We compiled a group of individuals (programming note: 30 entries, not 30 people total) who mean something special to SLAM and to our audience. Read the full list here and order your copy of SLAM 248, where this list was originally published, here.

Paige Bueckers’ name is synonymous with greatness. 

Gatorade Player of the Year, AP Player of the Year, USBWA Player of the Year, Naismith Trophy winner, Wooden Award winner, Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award winner—the list could fill this entire page. 

Her name is one that the world has become well accustomed to hearing, from her ninth grade phenom days all the way through to the Madness of March. 

SLAM has been a part of Bueckers’ journey since the summer before her senior year, when SLAM high school videographers and photographers would pull up to her AAU tournaments and be amazed by what they were witnessing. It continued in the fall of her senior year, when the Minnesota phenom got her first feature in our iconic pages.

Not long after that, we got to see who Paige was not only as a hooper but as a person, through WSLAM’s first season of “All Eyes On Us”—a digital video series that follows a high school team through a full season—where Bueckers and the Hopkins Royals were on a mission to bring home the program’s first-ever national title. Through that series, the world got to see what our staff saw every time we sat to speak with her for an interview: a superstar. 

She was a hooper with no fear of going for tough buckets who had ruthless handles that dropped defenders almost every game and a passing style so smooth that her coaches compared her to Magic Johnson.

But also, a person with an aura so special that she lifted up everyone around her, both on and off the court. We were with her when she copped a pair of Jordan XI Breds (a “must have” for sneakerheads, as she put it), and we were there when she jokingly messed with her teammates on the bus to away games.

Then the pandemic shut the world down just as Paige and her teammates were in the locker room preparing for their state championship game, and we witnessed the heartbreak of a potential historic season cut short. In the “All Eyes On Us” season 1 finale, Bueckers was raw and emotional about what that season meant to her and her teammates. 

As Paige made history in Minnesota that season, she made history for SLAM, too, becoming the first high school girl to be featured on our cover (SLAM 226). It feels like I was in that gym just yesterday, watching the future superstar step onto the set wearing “Pinnacle” Air Jordan VIs. That day, everyone knew they were in the presence of greatness.

Her freshman year at UConn put the world on notice once again, when she won just about every award possible in NCAA women’s hoops, all while trying to recruit her best friend and the top prospect in the class of 2021, Azzi Fudd. Once Azzi locked in her commitment, we linked up with the backcourt duo and shot another historic cover, for SLAM 235, the “New World Issue,” a themed issue about the way the hoops world was changing in real time.

While Bueckers has cemented herself in history with all she’s achieved at the NCAA level, her story is just beginning. Paige is a competitor at heart, and in what could be her final season in Storrs, she has her sights set on bringing home a national championship. Bueckers will be eligible for the WNBA draft this spring, and whether she decides to go this year or use her last year of college eligibility, she’ll sooner or later become the future of the W. 

Paige has meant so much to SLAM because of what we’ve built together over the years. From iconic covers to months of capturing her final season in high school, Paige is a legend in the SLAM halls—and I mean that quite literally. Her cover photo takes up a full wall inside SLAM HQ. She was the start of SLAM’s expansion into girls grassroots basketball, and we’ve gotten to witness her journey from the start. Whether this year or next, Paige will hear her name called at the WNBA Draft, and as she walks across that stage, you better believe we’ll already be cooking up an exciting way to document the next chapter of her journey. 

Photo by Johnnie Izquierdo.

The post THE 30 PLAYERS WHO DEFINED SLAM’S 30 YEARS: Paige Bueckers  appeared first on SLAM.

But there are two pieces that have led this team through the whole season: Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson. 

SLAM 243 featuring LSU’s Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson is out now.

It’s a bright, sunny Tuesday afternoon in Baton Rouge. Walking past Tiger Stadium, which resembles more of an NFL stadium than a college one, to the spaceship-looking Pete Maravich Assembly Center (better known as the PMAC), there’s a sense of grandeur to just about everything you pass. As Angel and Flau’jae arrive for their SLAM shoot, they walk past a sign that reads “Respect the Past, Embrace the Future” on the practice facility walls, which are adorned with images of LSU greats like Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles. 

The air is refreshing, the atmosphere is calm, a complete contrast to what it was like just a few weeks prior. 

The PMAC was packed and fans were roaring so loud that there was no point in trying to communicate on the court. LSU was facing Arkansas and it was a tightly contested back and forth game. There were about five minutes left and LSU had just extended the lead to 10. As Angel and Flau’jae made their way down the court to get back on defense, Arkansas’ Chrissy Carr drove down the baseline and dished out to the free-throw line. Somehow, as Angel closed in on help defense, she slid out of her shoe. As she tried to quickly pick up her shoe and get the referees’ attention, the Razorbacks’ Samara Spencer drove into the lane. Angel didn’t hesitate to toss her Nike Freak 4 to her left hand so that she could get the block with her right. The block was emphatic, sending Spencer to the floor. Angel stood above her screaming “GIMME THAT SHIT!” while still holding her sneaker with her left hand. Flau’jae was right next to her hyping her up. The PMAC was going wild. 

“I don’t know how I got out [of] my shoe,” Angel tells SLAM. “I know if I took that play off and they had scored, the coach would have been upset with me because I didn’t get to help defense. I was trying to get the ref’s attention to be like, Can I put my shoe on? She didn’t respond to me. So, I just picked [up] the shoe, I put it in my other hand and I just blocked the shot. I was in that mode.”

It was a viral highlight that amassed millions of views across social and TV. It’s a highlight that perfectly exemplifies the type of showtime basketball that this program brings every time they step on the floor. Top to bottom, the roster is filled with dawgs. In a season that was supposed to be a “rebuild year” after adding nine newcomers last summer, they far exceeded what anyone thought this team could achieve. 

“We don’t have expectations,” Reese says in early February. “We’re not supposed to be 23-0 right now.” 

Just a few days after our shoot, the Tigers suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the reigning national champs, the South Carolina Gamecocks. But what makes this team so scary is that they have no fear, because they’re not supposed to be here. Just two years ago, no one would’ve believed you if you said LSU would be a top team. 

In 2021, Reese was trying to find her way as a freshman at Maryland, coming off the bench, while Johnson was barely ranked in the top 100 in her recruiting class. And Kim Mulkey? She was still at Baylor. 

After 21 years of building Baylor’s women’s basketball program, which amassed three national championships and counts a plethora of WNBA greats among its alumni, Mulkey was ready for something new, and in April of 2021, she was officially announced as LSU’s new head coach.

“This doesn’t just happen with a phone call,” the Hall of Fame coach shared during her introductory press conference. “It takes a lot of people pulling a lot of strings and committing to women’s basketball.” 

“I want you to look at those banners,” Mulkey continued, as she looked up at the rafters of the PMAC. “Final Four, Final Four, Final Four, Final Four, Final Four. Nowhere on there does it say National Champion. That’s what I came here to do.”

And with that, the new era of LSU women’s basketball began.

The first order of business for the new Tigers head coach was to get acquainted with the pieces she had inherited while also lighting a fire on the recruiting trail to start building the winning culture she expected. 

Around the same time, Flau’jae Johnson was wrapping up her junior year. At the time, she was more known for rapping than hooping. Just three years earlier, a 14-year-old Flau’jae stepped on stage at NBC’s America’s Got Talent and shocked the world with her bars. 

“I did a song about gun violence, it’s called ‘Guns Down,’” the Savannah, GA, native explained on stage to Simon Cowell in 2018. “My dad’s name was Camouflauge, he was an up-and-coming rapper, he was gonna be signed to Universal Records, but two days before he was gonna sign the contract, he was murdered, and my mom was pregnant with me. My whole goal is to continue my father’s legacy,” she told the AGT judges as she wiped tears from her eyes. 

She went on to give a performance that went viral and earned her the Golden Buzzer, and at the same time that her music career was taking off, she was hooping, too, although she wasn’t seeing the same level of success. Yet. 

“My journey in basketball is unbelievable,” Johnson tells us. “Like, I came out of my junior year and I wasn’t ranked, I didn’t have any offers.”

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That summer, the 5-10 guard joined the Atlanta-based FBC BounceNation21 AAU program to get on the grassroots travel circuit, and she quickly started making some noise. After just a few months, she went from unranked to No. 55 in her class.

“I don’t think she realized how good she was,” Sprayberry coach Kellie Avery told the Washington Post last summer. “She does so much in her off time with her music that I don’t think basketball had balanced out until her sophomore year. Then she was like, Maybe I could do both. She got on the right AAU team this year, and it showed.”

She then got a coveted invite to the 2021 SLAM Summer Classic and really showed out. As the lowest ranked player in the game, she knew there were haters doubting her skills. Puzzled people asked, Isn’t she the girl from The Rap Game? when she arrived in New York for the weekend. But just a couple days later, they not only knew Flau’jae the rapper but also Flau’jae the hooper, when she walked away with the game’s Terrence Clarke MVP award. 

“Man, that was the game I was like, Oh, this my opportunity,” the LSU guard remembers. “I always said just give me an opportunity, I’m gonna make it happen. I saw they had all the top kids—Kiki Rice and Janiah Barker—that’s all I needed to see, because I knew that they were the top in my class. So I was like, Oh, yeah, I gotta go up there and dominate, and I came out MVP. I did what I had to do. I was working because I knew when I get that call, I’m gonna be ready.” 

Many college coaches took notice that summer, but one stood out: Kim Mulkey. 

Within just a few months of receiving a list of offers to different schools, Flau’jae committed to LSU in the only way Flau’jae “Big Four” Johnson could—with a track titled “All Falls Down,” featuring Baton Rouge’s Lil Boosie and a music video with special words from Mike WiLL Made-It. 

“I don’t think I would want to have experiences at any other college,” the freshman phenom shares with a smile. “Because it feels like home.”

She went on to finish her senior year of high school as the No. 6 guard in her class, and at the time of our shoot, was the Tigers’ second leading scorer behind Angel, averaging 13 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 47 percent from the field.

In Flau’jae Johnson, Mulkey found her very first puzzle piece. 

While Johnson was finding her way through the recruiting process, Angel was trying to find her place at the collegiate level. 

Reese was the No. 2 overall player in the Class of 2020 coming out of the DMV. Being near family was a big factor for her, and she chose to play close to home at the University of Maryland. 

By her sophomore year, Reese was averaging an impressive 17.8 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, but something didn’t feel right. At the end of April, Angel sent the NCAA hoops world into chaos after announcing that she would be transferring out of Maryland. She immediately became the top player in the transfer portal. 

“I actually didn’t want to be in the portal that long,” the National Player of the Year candidate recalls. “I think I was in the portal for maybe 12 days, if that. I didn’t want to deal with it.”

During those near two weeks, Angel and her family went through the process of setting up visits and speaking with coaches, but LSU wasn’t on the list of potential schools. 

“Well, technically, I didn’t think I was coming to LSU,” the 6-3 forward says. “Kateri [Poole] was the one that called me to ask about LSU. And I was like, I don’t know, I already have visits set up. I’m not sure. So, I don’t think Coach thought she could get me because she already thought I was going somewhere else. So, when she called me, I was like, Alright, I’ll take a visit, I guess, and, happily, she was the first visit I had set up. After I came down here for my visit, I canceled the rest of my visits. It was wrapped.”

Angel was looking for a family outside of basketball, one that she could feel at home with beyond the court. She also wanted a program that would help her grow as a person just as much as a player. 

“I just wanted to figure out who really is Angel Reese,” she says. “Coming to LSU, I feel like I figured out who I am. I’m able to be myself here. It’s just something I really love.”

It’s clear to see that now in the way she’s playing this season, putting up Kareem Abdul-Jabbar-type numbers— averaging 23.4 points and 15.5 rebounds a game, at the time of our shoot. The “Bayou Barbie” (which she’s dubbed and trademarked) is appointment TV, making viral highlight plays seemingly every night of the week. 

In Angel Reese, Kim Mulkey found her second puzzle piece. 

With a host of other notable transfers—Kateri Poole, LaDazhia Williams, Jasmine Carson and Last-Tear Poa—along with the players who stayed, including Alexis Morris and Sa’Myah Smith, the Tigers have the best show in college basketball. But it’s taken time to hone everyone’s skills, as every player finds their role on this team. 

“We just really enjoy playing with each other,” Flau’jae says. “Once we’re in our rhythm and we’re bouncing off each other, Angel doing her thing, Jaz hitting threes, it’s like we’re really going. Like, we really get the flow on the floor [going] and nobody can roll with it.”

And that comes from this roster putting in the work from top to bottom, pushing each other, day in and day out. 

“This team is really competitive,” the Bayou Barbie says. “We can critique each other, and I think that’s just something that you don’t really see, being able to critique each other and not take it personal. It’s just fun how we compete against each other, so by the time we compete on the court, it’s just, like, we’re all together.” 

It’s a team no one expected to be among the best going into March. The Tigers had a lot of doubters at the start of the season, with many shaking their heads at a perceived easy out-of-conference schedule.

“People are going to say our out- of-conference schedule was terrible,” Angel says while laughing. “That’s fine. Y’all can say that. But it’s the Free Smoke Tour. I don’t think anybody on the team is scared of anything.” 

“They mistake our confidence for arrogance,” Flau’jae quickly adds. “We’re gonna pop it regardless.”

There’s truly nothing scarier than a team that has nothing to lose. 

Angel and Flau’jae are the puzzle pieces that were needed to put together this new era of LSU basketball. When those lights come on, you know it’s showtime. 

Portraits by Marcus Stevens

Johnson hair: Dinesha Wells; Reese hair: Devon Williams at Divine Allure; Makeup: Diamond Nikole Standifer

The post Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson are the Missing Pieces Needed to Transform LSU appeared first on SLAM.

The 6-2 guard at Sierra Canyon HS has been at the forefront of the high school game ever since she entered eighth grade, and for good reason: Her game has it all. She’s outrageously versatile, athletic, sees the floor and makes plays for herself and her teammates. Most of all, her passion seeps through the air in any gym she plays. You don’t only watch Juju hoop, you feel her need to win. 

As the No. 1 ranked player in the class of 2023 for the past few years, Juju has taken home almost every individual accolade you can think of. But before the Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year, FIBA U17 MVP and SLAM Summer Classic MVP awards came (the list goes on and on), things were a bit different.  

Juju was maybe 10 when she was on her way home from a game. With her parents driving, she sat in the backseat crying, upset with the way she’d performed in the few minutes she got. 

“I wasn’t good at all,” Watkins tells SLAM with a laugh. 

In that moment, she looked up at her mom and dad with tears in her eyes and asked them to help her get better. 

“I went to my mom and my dad and told them I really wanted to take this seriously,” Juju says. 

While she may not have been the best on day 1, it was clear that she was the most passionate on the floor. She fought for every rebound, diving on the floor and outrunning opponents. But her game needed finesse. 

“So, I pulled her out of it [AAU],” Juju’s mom, Sari Watkins, says. “That summer—and year really—we just concentrated on developing her. My husband started teaching her how to shoot the ball.” 

In her backyard in the Watts neighborhood of L.A., Juju began training for hours on end. By the next summer, she was no longer the last player on the bench but rather the top player on her entire AAU team. 

“After that year, the difference between her and her peers was glaring,” Sari remembers.

As the 20- and 30-point performances became regular occurrences, Juju began gaining national recognition, but she was still hungry for more. 

“I had to win,” the phenom shares. “I’m so happy that I have the parents that I have to stay behind me. If I didn’t have that support system and dedication from them, I would have stayed where I was at.”

That support included hour-long drives in L.A. traffic to and from Windward School, a top college-prep school, while still living in South L.A. While she was averaging 20+ ppg her freshman season, the transition to prep school was anything but easy.

“It was such a culture shock,” Watkins remembers, of her time as a 14-year-old freshman. “When people asked me where I was from, I was very hesitant to claim where I was from, because I felt people would judge. Those lessons have taught me to really just be myself through it all.” 

Basketball was her saving grace though, and after an incredible two seasons at Windward, Juju made the decision to transfer to Sierra Canyon, a program synonymous with success. It was another challenge she was excited to face and one she handled with ease. 

In her junior season with the Trailblazers, she averaged 24.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.8 steals and 2.0 blocks and helped bring home a state championship.

“A state championship is a hooper’s dream,” Juju says. “It’s something that I’ve been dreaming about for a long time. That was my biggest goal outside of everything else. That was one of the best, if not the best moment in my basketball career.”

Now as she finishes her senior year, we get to see the fame she’s achieved, as stars like LeBron James, Chris Brown and 2 Chainz pull up to watch the “Juju show.” And the show won’t be going far; Watkins recently committed to the USC Trojans. 

“I want to bring the winning culture back to USC, like back when it was Cheryl Miller and Lisa Leslie and Tina Thompson,” Juju says of her decision. “I know it’s gonna be a challenge. And, you know, I’m a sucker for a challenge.” 

Portraits by Jineen Williams

The post The Rise of Sierra Canyon’s Judea “Juju” Watkins into the High School Player of the Year appeared first on SLAM.

Maples roared as Cameron Brink drove to the basket and got a bucket through contact for the and-1. Stanford’s bench went crazy every time Haley Jones connected with Hannah Jump for a three—again, again and again. 

It was the first test of the new year for Haley and Cam—a senior and junior, respectively—one that they took care of handily. They held a near 20-point lead most of the game, driven by Haley’s 18 points and 16 rebounds. 

Now just a few days later, the Cardinal duo arrives at the facility for their SLAM shoot. Cam even still has a few battle wounds from the game. Both are relatively quiet at first, given the early morning call time, but the excitement of the moment slowly builds by the minute. 

SLAM 242 is out now featuring Haley Jones and Cameron Brink. Shop now.

There’s a long day ahead: SLAM shoot, practice, film and winter class prep. It’s just another day of business for the 2021 national champions, but it’s a day neither one of them ever imagined happening when they met during their first AAU battle.

“I played against you when you were on the Northwest Stars and I was on the Cal Stars the summer before we played together,” Haley tells Cam with a smile on her face as we begin the interview. “I thought she was really good.”

Haley is a year older than Cam, so to shine against—and eventually with—one of the best players in the country was special. That’s when their journey together began; Cam joined Haley on the Cal Stars program the following summer.

Now they sit side-by-side, smiling and laughing as they always do, enjoying the culmination of what they’ve achieved over the last three years since joining the legendary Tara VanDerveer at Stanford.

Bringing home back-to-back Pac-12 titles. Reaching the Final Four for two consecutive years. Winning the first national championship the program has seen in nearly two decades.  

“Be so for real right now!” Haley says while exploding in laughter, when asked if she ever thought she would be in this position—a Natty, Final Four Most Outstanding Player and a SLAM cover. “You’re lying!!” 

“I really wouldn’t believe you!” Cam quickly follows up also laughing. “I had no idea because with COVID, everything was so unpredictable and unprecedented, but you know, we’re just living life here.”

Cam was a special piece of that national championship team, one of the few freshmen on the squad. But this has been a part of her plan since she was 13, when she attended her first Stanford basketball camp. It was barely two years after that when she received her official offer to join the historic program.

“I’m offering her a scholarship,” Stanford’s associate head coach at the time Amy Tucker recalled with David Kiefer on GoStanford.com of the first time she watched Cam play in 2015. “At that age, and with that size…You don’t see that kind of package very often.”

The 6-4 forward committed to her dream school barely halfway through her junior year. And just a month later, around the major signing period for the Class of 2019, Haley committed, too.

“It will be great to be a part of a program that is always up there competing for national championships,” Jones shared with ESPN’s Katie Barnes in 2019. “Playing for a coach like Tara, who is a Hall of Fame coach, is going to be a great experience.”

Stanford has had a reputation of scaring away top talent due to its high academic standards. It’s currently tied for third with Harvard and Yale in the U.S. News Best National University Rankings. Some may say it’s a place that’s too school-focused for athletic achievement for top-notch talent. But let’s take a look at the facts. Not only is Stanford one of the top-ranked academic institutions in the world, the school has also won 158 national championships across 20-plus sports as of May 2022.

It’s a university that demands hard work, commitment and dedication, all of which is mirrored in VanDerveer’s blueprint, a blueprint she’s developed over her storied 37-year career at Stanford. 

A blueprint that has brought home multiple national championships—three, to be exact. 

A blueprint that has made WNBA champions, Olympic Gold medalists and future Hall of Famers. 

When Haley stepped onto campus for her first season in 2019, she knew she was going to be challenged by VanDerveer, but even then, the first day of practice felt like a bit of a shock to the system. 

“Oh my gosh, I was gassed. It was three hours,” the 6-1 guard recalls. “I was like, I’m sorry, what? Three hours every day? And I’m coming in playing against an All-American and a Pac-12 First-Team. I think the year before I got there, they went to the Elite 8 or something like that. So, I mean, you come into a team full of talent, it’s intimidating, but you’re just so excited. It’s also kind of an ego check at the same time.”

It’s a three-hour practice that begins with a special mindfulness session led by Dr. Fred Luskin, a senior consultant in health promotion at Stanford and who Cam and Haley call “Dr. Happy.” It then graduates into a detailed warm-up, then running comprehensive drills, sets and plays. Every minute of the entire 180 minutes is planned strategically to make the most of the time that VanDerveer and the Stanford coaching staff have with their elite group. 

And it’s not only the coaching staff that pushes them to the edge of greatness, but also their teammates. Everyone’s always hungry to get more out of themselves. 

“I feel like it’s more fiery between positions, especially the bigs,” Cam says. “The post players, we just go at each other and it’s exhausting and there are days we’re like, Oh my God, but that’s what makes you better.”

But it’s not always strictly business. 

Cam, Haley and their teammates do have their fun. They pull pranks on “T Dawg” all the time, even rearranging the numbers on the list of accolades (national championships, WNBA players, Olympians, etc.) adorning their locker room to see how long it takes VanDerveer to notice. Currently, they have 32 national championships and only 3 WNBA players, per their latest prank.  

It’s clear to see just how close this team is. It’s even clearer that it’s that closeness that’s translated to on-court success. They’ve found a balance in each other that keeps them level-headed, even in the biggest of moments. Take the final seconds of their 2021 Final Four matchup against newly established rival South Carolina as an example. 

There’s 39 seconds left on the clock with a spot in the title game on the line and Stanford is down by 1. Haley, Cam and the entire Stanford crew are in the huddle while VanDerveer is communicating the gameplan. They look calm. This is the moment that every single one of those 180-minute practices prepared them for. 

Haley inbounds to Lexie Hull, a play designed for her to score, but she misses and there’s a battle in the post for the rebound. The ball goes loose, but Jones is there. With no hesitation, she pulls up for the jumper. Everyone holds their breath while the ball is in the air…before eventually splashing through the net. Stanford is up by 1 now, but there’s still time on the clock. 

South Carolina’s Destanni Henderson inbounds to the best center in the country, Aliyah Boston, a play designed for her to score. But Cam, Haley and Ashten Prechtel suffocate the post and the shot is blocked by Brink. South Carolina gets the ball back, but with 16 seconds on the clock, Prechtel comes up with the steal. It’s Stanford’s ball. South Carolina uses their two remaining fouls to give, and in the final inbound with nine seconds remaining in the game, Cam is trapped and the ball comes loose. South Carolina has one final shot with no timeouts left. But the Cardinal quickly recover on defense, eventually stopping Aliyah’s put-back attempt in the final second. 

It was a game so dramatic that we’ll likely talk about it for years to come. Stanford, though, looked cool, calm and collected the entire time. 

“I’m glad we didn’t look stressed, [but] me, personally, on the inside, I was stressed,” Haley says with a laugh. “Yeah, I was stressed,” Cam adds. 

“I think it was really just kind of putting on a face [for] one another, but it’s also being, like, there’s really no reason to stress because this is the last 30 seconds we’re gonna have to play with this group of girls in this environment,” Haley reflects. “Do you want to be all pent up and stressed out? Or do you want to be enjoying the game that you love with some of your best friends, just enjoying your time out there? You know, whatever happens happens. If you leave it out there on the floor and have that mental understanding of the situation, it makes it easier to settle into.”

It’s that maturity that led Stanford to face a similar close situation in the national championship game against Arizona. 

With six seconds left and up by 1, Stanford had to play textbook defense. Everyone in the building knew the ball would go to Aari McDonald. Cam, Lexie and Anna Wilson trapped McDonald, forcing her to put up a tough shot, which she missed. Stanford was back on top for the first time in 29 years. 

“We knew Aari was going to shoot it,” Brink recalls of the moment, when she was only a freshman. “And then the only thing I remember after, I was just getting jumped on after the dog pile. Yeah, I don’t remember because I think I was so stressed, but I do remember my teammates being really calm.”

It was a moment that they’d prepared for time and time again at Maples Pavilion. It was a dream come true. 

But what comes with one title is the hunger for another, and they came back the next year ready to defend their place at the top. The roster remained practically the same that next season, only losing a few seniors, f

The 2022 NCAA tournament proved just that. 

Every team played their best game against Stanford, and ultimately, the Cardinal came up just short in the Final Four against another storied program, UConn. 

“It was heartbreaking for sure, but I feel like at the same time [it was] a huge accomplishment because the Final Four is a big deal in itself,” Cam says. “I think it’s a balance of looking at your mistakes, watching the film, correcting mistakes, but also giving yourself grace.”

“I think that everybody on this team hates losing more than we love winning,” Haley says. “When you lose, that sucks, and you gotta go watch the film and you don’t want to watch it, but you have to because I think we all have goals in our mind, and the goals that we have are tangible.”

She later adds: “[But] it’s really cool to kind of be leaving this legacy of our own.”

As the lights and cameras turn off and VanDerveer enters the gym, their game faces are back on. Haley and Cam wipe off the make-up from our photo shoot to begin practice. It’s time to get to work. They have a national championship to reclaim. 

“As someone who’s won a national championship as a freshman, what’s the goal after that?” our producer asks Cam.

“Another one. And another one.” 

Portraits by Alex Woodhouse. Hair and makeup by Sarah Hyde.

The post Haley Jones and Cameron Brink are Focused on Bringing Stanford Another National Title appeared first on SLAM.

Standing at 5-10, the senior guard has gone on a meteoric rise through the class of 2023 rankings. Originally from Plainville, NJ, but playing at Saint John Vianney in Holmdel, Brooks is now ranked No. 9 overall in her class and has proven that she is without a doubt one of the best point guards you’ll find across America.

“I think I can do it all,” Brooks tells SLAM. “I can pass, I can shoot, but I think my specialty is getting in the lane—to either create a shot for myself or for one of my teammates.”

A true point guard, her game is one that’s “smooth, unselfish and creative.” She can shoot from distance, take you off the dribble and doesn’t shy away on defense. As a scarily consistent scoring threat, she knows just how to draw the defense and find the open player.

As a junior last season, she averaged 18.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg and 3.8 spg for SJV, helping them bring home a state championship in a 72-52 win over Rutgers Prep in the 2022 NJSIAA Girls Basketball Tournament of Champions final.

Zoe’s journey started when she was about 5 or 6. She picked up that leather ball and, like most of us reading these pages, ultimately fell in love with the game. By sixth grade, she knew she could really do something with her talent, so she did what she always does—put her head down and went to work. Inspired by her older brother, Zoe has become one of the nation’s best players, but it hasn’t always been recognized. At the beginning of this past summer, ESPN had her ranked No. 33 overall.

“I never really paid attention to rankings,” Brooks reflects. “When I wasn’t ranked before, I never really paid attention to it. I knew what I was capable of, and I’ve been doing me for years, so it’s nice to get the recognition now, but I still have the same mindset—kill everybody.”

We saw that killer mentality on display in the summer when she laced up to play in the League’s new version of the Skills Challenge. In this new format, WNBA superstars were paired with high school stars to compete in the contest. Since she’s a native of the Tri-State area, she was paired with New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu. It wasn’t even a competition by the end of it—the duo took home the trophy in a landslide.

“It was nerve-wracking,” Zoe laughs. “I was nervous, I’m not gonna lie. I didn’t realize it was gonna be that big and on TV. But it was a lot of fun. She was a cool person and if I had the chance, I’d do it again.”

Drawing interest from top DI programs including USC, NC State and Rutgers, Brooks understands what’s at stake. “It can be overwhelming at times,” she says. “I’ve been recruited by college coaches since I was in the seventh grade. I just had to take it one school at a time and be open to different types of schools. I definitely thought about everything and took my notes and decided on schools that way.”

Ultimately, she decided to commit to Wes Moore’s NC State Wolfpack. It’s a program that’s seen a ton of recent success in the NCAA tournament, reaching last season’s Final Four.

“The coach really sold me in,” she says. “I like him as a person, I think that’s really important, not just basketball-wise, but I loved him as a person. I liked the school and I really just liked everything.”

Zoe will join a familiar face in the backcourt, teaming up with Philly native Diamond Johnson. “She can score,” Zoe says with excitement. “That’s music to a point guard’s ears. I’m looking forward to playing with her.”

There’s a lot of synergy in these two East Coast guards coming together, as Johnson was under-celebrated most of her high school career, too. But that didn’t stop her from making some of the biggest plays during March Madness last season, and without a doubt we can expect the same thing from her new teammate.

With Zoe’s ability to create and her pure hunger to win, it’s safe to say that we’ll be seeing NC State playing deep into March for years to come. And the latest star from Jersey will be in the middle of it all.

Portraits by Marcus Stevens.

The post True Point Guard Zoe Brooks is Putting the Game on Notice appeared first on SLAM.

“When I hit it, I was just thinking, Wow, I can’t believe I just did that!” Hidalgo tells us a couple of weeks later. “I was in disbelief, and I don’t even remember what I was saying.”

Hitting a shot like that at the historic court takes skill and confidence, but most of all, swag—all things that describe the Jersey-made high school senior. Currently hooping at Paul VI HS in Haddonfield, Hidalgo is ranked fifth overall in the country in the Class of 2023 by ESPN.

Her game is shifty, quick and aggressive. She may not be the biggest guard, but if you’re a defender, you better brace yourself because she’ll come right at you. And speaking of defense real quick, did we mention the aforementioned play, Hannah’s showtime move at Rucker, came off her picking the pocket of an opposing player on the other end of the court?

“My favorite part of my game is my defense and how the energy that I bring on defense rubs off on my teammates,” she says confidently. “When I am getting stops and I’m getting loose balls and I’m diving on the floor, that really feeds off to my teammates.”

That dedication to defense is easy to see in her junior year stats, where she averaged 6.2 steals, along with 26.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.

Her energy comes from her family, all of which are part of the family business that is basketball. Her parents are both former hoopers, along with her brothers and cousins.

“Growing up, I was always quiet and to myself,” Hannah shares. “I would score a couple buckets and go home, but once I got to high school, I really started getting comfortable. That’s when I started to come out with that confidence. I think this came from my mom and God-given. My mom does all the talking and my cousin Dre [too].”

Hannah’s father, Orlando, was also one of her coaches growing up and most recently became her head coach at Paul VI last year. Orlando had been coaching the Team Flight AAU program, which included current New York Knick Cam Reddish, but he was hoping to see his daughter’s program have more success. After a year on staff at Paul VI, he was asked to take the head coaching position and has since helped the school to a 24-4 record and a trip to the South Jersey, Non-Public A final.

“My dad knows what he’s talking about, so it’s been great,” Hannah says. “It’s good during games, because it’s easy to come in and speak up if I see something on the court. I could always say, Hey, I see this, and we have to switch this up.”

While she may be quiet off the court, Hidalgo is a leader on it, talking on defense, setting up plays on offense and hyping up her teammates.

It’s that energy she hopes to bring to a college campus near you in 2023. As she steps into her senior year, the recruitment process has been ramping up. In August, she announced her top schools for consideration: Michigan, Notre Dame, Duke, Stanford, Ohio State and UCF.

“I want to add whatever defense they need. I want to bring something like energy on the defensive side that a school may not have. I want to be a leader and be vocal. I want to be a program champion and bring my team to a championship.”

Listen to the WSLAM ‘Get With It’ podcast featuring the Notre Dame commit.

Portraits by Marcus Stevens.

The post Hannah Hidalgo is Ready to Bring Her Dynamic Game to Notre Dame appeared first on SLAM.

The DMV continues to turn out some of the best hoopers in the country, and next up is Jadyn Donovan. The 6-0 guard for the reigning national champion Sidwell Friends, and a member of the EYBL Team Takeover, has skyrocketed in the ranks and most recently was rated No. 3 overall in the country by ESPN HoopGurlz.

Originally from Upper Marlboro, MD, Donovan is an extremely athletic and shifty guard who is known for her ability to get to the basket at the blink of an eye. Her journey in basketball started a little bit later than most, at her local church. It wasn’t until one of her coaches pointed out that she knew Jadyn could be one of the best in this game.

“It was during my church week, one of my coaches at church would always call me ‘star.’ He said it all the time. And he would tell my parents, Oh yeah, she’s gonna be a star, she’s gonna be a star.”

“I like to drive to the basket a lot, you know, love getting to the rim,” Jadyn shares with WSLAM. “I love the pull-up, like the mid-range pull-up that’s my go-to.”

That ability to create her own shot is what helped Sidwell Friends to their undefeated 30-0 season this past spring, with Jadyn averaging 15.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg and 3.3 spg. That undefeated season also ended with a trip to the GEICO Nationals, where she led the team alongside the 2022 Gatorade National Player of the Year Kiki Rice.

“She’s one of the only people I’ve really ever met that can truly lead by example,” Donovan says. “She just leads and does it so well and so effortlessly. I’ve truly learned by just watching her be herself basically. That’s the type of player, that’s the type of person I want to be.”

Now she plans to apply all that she’s learned to an even larger world stage: Team USA. As a newly named member of the 2022 USA Basketball Women’s U17 National Team, she’ll head to Hungary this summer to compete for a gold medal alongside some of the best players in the country.

“The coach we have now, she also coached us last year, Coach Sue Phillips,” the guard says. “She’s definitely a tough coach, but she honestly has taught me so much.”

Being able to learn and grow her game is one thing Donovan looks forward to. Even though she’s already ranked as one of the top players in the country, she wants to keep expanding her game to help her play even better at the next level. Or to be more exact, next levels.

“I wrote down on some banner when I was in sixth grade, I was like, I’m gonna be a WNBA player. You know at first I was just, like, picking up basketball, it wasn’t that serious, but I was like, Oh, why not?”

The dream has always been there, but now it’s looking even more like it could become a real possibility. Before the WNBA, though, Donovan needs to pick a college.

“Just something that can help me grow and get everything I want out of the game of basketball—a great education as well as obtaining my goal to be drafted into the WNBA. Whatever school that is, I just want to be able to show who Jadyn is.”

WSLAM 2 is available now. Get your copy here.

Portraits by Stephen Gosling.

The post Jadyn Donovan is Ready to Showcase Her Undeniable Talent at Every Level appeared first on SLAM.

“I wanted it to be authentic and real,” Anigwe tells WSLAM. “I wanted to teach people how to style themselves through my brand.”

Focused on empowering individuals to find pieces that combine style and comfort, this collection has a deep foundation in Kristine’s personal experiences. Looking at the collection, you see so many details that have a significant meaning in her life.

“Being from Nigeria, the Nigerian flag is green, there’s a lot of nature,” the designer says. “I really did a lot of deep healing, a lot of self-healing. I figured out that nature really does call me in ways that other things don’t. So I use a lot of colors to stimulate the mind. A lot of my colors that I’ve used in this collection are colors from nature, colors that are calming and healing. And make you breathe and feel very sexy, chic, confident.”

In just two years, she’s already created and launched her vision, all of which came from a situation many wouldn’t be able to make the most of. But Kristine did.

“I had gotten waived from L.A., and it was like, I have all this free time, why not just start a company that liberates other women and helps people elevate their style? So, I created KA Originals.”

The process continued as she went on to play her first few seasons overseas in Turkey just as the pandemic hit. With travel brought to a halt, she used the time to scour local markets for fabrics and find what made sense to help bring her vision to life.

With help from her best friend and her mom, Kristine learned how to design, sew and produce her first pieces. When it came time to launch her brand, there was no better fit to model her clothing than her fellow WNBA teammates and friends.

“When I see DeWanna Bonner, I’m like, Woah, she’s beautiful. Jasmine, Tiffany, the models that I chose. I’m like, well, These people are beautiful,” Anigwe says. “They’re real models and real people. That’s why I love my prints so much because there’s nothing fake about it. It’s authentic. It’s real.”

The players in the W are much more than talented athletes. They’re also  beautiful women who exude what Kristine’s collection is about: authenticity.

The collection has already made waves, but this is just the beginning for the young designer.

“I’m really excited for everything,” Kristine says. “I really want to push the standard of beauty I want to include. I want to get more athletes involved. I want to show the sports world that you can do both. You can be a successful business owner, you can be an athlete and you can be an advocate for just basic human rights.”

WSLAM 2 is available now. Get your copy here.

Photos Courtesy of Getty Images and KA Originals.

The post Kristine Anigwe is Promoting Body Positivity and Equality with Her Brand, KA Originals appeared first on SLAM.

 There was no playbook at that point in terms of what to do. “How could this happen?” Swoopes said in her 2013 documentary. 

Would she still have a job come that summer? Was her playing career over? What comes next? All questions that women, not only in basketball, have feared in one way or another when it comes to becoming a mother. 

 She eventually told her agency, team and the WNBA, all of which supported her through that journey.

 “I don’t know if anyone thought that was possible until [Sheryl] did it,” Houston teammate Tina Thompson discussed in the Swoopes ESPN documentary. “Once she did, then it became pretty normal.”

 “The day [Sheryl] came back was a big deal,” Swoopes director Hannah Storm shared with The Atlantic in 2013. “No one had ever done that before—especially not on a team sport.”

Sheryl returned to the court just five weeks after giving birth and helped the Comets to their first WNBA championship that same year (the first of four consecutive titles in the years to come). 

 She created the playbook for the future of the League, one filled with dynamic women who have dreams of having both a career and a family. 

WSLAM 2 is out now featuring Napheesa Collier and Dearica Hamby.

Do you remember when you first realized your mom was a superhero? When you’re little, it’s difficult to grasp exactly how much our mothers do for us. When you get a bit older, the teen angst starts kicking in and clouds our ability to see anything of reason. And when you’re older, you start to understand just how much our moms sacrifice for us. 

I remember I was always a dad’s girl. I loved basketball and played lots of sports. It bonded me and my dad. Didn’t seem quite fair to the woman who carried me for nine months to be a dad’s girl, but nonetheless, when I got older, I started really comprehending just how much she did for me. I learned about her hardest moments. I started realizing that there were likely things I’d never know about and began to understand the struggles she went through personally while doing her best for me. It’s what moms do. 

They get you to practice, stay up to make you dinner, check on your schoolwork, teach life lessons and do their best to protect you from the world. All while dealing with their own lives. They hold it down when it seems nearly impossible. 

Imagine balancing all those things on top of being a professional athlete. A job that at one point felt impossible to maintain once you became a mother. 

Nearly 26 years after Swoopes gave birth to her son Jordan, there are two young moms in the WNBA at different stages of motherhood for whom Sheryl set the stage. 

Dearica Hamby is in her eighth WNBA season, a mother to Amaya and a two-time Sixth Woman of the Year winner. Napheesa Collier, who was the 2019 Rookie of the Year, is now in her fourth WNBA season and just gave birth to 1-month-old Mila. 

Two moms on two journeys that were initially unexpected. 

Dearica had just averaged 6.1 points per game in her first season, with about 17 minutes of playing time per game, and she was ready to prove herself in year two when she found out her life was about to change.

How am I going to play basketball? How am I going to tell my coaches? Dearica thought to herself after she found out she was pregnant. 

“I was in my second year. I had a decent first year until my injury. I felt like I was back in redemption mode the second year, and I knew that this was a possibility that I was going to have to sit out once I told my coaches and the organization that I was expecting,” she tells WSLAM.

Napheesa’s journey has been a little different. She came into the League with a splash, averaging 13 points a game and taking home the ROY award. Just as her third season wrapped up, she took a test after being a few weeks late when the tiny plus sign appeared. 

“I feel like I didn’t have a lot of emotions at first because it’s just thing…I don’t know. It was just such a huge thing,” Napheesa shares. “That your life is going to change forever when that happens. So, it was just processing that. One of my first thoughts was, OK, I have to call my coach because I’m not going to be able to play, at least in the beginning of the season next year.” 

It’s that exact thought process that led WNBPA President Nneka Ogwumike and the rest of the council to negotiate the elevation of resources for mothers of the League. Those new resources include a full salary while on maternity leave, a new annual child care stipend of $5,000, two-bedroom apartments for players with children and workplace accommodations that provide a comfortable place for nursing mothers, to name a few.

“I am so thankful that I came into the League when I did, because it was right on the tails of the new CBA, which gives so many things to new mothers that we didn’t have before,” Collier says. “You get so many things that allow you to come back and be a working mom, that the men obviously don’t have to worry about.”

These changes have been vital in empowering the women of the League to pursue their dreams of a career, and their dreams of having a family. Dreams that society has doubted. 

There’s an archaic mentality that women can’t be good mothers and  top-tier professionals. It’s a mentality that’s caused a lot of the fear and anxiety around pregnancies like Sheryl’s in ’97, to now with Phee and Dearica. 

“I think it exists because women are naturally caretakers and nurturers, and when you have a kid, you want to give all of that to the kid. I think there’s this fear that if I’m emotionally invested in this, I can’t also emotionally invest in basketball. But that’s just false,” Hamby says. “Personally, for me, I come to work, I do my job for the time allotted that I’m supposed to do my job, and then I go home and I’m a full-time mommy. I can separate the two.”

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The reality of working mothers extends well beyond the hardwood. Who could forget Beyoncé’s 2011 VMA performance of “Love on Top,” when, after holding nothing back as she poured her heart and soul into every word, B dropped the mic and hugged her stomach, revealing to the world that she was pregnant with her first child. Keep in mind, too, that she was wearing heels for her performance. Yet another example that women can truly do it all.

For every working woman, there are a ton of questions faced before and after giving birth. How much time can I take off? Will my boss be OK if I want to take some extra time? Will my job still be there for me when I come back? For professional athletes, one of the biggest questions on their minds is a scary one: Will I be able to come back and play at the same level as before?

Pregnancy naturally changes women’s bodies, immensely. Weight fluctuates, hormones increase, breast size changes, post-birth back pains are possible, just to name a few. The road back is not easy, but it’s not impossible. 

“I gave birth to her [Amaya] February 5, which was three weeks prior to my original due date,” Dearica recalls. “Those extra three weeks saved me, and I was able to get in shape in time for the season.” 

Returning to the court just about six weeks after giving birth, Dearica came back even better than before. She averaged 9 ppg, solidifying her spot on the then-San Antonio Stars roster, and in the seasons since has continued to elevate her game. 

“The most difficult part was training and thinking I would be OK from being away from her. I nursed, and so when I was gone, I really missed her,” the Aces star says. “When I was at workouts, it’d be like, Alright, hurry up and do this hour and a half workout. I don’t think I changed my clothes in time. I was sprinting back home to get to her. I just wanted to hold her.”

The sacrifices she made to make it work led her to some of her best seasons and two Sixth Woman of the Year awards. Now she’s on the No. 1 team in the League, a team that looks like the favorite to win a championship. 

Napheesa is just at the beginning of her comeback journey. Her daughter, Mila Sarah Bazzell, was born on May 25th of this year, and just a few weeks out, she’s now eyeing her return to the floor.

“I plan to approach my comeback really [with my] feet hitting the ground, running, trying to get back as soon as I can,” Collier says. “Especially because Sylvia Fowles is one of my favorite people ever. I would love to be able to play a couple games with her if I can. Since this is a short season, time is not on my side, but I really want to push my body as much as I can while still being healthy.”

There’s no doubt in our minds that Phee will return back and better than ever. Sheryl showed us the blueprint, and since then, Candace Parker, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Tianna Hawkins, Bria Hartley, DeWanna Bonner and many more have continued to inspire. 

Dearica is following their lead, and Phee’s got next.  It’s that momma strength. That little bit extra that these women have. 

“Honestly, I think it’s this mom [thing] that elevates players after they give birth, in my opinion,” Hamby says. “People will tell you all the time, I’m a different player than I was before I gave birth to Amaya. Just the toughness that I play with and the hunger and the drive and the heart that I play with, I think it comes from giving birth. You become a mom and it’s different.”

It also takes a village to raise a child, and one of the most beautiful things about the WNBA is how there’s a support system of 144 women who are there for them. To help them raise their children and to be there for one another. 

We see that with Amaya, whether it’s her prank wars with the Aces’ Kelsey Plum or her role as the unofficial team mascot. She’s always on the sidelines with a jersey cheering on her mommy and her friends (Hamby’s teammates). It’s evident just how special Amaya and Dearica’s bond is, but it’s even more so in the moments we don’t see. 

“Her teacher left me a message a few weeks ago and I happened to read it right before the game, which probably was a bad idea, but she said, Amaya’s so proud of you and she talks about you. You should see the way she glows when the students ask about you,” Dearica says with tears slowly welling in her eyes. “I think sometimes I’m hard on myself because I feel bad during the season that I’m not with her as much. For her teacher to say that and send me that, it meant a lot.”

It may be tough to not share as many mom-daughter moments as Dearica would like, but 5-year-old Amaya loves that her mom is a WNBA superstar. She gets to see what she could aspire to be one day and even share that with her friends at school.

Now Napheesa has the same opportunity to share the game that she loves with her newest No. 1 fan.

“I’m excited for the experiences that we’re going to have together,” the former ROY says. “Obviously, I hope she likes to play sports. But if she doesn’t, it’d be so cool to see what she’s interested in. Does she want to play an instrument? What’s she going to be like? What are her interests going to be? Maybe she’ll introduce me to new things that I’ve never tried before.”

That’s the beauty of motherhood. The journey, the unknown and the things you get to experience together for the first time. 

For Dearica and Napheesa, it’s not always going to be easy. There are going to be hard times and setbacks, but that’s not going to stop them from doing what they have to do to create the best life for their daughters. They’ll hold it down through those tough times and show their daughters that there are no limitations to what a woman can do. 

And to Mila and Amaya, you may not realize it yet, but your moms are superheroes. Not just to you, but to women everywhere. 

Napheesa Collier portraits by Lawrence Bryant, Dearica Hamby portraits by Alex Woodhouse // Action photos via Getty Images.

Napheesa’s hair: Cameron Myers, makeup: Tara Lowery // Dearica’s hair: Sabrina Jackson, makeup: Heather Bates

The post Napheesa Collier and Dearica Hamby on Balancing Basketball with Motherhood While Inspiring the Next Generation appeared first on SLAM.

Elena Delle Donne has known what it’s meant since she was 10 years old. 

Perspective is what has led the Washington Mystics star to one of the most successful careers in WNBA history. A two-time MVP, six-time All-Star, 2013 Rookie of the Year, 2016 Olympic Gold medalist, and most recently, a WNBA champion. Those singular winning moments would not have been possible without triple the number of sacrifices. To her body, to her mind, even to her career at times, all to become one of the greatest.  

SLAM 238 featuring Elena Delle Donne is available now.

It’s a Monday afternoon in Washington DC and the Mystics’ practice has just wrapped up. Elena is joking around with her teammates as they clear the gym for our shoot. Just as we’re about to begin, she takes a deep breath and exhales with a smile before saying, “Whew, OK, let’s do this.” 

That long deep breath holds the weight of the last two years. Two years filled with surgery, pain and rehab. All from the toll Elena’s body took during the 2019 WNBA Finals, which culminated in her first, as well as the Mystics’ first, WNBA title. 

“That’s always been my number one thing, to win a WNBA championship, and we did,” Delle Donne says with a big smile on her face. 

But it came at a cost. 

A broken nose, a badly bruised knee and three herniated discs in her back. She played through it all, knowing that getting to the Finals alone is a feat. She’d been there before. First with the Chicago Sky in 2014, where they lost to Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury, and then later in 2018 with the Mystics, where they were swept by Breanna Stewart and the Seattle Storm. The Delaware native knew that these chances don’t come around often, so if it meant sacrificing her body to win what she’s been after ever since entering the League, then she was going to do it. 

“It was a week or two after [the championship], of just celebration, elation and like, This was all so worth it. It was so much fun,” she recalls. “It was everything and more than I ever could have imagined, and then there was that moment where it was time to end the celebration, get into rehab and see what I had done to my body.”

The initial diagnosis required a surgery that would only put her out for three months, but that timeline quickly changed. 

She suffered severe nerve damage due to the herniated discs that caused extraordinary pain. Not just that, but her recuperation was further impacted by her lyme disease, which she was diagnosed with during her sophomore year of college, and ultimately affected the inflammation of her injury. 

“I’ve had other injuries and pretty much the timeline was right, but this was something where I was like, Am I ever going to feel better? There were some days I wasn’t even thinking about basketball,” she remembers. “It was like, I am 31 years old, and I can’t [even] go have dinner and sit down with my wife to have a meal because of the pain I’m in.”

While all she wanted to do was step onto the hardwood and dribble the leather ball up and down the floor like she’s done ever since she was 10 years old, she knew she had to take a step back and take care of herself and her body. 

And it’s not the first time she’s had to listen to her gut when it comes to deciding what’s best for her overall health. 

At just 16, she was already the top player in the country. All eyes were on the 6-5, blonde-haired girl who was setting the basketball world aflame. Even OG SLAM Ed. Russ Bengtson had dubbed her the “golden child” in a feature for SLAM 101 (which is featured in the SLAM Digital Archive. Subscribe here). The sky was the limit and there was no stopping the post player who had the skills of a guard and was bodying any defender in her way. 

It would be only two years later, at a time when she had the world at her fingertips while playing for Geno Auriemma’s UConn Huskies, that everything came crashing down. She was mentally burned out from the game and missing her family. It just didn’t feel like it was for her anymore. She made the difficult decision to step away and take care of herself. 

In a Jordan-esque move, she announced that she was renouncing her scholarship at Connecticut and would quit the game of basketball. She decided to move closer to home and attend the University of Delaware, switching sports to volleyball. 

It was a decision that shocked the basketball world. The top player in the country was not going to play basketball. Unimaginable to everyone looking in, but for Elena, it just felt like the right move. To be closer to her family, and most importantly, her sister. 

Lizzie Delle Donne was born with cerebral palsy and autism, and is also deaf and blind. But those things never altered the bond between her and her superstar sister. 

“When I was young, certainly, I realized she was different,” Elena pauses before continuing. “Especially by the way friends even reacted to her at times. But then I was like, people have no idea the strength that she has.” 

Lizzie’s strength is what has gotten Elena to where she is. 

“Just the amount that she has had to persevere through in life is something that I’ve been able to look to and use her as my guiding light,” Elena says. “You know, I play the game of basketball for a living, that’s pretty cool and I know games can be tough, practices can be hard, but the fight with life that she has had to get through—and she continues to wake with a big smile. For her to be that way has always been a motivation for [me] to get up every day and attack each day.”

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Think about the perspective that teaches anyone at any point in their lives, let alone a 10-year-old girl. Elena learned the meaning of the bigger picture before basketball was anything more than a hobby.  

Basketball is a game. Elena’s family is her life. That’s what has guided her through all of her tough decisions.

After making her way back to basketball, the Elena Delle Donne effect was apparent anywhere and everywhere she played. She led the Delaware Blue Hens to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, and then later as a rookie in the WNBA, she led the Chicago Sky to its first-ever playoff appearance and eventual Finals appearance. 

But the difficult decisions were far from over for the 2015 MVP. After a successful four seasons in the Windy City, she made the request to be traded so she could be closer to home. Closer to Lizzie. 

“I think the way that I’m OK with whatever decision I make is that I know that the decision is right with my people,” Delle Donne says. “I don’t just decide on my own. My wife will certainly be in the decision process, so I know maybe this might not be popular, maybe other people aren’t going to love this, but this is right for us.”

Unafraid to be unconventional. Forget the noise, forget what the world thinks. Do what’s best for you. Be Elena. That’s always been her approach. 

She landed in Washington. Mike Thibault was quietly putting together one of the best rosters in the League, adding Kristi Toliver, Emma Meesseman and Tayler Hill. Elena flourished. 

When you thought Delle Donne couldn’t get any better, she did. After being swept in the 2018 WNBA Finals, she came into the next season with the sole idea of bringing home the trophy burned into her mind. Already being one of the best shooters in the history of the game, she took it to a whole other level in 2019. 

She joined the 50-40-90 club.

The first woman to ever shoot 50 percent from the floor, 40 percent from behind the arc and 90 percent from the free-throw line in a single season. 

That season may have been one of the hardest she’s ever had, as she powered through injuries and setbacks, but there’s nothing she would change about it. 

“It was worth every sacrifice,” are the words Delle Donne chooses to describe that illustrious season. 

With the Cinderella year behind her, the next two years became about finding a way to get healthy again. And that’s been anything but easy. 

“The biggest mental challenge has been the timeline being affected so many different times, where I just wasn’t feeling better or feeling right and just moments of feeling like, Maybe I can’t get back.”

It’s been a process rooted in patience, but even more importantly, in evolution. Finding a way to evolve her on-court routines in order to find a way back to the floor. It’s a shift in mentality that she hopes to apply to her new role as co-chair of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition. 

And now with the new season here, Delle Donne’s Mystics’ teammates are ready to share the floor with the star power forward once again. 

“I noticed that she’s a lot stronger,” Tianna Hawkins tells SLAM. “She’s a lot more aggressive offensively.”

“She’s starting to look like herself, which is kind of crazy because with a back injury, it’s connected to everything,” Shatori Walker-Kimbrough adds. “I know some people may be expecting her to be a step slower, but to me she looks great.” 

These last few years have been some of the most taxing times of her life, but come this summer, the kid from Delaware is ready to re-inject the Elena Delle Donne effect into the Mystics squad. 

With her family by her side and a perspective on life built from all the challenges she’s faced, when it comes time to take that same deep breath and step onto the hardwood for the first time in a while, she only has one thought come to mind: “It’s been a long time coming.” 

Portraits by Jon Lopez, action photo via Getty Images. Hair and makeup by Paolina Rios.

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Cortijo is the first Puerto Rican woman to ever play in the WNBA and she led the Island’s national team to the 2011 Pan American gold medal. She’s currently coaching in the men’s Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) of Puerto Rico for the famed Santurce Cangrejeros, the team co-owned by native son and Grammy winner Bad Bunny and where JJ Barea currently plays.

Born and raised in a pueblo just outside of San Juan called Carolina, Carla was gifted her first basketball by her grandmother. After that, she never put it down. 

“I started in a boys’ team because there were no women’s teams at that time,” Carla shares with SLAM. 

The lack of developmental programs for girls on the Island wasn’t something that stopped her though. 

Carla made waves in the basketball scene as early as her freshman year at Maria Auxiliadora High School, when she helped them go undefeated and led them to back-to-back commonwealth championships. She continued making Boricua nation proud while playing at the University of Texas. She then ultimately played overseas before getting the call-up to the W.

“It was such a difficult process, and coming from Puerto Rico, we don’t have this kind of exposure or opportunities, especially women,” she says. “We have to work twice or thrice as hard to achieve what we want. Reaching the WNBA was a relief.” 

After three BSNF (Baloncesto Superior Nacional Feminino) championships, two successful WNBA seasons and almost two decades playing around the world, Carla took on a new role: coach. 

Working with Cangrejeros, Cortijo was recently mistaken for a cheerleader by media personnel, and while she took it in stride, her goal is to change that tired narrative.

“It shouldn’t be like, Oh, wow, a woman coaching,” she says. “It’s just a part of it.”

Photos via Getty Images.

The post Carla Cortijo, the first Puerto Rican Women to Ever Play in the WNBA, is Inspiring Others to Dream Big appeared first on SLAM.

Dangerous in a manner that it should invoke and inspire you to re-imagine an established world. 

To challenge conventional thought. 

To re-envision what generations have developed in order to create something new. 

The same should be said for coaching. 

For years, there has been a set of standardized systems in basketball. A form of coaching that damn near secured wins. A blueprint for winning a national championship at the collegiate level.  But there comes a time when evolution is not only needed but craved. A time when a world moving on autopilot requires a shock to its system, like a lightning bolt shooting down from the heavens. A necessity for a movement toward the future. 

Dawn Staley is that movement. 

SLAM 237 featuring Dawn Staley, Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke, Destanni Henderson Cover SLAM 237 is available now!

The first coach to challenge the norms set forth by the UConns, Notre Dames and Tennessees of the world. The first to play in the WNBA and coach in the NCAA at the same time. The first Black female head coach to raise the national championship trophy over her head in nearly 20 years.

But it wasn’t always back-to-back No. 1 recruiting classes in Columbia. The roster wasn’t always stacked with WNBA talent like Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke and Destanni Henderson. It wasn’t always easy. 

With change comes fear. Fear of the unknown. Trepidation of the uncomfortable feeling that accompanies growth. But for Staley, the concept of a challenge is what has fueled the South Carolina women’s basketball head coach from the very beginning. 

“I grew up in North Philly, in the housing projects, the Raymond Rosen housing projects. I’m the youngest of five. So, every day was a challenge,” Dawn shares with SLAM. 

Even when speaking of her early years and the struggles she faced, she speaks with such pride and ease. Those moments made her the player, coach and overall person she is today. 

A three-time Olympic gold medalist, a six-time WNBA All-Star, and most recently, an NCAA national champion as a coach. This was the path meant for her, even if she didn’t always see it herself. 

“Obviously, someone had to plant the seed, because I never wanted to be a coach. And it’s funny how this game finds you in the likeliest or unlikeliest ways,” Staley says. 

It was in 2000 when Dawn was gearing up for her second Olympics with Team USA. It ultimately became the year when her life would change. 

With a job playing in the WNBA, she had no interest in thinking about any other opportunities, until Temple’s then-athletic director Dave O’Brien came calling. 

“The AD posed two questions. One was, Can you lead? Can I lead? I’m the captain on every team that I played on, I’m a point guard. The position demands that you lead. And then I answered the question. I know my facial expression showed that that was not a good question. All questions are good, but that wasn’t a good question. And then he asked me the next question, which was, Can you turn Temple’s women’s basketball program around? And that was the aha moment, where he challenged me. I never looked at coaching as a challenge, and if I did, I probably would’ve been coaching a lot sooner than what I had done.”

She went on to do exactly what she promised and led Temple to four A-10 conference championships and a 172–80 record—the program’s best overall record—all while finishing out her final playing years in the WNBA.  

“Coaching is like…No day is the same. I like that, but I also like being a dream merchant for young people,” she says. “My cup runneth over when it comes to being successful and what the game has given to me. I want people to feel it.”

As I listen to Dawn speak, I don’t feel like I’m on set in a gym with one of the greatest figures this game has ever seen, but rather like I’m in her living room just chopping it up, talking about life, laughing at the good old days and just soaking up every nugget of advice from lessons learned. It’s easy to see why she resonates so deeply with players. Sometimes it feels like she’s less of a coach and more of your auntie, there to guide you through the ebbs and flows of life. That connection to her players at Temple and the proof that she can turn a program around is what landed her at South Carolina.

It was 2008, and practically no one in women’s basketball even thought of the Gamecocks program as a contender. Wasn’t even an afterthought. 

Dawn knew what she was up against, but with that Philly toughness stored deep within the core of her soul, it wasn’t an obstacle she was going to shy away from. 

“When I first took the job here at South Carolina, I wanted to change the culture. I wanted to make sure that we’re all cut from the same cloth. I work hard, everybody around me works hard. So, we wanted that reciprocated, with everybody that has a hand in our program and the players are a big part of it.”

She was meticulous and hungry to make it happen, but most of all, she treated herself and those around her with compassion, understanding that she had to coach each team and each player differently over the years. Most importantly, she had to have patience as she took the time needed to begin building (and recruiting) the team she wanted in order to become one of the best in the country. 

But she did it her way. 

It was just six years later that she went on to lead South Carolina to the program’s first Final Four appearance and its first No. 1 overall ranking. 

Then the movement came to fruition. 

Dawn had one of the best college basketball teams assembled, with what would eventually be four WNBA lottery picks. The roster was unbelievably stacked with star A’ja Wilson, Kaela Davis, Allisha Gray and Alaina Coates, not to mention future WNBA draft picks in freshmen Kiki Herbert-Harrigan and Ty Harris. 

It was the culmination of what Dawn had worked years toward. A vision finally realized. 

“[The year] 2017 was pretty special for a lot of reasons,” Dawn recalls. 

She would go on to lead the Gamecocks to their first-ever national title in their first-ever national championship game appearance. 

“Selfishly, it was one of the goals I set for myself in the projects in North Philly because I only saw women play on TV in two events. One was a national championship game, and then the other one was the Olympic Games. Those were the two things that kept me just going. I got the gold medal, several gold medals, but I never got the national championship. When I got that, I selfishly loved it and then I switched, and I just put it outward.”

That moment wasn’t just for her. 

It was for the women who played for her all those early years at Temple. It was for the residents of the Raymond Rosen housing projects. It was for everyone in her life who helped her get to that historic moment. 

In The Last Dance, Michael Jordan said that all it took was “one little match to start the whole fire” when speaking on the greatness he achieved with the Bulls. Dawn Staley was that match in women’s college basketball. Winning that title changed everything. 

Now she has one of the toughest rosters in the country. For starters, there’s National Player of the Year favorite Aliyah Boston, who recently set the record for most consecutive double-doubles in the SEC. Then there’s Ohio-made superstar Zia Cooke, whom the world remembers for dropping a defender and pointing after it happened. And Destanni Henderson, a senior who made her name known in last year’s NCAA tournament and now is a top WNBA prospect.

“I got to keep it honest. I just fell in love with Coach, as far as how real she was with me. I’ll never forget the first time I met her. I was super nervous,” Cooke says. 

Staley has now had the top recruiting class two years in a row and a roster already in position to win another (and possibly multiple) national championships. She doesn’t take any of it lightly, though. 

“[Forward] Laeticia Amihere, her mom [is a] God-fearing faithful woman. She’s got strength, and you could tell she’s a people-feeler. I had, probably, several conversations with her on the phone, and you really can’t get it until she’s sitting across from you and she’s talking to you. And then at the end of our visit with both of them, she came up to me and she was like, I give you my daughter. I’m from Philly—I’m hard, I’m tough—[but] that almost brought me to tears because I’ve never heard a mother say that,” Dawn recalls with a softness in her voice. 

That’s how she approaches not only building a championship-contending team, but a family. 

“Coach Staley has been through it all. She’s experienced it,” Boston shares.  “She’s someone that we look up to. She helps us with everything, on and off the court.” 

A coach who’s been through it all is especially what this group has needed over the last few years. Aliyah, Zia and Destanni, like everyone else, had their world put on pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was South Carolina’s year to take back the throne, but they never got the chance. 

“I feel like we’re on track as a team. It was the first time I felt like our team actually had a bond, and then COVID happened,” Henderson says. “We had to take a step back and reflect on life outside of basketball.”

They picked up right where they left off last season, only for it to end in heartbreak. Down 1 to Stanford in the Final Four, Aliyah’s final put-back effort fell just short. It was a moment of anguish for the then-sophomore, whose tears streamed down her face after leaving it all out on the floor. It’s an image that mainstream media lazily uses over and over. 

“After the game, we were sad, obviously. But when the coaches came in, Coach Staley told us that she was proud of us and that we worked hard and basically that we’re going to use this to continue to fuel us. We didn’t get what we wanted this year, but we still have another shot,” Boston says. 

Another shot is right. This year’s South Carolina crew has steadily remained the No. 1 team in the country. As we walk into the practice facility to set up for our cover shoot, while practice begins to wind down, evidence of why the program has been at the top of the standings all season becomes quite obvious.  

The gym is roaring as the Gamecocks scrimmage. You can hear every player (both on the sidelines and on the court) involved. They’re fully coaching themselves. No one is needed to get on the players who are making mistakes or talking through plays; the players are doing that together, for each other. 

“I think we’re a lot more mature. I feel like our games have all matured in a way,” Zia says. 

It is truly the Dawn Staley effect. Her mantra is simple, and she holds herself to the same standard. 

“You got to be vulnerable, you got to stand in your truth even when it doesn’t make you look good. That’s your truth,” Coach says passionately. “Everybody doesn’t live in their truth because everybody wants to paint a picture of being perfect. Hell, nobody’s perfect. Nobody.”

It’s that openness that’s allowed three of the best college basketball players right now to become the stars that they are. This resilient group has been through the ups and downs of everything and has now reached a point where they honestly play for each other more than themselves. 

What does their living legend of a coach want to see at the end of this year, when it’s all said and done? 

“I want to turn Aliyah’s frown upside down,” Dawn says definitively. 

Zia interjects after a long pause. “HELLO!!!”

Dawn continues: “Because that is something that media outlets use a lot. She’s more than the frown. 

“I want them to use the picture of her crying happy tears.” 

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The post Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks Are College Basketball’s Authors of Evolution appeared first on SLAM.

Both were the No. 1 players in the country in their respective recruiting classes (2020 and 2021), and now they’re about to embark on what is sure to be their most memorable journey yet.

“I would say our friendship is pretty insane,” Bueckers, a sophomore, says on the set of our cover shoot on UConn’s campus in early October. “It’s pretty crazy. Just seeing the way we interact…We have so many similarities, but we also have so many differences. I don’t know, it’s like yin and yang.”

Azzi then interjects to add, “But I feel like where we’re disconnected, we complement each other.”

With Bueckers regularly running the point and Azzi coming in at shooting guard, it’s easy to see what Fudd means. They are arguably the best in the country at what they do, and some of the greatest of all time know it. 

“She can be going full speed and stop on a dime and have, like, a feathery release,” Stephen Curry said of Azzi to espnW. “I think she has more of a textbook jumper than anyone I’ve seen.”

“She makes really hard passes look really easy, and she makes really easy passes look easy,” UConn legend Diana Taurasi said of Bueckers in a sit-down with TOGETHXR. “That alone sets her apart from every other player in college. Paige Bueckers is the best player in basketball already.”

SLAM 235 featuring Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd is available now.

There have been many top-tier championship caliber backcourt duos to come out of Storrs. Sue Bird and DT, Bria Hartley and Moriah Jefferson, Renee Montgomery and Tiffany Hayes, just to name a few. Most of them, though, we got to see come to life at Gampel Pavilion. But Paige and Azzi’s story is a little different. 

It was early in the summer of 2017 when the USA Women’s U16 National Team tryouts took place. The team would go on to play at the FIBA Americas Championship in Argentina later that summer. The USA team tryouts are well-known to be one of the most competitive environments, and both Paige and Azzi were some of the youngest trying to make the roster. 

“My first impression of Paige was, I think it was right before they made the final cuts and we were on the same team and we were both trying out for point guard,” Azzi recalls. “And I looked at her and was like, This white girl got nothing on me, I don’t need to worry about her. I quickly realized that I was wrong,” she shares laughing. 

The two superstars ultimately made the final roster and were on their way to Argentina, where they got their first test as teammates and ended up having an immediate connection.

“We saw them play together in Argentina and they both came off the bench,” Azzi’s mother, Katie, recalls. “All of the parents were hanging out at night and going on tours, so we actually got pretty close with Paige’s parents. Watching them play together on the court, we just assumed, Oh, they must be really tight off the court.”

It was an early showing of what is surely to become one of the top backcourts in the country. Paige handling the ball, bringing the court vision, seeing the passes that need to be made and catching the open cutters. The ultimate floor general. Azzi playing off the ball, making the necessary cuts, playing physical defense, and most importantly, getting open to knock down shots. The ultimate three-point assassin. 

While they helped bring home USA U16’s fifth gold medal, it really wasn’t until after the tournament that The Paige and Azzi Show really started. 

On their way back to the States, they ended up sitting next to each other. Paige was heading back to where she grew up in Minnetonka, MN, and Azzi was going to meet her grandparents who also live in the Gopher State. That plane ride would not only change each of their lives but would also eventually impact all of women’s basketball. 

“Yeah, I mean, when you sit alone on a plane next to Azzi, it’s just a whole lot of chattin’, so I kinda sorta entertained it and I think our friendship sort of bonded from there,” Paige says.

“I guess—that’s not how I remember,” Azzi responds while laughing. “I remember I was really shy, so when we were on the plane, I was kind of forced to talk to her. But then when we got back with my grandparents, she was just with us a lot. We would go to the gym. I had, like, a new workout partner, and I loved working out with her. Then from there, she just tagged along with my family. She was a part of us.”

Trips to AAU and high school tournaments to watch each other play, the annual Fudd family cabin trips, endless pranks and training sessions—they were always together. The basketball gods connected them and from there on, it was about pushing each other to be great on the daily. Above all, though, it was about supporting each other during the ups and downs of life—the same way family does.  

It was just two years later that Azzi would face one of her biggest challenges to date.

Paige and Azzi were both in Colorado Springs participating in USA Basketball’s U18 3×3 tryouts when Paige watched her best friend fall to the floor in pain. They both immediately knew it was bad. 

“There’s a picture of when I made it to the trainer’s table,” Azzi recalls. “She came over and put her hand on me and prayed over it. It almost looked like she got hurt, too.”

It would later be confirmed that the then 16-year-old star guard had torn her ACL. 

“I was heartbroken for Azzi. Seeing her on the floor had me in tears,” Paige recalls as the usual casualness of her voice disappears. 

“What is funny?!” Azzi jumps in jokingly, only to realize that Paige is quietly trying to work through the tears that are now falling. “Aw, stop. Really, stop. It’s OK, you don’t need to cry over me,” Azzi jokes.

Collecting her thoughts, Paige continues: “She’s my ride or die. I’d do anything for her, she’d do anything for me. It’s just, like, you go through a lot of hard times that the cameras don’t see, that the people outside don’t see, and I’ve always confided in her.” 

“Through that whole thing, she came and visited me before my surgery. After surgery, she was the first one to call. She was always texting me, checking up on me and making sure that my spirits were high throughout the whole thing,” Azzi says. 

Paige was also tested a year later, when on the lead up to her final high school game, the state championship was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

“I think this is where [we] complement each other. When I’m upset, I talk a lot and she’s a good listener. When she’s upset, she kinda closes down and doesn’t talk, so I make her talk. Make her get all her emotions out,” says Azzi. “She was very frustrated and sad and upset, so we were just kinda there for her.”

Knowing they were the top recruits in back-to-back classes, the potential opportunity to play together in college was always in the back of their minds. Once Paige announced that she would spend part of her journey with the Huskies, she took the recruiting of her best friend into her own hands. 

“We talk about it a lot, but she needs to come to the Huskies,” Bueckers, then a HS senior, shared via FaceTime with SLAM in 2020. “We’ll compete every day in practice, and if she goes to another team, we’ll only be competing against each other one game a year.” She finished with, “Azzi, c’mon, you know what to do.” 

When it came time for her college decision in the fall of 2020, Azzi knew she couldn’t make it easy on her best friend. 

“I had called the coaches and told them, and then we went out to dinner,” Azzi recalls, chuckling at her best friend’s expense. “It was my parents, me, Paige and Colleen, who’s the team manager here. I told her that I committed and then she started to get really emotional and kept saying, I don’t believe it, really? Are you serious?” 

That’s when she had to pull the ultimate prank and said, “Tricked ya!” as Paige sat there shocked. 

“She got so mad that she got up from the table and left,” Azzi continues, bursting into laughter. “And then when she finally came back, one of my parents had recorded the conversation with the coaches, so I showed it to her and that’s when she knew that I had committed for real. I think she did cry tears of joy.”

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It was the moment they were both waiting for. The moment they knew they’d finally team up to compete for multiple national championships. 

“Azzi’s an automatic bucket. She scores at all three levels at an insanely efficient rate,” Paige says. “She defends, she talks, she’s very strong. As a guard, she’s a big guard. She brings energy, effort and an insane work ethic. She can do a lot of positive things for this team.” 

Beyond her production on the floor, what stands out the most about the first-year Husky is her work ethic. Her tireless drive pushes not only herself but everyone around her to be better. 

“I want to learn. Everything we’re doing I want to not necessarily be the best, but I want to go the hardest and try to learn from everything we do,” says Azzi. 

Paige’s first year in Storrs was one of the most historic freshman seasons in all of college hoops. She averaged 20 points, 5.8 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game, and even shot over 52.4 percent from the field. Not only that, but she also recorded 168 assists, the most by a freshman in program history, and won every national award she was eligible for. Although it was a season for the record books, it didn’t end how the star guard wanted. 

After UConn’s Final Four trip was cut short in their 69-59 loss to Arizona, Paige took time to reflect and understand where she can improve so that they can bring home UConn’s first championship since 2016. 

“The big thing I learned is being super enhanced into the little details,” Paige recalls, with the memory of the loss replaying in her mind. “Whether it be waiting for a screen, setting up a screen, talking, using my voice, Coach [Geno Auriemma] is really big on the little things because they make the bigger things easy. Just learning from what I didn’t do last season and what I could do better.” 

The process at UConn is simple: learn from one of the greatest coaches of all time how to fine-tune and contribute your gift to the team. We’ve seen a lot of the greats do it, and now it’s Paige’s and Azzi’s turns. 

Walking down the halls at Werth or Gampel does not help ease the pressure, though. National championship banners hang everywhere you turn. The retired jersey of Rebecca Lobo. A shrine for the Huskies of Honor, which include Sue Bird, Tina Charles, Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart. You’re reminded every day of the standard at UConn and what you’re expected to achieve.

“You can look at it two ways,” Fudd explains. “It can be really overwhelming, and you can see it as pressure, which sometimes I feel like I do. But I also see it as, all these players came in here already great, but they trusted Coach, they trusted the program and trusted the process, and look at what they accomplished while they were here by doing that and once they left. I know that I want to be like that.”

“It was a dream to play here, not even knowing what the future would hold—who I would play with, who I would play against,” says Paige. “Just me wanting to come here for school and to be able to do it with my best friend, it makes it so much better.” 

Some dynasties start on the basketball court, others start in the air, in coach on a 14-hour flight from Buenos Aires to Minnesota, where fire and water come together to create a force of nature the earth will never forget.

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Portraits by Johnnie Izquierdo.

The post The Story of How Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd’s Unbreakable Bond Led Them to UConn appeared first on SLAM.

It’s an early morning off day for the Chicago Sky, who are playing the New York Liberty in a back-to-back series. Candace arrives in her practice gear and backpack ready for her SLAM cover shoot, and the minute she recognizes Jay-Z’s “Heart of the City” playing, she lights up and starts rapping every lyric. As she waits for the set to be ready, she picks up a ball, starts shooting around and continues spilling out every word of the song without missing a beat. At first glance, you wouldn’t think she’s the champion, TV analyst and overall legend that she is, but rather just a kid who loves to hoop, joke around and listen to Hov’s best bars. But then the list of accolades that goes on for pages and all of the historic moments in women’s basketball that she’s made happen to come to mind and you remember the greatness that is Candace Parker.

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It all began in the suburbs of Chicago, where the Parker family enjoyed all things together. Debates, watching movies, listening to ’90s hip-hop, but most important of all, basketball. The love for the game was immediate for almost the entire family. Almost.

“I think my memories of growing up in Naperville were just following my brothers around everywhere,” Parker shares with SLAM. “My parents always told me I could do everything and more, so I think those are kind of my first memories. Going to the basketball park, going to games, those were our weekends. We went to the park every weekend and played H.O.R.S.E. as a family. My mom had a video camera, we had Sunday dinners…We always ate one meal together at the table. I think those are my fondest memories.”

Her father Larry was a standout player at Iowa, her oldest sibling, Anthony, picked up the game immediately and was selected in the 1997 NBA draft by the New Jersey Nets, and middle brother Michael played from day one as well. It was an instant connection to the leather ball from the start for most of the kids in the Parker family except for one. This curious young girl wanted to pave her own journey in something new, but as the saying goes, life had another plan for her.

“When I picked up a basketball, I didn’t want to pick it up,” the 14-year WNBA veteran recalls. “I played YBA growing up, which was a great experience, but I didn’t want to play basketball, I wanted to have my own thing. I wanted to play soccer. When I watched the ’96 Olympics, I wanted to be an Olympic soccer player. I wanted to be like Mia Hamm, like Briana Scurry. I wanted to be like all of them.”

It’s insanity to think that we almost missed out on the greatness that is CP3, but Mama Parker knew what Candace could do in the family business of basketball.

“It was kind of my mom who pulled me aside, because at the time my brother was brilliant and played basketball, my other brother was pretty smart and played basketball…Anthony’s gonna kill me for that,” Candace says with a laugh. “But they were just so great, you know, and I didn’t know if I could follow in their footsteps. I remember my mom being like, Baby, you can do both, you can do anything you put your mind to.”

From that moment on, Candace started focusing on basketball more and more. Trips to the park to practice on her own became regular and she gradually fell in love with the family business. While that love may have been gradual, her gift for the game was evident immediately.

“I just remember being in the gym in seventh grade and everybody before school would come in early and play and we would have basketballs and soccer balls. I just remember grabbing a tennis ball and going up and dunking,” the five-time All-Star reflects. “One of the substitute teachers was like, Uh, could you do that again? I was like, Yeah! And just went up and dunked. After that he was like, How old are you? And I was like, I’m 13, and he just shook his head.”

That’s really how it was for the insanely talented 13-year-old who had just only recently fully committed to the sport. By her sophomore year, Parker was already leading Naperville Central to state championships and was one of the highest ranked players in Illinois, but that wasn’t enough for her.

“I remember in eighth grade I was rated as one of the best players in the state and I was like, In the state?! I don’t want to be top in just the state. So, I think it was always that motivational thing,” she says.

Intensely competitive was her nature, built not only by her family, but her environment and the Chicago area as a whole. The first glimpses of top women’s talent at the amateur level on a national level started during her high school years, but the local coverage was one thing that was always constant in the ’Go.

“In terms of youth development, in terms of following kids from the time they’re in fourth or fifth grade, even before social media, that was Chicago,” Parker says. “Hoops Prep, you could watch Eddy Curry, Cappie Pondexter and I think that bred the next talent. I watched that and wanted to go out and work on my game so I could do that.”

The level of competition in the area constantly motivated Candace. She continued grinding and ended up making history along the way, becoming the first woman to win the slam dunk contest at the 2004 McDonald’s All-American Game.

Although Naperville Central’s star continued on her meteoric rise to national stardom, aspirations beyond college weren’t something that she thought of often while growing up. At the time, the WNBA had just formed and there was no real precedent for Candace to believe that going pro was a possibility.

“I really didn’t start thinking about professional basketball until I was probably in high school. My brother got drafted when I was in middle school, and I remember that was the coolest moment for our family, because I had all the posters, SLAM posters and SLAM covers. Allen Iverson was my idol. I really loved basketball, but I didn’t really start thinking of it professionally until my brother got drafted and then that was a real thing,” the 2013 WNBA All-Star MVP says.

It was the reality for young girls back then. Many didn’t believe that professional sports were something they would be able to pursue as a career beyond college, but once that possibility arose for Candace, there was a new goal to achieve. With that came the decision of where to spend her next four years preparing for the WNBA, which meant finding the right coach to help build her career.

And then Pat Summitt came along.

Tennessee wasn’t a program Candace had always envisioned herself playing for, mostly because they won so much under Summitt’s reign while she was growing up. Parker liked being the underdog. She wanted to help build something special and new at the next level. With the Lady Vols having gone through a championship drought in the late ’90s, the dunking superstar was ready to restore the winning culture at Tennessee. In November of 2003, she made it official and committed to play for Pat.

“It was my sophomore year, and she came to see me play, I’ll never forget it,” Parker says. “In North Carolina, at the tournament, she sat to the left of the bench. She had her bright orange stuff on, and that was a moment. That was one of those moment pictures that I took in my mind, because that was something I dreamed of. Watching her, I think as a basketball coach was extraordinary but watching her as a person was even more. That’s why I think my parents wanted me to go there, because they wanted me to have a strong woman as a leader to kind of show me more than just basketball.”

Just like destiny had planned, it was a moment and a person who would change her life forever.

From the very beginning, Candace had a special relationship with Coach Summitt, one filled with deep respect and a mutual desire to make each other better people, not just better players or coaches. With that bond from early on, Pat made good on her promise to help develop Candace—“as a player, as a person, and a student. We can have a lot of fun in the process,” the Lady Vols head coach penned in a recruiting letter to the budding star.

A few years later, Candace brought the winning back to Tennessee, helping lead the Lady Vols to back-to-back NCAA titles in ’07 and ’08. But even more important than that, she grew as a person and learned more than she could have ever hoped from the legendary coach.

“It’s weird, because when you’re going through it, you don’t understand the impact that it’s gonna have,” Parker says. “At 18-22 years old, I don’t think I understood the impact that she was having on my entire life. But to be able to see a role model, even the way I parent as a career mom now, I watched her balance that and she was always present. I think that’s the biggest thing, being present in the moment, making sure that the people around you understand how important you are to them. And I also think that it’s no longer a do-as-I-say, it’s a do-as-I-do. There’s a lot of people that can say stuff, but if I’m not seeing it on a daily basis, then you’re not gonna believe it. And I think everything Pat, you know, from winning championships, to battling a terrible disease, she did it with so much grace.”

Just days after winning her second NCAA title, Candace was drafted first overall in the 2008 WNBA draft to one of the best franchises in the League, the L.A. Sparks. Her first season would be one of the most memorable years in the history of the League. In her first game, she dropped 34 points, setting the record for most points scored in a career debut. Then, a month later, Candace threw down a dunk against the Indiana Fever, making her the second woman in history to dunk in a game (Lisa Leslie was the first, in 2002). By the end of the season, she averaged 18.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game and became the first player to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season.

Impressive doesn’t even begin to describe what she did in 2008, not to mention the part that no one knew during the season.

“I was actually pregnant with [Lailaa] at the end of the year, my rookie year,” Candace says. “I accepted the MVP and Rookie of the Year trophy with my daughter and then from there it’s just been our journey.”

And so began one of the biggest transitions of her life that she’s most thankful for.

“I think it kind of taught me to bemore selfless. It’s not just about basketball, there’s more to life than just basketball, and I have her to thank for that,” Parker says.

While she had already accomplished so much, there was one thing that the new mom and Sparks’ star had on her mind—a WNBA Championship. In 2016, the opportunity finally came along, and while she was on the cusp of the elusive title, there was something else on her mind.

Pat Summitt lost her battle with Alzheimer’s disease in June of 2016. With that, the world lost a legend and role model, but for Candace, she lost a mentor. In one of the toughest years of her life, Candace knew that season just meant more. It was about more than just winning a championship for herself; it was for the woman who guided her journey to that title.

In a grueling series for the ages against Maya Moore and the Minnesota Lynx, it all came down to a winner takes all Game 5. With the clock running out and no timeouts left, Nneka Ogwumike grabbed her own rebound and made the game-winning putback. It was a moment and a series fans will remember forever.

“I remember a lot about that series. Just the grind, the focus, the energy that it took to even get through that series,” the 2016 Finals MVP says. “I think it also speaks to my innocence, because in 2008, we had a chance to go to the Finals and we lost on a last-second shot. I had a number of baskets that rolled off the rim. And I think that recognizing that, like, we won off of a rebound putback…And everybody after that is telling us that we’re the best thing ever off of one moment. I think it just kind of speaks to how you gotta stay the course.”

It was a moment that only further cemented her place in L.A. sports glory.

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Los Angeles is a place that will forever have Candace’s heart. It was where her daughter grew up, where she herself grew up, and where she had some of the best moments of her life, both on and off the court. After that season, Candace started a second career while managing basketball, which of course included more basketball. She went on to join the Turner family and the NBA on TNT cast where you’ve seen her school Shaq and clown around with Chuck, Ernie and the gang.

“I am a basketball junkie. I love it as a player. I love it as a fan,” she gleams.

After 13 seasons in L.A. though, it was time for a change. In a surprising move, Candace made the decision to sign with the Chicago Sky this past winter.

“Chicago is where my family raised me, where I first learned the game of basketball and where I first fell in love with this orange ball. I am excited to continue the next chapter of my career where it all began. To my new teammates, my new organization, and my new fans: I’m home,” Parker announced with the Chicago Sun Times.

There was something about coming home that just felt right to Candace. She was ready to share the place she grew up in with her daughter, take her to Colonial Special (one of her favorite restaurants in Chicago), or to the park where she grew up playing and that’s now named after her.  

“I believe a lot of things come full circle,” Parker says. “I think just over the course of my career I realized how much important people have meant to my career. Coming back home, I mean, my dad fixed my blinds the other day, we went over to his house for Father’s Day, my mom cooks me pregame, picks up my daughter all the time. Dad brings doughnuts over sometimes for my daughter, like, it’s just, I can go see my grandma. I really respect the time that I moved away from home because I needed it. I needed to establish myself in my home and get away from that, but to come back, who I am now, to really appreciate it.”

It’s a move that’s made the Sky, with a highly athletic and energetic roster and one of the best backcourt duos in the League, one of the favorites for the 2021 WNBA title. While the goal is to bring a championship home, the future is about more than just basketball for CP3.

“This next chapter,” Parker says, “I’m really enjoying the moment. Like I say all the time, I have way more basketball behind me than I have in front of me, I can promise you that. But one thing I’m never going to do is cheat the game. I have a circle of friends that I told 10 years ago that when it’s time, you need to sit me down and have an intervention if I don’t see it myself.”

Candace was always destined for the game of basketball and we have Mama Parker to thank for making it happen in the beginning. While her love of the game has always been at the forefront, it’s been about doing something bigger, about making an impact on young girls’ lives, whether it be within the game of basketball, another sport or in the boardroom.

“I think when you’re able to change something, you know, if you’re able to leave any type of change within something, I think you’ve established and developed a legacy. I hope that I have made a difference and I have changed certain things that have always been. I think that that’s going to be the legacy, and I hope that’s the way it is in the next chapter.”

SLAM 233 featuring cover star Candace Parker is available now in these exclusive gold and black metal editions. Get your copy on SLAMgoods.com.

Cover story portraits by Jon Lopez. Photos via Getty Images.

The post It Was Destined: Candace Parker and the Glory of Going Back Home appeared first on SLAM.

Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi joined the League a few years after its inception and have played critical roles on and off the court in putting it in the position it’s in today. Nneka Ogwumike joined some years later and has been crucial to the voice of the WNBPA and ensuring that the women who play on the court are heard on everything from basketball-related issues to social justice reform and much more. Skylar Diggins-Smith brought a new era of the game with her as social media flourished, and now she’s one of the most followed women’s professional athletes in the world.

Order your copy of SLAM 232 featuring Skylar Diggins-Smith, Nneka Ogwumike, Sue Bird, and Diana Taurasi now.

Each of these four real-life superheroes formed a revolution in women’s sports and helped evolve the game that we love for generations to come.

SLAM: Did you ever imagine yourself saying that you would be playing in the 25th season of the WNBA when you first picked up a basketball?

DIANA: No. I think you know growing up and being a 12-year-old and the WNBA just starting and living in L.A., going to Great Western Forum and seeing Lisa [Leslie] play and all of the visiting teams, it was shocking because I was only going to watch the Lakers and now I’m watching the WNBA. So that to me was kind of the beginning of, Oh, I kinda like this. There might be a future in basketball. But 25 years in, that’s pretty impressive. 

SUE: For me, I remember when it was the 10th anniversary, when it was the 15th anniversary, so I’m just happy. It’s another anniversary because we’re doing well, we’re getting better and better and it’s going to continue to grow.

SLAM: What’s the first thing that comes to mind now that you’re about to begin this historic season?

SKY: I think we have great momentum from last year. It’s rejuvenating almost. I’m super excited, obviously to be a part of it, but to be a part of it with these women, with this group. I’m proud to say everything that we’ve been able to accomplish on and off the floor, all those efforts. I think it’s a culmination and using that momentum into the 25th season I think it’s going to be really exciting. 

NNEKA: I think the timing going into the 25th season is really interesting with what’s going on in the world and where people see us now. For us to be celebrating 25 years, that’s more than 25 years but also about where that 25 years has landed us. Thinking about that legacy and being able to be a part of it, and actually be a part of the history is really huge. I’m really glad to be able to celebrate it with legends that are still in the game and with more coming toward women in sports. 

SLAM: This group has been a major factor in making the League what it is today. What does that mean to you?

SUE: For me, personally, I do realize that 25 years from now when people look back on the League, they’re going to think of our names when they think of the early years. Because I came into the League, I think in its fifth year, I don’t feel like a pioneer. I don’t feel like the Sheryl Swoopes and the Lisa Leslies and Rebecca Lobos, but I know years from now we’ll be kinda in that group. So, it’s interesting because a part of me feels lucky to be a part of the start and to have helped it grow along the way, but also, we’re still playing so we’re kind of part of this younger generation, too. At the same time, for me, personally, everything that I do now is definitely about younger generations and leaving the business of the WNBA in a better place so it can continue to grow.

SKY: That full circle moment, too. I was that girl in ’97. I was 7 years old when the League started so that was my first time not only seeing women play on TV, but women that look like me playing and being on a stage like that. I was that little girl, so to see it come full circle and to see how younger girls respond to us and how they’re taking to our game and want to be like us. Having that in mind, that full circle moment.

SLAM: What are the biggest changes you’ve each seen on the court?

DIANA: Stylistically, the game has changed tremendously. The way it looks, the way it functions, the way we play is night and day from when we came into the League. It used to be a more veteran, more physical League, where now it’s more young and more athletic. These kids are doing shit that we didn’t do until two years ago. They’re so much more advanced skill-wise as far as what they can actually do on the court and it’s impressive to see them working at their craft at such an early age.

SUE: I agree. The two things I would add to D’s point, there’s been an evolution in the rules. I think now we’re almost ahead of the game in terms of the referees and the rules. At some point, when it peaks, it’ll be even better. Then the reality is, it’s 12 teams and 12 roster spots per team. This has been the biggest game of survival of the fittest you’re ever going to find anywhere in athletics. There’s no more competitive League because there’s not many spots. And, well, people like us won’t fucking retire, so you have new draft classes coming in every year and it gets more and more competitive. Which is great, because the product on the floor continues to get better, because it’s literally only the strong survive.

NNEKA: I was raised on teams where it was very fundamental, very conventional. When I came out of Stanford, we were running the triangle, so I was really good at my job. I think it’s interesting, Skylar and I were kind of in between generations a little bit. I always thought I was gonna be playing in the League, then overseas, then back to the League, and so on. Now I find myself in a position where maybe I don’t need to go overseas as much and I can work on my game a little bit more, so I can kinda lean in toward the newer generation. I’m really grateful to have the opportunity to be able to be with people like this group and get to work on my game and to add that dynamic aspect to the game as I’m also experiencing it on the court. D’s right, if you don’t work on something, you’re out. It’s moving fast and you have to keep up with it, you can’t wait for there to be expansion. You gotta stay sharp. I love it.

SKY: That was my thing coming to Phoenix. I knew I was coming with great players. I had to carry the load on my old team. Everybody knew I had to score points, get assists, be top 10 in these categories or it was going to be tough. Coming to Phoenix, I knew I was coming with the greatest player we had in our League, and I was coming with BG [Brittney Griner] who is one of the biggest stars in our League, because I am trying to fucking win. Let’s keep it 100. I’m playing this game because I want to win championships. MVP, that’s not something that’s in my mind, so it’s like, what do I gotta do for us to win? When I come on a team like this, I sacrifice a bit of myself for the greater good, and everybody eats. That wisdom, too, as a player you evolve, your mindset changes with maturity. Having the best teacher of experience, you can’t teach that.

SLAM: What excites you the most about this next generation of women’s basketball players?

SKY: They are athletic as hell. I mean the way they’re dunking the ball, the finishes, the veer steps, it’s so creative. I’m seeing stuff that I’ve never seen before consistently. The skill level, the handles, the one-on-one skills, it’s amazing.

NNEKA: For me it’s the gall and the fearlessness. When I first came into the League, they were like, Oh, she’s a rookie,  but now it’s not really so much that. You can say that yeah, they’re a rookie, but these kids are coming in…

SUE: Expecting, but in a good way. 

SKY: Thinking of someone like Chennedy Carter or Arike [Ogunbowale].

NNEKA: Yeah, they’re like, I don’t care. I love that. I think that’s really great.

SUE: What excites me about the college players, even some high school players, they have legit followings that we didn’t have. The thing that is really exciting about it is that they’re gonna continue to build that. When they do get to the WNBA, they’re gonna take that with them. So, the 22-year-old guy who’s now following XYZ player becomes the decision maker and they’re out in the world talking about women’s professional basketball. It’ll be a different storyline.

SKY: The exposure is crazy. It’s insane.

SUE: Yeah, like Paige Bueckers as a high school kid was on the front of SLAM. That didn’t happen. Chamique [Holdsclaw] was the only person ever at that point. That changes narratives, that changes things. I think that’s pretty dope. 

SLAM: For Sue and Diana, you both have accomplished so much in your careers. Is there anything that’s on your bucket list, career-wise, that you still want to accomplish? 

DIANA: I don’t necessarily think it’s a championship or a record. It’s an internal motor that won’t stop. It isn’t necessarily physically or mentally, but there’s this motor running in me that won’t stop. Where that goes, I don’t know, but it’s not stopping. 

SUE: For me, I make shit up. I’m like, I want to play in the new Key Arena. That’s my new bucket list. I’m making these things up, but I think that’s [D’s point] at the core of it. 

DIANA: Sometimes I wake up and I say, Alright, dude, just give it a rest, and I can’t. I’m obsessed with it. On the car ride over with Nneka, I said, Man, my life is literally my family and basketball. I don’t have time for anything fucking else, and I wish it was like this 10 years ago.

SLAM: The power of the WNBA cannot be mistaken anymore. From changing the course of an election to helping remove and replace a team owner who went against what the women of the League stand for. What were those conversations to strategize and mobilize?

NNEKA: They weren’t easy conversations to have. To be honest, it went before even what we were faced with when it came to us even formulating a social justice council. We were having hard conversations before about what the bubble was going to be like. I mean, we’ve seen panels of “important conversations,” where people aren’t having them, but I can honestly say that we were having them. Whether it was me and Sue talking or me asking D, Hey, what’s up? Even when we had the all-player meeting, D stayed at the end and said, Yo, what the hell are we doing?

For us to be able to have those tough conversations, me asking Sky, Do you have resources for your family? It was more than us demonstrating what we had faced with the course of the election and such, it was real life shit that we were having to deal with. We took it day by day. One thing that never wavered was us letting people speak their mind. I think that’s what people don’t get. People think that the hard conversation needs to have a syllabus. No. You just need to make space for people to be comfortable to express what they need to express and then you really figure it out from there.

SLAM: One of the most emotional and trying moments of last season was when the League refused to play in protest of the shooting of Jacob Blake. What was that experience like for each of you?

SKY: It was insane. We had a conversation that day and we were kind of talking at shootaround and we were like, Do we play? We came together, it didn’t even feel right practicing. I talked to D, we talked to the team, and we ended up meeting together, asking, What do we really want to do? We want to make sure that we’re united in this. Basketball was secondary at the time. We felt like it needed to be a response to what had happened. There was no doubt in our mind, it was a unanimous decision. Everybody supported each other.

SUE: I think the beauty of the WNBA is that it’s not just about this year. What made us so ready and willing to step up were our past experiences. I can think back to 2016 when Minnesota wore their shirts first and then it went to New York and then Phoenix, then our whole League backed everybody. Looking back on that, we weren’t as organized as we were this year, but we kind of had to go through that in a way to understand, Wow, we’re organized and we’re all on the same page. The platform is bigger, the voice is louder.

Fast forward to last summer, that moment was heightened emotions, it was happening in real time. There’s a lot of people with a lot of opinions, rightfully so. The good news is that we’re all on the same page from a values standpoint. But there’s the conversation of how, how we are going to do it? I think what we learned from 2016 is, when we’re organized with it and we’re all on the same page, it’s much more powerful.

NNEKA: We weren’t going to have one game and not the other. There was a camaraderie through it all, even though people had different opinions about it. It was clear that we wanted to let people know things are more important right now and we needed to reset and understand we came to the bubble for a reason. Quite frankly, my opinion was we had a platform to not play because we were playing. I think that was something that people needed to understand as well.

DIANA: I made it really clear, we’re going to do all this shit and then play today? If there’s one day not to play, it’s today. To even have the conversation of maybe playing to me was absurd and I think that I made that really clear. Going back to what you guys said, fast forward a couple hours when we were in that only-players conference, you could tell there was fatigue and sadness, and it was across everyone’s face and across everyone’s demeanor. You felt let down by the world basically, by society, by the people that are supposed to protect you. There was a feeling of grief in a lot of ways. I think that moment was very clear to all of us. 

SKY: We were already in the climate of coming to the bubble and George Floyd happened and then we dedicated our season to #SayHerName and trying to bring forward the women’s stories who have been lost. Trying to bring their stories to the forefront, to light
and then it just seemed like it was back-to-back. I know as a Black woman, it is tiring, and I was like, Hell no. We are not playing. That feeling, I’ve never felt like that in my life.

SLAM: We are now celebrating the 25th anniversary of the WNBA, the longest-standing women’s professional league of all time. Where do you want to see the League when it celebrates its 50th anniversary? 

DIANA: Well, I would like to be on my couch in November, and instead of putting on the Lakers, I’d like to put on the Mercury. 

SKY: You get that? And 30 teams. 

NNEKA: For me, I always say this, I don’t really put a timeline on it. The only timeline I put on it is that I’m gonna be alive when this happens. I want to see the first million-dollar contract signed.

SKY: You gonna be commissioner next? 

SUE: Yeah, she might be commissioner. You’re gonna be putting the contract in front of the player.

SKY: Yeah, manifest that. 

SUE: I always joke about this, but you hear an older NBA player say, I didn’t make that money. They’re the disgruntled older player. I always say that I
hope that’s me one day. I hope I’m somewhere on my couch watching a game and I’m saying, I didn’t make a million dollars. 

DIANA: In November? 

SUE: Yeah, in November. 

DIANA: You might be Kenny Smith and I gotta be Charles Barkley! 

SUE: But yeah, jokingly, I want to see a million-dollar contract and say, Dang, I didn’t get to have that. But simultaneously, the four of us, we will have played a part in that contract. 

NNEKA: You can definitely say that we did that. 

—

Portraits by Atiba Jefferson.

SLAM 232 is available now in these exclusive gold and black metal editions. Only 60 copies are available in black, and 94 are available in gold.

Shop here.

The post Unity ‘Til Infinity: Skylar Diggins-Smith, Nneka Ogwumike, Sue Bird, and Diana Taurasi Cover SLAM 232 appeared first on SLAM.

Sabrina Ionescu is the future of New York basketball.

The kid originally from Walnut Creek, CA, stepped onto the cover shoot set in her Liberty uniform with the “Grinch” Nike Kobe 6 Proto calm and relaxed. Something that’s different than what most are used to seeing of her; a killer on the court ready to take down whoever is on the opposing side that night.

“I want to win and beat you. I’m gonna do whatever it takes to do that,” the guard shares with SLAM. “No matter if I played with you in college or we were teammates somewhere down the road, at the end of the day when it’s time to go, it’s time to go.”

Order your copy of SLAM 231 featuring Sabrina Ionescu now.

It’s a mindset she’s channeled almost all of her life. A competitive spirit that began when she was young, hooping against her brothers, Eddy and Andrei, at the park.

“Growing up with brothers has definitely shaped the basketball player that I am. They never took it easy on me,” she says. “They always wanted to beat me in everything, so I think it just always made me play even tougher and even harder.”

It’s the type of toughness that’s forged in the fire of formative years. It’s that toughness that made her stand out to Oregon’s lead recruiter and assistant coach Mark Campbell.

“The number one thing that she’s had since the first time I saw her and that everybody’s come to see, it’s two things actually. It’s her competitive spirit, it is unmatched. And it’s her fearlessness. It’s the combination of those two things that make Sabrina who she is. She’s completely fearless of every moment, every stage, and that goes from on the court or speaking to the world at Kobe’s celebration of life,” the Ducks coach says.

It’s those same qualities that have put the hoops world on notice during the past four years after a historic collegiate career at Oregon, one filled with unimaginable highs and a list of accolades that could take up this entire page. First NCAA player with 2,000 career points, 1,000 career assists and 1,000 career rebounds, NCAA all-time leader in career triple-doubles, 2020 Naismith Player of the Year, 2020 AP Player of the Year. And the list goes on and on.

She even returned for her senior season when she easily could’ve gone pro and would have been the number one pick. But instead, she felt she had one more feat to accomplish for the Ducks: a national championship.

“Just have some business to take care of first,” she penned in her Players Tribune letter announcing that she would return to Eugene for one final season.

Of course, that did not come to fruition. Come the early spring of 2020, our entire world changed when the coronavirus pandemic infiltrated society. Everything was canceled to ensure public safety, including the NCAA tournament. It was a pivotal moment in Sabrina’s career, where she was forced to accept what she could not control.

“I didn’t really want it to be true,” she says. “I didn’t believe it to be true. But seeing that it was true, though, a lot of things were getting canceled due to what was going on. At that moment it was just letting go of the past and looking on to the future.”

Oregon was poised to make a historic run for the national championship and their star player knew it was their year to win. To this day, she still believes they would’ve won it all.

“I think we were in the driver’s seat. We were all really healthy and playing really well together, so I think we had a really good chance to win,” she says.

Like Curtis Mayfield’s melody, she “kept on keeping on.” With the WNBA Draft right around the corner, there was little time to reflect on what could’ve been. Instead, Sabrina chose to focus on what was yet to come.

“I was just ready to continue playing. I don’t think that I was ready to take a break, like I would have if we had gone through the tournament. There was this fire inside of me that I wanted to continue playing and continue what I was doing,” she explains.

Sabrina was just a hooper ready to do what she was born to do. And then, from the comfort of her living room, she heard her name called in the 2020 WNBA Draft. The New York Liberty selected her with their No. 1 overall pick. Just like that, it was back to the grind as she prepared for her rookie season, one that would look different compared to any other in the history of the League.

A thousand miles south of Barclays Center, where the Liberty were set to play their first season since their ownership change, was the League’s bubble in Bradenton, FL, on the campus of IMG Academy.

Beyond dealing with an entirely new change in scenery, she also had to manage the vast nuances of playing in the WNBA. One thing that many casual followers of the women’s game may not understand is the difficulty in transitioning from college to the pros, even for a star like Sabrina.

“The game’s a lot quicker, faster, stronger, so definitely just needing to prepare a lot better, and putting myself in the best position to succeed,” the then-rookie said at the time.

In just her second professional game, we got a glimpse of the greatness that is Sabrina Ionescu. Dropping 33 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists on July 29 against the Dallas Wings, she put the whole League on notice. It was her time.

Then, every athlete’s worst nightmare happened. A few minutes into the second quarter of her third-ever professional game, Sabrina suffered a grade three ankle sprain. It left her sidelined for the remainder of the condensed season.

“It was really hard not being able to play. It’s really hard to be sidelined, and I hadn’t really experienced that since my freshman year at Oregon,” she says. “It put a lot of things into perspective just as a leader and as a teammate.”

Cheering from the bench was not an easy thing to do for the star guard, but like every other hurdle in her life, she took it as an opportunity to get better. Rather than let the moment get the best of her, she faced it with that true New York mentality. She committed to the grind and used the time off to become better as a teammate. It’s just who she is. 

Not only did she face adversity with absolute confidence, but she used it to prepare herself for what she plans to be a long and successful career in New York.

“I think not playing this last season actually kind of gave me more fuel to the fire in my desire to really focus on what’s important, the people that are important in my life, and just to be ready for the next season,” the new East Coast resident says.

During our time with Sabrina, it became clear that even while she’s standing for pictures or answering interview questions, she just can’t stop thinking about the game and takes every opportunity she can to get a rep in. Sabrina would pose, our photographer would get the shot, and then she would shoot the ball in the air to an imaginary hoop. At one point she even physically stepped off the set toward the hoop in the gym to do some shooting in between takes. From the gleam in her eyes, it’s easy to see just how much Sabrina is ready to get back on the court for her sophomore season.

The NCAA’s leader in triple-doubles is not only ready to compete again but to put in the work to get better. Her craft is something she consistently works on because she’s never satisfied. There’s always something she can work on.

“There’s a lot of room for improvement, so that’s what I’m working on in this offseason.” Those were the first words out of her mouth when asked to describe what viewers should expect of her game. Just like the everyday New Yorker, she just wants to improve, put her head down and get to the grind.

Higher shooting percentage, creating better shots, continuing to improve on passing, defense, extending her range, finishing around the basket—all of it. There’s not one particular thing she believes she needs to work on, it’s everything. That mindset is what separates the great players from the legends. It’s the exact reason that New York is the place for her to grow her legacy.

A city rooted in pushing yourself to great lengths to achieve your goals is one that Sabrina Ionescu is meant to be in. And when it comes to the biggest sports city in the world, you know there’s added expectations when you’re the star of the team.

“Sabrina is built for New York,” Coach Campbell of Oregon adds. “Her swagger, her DNA, her belief in herself. As that city gets to know who Sabrina is, they’re gonna love her. She lives for pressure.”

It’s a place not many can handle. Just as she worked on embracing the city of Eugene and making it her own during her college years, she’ll do the same in New York. We wouldn’t be surprised to hear reports of her putting up shots in Brooklyn Bridge Park or pulling up to the West 4th Street courts later this year.

“Every time I’ve gone there and driven by, there’s so many outdoor hoops with so many kids playing,” she recalls. “Seeing that now brings me back to when I used to do that. I’ll probably stop by and play with some of them when I can just because I love playing outside, it’s definitely a part of who I am.” 

This next season is sure to be an exciting one for the New York crew, who just added two-time WNBA champion and former Defensive Player of the Year Natasha Howard, as well as last year’s Most Improved Player, Betnijah Laney. The added experience is sure to help the young roster find its identity in the highly competitive League.

Sabrina has big expectations not only for this upcoming season but for the organization as a whole. One that she’s building for the future of the city.

“I definitely see the future in the organization that we’re building. Super excited for what’s to come,” she says. “It definitely takes a village, it’s not gonna happen overnight, it’s not something that comes easy. The vision of seeing the organization get there and then all of the hard work that it’s gonna take to get there is really what’s exciting. That grind is why a lot of people play; it’s why I play. That’s really the fun part.”

The obstacles that Sabrina faced this past year would have made most people fold. From suffering a major loss of a close friend and mentor to living through a global pandemic to experiencing an injury that took her out for a year, it was a year unlike any other for the 23-year-old recent graduate. But as a believer in the process that it takes to achieve success, with the Mamba Mentality instilled into her everyday life, there’s nothing she would change.  

“It’s all a part of my story,” Ionescu reflects.

In the county of Kings, get ready for a new queen.

—

Training Video Footage: Max Gilberg. You can follow him @mxgfilms.

Order your copy of SLAM 231 featuring Sabrina Ionescu now.

The post Tunnel Vision: Sabrina Ionescu is The Future of New York Basketball appeared first on SLAM.

The L.A. Sparks rookie has blown up since she received coverage from big-time networks like BET and social media love from Champagne Papi himself. As her social following has grown to over half a million, the rest of the world has been catching up to what’s been true since Day 1: Te’a Cooper is that hooper.

Her journey began in Montclair, NJ, where she was born and raised before her family made the move down south.

It was in Jersey where she really began to grow into who she is today and how she’s carried herself throughout her career so far.

“I feel like New Jersey really made my mindset and then my personality,” Cooper tells SLAM. “I feel like I changed a little bit more being in Atlanta, because that’s where I grew up, but New Jersey, because you see so many people without, and with hard lifestyles, and they still happy, they still walking around.”

Moving to Atlanta was a big change for her family, but it’s where she started making the first of what would eventually be many headlines.

Basketball is a family business for the Coopers. Her dad, Omar, played, along with her older sister Mia, and younger twin brothers, Sharife and Omar Jr.

From early on, it was clear that the second daughter in the Cooper family had a special talent for the game, and by sixth grade she was already playing on an AAU team filled with eighth and ninth graders.

When she began her freshman year at McEachern High School, she’d already been playing with most of the girls on the team for three years. Some of those teammates included Dominique Wilson, who went on to play at NC State, and Pachis Roberts, who joined the Bulldogs at UGA.

Even on an experienced and stacked team, Te’a was named a starter in just her first year. That’s how good she was. She went on to average 11.2 points, 4.7 assists, 3 steals per game, and shoot 65 percent from the field. Her efficiency and maturity on-court helped the team go undefeated that season.

“My freshman year was pretty easy, being that I grew up with them and they were like my sisters,” she says. “I had my dad—my dad been there every step of the way. I mean, he was basically my coach. Let him tell it the way he sat on the sidelines. They helped me. They led me, they wanted me to be a part of the team, so that just makes it even easier when you’re wanted.”

And just like that, the young guard’s career took off.

She went off yet again in her sophomore year, averaging 18.5 points, 5 assists and 4.3 steals per game. She continued leveling up each year and managed an insane 27.3 points, 7.3 assists and 3.5 steals per game during her senior year. By the end of her high school career, she led McEachern to three state titles and finished as one of the top ranked guards in the Class of 2015. She was the McDonald’s All-American Game Co-MVP, played in the Jordan Brand Classic, was named Georgia’s Miss Basketball for consecutive years (2014, 2015), and the list of accolades goes on and on. 

“I think playing with older people, and you’re not there yet, you kind of come up with ways to do what they’re not doing,” she says. “I felt like they were so good at certain things, that they weren’t doing other things. If she was a scorer, then I’ll be a defender, type of stuff. I really learned a lot about scoring without the basketball in my hands. When you’re in high school, you always have the ball, you can bring it up, keep it [forever], there ain’t no shot clock. I can make a thousand moves and get to the basket, by five people.”

As a highly touted prospect, she had her choice of colleges to pick from when it came to decide where she would play at the next level. Ultimately, she committed to the Lady Vols at the University of Tennessee, and it was there that she truly realized what the game meant to her. Following her freshman year, she suffered a left knee injury that kept her sidelined for the entirety of the season.

“Oh, Lord Jesus,” the Sparks guard says. “When you’re injured, you don’t work out with the team. You work out by yourself. As a freshman, you don’t have a car, and you don’t know anybody enough for them to want to take care of you. Fortunately, I had went to school with Diamond [DeShields], and we grew up as best friends, but I was injured, and, of course, she had to work out with the team.” 

“I had to go to practice at, like, six in the morning by myself, and my dramatic self, I felt like I was all alone. I’m like, it was just me against the world. You know you play sad music to make you sadder? Jhene Aiko has a song called ‘W.A.Y.S.’ and I had it on repeat, walking through the gym, and I worked out by myself. You don’t have anybody to push you when you’re working out by yourself, but I had to run sprints by myself, like, who was I racing? I had to find that in myself and that was…ooh, it took me a minute to do that,” she continues.

It wasn’t just her life on the court that changed during the year of rehab, but also some of her approaches to life in general.

“It took me sitting out to realize a lot about basketball, and I had to focus on relationships, getting to know people, seeing what they like, what they don’t like, what moods they’re in, how to talk to people in their certain moods to get us all on the same page. I feel like when you are selfless and you put a lot of your energy into other people, it makes life so much easier,” says Te’a.

Just like the lyrics to the soft melody she listened to each day on the way to the gym during that tough year, she showed the world that she can “keep going.”

After transferring to South Carolina and then eventually to Baylor, where she finished her college career, Te’a stayed true to the grind and put in hours upon hours in the gym. It was nothing new as she always put endless time toward perfecting her craft, but this time it meant something more. This time it was to prove to herself and everyone else that she could still make it to the next level.

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It was when she saw the WNBA mock drafts that she knew her hard work was paying off.

“ESPN picked the top 10 people to watch for the draft. That’s when I was like, Oh shoot, I think maybe I can make it. Like, what??? Then before that it was just like, you don’t know. A lot of people have opinions, like, Oh, she’s good, some people say you’re bad, some people say that you’re overrated, you’re underrated. I mean, you really don’t know until they call your name, that you actually did it,” she remembers.

And in April, 2020, she heard her name called. The Phoenix Mercury selected the Baylor guard with the 18th overall pick in the second round of the WNBA draft.

The moment of celebration lasted a short while as financial implications of COVID-19 impacted roster sizes, and Cooper was waived just a few weeks after the draft.

“My brothers were home,” she says. “This was my first time, in a long time, just being here with my family, quarantine hit. I was practicing with them again. That’s really what I just kept my mind on. I didn’t really think about it.”

And then the call came from the one team she always dreamed of playing for; the L.A. Sparks.

“I was leaving the gym, and I had another workout. I was so tired, and I was just like, Man, I’m going home. I’m on my way home, and Michael [Fischer], the GM called me, and he was talking and I’m listening. I’m like, What? What are we talking about?”

She didn’t believe it until the contract arrived, and when it did, everything fell into place.

With the season shortened due to the pandemic, Te’a had to quickly prove herself to one of the most veteran teams in the WNBA. But this was nothing new to the high school prodigy who was used to playing with more experienced teammates. It was a natural fit.

Under the guidance of future Hall of Famers Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike, as well as point god Chelsea Gray and head coach Derek Fisher, Te’a went on to have a strong rookie season. Playing an average of 17 minutes off the bench, she averaged 7 points per game and shot 45 percent from the field.

“It was the coolest thing, like, Nneka’s a sweetheart. Nneka’s an awesome person, so is Candace. Chelsea really helped me a lot, and then me and Seimone were always together. Yeah, all of them were so cool. They were so helpful,” the rookie says.

And, from the Sparks’ Instagram account, it’s easy to see how much fun the crew had in the bubble. Not only that, but you can also see how her L.A. teammates caught on to just how much star power Te’a had. At one point, Brittney Sykes had to step in and be her “bodyguard.”

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“I don’t even remember how it started. Oh, I think some of the workers wanted to take some pictures with me, and I was just showing support. We had to go to a game, and she was acting like she was my bodyguard,” says Cooper.

Her teammates got jokes, but the buzz around Te’a is very much real.

The recent Jordan Brand signee is always swagged out in big shades, icy jewelry and designer clothes, bringing the Cooper family mantra “It’s a lifestyle” to the WNBA.

“I think my dad started that. I felt like every time we went somewhere, he always made sure we had, or he had, me too, something new on. I think it is a lifestyle for all of us. Yeah, I think we’re all pretty extra. I guess I can agree to that,” Te’a chuckles.

That energy, combined with her dedication to her craft, is what makes her the next star of the League.

While she awaits the news on next season, Te’a is staying in Atlanta with her fiancé, Dwight Howard, constantly training every day and making sure her body is ready for the future, whenever that is.

But you best believe she’ll be ready for the moment no matter what, and you better be ready, because you don’t want to miss the show that is Te’a Cooper.

—

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Portraits taken by Diwang Valdez. You can follow Diwang on Instagram @diwangvaldez and see more of their work at https://diwangvaldez.com/

The post The Te’a Cooper Show is About to Take Over Los Angeles appeared first on SLAM.

As the game clock dwindled on October 10, 2019, Natasha Cloud and the Washington Mystics achieved what they had fought for all season long: their first-ever WNBA championship. After a grueling five-game series, Tasha stood atop the media table on the court reciting the verses to “Dreams & Nightmares,” the ultimate championship song for a kid from Philly. A year filled with blood, sweat and tears resulted in what every young hooper dreams of.

When she walked away from the court that night, she had no idea what was to come. In the months leading up to the 2020 season, where the reigning champs are meant to defend their title, the world changed. We saw one viral disease spread across our society, and another disease—one Tasha has known to be alive and well for as long as she can remember—be exposed: racism.

On May 25, the world watched as those sworn to protect murdered George Floyd. For eight minutes and 46 seconds, America got a glimpse of what it’s like to be Black in this country. Since then, it’s been nearly impossible for Cloud to direct her attention to anything else. It’s a reality that she’s lived day in and day out her entire life. When it came down to whether or not she would play in the 2020 season, there was a lot on her mind beyond the game.

“It was just really hard to focus with Breonna Taylor being murdered and her murderers still not being locked up, as well as George Floyd’s murder,” Tasha tells SLAM. “It’s really hard to think about basketball at this point, and regardless of my status as a WNBA champion, when I take that uniform off, this is my reality every single day.”

For Tasha, that reality revealed itself yet again recently.

Earlier this month, the 2019 champion had just signed a huge deal with Converse and was looking to make a new purchase. Excited to celebrate her triumphs, she made her way to a local BMW dealership in her hometown of Philadelphia. The minute she stepped in, before having even spoken to anyone about what she was looking to buy, the salesman directed her to the pre-owned section.

“I could not believe this white man. His manager actually heard him say it to me and saw my face and was like, I’m so sorry. I looked at the white man and said, ‘Ask me what my fucking job is? I’m a professional basketball athlete. Fuck you, take me to the new section. You know what? I’m going to leave and go to a different dealership because I don’t want my money being spent here.’”

Even through all of her accomplishments on and off the court, Tasha faces one of the toughest plights in being a Black woman in America. Over 50 years ago, Malcolm X spoke these famous words: “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.” They are as true today as they were then.

“It’s been really tough. We’re underappreciated,” Tasha says. “We’re just expected to take hits on the chin, to stand up and speak up while being a beacon of strength and hope and there is no one checking on us.”

There are no boundaries in this world of racism. No matter how subtle or blatant it may be, it is the ugly truth that lies within America’s history. For Tasha, it’s what drove her to a greater purpose when making a decision about the 2020 season. It’s a decision that weighed on her heavily. In the end, she chose to dedicate herself fully to social justice reform, opting out of the season.

“For me it was, How can I be impactful in the bubble when I’m focused on winning the championship?” Tasha says. “I need to be a champion of social reform, and that’s what led to my decision, wanting better for not only myself, my fiancé and my future children, but also for our community in general. Understanding that this was the time to do so. By opting out, I would be able to be 100 percent committed to it and not doing the one foot in, one foot out thing.”

This commitment to social justice is nothing new for Tasha, who has been actively involved within the DC community for years. In 2019, she organized the Mystics media blackout in response to shootings near Hendley Elementary School in Ward 8. The organization backed her as she made a concerted effort to direct attention to the gun violence surrounding youth in the DC community, and she has continually used her platform to call for social change on pressing matters.

“I just want to be a good person, and I want to be able to help where I can. I do take that responsibility in understanding that I have a platform and want to use this game in every way I can to give back to my community,” she elaborates. “At the end of the day, if all I’m doing is winning championships in DC, then I failed. Making changes within our community, helping these kids in any facet, helping progress women’s rights in America, those are the most important things to me.”

When thinking of Tasha’s march toward a more equal world for Black Americans, H.E.R.’s eloquent lyrics come to mind: “Generations and generations of pain, fear and anxiety; Equality is walking without intuition.” That’s exactly what Tasha is, and has been, fighting for. To create a world where future generations don’t have to fear walking outside of their homes simply because of the color of their skin.

One thing many can agree upon is that this time things are different, and professional athletes across the globe are making their voices heard like never before.

“We have the ability to be the voice for the voiceless. Whether you signed up for it or not, you as a professional athlete inherit that responsibility of being a role model,” Tasha says. “You inherit that responsibility of being a voice; and so I’ve always had a mindset of not wanting to be under a microscope as a basketball player, I want it to be a microphone.

“It’s really crazy when you see how much of an impact we have by just simply speaking up. It’s also a beautiful thing, because we’re role models for young kids,” she adds. “The next generation of kids are going to be the ones that really change things. Our generation is really just trying to pick up the pieces from the generation before us that failed, and if we can create, ignite, change and give hope and motivation, then you’re seeing our impact.”

Not only has Cloud used her platform to bring attention to the systemic racism in our country, she’s also taken her voice to countless marches in the past few months. In June, Tasha led the march in the nation’s capital along with the Washington Wizards.

“The current climate of our country is extremely saddening, but I’ve seen periodic times of its beauty. What I mean is, when I went to a march in Philly and another in DC with the Wizards, you see people standing up. You see our white counterparts stepping up and using their white privilege, understanding they have it and that they’re doing a disservice to the Black community if they don’t use it in order to enact change. Those are the beautiful things when you go to a march and see all people from all different walks of life coming together regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, whatever it may be. There’s no bias.”

Being part of the best women’s basketball league in the world is something that helps her every step of the way.

“The beautiful thing about being a part of the WNBA is I have sisters from every different color that continuously hold me up when I need it.”

Tasha has already become a part of history for Black women in this country, becoming the first female to sign with Converse since they re-launched their basketball program after nearly a decade.

“That’s huge. That’s a win for our community, that’s a win for every little Black girl out there, every little minority girl out there,” Tasha reflects.

Through the highs and lows of what the late Rep. John Lewis called the “struggle of a lifetime,” Tasha has stayed true to who she is.

“I’m going to embrace being proud to be Black, to be a woman, to be bisexual. I’m going to embrace every facet of me so that you can’t dim my light, and when you have that type of mindset, and that type of motivation to keep pushing forward, it becomes a snowball effect.”

As she continues building out what this next year looks like in a new environment holistically dedicated to social justice reform, she has a major message to young voters as we near the election: “Understand the power that y’all have. Your age does not define how much weight your voice holds or how much weight your vote holds. It’s our responsibility to do what we can to better this country and that starts with voting and making sure we have the right leadership to lead us that way.”

—

Camille Buxeda is a Senior Content Producer at SLAM. Follow her on twitter @CamilleBuxeda.

Photos via Getty.

The post Natasha Cloud Talks Fighting for Social Justice & Using Her Platform appeared first on SLAM.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, the world saw a surge of insanely talented individuals mastering specific crafts, from mathematics to art and science. Leonardo da Vinci, Lavinia Fontana and Michelangelo were some of the influential men and women who made up the historic Renaissance period. Back then, they were known as “Renaissance” men or women, but today, we use the word icon to describe those whose reach goes beyond their profession. Few have earned the right to have the term attached to their name, but if there’s one hooper who is the exact definition of an icon, it’s Sue Bird.

Year 19 is approaching for the WNBA’s all-time assists leader, but this year is unlike any other. As opposed to prepping for the season in the cool Seattle air, Sue’s days have been filled with practices, media and film sessions in the WNBA bubble at IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL. Even through the unforeseen circumstances, Sue has remained the calm, collected vet that she is, ready for another run at a championship.

An iconic career within the game of basketball was something that a young girl from Syosset, NY, never, ever dreamed of.

Sue picked up a basketball at 5 years old to copy her big sister. Growing up in the early ’90s, she played the game for the same reason we all did: it was fun. At that point, there was no thought of turning that game into a true career. The WNBA didn’t exist yet, and many professional women’s leagues had failed over the course of the ’70s and ’80s. Organized professional basketball beyond the Olympics was not an option for women in the United States, so many of the greats were forced to take their talents overseas or stopped playing altogether after college.

Finally, in 1996, the late NBA Commissioner David Stern had a vision and announced the creation of the Women’s National Basketball Association. By then, Sue had entered high school and transferred to Christ The King (NY) HS, one of the top basketball programs in the country, for her junior year.

“I’m probably one of the first classes that got recruited in high school knowing there’s a WNBA,” the three-time WNBA champ tells SLAM. “That last year of high school, I kind of knew college could help me get to the WNBA, but even that was just a thought. There weren’t any players to follow in their footsteps. I didn’t even know if there was going to be an actual draft class. Of course, there were the Lisa Leslies, the Rebecca Lobos, the Sheryl Swoopes and probably some players in between, but no one had an 18-year career at that point.”

With the idea of potentially turning pro after college, it was only right that she committed to one of the best college programs of all time: UConn. The school has become the elite destination for developing women’s basketball players for the next level.

In recruiting the Nassau County prospect, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma didn’t see the flashy play that most college recruiters look for in a top guard. What he saw was a PG who was willing to do the gritty work, had great vision and could direct the offense like a composer, bringing together the pieces to a musical masterpiece.

“She’s going to be someone that, unless you’re paying attention, she’s not going to ‘wow’ you with stats or ridiculous plays. You really have to pay attention,” Auriemma told SB Nation in 2018 about when he first saw Sue play.

Sue had a rocky start to her collegiate career, suffering a torn ACL early in her freshman year. She bounced back her sophomore season, hungry and ready to make a difference. The guard took her first step into the spotlight in a major rivalry game against Tennessee, where she led the team to a win with 25 points.

“In games like that, I like to get everyone else going and everyone else feeling good. Then, you know, sometimes when it hits the fan, that’s when you gotta turn it up,” Bird said on SNY in 2014. 

Like 112’s “Only You” featuring Biggie and Ma$e, her game is even-keeled until it’s crunch time and she’s gotta take over.

“Maybe that’s my game. It kind of comes slow and then it hits you with the verse. It’s a slow subtle song that you can work out to, an R&B song that you can actually get hype to,” the future Hall of Famer says.

Driven by a mentality geared to elevating those around her, Sue went on to lead the Huskies to two NCAA national championships. In her senior season, she was also awarded the 2002 Wade Trophy and named the Naismith College Player of the Year.

That same year, Sue went No. 1 in the WNBA’s sixth ever draft. The rest has been history. Throughout a career that’s spanned almost two decades, she’s won three WNBA championships, four FIBA World Cup golds, four Olympic golds and much more. Though it goes on and on, this story can’t be made up solely of a list of Sue’s accomplishments. There’s one thing that has remained consistent during such a legendary run: her approach to the game.

That approach is perfectly summarized by how her teammates feel her presence. Speaking with some of her Team USA squad this past winter, they all stressed one thing: Sue always keeps it cool.

“She’s never, like, panicking,” Kayla McBride said.

A laughing A’ja Wilson recalled how she always ends up agreeing with Sue’s reminders that “It’s gonna be OK” and “We’re fine.” During tough moments, Sue can put everyone at ease.

“I think for me, I kind of always had that in me. I was always reading the game, playing the game cerebrally, always thinking about the game. And then as I got older, I think the calming effect is just so me,” Bird says. “I just like to be as prepared as possible to be consistent—not with my play because some days you’re going to go out there and ball out and have 20 or 30 points and other days you’re going to be terrible and that just happens. But I just try to be consistent with who I am to the team. What I bring every day to practice, what I’m bringing to the games, and if that can give my teammates confidence, then I think that’s where the calming comes from.”

GRAB YOUR COPY OF SLAM 228 FEATURING SUE BIRD

Her approach was on full display in 2018, when the Storm faced her good friend and former teammate Diana Taurasi of the Phoenix Mercury.

In Game 2 of that year’s playoff matchup, the two real-life superheroes battled back and forth.

With 7.3 seconds left in the fourth, Taurasi drained the game-tying three in Sue’s face to send it to OT. The entire KeyArena fell dead silent, but Sue knew what was good. She knew she would put her team in the best spot to win in the end, and that’s exactly what happened. Some clutch buckets and a broken nose later, masked Sue went on to lead the Storm past their Western Conference foe and to the 2018 title.

“That moment was unreal just because I didn’t expect it,” she says. “I think what that did personally for me was really solidify my longevity, my impact on things. You know, I essentially won in almost three different decades, in 2004, 2010, 2018, with three different teams.”

It’s just who she is. A master of her craft, confident in her consistency and poised to put the team in the best position to win.

“I always joke that ‘I’m happy to be the Robin.’ To be honest, I have moments of Batman, but I don’t know that I’m a total Batman,” Bird tells SLAM. “It’s a very important role because Robin helps Batman succeed, but also helps all the other players on the team succeed, and that I think has been the key to all the championships.”

The WNBA vet has molded a career just as successful off the court—one that has helped redefine the reach that professional athletes have beyond their respective sports. She’s been on the cover of InStyle, a fashion magazine, worked in an NBA front office, hosted an awards show, created tons of content, has her own Kyrie 5 colorway (“Keep Sue Fresh”) and is one of the biggest sports activists in our society. There is quite literally nothing that Sue Bird hasn’t done.

“I don’t know, I’m just genuinely interested in all of the things you just named,” the 2020 ESPYs co-host responds, when asked about what inspires her off-court interests. “So it makes it easy to have a passion for them and to be super involved no matter what it is we’re talking about.”

Like the selfless human that she is, she gives a lot of credit to her girlfriend and US Soccer Women’s National Team captain Megan Rapinoe.

“I think actually dating Megan has definitely opened my eyes to a lot of things,” Sue says. “I’d be remiss to not mention her whether we’re talking about things like fashion [or not]. But I think [as] a larger example, there [are] a lot of times we kind of put ourselves in a box or we think of ourselves in a different way and what Megan has really done for me, beyond just fashion, is allowed me to get out of this little box that I put myself in.”

One of the first ways the two connected was actually through a mutual interest in social activism and learning how they could both use their platforms to push for change. During the summer of 2016, before Colin Kaepernick took a knee to call attention to police brutality, players around the WNBA made on-court statements condemning the murders of Philando Castille and Alton Sterling.

“I joke that she slid in the DMs, but it wasn’t quite like that, I promise,” Bird says. “It was right after the Minnesota Lynx had worn the ‘Change Starts With Us’ shirts, I believe, then a lot of teams followed suit and my team was one of them. Obviously Megan plays in Seattle, so she hit me up on Instagram and was like, Hey, this is amazing, and we just had this conversation about social justice.”

The two constantly bounce ideas off each other about the fight for social justice. Those discussions included conversations about what the WNBA’s investment in using the 2020 season to further call for social change should be.

“Well, first and foremost, that was on the agenda day one when the talks began between our executive committee and the League on having this bubble,” Bird explains. “It was a non-negotiable. If we were to come and participate in this season, the League needed to support us in whatever social justice route we wanted to take.”

One of the major areas of impact for both Megan and Sue has been their work for pay and gender equality. Within their respective leagues, they have been at the forefront of forcing those in positions of power to invest in growing women’s sports and pushing society forward as a whole. Just this past year, Sue helped negotiate a historic CBA for the WNBA and its players, drastically upgrading pay and benefits and focusing on more marketing for the League overall.

As she is on the court, Sue Bird, the activist, is composed in a manner that makes her message clear and makes damn sure that you’re going to hear it.

The same mindset and attitude that she’s maintained over the years has quite literally helped the WNBA lurch forward to become the top women’s professional league in the world. And while she’s already accomplished so much, she hopes that the League continues its massive strides.  

“I always joke—through the years, you hear older retired NBA players who have a little bit of a grumpiness about them when they hear about younger players and their million-dollar contracts. So I always hope that I’m a grumpy old vet or retired player that is just mad that I didn’t get the millions because that means that women’s basketball players are getting that much and that means that I had a small part in helping the League move forward,” Bird says.

When developing her approach to her career, it was the path of another modern-day Renaissance Man that always stayed top of mind.  

“It’s actually one of Kobe Bryant’s quotes that really spoke to me,” Sue explains. “It’s not verbatim or anything but he said, There’s going to be another champion. There’s going to be, in 10 years, another player who will sit here and have this conversation about all the Olympic gold medals they won and all the WNBA championships they won. They already exist and there’s going to be more. In some ways, you want to have an impact on the game that lasts even longer.”

It’s a message that she’s held closely over the years, driving her passion toward making the WNBA better for future generations. That includes the negotiations with the League about this season, which presented its own set of challenges. Bird helped work with the players and the League to agree upon the terms to playing in the IMG Academy bubble.

The majority of the 2018 championship Seattle Storm team is back, and they are a favorite to win it all this summer. But they’ll be playing in an entirely new environment with a squad that hasn’t taken the floor together in two years, with Sue and Breanna Stewart having both missed last season.

“Alysha Clark, I think it was, we were in a huddle and she was like, ‘Hey guys, welcome back. First time [we’ve been] together since 2018.’ I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ It is kind of crazy,” she recalls about their first practice.

The 11-time All-Star didn’t break a sweat, though, when talking about playing this year. She remained the same composed leader that she’s always been, recognizing the question marks about this season, but knowing full well that she will once again help put the Storm in the best position to succeed.

When you talk about great ones, you talk about the sacrifices, the willingness to win at all costs, the X-factor that puts them above all other players. Sue goes beyond that because she’s more than her production on the court; she’s helping create a world for the next “Sue Bird.”

Reflecting on being on the cover of this magazine, Bird has a message for her younger self.  

“Honestly, young Sue Bird would have been happy to be one of the [SLAM] diaries, for real,” she says. “I remember SLAM Magazine was a must pick-up for me growing up, and I would immediately go to that section, where they would follow people and do that monthly diary. A young Sue Bird wouldn’t believe me.”

Well, you better believe it, icon.

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GRAB YOUR COPY OF SLAM 228 FEATURING SUE BIRD

Camille Buxeda is a Senior Content Producer at SLAM. Follow her on twitter @CamilleBuxeda.

Portraits by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images.

Action photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images.

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The season tips off on Saturday, July 25 at noon ET with the Storm against the Liberty. Below is our 2020 preview to get you ready for the action. Let’s go.

EAST

1. Chicago Sky

If there’s one team everyone in the League should fear this upcoming season, it’s the Sky. This Chicago group is one of the youngest in the League, so it’s no surprise that they are also one of the most athletic. Behind prolific scorers in two-time Three-Point Contest champion Allie Quigley and Diamond DeShields, the Sky were second in scoring last season, just behind the champion Washington Mystics. Not only that—they were also  second in assists, in large part due to Courtney Vandersloot, the record holder for most assists in a single season. In keeping core pieces like Stefanie Dolson, Cheyenne Parker and Gabby Williams, while also picking up Sydney Colson and Azura Stevens, Sky Town has a lot to look forward to in the 2020 campaign.

2. Connecticut Sun

Connecticut came just short of the championship in 2019 with one of the strongest rosters in the WNBA, but this year’s roster looks slightly different. Although they’ll be without leading scorer Jonquel Jones, who has chosen to sit out over health concerns due to COVID-19, they won big time in acquiring DeWanna Bonner during free agency. Along with veteran guards Alyssa Thomas and Jasmine Thomas, Bonner will help fill the major scoring void. The big question for the Sun revolves around team chemistry, having lost on-court leader Courtney Williams, as well as having picked up multiple free agents this offseason.

3. Washington Mystics

The reigning WNBA Champions will aim to defend their title in 2020, although they’ll be without some major pieces. They took a big hit during free agency in losing Point God Kristi Toliver, and will be without 2019 MVP Elena Delle Donne and free-agent signee Tina Charles due to health concerns over COVID-19. Washington added vet Essence Carson to help fill the void of Natasha Cloud, who has chosen to sit out the season in order to focus on the fight for social justice. Even without some serious offensive pieces, they still have last year’s Finals MVP Emma Meesseman, who will need to step up once again if the Mystics are to make another deep playoff run.

4. Indiana Fever

Indiana has struggled since their last playoff appearance in 2016, but this new squad could be considered the sleeper of the League. With lottery picks in the most recent drafts, the Fever are now young, quick and hungry to win. Indiana’s biggest strength is their talented bigs, including Natalie Achonwa, Teaira McCowan and the 2020 No. 2 overall pick Lauren Cox. They also have strong young guards in Kelsey Mitchell and Victoria Vivians, who returns this season after missing last year due to a knee injury. Behind the veteran leadership of Candice Dupree and Erica Wheeler, as well as former Mystics assistant and new head coach Marianne Stanley, Indiana’s ceiling is extremely high.

5. Atlanta Dream

Having lost Angel McCoughtry during free agency, Atlanta has a lot of question marks around this upcoming season. With significant movement in the offseason, the Dream’s roster has several new faces playing together for the first time. Courtney Williams and Shekinna Stricklen join the team after a WNBA Finals run with the Sun last season, and therefore will need to provide leadership in the locker room. Additionally, their frontcourt crew of Elizabeth Williams, Glory Johnson and Kalani Brown is extremely strong. The future definitely looks bright for the Dream, as they also picked up scoring sensation Chennedy Carter in this year’s Draft.

6. New York Liberty

The team with the most unknowns is the new Brooklyn crew. With one of the most inexperienced rosters, new head coach Walt Hopkins will need to rely on veterans Layshia Clarendon, Amanda Zahui B and Kia Nurse to help transition the rookies into the pros. That being said, the Liberty have some of the best prospects from this year’s draft, including NCAA phenom Sabrina Ionescu and former Husky Megan Walker. If Sabrina, Megan and the rest of the rookies are able to adapt quickly, the Liberty could have a surprisingly successful season. New York will be without Asia Durr, though, who decided to opt out of the 2020 season due to health concerns over COVID-19.

WEST

1. Seattle Storm

The 2018 championship team is finally back together after a year of many injuries, and we have a feeling they’re about to pick up right where they left off. Stewie is back, Sue is back, and the best part is that a lot of the younger players now have more experience to help take Seattle back to the top. We witnessed Jordin Canada and Jewell Loyd really come into their own in 2019, leading Seattle to the second round of the playoffs. With last year’s Defensive Player of the Year Natasha Howard, as well as new additions in Morgan Tuck and Epiphanny Prince, the Storm are destined for another title run.

2. Phoenix Mercury

Skylar Diggins-Smith, Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi are the new “Big Three” of the WNBA, and they’re likely to take the Mercury near the top at IMG this summer. Phoenix already had a stacked roster and the addition of one of the best scoring guards in the League only makes them that much better. With Bria Hartley and 2019 champion Shatori Walker-Kimbrough joining the mix, there’s no doubt that Phoenix has the deepest roster in the League. Diana “The GOAT” Taurasi is back this year after missing most of last season due to injury, which makes Phoenix one of the early favorites to win it all. 

3. Las Vegas Aces

The Las Vegas Aces are one of the top teams to watch in 2020. In another major free agency move, Vegas picked up Angel McCoughtry, who adds the experienced guard play they have been missing. Although they’ll be without Liz Cambage (due to health concerns over COVID-19) and Kelsey Plum (due to a torn achilles suffered in the offseason), the Aces roster is still strong. With some of their major players missing, 2018 Rookie of the Year A’ja Wilson is set to have another breakout season and potentially be an MVP candidate.

4. Los Angeles Sparks

You know the competition in the West is great when the Sparks are somehow in the middle of the pack, even though they have one of the greatest players ever hooping for them. The big question for L.A. this year is how Coach Derek Fisher implements his offensive system with top scorers Candace Parker, Nneka Ogwumike, Chelsea Gray and Riquna Williams. The Sparks also picked up Brittney Sykes and longtime rival Seimone Augustus. If Coach Fisher and his staff are able to put together a game plan that gets everyone on the roster involved, the Sparks could be the team to beat in the West.

5. Minnesota Lynx

Cheryl Reeve’s Lynx look a lot different than most years, as they continue their rebuilding period. Their leader, Maya Moore, has continued her inspiring path of pursuing social justice reform, which leaves Sylvia Fowles as the veteran in the locker room. The Lynx have lots of promising young talent on the roster, including 2019 Rookie of the Year Napheesa Collier. They also picked up some strong prospects in this year’s Draft with Mikiah Herbert Harrigan and Crystal Dangerfield. With sharpshooters Rachel Banham and Lexie Brown, the Lynx still have a chance at a solid season that could help develop a lot of their talent for the future.

6. Dallas Wings

Dallas has the most inexperienced roster in the West, but don’t let that fool you—they have some true bucket-getters on their squad who are poised to have big seasons. All eyes will be on 2019 Rookie of the Year runner-up Arike Ogunbowale, who averaged 19.1 points per game in her first season. Most exciting, though, is their pickup of Katie Lou Samuelson, who didn’t see much playing time with Chicago last year. As a UConn product, you know she’s bound to be a sponge and learn quickly how to be implemented into the offense, especially under head coach Brian Agler. With the addition of top prospects Satou Sabally and Bella Alarie, the Wings are low-key our favorite to shock the League this season, potentially even clinching a playoff spot.

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Camille Buxeda is a Senior Content Producer at SLAM. Follow her on twitter @CamilleBuxeda.

Photos via Getty.

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Designed for female athletes around the world, the apparel line keeps three major factors at the forefront: authenticity, empowerment and fit.

“We really wanted this line to resonate, not just with elite athletes, but with those who just love the game,” shared Mistie Boyd, Nike Basketball’s women’s apparel manager and former WNBA Champion, with SLAM.

With softer fabrics, more dimensionally form-fitting designs, and patterns especially picked through a storytelling lens, Swoosh Fly is meant to empower HER, on and off the court. Female hoopers haven’t had a section of their own for athletic gear, but Swoosh Fly changes all of that.

“You need to have that one piece of apparel that fits you just right. Swoosh Fly is that, but in an entire collection. And it’s so authentic that players like Mistie are helping move this gear forward,” said Diana Taurasi, via Nike’s press release about the apparel line.

The line features a wide-range of products, from their Swoosh Fly mesh penny and shorts, to off-court sets of hoodies and sweats. Through feedback from pros and women of all ages in the basketball community around the world, Swoosh Fly apparel is truly built for the female athlete body.

“We have never really served ‘her’ in the way that ‘she’ has asked us. We’ve tried to serve her in the way what we believe we should, but it’s different when you’re listening to her voice. When you look at this line, you’ve got so many different body types, and it fits each and every one of them,” Boyd told SLAM. 

Swoosh Fly apparel hits stores and Nike.com on July 10.

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Camille Buxeda is a Social Editor at SLAM. Follow her on twitter @CamilleBuxeda.

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