Kate on the Seattle Reign

Kate was drafted to the Seattle Reign as their third round draft pick (regional pick)... She shot 43.3% as a rookie... Kate's first year she avaraged 12.7 points... Made all 22 free throw attempts in the last three minutes of games as a rookie... During the 97-98 season Kate aquired two bloody noses, one black eye, (inflicted by Long beach Stingray Venus lacey) and a broken pinky... Lists beating the Columbus

Quest and the Portland Power as the brightest points of her 97-98 season... Bird said three things helpd her signing decision; the signing of Kartina McClain, the opportunity to play close to home, and the proximity to Microsoft... Says "The ABL was dominating for me in terms of competitiveness."... Kate said the requiting process was a burden... She missed one-third of her classes at Stanford while being recruited... it was Christy Hedgpeth and Kate Paye's job to recruit Bird when Reign General Manager Jim Weyermann went with them to the Final Four in Cincinnatti where Kate was playing... She

was told if she needed legal advice or an agent go to Sonja Henning, and for advice on endorsements go to Jennifer Azzi... When Kate still had some hard questions, Kate Paye flew back to her home town (which is near Stanford University) and had lunch with Kate... Kate knew two weeks before anybody found out which league she was signing with... She told her agent to handle it, she was going to class...

Reign coaches felt that her signing was an important key to Seattle... Kate was the one player both leagues had to have... Kate appeared at the Space Needle on a tuesday to announce her signing... There were five television cameras, twelve writers, six radio personnel, fifteen members of the national media on the phone for a conference call, and double figures in cameramen... Mayor Norm Rice who attended the announcement said this signing is an important moment in the history of the Reign... Kate was one of five former Stanford players during the second season... Kate's contract with the Reign was for three years... She was paid the top salary for those three years - 600,000 dollars... That is more than what Kara Wolters, the other top recruit, received... Despite having a higher salary than Teresa Edwards or Katrina McClain, Kate made less than the loneliest bench warmer in the WNBA... Microsoft is reported to have paid a part of Kate's salary as part of their relationship with the Reign.

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