No Smoking Please

Posted: June 2006

Basketball and smoking don�t mix. Smoking not only causes a litany of health problems -- lung cancer, emphazema, blockage of blood vessles, brain cancer, heart disease, among others -- but it also causes pre-mature aging. And then there are the health problems it can lead to for all of those around you. So whether you are trying to just lead a healthy lifestyle or trying to get into top physical health for basketball, smoking is NOT the answer. PhoenixMercury.com spoke with some of your Mercury favorites to find out why they say "No Thanks" to smoking.

MERCURY GUARD DIANA TAURASI:�Smoking is terrible. It deteriorates your whole body, little by little. I�ve had people in my family die of smoking and lung cancer, so it�s something that hits close to home.

�My Grand Papi grew up a smoker and that is a part of most of the South American and European cultures. It�s something that is just not healthy for you. It trims years off your life and it is unfortunate that people do it. He died of heart complications and smoking added to that, so it was part of the life decision he made and ultimately it cost him a couple years of his life. The reality is people do smoke and people will die from it.

"It�s just a bad habit, it stinks and no one likes to be around a smoker. No one likes second-hand smoke either, so why smoke?!�

MERCURY GUARD CAPPIE PONDEXTER: �It�s not healthy for anyone in general, not only kids, but adults too. It takes away the healthy side of the body, the organs, the heart. It�s important to always be healthy and maintain it as long as you�re living. Leave the smoking out."

MERCURY FORWARD KRISTEN RASMUSSEN: "I�ve had friends who smoked and have learned the best thing you can do is give them support when they try to quit. Encouragement goes a long way. With my faith, we believe you try to stay away from stuff that will become addicted to your body. There are other ways to fill the time. It�s always good, though, to give support to somebody who needs it."

MERCURY GUARD BRIDGET PETTIS: �I never smoked cigarettes. They are most definitely the worst thing for you. My dad smoked and he�s been dealing with health situations because of cigarettes.I�ve tried getting him to quit. My mom quit smoking which was a blessing to see her stop, but my dad, I�ve got to work on that one. My mom didn�t use any patches or any of that, she just gave it up one day.

"Save your money and just stop. That's something that most definitely you should prevent from doing. It won't help you at improve your game or your health. You have to do anything you can to stay physically fit and healthy."

MERCURY GUARD/FORWARD ANN STROTHER: �I think anytime you are doing something like that you are just taking away days of your life. Especially being an athlete, there is no room for it. You�re running up and down enough, and you get tired. If you come watch one of our practices, we�re just up and down, up and down. There is no way you could go through that as an athlete and smoke.�

MERCURY HEAD COACH PAUL WESTHEAD: �I don�t know very many athletes who have a smoking habit that progress beyond junior high school. You need to have great living habits to be a successful athlete and not smoking is probably the first prerequisite. Then taking care of your body and eatting right. How you perform and how you work out are all after that, but smoking all but eliminates you from the basketball world.�

MERCURY FORWARD JENNIFER DEREVJANIK: �Smoking is so bad for you. It�s so important not to smoke if you're a basketball player, because you can�t breath on the court, especially in our (up-tempo) game. You can�t be a smoker and do anything on the court.�

MERCURY GUARD KELLY MILLER: �Never tried them. It�s detrimental to anyone�s health. If you are an athlete it is probably the worst thing you could do. It�s a terrible habit. I know that once you start it is hard to stop, so the best thing to do is to never start. Don�t try anything stupid, like smoking.�