If you're in Indianapolis and attending a basketball game, it's extremely like you're going to hear about Tamika Catchings. The 10-time WNBA All-Star played her entire 15-year career for the Indiana Fever, which included and MVP nod in 2011. On Wednesday, July 16, the city unveiled a brand-new downtown mural on Mass Ave, a nod of respect to the Fever vet who gave the team her all — and who continues to impact Indianapolis today.
Catchings is still all about Indy. Though her playing days are over (she retired from the WNBA after the 2016 Summer Olympic Games), Catchings is still a very present force throughout the city. She founded Catch the Stars Foundation in 2004, and the organization continues to with children on literacy, fitness, and development to this day.
She's also the owner and operator of Tea's Me Cafe, which has three locations throughout the city, and is regularly called upon to help host NBA and WNBA events when they roll through town.
Tamika Catchings is a constant presence at 2025 All-Star
In fact, Catchings was in attendance bright and early Wednesday morning when she showed up at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to help volunteers assemble feminine hygiene kits as part of the league's Changemaker Day (the event will also see help from Courtney Williams later in the day). Catchings was joined by WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert as well as the Atlanta Dream's Allisha Gray, who is set to defend her 3-point contest and skills challenge titles later this week.
The event was special, Engelbert told volunteers and attendees, because it's unlikely the league would have even considered hosting such a gathering even five years ago. But times have changed and most people have changed right along with them, and a topic that might have been considered taboo isn't anymore.
Catchings was greeted to enormous cheers from the crowd of volunteers, all of whom are local to the city of Indianapolis. She joined a line to help assemble packages nearly immediately, often trading jump shots with Engelbert as they both attempted to land their packages in the waiting boxes.
The group were joined by the Black Women's Health Imperative's Dr. Dr. Zsanai Epps, CEO of Voice in Sports Morgan Smith, and Nike's Impact Officer Vanessa Garcia-Brito, who each led a panel on themes like puberty, self-confidence, and body image — all extremely prescient topics when it comes to women's sports.