Erlana Larkins leaving her mark on Fever, WNBA playoffs

• Fever forward Erlana Larkins had 16 points and 15 rebounds in game 1 of the WNBA Finals
• Larkins, who began here career with the Liberty, had been out of the league for the past two years
• Larkins, who grew up in Riviera Beach, Fla., lost a sister to AIDS; a brother died at his workplace

MINNEAPOLIS — At the end of the Indiana Fever's training camp, general manger Kelly Krauskopf called Erlana Larkins into her office. When an executive does that, it usually means a player has been released.

Instead, Krauskopf wanted to deliver good news. Larkins, a 6-1 center who had been out of the WNBA for two years, made the team. Larkins is private and stoic, but she couldn't conceal emotions at that moment.

The tears were of joy. Too many times in her 26 years, the tears were of sorrow.

Larkins has endured tragedy and rejection to reach a stage once unimaginable. She has been a jolt of energy to the Fever, who play the Minnesota Lynx tonight in a bid to go ahead 2-0 in the best-of-five WNBA Finals.

In Sunday's Game 1, Larkins had 15 rebounds — one off the finals record — and 16 points. She leads the playoffs in shooting percentage (.596) and is second in rebounding (10.9).

"I always knew that Erlana had it in her to compete at this level," said Mike Terry, who coached her at The Benjamin School in North Palm Beach, Fla.

Her college coach, Sylvia Hatchell of North Carolina, called Larkins a survivor. That is more than metaphor.

One of Larkins' sisters died of AIDS. A brother died at his workplace. A cousin was shot to death. Peers died from shootings or car wrecks. Some of her 60 tattoos are dedicated to loved ones.

Home was Riviera Beach, a city of 35,000 with high crime and low income. Larkins enrolled at The Benjamin School, an exclusive private school, on financial aid. Tuition was $20,000, and there's no way her family could afford that.

Students at the school included those from families of golfing greats Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman. Larkins said she was one of two black students in her grade.

She said she "wouldn't trade where I grew up for nothing in the world." The culture at school was far different, but she wasn't unwelcome.

"All the kids wanted to hang out with me," she said. "It was cool to them. Even though they had money and stuff, that didn't make them cool."

Hatchell is "old school" and conceded that she often butted heads with the star player. Larkins didn't always make the best decisions, the coach said. But Hatchell added: "If I was in a foxhole and I could pick one person to be in the foxhole with me, it would be Erlana Larkins."

Larkins broke her hand during one season but declined to be sidelined. Bandage me up, she told her coach. She became an All-America selection, helping the Tar Heels to two Final Fours and a four-year record of 130-13. If she wasn't scoring or rebounding, she was setting screens for All-America teammate Ivory Latta.

Fever coach Lin Dunn said she appreciates Larkins doing the dirty work, but it is something Larkins has done since age 12 when she began playing for The Benjamin School. Terry, now a Wake Forest assistant coach, said even then she "let people do what they do" and tried to be a complementary piece.

Krauskopf had been trying for a decade to acquire someone who resembles the intensity of the franchise cornerstone, Tamika Catchings.

"To me, that's Larkins," Krauskopf said.

Competition in the WNBA was such that Larkins was away from the league after playing for the New York Liberty in 2008 and '09. She was never away from pro basketball, playing for teams in the Turkish league. She didn't doubt herself because she played against those who were in the WNBA. She has "matured tremendously," Hatchell said.

Larkins never opened a WNBA game until a month ago, and now the Fever are 7-1 in games she has started. Second-chance points? Larkins is making hers count on every possession.

David Woods also writes for the Indianapolis Star