You're Hired!

Basketball has become a career for the players on the Mercury roster, but it was not always that way. Some of your Phoenix favorites shared their first job experiences and many of them were about as far from the limelight of professional sports as they could possibly be.

MERCURY GUARD ANNA DeFORGE

"Actually my first job, I was scooping ice cream at a family ice cream place in high school. You could get sub sandwiches there, you could get salads, shakes, whatever. It was a small hometown family place. I didn’t think I was going to grow in that area (laughs). I was just trying to earn a little change to buy stuff. "

MERCURY GUARD DIANA TAURASI

"I worked basketball camps during college, but I don’t know if those really counted as first jobs. It was actually really cool. I’ve always enjoyed the game, so I could see myself coaching when I do stop playing. I’ve got a good feel for the game. You have to know how to interact and be around people, so I definitely think coaching would be up my alley. Basketball has been my first job."

MERCURY FORWARD TAMARA MOORE

"I worked at McDonald's for a week when I was in high school, but that wasn’t the job for me. I’m good at working with people, but that whole atmosphere of having to run the cash register, make and bag food… it just wasn’t the place for me. Plus I ate a lot of the food while I was working (laughs). That wasn’t a good combination with basketball. I knew the manager. He was a good friend of mine. He knew my situation when I went in for the interview. He knew I played basketball and that I had obligations with that. He was really cool about me leaving.

"My mother is a cosmetologist. She had her own hair salon for five years, so I also worked in her shop. You always have to help your mother out. I did sweeping, shampoos, taking down appointments. So I helped her out a lot. Other than those, my main job has been basketball."

MERCURY CENTER SLOBODANKA TUVIC

"I never worked before. This is my first job and my first love. I always knew I’d be in basketball because I was taller than everyone else. "

MERCURY FORWARD SHEREKA WRIGHT

"I worked at a family events center that featured bingo. I was a cashier. That was actually a real experience for me, because I wanted to work the cash register. So I got the opportunity to do that. It was kind of weird because everyone knew me as a basketball player. So working was odd and weird, but it was good money. I don’t miss it, though. Not at all (laughs)."

MERCURY GUARD NIKKI McCRAY

"I worked at Airport Authority in Memphis, Tenn. It was a really good job. I was giving out parts for airplanes. That was an itty-bitty job; I think I made $6 an hour. It was really good. I had a good friend hook me up with the job. It was before I went to school just to try to get some money saved up."

MERCURY FORWARD KAYTE CHRISTENSEN

"From the time I can remember, I worked in the summers on our ranch and I got paid to do that. I shoveled ditches, I did yard work, anything you can imagine. I also worked for the wildlife refuge doing secretarial stuff. During duck season every year, they have a lottery and I had to do that. I also worked at a place called the Munch Box. It was a hamburger stop and I worked there and waitressed, so I had odd jobs all the time."