Sami Whitcomb Bio
Samantha Allison Whitcomb (born July 20, 1988) is an American-Australian professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). Standing 178 cm and listed at 68 kg, she is also contracted with Beşiktaş JK of the Turkish Women’s Basketball Super League for the 2025–26 season. She played college basketball for the Washington Huskies before making a name for herself in Australia with the Rockingham Flames in the State Basketball League (SBL) and the Perth Lynx in the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL). She made her debut in the WNBA in 2017 and won championships with the Seattle Storm in 2018 and 2020, then became an Australian citizen in 2018 and debuted for the Australian Opals. With the Bendigo Spirit in 2025, she was named WNBL Most Valuable Player and won her first WNBL championship.
Early Life and Background
Born and raised in Ventura, California, Samantha Allison Whitcomb is the daughter of Jan and Sander, and she has an older brother named Jason. Her parents divorced when she was young, and through basketball she was able to keep a close relationship with her father despite spending less time together. Her great uncle, Roy Schmidt, played in the National Football League with the Falcons, Packers and Redskins in the 1960s and 1970s, giving the family a notable athletic background.
Whitcomb played soccer as a child before taking up basketball at age 12. She attended Buena High School in Ventura, where she was a four-year letterwinner and a one-year team captain. She won numerous awards during her time at Buena, including the 2004–05 Co-County Player of the Year from the league coaches and the Ventura County Star’s 2005–06 Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year. She also helped her team win three Channel League titles as a sophomore, junior and senior, and she was a two-time letterwinner in track and field, placing first in the county for seeded throwers in 2005.
Path to Professional Basketball
Whitcomb joined the Washington Huskies in 2006 and developed into one of the Pac-10 Conference’s most reliable guards. As a senior in 2009–10, she started all 31 games, earned All-Pac-10 honors, and set a career high with 32 points against Washington State on January 29, 2010. She finished her four-year college career with 1,205 points, a mark that ranks 15th all-time in program history, and graduated in the spring of 2010 with a degree in history.
After going undrafted in the 2010 WNBA draft, Whitcomb signed a training camp contract with the Chicago Sky on April 25, 2010, and was waived on May 9 after three preseason games. She then became the Huskies’ video coordinator for the 2010–11 season before launching her professional career in June 2011 with ChemCats Chemnitz of the Damen-Basketball-Bundesliga in Germany. A second season with the Wolfenbüttel Wildcats and a stint in Slovakia with ŠKBD Rücon Spišská Nová Ves followed, and she later moved to Australia, where she starred for the Rockingham Flames in the SBL.
Sami Whitcomb Career
Early Career (2011–2015)
Whitcomb launched her pro career in Germany with the ChemCats Chemnitz in 2011, averaging 11.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.0 steals across 22 games. She returned to Germany for the 2012–13 season with the Wolfenbüttel Wildcats and was a dominant scorer, posting 18.5 points per game before the club went bankrupt mid-finals. A 2013–14 season in Slovakia with ŠKBD Rücon Spišská Nová Ves produced averages of 15.8 points and 2.9 steals per game.
After moving to Australia, Whitcomb joined the Rockingham Flames in the SBL and immediately won league MVP and All-Star Five honors in 2013, averaging 22.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.8 steals. She added a second straight MVP in 2014, scoring 32 points in an 80–75 grand final win over the Lakeside Lightning to claim the SBL championship, and a third straight MVP in 2015, when she scored 41 points in a 68–63 grand final victory over the Willetton Tigers for back-to-back titles. In May 2015, she signed with the Perth Lynx of the WNBL and quickly became the league’s premier scorer, earning All-Star Five honors and finishing third in MVP voting in her first WNBL season.
WNBL Breakthrough (2015–2018)
Whitcomb’s 2016–17 WNBL campaign with the Perth Lynx was one of the most prolific in league history. She led the WNBL with 23.6 points and 2.8 steals per game, set a single-season record with 91 three-pointers, and her 567 regular-season points were the second most ever behind Penny Taylor’s 570 in 2002. On March 3, 2017, she scored 41 points in a 91–71 game two semi-final win over the Dandenong Rangers, the most points in a WNBL semi-final, while finishing second in MVP voting behind Suzy Batkovic.
In 2017–18, Whitcomb was named co-captain of the Perth Lynx and helped the club record a 14-game winning streak to claim the minor premiership with a 15–6 record. She earned All-Star Five honors for the third straight season and averaged 17.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.6 steals before parting ways with the Lynx. She also signed with the Seattle Storm ahead of the 2017 WNBA season, opening the door to her American league career.
WNBA Career (2017–Present)
Whitcomb made her WNBA debut on May 13, 2017, scoring three points and three rebounds in a loss to the Los Angeles Sparks. On May 26, she erupted for 22 points and six three-pointers in 15 minutes off the bench in a win over the New York Liberty, tying the WNBA record for most three-pointers in a half. In 2018, she helped the Storm sweep the Washington Mystics 3–0 in the WNBA Finals for her first championship, and in 2020 she appeared in all 22 games inside the WNBA bubble before leaving Bradenton for the birth of her first child in November. The Storm then swept the Las Vegas Aces 3–0 in the Finals for her second WNBA title, and Whitcomb finished the season as Seattle’s top reserve at 8.1 points per game.
On February 10, 2021, Whitcomb was acquired by the New York Liberty via sign-and-trade in exchange for the rights to Stephanie Talbot. On June 26, 2021, she set a career high with 30 points in a 101–78 win over the Atlanta Dream, making 7 of 12 from three-point range. She became the Liberty’s sole captain in 2022 and returned to the Seattle Storm on a two-year deal on February 3, 2023, where she averaged 9.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists across 40 games in 2023. On February 2, 2025, Whitcomb signed with the Phoenix Mercury, and on July 7, 2025, she scored 29 of her career-high 36 points in the first half of a 102–72 win over the Dallas Wings.
Phoenix Mercury Era (2025–Present)
Whitcomb joined the Phoenix Mercury in February 2025 and quickly became a key perimeter threat for the franchise. Her career-high 36-point performance against Dallas in July 2025 set a tone for her role as a high-volume shooter and reliable bench scorer. The veteran guard’s three-point shooting and experience have provided leadership for a young Mercury roster competing in the Western Conference.
Driving Style and Strengths
Whitcomb is best known as a three-point shooter with a quick release, a strong motor and the toughness to defend at a high level. Her 41 percent three-point shooting in 2016–17 and 42.5 percent in 2021 highlight a perimeter game that can swing games in short stretches off the bench, while her career averages of around 2.4 steals per game reflect the defensive instincts she first displayed as a Pac-10 All-Defensive honoree at Washington.
Notable Events and Milestones
Whitcomb’s career is decorated with two WNBA championships (2018, 2020) and a WNBL championship (2025), alongside WNBL MVP, WNBL Grand Final MVP, and SBL Grand Final MVP honors. She set a WNBL single-season record with 91 three-pointers in 2016–17 and tied a WNBA record with six three-pointers in a half during her rookie season. On the international stage, she captained the Australian Opals to a FIBA World Cup silver medal in 2018, a bronze at the 2021 Asia Cup, and a bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Sami Whitcomb Career Wins
Across her career, Samantha Allison Whitcomb has won two WNBA championships with the Seattle Storm, one WNBL championship with the Bendigo Spirit, and two SBL championships with the Rockingham Flames. She has also been named MVP in the SBL, WNBL, and WNBL Grand Final, and has earned multiple All-Star selections in both the SBL and WNBL.
WNBA Highlights
Whitcomb’s WNBA resume includes the 2018 and 2020 WNBA championships with the Seattle Storm, both won in three-game Finals sweeps. Her most memorable regular-season moment came on May 26, 2017, when she scored 22 points in 15 minutes off the bench against the New York Liberty and tied the WNBA record for three-pointers in a half. She also set a Liberty-era record for three-pointers in a single quarter in 2022.
WNBL and SBL Highlights
In the WNBL, Whitcomb won her first championship in 2025 with the Bendigo Spirit, earning both league MVP and Grand Final MVP honors after leading the league in scoring with 440 points. Her 2016–17 WNBL campaign with the Perth Lynx produced 91 three-pointers, a single-season league record, and 24.1 points per game. In the SBL, she won back-to-back championships with the Rockingham Flames in 2014 and 2015 and was named league MVP three straight years (2013, 2014, 2015).
| Series | Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
|---|---|---|---|
| WNBA | 2 | — | — |
| WNBL | 1 | — | — |
| SBL | 2 | — | — |
Sami Whitcomb Family
Family Background and Athletic Lineage
Samantha Allison Whitcomb is the daughter of Jan and Sander, and she has an older brother named Jason. Her great uncle, Roy Schmidt, played in the National Football League with the Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins during the 1960s and 1970s, giving the family a multi-generational athletic background.
Personal Life
Whitcomb is married to Kate Malpass, a former Willetton Tigers SBL player who works as a physiotherapist and physical education teacher. The couple married in the United States in 2017 and had their marriage recognised in Australia after same-sex marriage laws changed. Their first child, a daughter, was born in November 2020.
2025 Season Performance
The 2025 season was a milestone year for Samantha Allison Whitcomb on two continents. In the WNBL, she joined the Bendigo Spirit and dominated from the opener, averaging 26.7 points over the first four games and recording her first WNBL triple-double with 16 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in a 72–66 win over the Perth Lynx on December 5, 2024. She led the Spirit to an 18–3 regular-season finish, topped the WNBL in scoring with 440 points, and was named WNBL Most Valuable Player and All-WNBL First Team before guiding Bendigo to a 2–0 WNBL Grand Final series win over Townsville to claim her first WNBL championship and the Grand Final MVP award.
In the WNBA, Whitcomb signed with the Phoenix Mercury on February 2, 2025, and quickly delivered one of the best individual scoring nights of her career with 36 points, including 29 in the first half, in a 102–72 win over the Dallas Wings on July 7, 2025. Her perimeter shooting and veteran presence provided a steady hand for the Mercury throughout the regular season, while her simultaneous run with Bendigo underscored her elite endurance and two-way impact. With the 2025–26 season also confirmed through her contract with Beşiktaş JK in Turkey, Whitcomb closed the calendar year as one of the most decorated and productive veterans in international women’s basketball.