Alana beard biography

Alana Beard is a WNBA Champion and one of the best defensive players to ever set foot on the basketball court.

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She was drafted second overall by the Washington Mystics in 2004 and played for the Sparks from 2012-2019. As a member of the Sparks, Beard won a WNBA title in 2016 and earned back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2017 and 2018.

Before becoming a dominant defensive specialist in the WNBA, Beard played college basketball at Duke University where she won the National Player of the Year Award in 2004.

She was also the first woman to win the John R. Wooden, State Farm Wade Trophy and Naismith Player of the Year Awards. The star guard is the first player in NCAA History to record at least 2,600 points, 500 assists and 400 steals in her college basketball career. She led Duke to the 2002 and 2003 NCAA Final Fours. Her No. 20 jersey is now retired, making her the first ever Duke women’s basketball player to have their jersey sent to the rafters.

Beard grew up in Toggle share options GEP