* * * PLEASE NOTE: This episode will air on July 5, in a special back-to-back Tennessee alumni hour starting at 5 p.m. with Tamika Catchings and continuing at 5:30 p.m. with Chamique Holdsclaw on Lifetime * * *

Chamique Holdsclaw is currently leading the league in scoring (19.9ppg) and the Mystics to their best start in history. WNBAE Photos/Getty Images

Player's Journal: Washington Mystics forward Chamique Holdsclaw
Friday, July 5, 5:30 p.m.
Lifetime

Chamique Holdsclaw is arguably the best female player of all time. On the court success may have come easy, but it was off the court struggles while growing up in New York City that molded Chamique's character.

As a youngster, Chamique faced the trials of living with alcoholic parents. Often forced to steal money out of her mothers purse to feed herself and her brother Davon dinner, before, at age 11, she went to live with grandmother June in the housing projects of Astoria, Queens.

A strict, but loving woman, June helped guide Chamique through the challenges of growing up in the inner city. After gaining her grandmother's approval and doing so under her watchful eye, Chamique began playing basketball on the local playgrounds and the sport would change her life.

Having learned the game from her Uncle Thurman, Chamique would play for hours, often with her cousin Cheron, whom she also spent countless hours exploring the city beyond Astoria.

Her supreme basketball talents earned her an opportunity to attend the prestigious Christ the King High School under the tuteleage of coach Vincent Canizzaro, the perfect adult to maintain the discipline set in place by June. While leading the school to four straight New York state high school championships, her basketball accolades set Chamique apart from everyone else on the court but her former teammates remember how humble and selfless she was, another credit to grandmother June.

The most highly recruited athlete of her generation, went on to the University of Tennessee, where she played for Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt, another strong adult figure who played a significant role in Chamique's life. At Tennessee, Chamique overcame homesickness and endured Summitt's "tough love" to lead the school to consecutive national championships in 1996, 1997 and 1998 and also graduated in 1998, fulfilling a promise made to her grandmother.

Selected by the Washington Mystics first overall in the 1998 WNBA Draft, Chamique now stars on the professional stage and despite all her success has never forgotten all she learned from her grandmother. Their bond is unbreakable and her allegiance to friends and family is unyielding. Chamique Holdsclaw is truly a superstar on and off the court.

Superstar Chamique Holdsclaw's grandmother and mentor, June, passed away in May. This Lifetime Player's Journal is dedicated to her memory.