Erica Wheeler's pickleball tournament kicks off WNBA All-Star weekend

Percy Allen, The Seattle Times on Jul 17, 2025

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INDIANAPOLIS — Before their last game, Erica Wheeler surprised Storm teammates and coaches with a white-gold necklace, diamond-encrusted tennis bracelet and team-logo pendent courtesy of jeweler GLD.

“Why?” she said. “Just because. … We family. You do for family. Simple as that. I’d do anything for them. Besides, they looked like they needed some ice.”

In their last game before the WNBA All-Star break, Wheeler helped Seattle secure a 67-58 win over the Golden State Valkyries while scoring 11 of her 15 points in the momentum-swinging third quarter.

Hours later, she boarded a plane and took a red-eye flight to Indianapolis for three days of festivities that began with Thursday’s 2nd annual Erica Wheeler Pickleball Tournament.

“I’m serious about my pickleball,” Wheeler said smiling. “I wouldn’t say I’m a pro, but I don’t mess around. … Me and my best friend wanted to win last year, and we don’t plan on losing this time.

“But we got some competition. I invited two pro pickleball players, so that should be interesting.”

The sold-out tournament drew over 80 participants, including WNBA players Rhyne Howard, Saniya Rivers and Marina Mabrey along with NFL players Kenny Moore II and Zaire Franklin and Louisville Cardinals star Jayda Curry.

“Pickleball is one of those universal sports. Everybody is into it,” said Wheeler, a 34-year-old Miami native. “You can get people that are 50 years old to 10 years old playing. Not everybody can play basketball. I didn’t want to just do a celebrity basketball game. That’s typical. I wanted to do something different that’s a cool way to interact with fans.

“I remember my first time playing pickleball was against this 70-year-old dude and I’m like, ‘I’m about to wax his ass.’ No, I got my ass waxed. … That’s why I love it. It’s just a different dynamic. No matter your age or if you’re some world-class athlete or not, it’s just a fun game.”

For Wheeler, the tournament is also a way to honor her mother, Melissa Cooper, who passed away July 12, 2012, from cervical cancer.

Last year, her charity the Wheeler Kid Foundation partnered with the Mississippi Breast and Cervical Cancer Program to raise funds and awareness to cervical cancer.

“I’m just so thankful I have this opportunity to give back and highlight my mom, also because family is super important to me,” said Wheeler, an 11-year WNBA veteran who spent six seasons with the Indiana Fever and joined the Storm in February. “The timing couldn’t be more perfect because everybody’s in town. Indy is like a second home to me, so in my opinion, there’s no better way to get the weekend popping.”

On Friday night, the 5-foot-7 guard will compete in the WNBA Skills Challenge against backcourt mate Skylar Diggins, New York’s Natasha Cloud, Atlanta’s Allisha Gray and Minnesota’s Courtney Williams for a $50,000 prize.

On Saturday night, Wheeler will be among the celebrity fans at Gainbridge Arena cheering on Storm teammates Nneka Ogwumike, Gabby Williams and Diggins.

Additionally, Wheeler has endorsement commitments with Adidas and Google while juggling demands from family and friends. And if there’s time, she wouldn’t mind attending a party or two.

“I’m going to be busy, but not as busy as you think,” Wheeler said. “It sounds like a lot. The pickleball tournament and the Skills Challenge (are) probably my busiest things. Everything else I can say no to if I’m tired. … Well, maybe not the (All-Star Game). I got to be there to support my teammates Nneka, Sky and Gabby.”

In 2019, Wheeler made history when she came off the bench and scored a game-high 25 points to become the only undrafted player to win the MVP award in her lone All-Star Game appearance.

“This weekend is so much fun because you have all these stars in our game coming together, and we’re just trying to put on a show for the fans,” Wheeler said. “It’s also good to have this break in the middle of the season and get away from the team thing and do something different.

“It’s not long enough in my opinion. Just 3-4 days and then we’re back at it. But you can be sure, people are going to have a good time in Indy. They love them some basketball there.”