Aaliyah Nye was a total star on the court as a college basketball player for the Crimson Tide at the University of Alabama. Talk about leveling up – she got picked in the second round of the WNBA Draft! The Las Vegas Aces snagged her with the 13th overall pick.
After she was drafted, Aces coach Becky Hammon, sung Aaliyah’s praises, calling her “one of the best shooters in the country.” The rookie guard stepped onto the scene, making her professional debut in a preseason game against the Dallas Wings on May 2, 2025. Now that her team has been on a total winning streak, everyone’s wondering about Aaliyah and what her life is like when she’s not on the court.
So, let’s dive into her family life and find out more about her background.
Who are Aaliyah Nye’s parents and siblings?
data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/DIl9suIsHgJ/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;margin: 1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:99.375%;width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px);width:calc(100% - 2px)"/>Born on August 14, 2002, Aaliyah’s parents are LaQueena Douglas and James Nye. Family ties run deep – she has two sisters: an older sister, Aazhenii, and a twin sister, Aashawnti.
Turns out, athletics are definitely a Nye family thing! Her father played football at Albion College, and her mother was all about basketball. True queens recognize queens!
“I did other sports like soccer. I did dance. But I think basketball really spoke to me,” Aaliyah told
FightingIllini.com. “My mom played basketball, so I guess it came naturally. I think it really took off when I
moved to Michigan and started playing with my high school team and AAU program.”Aaliyah and her sisters balled together on the basketball team at East Lansing High School in Michigan.
In her senior year, she was named the AP Division 1 State Player of the Year and was the runner-up for
Michigan Miss Basketball. Major accolades!With more than a dozen scholarship offers on the table, she kicked off her collegiate basketball
career in 2020 at the University of Illinois. Then, in 2022, she transferred to Alabama to keep shining.What is Aaliyah’s ethnicity?
Aaliyah proudly reps her heritage as a tribal citizen of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of
Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan, also known as the Gun Lake tribe. This federally recognized tribe of
Potawatomi people is headquartered in Bradley, Michigan. The Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Reservation is located
in Wayland Township.Aaliyah stands tall as one of only a handful of players of Native American heritage who have graced the
WNBA. She’s been immersed in her tribe’s culture and history since she was a kid.“We always participated in tribal activities growing up,” the Aces guard shared. “We would be in Indian
Ed classes, and we went to our tribe’s reservation, our pow wow. And we would participate in the Michigan
Indian Family Olympics. That’s when all tribes come together, and they bring their families and compete in
track and field, basketball, archery, and all those types of events.”She added, “I’m so grateful to have the tribe in my life. They’re just like a second family. I’m not afraid
to say I’m Native American. We’re just like one big family … it’s just like the connection … I’m grateful to be
one of those people and to stand out for my ancestors like my grandma and my grandfathers.”
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Disclaimer:
For Education and discussion purposes. Please note no copyright infringement is intended, was recorded on BlkCosmo’s own equipment, and we do not own nor claim to own any of the original recordings used in this video and intend to use this as ‘fair use’.
