{"id":2656,"date":"2012-06-27T08:00:53","date_gmt":"2012-06-27T12:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/?p=2656"},"modified":"2012-06-27T02:57:21","modified_gmt":"2012-06-27T06:57:21","slug":"a-conversation-with-wnba-tulsa-shock-center-courtney-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-wnba-tulsa-shock-center-courtney-paris.html","title":{"rendered":"A conversation with WNBA, Tulsa Shock center Courtney Paris"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Courtney Paris of the Tulsa Shock (Copyright 2012 NBAE\/Photo by Scott Cunningham\/NBAE via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the University of Oklahoma, Courtney Paris was one of the most dominant women\u2019s basketball players this side of the 21st Century. She was the first freshman to be named to the AP All-American team (2006) and ultimately became the first four-time First Team All-American in women\u2019s basketball history.<\/p>\n

But her WNBA career has been a difficult journey in comparison. Paris spent her 2009 rookie season with Sacramento, a team that would fold that same year. After a year away from the league, she spent partial seasons in Atlanta (2011-12) before getting cut by the Dream and then picked up by the Tulsa Shock.<\/p>\n

Throughout all of these challenges en route to a secure spot within the world\u2019s premier women\u2019s basketball league, Paris has remained rock solid in her Christian faith and has continued to play with sheer determination on the court while maintaining a joyful attitude no matter what obstacles get in her way.<\/p>\n

In this Inspiring Athletes interview, Paris talks about her unchartered journey, the importance of trusting God and living a stress-free life:<\/p>\n

Chad Bonham: Have you always felt in the back of your mind that you might eventually play in Oklahoma again here with the Tulsa Shock?<\/p>\n

Courtney Paris: Ever since they put the franchise in back in 2010, I\u2019ve wanted to play here. This is something I\u2019ve always wanted to do. But it\u2019s a tough league and a lot of things have to happen. I\u2019m just glad I finally the opportunity and things worked out and I\u2019m really blessed to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bonham: It\u2019s not Norman, but it\u2019s pretty close, right?<\/p>\n

Paris: Absolutely. When they called me, I didn\u2019t have to get on a plane and fly here. I just got in my car and drove up.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How heavily do you rely on your faith when dealing with injuries and the uncertainties that come your way as a professional athlete?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Courtney Paris, #3 of the Tulsa Shock, shoots against the Indiana Fever during her first home game with the team on June 23, 2012 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. (Copyright 2012 NBAE\/Photo by Shane Bevel\/NBAE via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Paris: I loved Atlanta. It\u2019s a great place. That team was very strong in its faith. We had Bible studies every week. It was such a good environment for me and then when I got cut from that team, I was like, \u201cGod I don\u2019t understand.\u201d I was happy there. I respected all the coaches. I loved the situation and it just didn\u2019t work out. And it\u2019s like He took from a good situation to an even better situation. I\u2019m excited to be here and I feel like we\u2019re going to turn things around on the court. I\u2019m excited about the off-the-court opportunities too.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What specifically does that look like when you\u2019re dealing with unexpected change and other difficult situations?<\/p>\n

Paris: For me, it\u2019s just about trusting God. Things happen all the time. You get hurt. You get cut. You get waived. When I was a rookie, my team folded. All these things happen. But if you get caught up in them and you worry about them, you\u2019ll go crazy. So I just leave it to God. That has kept my life stress free. I\u2019m just confident in my situation right now.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Are you excited to see so many other players, women like Tamika Catchings and Ruth Riley, standing up and living out their faith?<\/p>\n

Paris: It\u2019s awesome. You go to chapel before the game and today Temeka (Johnson) did our chapel. It\u2019s cool to have the chaplains come in but its whole different story when you get to hear from a peer. That means a lot to me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the University of Oklahoma, Courtney Paris was one of the most dominant women\u2019s basketball players this side of the 21st Century. She was the first freshman to be named to the AP All-American team (2006) and ultimately became the first four-time First Team All-American in women\u2019s basketball history. But her WNBA career has been…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[387,3,382,5],"tags":[665,667,625,1046,585,344,1044,244],"class_list":["post-2656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-basketball","category-christian-athletes","category-qa","category-sports-features","tag-atlanta-dream","tag-courtney-paris","tag-oklahoma-sooners","tag-oklahoma-womens-basketball","tag-ruth-riley","tag-tamika-catchings","tag-temeka-johnson","tag-tulsa-shock"],"yoast_head":"\nA conversation with WNBA, Tulsa Shock center Courtney Paris - Inspiring Athletes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A conversation with WNBA, Tulsa Shock center Courtney Paris - Inspiring Athletes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At the University of Oklahoma, Courtney Paris was one of the most dominant women\u2019s basketball players this side of the 21st Century. She was the first freshman to be named to the AP All-American team (2006) and ultimately became the first four-time First Team All-American in women\u2019s basketball history. But her WNBA career has been…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-wnba-tulsa-shock-center-courtney-paris.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Inspiring Athletes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-27T12:00:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-06-27T06:57:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2012\/06\/ATL_Paris_Courtney-copy-300x168.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chad Bonham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A conversation with WNBA, Tulsa Shock center Courtney Paris - Inspiring Athletes","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A conversation with WNBA, Tulsa Shock center Courtney Paris - Inspiring Athletes","og_description":"At the University of Oklahoma, Courtney Paris was one of the most dominant women\u2019s basketball players this side of the 21st Century. She was the first freshman to be named to the AP All-American team (2006) and ultimately became the first four-time First Team All-American in women\u2019s basketball history. But her WNBA career has been…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-wnba-tulsa-shock-center-courtney-paris.html","og_site_name":"Inspiring Athletes","article_published_time":"2012-06-27T12:00:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-06-27T06:57:21+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2012\/06\/ATL_Paris_Courtney-copy-300x168.jpg"}],"author":"Chad Bonham","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-wnba-tulsa-shock-center-courtney-paris.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-wnba-tulsa-shock-center-courtney-paris.html","name":"A conversation with WNBA, Tulsa Shock center Courtney Paris - Inspiring Athletes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-wnba-tulsa-shock-center-courtney-paris.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-wnba-tulsa-shock-center-courtney-paris.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2012\/06\/ATL_Paris_Courtney-copy-300x168.jpg","datePublished":"2012-06-27T12:00:53+00:00","dateModified":"2012-06-27T06:57:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/#\/schema\/person\/95c3e9443bb9bfa81645d8daef1193c1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-wnba-tulsa-shock-center-courtney-paris.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-wnba-tulsa-shock-center-courtney-paris.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-wnba-tulsa-shock-center-courtney-paris.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2012\/06\/ATL_Paris_Courtney-copy-300x168.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2012\/06\/ATL_Paris_Courtney-copy-300x168.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/06\/a-conversation-with-wnba-tulsa-shock-center-courtney-paris.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A conversation with WNBA, Tulsa Shock center Courtney Paris"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/","name":"Inspiring Athletes","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Chad Bonham","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/#\/schema\/person\/95c3e9443bb9bfa81645d8daef1193c1","name":"Chad Bonham","description":"Chad has been working in mass media for over 20 years. Chad\u2019s professional journey began at the University of Tulsa where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (1993) while working extensively in athletic media relations and serving as a sports editor for The Collegian. Since then, he has written extensively for such publications as Relevant, CCM, Christian Retailing, New Man, Charisma, Today\u2019s Christian, Ministries Today, Breakaway, Brio, Sports Spectrum, Christian Single, Faith & Friends, Sharing the Victory and Gospel Today. He has authored, co-authored or ghost written and edited 13 books including Life in the Fairway (New Leaf Press), Glory of the Games (Cross Training), Wrestling with God (River Oak), Spiritual Journeys (Relevant) and the four-part Fellowship of Christian Athletes Core Value Series; Excellence, Teamwork, Serving and Integrity (Regal Books). Chad is currently working on five new books including Sooner Legacy, Husker Legacy and Lessons From Sooner Football (Cross Training) as well as The Faith of Stock Car Racing (Judson Press). When he's not writing, Chad lends his efforts to various independent television and film projects. He was the coordinating producer for Choosing Life (2010) and Life Happens (2011). Chad is currently serving as producer on a forthcoming documentary about Super Bowl champion Brian Kinchen. Chad and his wife Amy live in Broken Arrow, Okla., with sons Lance (September 2003), Cole (February 2008) and Quinn (February 2011).","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/author\/cbonham"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/418"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2656"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2672,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2656\/revisions\/2672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}