Napheesa Collier is Unrivaled. Even with an ever-growing list of accomplishments - NCAA champion, four-time WNBA All-Star, two-time Olympic Gold Medalist - Napheesa shares with Dan that her greatest achievement will always be becoming a mother. Napheesa doesn't shy away from revealing the doubts she had about resuming her playing career after pregnancy, fears of an early retirement, and why she was so determined to create an empowering women's basketball league with her fellow UConn Huskies champion, Breanna Stewart. Napheesa also doesn't mince words on how her Minnesota Lynx's controversial loss to the New York Liberty in last year's WNBA Finals has her mentally stronger and feeling "super greedy" about adding to her accomplishments. Watch Season 1 of Unrivaled on TNT, TruTV and stream on MAX. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: Who is Napheesa Collier and what are her achievements?
Welcome to South Beach Sessions. We've got someone with us today. She's unrivaled in a lot of different ways. She wins, right? She's a four-time WNBA All-Star. She's a two-time Olympic gold medalist. She's an NCAA champion, and she just won one-on-one in Unrivaled, a league she created. Nafisa Collier with us. Thank you for being with us. A league she created. I don't know
in the list of things that I just said what you're proudest of, but I'll give you the chance to answer for yourself. And thank you for joining us.
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.
Chapter 2: How did Unrivaled come to be and what challenges were faced?
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.
Well, how did it come together? This is with your husband, Alex. That must present its own set of challenges.
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.
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.
Chapter 3: What are the financial realities for WNBA players?
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.
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.
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.
I want to talk to you about all of that. And Brianna Stewart is the one you were mentioning that you partnered with. I want to talk about how all of that came together. But when you look along the entirety of changes that are happening around women's sports and you talk specifically of having to play overseas, you played briefly in Turkey, right?
Yeah, I played in Turkey, France, and I was in COVID for 10 days before COVID hit.
Okay, so what were the difficulties in all of that stuff? Like, where would you look to and say, man, this feels awfully minor league for how good I actually am at this. I shouldn't have to do this outside the United States.
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Chapter 4: What was Napheesa's experience playing overseas?
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.
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.
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.
You're not even talking about you stuff. You're talking about mom stuff. You're talking about her stuff. There are plenty of problems without a child.
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.
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.
Lonely, right? All of it. Lonely language problems. You can't talk to anybody.
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.
Were you lost?
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Chapter 5: How did Napheesa's upbringing influence her career?
Well, take me through your upbringing and take me through the roots of how you became who you became. Like when you look at the landmarks throughout your childhood in getting to a basketball player, where are the supports, the inspirations, the obstacles? Yeah.
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
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?
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.
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.
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.
So they were very like locked down with that from the beginning.
I was going to ask you about their discipline because it sounds, that's really nice that they would give you a, the support and the freedom to make your own choices, but how did you become as disciplined as you are? What did they have to do with that?
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.
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Chapter 6: What adversity did Napheesa face at UConn?
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.
My life looks totally different. So it was definitely a really hard time. And then I had a great season.
And so it was worth it. Well, maternity leave, you only played four games the particular season. How much did you weigh the decision to have a baby, given that in order to be excellent, oftentimes anywhere you find ego or success, you will find some selfishness. And Mom ain't really allowed that.
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.
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.
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.
It cost you. When you say your body was retaliating against you, you are – dealing with physical pain, weight gain, the emotions of having no handbook with a child. What was happening? What can you say was happening then that made you think that you weren't going to play anymore? Rollercoaster of postpartum stuff?
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.
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.
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Chapter 7: How did motherhood impact Napheesa's basketball career?
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.
So were you scaring him with the, like how prevalent a thought was my career might be over here. I'm reacting more poorly to childbirth than some of my peers have.
How was he taking that?
You're saying how, how were you and him taking the idea of there's real doubt here about whether it is I'm going to be able to continue doing this.
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.
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.
If you had to compare them, which of the feelings was worse around basketball, the anxiety at the beginning of your UConn career or this? Um,
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.
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.
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Chapter 8: What life lessons has Napheesa learned from her parents?
is that something that you came by naturally? I think there's a great deal of happiness in that, not looking back and just being someone who doesn't look at anything other than a growth opportunity, but usually that requires a few more years than you've lived to arrive at that kind of wisdom.
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.
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.
What are the examples that you're remembering? My parents were such hard workers. What are you watching? What's the example being set?
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.
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
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.
Were there many obstacles for you or were they cleared out of the way?
Um, growing up.
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