The Ever Growing Legend of Allisha Gray
Allisha Gray has never been the loudest voice in the WNBA, but over the course of her eight-year career she has become one of the strongest presences in the league.
Allisha Gray has never been the loudest voice in the WNBA, but over the course of her eight-year career she has become one of the strongest presences in the league to where now she’s an Olympic gold medalist, an All-Star starter with a prominent cameo in an Aflac commercial, and a driving force on one of the hottest contenders in the W.
And she’s not new to this. She’s quietly been in the mix for a number of big moments in women’s basketball.
Gray, The Gamecock
Flash back to the 2017 National Championship.
South Carolina vs. Mississippi State.
The Gamecocks fall behind 7-1, looking a little tight. Enter Allisha Gray.
She gets a rebound, pushes up ahead to Bianca Cuevas-Moore for two to make it a 7-7 game. Later, Gray hits a spin move into a fadeaway jumper for two to tie the game up at 14-14.She continued to make plays like that as the Gamecocks pushed the lead and went on to win the first ever national championship in program history.
“I think Lish was an unsung hero,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said in a phone interview with NCS. “Lish just went about her business. She was, not even was, she is a highly competitive person that doesn't like to lose and will do anything, like anything [to make sure that doesn’t happen]. She'll do the small stuff, she'll do the big stuff, and she'll do it in a quiet manner.”
Gray indeed did it all, finishing with 18 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 assists in that championship game, second only to A’ja Wilson’s 23 and 10.
“Sometimes, when you are doing it in a quiet manner, you don't always get the publicity that you deserve and your flowers that you deserve,” Staley said. “And I know we did that with her when she was here, but you know, I just think she was one that welcomed us having a void after losing Alaina Coates, we moved her to play the four. She just gracefully took on a responsibility and created such a mismatch on both sides of the ball.”
“A’ja made huge baskets after huge baskets, you know, but aside from A’ja, it was Allisha's play that really just kind of took off, and it created the advantage that we needed when we lost someone like Alaina.”
Allisha Gets Her Wings
Jump to her rookie year.
The Dallas Wings are forced to play without center Liz Cambage, but are still seen as a team with solid pieces capable of making the playoffs. Gray was very solid and steady to start her rookie campaign and then caught fire in July into August. She ended up averaging 13 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.5 steals on her way to Rookie of the Year honors as the Wings made the playoffs. Her transition was a seamless one because of her versatility.
“She played on both sides of the ball,” Staley said. “She could score, she could score at the rim. She was a streaky three point shooter, but she played both sides of the ball. I mean, she was ready. The only thing someone like Lish needed was experience at the next level.”
She would get that experience and then some. In the Tokyo games of 2020, a 3X3 tournament was introduced. Gray was named as a U.S. representative and thrived in her role, leading team USA to gold and being the USA Basketball 3X3 Athlete of the Year.
Gray is a bouncy lefty more than capable of being a 2-way player and 3X3 Olympic play and in the new Unrivaled league helped her shine and hone her skillset.
“From an offensive standpoint, it allows you to hone your skills because it’s just you and one person, so you get to work on your ISO game,” Gray said. “Then from a defensive standpoint, you’re on an island. You have no help, so you really gotta lock in.”
ATLisha
She’s been able to take that development and really thrive in first-year head coach Karl Smesko’s system. The former Florida Gulf Coast coach loves for his teams to shoot threes and layups while playing with pace and Gray said it’s the perfect fit for her because she’s allowed to just do what comes naturally.
“I mean with a new coaching system you never know what to expect,” she said. “But once being in the system, it’s thinkless basketball. I just go out there and play, I don’t have to think the game, I’m just out there having fun.”
As a result, she’s averaging a career-high 18.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists with the Dream currently in 4th place overall in the league at 15-10. Gray has been on a heater since starting in the All-Star game, where she scored 18 points, and came out the gate dropping 24-8-2, 28-7-6 and 12-1-2 in the first three games post break.
Staley said you can see the growth not only in the numbers, but how she moves out on the court.
“I think she's more efficient. I think she's more comfortable in her skin,” she said. “I think she's just confident in knowing that the things that she does in the off season, she believes it. She has a high level of confidence that is going to work because she put that work in for it to work, right? So it’s that part of it. Like, she's a pro. She has created pro habits in the off season.”
Those particular habits were shaped during her rookie season when she had some of the most competitive vets in the game.
“When I first got into the league, my vets were Skylar Diggins and Karima Christmas-Kelly,” Gray said. “[I was able to learn about] just work ethic. They took me under their wing and I remember Sky pulling me into her individual workout. They were just teaching me how to be a pro and I think being under them has helped me be successful in knowing how to carry myself and be a pro.”
Gray has accumulated a number of different nicknames over the years. Gold Medal Lish, Goggle Lish, to name a few, and Staley believes one more is possible; MVP Lish.
“I mean, a dream merchant fulfilled, like to watch her do what she's doing and put herself in the MVP talk, because I do think she's having an MVP season,” Staley said. “And we're going to have to use our voices to put her name out there, because she's not going to put her name out there. She ain't that type of player. But she got people in her life that know what MVP type seasons look like.”
loved this article - would have been even better if it was a bit longer and had some more depth about the development of her game from unc to usc, and how south carolina changed her game a bit.