The Basics
Position: Guard
Current Team: Washington Mystics | #9
Draft: 2015 | St. Joseph's | 2nd round (15th overall)
Key Accolades: Dawn Staley Leadership Award (2019), WNBA Champion (2019), All-Defensive Team (2019)
WNBA Profile | Stats | Instagram | Twitter | TikTok
The Pet: Brody
The Down Low
Tash is the definition of an advocate: for her teammates, for women's basketball, and for her community.
As a teammate, she is the ultimate hypewoman. And her results speak for themselves. In 2019, she managed a season-long campaign to ensure that Elene Delle Donne was named MVP. And in 2021, she would not rest until Ariel Atkins was named an All-Star. She gets so hyped for her teammates that trainers make her tape up for games even when she is not playing because she refuses to sit down.
She is dedicated to leaving the sport better than when she found it. She was one of the first athletes to sign onto to Athlete's Unlimited's basketball league, after watching her wife Aleshia Ocasio play in their softball league.
Tash is also an activist, sitting out the 2020 season to continue her fight for social justice. Her outspoken leadership has her dubbed the Unofficial Minister of Social Justice for the WNBA.
While she uses her platform to support her larger goals, that does not mean Tash is always serious. In fact, she is one of the most fun athletes to watch on and off the court, and is never afraid to show off her serious dance moves.
Notable Quotables
I’m writing this because I have a platform. It may not be the biggest platform in the world….. but it’s bigger than a lot of people have. It’s what I’ve got. And the only thing I feel like using that platform for right now is to send a message to the so-called “neutral” people out there. It’s to tell them that we’re changing up the definitions of some of these words they’ve been hiding behind.
It’s to tell them that “seeing both sides” means having blood on their hands – and “opting out” means leaving innocent people to die.
It’s to tell them that neutrality about black lives might as well be murder.
It’s to tell them that their silence is the knee on George Floyd’s neck.
If you’re silent, I don’t fuck with you, period.
[Source]
Highlight Photo
Just a great shot, and an even better recreation.
Merch
I can personally recommend the Natasha Cloud x Converse collection.
More on Tash
- Your Silence is a Knee on My Neck (Natasha Cloud, The Players' Tribune)
- How Washington Mystics Point Guard Natasha Cloud Became the WNBA’s Unofficial Minister of Social Justice (Mike Wise, The Washingtonian)
- Why Natasha Cloud decided to opt out of the 2020 WNBA season (Aaron Dodson, The Undefeated)
- WNBA’s Natasha Cloud reflects on her coming out journey: ‘It was so transformational’ (Alex Reimer, Outsports)
- As Natasha Cloud returns, her social justice fight is far from over (Tyler Byrum, NBC Sports)