Penny Toler

Virginia Marlita "Penny" Toler (born March 24, 1966) is an American basketball executive and former player who served most recently as the general manager of the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). During her playing career, she was the first player to score in the WNBA.

Penny Toler
Personal information
Born (1966-03-24) March 24, 1966
Washington, D.C.
NationalityAmerican
Listed height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Listed weight132 lb (60 kg)
Career information
High schoolSt. Anthony (Washington, D.C.)
College
Playing career1989–1999
PositionPoint guard
Number11
Coaching career2014–2014
Career history
As player:
1989–1991Montecchio
1991–1994Pescara
1994–1996Sporting Flash
1996–1997Ramat HaSharon
1997–1999Los Angeles Sparks
As coach:
2014Los Angeles Sparks (interim)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

College years

Toler began her college career at San Diego State, sat out a year, and then transferred to Long Beach State, where she became an All-American basketball player. During her career Long Beach State made it to the Final Four twice, in 1987 and 1988. Toler was considered one of the best ever collegiate players under future Hall of Fame coach Joan Bonvicini. In 1995 she was inducted into the Long Beach State Athletic Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Having no viable domestic professional options, Toler began her professional career in Italy, playing two seasons for Montecchio and three for Pescara. She then played two seasons in Greece for Sporting Flash, and one in Israel for Ramat HaSharon. In 1997, she returned to the United States to play in the newly-organized WNBA.[1]

Toler was a point guard allocated to the Los Angeles Sparks during the player initiation round in the 1997 WNBA draft. She is most commonly remembered as the first player to score a basket in the WNBA. She did so against the New York Liberty on June 21, 1997 19:01 hour at the Los Angeles Great Western Forum.[2][3][4] Her shot was a side jumper. Toler also made the first free throw in the WNBA history.

In November 1999 she retired as a player to become the general manager of the Los Angeles Sparks. Immediately after taking on a management role, she would assemble the Los Angeles Sparks roster that would become the championship team in 2001.

Among all professional men or women sports leagues, Toler would become the fastest person to go from a player to general manager status to winning a championship in two years.

On July 20, 2014, Toler was named as interim head coach following the firing of Carol Ross.[5]

Toler was fired as vice president and general manager on October 4, 2019, after the Sparks were swept out of the WNBA semifinals during the 2019 WNBA Playoffs.[6] The move also came after the revelation that Toler entered the Sparks' locker room following their Game 2 loss and gave an obscenity-laced speech that included the use of the "N-word".[7]

International career

By the time the WNBA launched, Toler had already spent eight years playing basketball overseas. She has played five seasons in Italy, two seasons in Greece, and a season in Israel. While in Italy, she won a scoring title, two assist titles, and was MVP of the Italian all-star game.

Career statistics

WNBA Career Totals

Year Team G GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA 3PTM 3PTA REB AST STL TO BLK PTS
1997 LA 28 28 907 144 338 73 87 7 38 94 143 36 107 3 368
1998 LA 30 30 945 145 349 55 74 25 60 106 143 32 101 3 370
1999 LA 30 4 427 51 150 39 45 2 13 43 66 13 40 0 143
Totals 88 62 2,279 340 837 167 206 34 111 243 352 81 248 6 881

WNBA Career Averages

Year Team MIN FG% FT% 3PT% REB AST STL TO BLK PTS
1997 LA 32.4 .426 .839 .184 3.4 5.1 1.3 3.8 0.1 13.1
1998 LA 31.5 .415 .743 .417 3.5 4.8 1.1 3.4 0.1 12.3
1999 LA 14.2 .340 .867 .154 1.4 2.2 0.4 1.3 0.0 4.8
Totals 25.9 .406 .811 .306 2.8 4.0 0.9 2.8 0.1 10.0

WNBA Career Playoff Totals

Year Team G GS MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA 3PTM 3PTA REB AST STL TO BLK PTS
1999 LA 4 0 42 4 12 2 4 0 1 6 2 2 3 0 10

WNBA Career Playoff Averages

Year Team MIN FG% FT% 3PT% REB AST STL TO BLK PTS
1999 LA 10.5 .333 .500 .000 1.5 0.5 0.5 0.8 0.0 2.5

References
  1. 1998 Official WNBA Guide and Register. WNBA. 1998. p. 294–95.
  2. "Penny Toler recalls landmark WNBA basket - ESPN Video". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  3. "WNBA.com: WNBA History/Timeline". www.wnba.com. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  4. Bowman, James (2014-01-19). "Sparks Watch Day 18: The first WNBA game". Swish Appeal. Retrieved 2016-06-17.
  5. Associated Press, "Penny Toler to take over as coach," ESPN (July 22, 2014). Retrieved July 22, 2014.
  6. ESPN Newswire (2019-10-04). "Sparks part with GM Penny Toler amid turmoil". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  7. Brehm, Mike; Bumbaca, Chris (October 4, 2019). "Los Angeles Sparks fire general manager Penny Toler after she used racial slur". USA Today. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
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