Kahleah Copper shares North Philly with Unrivaled teammates: ‘I really made it because of y’all’

Head to the corner of 32nd and Berks, Kahleah Copper says. And find the telephone pole with the backboard still nailed to it.

“That’s where I started hooping,” Copper said Thursday. “That’s where it all really began for me.”

That spot is so meaningful that Copper took her Unrivaled teammates on a walking tour there, traipsing through snow-lined sidewalks and frigid temperatures to reach it. The 31-year-old wanted them to see the North Philly she always boasts about, to “share that little piece of me.”

It was part of the nostalgia and “waves of gratitude” Copper felt during this particular trip home, culminating in playing Friday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena in professional women’s basketball’s return to Philly. While speaking about the family, friends, and mentors in that sold-out crowd — who knew the kid who once shot on that makeshift hoop — Copper’s emotions quickly (and unexpectedly) bubbled to the surface.

“There’s so many people that just kind of stepped into my life,” said Copper, eyes teary and voice breaking, “and did stuff for me, literally not looking for anything in return. … For them to see me now, like I really made it because of y’all. That’s tough. That’s fire.

“Everybody literally planted little seeds for me to be who I am today. That’s why it’s so special.”

An early opponent on that neighborhood basket? One of her three sisters, whom Kahleah claims “wasn’t even that good, and she did not even, like, like it.” It is how she realized how much she did love basketball — and hated losing.

Then there were the guys who welcomed her into pickup games at Fairmount Park playground courts at 33rd and Diamond, even though she was a girl. As long as she did not cry. As long as she was ready to take hits. And as long as, whenever she lost, she got off the court and found her way back into the next game.

“Nothing being handed to me. Got to go get it. Got to be tougher,” Copper said. “That’s kind of where I got my mindset, and that’s how I approach everything.”

Eric Worley, the cofounder of Philadelphia Youth Basketball, first met Copper as a middle-schooler. Sabrina Allen, a friend and then the coach at Girard College, recognized potential in Copper. Woorley agreed that Copper “could run real fast, could jump real high” — and “got off the ground twice before the other player got off the ground once.”

“She just came in the game and you knew she was going to bring energy,” Worley told The Inquirer in front of an arena suite Friday night. “Get some offensive rebounds. Get some putbacks. And just kind of bring that North Philly toughness that she always kind of goes back to.

“That’s really true, and that has always been part of her makeup.”

Yet because of work and family obligations for Copper’s mother, Leticia, Kahleah often needed a ride to practices or AAU games. Worley and his family stepped in. Reminiscing about that kindness is what first made Copper’s voice waver in front of reporters on Thursday. The next day, Worley called the gesture “easy,” because of the Copper family’s honesty about their situation and appreciation for the support.

“She trusted us with her baby,” Worley said of Copper’s mother. “She was like, ‘Hey, I know y’all are good people. I know you have her best interests at heart. Come get her. What time do I need to have her ready?’ She’s going to have her bags packed and ready to go.”

Copper later moved to 23rd and Diamond, into the same Raymond Rosen projects where basketball legend Dawn Staley grew up. Copper started playing at Hank Gathers Recreation Center and walked Broad Street to Temple to join the pickup games with the women’s basketball team.

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Eventually, Copper branched out, starring in college at Rutgers before turning pro. She blossomed into a four-time All-Star, and won the 2021 WNBA championship and Finals MVP in 2021. She played overseas in Belgium, Poland, Turkey, Israel, and Spain. This past fall, she helped the Phoenix Mercury to a surprise Finals run, upsetting the defending champion New York Liberty along the way.

Then Unrivaled, the offseason league in its second season, finally brought Copper home to play professionally.

Veteran star Skylar Diggins sat behind Copper on the bus once they arrived, watching her take in her hometown. Copper kept a camcorder handy to document everything from the familiar surroundings, to her teammates crammed in an elevator in their hotel. Awaiting everybody was a massive cheesesteak order from the iconic Dalessandro’s, ready for Copper to dress her sandwich with mayonnaise, salt and pepper, and ketchup (but no onions).

“Everybody I know [eats it that way],” Copper said. “That’s real Philly right there.”

All four Unrivaled teams practiced at the Alan Horwitz “Sixth Man” Center located about 10 minutes where she grew up. She marveled at easily accessible “safe space” — complete with study areas, therapy rooms, and meals — it provides area kids today. That is where she first reunited with Worley, the coach calling it “genuine love.” Copper then spent time with some of Worley’s current players, along with kids who have grown up attending Copper’s summer camp launched nine years ago.

“Now it’s time to really cement your legacy,” Worley said, “by paying it forward for the next generation.”

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And with her Rose BC teammates in tow, Copper still squeezed in that neighborhood walk she made countless times as a kid. They began at the park and then moved to the lightpole backboard, which Copper said left everybody “in awe.” Then they went to her home, sat on the stoop, and yelled “Norf!”

Throughout the stroll, Copper pointed out her favorite water ice stand and go-to gas station. She shared memories of trying to hurry back home before the streetlights came on. It all illustrated why, in teammate Shakira Austin’s words, Copper is an “embodiment of Philly.”

“You can just see the way she speaks about things,” Austin said following Friday’s shootaround, “she’s so excited about this opportunity and about this experience. She’s been rambling a lot, but it’s so fun to hear and just to see her be her true self.

“She’s probably been the most out of her shell since we’ve been here.”

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Copper took all 60 tickets provided by Unrivaled for “her people” to attend Friday’s game, with several others sharing they had bought their own. She could not wait to scan the crowd and “probably see people I haven’t seen since I was maybe in college, or maybe in high school.” After the Rose’s 85-75 loss, in which she totaled 19 points and four rebounds, Copper ventured into Section 123, wrapping those loved ones in hugs and posing for photos.

Many of them know all about 32nd and Berks, and the lightpole with the backboard.

And now, so do her Unrivaled teammates.

“I made them walk in that cold,” Copper said. “But they love so much, so they did it for me. I was just super grateful to be able to show that little piece of me.”