Background
Kym attributes her athletic ability to her father"s side of the family and her uncle, Charlie Hampton, was a Central High School standout.
Kym attributes her athletic ability to her father"s side of the family and her uncle, Charlie Hampton, was a Central High School standout.
Kym attended Iroquois High School in Louisville, Kentucky. She joined the basketball team during her freshman year in 1976, at the urging of the head coach Marshall Abstain. Hampton ultimately scored 1,198 career points, averaging 23.5 points per game and 728 rebounds, averaging 14 per game.
Kym was the starting center on both Kentucky All-Star and Kentucky East/West All-Star teams.
Hampton was a track star at Iroquois as well.
She won the state championship in the shot put, 3 of her 4 years at Iroquois and set the state record 46" 4" in her senior year (1980). Kym was asked by her track coach Bob Hanley, to compete in the high jump and discus during Iroquois Track Classic, and set two school records that day.
5"2" in the high jump and 116"6.5" in the discus.
Hampton attended Arizona State University from 1980-1984. During her college career, the Sun Devils made two consecutive trips, during the 1982 and 1983 seasons, to the Sweet 16, before being eliminated from the National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament.
In addition to playing basketball, Kym"s second passion was singing and obtained her Bachelor of Arts in theatre from Arizona State University in 1984.
In 1989, Kym was inducted into the Arizona State Hall of Fame.
A 6"2" center, Kym was drafted as the number four pick in the 1997 Women's National Basketball Association Elite draft and played three played three seasons for the New York Liberty (1997 - 1999). Following a 12-year professional stint in Europe along with her three years in the Women's National Basketball Association, Kym retired from basketball in 2000, due to worn cartilage in her right knee. Since retiring, Kym"s focus has shifted to many things including singing and television Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Kym is one of seven children born to Donald and Joyce Hampton.
After graduation, Hampton played internationally, spending six years in Spain, four and one half years in Italy, one year in France, and one year in Japan.
In 1997, Hampton was selected as the number four pick in the Women's National Basketball Association Elite Draft, by the New York Liberty, in its inaugural season. During her three-year Women's National Basketball Association career, she started every game including the inaugural Women's National Basketball Association All-Star Game where she was voted starting center.
When Hampton retired in 2000, due to worn cartilage in her right knee, she averaged 9.3ppg, 5.8rpg, and 1.0 apg. Office the court, Hampton has pursued modeling, acting, and singing.
She is an original Cover Girl Queen Collection model featured in print and a nationwide commercial.
She was one of the original Lane Bryant "V-Girls" in an national V-Girl campaign. She"s graced the pages of Glamour Magazine, Essence Magazine and other magazines. In 2012 Hampton was one of the women featured on American Broadcasting Company"s The Revolution daytime television show trying to improve themselves, particularly with regard to weight loss.
Over a five-month period Hampton got her weight down to what it had been when she played professional basketball.