{{Short description|American basketball player (born 1994)}} {{Use American English|date=December 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox basketball biography | image = | name = Imani McGee-Stafford | caption = | position = Center | number = 34 | league = WCBA | team = Shaanxi Red Wolves | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 7 | weight_lbs = 215 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1994|10|11}} | birth_place = Inglewood, California, U.S. | high_school = Windward (Los Angeles, California) | college = Texas (2012–2016) | draft_league = WNBA | draft_year = 2016 | draft_round = 1 | draft_pick = 10 | draft_team = Chicago Sky | career_start = 2016 | years1 = {{WNBA Year|2016}}–{{WNBA Year|2017}} | team1 = Chicago Sky | years2 = 2016–2017 | team2 = Bnot Herziliya | years3 = {{WNBA Year|2017}}–{{WNBA Year|2018}} | team3 = Atlanta Dream | years4 = 2017 | team4 = Beijing Great Wall | years5 = 2018 | team5 = Liaoning Flying Eagles | years6 = 2019 | team6 = Adana Basketbol | years7 = {{WNBA Year|2019}} | team7 = Dallas Wings | years8 = 2019 | team8 = Perth Lynx | years9 = 2023–2024 | team9 = Shaanxi Red Wolves | team10 = Jalisco Astros | years10 = 2023 | team11 = Shaanxi | years11 = 2023 | team12 = Monarcas de Juana Diaz | years12 = 2025-present | highlights = * WNBA All-Rookie Team (2016) * Big 12 Co-Defensive Player of the Year (2016) * BSNF Most Valuable Player (2025) * BSNF Defensive Player of the Year (2025) * Honda Sports Award (2015) * Big 12 Female Sportsperson of the Year (2015) * 2× First-team All-Big 12 (2015, 2016) * Second-team All-Big 12 (2014) * 2× Big 12 All-Defensive Team (2013, 2016) * Big 12 Freshman of the Year (2013) * Big 12 All-Freshman Team (2013) * McDonald's All-American (2012) | bbr_wnba = boyetim01w | wnba_profile = imani-mcgee-stafford | medal_templates = {{MedalSport|Women's basketball}} {{MedalCountry | the {{Flagu|United States}} }} {{MedalCompetition|FIBA Under-17 World Cup}} {{Medal|Gold|2010 France|Team}} }}
'''Imani Trishawn McGee-Stafford''' (born October 11, 1994) is an American professional basketball player, currently playing with the Monarcas de Juana Diaz of the BSNF. She played college basketball for University of Texas at Austin.
==College==
In 2015, while at Texas, McGee-Stafford was awarded the Honda Inspiration Award which is given to a collegiate athlete "who has overcome hardship and was able to return to play at the collegiate level". She grew up in a challenging home environment, but overcame the challenge and became a voice for others.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://texassports.com/news/2015/6/26/WBB_0626155552.aspx|title=McGee-Stafford to accept Honda Inspiration Award on Monday|website=University of Texas Athletics|language=en|access-date=2020-03-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.collegiatewomensportsawards.com/archives/about|title=Awards Overview|website=CWSA|language=en|access-date=2020-03-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.collegiatewomensportsawards.com/releases/2014-15/051115imani|title=Imani McGee-Stafford of Texas Named Honda Inspiration Award Winner|date=2015-05-11|website=CWSA|language=en|access-date=2020-03-31}}</ref>
==Texas statistics== Source<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/careerplayer|title=NCAA Statistics|website=web1.ncaa.org|access-date=2017-08-28}}</ref> {{NBA player statistics legend}}
{| class="wikitable" !Year !Team !GP !Points !FG% !3P% !FT% !RPG !APG !SPG !BPG !PPG |- |2012-13 |Texas |30 |334 |48.3% |22.2% |64.4% |'''9.4''' |'''1.0''' |0.7 |2.5 |11.1 |- |2013-14 |Texas |33 |356 |49.8% |'''57.1%''' |62.8% |7.3 |0.5 |0.5 |2.2 |10.8 |- |2014-15 |Texas |27 |266 |'''56.2%''' |0.0% |70.0% |7.1 |0.6 |0.7 |1.9 |9.9 |- |2015-16 |Texas |'''36''' |'''405''' |50.3% |30.0% |'''78.6%''' |8.9 |0.8 |'''0.8''' |'''2.9''' |'''11.3''' |- |Career | |126 |1361 |50.6% |32.1% |69.6% |8.2 |0.7 |0.7 |2.4 |10.8 |}
==Professional career== ===WNBA=== McGee-Stafford was drafted 10th overall by the Chicago Sky in the 2016 WNBA draft. In her rookie season, she was ranked seventh in the league in blocks per game and was named to the WNBA All-Rookie Team. In her first playoff game, she broke the WNBA playoff rookie record for blocks in a game with 6. Midway through the 2017 season, McGee-Stafford was traded to the Atlanta Dream along with teammate Tamera Young in exchange for Jordan Hooper and a first-round draft pick.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/ct-sky-trade-imani-boyette-tamera-young-20170731-story.html|title=Sky trade Imani Boyette, Tamera Young to Dream|last=Ryan|first=Shannon|work=chicagotribune.com|access-date=2017-09-04|language=en-US}}</ref> She continued on with Atlanta in 2018 before joining the Dallas Wings for the 2019 season.
===Overseas=== In December 2016, McGee-Stafford moved to Israel to play for Bnot Hertzeliya. In 16 games during the 2016–17 season, she averaged 14.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 2.6 blocks per game. Between November and December 2017, she played in China for Beijing Great Wall of the Women's Chinese Basketball Association. She returned to China a year later, where she played for the Liaoning Flying Eagles between October and November 2018. In February 2019, she had a four-game stint in Turkey with Adana Basketbol.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://basketball.usbasket.com/player/Imani_McGee-Stafford/WNBA/Dallas-Wings/268619?Women=1|title=Imani McGee-Stafford|work=usbasket.com|access-date=June 16, 2019}}</ref>
On June 13, 2019, McGee-Stafford signed with the Perth Lynx in Australia for the 2019–20 WNBL season.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://wnbl.basketball/perth/news/lynx-sign-wnba-centre-imani-mcgee-stafford/|title=LYNX SIGN WNBA CENTRE IMANI MCGEE-STAFFORD|work=wnbl.com.au|date=June 13, 2019|access-date=June 16, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=O'Donoghue|first=Craig|url=https://thewest.com.au/sport/basketball/perth-lynx-hit-the-jackpot-with-201cm-american-imani-mcgee-stafford-ng-b881228834z|title=Perth Lynx hit the jackpot with 201cm American Imani McGee-Stafford|work=thewest.com.au|date=June 13, 2019|access-date=June 16, 2019}}</ref>
== National career == The Puerto Rico women's national basketball team naturalized McGee-Stafford and made her national team debut in the 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournament against the Italy women's national basketball team.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Imani McGee-Stafford - Puerto Rico - Player Profile - FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 Qualifying Tournament San Juan, Puerto Rico {{!}} FIBA Basketball |url=https://www.fiba.basketball/en/events/fiba-womens-basketball-world-cup-2026-qualifying-tournament-san-juan-puerto-rico/teams/puerto-rico/182081-imani-mcgee-stafford |access-date=2026-03-13 |website=www.fiba.basketball |language=en}}</ref>
==WNBA career statistics== {{WNBA player statistics legend}}
===Regular season=== {{WNBA player statistics start}} |- | style="text-align:left;"| {{wnbay|2016}} | style="text-align:left;"| Chicago ||'''31'''||'''16'''||'''18.9'''||'''55.4'''||0.0||66.0||'''5.6'''||'''0.6'''||'''0.6'''||'''1.3'''||0.9||'''6.7''' |- | align="left" rowspan=2 | 2017 | style="text-align:left;"| Chicago ||22||4||15.5||44.4||33.3||'''70.6'''||4.4||0.5||0.4||0.8||1.0||4.6 |- | align="left" | Atlanta ||10||0||9.2||54.2||0.0||50.0||2.9||0.2||0.1||0.7||'''0.3'''||2.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| {{wnbay|2018}} | style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta ||29||2||10.5||45.3||'''46.7'''||3.4||0.6||0.4||0.4||0.8||1.5||2.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| {{wnbay|2019}} | style="text-align:left;"| Dallas ||29||6||11.9||46.8||25.0||64.3||3.8||'''0.6''''||'''0.6'''||0.6||1.2||3.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"|4 years, 3 teams |121||28||13.8||49.3||28.6||62.7||4.2||0.6||0.5||0.8||0.9||4.4 {{S-end}}
===Playoffs=== {{WNBA player statistics start}} |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2016 | style="text-align:left;"| Chicago ||'''5'''||'''5'''||'''20.4'''||'''50.0'''||0.0||'''60.0'''||'''8.2'''||'''0.8'''||0.0||'''2.0'''||1.0||'''8.4''' |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2018 | style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta ||4||0||5.8||'''33.3'''||0.0||50.0||2.0||0.0||0.0||0.3||'''0.0'''||1.3 |- |- | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"|2 years, 2 teams ||9||5||13.9||47.6||0.0||58.3||5.4||0.4||0.0||1.2||0.6||5.2 {{S-end}}
==Personal life== McGee-Stafford was married to former Texas Longhorns football player Paul Boyette Jr. in 2015, but the couple divorced in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Staff|first=Rick Cantu American-Statesman|date=2018-05-08|title=Former Texas post Imani McGee-Stafford reflects on life in her published book of poetry|url=https://www.hookem.com/uncategorized/20180508/former-texas-post-imani-mcgee-stafford-reflects-life-published-book-poetry/|access-date=2021-06-25|website=Hookem.com|language=en-US}}</ref> She is the daughter of former WNBA player Pamela McGee, the younger maternal half-sister of current NBA player JaVale McGee, and a cousin of NFL player Jarron Gilbert. She also appeared on ''Let's Make a Deal'' with her grandmother on March 8, 2018 and received a pair of scooters. In the spring of 2020, she announced that she is stepping away for the next two WNBA seasons to pursue a Juris Doctor degree from Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-03-30|title=Wings' McGee-Stafford steps away for law school|url=https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/28970734/wings-imani-mcgee-stafford-steps-away-law-school|access-date=2021-06-25|website=ESPN.com|language=en}}</ref> In March 2023, McGee-Stafford was announced as a partner in MOORvision Technologies and Ucam, a camera built to capture athlete's point of view during games.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ramil |first=David |date=March 31, 2023 |title=Wearable Camera Aims To Change How Sports, Entertainment Viewed |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidramil/2023/03/31/wearable-camera-aims-to-change-how-sports-entertainment-viewed/?sh=3ffde7161e9b&fbclid=IwAR1Lja4PmSPsgD0UCsAqQGmGNWYZtj53ZVxbNfATcZL8aljJ9idci-7hRIw |access-date=April 10, 2023 |website=forbes.com}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{basketball stats}} *[http://www.texassports.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=6037&mobile=skip Texas Longhorns bio]
{{navboxes|list= {{2016 WNBA draft}} {{Honda Sports Award}} }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGee-Stafford, Imani}} Category:1994 births Category:Living people Category:American expatriate basketball people in Australia Category:American expatriate basketball people in China Category:American expatriate basketball people in Israel Category:American expatriate basketball people in Turkey Category:American women's basketball players Category:Atlanta Dream players Category:Basketball players from Los Angeles Category:Beijing Great Wall players Category:Centers (basketball) Category:Chicago Sky draft picks Category:Chicago Sky players Category:Dallas Wings players Category:Liaoning Flying Eagles players Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans Category:Perth Lynx players Category:Texas Longhorns women's basketball players Category:21st-century African-American sportswomen Category:21st-century American sportswomen Category:Athletes Unlimited basketball players