Dawn Staley, proudly ‘made in North Philly,’ wants everybody to know where she is from

No matter where Dawn Staley has gone in her basketball journey, she has taken Philadelphia with her as a companion, a teacher, and an inspiration.

In 1992, she was dropped from the U.S. National Women’s Basketball Team that won a bronze in the Barcelona Olympics because, she said to ESPN in 2021, of her lack of international experience and 5-foot-6 stature. Four years later, the undersized point guard led the team to its first gold medal in eight years.

After racking up five WNBA All-Star selections and two more gold medals, the North Philadelphia born-and-raised Staley was inducted into the Women’s Basketball of Fame in 2012.

In 2000, after initially rejecting the idea, she began coaching the Temple women’s basketball team, and soon transformed the program into a formidable one.

In 2008, she took over at the University of South Carolina, where her brash, old-school coaching style has led to three NCAA titles.

In her head, though, she is the same quiet, thumb-sucking kid, the scrappy guard from North Philadelphia’s Raymond Rosen housing projects, who has continued to honor her neighborhood, Staley said to The Inquirer over Zoom last week.

That love for Philly shines through in her memoir, Uncommon Favor: Basketball, North Philly, My Mother, and the Life Lessons I Learned From All Three.

“I’ve always respected where I grew up. I always carry my upbringing with me,” Staley said. “I’m unbothered by most things that are very challenging to others. It doesn’t matter, as long as it gets done. That’s what growing up in the projects does for you. And if you utilize the lessons, it will help you navigate through life.”

Released on Tuesday, the 239-page book takes readers to her childhood home on what has now been named Dawn Staley Lane, and reveals the dark moments that accompanied her personal and professional breakthroughs and losses.

Staley grew up in North Philly’s Strawberry Mansion, at 25th and Diamond Streets. This, she says in her book, shaped her into the fierce leader she’s become.

“My upbringing had taught me toughness, resilience, and that I could survive,” she writes.

She said she “saw women on TV playing basketball twice a year growing up. They probably played more than that, but I wasn’t in the house long enough … I saw national championships and I saw the Olympics and was like, ‘Oh, that’s what I want to do. That’s it.’”

Staley credits her unrelenting competitiveness, discipline, and gritty attitude to her no-nonsense mother, Estelle Staley, her four opinionated siblings, and her days playing pickup games at Moylan Recreation Center.

The recreation center, now named in honor of late Philly legend Hank Gathers Jr., is where Staley discovered her love of basketball. She was obsessed with the sport from the moment her first jump shot pierced the nylon net. And when boys passed her up for games, Gathers encouraged them to give her a chance.

Staley, on the other hand, refused to share her basketball unless she was among the first 10 players picked.

In her memoir, Staley details those formative moments, from Dobbins Technical High School to the Olympics. She also includes her true crime obsession.

Staley addresses the depression and mental fatigue she faced after winning the gold in 1996, the stockpile of injuries that shortened her pro career, her apprehensions about coaching, and the media bias she felt was directed at her South Carolina team during the 2023 NCAA tournament run.

“The book was relatively easy,” she said. “I’m an open book anyway. I don’t really hide anything. I just don’t really remember stuff. But the book made me remember stuff, so what I remembered, I’m going to share.”

Staley wasn’t inspired to write a book until a 2022 interview with Power 105.1 FM‘s The Breakfast Club, when radio host and author Charlemagne tha God asked her if she wanted to write one. She brushed it off, much like that initial coaching offer from Temple athletic director Dave O’Brien. But after a third national title run at South Carolina, she was ready to put her story to paper.

“A lot of people were asking me to do a book for such a long time,” she said. “It just didn’t seem like the right time to do it when they were asking … And then, when we had that undefeated season last year, it really sparked me to say, ‘This is really the time.’”

Her mother, Staley said, “was a disciplinarian.”

“And being the youngest child and not really having a say in your household because you have older siblings that are very opinionated, there were no freebies,” she said. “I got nothing easy. Nobody said, ‘Here you go.’ Everybody said, ‘Hey, we’re not going to give you anything. We’re going to challenge you, and we’re going to do it for the greater good of you.’”

Although she didn’t really understand that as a young person, “I think it forces you to create thick skin, toughen your armor, and it gives you pride to overcome the hurdles that’s thrown your way.”

Thus, the name Uncommon Favor.

Though she now lives in Columbia, S.C., Staley never veers too far from North Philly. She wears Eagles jerseys while coaching and her phone screen saver reads, “Made in North Philly.”

“I just think people really appreciate who I am, what I’ve become, and the fact that I never shy away from telling people where I’m from — no matter where I am, what country I’m in, or where I live. Everybody knows."

The city has embraced her right back.

In the coming weeks, Mural Arts will unveil the design of a new Dawn Staley mural on 28th and Diamond Streets, commemorating the hoops legend nearly 30 years after Nike revealed Staley’s first mural on Eighth and Market in 1996.

While she loves the public dedications, Staley hopes that Uncommon Favor, and her continued pursuits, inspire young Philadelphians roaming the same outdoor courts, recreation centers, and Chinese food spots she did as a wide-eyed kid.

She also wants Philly to see the book and her story as a shared one, not just her own.

“It’s about us,” she said. “It’s not only my journey, but our journey. And I just think it’s going to be relatable to everybody that understands our hood.”