Catching up with Kiah Stokes: Former Linn-Mar star on winning a WNBA championship, playing for Becky Hammon

ARLINGTON, Texas — In 2022, Kiah Stokes added something she’d been wanting for some time to her lengthy list of basketball accomplishments.

She finally got a WNBA title as part of a talented Las Vegas squad that captured the league crown under first-year head coach Becky Hammon.

“I’m lucky,” Stokes, 30, said. “Yeah, it’s why we play. To be able to play in the WNBA and win at the highest level besides the Olympics, it’s pretty amazing.”

Of course, winning is nothing new for this talented Cedar Rapids native.

In 2010, she starred for Linn-Mar High School’s state title team and was a key contributor to the University of Connecticut’s three straight national titles from 2013 through 2015. Stokes also has won four Turkish League championships during her time abroad, adding a EuroLeague title earlier this year.

Stokes admits it’s rather rare to see a team win a championship in its first year under a new coach like the Aces did under Hammon in 2022. However, Hammon, a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2023 class who was be inducted on Saturday, is far from your average coach.

“She’s really good,” Stokes said of Hammon. “She’s a great coach, great human, very supportive. She was the thing we needed to get over the hump.

“We had Bill Laimbeer when I came from New York and pretty much the same roster. Aja (Wilson) is the MVP of our team, but with Becky we’re a lot faster. We shoot a lot more 3s. I think she opened it up for Jackie (Young), Chelsea (Gray), and Kelsey (Plum) to utilize our assets a lot more than we have in the past.”

Great evidence of what an impressive coaching job Hammon has done with Vegas was on full display on Aug. 8 when the Aces traveled to Dallas to face the Wings. Just two days earlier, Vegas had taken its worst loss of the season, a 99-61 setback to Stokes’ former team, New York.

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However, Hammon didn’t panic. She showed her players film from that blowout loss to the Liberty, just the Aces’ third loss of the season, and they responded. From the opening tip, Vegas was on a mission, moving the ball crisply as the Aces opened the game on a 16-0 run and prevailed 104-84.

Vegas finished with 27 assists on its 37 field goals with 10 of the 11 Aces who played registering an assist and three players finishing with at least five assists.

“We really work on it,” Stokes said of their impressive ball movement against Dallas. “We watch film. We watched the whole (New York) game. She (Hammon) doesn’t have to say much because we all know (what happened). A lot of the stuff we watch on film is a reminder of yes, we are good but if we don’t come to play, any team’s going to whip you.”

It’s also a nice bonus for Stokes and her teammates to celebrate Hammon’s induction into the Hall of Fame this year, a fitting honor for the former Colorado State and WNBA standout.

“It’s amazing and great we get to celebrate with her. It’s not like she’s 84 years old and can’t hang out with us,” Stokes said. “We’re excited for her. Obviously, her playing career was exceptional and amazing.

“Her coaching career, since she started with the Spurs, has been on another level. For her to come in first year, win a championship and have all these expectations going forward, it goes to show a lot of what she has done, can do and hopefully her resume is going to keep going.”

Stokes continues taking great pride in what she and others in the professional ranks from Cedar Rapids and Iowa, whether in basketball or other sports, continue to accomplish.

“It’s pretty cool. I’m not going to lie,” she said. “When people think of Iowa, wrestling might be their first thought. I don’t think their first thought is basketball. Now with Caitlin Clark (starring with the Hawkeyes), she’s definitely changing the face of the sport for sure.

“When I was playing, I don’t think it was that big a deal. So, to have people from Iowa succeed, it’s great. It puts Iowa on the map.”

Once the WNBA season concludes in early fall, Stokes will again venture to a familiar destination, Turkey, to again suit up for her other employer, noted Istanbul club Fenerbache, which has won the Turkish Super League championship in four or her first five seasons there.

“No, I haven’t (gotten the key to the city yet) but I got my passport. I’m going to take that,” Stokes said. “I have one more year left on my contract and then we’ll see.”

“I love Istanbul. I love Turkey. The people are great. The food is amazing. This will be eight years in Turkey, six with the same team. My first two years I was on two different teams, one in Istanbul and one in Ankara. Istanbul is like New York City. Traffic sucks but the food is great, night life is great. Most people speak English now, too.”

So, with her impressive list of basketball hardware continuing to grow with each passing season, some might wonder where she keeps her trophies? Well, the answer to that query is simple.

“Honestly, they’re all back home at my mom’s house in Cedar Rapids,” she said. “I haven’t gotten a house yet. That’s the one thing I haven’t done.

“I really didn’t want to settle down but in the next year, I’d like to buy a house, but we’ll see. But when I get a house, I will have a room dedicated to my athleticness, whether it’s gear, trophies, rings.”

Stephen Hunt is a freelance writer based in Frisco, Texas