Azurá Stevens Explained

Azurá Stevens
Position:Power forward / center
Height Ft:6
Height In:6
Weight Lbs:180
League:WNBA
Team:Los Angeles Sparks
Number:23
Birth Date:1 February 1996
Birth Place:Pawtucket, Rhode Island, U.S.
High School:Cary
(Cary, North Carolina)
College:
Draft League:WNBA
Draft Year:2018
Draft Round:1
Draft Pick:6
Draft Team:Dallas Wings
Career Start:2018
Years1:
Team1:Dallas Wings
Years2:2018–2019
Team2:Hebei Win Power
Years3:
Team3:Chicago Sky
Years4:2021–2022
Team4:Nika Syktyvkar
Years5:2022–2023
Team5:Galatasaray
Years6:–present
Team6:Los Angeles Sparks
Years7:2024
Team7:Xinjiang Magic Deer
Highlights:

Azurá Breeona Stevens (born February 1, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). Stevens played collegiately for the Duke Blue Devils[1] and the Connecticut Huskies.[2] [3] She was drafted with the 6th overall pick in the 2018 WNBA draft by the Dallas Wings.

Background

Stevens was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the daughter of Damon and Kaasha Stevens. She attended Cary High School in Cary, North Carolina, graduating in 2014. She played basketball at Cary High, where she averaged 30 points, 20 rebounds, and four blocks her senior year.[4] [5] As a sophomore and junior in high school, she played basketball with The Miracle League of the Triangle.

Stevens was an All-Academic selection all four years of high school. Her senior year, she was selected as an All-American by Parade Magazine. In 2014, she was selected for All-State by the Associated Press and for All-North Carolina First Team by USA Today.

Career

College career

Stevens played for the Duke Blue Devils during the 2014–15 and 2015-16 season. At Duke, she was named to the All-ACC Second Team as a freshman and to the First Team as a sophomore. She sat out the following due to transfer rules before playing for the UConn Huskies in the 2017-18 season. At UConn, she was named to the All-AAC Second Team and received the AAC Sixth Player of Year and AAC Newcomer of Year awards.[6]

Duke and Connecticut statistics

Source[7]

YearTeamGPPointsFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
2014-15Duke3346651.2%28.3%59.6%8.21.71.10.914.1
2015-16Duke2547253.5%35.8%75.0%9.61.61.32.118.9
2016-17ConnecticutSat due to NCAA transfer rules
2017-18Connecticut3754360.6%17.6%79.1%7.41.90.82.114.7
Career95148155.2%27.3%70.7%8.31.71.01.715.6

WNBA career

Dallas Wings (2018–2019)

In April 2018, Stevens decided to forgo her senior year of college and declare for the 2018 WNBA draft.[8] [9] She was a highly rated player expected to be taken in the first round of the draft, and noted for her ability to play "positionless" basketball.[10] [11] [12] [13]

In her rookie season for the Wings, Stevens mostly came off the bench, averaging 20.6 minutes, 8.9 points, and 4.6 rebounds per game, and was named to the WNBA All-Rookie Team.[14] Although the Wings ended the season with a 15–19 losing record, they entered the playoffs as the eighth seed and lost in the first round to the Phoenix Mercury. Stevens missed most of the 2019 season with an injury, playing only 9 games where she averaged 16 minutes and 4.8 points per game.[15] She later had surgery on her injured foot.

Chicago Sky (2020–2022)

Ahead of the 2020 season, the Wings traded Stevens to the Chicago Sky in exchange for Katie Lou Samuelson and first-round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft.[16] In reporting ahead of the 2018 draft, multiple outlets had expected the Sky to draft Stevens with the third or fourth pick. With the Sky, Stevens was expected to fill a gap in the forward position created by the departure of Astou Ndour.

Los Angeles Sparks (2023–present)

Ahead of the 2023 season, Stevens signed a two-year contract with the Los Angeles Sparks.[17]

Overseas

Galatasaray

On 3 August 2022, she signed with Galatasaray of the Turkish Women's Basketball Super League (TKBL).[18]

As of July 2023, her contract has expired. Galatasaray club said goodbye to the player on July 6, 2023 by publishing a thank you message.[19]

Career statistics

Denotes seasons in which Stevens won a WNBA championship

WNBA

Regular season

|-| style='text-align:left;'|2018| style='text-align:left;'|Dallas| 34 || 9 || 20.6 || .430 || .318 || .788 || 4.6 || 1.3 || 0.9 || 1.1 || 1.5 || 8.9|-| style='text-align:left;'|2019| style='text-align:left;'|Dallas| 9 || 1 || 16.0 || .358 || .111 || .800 || 3.6 || 0.6 || 0.6 || 1.1 || 1.0 || 4.8|-| style='text-align:left;'|2020| style='text-align:left;'|Chicago| 13|| 13 || 27.3 || .500 || .385 || .850 || 5.9 || 1.5 || 0.9 || 1.8 || 1.5 || 11.5|-| style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"|2021| style='text-align:left;'|Chicago| 30 || 11 || 19.6 || .500 || .333 || .813 || 4.6 || 0.8 || 0.8 || 0.7 || 0.9 || 7.4|-| style='text-align:left;'|2022| style='text-align:left;'|Chicago| 35 || 8 || 21.9 || .472 || .362 || .744 || 3.9 || 0.8 || 0.5 || 1.1 || 0.7 || 10.6|-| style='text-align:left;'|2023| style='text-align:left;'|Los Angeles| 35 || 29 || 26.0 || .404 || .321 || .754 || 5.9 || 1.1 || 1.2 || 0.9 || 1.5 || 10.8|-| style="text-align:left;"| Career| style="text-align:left;"| 6 years, 3 teams| 156 || 71 || 22.2 || .446 || .335 || .780 || 4.8 || 1.0 || 0.8 || 1.1 || 1.2 || 9.4

Playoffs

|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2018| style="text-align:left;"| Dallas| 1 || 0 || 13.0 || 1.000 || 1.000 || .000 || 2.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 7.0|-| style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"| 2021| style="text-align:left;"| Chicago| 10 || 10 || 25.4 || .477 || .263 || .786 || 6.9 || 0.8 || 0.7 || 0.8 || 0.9 || 9.8|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2022| style="text-align:left;"| Chicago| 8 || 0 || 18.8 || .472 || .188 || .667 || 3.8 || 0.5 || 1.0 || 0.9 || 0.8 || 7.4|-| style="text-align:left;"| Career| style="text-align:left;"| 3 years, 2 teams| 19 || 10 || 21.9 || .486 || .250 || .739 || 5.3 || 0.6 || 0.8 || 0.8 || 0.8 || 8.6

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Azurá Stevens - 2015-16 - Women's Basketball. Duke Athletics. March 29, 2021.
  2. Web site: 23 Azurá Stevens. CBS Interactive (UConn Huskies). May 25, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180526041711/http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/azura_stevens_1026700.html. May 26, 2018. dead.
  3. Web site: Associated Press. UConn's Azura Stevens skipping final year to enter WNBA. April 6, 2018. ESPN. May 25, 2018.
  4. News: Moody. Aaron. February 26, 2012. Cary Girls Upset East Wake: Two Imps - Stevens and Coleman - Outscore Entire Warrior Team. A6. The News and Observer. January 31, 2022. Newspapers.com.
  5. News: May 2, 2016. Azura Stevens: 5 Things To Know About UConn Women's Newest Player. Hartford Courant. January 31, 2022.
  6. Web site: Azura Stevens. 2020-07-27. WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. en.
  7. Web site: NCAA Statistics. web1.ncaa.org. 2021-06-03.
  8. Web site: Associated Press. 2018-04-02. UConn forward Stevens to enter WNBA draft. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180405084136/http://www.espn.com:80/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/23003630/uconn-huskies-azura-stevens-skipping-final-year-enter-wnba . 2018-04-05 . 2020-07-27. ESPN.com. en.
  9. Web site: Anthony. Mike. UConn's Azura Stevens Declares For WNBA Draft, Forgoing Senior Season. 2020-07-27. courant.com.
  10. Web site: Ellentuck. Matt. 2018-04-10. Dallas Wings get future of the WNBA in Azura Stevens. 2020-07-27. SBNation.com. en.
  11. Web site: Voepel. Michelle. 2018-04-11. How will UConn's Azurá Stevens impact the WNBA draft?. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180412074505/http://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/23107482/how-uconn-huskies-azura-stevens-impact-wnba-draft . 2018-04-12 . 2020-07-27. ESPN.com. en.
  12. Web site: 2018-04-10. WNBA mock draft: Projecting all three rounds. 2020-07-27. ESPN.com. en.
  13. Web site: Ellentuck. Matt. 2018-04-09. WNBA mock draft: A'ja Wilson will go No. 1. After that, anything can happen. 2020-07-27. SBNation.com. en.
  14. Web site: Azura Stevens WNBA Stats. 2020-07-27. Basketball-Reference.com. en.
  15. Web site: Kenney. Madeline. 2020-07-04. Sky look to Azura Stevens for 'big season' after injury-plagued 2019. 2020-07-27. Chicago Sun-Times. en.
  16. Web site: Associated Press. Sky trade Katie Lou Samuelson and a 1st-round pick to the Dallas Wings for Azura Stevens. 2020-07-27. chicagotribune.com.
  17. Web site: Sparks Sign WNBA Champion Azurá Stevens . 2024-07-30 . Los Angeles Sparks . en.
  18. Web site: Azura Stevens Galatasaray’da!. August 3, 2022. Galatasaray. tr. August 3, 2022.
  19. Web site: Teşekkürler!. Galatasaray S.K.. July 6, 2023. July 6, 2023.