Saphira Kelley
 | |
| No. 19 – Baltimore Spirits | |
|---|---|
| Position | Guard |
| Species | Blue Ocean Slug ( Glaucidae ) |
| Gender | Female |
| Nickname(s) | |
| Saffy-Taffy, Saphy, Chaosnoodle | |
| Personal information | |
| Born |
July 15, 2001 Miami, FL |
| Nationality | |
| Listed height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| Listed weight | 157 lb (71 kg) |
| Shoots | Left-handed |
| Career information | |
| School | Pinion State University |
| FBA draft | 2020 / Round: 1 / Pick: 4th overall |
| Selected by the Baltimore Spirits | |
| Pro playing career | 2020–present |
| Career history | |
| 2020 - present | Baltimore Spirits |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Contract information | |
| Contract year | 2020 |
| 2023 Salary | $10 million |
| 2024 Salary | $13 million |
| 2025 Salary | $14 million |
| 2026 Salary | $15 million |
| 2027 Salary | $17 million |
| Player Contacts | |
| (IC) Agent | Unknown |
| (OOC) Creator | Kyuji |
| (OOC) Actor | Unknown |
| (OOC) Usage | Ask me before any use |
Biography
Saphira was born on July 15, 2001, to Carter and Joan Kelley in Kinsale, Ireland, the second of two daughters. Her father played professional football as a wide receiver in the UFFL, her mother played soccer in Ireland as a goalie on the national team. She and her family moved to Miami, Florida when she was five, and Saphira discovered an early love for basketball watching the Huntsville Mayors, being in the crowd for the fantastic seventh game of their 2009 Finals series against Stanislaus. Though she knew that nudibranches had never been in the league prior, she wanted to be the first, a goal her parents supported wholeheartedly... so long as she kept up her education.
She took up basketball as a sport herself shortly after watching that series, though she was small for her age and would remain so throughout her childhood. She also took up Dance Mania, a popular dancing rhythm game, and used it as conditioning on days off of basketball. Over time, she developed into one of the best at the game, and it led to her having both fantastic endurance and quickness.
She developed into a solid point guard by her high school years, able to lead the team, design plays, get open on the regular, and make the nets sizzle with a deadly accurate woods shot. Some teammates in high school called her selfish for often putting up twenty-plus shots a game. Others defended her, saying that she had every right to shoot when she was so open all the time. She just kept shooting and getting better at it, even developing a respectable mid-range jumper to go with her three-ball. She also developed the ability to troll opponents mercilessly, be it with small verbal jabs, little dances she did following made shots, or just making a smug, cute face in general.
Her most famous trolling gesture was when she jumped and reached over the back of an opposing center on a rebound attempt, earning a foul but managing to secure the ball as the opponent fell to the ground. She stood over him with a fanged grin and made a chomping motion with her snout, laughing heartily. She earned a technical foul for her antics, but the damage was done. The center was so shaken by the move that he only scored two more points the rest of the game, and looked highly unnerved whenever the slug got near him. Saphira then scored another twenty-six points to lead her team to a blowout victory. Was it mean? Yes. Did it work? Also yes. The incident led to a nickname of ""Chaos Noodle"" from opponents, who used it as ammo to be on guard for any devious tricks the slug might have up her sleeves.
She was heavily recruited by Pinion State, who was in the midst of a coaching change following the controversy of the 2019 FCAA tournament in which former coach Snyder was caught berating a female official and making threats to her. Snyder resigned, and despite the turmoil, Saphira stayed with the Aviators, rejecting several larger schools who threw their hat into the ring.
Saphira's lone collegiate season could be summed up in one word: dynamic. She torched defenses with her range and speed, and in one game against powerful MMU, she put up a solid thirty-six points and dished out eleven assists in a double-OT loss. It would be the last time the Aviators lost the rest of that regular season, as Saphira put the team on her back and led them to a 30-2 record and the top seed in the East.
Her tournament was chaotic; after narrowly surviving sixteen-seed FurMass, she played against defending champion Winchester University, a team the Aviators beat early in the regular season. Saphira torched them for fifty-five points, but it wasn't enough as her last-second shot hit the backboard and rimmed out in a two-point loss. A grief-stricken Saphira made the choice to declare for the FBA Draft immediately after the game, ready to take her talents from South Beach... to the next level, to prove there's more to this slug than just a mischievous streak and a cute face.