.4%	3.97	4.73	0.06	1.88	11.73
1994-95	Vanderbilt	35	40.0%	35.1%	61.7%	3.60	4.20	0.00	1.80	8.23
Career		132	42.9%	36.3%	75.9%	3.09	3.83	0.04	1.65	7.70

Totals

YEAR	Team	GP	FG	FGA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	REB	A	BK	ST	PTS
1991-92	Vanderbilt	31	24	50	6	17	40	49	48	46	2	29	94
1992-93	Vanderbilt	33	66	156	31	96	85	111	103	156	1	64	248
1993-94	Vanderbilt	33	115	257	67	167	90	112	131	156	2	62	387
1994-95	Vanderbilt	35	92	230	67	191	37	60	126	147	0	63	288
Career		132	297	693	171	471	252	332	408	505	5	218	1017

WNBA

Brown entered the WNBA in 1997 during its inaugural season and was a member of the New York Liberty. Her debut game was played on June 21, 1997, in a 67 - 57 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks. In that game, Brown became the very first player in the WNBA to score a 3-point shot. Coincidentally, that 3-pointer was Brown's only field goal attempt of the game and she finished the game with 3 points, 1 assist and 1 steal. She would play a reserve role for the Liberty and helped the team finish with a record of 17 - 11 while averaging 2.9 points and 1.1 assists in 10.4 minutes per game. The Liberty would reach the inaugural WNBA Finals on August 30, 1997, but would lose to the Houston Comets 51 - 65 with Brown playing for 13 minutes and recording 2 assists, 2 turnovers and 1 foul.

On February 18, 1998, Rhonda Blades Brown was selected with the first overall pick of the WNBA Expansion Draft by the Detroit Shock. During her time with the Shock, all of her averages would remain around the same as her time with the Liberty (2.3 points, 1.4 assists in 11.7 minutes per game). She was able to start the first 2 games of the Shock's season but she immediately lost her starting spot to teammate Sandy Brondello for the rest of the season. The Shock would have a rough start to the 1998 season, losing their first 4 games, then winning 6 in a row, and then losing another 4 games to start off 6 - 8. The team resiliently finished the season with a 17 - 13 record but would miss the playoffs.

Before the 1999 WNBA season began, Brown would be waived by the Shock on April 23, 1999. She signed a contract with the Washington Mystics on May 8, but was waived a month later on June 9 (1 day before the Mystics played their first game of the season). After being waived by the Mystics, Brown would miss the 1999 season entirely and also would miss the next season (2000).

Brown would also play professionally overseas in Israel and Turkey, winning the Israeli cup in 2000–2001.

After missing two entire seasons, Brown would sign a contract with the Cleveland Rockers on April 30, 2001. However, she would be waived soon after on May 11. Thus, Brown ended up missing the 2001 season as well and decided to move on from the WNBA after missing three straight seasons. Her final WNBA game was the last regular season game of the Detroit Shock's 1998 season. That game was played on August 19, 1998, and the Shock toppled the Liberty 82 - 68 with Brown recording only recording 1 missed field goal and no other stats in four minutes of playing time.

WNBA per game stats

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 best	°	League leader

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1997	New York	28	0	10.4	.357	.315	.650	0.8	1.1	0.5	0.0	1.4	2.9
1998	Detroit	29	2	11.7	.256	.240	.483	1.1	1.4	0.4	0.0	1.4	2.3
Career	2 years, 2 teams	57	2	11.1	.304	.279	.551	0.9	1.2	0.5	0.0	1.4	2.6

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1997	New York	1	0	13.0	—	—	—	0.0	2.0	0.0	0.0	2.0	0.0

Life after Professional Basketball

After basketball, Blades became the head varsity girls' basketball coach at Brentwood Academy, in Brentwood, Tennessee. She has coached a winning program for 17 seasons (361–162 record), including 5 state championships and 4 more state championship appearances. She also teaches Anatomy and Health at Brentwood Academy, for which additional sessions were added to meet demand. Brown is married to Parke Brown (22 years), with two children, Blades and Millie.