Here's what Lindsay Whalen said in her Basketball Hall of Fame speech
Lindsay Whalen had quite the career from her humble beginnings in Hutchinson, Minnesota, but as she was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, she admitted that none of it would be possible if it weren't for ... Burger King?
Whalen shouted out the fast food chain during her induction speech on Saturday night, recalling a story about going to her first basketball camp outside of her hometown.
"It was my first basketball camp outside of Hutchinson without any of my friends or teammates," Whalen recalled. "It was all the way into the Twin Cities about an hour away. As we got closer, the more anxious I became I was in tears, I did not want to get out of the car. We paid for camp, so I was going to camp. However, I did notice we passed the Burger King, so negotiations started."
One Whopper Jr. with cheese later, the path to the Hall of Fame was cleared.
Whalen went on to send the Minnesota Golden Gophers to their first Final Four in program history. After she was selected by the Connecticut Sun with the fourth overall pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft, she was traded to the Minnesota Lynx in 2010 where she became a pillar of one of the league's premier dynasties.
In total, Whalen was a five-time All-Star, a four-time WNBA champion, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and the WNBA's all-time leader in assists. She currently is serving as the head basketball coach at the University of Minnesota, but on this night it was about thanking the people that made it possible.
She was presented by NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, whom she idolized growing up on the courts of Hutchinson. Although she apologized for his ties to Subway, she thanked him for the impact he had on her career despite never growing to be his size.
"I stopped growing at 5-8," Whalen said. "Plans changed a little bit. But thank you for being an inspiration to a young girl in Hutchinson, Minnesota."
She was also presented by another Hall of Famer in South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley, who has won two national championships with the South Carolina Gamecocks including one in Minneapolis last April.
Whalen said Staley's success motivates her to turn the Gophers into a national title contender and that's why she had her as part of her induction.
"I'm honored you're here with me today," Whalen said to Staley. "I'm going to do my very best to continue to follow in your footsteps from playing point guard in the WNBA right to head coach."
The Gophers haven't reached the NCAA Tournament under Whalen's watch, but she recently signed the best recruiting class in program history with Chaska's Mallory Heyer, Wayzata's Mara Braun, Eden Prairie's Maya Holloway and Hopkins's Amaya Battle leading a homegrown group of talent.
"I've got a really good group," Whalen said at the end of her speech. "I'm excited to be in the trenches with them and see what we can make out of it."
Along the way Whalen thanked many of the coaches that made her career possible, giving credit to former Gophers head coach Pam Borton, Team USA head coach Geno and Lynx head coach and general manager Cheryl Reeve.
Whalen's No. 13 jersey is already hanging at the Target Center but despite all of the accolades, she was happy to do it her way.
"I carried a chip on my shoulder all the time because people thought it can't be done in Minnesota," Whalen said earlier. "I loved to prove people wrong and that's how I played."
