Érika de Souza

Érika Cristina de Souza (born 9 March 1982) is a Brazilian professional basketball player for BC Castors Braine of the EuroLeague.

Her basketball abilities led to a roster spot on a team from Osasco, where she met future Atlanta Dream teammate Izi Castro Marques.

De Souza is compared to Dennis Rodman in her country due to the fact that they are both basketball players with multiple tattoos, piercings and dyed hair.

De Souza opted to leave the Sparks and play the next five years overseas in Spain and Hungary for higher paying salaries before signing with another WNBA team.

[6][7] In the 2009 season, de Souza had a breakout year, averaging 11.8 ppg, 9.1 rpg and 1.2 bpg, being voted as a WNBA all-star for the first time.

[8] With a healthy de Souza, the Dream finished 18–16; the biggest single-season turn around in WNBA league history after their 4–30 season the year before.

De Souza and the Atlanta Dream were championship contenders, with a supporting cast of all-star power forward Sancho Lyttle, rising star Angel McCoughtry and Izi Castro Marques at starting shooting guard averaging a career-high in scoring, the Atlanta Dream made it to the WNBA finals, but were swept by the Seattle Storm.

In the 2013 season, de Souza was voted as a WNBA all-star for the second time in her career, averaging 12.9 ppg, 9.9 rpg, and tied her career-high of 1.7 bpg.

[9] Since joining the Sky, de Souza would have a smaller role on the team as she played 17 games with 15 starts and averaged 5.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg.

In 2016, de Souza re-signed with the Sky and became a role player on the team's roster, playing 31 games with 18 starts while averaging 5.8 ppg and 5.2 rpg.

[11] After 27 games played, de Souza suffered a lower right leg bone bruise during team practice and was waived by the Stars to do her physical therapy in Brazil.

[18] In September 2020, de Souza signed with BC Castors Braine of the Euroleague for the 2020–21 European season to fill an empty roster spot left by Ivana Tikvić who had to leave the team for personal reasons.

Érika (left) training with Brazil during the 2016 Olympics.