Six-year homecoming for Mangakahia following cancer battle and WNBA cut

Written by Julia Montesano  

Being away from family for six years, getting diagnosed with breast cancer, going through COVID-19 in one of the world’s biggest hotspots and being waived from a WNBA team.

This would be enough to get anyone down in the dumps.

But not new Northside NBL1 North signing Tiana Mangakahia.

Despite going through a difficult time in the past few years, Mangakahia is still smiling, still balling and still living- a prospect which unbelievably was nearly taken away from her at just 24 years old.

But before all this began, Mangakahia was like any up-and-coming baller, playing the sport day in and day out while dreaming of making a WNBA roster and an Olympics team.

It didn’t take long for the point guard to take a significant step towards her dream, representing Australia at U16-U19 level, before playing for the Townsville Fire in the WNBL in the 2013-14 season.

Soon after, she took the plane trip of a lifetime to play for Syracuse at college level. 

This is when it all went pear-shaped, Mangakahia says.

“I found a lump on my breast one day and I went to the health centre at Syracuse,” she reflects.

“The lady said I was young and just to come back in four weeks.

“I waited four weeks and it actually got bigger.

“I went back, and she said I needed an ultrasound and mammogram.

“I did that then the doctors said I need a biopsy.

“Then after I did all that testing, the doctor called me and told me over the phone that I had invasive ductal carcinoma.

“I actually didn’t know what it was and then he told me it was a form of breast cancer.

“I was just in shock; I was really upset.

“I didn’t know who to call, I didn’t know what to think.

“I didn’t want to call my parents because they were on the other side of the world, there was nothing they could do about it.”

To make matters worse, this phone call coincided with another huge step in her basketball journey, which was being picked to the Opals preliminary squad for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

That dream and her whole career for that matter were suddenly put on hold for an indefinite period of time.

Mangakahia then underwent several rounds of chemotherapy and a double mastectomy, which forced her to worry about not only her career being over, but her life.

This is a scary prospect for anyone, let alone a 24-year-old right at the beginning of her journey through life.

Remarkably though, she has come out the other end and survived the worst.

“That overall experience just made me stronger, and it made me realise that everything happens for a reason and what I want isn’t maybe what it’s supposed to be,” she says.

“I have to go through all of that for a reason.

“My path to get where I want to get to isn’t what I think.

“I’m going to have bumps in the road but it’s just about the way I handled it.

“Going through it, I knew I had to focus on controlling what I could control.

“Now, I only worry about the things that I can control.”

After that tumultuous time, things slowly started looking up for Mangakahia.

She bowed out from Syracuse as the school’s record-holder for assists and joined the team’s 1000-point club.

This led to her signing a training camp contract with the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA earlier this year.

But even after recently being waived by the team, Mangakahis reflects highly on the experience.

“It was so amazing to be around the best players in the world like Brittney Griner, Skylar Diggins-Smith and Diana Taurasi,” she says.

“They really helped me and really taught me a lot before practice, during practice and after practice.

“Something that really stood out to me about Diana especially was her work ethic.

“She would come in before practice, compete at practice and stay after practice.

“When you’re a veteran, you don’t have to do all that, you’re going to play no matter what.

“Her work ethic was amazing to me and it really inspired me to make sure that when I get to Northside, I’m the hardest worker on my team.

“Going into camp, I was just happy to be there.

“Then, I did really well and thought I could compete and keep up with them.

“It sucked getting waived but it’s all a part of the experience and it just makes me stronger.”

Mangakahia could have easily put her head in her hands and sulk for a bit.

But instead, she hopped straight on a plane back home to Australia to sign with the Northside Wizards in the NBL1 North competition.

Not only will she get to continue her career, but she will finally be reunited with her family after six long years in the United States.

“I’m so excited to play for Northside,” Mangakahia says, waiting patiently to get out of hotel quarantine in Sydney to hit the court in Brisbane.

“Bec Stephens’ Dad coached me in U18s, and she’s coached me before as well.

“I know Courtney Woods well too, she was a part of my team as well.

“I’m older than her but I always grew up seeing her play.

“It’s really amazing to be back home.

“I’ll be living with my family and play in front of my family and friends.

“I’m so excited to be a part of it.”

Another reason Mangakahia is excited to be back in Australia is so that she can continue to prove her credentials for an Olympics berth.

After training individually and away from most of the team in the past year, she still remains focused on earning a plane ticket to Tokyo.

“It’s another amazing opportunity and I’m really excited,” she says.

“That’s one of the reasons why I chose to go to the Phoenix camp is so that Sandy (Brondello) could see how I play and see my potential, considering I haven’t been at many Opals camps lately.

“I think it’s going to be difficult for me, considering I’m not going to be at this camp and it’s literally around the corner.

“But going to the Olympics has always been a goal of mine.

“I know if it’s not this year, it’ll be in the future.”

To cap off her action-packed basketball journey so far, Mangakahia has just signed with Dynamo Moscow to play in the Russian Women’s Basketball Premier League.

Dynamo Moscow has some iconic alumni, including WNBA legend Diana Taurasi.

When Mangakahia arrives in Russia, she’ll get to continue to prove her own WNBA status when she plays against the likes of Breanna Stewart and Brittany Griner (both UMMC Ekaterinburg).

This signing, compounded with her tweet earlier this week that said; ‘Just watch… ONE year from now!’ says it all about Mangakahia’s resilience, determination and willingness to play at the highest level.

In her own words, “bring it on”.