Chennedy Carter has a unique quality. In a world dominated by marketing and PR, she is raw and fierce. During her latest controversy in the WNBA against Caitlin Clark, Carter showed a spirit of steel and a dominating attitude. Her temperament and personality complement her balling skills. While not many know, Carter’s characteristics can be traced back to her family especially her brothers who instilled in her the courage to stand up for herself. 

Carter’s family even inspired her to take up basketball as a career, especially since she is the second cousin to ex-WNBA athlete Jia Perkins. Carter’s rise from wanting to be like Allen Iverson to conquering the world with the support of her family is a tale of close-knit bonds with her dear ones. 

Chennedy Carter’s childhood and rise

Carter was born on November 14, 1998, to Shonda Perkins and Broderick Carter. She picked up basketball quite early in childhood, possibly because she had an inspiration in Jia Perkins. Perkins plied her trade for the Chicago Sky, San Antonio Silver Stars, and Minnesota Lynx. 

Carter’s father Broderick too encouraged her daughter to take up the sport. In order to make her an effective player, her father would ask her to dribble a tennis ball on the lawn. As mentioned, Carter was a big fan of Iverson and would try to emulate his style.

While Carter got the balling skills from her heroes, she got the competitive attitude from her brothers. Carter’s family relocated from Prairie to Mansfield when she was in seventh grade and she found close companions in her three brothers Cameron, Chandler, and Chendall. 

“We got her tough, I can say that. She got a lot of her mentality from us, too, and how she approaches the game. Chennedy liked to antagonize people when we were younger. As the only girl, she knew she could get away with it,” Chandler accepted in an exclusive with NY Times. After propelling her high school team Texas 5A State to a runner-up position, Carter went on to have an exemplary college career and that’s when she realized her true potential as an athlete.

Chennedy Carter comes into her own and surprises family

Carter represented Texas A&M for three years from 2017 to 2020. In 2019, Perkins came face to face with the capabilities of her daughter when she saw the latter basketing an astounding 34 points during her outing against Team USA. Though the USA won by a 93-63 margin against the Texas A&M, Carter’s performance was noticeable. The previous best against the USA from 1996 had been from Michi Atkins, who had dropped 32 points in a game. This incident set the path straight for Carter.

She went on to have an exceptional college career, averaging a whopping 22.5 points per game with 4.2 rebounds per match and 4.1 assists per game. The seeds of a headstrong attitude and determination her family had sown, grew up to be a beautiful plant.  “I want to be that player that changed the game for women’s basketball. I want to be remembered as the best ever to play the game. Girls can do things that boys can, too,” Carter remarked in the same interview. And as they say, the rest is history.

Carter was drafted as the fourth overall pick by the Atlanta Dream and has since then won hearts with her exceptional gameplay. As Carter prepares for the upcoming games in the WNBA, her fans can only hope that she buries the fiasco with Clark and translates her anger into her game, shining her and her family’s name on the big stage.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato had to say about the marketing genius, watch this video.