Cheryl Ford

Template:Short description Template:About Template:BLP sources Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox basketball biography Cheryl Ford (born June 6, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. As a member of the Detroit Shock, she won the WNBA championship three times.

Early life and education

Cheryl Ford is the daughter of Bonita Ford and former NBA player Karl Malone. She has a twin brother named Daryl and a half brother, former NFL offensive tackle Demetress Bell. Malone's paternity was established as the result of a drawn-out paternity suit.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Ford played for Summerfield High School in Summerfield, Louisiana, where she was named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the 1999 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored two points.<ref name="WBCA Box Scores"/>

College career

Ford was a standout collegiate player at Louisiana Tech University. In 2003, she was named to the Associated Press' All-America Honorable Mention team. She was also named the Western Athletic Conference "Player of the Year" in 2002 and 2003.

Louisiana Tech statistics

Year	Team	GP	Points	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1999–2000	Louisiana Tech	34	222	58.0	–	66.7	5.2	0.1	0.6	0.9	6.5
2000–01	Louisiana Tech	35	287	52.7	–	60.0	5.1	0.5	0.7	0.7	8.2
2001–02	Louisiana Tech	30	338	46.5	–	58.6	8.7	0.4	0.9	1.8	11.3
2002–03	Louisiana Tech	34	533	48.0	–	63.0	12.9	0.9	1.6	1.9	15.7
Career	Louisiana Tech	133	1380	49.9	0.0	61.7	7.9	0.5	1.0	1.3	10.4

Professional career

In 2003, Ford was drafted as the No. 3 overall pick in the first round by the Detroit Shock in the WNBA draft.

In just her first year in the league, Ford led the Shock from worst to the best record and a WNBA championship in 2003. She is the first player to have won the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award and a WNBA championship in the same year. Afterwards, she played for the Dallas Fury in the National Women's Basketball League (NWBL) under Coach Nancy Lieberman.

Ford spent the 2005–06 season in Israel, playing for Anda Ramat Hasharon.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On July 15, 2007, Ford won the WNBA All-Star Game MVP Award in Washington, D.C. when the East beat the West 103–99.

Ford missed the rest of the 2008 WNBA season due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury in her right knee, sustained on July 22, 2008 during a game against the Los Angeles Sparks. A brawl had broken out and Ford sustained the injury while attempting to restrain her teammate.<ref name="ACL"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

During the 2009 WNBA season, Ford averaged 7.4 rebounds per game and 8.6 points per game.<ref name="playerfile"/>

In January 2010, Ford signed a deal with Polish team CCC Aquapark Polkowice from 1st division league Ford Germaz Ekstraklasa (PLKK).

Ford spent the 2011–12 season with Beretta Famila Schio, averaging 11.3 points and 11.9 rebounds per game.<ref name="hurriyet-2012-09-11">Template:Cite news</ref>

On September 12, 2012, The Canik Belediyesi basketball club was announced as having signed Ford,<ref name="hurriyet-2012-09-11"/> as well as New York Liberty veteran Janel McCarville.

In March 2013, she signed with the New York Liberty.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She missed most of the preseason due to a left knee injury, appearing in one preseason game before being released in June.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

Template:WNBA player statistics start |- | align="left" | 2003 | align="left" | Detroit | 32 || 32 || 29.9 || .474 || .000 || .682 || 10.4 || 0.8 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 2.47 || 10.8 |- | align="left" | 2004 | align="left" | Detroit | 31 || 31 || 29.4 || .411 || .000 || .589 || 9.6 || 1.1 || 1.3 || 0.8 || 1.74 || 10.6 |- | align="left" | 2005 | align="left" | Detroit | 33 || 33 || 28.2 || .430 || .000 || .487 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|9.8° || 0.8 || 1.0 || 1.4 || 2.09 || 9.5 |- | align="left" | 2006 | align="left" | Detroit | 32 || 32 || 28.7 || .498 || .000 || .648 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|11.3° || 1.4 || 1.2 || 0.8 || 1.81 || 13.8 |- | align="left" | 2007 | align="left" | Detroit | 15 || 15 || 30.7 || .497 || .000 || .639 || 11.2 || 1.5 || 1.9 || 0.7 || 2.80 || 13.0 |- | align="left" | 2008 | align="left" | Detroit | 24 || 24 || 26.5 || .481 || .000 || .560 || 8.7 || 0.9 || 1.0 || 0.4 || 0.96 || 10.1 |- | align="left" | 2009 | align="left" | Detroit | 29 || 29 || 26.0 || .427 || .000 || .550 || 7.4 || 0.9 || 1.0 || 0.4 || 1.69 || 8.6 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" |7 years, 1 team | 196 || 196 || 28.4 || .457 || .000 || .595 || 9.7 || 1.0 || 1.1 || 0.8 || 1.91 || 10.8

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Playoffs

Template:WNBA player statistics start |- | align="left" | 2003 | align="left" | Detroit | 8 || 8 || 29.0 || .324 || .000 || .826 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|10.0° || 0.5 || 1.4 || 0.8 || 1.25 || 8.4 |- | align="left" | 2004 | align="left" | Detroit | 3 || 3 || 37.0 || .447 || .000 || .636 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|10.7° || 0.3 || 1.3 || 2.3 || 2.67 || 16.0 |- | align="left" | 2005 | align="left" | Detroit | 2 || 2 || 24.5 || .444 || .000 || .600 || 7.0 || 1.0 || 0.5 || 1.0 || 1.50 || 9.5 |- | align="left" | 2006 | align="left" | Detroit | 10 || 10 || 28.7 || .523 || .000 || .750 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|10.3° || 1.2 || 1.3 || 0.7 || 1.90 || 13.4 |- | align="left" | 2007 | align="left" | Detroit | 10 || 8 || 22.8 || .415 || .000 || .455 || 9.2 || 0.4 || 0.5 || 0.3 || 1.40 || 6.9 |- | align="left" | 2009 | align="left" | Detroit | 5 || 5 || 29.6 || .448 || .000 || .813 || 10.0 || 1.2 || 1.4 || 0.2 || 3.60 || 7.8 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" |6 years, 1 team | 38 || 36 || 27.8 || .433 || .000 || .684 || 9.8 || 0.8 || 1.1 || 0.7 || 1.89 || 9.9

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National team career

Ford was named to the National team representing the USA at the 2006 World Championships, held in Barueri and Sao Paulo, Brazil. The team won eight of their nine contests, but the lone loss came in the semifinal medal round to Russia. The USA beat Brazil in the final game to earn the bronze medal. Ford averaged 3.4 points per game.<ref name="2006 WC"/>

External links

• WNBA profile at WNBA.com
• WNBA statistics at Basketball-Reference.com