Mental Health top narrative for WNBA vets and rookies coming into 2025 campaign
No. 1 overall draft pick Paige Bueckers played the first game of her senior season at Connecticut on Nov. 7, won the national championship on April 6, was drafted by the Dallas Wings on April 14, opened camp two weeks later and played in her first WNBA regular-season game on May 16. PHOTO: Courtesy Dallas Wings
By W.G. RAMIREZ
This year's media days across the WNBA had a different vibe.
Media scrums and Zoom sessions included the same themes: teams discussing season-long expectations, newly acquired players commenting on fresh surroundings, first-year coaches talking about the excitement of building chemistry, and the freshest crop of rookies elated to have reached their dream destinations.
But across the board, just about every team had at least one player discussing mental health, if not handfuls.
And it wasn't because May is Mental Health Awareness Month, either.
"I just think the fact that there is even a mental health awareness in general, I think it's done wonders just seeing how the league in general has grown from our rookie year, 10 years ago, to now," Las Vegas Aces veteran Kiah Stokes said. "It's great for these (rookies). It is a big jump going from college right into the W. So it is a toll, and it's a lot different, but I think with the resources that the league has, it's definitely pushing in the right direction."
Whether it was longtime veterans or rookies, many of the world's best 156 women's basketball players talked about the grind of their cerebral health, how they've used the strengths of mental health to endure injury-plagued seasons, or how working with a sports psychologist prepared them for the rigors of playing roughly five months in their final year of college before going straight to the WNBA.
"I don't think it was something that was really talked about in the first couple of years in my career," Atlanta Dream veteran Nia Coffey said. "So it's really good to see that there is no longer a stigma there, and that we have plenty of resources, all that we need, a lot of help from the league and from each team. So I think that's great. It just goes to show that we're more than just basketball players, we can receive help and have access to that help if we need it."
Chicago Sky rookie Hailey Van Lith said her work with sports psychologist Derick Grant has helped navigate her way through a rugged college career that saw the 5-foot-9 guard help lead three programs to the Elite 8.
"It feels good to join a league that is not only concerned about our level of play, but also how we're functioning as humans," Van Lith said moments after being drafted in April. "At our rookie orientation that we had here, they showed us an app that they're partnering with that will help filter hate comments off of our channels. And I think that's important, not only for us as the players to not see that, but also young women and young boys who are following us.
"Mental health, for me, is so important to my game. I'm such a mental player. I'm so passionate. I love basketball. I want to be the best that I can, so mentally, naturally where my mindset is, is pivotal to my performance on the court."
NO REST FOR THE WEARY
For rookies like Van Lith, Paige Bueckers, Te-Hina Paopao or Aaliyah Nye, their basketball lives haven't stopped since October.
From the start of their final seasons in college, the grind of the regular season, the treacherous conference tournaments, and the NCAA Tournament that for Bueckers and Paopao ended on the final night of the season in the national championship game, they've been lucky to come up for air.
For ballers like themselves, playing year-round through high school to AAU and into college has taught them how to recover properly by taking care of their bodies with the necessary conditioning and treatment.
But what about their mental health, and grinding through the off-court pressures they now endure as professionals?
Dr. Lindsey Hamilton of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology said outsiders tend to think about sport and fatigue, or workload in the sense of how much training, how much they're doing, how many reps they're getting in.
"But the truth of it is, it's all these other factors combined," said Hamilton, the associate athletic director of student success at IMG Academy. "It is the academic rigor that they might be going through or coming off of, it is simply the mental effort of a transition, in and of itself. Moving to a new place, meeting new people, and then trying to find where they fit in that group of new people, and then still be expected to perform like it's just another basketball game.
“The main things that we’ve taken that’s really helped the mental side of the game, is just running my own race, not running a race of comparison. Comparison is the thief of joy.”
"And that doesn't include all the media hype that might be going on around them, all the conversations that they're having, around their own anticipation of their performance alongside everybody else's. So all of these things add up. And when you anticipate somebody's debut (season) and being fresh for the season, it's almost anything but, because of all these transition things that they've had, and undoubtedly that has an impact on their performance in one way or the other, especially if it's not prepared for or not taken into consideration by the time they get there."
Just as Van Lith has been doing, Bueckers said she's worked with a sports psychologist and never been one to take her mental health for granted.
Bueckers, who was the National Player of the Year as a freshman and who led Connecticut to the national title in April, said she understands the game is much more mental than physical.
"You're training your mind as much as you're training your body, probably even more," Bueckers told WGRamirez.com during a Zoom session in answering a question about mental health. "The main things that we've taken that's really helped the mental side of the game, is just running my own race, not running a race of comparison. Comparison is the thief of joy. So, just focusing on myself, how I can better myself, how we can better the team, and just losing myself in others.
"The more you care, the more you invest yourself in others, the less you think about yourself and all that you're going through. And then just staying present, you can't worry about too much about the future or the past, but if you focus on being there in the moment and captivating that and being your best self in that moment, you can really make no mistakes."
Bueckers, who is averaging 18.8 points through the first five games of her professional career, said she not only learns from her mistakes, but quickly moves on from them.
The 23-year-old also said that while she uses her faith to face adversity head-on, she always kept basketball in the right perspective.
"I think that's the main reason people play the sport that they love, is to have fun and don't ever forget it," Bueckers said. "Life isn't perfect. The sport is definitely not perfect. And my faith has been a huge one as well.
"So playing for an audience of one, not trying to appease other people and care about other people's opinions about me. Caring about the circle that I surround myself with, and keeping it tight, and keeping a great faith."
Paopao, who recently suffered a facial injury against Bueckers and the Wings and missed one game afterward, said she's relied on the strength of those around her, staying in touch as she's transitioned from playing for Dawn Staley at South Carolina to beginning her WNBA career with the Atlanta Dream.
"I talk to them every day, just let them know that everything's okay," Paopao said. "We don't always talk about basketball. I talk about life as well. I also do word searches, get the mind off screen and just be in my own zone, and just knowing that you gotta take one day at a time."
Rookie Aaliyah Nye has relied on family members to talk to, helping ease the transition from college to the WNBA. PHOTO: Courtesy Las Vegas Aces
Nye said she's also relied on her circle while becoming a regular off the bench for coach Becky Hammon and being depended on as an offensive threat for the Aces.
The sharpshooter from Alabama added she's been presented with an opportunity to speak with professionals, and been made aware of the resources the league provides in the event she needs to confide in someone.
"I would say having my family with me and just a great support system around me," Nye said during the team’s media day. "They've really helped me a lot. Like my agent, my mom, my sisters, I think they've helped make this process easier for me. Just navigating the outfits, the looks, moving across the country. So I would say definitely my support system."
PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE
When we think about strength and conditioning, players stay in shape so they can perform better on the court. They go to the gym to put in extra work on their mid-range shots, or 3-pointers, or free throws, or whatever area they're looking to strengthen and improve upon.
Hamilton said the same can be applied to mental health by being proactive and working with therapy clinicians who can keep the mind, body and soul prepared at all times.
"We can get ahead of that game and start building those skills, creating that foundation to continue to grow and get better on the mental side as well," Hamilton said. "Most players will tell you they don't want to hit a mental slump. They don't want to not be confident, in the same way that they don't want to miss their shots. And so in order to not miss their shots, they go to the gym, and they get shots up. And it's the same thing on the mental side ... having a routine for how you want to show up mentally.
Reigning league MVP A'ja Wilson said she came into the 2025 season with her mental health revived for the new campaign. PHOTO: Courtesy Las Vegas Aces
"And being able to have that repertoire requires us to work on that when it's not in that slump space, when we are at the top of our game, because we want to keep using it at the top of our game as well. Really, it's for both sides of the spectrum to help us make sure that we can perform at our best when we're ready to."
Washington Mystics veteran Brittney Sykes is off to a career start, averaging 22.3 points through four games, and credits coming to grips mentally after an injury-plagued 2024 campaign while bonding with first-year coach Sydney Johnson during the offseason for her impressive start.
"I just took it upon myself to really figure out who it is that I was trying to become, because I knew after that injury I would never be the same, because I've never set out that many games in the season before," said Sykes, referring to an injury early last season that left her sidelined for two months. "So I had a new perspective on what it is that I wanted to do when I came back. I just really focused on the emotional and the mental health side of my recovery. I knew that physically, I trusted the Mystics. I trusted my team (to get) me back physically, but it was literally the emotional and the mental practice. ... So I had to just do my work and get in the gym. It's as simple as that."
Reigning league MVP A'ja Wilson revealed a different side of her mental game last year, allowing postgame frustrations to turn into tears after losses while placing blame on herself, which then applied pressure the next time out.
This year, fresh off the release of her signature shoe and driven to return to the WNBA Finals, Wilson said she came into this season with her mental health peaking and feeling stronger than ever by taking the necessary steps to lead the Aces in what's been deemed a redemption campaign.
"I'm really at peace (with) who I am, and I love that," Wilson said. "I love the person that I'm growing into. I focus a lot on just kind of separating myself, whether that's just deleting some social apps, or just kind of being in my own world. I think we all just kind of sometimes need mental breaks, because the world is kind of hard on each and every last one of us, and that's what I really prioritized this offseason, is just being patient with myself.
"I always say, give myself some grace, give my teammates some grace. But this year, it's about patience and understanding that whatever is going to be for me is going to be for me, for my team as well. So it's tough. We're going to have our days. I told myself I'm not crying this year; I'm going to stand on that."
