The 2024 WNBA Finals were one for the books. Both the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty were relentless in their fight for a championship title, forcing all five games of the series. Sunday night’s game was no different, with the Liberty pulling ahead 67-62 in overtime to claim their first WNBA championship.
Make Room for McBride
The historic WNBA season continued to break record after record deep into the postseason. Game 3 of the Finals was the most watched WNBA Finals game ever with two million viewers, with Game 4 following closely as the most watched Game 4 ever recorded. While attention surrounding the WNBA has reached unprecedented heights this season, there has been one Lynx player who has seen it all: Seasoned veteran and VIS Mentor Kayla McBride.
A guard for the Lynx, McBride — or, as some announcers would say, McBuckets — played a crucial role in the Lynx’s championship pursuit. In Game 4 of the Finals, McBride led the Lynx with 19 points and shut down the Liberty offense and in Game 5, contributed 21 points, five rebounds, and five assists. The four-time WNBA All-Star dominated the 3-point shooting rankings and topped off her eleventh season with career highs in assists and steals. A beast on and off the court, McBride is using her love of basketball to help open up conversations surrounding athlete mental health by sharing her journey.
Win or Lose, It’s All About the Journey
Growing up in Erie, Pennsylvania, McBride developed her love for basketball, shooting hoops on her driveway and tagging along to her dad’s basketball camps. In a 2020 Players Tribune letter, McBride opened up about how she struggled with anxiety stemming from her home life. “It’s hard to even talk about it, or write about this now, because my whole life, I’ve always been the one helping other people,” McBride admits. “I’m the oldest of four, so I’ve always been the one looking out for the people around me.” When home was too much for her, McBride could always count on basketball to find moments of solace. “That 10-year-old Kayla, I mean, she loved to ball. It became my way out. Out of my head,” McBride says.
“Basketball has always been that for me. That place where I could just get away from everything, be out of my head and in the moment.”
Basketball continued to help McBride handle adversity. At the University of Notre Dame, McBride was forced to sit out the second half of her freshman season due to academics. Following the minor setback, McBride bounced back to help lead her team to the 2012 NCAA Division I Championship game and the Final Four the following season. "She had tremendous mental toughness,” former Head Notre Dame Women’s Basketball Coach Muffet McGraw said. "She came back a much better player. I think that's something the other players really respected, how she responded to adversity."
Playing in the WNBA after college, McBride continued to excel. But when the world shut down due to the pandemic in 2020 and there was no basketball, McBride’s anxiety came to the forefront. “Not having basketball really affected me…not being able to go to the gym and just run and set a screen or come off that screen hard and take a shot — not having those moments to just be present— just really [messed] with me,” McBride said. In May 2020 during Mental Health Awareness Month, McBride posted on her Instagram opening up about her mental health and letting her followers know it’s okay to not be okay. “Mental health is a journey. It’s not a game that you either win or lose,” McBride wrote.
Bouncing Back
Since then, McBride has continued to open up about her mental health journey, sharing that she sees a therapist and provides mentorship to create safe spaces to talk about mental health. And of course, McBride still has basketball. At the beginning of the 2024 season, she shared, “You have ups and downs throughout your whole career. Happiness fluctuates. It’s hard, it’s a grind. You’re traveling, you’re tired, your body hurts. But when you have that consistent joy, even in the hard moments, that’s when you know you’re in the right spot.”
Mental health affects all athletes at all levels, and it can be hard to talk about. Sometimes, the sports world avoids talking about mental health because it can be uncomfortable. But that’s why VOICEs like McBride are so crucial. By championing open discussions surrounding mental health, McBride is helping to change the narrative surrounding mental health in sports, one shot at a time.
