| Rhonda Blades Brown | |
| Number: | 10 |
| Position: | Guard |
| Height Ft: | 5 |
| Height In: | 7 |
| Weight Lb: | 137 |
| Birth Date: | 29 October 1972 |
| Birth Place: | Springfield, Missouri |
| Nationality: | American |
| High School: | Parkview (Springfield, Missouri) |
| College: | Vanderbilt (1991–1995) |
| Draft League: | WNBA |
| Draft Year: | 1998 |
| Draft Round: | Expansion |
| Draft Pick: | 1 |
| Draft Team: | Detroit Shock |
| Career Start: | 1997 |
| Career End: | 1998 |
| Years1: | 1997 |
| Team1: | New York Liberty |
| Years2: | 1998 |
| Team2: | Detroit Shock |
| Stats League: | WNBA[1] |
| Stat1label: | Points |
| Stat1value: | 146 (2.6 ppg) |
| Stat2label: | Assists |
| Stat2value: | 71 (1.2 apg) |
| Stat3label: | Steals |
| Stat3value: | 26 (0.5 spg) |
| Bbr Wnba: | bladerh01w |
| Letter: | b |
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.[2] [3] Blades was a 4-year starting point guard and captain at Vanderbilt University and played 6 years professionally including the WNBA and abroad.
Brown has the distinction of being the very first player in the WNBA to make a 3-Point Shot.[4]
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.[5]
| 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 |
| 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 |
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.[10] 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.[11]
On February 18, 1998, Rhonda Blades Brown was selected with the first overall pick of the WNBA Expansion Draft by the Detroit Shock.[12] 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).[13] 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.[14] 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.[15]
|-| style="text-align:left;"|1997| style="text-align:left;"|New York| 28 || 0 || 10.4 || .357 || .315 || .650 || 0.8 || 1.1 || 0.5 || 0.0 || 1.4 || 2.9|-| style="text-align:left;"|1998| style="text-align:left;"|Detroit| 29 || 2 || 11.7 || .256 || .240 || .483 || 1.1 || 1.4 || 0.4 || 0.0 || 1.4 || 2.3|-| style="text-align:left;"|Career| style="text-align:left;"|2 years, 2 teams| 57 || 2 || 11.1 || .304 || .279 || .551 || 0.9 || 1.2 || 0.5 || 0.0 || 1.4 || 2.6
|-| style="text-align:left;"|1997| style="text-align:left;"|New York| 1 || 0 || 13.0 || — || — || — || 0.0 || 2.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 2.0 ||0.0[16]
After basketball, Blades became the head varsity girls' basketball coach at Brentwood Academy, in Brentwood, Tennessee.[17] 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 (son, age 16) and Millie (daughter, age 20).