The Sports Equity Foundation (SEF) recently announced that former Los Angeles Sparks guard Layshia Clarendon is in the inaugural class of the LGBTQ Sports Hall of Fame.
San Bernardino native Clarendon had a 13-year career in the WNBA, competing for the Indiana Fever, Atlanta Dream, Connecticut Sun, New York Liberty, Minnesota Lynx and the Sparks.
Clarendon is the first openly transgender and non-binary athlete in the WNBA.
“I think that’s really cool the way we’re creating our own Hall of Fames that are important to honor people who’ve done excellent work within our community,” Clarendon said. “Getting inducted into the LGBTQ Hall of Fame is a queer kid’s dream that I didn’t even know that I should have been dreaming.”
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Through the Layshia Clarendon Foundation, she helps provide healthcare and resources to the trans community.
“There’s currently an administration and a lot of people still fighting to erase us but especially in the sports culture, we’ve grown tremendously in our own internal acceptance of the LGBT community,” Clarendon said. “I’ve helped be a big part of pushing that forward.”
She was also one of the first players to be a member of the WNBA Social Justice Council which started during the 2020 season. Clarendon noted how the Social Justice Council was extremely important for WNBA players.
“For our league and the players in that moment in time with everything going on, we couldn’t play without talking about racial justice,” she said. “It went hand in hand for us as a predominantly Black women league.”
During her WNBA career, Clarendon competed in six post-seasons with four different teams. In her first season with the Sparks in 2023, Clarendon averaged 11.1 points and 3.4 assists per game.
Clarendon also helped Team USA win gold in the 2018 FIBA women’s basketball World Cup.
In the 2024 season-opener against the Atlanta Dream, Clarendon made her first WNBA triple-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
In 2022, Clarendon was inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Fame for her career with the University of California Golden Bears. She helped the Cal women’s basketball team make the Final Four for the first time in program history.
In September 2024, Clarendon announced her retirement from the WNBA.
