WNBA two-time champion Dana Evans sat in a white pantsuit near center court next to her parents Thursday in the Gary West Side gym.
She heard accolades rain down from a lineup of elected officials and school leaders and accepted proclamations and a three-foot key from Mayor Eddie Melton.
WNBA star and Gary native Dana Evans, right, puts her head on the shoulder of coach Rod Fisher as Evans receives the Key to the City at West Side Leadership Academy in Gary on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (Michael Gard/for the Post-Tribune)
Earlier in October, Evans won her second WNBA title as her Las Vegas Aces dismantled the Phoenix Mercury in four games.
Off the bench, Evans drilled five 3-point shots and scored 21 points in game one.
Before the ceremony began, a big-screen video chronicled her career from West Side to the University of Louisville to the Aces’ championship season.
Students and fans in the bleachers, including her former West Side teammates, screamed in approval.
Taking it all in, Evans, 27, flashbacked to her days on the Cougar court as she talked after the ceremony.
“I had a lot of positive moments and a lot of memories came back… but it was also like a struggle, right?
From left, Gary Mayor Eddie Melton, WNBA star and Gary native Dana Evans and mayoral advisor Markael Watkins display Evans’ Key to the City at West Side Leadership Academy in Gary on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (Michael Gard/for the Post-Tribune)
“Just remembering how hard it was and the things we had to deal with and go through from being in Gary. We were counted out, always doubted.”
Despite West Side’s success and Evans’ 35-point-per-game average her senior year that drew college scouts across the country, neighboring schools didn’t always welcome the kids from the gritty city with a bad reputation.
Evans said people told her Gary’s status would diminish her future.
“They thought Gary was going to hold me back and was going to be the reason I wasn’t going to be successful.”
That perspective grew the chip she carries today. Her parents, Damon and Shwanda Evans, discounted the naysayers.
“My parents made sure I knew that it wasn’t about where you came from,” she said after the ceremony.
WNBA star and Gary native Dana Evans speaks after receiving the Key to the City at West Side Leadership Academy in Gary on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (Michael Gard/for the Post-Tribune)
Her former West Side coach Rod Fisher said Evans didn’t lack confidence.
“Dana never saw a shot she didn’t like,” Fisher told the crowd. “If you listen to Dana talk, she never backs down from telling people ‘I’m from Gary, Indiana.’”
The second youngest of five children, Evans grew up loving ballet at the Beachfront Dance School in Miller.
In fourth grade at Banneker Elementary, she discovered basketball. By seventh grade, Fisher said she received her first college scholarship offer.
Ree Scott and Jaelynn Parker remembered their playing days at Banneker and then at West Side with Evans who gave them a shout out.
“She was always good. She always had the best shoes,” said Parker, who now works in administration at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago. “She was always a great teammate and a leader,” said Scott, who’s now a wife and mom.
Shwanda & Damon Evans, the parents of WNBA star and Gary native Dana Evans, wave to the crowd during the ceremony for Dana to receive the Key to the City at West Side Leadership Academy in Gary on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (Michael Gard/for the Post-Tribune)
In bestowing the key to the city to Evans, Melton said her legacy transcends basketball.
“She an advocate, she’s a cultural leader and a woman committed to giving back to this community,” he said, citing her youth basketball mentoring program called Team Evans.
Damon Evans said sometimes he’s even stunned at his daughter’s success.
“It’s surreal… as a little girl, this has always been her dream, but to see her live it…”
Damon Evans played basketball at Wirt High School in the 1990s and met his wife, Shwanda, in Chicago where he played at South Suburban College.
His daughter won her first WNBA championship with the Chicago Sky in her rookie season in 2021. Earlier this year, the Sky traded her to the Aces.
Gary Mayor Eddie Melton, left, honors WNBA star and Gary native Dana Evans with the Key to the City at West Side Leadership Academy in Gary on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (Michael Gard/for the Post-Tribune)
“Her being away from home, I think that actually helped her grow up a bit,” he said as his daughter found her own place in Vegas and met new teammates.
When Evans played for the Sky after its championship run, the team stumbled and key players left. Evans, a point guard, played sporadically off the bench.
In Vegas, the spotlight brightened as she became Coach Becky Hammon’s first player off the bench.
“I feel like I was really able to be myself and play my game with more of a professional team, not to take anything away from the Sky,” said Evans. “But yeah, I just felt like this was just a better overall fit for me.”
Evans said four-time MVP A’ja Wilson welcomed her and quickly became the teammate she could lean on if needed.
Evans didn’t hobble on Thursday, but she’s on the mend from recent meniscus surgery that will keep her off the court for about a month.
“I’ll be fine. It’s just like a four-to-six-week recovery. It was a scope. It wasn’t too invasive. It wasn’t too bad,” she said.
Next year, she plans to skip playing in Europe and has joined the player-owned Unrivaled 3-on-3 league that plays its season in Miami.
The WNBA future is murky as players and owners haggle over a collective bargaining agreement, and Evans and all the league’s players, except two, are now free agents.
“I feel like we will have a season, I just think it’s going to take a little longer,” she said in a post-ceremony interview.
In closing remarks to the audience, she offered this advice:
“Keep God first, stay humble. Continue to work hard, and just be kind. I think we could take that word for granted. Being kind to people goes a long way.
“So that’s my story.”
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.