TEAM: Los Angeles Sparks
HOMETOWN: Los Angeles, Calif.
BORN: Aug. 27, 1982
COLLEGE:
University of Southern California
POSITION: Forward
NOTES:
Drafted ninth overall by the Indiana Fever in the 2004 WNBA Draft.
Named the WNBA’s Most Improved Player in 2008.
Visit her personal website at ebonyhoffman.com
The city of Los Angeles is where my faith story began years ago and where it continues to this day.
As the youngest of three kids, I remember going to several different private elementary and middle schools, and in each I was exposed to different denominational beliefs that all helped develop my ideas of God and faith.
Our family regularly attended church, and, when I was 12 years old, I began a relationship with Jesus Christ, accepting Him as my Lord and Savior. As I grew older, my knowledge of the Lord grew as well. Through my exposure to different belief systems at school, I was able to understand what truth was and who Jesus truly was in my life.
During those formative years, I also fell in love with the game of basketball. My brother, Elliot, who is six years older than me, was the “high flyer” of our neighborhood. He was the best basketball player we knew, and he and his friends played all the time. Wanting to protect me, he wouldn’t let me play until he felt I was good enough to hang with them. It took a few years of his instruction – learning how to shoot and the nuances of the game – but eventually I got to play against him and his friends, and I was actually able to hold my own. He was always my inspiration to play the game, and he made me as tough as I am on the court today.
My love for the game grew even more when I started playing organized basketball. I knew I wanted to play professionally when I got older, and I even remember as a middle-schooler, before the WNBA existed, asking my mom to write the President to ask that he start a women’s NBA.
My skills progressed, and, when my high school career came to an end, I chose to play college ball close to home at the University of Southern California. I had a lot of offers to some great schools around the country, but I trusted that staying close to home was the place God wanted me to be.
During my time at USC, I excelled on the court but grew even more away from it. College was all about prioritizing the things that are of most importance and avoiding distractions. I was able to center my life around Christ with the help of Christian teammates and other athletes on campus whom I met through FCA and weekly Bible studies.
Following college, my dreams of playing professional basketball were realized when I was drafted ninth overall by the Indiana Fever in the 2004 WNBA Draft. All the hard work and sacrifices I’d made along the way came to fruition that day.
I’ve had a blessed career, and now, in my eighth season in the league, I’m back where my story began, in Los Angeles with the Sparks. And my faith and relationship with the Lord are still the highest priorities in my life.
This game is so emotional. It takes everything you’ve got to overcome both the mental and physical challenges from one day to the next. My pastor and his wife have helped me through those challenges by teaching me that God has equipped me for this. He wouldn't have put me exactly where He has if He hadn’t equipped me for it.
Part of my spiritual armor is weekly chapel services where my teammates and I come together in a setting where we can be honest and transparent with one another. After all, we're all going through similar problems. It’s a blessing for us to share and be there for one another as sisters in Christ.
Throughout my life, I’ve learned that all my abilities come from the Lord. He’s blessed me abundantly, and I believe my role is to share what He’s done in my life and not hide it. This is the platform the Lord has given me—to show young girls and anyone else watching or listening that they can be themselves and be what God has made them to be—children of the King.
Photos courtesy of NBAE/Getty Images