Natasha Cloud

Natasha Cloud

Cloud with the Phoenix Mercury in 2024
No. 0 – Phoenix Mercury
Position	Point guard
League	WNBA
Personal information
Born	(1992-02-22) February 22, 1992 (age 32) Broomall, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Listed height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Listed weight	160 lb (73 kg)
Career information
High school	Cardinal O'Hara (Springfield, Pennsylvania)
College	Maryland (2010–2011) St. Joseph's (2012–2015)
WNBA draft	2015: 2nd round, 15th overall pick
Selected by the Washington Mystics
Playing career	2015–present
Career history
2015–2019	Washington Mystics
2015–2016	Beşiktaş
2016–2017	Townsville Fire
2021–2023	Washington Mystics
2022–2024	Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball
2024–present	Phoenix Mercury
2025–present	Phantom BC
Career highlights and awards
WNBA assists leader (2022) WNBA champion (2019) Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award (2019) WNBA All-Defensive First Team (2022) 2x WNBA All-Defensive Second Team (2019, 2024) A-10 Defensive Player of the Year (2014) First-team All-A-10 (2015) 3x A-10 All-Defensive Team (2013–2015)
Stats at Basketball Reference

Natasha "Tasha" Cloud (born February 22, 1992) is an American naturalized Jordanian^[1] professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

During high school, Cloud led Cardinal O'Hara to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class AAAA state finals as a junior and to the second round as a senior. She earned First Team All-Delco honors in both her junior and senior year. As a junior, she additionally earned a Pennsylvania AAAA Third Team All-State selection.^[2]

Natasha Cloud gained recognition after being named AAAA First Team All-State as a senior. During the season, she averaged 12.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 4.0 steals per game.^[2] She earned the Michael Menichini Award in 2009.

Following her high school career, Cloud received a scholarship to play at the University of Maryland as a Terp.

2010–2011: Cloud played in 31 of 32 games of her freshman year and started six times.^[3] During the season, she led the team in assists twice and in blocks three times while also being named a Scholar Athlete.^[3]

Her coach, Brenda Frese, stated that:

Natasha is a very athletic and unselfish player who will do whatever her team needs to help us win. She's a strong defensive player, who can play either guard spot and is a terrific passer. Natasha has a ton of personality, is a good student and fits right in with our team.^[3]

Following the 2010-2011 basketball season, Cloud transferred to Saint Joseph's University.

2011–2012: Due to NCAA transfer rules, Cloud sat out the 2011–2012 season. She was named a member of the SJU Director's Honor Roll.^[2]

2013–2014: Cloud served as co-captain of her team. She earned Atlantic 10 (A10) Defensive Player of the Year and was additionally named to the A10 All-Conference Second Team.^[2] She was named to the Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List for the top point guard in the nation.

During the season, Cloud averaged 11.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 7.6 assists per game. She ranked second nationally in assists per game, setting the SJU single-season record for assists (243) and leading the A10 in assists and assists to turnover ratio.^[2] During the 2014 NCAA tournament, she scored 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots, and two steals in a first round win over Georgia. During the second round, she posted 10 points, six assists, one block, and one steal against Connecticut, the eventual champions.^[2]

2014–2015: Cloud served as the co-captain of her team for the second straight year. She was named Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team and was an All-Defensive Team selection. She was a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award and Naismith Trophy Watch List nominee.

During the season, Cloud averaged 12.9 points a game and led the Atlantic 10 in assists and averaged minutes.^[2] She scored a career-high 29 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a blocked shot against Liberty.^[2]

Cloud was selected in the second round and 15th overall by the Washington Mystics in the 2015 WNBA draft.^[4] During her rookie season, she averaged 3.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game over an average of 19.3 minutes.^[4]

In 2016, Cloud suffered a left hip injury during practice at the Verizon Center.^[5]

On October 10, 2019, Cloud won her first WNBA championship.^[6]

In June 2020, Cloud announced that she would forgo the 2020 WNBA season due to concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and a desire to focus on social justice advocacy.^[7]

After playing for the Mystics for nine years, Cloud signed to the Phoenix Mercury in 2024.^[8]

During the 2015–2016 season, Cloud played in Istanbul, Turkey for Besiktas.^[9]

From 2022 to 2024, Cloud played for Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball. She was a member of the Player Executive Committee from 2022 to 2023 and named to the league's 2023 All Defense Team.^[10]

On August 27, 2024, it was announced that Cloud would appear and play in the inaugural season of Unrivaled, the women's 3x3 basketball league founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.^[11]

Cloud represented Jordan at the 2021 FIBA Women's Asia Cup in Amman, Jordan.^[12] She helped her team to reach the promotion playoff final, before losing to Lebanon and missing promotion to Division A.^[13]

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
Bold	Career best	°	League leader

†	Denotes season(s) in which Cloud won a WNBA championship

Stats current through end of 2024 season

WNBA regular season statistics

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2015	Washington	34	22	19.3	.320	.237	.681	2.8	3.4	0.9	0.1	1.4	3.6
2016	Washington	31	28	24.3	.348	.338	.754	3.0	3.8	0.8	0.1	1.4	5.7
2017	Washington	24	0	18.7	.314	.235	.741	2.5	2.9	0.7	0.1	1.0	4.4
2018	Washington	27	22	26.5	.436	.386	.778	3.2	4.6	0.7	0.1	1.7	8.6
2019†	Washington	34	34	32.1	.394	.326	.683	2.5	5.6	1.0	0.2	1.9	9.0
2020	Did not play (opted out)
2021	Washington	27	27	31.6	.389	.274	.836	3.6	6.4	1.4	0.1	2.2	8.7
2022	Washington	34	34	31.3	.399	.319	.824	3.6	7.0	1.0	0.3	2.8	10.7
2023	Washington	37	37	32.4	.377	.298	.900	3.7	6.2	1.1	0.3	2.6	12.7
2024	Phoenix	38	38	33.3	.397	.308	.826	4.1	6.9	1.4	0.6	3.0	11.5
Career	9 years, 2 teams	286	242	28.1	.384	.309	.806	3.3	5.3	1.0	0.2	2.1	8.6

WNBA playoff statistics

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2015	Washington	3	2	14.0	.429	.333	—	1.0	1.3	1.0	0.0	1.7	2.3
2017	Washington	5	0	17.4	.333	.333	.750	2.4	2.2	0.6	0.2	1.8	4.8
2018	Washington	9	9	25.7	.400	.414	.769	3.4	4.1	0.8	0.1	1.9	8.2
2019†	Washington	9	9	34.2	.442	.378	.850	3.4	6.2	1.1	0.2	1.3	13.1
2022	Washington	2	2	35.5	.500	.700	1.000	6.0	3.0	0.5	1.5	3.0	18.5
2023	Washington	2	2	37.0	.433	.500	1.000	7.0	8.5	2.0°	0.0	1.5	18.5
2024	Phoenix	2	2	36.5	.543	.462	.833	5.5	10.0°	1.0	0.5	3.0	24.5°
Career	7 years, 2 teams	32	26	27.7	.439	.429	.849	3.6	4.7	0.9	0.3	1.8	10.8

Source^[14]

Year	Team	GP	Points	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2010–11	Maryland	31	76	37.9%	26.3%	69.2%	1.5	2.0	0.7	0.2	2.5
2011–12	Saint Joseph's	redshirt
2012–13	Saint Joseph's	32	293	38.9%	14.8%	73.6%	4.6	4.4	1.8	0.5	9.2
2013–14	Saint Joseph's	32	368	39.2%	27.4%	71.7%	6.6	7.6	2.0	0.5	11.5
2014–15	Saint Joseph's	30	388	36.8%	35.1%	79.1%	5.9	6.6	1.8	0.4	12.9
Career		125	1125	38.2%	28.6%	74.4%	4.6	5.2	1.6	0.4	9.0

Cloud was married to professional softball player, Aleshia Ocasio. They separated in 2022.^[15][16]

In December 2020, Cloud was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 alongside fellow WNBA players A'ja Wilson and Chiney Ogwumike.^[17]

• Career statistics and player information from WNBA.com  and Basketball Reference 
• St. Joseph's bio