Atlanta Dream forward Laeticia Amihere is all set to play for Canada at the 2024 Paris Olympics! Hailing from Ontario, Canada, Laeticia Amihere is a standout player on the Dream’s roster. Apart from her WNBA success, she has represented Canada at various international competitions, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, 2022 FIBA World Cup, and 2021 FIBA AmeriCup. However, achieving this feat wasn’t easy.

Amihere had a keen interest in basketball, especially dunks, since the eighth grade. Being a late bloomer, she opted for basketball during her teenage years. Throughout the process, she practiced and assessed her progress regularly by attempting dunks. “I would just keep doing it and doing it just for fun, and then it kind of became something that I was known for,” Amihere once told Andscape.com. All this while, she was accompanied by onlookers who watched her play.

Amihere from West Africa to South Carolina

Born and brought up in Mississauga, Canada, Laeticia Amihere has West African roots. Her mother, Georgette Amihere hails from Ivory Coast while her father, Anthony Amihere comes from Ghana. The two were parents to three kids, Laeticia, Benson, and Kofi until the latter passed away in 2022.

The Amiheres, immigrated from West Africa to Canada for more opportunities. This happened to be their best decision, as the Canadian basketball player has made significant strides both on and off the court.

Laeticia garnered national and international attention at merely 15 years old. During an AAU tournament game in the USA, she became the first Canadian woman credited with a dunk during play. Following this achievement, she secured her place on the Canadian basketball team’s roster. “I realized that this is something I want to do, and this is something that can carry me a long way,” she said.

In 2019, she became the overall No. 10 recruit of her class and received offers from across the United States. Surprisingly, she chose South Carolina. Since then, Amihere devoted herself fully to the South Carolina senior class, which will go down in the program’s history as the most successful recruiting class.

Amihere played alongside Aliyah Boston, Brea Beal, and Olivia Thompson. Notably, “The Freshies” had lost only four matchups in four years until last season. For the South Carolina team, Amihere has sacrificed personal production for her team’s betterment. She came off the bench for her entire career at South Carolina, even though she could have easily opted for another program to be a starter.

But why did she choose to stay at South Carolina? It was solely due to South Carolina’s roster, where players focus on different aspects of the game to impact the team. For Amihere, this aspect was her versatility, as she plays multiple positions on both offense and defense.

“She’s the most versatile player that I’ve ever coached,” said the team’s head coach, Dawn Staley, after Amihere’s best performance against Ole Miss last season, wherein she accumulated 17 points and an impressive 6 rebounds. Though Amihere went on to achieve much later on, basketball wasn’t her first choice of sport.

Amihere visits her roots as a star

Growing up as a West African, Amihere has often honored her roots and traditions. She even revealed to have picked soccer as her first choice of sport since it was huge in her culture. But growing taller than expected diverted her towards basketball. Away from the game, she has known to give back to the communities, which is etched in her roots.

“My family is super into [giving back]. Just in the roots of who we are,” Amihere told Sportsnet.ca. She says that it is wonderful to get out of your community to attain certain things but it also becomes important to give back and keep the cycle going. And that is exactly what Laeticia has been doing.

In 2022, Amihere traveled all the way to the Ivory Coast as a host for a basketball clinic. She donated important athletic resources while educating young girls. “I really want to dive deep into the connections that I make with the people that I’m trying to impact… It’s not only trying to impact them by running camps, but also by being a great role model for them and somebody that they can look up to and reach out to,” she said.

Amihere was the 2023 WNBA draft overall No. 8 pick selected by the Atlanta Dream. As of now, she has an average of 0.8 points and 1.4 rebounds. In the last four games played last month, she has secured a total of just five points. Notably, she played for the highest 12 minutes against the New York Liberty on June 24th.

Regardless, Laeticia has will be making her 2nd Olympic appearance at Paris, representing Canada. The previous outing saw an end at the preliminary round, something the team will look to avoid this year. Amihere will also be playing in front of her family for the first time on the big stage seems to be going all in with the efforts.

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