SANTIAGO – United Cup Commissioner William De La Cruz announced today that the Taco Bell MVP Award has been permanently named for import Kristina King.

The Taco Bell Kristina King MVP Award will be presented on Sunday, July 17 at the conclusion of the 2022 United Cup of Champions in Santiago, where the league is celebrating the career of Kristina King.

“Kristina King was the first United Cup MVP and became a global icon,” said De La Cruz.  “She is everything you would ask for in a professional player.”

She was nicknamed "The King of Queens", ranked number one in scoring and assists: former Richmond star rise through the basketball ranks as a local star to a global icon.  

King made her United Cup debut in 2016 – set the single game scoring mark with 40 points.  That appearance marked the first of his 6 United Cup appearances, second most in United Cup history behind Steffon Bradford (7).  King holds the United Cup record for consecutive 20 point games (10).

She was named the United Cup Game MVP in 2016 (Dominican Republic), 2017(Spain), 2018 (France) and 2020 (co-winner with Asia Logan).  The only other player to win four United Cup Game MVP awards is Jermaine Barnes.

A five-time United Cup champion, King played her professional basketball in eleven counties (Romania, Iceland, Switzerland, Spain, Taiwan, France, Germany, Dominican Rep. and Lebanon).  She earned FIBA Asia Cup Player of the Year, two Eurobasket.com All-German League MVP awards, Ronald McDonald Player of the Year, Porsche Zentrum München MVP (Germany) and 9 All-Import Team selections.  King has two silver medals in the FIBA William Jones Cup.  She ranks as the top scorer in United Cup history with 560 points, second in assists (320) and third in steals (101).  

The winner of the 2022 Taco Bell Kristina King MVP Award will be determined by fans (who account for 25% of the vote) and a media panel (75% of the vote).  This is the 2nd straight year that Taco Bell will serve as the title partner of the United Cup MVP Award.