Natasha Mack

Natasha Mack
Mack with the Phoenix Mercury in 2024
No. 4 – Phoenix Mercury
PositionForward
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (1997-11-03) November 3, 1997 (age 27)
Lufkin, Texas
NationalityAmerican / Montenegrin
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight182 lb (83 kg)
Career information
High schoolLufkin (Lufkin, Texas)
College
WNBA draft2021: 2nd round, 16th overall pick
Selected by the Chicago Sky
Playing career2021–present
Career history
2021Chicago Sky
2021Minnesota Lynx
2021–2023AZS UMCS Lublin
2023Mainland Pouākai
2023–2024Botaş SK
2024–presentPhoenix Mercury
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Natasha Mack (born November 3, 1997)[1] is an American-Montenegrin[2] basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played for Oklahoma State University and Angelina College in her native Lufkin, Texas before being drafted by the Chicago Sky in the 2021 WNBA draft.

Early life

Mack was born in Lufkin, Texas.[3] She played for Lufkin High School's basketball team. She was ranked as a four-star prospect after high school and was recruited to play at the University of Houston.[4] However, she left the university shortly afterwards, after feeling burnout, a lack of fit with the team, and tensions at home.[5][4] She returned to Lufkin and worked at a poultry plant, "shearing the wings off of chicken."[5][4]

College career

A year after graduating from high school and leaving Houston, Mack was recruited by Randy McKelvey, an assistant basketball coach at Angelina College, a local community college in Lufkin. She was initially reluctant to return to basketball, but agreed to do so a few days later.[4] She was selected to a junior-college all-star event after her first season and was named a junior-college All-American and won the NJCAA Player of the Year Award after her sophomore season.[4][3]

After her senior season, she was selected to the Big-12 All-Defensive Team First-Team and was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and WBCA Defensive Player of the Year.[6][7][8]

WNBA

Chicago Sky (2021)

Mack was drafted in the second round of the 2021 WNBA draft by the Chicago Sky. She was waived by the Sky on May 13, 2021,[9] but was re-signed by the team shortly afterwards on May 18.[10] Mack went back and forth with signing Hardship Contracts with the Sky until ultimately being let go for the last time in June 2021.[11]

Minnesota Lynx (2021)

Mack signed a 7-Day contract with the Lynx on July 6, 2021.[12]

Phoenix Mercury (2024)

After two years playing overseas in Poland, New Zealand and Turkey, Mack signed with the Phoenix Mercury for the 2024 WNBA season. On May 14, 2024, she earned her first WNBA career start in Mercury's opening loss at the Las Vegas Aces.[13]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  FG%  Field goal percentage
 3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage  RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game
 SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  TO  Turnovers per game  PPG  Points per game
 Bold  Career high Led Division I  °  Led the league

WNBA

Regular season

Stats current through end of 2024 season

WNBA regular season statistics[14]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2021 Chicago 3 0 5.3 .667 — 1.000 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.7 2.0
Minnesota 1 0 2.0 — — — 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2022 Did not play (waived)
2023 Did not appear in league
2024 Phoenix 40 11 15.5 .573 .000 .579 5.0 1.1 0.7 1.2 0.7 3.8
Career 2 years, 3 teams 44 11 14.5 .575 .000 .619 4.6 1.0 0.6 1.1 0.7 3.6

Playoffs

WNBA playoff statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2024 Phoenix 2 0 13.0 .636 — .000 3.5 0.5 0.0 0.5 0.0 7.0
Career 1 year, 1 team 2 0 13.0 .636 — .000 3.5 0.5 0.0 0.5 0.0 7.0

College

College statistics[15]
Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 Angelina College 31 682 .580 .333 .662 12.9 1.5 1.7 5.1 22.0
2018–19 Angelina College 33 791 .591 .229 .645 11.6 2.3 1.6 5.5 24.0
2019–20 Oklahoma State 27 476 .516 .125 .677 12.5 0.9 1.5 3.6 17.6
2020–21 Oklahoma State 28 554 .529 .000 .634 12.4 1.8 2.0 4.0 19.8
Career 55 1,030 .523 .111 .653 12.4 1.4 1.9 3.8 18.7

References

  1. ^ "Natasha Mack". WNBA.com. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  2. ^ Muniowski, Łukasz (2023-12-12). "Montenegro national team coach Jelena Škerović talks coaching philosophy, working with American-born players and more". Swish Appeal. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
  3. ^ a b Beames, Caleb (2021-04-15). "Lufkin native Natasha Mack picked by Chicago Sky in WNBA draft". KTRE. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  4. ^ a b c d e Wright, Scott (March 11, 2021). "'Can't be cutting chicken wings': How Oklahoma State's Natasha Mack became a WNBA prospect". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  5. ^ a b Gentry, Dorothy (2021-04-13). "Natasha Mack has one of the most unique stories of any WNBA Draft prospect". The Athletic. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  6. ^ Wisniewski, Lindsey (2021-04-15). "Natasha Mack could fill Storm's void left behind by Natasha Howard". NBC Sports Northwest. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  7. ^ "Natasha Mack - 2020-21 - Women's Basketball". Oklahoma State University Athletics. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  8. ^ "Oklahoma State's Natasha Mack named 2021 WBCA NCAA Division I Defensive Player of the Year". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. 2021-04-01. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  9. ^ "Chicago Sky Waive Brittany Boyd-Jones, Alexis Prince, Lexie Brown, Kobi Thornton and Natasha Mack". Chicago Sky. 2021-05-13. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
  10. ^ "Sky Re-Sign Natasha Mack". Chicago Sky. 2021-05-18. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
  11. ^ Zimmerman, Kurtis. "The Chicago Sky have waived Natasha Mack. Sierra Campisano has cleared waivers after being waived Tuesday". Twitter.com. Twitter. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  12. ^ "Minnesota Lynx Sign Rookie Forward Natasha Mack". lynx.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  13. ^ Reid, Tia (2024-05-28). "How Natasha Mack is thriving in her second chance in the WNBA". The Next. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
  14. ^ "Natasha Mack College Stats". Sports Reference.
  15. ^ "Natasha Mack, 6-4, F, Oklahoma State". aces.wnba.com. Retrieved 2021-07-07.