Napheesa Collier
Appearances
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
For a lot of WNBA players, they've been having to go overseas for years to supplement the income because we make money for six months out of the year. With that, a lot of people don't realize that we make most of our money off the court. 90% of the money I make is off the court, and so you have to be able to activate with brands. Brand building is a huge part of our business.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I did have a little bit of postpartum right after I had her, but physically it was just my knees. Something I didn't know is when the hormones in your body, it's a hormone that loosens all your joints so that you can give birth, like the baby can get out. But through that process, everywhere there was a joint, it was so painful.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Because I was putting so much stress on it, because I was trying to play, and then these hormones are still running through my body, my knees were so swollen. That was what the majority of my rehab was for, was my knees. And the cartilage had worn down so much in that time. My feet and my shoulders, my hips, just everywhere there was a joint, it hurt to bend it at all.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
So obviously you need those things to play basketball. I couldn't even shoot a free throw. It hurt to bend that little. And so we found a really good physical therapist in New York and I just spent the whole off season there. And then, so just dealing with that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
And then like with Mila, just the struggles of like new parenthood, you know, just trying to figure that out was just obviously really stressful. You're running on way less sleep than I ever have before. That's a huge thing for recovery as well. And so it was just a kind of a scary time for my career in that point because it was like a race also. to be ready for the season.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Because I'm like, if I still feel this way in the beginning of the season, I cannot play. So it was just kind of stressful in that sense.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
It was actually, we were in Missouri. Both my husband and I are from there. We were in a church gym and I was like trying to get warmed up to work out. And I'm like, I literally can't even run down the court. It's that painful. And I started crying. Like my husband's there. I'm like, If it feels like this, there's no way I can play. And I know I have a high pain tolerance.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I play through a lot of injuries and things.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Exactly. This is not like a training issue. This is my body, and I don't know what to do.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
No, I think he realized right away, because, again, when you're talking about toughness, I know I'm physically tough. Like, I know that is something.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
So, like, if I'm crying about it, he knows something's wrong. So, we got on the phone with my trainer in Minnesota, and, like, we just try to figure out a plan. do all we can until the season starts. And if you're still feeling this way, then we take the next steps. But I knew I'm like, if I feel this way, I can't play.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
When you're overseas, you're essentially going dark for six months out of the year, so you can't activate with the brands. You're losing money. You're away from your family, out of your home country, missing holidays. And then on the flip side, you still have to get better at basketball. So staying at home and training is not the same as playing.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
He's pretty positive. He's like, let's just see what, you know, the doctors say, see what the therapists say. And, you know, obviously I'm trying to keep that mindset as well, but it's scary. And I just knew, like, I cannot play if I feel like this. And that's like saying a lot.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
So I try to do it like one step at a time, like him and my trainer from Minnesota were saying, like, let's just see what the therapists say. Let's just do this rehab and try to push through as much as we can.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
It's hard because they're so different. I mean, the UConn one is hard because you're doubting yourself so much and your abilities. And that is something... Once you go mentally, it's so hard to come back from that. So I'd actually say that one was probably harder because I'm lucky that I am mentally tough and was able to... It made me stronger.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
But if that's something that breaks you, I mean, you see it so many times. Like... Sports is 80% mental. So that was probably a worse feeling. This one was like, I'm going to give it my best shot. Like mentally, I know I'm tough enough. It's just, is my body going to let me do it? So that's scary from that sense. But at least I know I'm doing everything that I can.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
The other one, you feel like you're failing yourself mentally. And that to me is a worse feeling.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah, that one's really tough because everyone, especially at UConn, you're the best from where you come from. I had not had really any adversity basketball wise. Like I always played older. I was always the best team, even when the best player, even when I played older, you know, my experience. TN1 State three years in a row in high school. Like I was always the best player.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
So kind of through all those things, we came up with Unrivaled. And then also just the explosion that is happening in women's sports right now. You see it with the college game and how the WNBA and just all sports are exploding. And it feels like everyone is capitalizing off of that, except for the people, the women who are playing.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
And then you get to UConn, you're the worst player. They think you're the stupidest player. Like you can't do anything right. So that's, I mean, it's so hard. You're weak. I'd never lifted before. You don't know any of the plays. There's a whole new style about, you are learning a whole new style of basketball. We would have, I kind of compare it to an outline of a circle with nothing filled in.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
So he'll give you an idea of what he wants, and then you have to play and make reads and be a smart basketball player. Learning how to do that is really hard if it's something you've never done before. And you have that with the pressure of the best player in the world as your senior, the best coach in the world, you know, nitpicking everything that you're doing. And so it's really hard.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I mean, it would be like... to a point where I didn't even want to be on the floor because I was so scared I was going to mess up or that I wasn't going to know the play or something of that was going to happen. So it definitely took my joy away from basketball for a little bit. But I just had to come to a point where, again, you have to sink or swim. I know that I got here for a reason.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
If he's going to do that, okay, like I said, I'm going to work as hard as I can during the summer so I never feel this way again.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
It was a good, I would say it was a good six months.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Oh, I wanted to transfer, but you couldn't transfer then because you had to sit out a year, and I didn't want to sit out a year.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
NIL, I would have been gone, yeah.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah. So and it's hard. It's such a hard balance because, yes, like he was the reason I was feeling that way. But there's such a method to the madness. Like, again, I'm glad I went through that because I wouldn't be who I am without that. But in in that state change, it's hard. I would have finished the year because I'm not going to quit in the middle of the season. I just I wouldn't do that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
But last day of classes, I'm out of there.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I think the biggest word would be sacrifice. I mean... Yeah, I mean, growing up, it looks like, you know, your summers are gone. You're playing basketball. But there's a lot of tradeoff. There's a lot of amazing things about sports that I want my kids to be in sports, and I've learned so much. But on the flip side is you don't have a lot of friends out of sports.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
And so that's where we really wanted to get into the salaries that we're paying the players and having equity in the league, really creating that generational wealth.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
You are missing stuff that's important when you're young, you know, sleepovers, parties. I wasn't really allowed to go to a lot of parties in high school because my parents would always say you have so much more to lose. You know, you have, like, scholarships on the line. You can't get caught doing all these things, and that's all you want to do when you're in high school.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
So it keeps you out of trouble, but you want to be in trouble when you're younger.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah. And then, you know, as you get older, I think just especially at this level now, I would say.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
don't know just the way that our sport is growing i think the sacrifice is this is your career now like you do i said i don't live and die but what happens but it's also the way that you make money so there's a lot more on a line it's just a lot heavier of course than when you're younger everything is when you're an adult but um it's not about oh i just wanted to play well this is like how you make money for your family so it's even more competitive in that and then
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Sometimes people are like you're competing with your teammates because you want their playing time or you want their money or whatever it is. So you lose a little bit of the purity of the sport in that way. And I kind of feel that way about NIL. So happy that athletes are finally making money in college.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
But I do think it takes away the purity of the sport a little bit because you're so worried about money and people are leaving. There's like you can leave every year and go somewhere else. So I think you lose a little bit of that in there, too.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Honestly, I don't think so. I'm really big on everything happens for a reason. So it's hard to have a lot of regrets that way. Even with like, I believe I'm the best player and I went six to Minnesota. Like to me, I was like, what are you guys saying? Because I think I'm the best player. But I wouldn't be in the position I'm in now if I never ended up in Minnesota.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
It was the perfect place for me to be. So when everything turns out well like that, it's hard to have any regrets.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Again, my parents, like I had such a great foundation. They were such are such hard workers and everything that they do. And they just teach you to be thankful for what you have. Like my dad would always say, if you put all your problems and everyone else's problems in a pot, you would grab yours back. And I feel like that is such a.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
such a good approach because you never know what other people are going through. And if you had to choose, you would choose your problems over someone else's. You don't know what's happening in their lives.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Well, I mean, my mom grew up on a dairy farm in Missouri. My parents are total opposites. My dad grew up in Sierra Leone, West Africa. He came over during the war over there. And they met, like my mom was in nursing school.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
and so she was working at a nursing home trying to get her hours up my dad was the only place they would hire like black people in that town at the time was a nursing home so just the way that they worked there and then just worked so hard to support me and my brother um never complained a day in their life about going to work or supporting us or all the things that came with both of us playing sports the money that that requires to travel like they did not have lives of their own i'm realizing now like as i grow up i'm like this is so fun we get to travel all the time but
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
They never got time to themselves and just the sacrifice that they made without once telling us about it or making us feel like they were sacrificing. It just shows you like the kind of parents and people that they are. I'm super grateful that I had them.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah. There was, I mean, of course, like, you know, we grew up in a super like white town. My dad's African. So, you know, going to school, just feeling so different. Like, I think one of my first memories from kindergarten was, um, it was like a K through 12 school and I was the only black person in the whole school.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
And one of the little girls was like, oh, we can't play with you anymore because you're black and we're white. And that was the first time I ever heard that. So just from that moment on, I felt like I just really was conscious of that. I look different than everyone. So that's just hard growing up, you know.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
But and then, you know, kind of from the same thread, like everyone from that town knew each other growing up. And when my brother and I were trying to play sports. We were trying to get on the teams when we were younger and they never had room for us on the teams to play. So my parents actually went out and we got kids from surrounding towns and we created our own basketball team.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah, I played in Turkey, France, and I was in COVID for 10 days before COVID hit.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
And we ended up, you know, winning all these championships with that team. And all of a sudden they had room for us after that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah, I know as a kid, you want nothing more than to blend in. That changes as you get older. But yeah, I mean, it's really hard to be different when you're a kid. Kids are mean. Being different is not the cool thing at that time. And so it is hard to do that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
But again, I feel like my family was so strong that it's like, even if you feel like different at school, like, you can't help but be happy because I had such a happy childhood with my family.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I mean the same thing. But I think sports also helped a lot with that because when you're playing sports, also like all those kind of petty things that happen at school, they don't happen when you're playing. You have such a united goal towards something when you're playing. Just all my friendships were through sports. And so, yeah, I mean...
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah, especially girls. It's a huge, I mean, there's so many stats saying the top women in their fields, they all played sports. Just the confidence that it builds, the, you know, leadership skills, the people skills, just everything. It's great.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Um, I would probably say eighth grade because I got my first college scholarship then. And that was before they were really, they do it a little bit more now. So I think that was it. And I almost signed like on the spot. But my dad's the one that kind of pulled me and my mom off the ledge. He's like, you're 14.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Mizzou. Because yeah, I was from Missouri. And I was like, yes, I'm ready to sign. He's like, you're 14 years old. Let's hold on a little bit. And so he was kind of the voice of reason through that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
No, I've honestly always been blessed with really great coaches. So my freshman year of high school, I went to Jeff City High School before I moved to my other school. And I was actually the point guard there. And he was a really tough coach. He was like one of those coaches, exactly like Gina, like a yeller, really tough, expects a lot from you.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah. You know, I think being in different countries, they each pose their own problems. I mean, different laws, as you saw with like the Brittany Griner situation. And then specifically in Turkey, the last place I played, I brought my daughter with me. So that like poses a whole new set of obstacles that you have to get through. Like, so we had to bring my dad.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
And so when you're with coaches like that, they never let your head get too big. You know, they're always pushing you to be better. And he did. And so I wasn't like I went in there thinking, you know, I'm the best player in the world.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I would say when I got to Minnesota, probably. I mean, I tried in college a little bit, but I was just, I'm not a big, like, vocally, I was not a leader. I think I was, I tried to lead by example. Like, I always try to be the hardest worker and show that way. But I was really uncomfortable with, like, confrontation. So holding back. people accountable, you have to be confrontational.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
And so I feel like I started building the vocal side of it more when I was in Minnesota, because again, Sylvia Fowles was my vet, and her and our coach knew she was retiring soon, so they kind of like set me up for that a couple years before that happened, like saying, you know, you're going to be in this leadership role, we need you to start working on this, this, and this.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
And so just like the first step of whatever is admitting you have a problem, like just acknowledging in those situations, That, OK, this is something this is somewhere I can grow. Like this is somewhere where I can say something. And just naturally, I got more and more confident in that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
So the money that you're spending on child care because she was also in daycare. So finding child care, people that you trust, having to bring separate people over to help with that, the travel with that was a nightmare because she's a toddler. And then, you know, obviously the time change with that, too. And then.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I wouldn't say good. It's something like I it's not natural to me. So it's something I will always have to work on. But I'm definitely way better than I used to be.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah, well, I think still like that is not my confrontation style. Like the word is confrontational, but I'm not confrontational about it. I try to come with it from like a point of reason. So see why you're thinking that way and try to like meet you where you're at. So I try to talk through in that way.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah. Yeah, not my leadership style still. So confrontation is the wrong word then. I feel like I'm more direct. Like if I see a problem, I'll say it. But I'm not like trying to get it where you're riled up and in a fight. I'm trying to reason with you.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I mean, I hope I'm a good leader. I try to be a good leader for my team. I think a sign is that, like, I think my teammates respect me and they listen to me when I talk. I think that's a sign of a good leader is when you say something, they actively try to do what you're saying.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah. Yeah. I don't know what it is. I think just like the level that my voice is at naturally, it's hard to hear in loud situations. So I have to make it usually lower, but sometimes higher. So it kind of breaks above or below like what the noise is.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah, especially on the court. This is just communication stuff that a screen is coming so they don't get cracked or what we're doing on offense or defense.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I mean, I think the vocal side is definitely the most. I was, I mean, growing up, I would say I was pretty shy. Like, I wasn't a really vocal person. And that started in college where, of course, they say the thing you have to do on defense, you have to talk, talk, talk. It was like exhausting for me to talk. Now it's so natural.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Getting them used to new food, and that's a hard thing when you go to different countries. It's just a lot of little things that are outside of basketball.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I mean, I've been doing it for years, obviously. But that was like so exhausting that you have to be always talking and calling out on defense and cheering for your team. Like, I couldn't think of anything worse.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
It was exhausting, truly.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yes. When I'm already physically so tired and then I have to talk the whole time.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Um, I think it's because, I mean, honestly, I don't know. I wasn't used to it. Like I never had to do it really before.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Now it is. When I was learning it, it wasn't. Now it is so natural. Like I don't even think twice about it. Like, in fact, if you don't do it, it's like, it's like a faux pas. It's bad. But before I was like, oh, I have to talk again. We've been talking this whole time. Like, don't you know the screen's coming? You can't see them. So it was hard at first.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
No, it was because I was like screaming. I was yelling as loud as I could. And they're like, we can't hear you. I'm like, I don't know what else I need to do. So I started making my voice like higher or lower and they could hear me. So.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
So usually I'd be like, screen! But especially when I'm having to go really fast, my voice goes higher, so I'm like, screen! So it's really loud like that. Or I'm like, we're going to trap! We're trapping! Like, try to make it a little lower. Yeah. So just whatever it is, like whatever what my normal voice isn't, try to make it different so they can hear.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah, yeah. I mean, without that, again, the time change is hard. So trying to talk to family back home, especially when you're playing in China, there's one American per team. So it's very isolating, especially if you're a person who needs... to be around other people.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
yeah so we went over a list of like must-haves so you have to have a weight room which actually not everybody has you have to have a training room we have to have you know like those just things that you have to have okay what can we make those how can we elevate those so we got like the best of all the equipment in the weight room we got the best of all the equipment in the training room where
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
we don't have the stuff in the W like these equipments that we're using and then it's like okay we have our necessities now what would what we just want just to make the experience better so we have like a sauna we have an esthetician room we have like a makeup room we have you know hot and cold tubs which that's more of a necessity but just stuff like that where it's not a necessity but it's nice to have it makes the experience nice we have masseuse on call like every week and
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
or every day. And so things that will elevate the experience in that way, where it's like, you know, we want to make this better than what we've had. It's not just meeting our needs. We want to make a professional experience where you have things that are just nice to have too.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I don't have to do all the roles, but I definitely am intermingling with things. I mean, when I'm in the facility and with my team, I definitely try to focus on basketball, but then you'll have players come up to you and be like, we want this, or can this happen, or what's going on with this? And so you kind of step into that role.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
And then at the end of the day, Alex tells me everything that goes on on the business side. And then if I have an opinion about something, then you step into that role. So there's definitely some intermingling, but I try to keep when I'm there, I'm with my team, I'm locked in.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah, we have a lot of practice because like I said, he was my trainer for like several years before we started dating. And so when we transitioned over to dating, it was really hard to work together.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
we were questioning like should I get a new trainer just because it's hard to switch that off where you know we're partners but you're telling me what to do like when and you're critiquing me when I'm playing and then all of a sudden like I think you have an attitude you think I have an attitude it's like hard to listen so we had to have
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
like a conversation where when we step on the court, this is now, you know, teacher, student environment, like you need to listen to me. I won't be getting an attitude if I think you're not listening, like whatever it is, like set that aside. And once we did that, it was great. So you kind of have to establish those boundaries.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Um, when I was there, I was there for a short time because of COVID, but you know, I only have my translator to talk to and she was like an English student. So she was still learning English. So it was not like we were having conversations.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
So we had some practice in that a little bit, and then once it switched over to Unrivaled, it was just really collaborative because I defer to him on the business side. He knows all the business stuff, and he defers to me on the player experience side because I know that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
So I think we just did a really great job of trusting each other in our different categories, and then you come together to create the best product.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
So it was my junior year at UConn, and Alex was training a couple of the players on the Knicks. So he was in New York a lot, and I was struggling my junior year. And so he would come down to help me train. I'm like, I need to get some reps in because I'm not feeling good. So we'd come down to train, and it's like a three-hour drive. So we would hang out for a little bit after.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
We'd go to dinners or just hang out and talk about the season and stuff. And I guess it just naturally progressed.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
There are definitely some years between that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
So the first time I met him was right before I left for UConn, and I had a different trainer. And one of my friends was just like, you know, I'm going to this workout with this guy from the company they were with was called Pure Sweat. I'm going to Pure Sweat, we're gonna work out, do you wanna just join me for this workout? So that's like technically the first time I met him.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I was like, oh, I actually really like what he's doing. And then, you know, I go to college. I have that horrible year. I'm like, I need to get better in this offseason. And I knew I wanted to, you know, move on from my other trainer. He was starting to, you know, transition out of training. And Alex was the only person I knew. And I'm like, I really liked what he was doing.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
And so that's how he became my trainer.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
like I said we worked together for like what three years doing that and then he went to New York and I don't know I just thought he was really cute and we were spending a lot of time together and you get to know people more that way like it's not like I'm only seeing you on the court more now I get to see your personality more I could tell he was getting flirty too and I think he just like asked me out on a date one day we went to dinner he's not like he ever asked me to be his girlfriend we just started hanging out a lot after that and it kind of just
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I think the first title we had was like engaged because I don't know if he ever like asked me to be his girlfriend.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah, exactly. I mean, the culture is a lot different. The food is a lot different. It's just, it's just so far away from, you know, what you are used to. So it can be definitely like a adjustment period.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah. Yeah. Uh, I would say so. I mean, and he had a lot of experience. He worked with a lot of NBA players, so he kind of saw the progression of that. Like he worked, for example, I mean, He worked with Trey Young since he was in high school, so you see the levels of it. Obviously, they accelerate a lot faster. They don't go through college the same way.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
It was cool to lean on his expertise in that, too, because I had no idea what to expect. I didn't have any WNBA friends. Just knowing what that process looks like, being able to... He knows what agents you're supposed to look for in an agent, how deals are supposed to be done, so leaning on his expertise in that, too.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I mean, I never had a dream to be a WNBA player, so I would say yes. I mean, when I was little, I wanted to be a teacher, and then I wanted to be a doctor, and then I wanted to be a hairstylist. I loved playing with hair. I think I just accidentally fell into professional basketball. I just loved playing sports.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I had a pick of sports to stick with when I was in high school, and I'm like, I'm the best at basketball. I'll stick with basketball. It turned into like, OK, I want to get my school paid for. And then I get to go to college. I'm like, oh, this is the best school. And then once you get there, I'm like, OK, I have a chance to be a professional athlete.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Like so I kind of just took it one step at a time. It's not like I'm like my ultimate goal is to be a WNBA player.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I've had a lot, but not all. I mean, going to my rookie year, I had a goal to be rookie of the year because there's just so much happening that year. I mean, you're going from college to a new team, new city, new everything.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah, I know. Well, that's why I'm like, I need something to focus me. Like, I want to be Rookie of the Year. And I had a horrible preseason, actually. I think I had four points between both the games. And I felt like how I did my freshman year at college. But, like, luckily I was able to – I had been there before. I was able to recognize it. I'm like, I'm never feeling that way again.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
So I came out my first game. I'm like, I don't care. I'm just going to play basketball. And I never looked back in that sense.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah, I was feeling not confident because it was essentially the same situation. You're going in where everyone's better than you again. They have more experience. You're the freshman again. And there's a new system, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, I'm just playing not confidently. And that's the feeling I don't like is not being confident in what you're doing. It makes you second guess everything.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
It's the worst feeling. And so I recognized that's what was happening. I'm like, I'm not doing a whole other season like this.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Like is that the worst mentally that I've been to this?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
No, I mean, I do just like everyone. I think it like comes and goes. But for me, being able to recognize it is like great for me because I feel myself like especially you get that like midseason slump where you're not in the gym the same because you're tired. You're going from game to game. You're not getting in the same reps. So like you feel less confidence.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Like when you don't study for a test, you go and you're anxious because you don't know anything. When I when you study, you go on.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I feel great so mid-season where it's like you're just in the dead of everything you're not practicing as much I don't feel as confident and I'm able to recognize that and then I'm like okay I need to get in reps in so I'm not feeling this way in the game because I'll have a game where like I'm hesitating before I shoot or I'm like should I and that's when I'm in my worst spot is when honestly what I'm thinking like that and so yeah just making sure that I'm aware of when I'm feeling that way.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah. I would say China was definitely the hardest place because it's so different from American culture. I actually really loved, I do love
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I honestly think it's both. I recognize I'm very skilled. I'm an athlete. I'm a very skilled athlete. Can I run the fastest? No. Can I jump the fastest? No. Can I do all these things? No. I'm not the best at any of those. I think I worked really hard on my footwork. I think my footwork is one of the best in the league for sure. But mentally, I believe I'm the best when I'm out there.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
When I get to my certain spots, I know I'm going to score. And I think you see that in a lot of players. I think Trey's a great example of that. Is he the best at anything? No, but he has so much confidence in himself, it makes him one of the best players in the league. He's able to do incredible things, not because of his talent, he is very talented, but because he has so much belief in himself.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
And I think you see that with other players like Ben Simmons, who is so talented, but his mental is like he's come out and said he struggles really hard mentally with his confidence in himself, and he's not able to do the things that he should be able to do. So I really believe that sports is 80-20 mental and physical.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
learning new cultures though so I really liked being in Turkey I tried to make the best of it like you know um experiencing their culture going to their different like museums and like touristy things and eating the food so making the best of it um but it's not if I had a choice you know obviously I'd like to be around my family and stay in the states
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah. To me, it wasn't a cost. To me, it was great because the foundation of it was that freshman summer going to my sophomore year of college where I was just so determined to not feel like shit anymore when I played that I wanted to be in the gym. I was doing two days every single day. I would do skill work in the morning. I would shoot in the afternoon every single day.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
And so learning that, and then when you start seeing the reps go down and it feels good, you're playing pickup, you're playing one-on-one, I'm like, I am scoring every single time. Like it builds your confidence and after that becomes natural in the way that you add it to your game. But yeah, I mean, you have to do so many reps for things to become second nature.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
um yeah it was awful i mean i felt a lot of anger i've not been you know quiet about like how i felt about the finals so i was riding on anger for a really long time and it's still something that like i used to motivate myself even now i mean
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I feel like it has pushed me to be, honestly, a better player because I, in the way that I play, I feel like I never want to be in that situation again where I'm having to complain about the refs, which everyone is saying, you know. I want it to be where we're winning by so much it doesn't matter what the refs are calling.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
And so I think it's changed my mindset and the way that I see the game, honestly, and it's made me a better player because of it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I think it's changed my mentality. Honestly, it's made me more mentally strong. And so during the games, I feel like sometimes I would like coast a little bit where you have, you know, quarters or a couple of minutes where you're like, you don't need to be involved. And, you know, you're kind of like LeBron at the end of the game, like swinging the ball, stuff like that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Now I just feel super locked in. Like, I want to make sure that I'm contributing to the team. It doesn't even have to be scoring, but like, I need to be going out there and I need to be playing great defense. I need to be getting rebounds, whatever it is where I'm locked in. And just, I would just say it just, it just gave me an edge to when I play and how I play.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Honestly, I feel like more and more just because, you know, like in the Jordan documentary, he's like, I took that personally. I feel like it's easy to find little things that you take personally and it makes you play with an edge. So, I don't know. You just find little stuff that kind of pisses you off. And I play better when I'm mad because it makes me really focused.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Well, I don't like other people to see that I'm mad. So that is something that I still stick to. It's like, I don't want you to know I'm mad, but I need to use it as fuel for myself to So, I mean, like, just, you know, people are chirping or they're, you know, fouling you or they're complaining about something, saying, like, oh, that wasn't a foul or whatever it is.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
You can find anything to get mad about.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah, I want to be super greedy about it. And also, we're working our butts off. We are in the weight room every single day, all five of us. We are in the training room every single day, all five of us, taking care of our bodies the way that we stay locked into practice. We are making it so... There's no competition. We want it to be where we're winning every single game.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
We're mad that we lost one game. Especially when there's 50 bands on the line for the winner, we're taking it really seriously. We want to win.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah, I would definitely compare this more to college, because we're just in such a confined space. And there's only five of us. So there's not like you have cliques that can form on the team. We're so small already. We are our own clique. And just the adversity of going through this together. There's a huge target on your back.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Everyone thinks whatever they do about your team because you're winning so much. And everyone is happy when you lose that one game. It's like their Super Bowl when you lose. So it brings you closer together. So it's been really fun. I mean, and this team is so competitive. Like, it's been really fun to be a part of.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
It definitely is hard sometimes. I am super lucky in just the family that I have and the support that I have. My parents have been great from the very beginning. Just like basketball is not the number one thing in our lives, and I try to keep it that way where it's obviously a huge part of my life, especially now with Unrivaled.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I don't know that I feel fulfilled yet because there's still so much we want to do. There's a lot more that we want to do. And I think we've done amazing for our inaugural season. And I think we're changing the landscape of women's sports. You see it rising. I mean, overseas contracts are going up. Domestically, contracts are going up. We're about to go. We're in our CBA for the WNBA.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
And so I think I'll feel fulfilled when we see those contracts change and see Unrivaled keep going and our contracts keep going up here and just changing what it means to be a women's athlete.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I would say yes. I think all professional. I think people at the top of their, anyone at the top of anything is hard on themselves. That's how you get there.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I mean, I think it's how you get to where you are. If you're and this is probably a toxic take, but like if you're so forgiving with yourself, how are you going to push yourself to be better? And like, how are you going to push yourself to be the greatest at something and be the best if you're not expecting that of yourself?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Honestly, I think just I feel like it's like getting greedy, honestly, like especially because I am naturally gifted. So I have naturally been better from a younger age. I was like I saw that. And so you get used to that feeling and then you get people who are more talented. You're like, well, I want that feeling back. So I have to work harder.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
And then you get to the next step and people are more talented. And it's like it's. running away from that feeling of, you know, I'm not the best anymore. And so I think that's probably what it is, honestly.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
But it's not the most important thing in my life, and I have a lot of other things that I'm interested in. So I think that helps keep me grounded as well. But definitely, especially this season, I feel like I – You know, as a co-founder, you have a lot more responsibility. So I'm doing a lot of like media and content things. So my parents have been texting me like, where are you?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah. I don't know. I don't feel... I think I do enjoy it. I am having so much fun. And I can be proud of myself. I'm not one of those people that can't be proud of themselves. I can recognize that I need to be better and also be happy about what I've done to this point. I'm not settling.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
For what I have done, I still think I can be better at a lot of things, but I'm also super proud that I've been to the Olympics twice. Super proud that I am playing well. I recognize that I'm playing well. I think I can be better, but I think I'm playing great, and I'm really proud of myself for what's happened. It's just I want to keep that feeling, I guess.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I want to keep being proud of what I'm doing.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Oh, my gosh. So much. I mean, she's definitely, like, the best thing in my life. Motherhood is amazing. I mean, it's an indescribable feeling, honestly. Just... Kids change so fast, too. Just seeing her learn every day. She learns something new. Like, how excited she is to see you. She doesn't care if I win or lose anything. Like, she's like, Mom, are you playing basketball?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Are you going to basketball today? She's just so happy. I mean, kids are just such a joy. It just has really given my life purpose, I would say.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah, it's focused me a lot more. So I know that I have a finite amount of time when I'm at the gym because I want to get home to my family. So it makes my workouts better because I don't have time to just be like messing around while I'm there. So I think my workouts are better now because of that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
and then also it's just like it makes me play more free because even though basketball has never been my entire life obviously so a lot rides on that and you want to play well so like you play tense in that way and now it's just like she's the most important thing in my life and she doesn't care about any of that stuff it's like it's not really that important what happens here like it just like makes you play more free and it makes you and then I actually play better that way
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Definitely not as important as a child.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
So sometimes it is hard to kind of just like take a breath and make sure that you're staying up with family and stuff.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Thank you. I appreciate it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I think it came from my parents both played sports growing up so we were very like sports family I mean I was in soccer by the time I could walk I played multiple sports volleyball softball I ran track played soccer so we're always doing something but my parents didn't play professionally and they never got into that mindset of
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
You know like the crazy parents when you're at AAU tournaments and things like that? They were never like that. School is the most important thing. Family is the most important thing. Sports was a privilege. You got to do that if you were checking all the other boxes in your life. And even going to college every single summer after I was done, they're like, is this something you still want to do?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
So even when they saw that I could have my school paid for, that this could be something really important for our family and in our life, they they never made me feel like I had to do this. Like they were never living vicariously through me like you kind of see a lot, unfortunately, sometimes.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
So I think that also gave me the confidence of I'm not living and dying by what happens on the basketball court because my value was never that was never like even a thought in my mind that my value was tied to what I was doing when I was playing. So I think that I really commend my parents in that because they were going through everything for the first time too.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
So like when I was in college, your junior year, like a certain day, that's when all the colleges could talk to you. And some of my teammates, like college would be calling them at midnight that first night. My parents automatically said, you can call us on Wednesday nights. If we don't return your call, we'll call you on Thursdays. You can't call any other day of the week.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah, thanks for having me. That's definitely something I'm proud of just because obviously all the work that's gone into it, you know, years of just planning this and, you know, Stewie and I just like from having it be a seed of an idea to having it turn into an entire league.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
So they were very like locked down with that from the beginning.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Honestly, I don't think a lot, but in the way that they're like, if you want to be good, you have to do it yourself. They never made me go to the gym or anything. I think just naturally we're such a competitive family. I wanted to be the best, and if I'm not practicing, there's other people playing better than me, and I don't like that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
So I think it was just naturally just everything we did was competitive, so it kind of translated over to that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Definitely really competitive with everything. Me and my brother, I mean, we would play all sports together. We were like cats and dogs. I mean, we would fight over everything because we're both so competitive. Our whole family is.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Oh, I mean, of course you have like the driveway when we're playing basketball, like elbows thrown, punches thrown, tackles, because we will think the other is cheating. I'm taller, but he's faster, all that stuff. And then we would play football in the backyard with my dad. So he would be on whoever's on offense on their side. Like we would run routes.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
And I was taller than my brother for most of our life. He shot up like one summer. So I would just throw it over him. He'd say that's cheating because I can't run faster than him. So just stuff like that where you're always just picking at each other.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Do I know how tough I am? I feel like I've come into that, like come into knowing that. And I think it just comes with a natural confidence as you get older. You're so much sure of yourself, so much more sure of yourself.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah. Being successful helps. Yeah.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
It's just like a crazy thought, something I never would have thought or dreamed of growing up or in college or even a couple years ago. So it's been really cool to kind of see the process of that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
oh me and my brother still laugh about this i don't even know if our parents know but we were fighting in our room about something we were like in the playroom where all the toys were and uh we were trying to have a competition i can't remember what it was but kai my brother had just started watching like wwe wrestling and so we started wrestling and he grabbed my head and did like a knee like he pulled my head down and hit me with his knee i was like
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah. I heard a crack in my skull. He's like, don't tell mom, don't tell mom. I was like, give me $100 and I won't tell mom.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
No, he had $100. I knew he had $100. Okay.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
No, I think he just rattled my brain a little bit, so I heard it on the inside. I don't even know if I had a bump. I just remember you have to fake cry, play it up a little bit to really make him feel bad and like he's going to get in trouble.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
I think a couple. I would say my first true adversity in sport was definitely my freshman year at UConn because Coach Gino has said a lot of times he breaks players down to build them back up. And you go into college knowing, like I had never lifted a weight before going to college. I knew it was going to be hard physically, but mentally I was not prepared for how hard it was going to be.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Like in high school, if we were going to do a backdoor, that was like a specific play call. We were not reading the game physically. And so him teaching that was the most painful process. I could not remember a play to save my life. I was just so anxious all the time. And it was so, so hard. I mean, I lost my starting spot middle of a game, one game, barely played after that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah. Well, Alex is, I mean, he's like one of the smartest business people ever that I've ever met. So he actually had a business, he had a business background before that. But from Stu and I's side, we both had been in the league for several years by the time we started thinking of this. And through that, you kind of just see the holes of like what's working, what's not.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
And then I worked my ass off the whole summer. I was doing two days with my husband now. He was my trainer for a couple years before we started dating. I was doing two days with him. I came back feeling better than ever. And the one thing I could do my freshman year was rebound. I couldn't do anything else. Couldn't remember a play. Couldn't make a basket. I could rebound.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
And the practice player we were playing against, he got a rebound. The coach stops practice. He's like, Faisa, that's why you didn't play last year. That's why you'll never play this year. And that's why you'll never be good here. Get a fucking rebound. I was like, cool. The one thing I could do right. But it made me into the player I am today.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
It taught me how to read the game, how to be a smart basketball player. Because he would always say, it's funny, because my freshman year, Stewie was a senior. That's when they had won four championships in a row, never been done. And after they graduated, he's like, well, all the talent's gone, so you guys need to be smarter because we don't have any more talented basketball players.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
We had like six NBA players on the team still. But he really instilled in us.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah, it did. I mean, it did. It taught me how to read the game. And I feel like the next hardest thing was after I had my daughter. That was the hardest physically rehab I've ever done. I don't talk about this a lot, but I thought I was going to not be able to play anymore. Because after I had her, just the rehab after, my body basically retaliated. I could barely bend my knees.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
So I spent the entire off-season doing rehab. I wasn't even in the gym. I couldn't even practice. I was just doing rehab the whole time. And that was just really hard because I had no plan. after basketball. This had been my whole life. And I was so young, so I thought I had so many years left to play. And then I have this newborn baby that is my first kid. I'm trying to navigate that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
My life looks totally different. So it was definitely a really hard time. And then I had a great season.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
Yeah. Uh, so I always wanted to be a young mom. I knew I always wanted kids. And I think it was a little bit of like, you don't know what you don't know, because I got pregnant at the end of whatever, 2021 season. And so I had the whole off season to be pregnant. And one of my favorite players, Sylvia Fowl, is my teammate. I knew she was retiring that next year.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
So that was my goal is to get back so I can play at least one game with her. I just didn't know how hard it was going to be. I thought I was an athlete. I would bounce back. It would be super easy. Not the case. I couldn't work out for the last two months of my pregnancy because I was having some bleeding with Mila. And then, you know, I had her, and you can't work out for six weeks.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
South Beach Sessions - Napheesa Collier
And then I gained a lot of weight because of that. So, like, losing that. And then, of course, I told you, like, my body was hurting. All these hormones are going through your body that I had no idea about. So I played, like, 11 weeks after I had her. And I'm super happy I got to play with Syl. Like, she's such a legend in our game. But, I mean, I would not do it again.