{"id":346168,"date":"2025-10-31T18:39:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T18:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/346168\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T18:39:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T18:39:17","slug":"wnba-champion-dana-evans-earns-key-to-garys-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/346168\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA champion Dana Evans earns key to Gary\u2019s heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"WNBAWNBA 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)<\/p>\n

Earlier in October, Evans won her second WNBA title as her Las Vegas Aces dismantled the Phoenix Mercury in four games.<\/p>\n

Off the bench, Evans drilled five 3-point shots and scored 21 points in game one.<\/p>\n

Before the ceremony began, a big-screen video chronicled her career from West Side to the University of Louisville to the Aces\u2019 championship season.<\/p>\n

Students and fans in the bleachers, including her former West Side teammates, screamed in approval.<\/p>\n

Taking it all in, Evans, 27, flashbacked to her days on the Cougar court as she talked after the ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a lot of positive moments and a lot of memories came back\u2026 but it was also like a struggle, right?<\/p>\n

\"FromFrom 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)<\/p>\n

\u201cJust 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite West Side\u2019s success and Evans\u2019 35-point-per-game average her senior year that drew college scouts across the country, neighboring schools didn\u2019t always welcome the kids from the gritty city with a bad reputation.<\/p>\n

Evans said people told her Gary\u2019s status would diminish her future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey thought Gary was going to hold me back and was going to be the reason I wasn\u2019t going to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

That perspective grew the chip she carries today. Her parents, Damon and Shwanda Evans, discounted the naysayers.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents made sure I knew that it wasn\u2019t about where you came from,\u201d she said after the ceremony.<\/p>\n

\"WNBAWNBA 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)<\/p>\n

Her former West Side coach Rod Fisher said Evans didn\u2019t lack confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cDana never saw a shot she didn\u2019t like,\u201d Fisher told the crowd. \u201cIf you listen to Dana talk, she never backs down from telling people \u2018I\u2019m from Gary, Indiana.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The second youngest of five children, Evans grew up loving ballet at the Beachfront Dance School in Miller.<\/p>\n

In fourth grade at Banneker Elementary, she discovered basketball. By seventh grade, Fisher said she received her first college scholarship offer.<\/p>\n

Ree Scott and Jaelynn Parker remembered their playing days at Banneker and then at West Side with Evans who gave them a shout out.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was always good. She always had the best shoes,\u201d said Parker, who now works in administration at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago. \u201cShe was always a great teammate and a leader,\u201d said Scott, who\u2019s now a wife and mom.<\/p>\n

\"ShwandaShwanda & 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)<\/p>\n

In bestowing the key to the city to Evans, Melton said her legacy transcends basketball.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe an advocate, she\u2019s a cultural leader and a woman committed to giving back to this community,\u201d he said, citing her youth basketball mentoring program called Team Evans.<\/p>\n

Damon Evans said sometimes he\u2019s even stunned at his daughter\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s surreal\u2026 as a little girl, this has always been her dream, but to see her live it\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"GaryGary 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)<\/p>\n

\u201cHer being away from home, I think that actually helped her grow up a bit,\u201d he said as his daughter found her own place in Vegas and met new teammates.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

In Vegas, the spotlight brightened as she became Coach Becky Hammon\u2019s first player off the bench.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d said Evans. \u201cBut yeah, I just felt like this was just a better overall fit for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evans said four-time MVP A\u2019ja Wilson welcomed her and quickly became the teammate she could lean on if needed.<\/p>\n

Evans didn\u2019t hobble on Thursday, but she\u2019s on the mend from recent meniscus surgery that will keep her off the court for about a month.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be fine. It\u2019s just like a four-to-six-week recovery. It was a scope. It wasn\u2019t too invasive. It wasn\u2019t too bad,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The WNBA future is murky as players and owners haggle over a collective bargaining agreement, and Evans and all the league\u2019s players, except two, are now free agents.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we will have a season, I just think it\u2019s going to take a little longer,\u201d she said in a post-ceremony interview.<\/p>\n

In closing remarks to the audience, she offered this advice:<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that\u2019s my story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WNBA two-time champion Dana Evans sat in a white pantsuit near center court next to her parents Thursday…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":346169,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[1497,56951,33131,30214,56952,38106,56953,2862,4010,728,56954,56955,56956,56957,56950,62,67,132,68,56958,232],"class_list":{"0":"post-346168","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-chicago-sky","9":"tag-crown-point","10":"tag-east-chicago","11":"tag-gary","12":"tag-griffith","13":"tag-hammond","14":"tag-highland","15":"tag-indiana","16":"tag-lake-county","17":"tag-local-news","18":"tag-merrillville","19":"tag-munster","20":"tag-portage","21":"tag-porter-county","22":"tag-post-tribune","23":"tag-sports","24":"tag-united-states","25":"tag-unitedstates","26":"tag-us","27":"tag-valparaiso","28":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115470243213474558","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}