How I Almost Walked Into Jennifer Azzi (And More Important Facts About Her Great Career)

This was originally written at Fanbase.

One thing that I miss about reading newspapers and specifically, The San Jose Mercury News, is the local coverage of some college sports like women's basketball. Back in the mid to late 80s, I loved reading about the Stanford women's basketball team just as much as I loved reading about the men's team. For every Todd Lichti and Adam Keefe, there was a Val Whiting and Jennifer Azzi.

What I loved about Azzi is that she didn't need to score in order to help her team win. In fact, as the point guard, she directed her offense like a quarterback. What also stood out about Azzi is that she was such a great clutch player, due in part to the great condition she was in. She was able to play hard every minute.

In 1990, Azzi lead her team to the NCAA Championship. The Cardinal beat Auburn and during the same year, Azzi won the Naismith Award as the college player of the year.

In 1994, she was a part of the gold medal winning US women's basketball team at the Goodwill Games and also helped Team USA win the big one in 1996 at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

That win in 1996 helped jump start women's professional leagues in the US.

In 1996, she joined the San Jose Lasers which was in the ABL, a women's league that started the year before the WNBA. Behind Azzi, the Lasers would lose in the semifinals of the playoffs in the two years of the league's existence. The league started a third year but didn't complete it.

It was during Azzi's one of Azzi's seasons with the Lasers that I nearly walked into her on campus while I was attending San Jose State University.

I was a Radio/TV Journalism major at SJSU, with dreams of becoming a baseball and basketball play by play announcer. The Lasers not only played their games on campus at the San Jose Event Center, but they also practiced there.

I had a dream one night that I was doing the play by play of a Lasers' game and Azzi hit the game winning shot. The very next day while walking on campus, I nearly walked right into Azzi who had just finished practice. Was it a sign?

Well, no. Even though I worked at KNBR, which is one of California's top sports radio stations, my dreams died when I learned how radio worked and how little I enjoyed the business. The Lasers also wouldn't be in San Jose for much longer.

Azzi was drafted by the Detroit Shock in the first round (5th pick) of the 1999 WNBA draft and then was traded to the Utah Starzz. She retired from pro basketball in 2004.

If I have a favorite women's basketball player, it's Azzi. Even though I don't follow the Cardinal at all anymore, I'll always remember watching Azzi highlights and her championship season of 1990. And I'll also always remember the day when I nearly bumped into her on campus the day after I dreamed that I was calling her winning shot.

Photo from Jennifer Azzi's press kit