Liatu King

Liatu King
King with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2025
Personal information
Born (2002-02-10) February 10, 2002
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Listed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Career information
High schoolBishop McNamara (Forestville, Maryland)
College
WNBA draft2025: 3rd round, 28th overall pick
Drafted byLos Angeles Sparks
PositionGuard / power forward
Career history
2025Los Angeles Sparks
2025Dallas Wings
Career highlights
  • First-team All-ACC (2024)
  • Second-team All-ACC (2025)
Stats at WNBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

Liatu King (born February 10, 2002) is an American professional basketball player who is a free agent. She played college basketball for the Pittsburgh Panthers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish. King was selected by the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in the third round of the 2025 WNBA draft.

Early life

King was born on February 10, 2002 in Washington, D.C.[1][2] She attended Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Maryland[3] where she led the school's basketball team to a Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championship; she scored a team-high 13 points in the championship game.[1] She was named to the All-WCAC second team as a junior and the conference's first team as a senior, tallying 1,024 points, 1,018 rebounds, and a 28–5 record in her high school career.[4]

College career

King began her college basketball career with the Pittsburgh Panthers. She played in all 19 games of her freshman year, averaging 5.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. She played in 26 games during her sophomore year, averaging 7.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game and recording double-doubles in consecutive games on two occasions. In her junior year, King played in all 30 games, averaging 9.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, and 1.2 assists per game and recording five more double-doubles. In her senior year, she started in all 32 games and averaged 18.7 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game[1][2] on her way to securing 18 more double-doubles and first-team All-ACC honors.[5][6] She was also named the ACC's most-improved player for 2024 – the first Pittsburgh player to win a major individual ACC award[7] – and was one of three players in the conference that season to average a double-double.[6]

King's 18 double-doubles, 598 points, 329 rebounds, and 58 blocks as a senior ranked first, third, second, and first, respectively, in a season in Pittsburgh program history. Granted an extra year of NCAA eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she chose to play college basketball for a fifth season, transferring to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to do so.[7]

In her fifth-year senior season at Notre Dame, starting in all 33 games,[2][8] King averaged 11.5 points and 2.0 steals per game.[1] She also averaged 10.4 rebounds per game, a Notre Dame program record.[9] King recorded 14 double-doubles on the season;[8] CBS Sports called her Notre Dame's "X-factor".[10] Notre Dame qualified for the 2025 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, advancing as far as the Sweet Sixteen. She recorded ten points and six points in a round of 64 win over the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks, added 18 points and 15 rebounds in a round of 32 victory against the Michigan Wolverines, and ended her college career with 17 points and ten rebounds in Notre Dame's Sweet Sixteen loss to the TCU Horned Frogs.[1] She was named second-team All-ACC for her season at Notre Dame.[9][11]

Professional career

Los Angeles Sparks

King was selected in the third round (28th overall) of the 2025 WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks.[8] She played in the Sparks' preseason game on May 6, 2025, recording six points and four rebounds in five minutes.[12] The Sparks waived King on May 11[13] but re-signed her to a hardship contract on May 20.[14] In her first three regular-season games with the Sparks, her 12.7 minutes per game was the second-most among the team's bench players; she averaged 2.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per game in that span.[15] On June 28, she was released by the Sparks after averaging 3.0 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 0.3 assists in 12 games.[16]

Dallas Wings

On July 2, 2025, the Dallas Wings announced that they had signed King for a rest-of-season contract.[17] She was waived by the Wings after appearing in two games. She was waived by the Wings on July 8 after appearing in two games.[18]

Personal life

King has a younger sister. Both of King's parents are deaf; she began learning American Sign Language (ASL) at nine months old. As a child, King played American football as a linebacker.[19]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader

WNBA

WNBA regular season statistics[3]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2025 Los Angeles 12 0 10.0 .500 .167 .733 2.1 0.3 0.2 0.0 0.9 3.0
Dallas 2 0 8.0 .333 — — 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0
Career 1 year, 2 teams 14 0 9.7 .481 .167 .733 2.1 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.8 2.7

College

NCAA statistics[2]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2020–21 Pittsburgh 19 0 14.3 .461 — .591 4.6 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.9 5.0
2021–22 Pittsburgh 26 16 19.8 .443 — .571 7.1 1.0 0.6 0.7 1.7 7.5
2022–23 Pittsburgh 30 22 23.4 .394 — .670 7.6 1.2 1.1 1.4 1.4 9.4
2023–24 Pittsburgh 32 32 35.4 .523 — .711 10.3 1.8 1.8 1.5 3.4 18.7
2024–25 Notre Dame 33 33 29.8 .563 .000 .500 10.4 1.4 2.0 0.9 2.0 11.5
Career 140 103 25.8 .491 .000 .637 8.4 1.3 1.3 1.0 2.0 11.1

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Liatu King". University of Notre Dame athletics. Retrieved May 21, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d "Liatu King College Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  3. ^ a b "Liatu King WNBA stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved May 21, 2025.
  4. ^ Simms, Brandy (April 19, 2025). "A pair of Bishop McNamara grads selected in WNBA Draft". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  5. ^ "Notre Dame women's hoops adds 2 big-time transfers". WNDU-TV. May 6, 2024. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  6. ^ a b Byrne, Pete (May 6, 2024). "Top women's basketball transfers King, Karlen commit to Notre Dame". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  7. ^ a b Campbell, Dominic (May 6, 2024). "Pitt F Liatu King Finds New Home". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 21, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c Bell, Gayle (April 14, 2025). "What are the Los Angeles Sparks getting in Liatu King after drafting the Notre Dame guard". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved May 21, 2025.
  9. ^ a b Wise, Bennett (April 14, 2025). "Sonia Citron taken No. 3 overall in WNBA Draft, Westbeld & King selected in 2nd and 3rd". WSBT-TV. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  10. ^ Gonzalez, Isabel (February 20, 2025). "Hannah Hidalgo, Olivia Miles are Notre Dame's headliners, but here's the X-factor for No. 1 Fighting Irish". CBS Sports. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  11. ^ "Notre Dame's Liatu King selected 28th overall in WNBA Draft by Los Angeles Sparks". WNDU-TV. April 14, 2025. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  12. ^ Shlensky, Jared (May 8, 2025). "Notre Dame's King plays well in WNBA Debut with Los Angeles Sparks". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  13. ^ Geffner, Ben (May 13, 2025). "Sparks Waive Rookie Ahead of 2025 Roster Deadline". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 21, 2025.
  14. ^ Neill, Jackson (May 20, 2025). "Former Notre Dame forward Liatu King signs hardship deal with Los Angeles Sparks". WNDU-TV. Retrieved May 21, 2025.
  15. ^ Davis, John W. (May 26, 2025). "Sparks rookie Liatu King is making the most of her hardship contract". The Orange County Register. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  16. ^ Nacach, Eric (June 29, 2025). "WNBA Team Releases Rookie After Indiana Fever Game". Athlon Sports. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  17. ^ "Dallas Wings sign forward Liatu King to rest-of-season contract". The Dallas Morning News. July 2, 2025. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  18. ^ Brown, Briauna (July 8, 2025). "Dallas Wings fell to Phoenix Mercury behind Sami Whitcomb's career-high 36 points, losing 72-102". CBS News. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
  19. ^ Meyer, Craig (December 1, 2021). "How being raised in a deaf household shaped Pitt's Liatu King". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved May 21, 2025.
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