The first Vietnamese female athlete to join a professional basketball club in the US.

Truong Thao Vy joins the Washington Mystics for the 2024 season, becoming the first Vietnamese female athlete to compete in the American professional women’s basketball league (WNBA).

Truong Thao Vy (Kaylynne Truong) was selected 21st overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft – the selection event for professional women’s basketball teams in the US – this morning, April 16th, Hanoi time. Meanwhile, her twin sister, Truong Thao My (Kayleigh Truong), was not selected by any club.

Previously, Jaylin Williams was the first Vietnamese-American athlete to join a professional basketball club in the US. The center, born in 2002, was selected 34th overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA.

Thao Vy was selected thanks to her impressive performance in the 2023-2024 season of the American collegiate sports league (NCAA). After 36 games for the Gonzaga Bulldogs, Thao Vy averaged 11.4 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game. Thao Vy is 1.77 meters tall and is considered to have a playing style similar to NBA superstar Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.

Thao Vy and Thao My, nicknamed the “Truong Twins,” impressed by helping Vietnam make history with a silver medal at the 31st SEA Games and then a gold medal at the 32nd SEA Games in 3×3 basketball. Both demonstrated a different skill level thanks to their professional training in the United States – the birthplace of basketball.

Vy and My were born in 2001 in the United States, with both parents being Vietnamese. Their father taught them basketball from the age of five, and they trained seriously from the eighth grade. Both play well as point guards or shooting guards, with Thao Vy having a slight edge in skill. While playing at Jersey Village High School, Thao Vy was selected by the American television channel ESPN as one of the 28 best high school guards in the United States. Since 2019, the two sisters have attended Gonzaga University, home to the Gonzaga Bulldogs basketball team, one of the best in the American collegiate sports league (NCAA), becoming key players in the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons. Thao Vy has 629 assists – the second-highest statistic in the team’s history, while Thao My ranks fourth with 484 assists.

After five seasons, Thao Vy played 162 games, averaging 9.4 points, 3.9 assists, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.09 steals per game. Thao My played 131 games, averaging 9.3 points, 3.7 assists, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game.

The WNBA is the world’s most prestigious club basketball league, founded in 1997 with four teams. Currently, the league has 12 teams, with six in each of the Eastern and Western Conferences. The Washington Mystics, founded in 1998 and belonging to the Eastern Conference, have only won the championship once, in 2019. In the last four seasons, the Mystics’ best performance was reaching the first round of the playoffs in 2020, 2022, and 2023.

The WNBA Draft is an annual event, taking place before each professional season and after the NCAA. The 12 clubs have at least three draft picks from a pool of talent both domestically and internationally. Clubs can exchange draft picks through a trade agreement. Eligible players must be at least 22 years old and meet one of three criteria: have graduated from college, have received a bachelor’s degree, or are expected to receive one within three months of being selected, at least four years prior to graduating from high school. The WNBA 2024 will run from May 14th to September 19th. Each team will play 40 games in the regular season to determine their ranking, which will then lead to playoff matches for the championship.