(PHOTO CREDIT: Lorie Shaull.)
First, let me get this out of the way. Yes, we all root for certain teams and players in sports. I’m no exception. BUT I also am the type to want everyone to do well (well, as long as you’re a good human being, of course). May the best team win.
I’ll also get this out of the way: I think the Washington Mystics are going to win the title. After all, they have looked dominant all season. They ended with a 26-8 record. And I don’t see how Elena Delle Donne can’t win her second MVP award. Especially after she became the first player in WNBA history to finish with the vaunted 50-40-90 statline (50 percent field goal percentage, 40 percent 3-point percentage, 90 percent free throw percentage; oh, and she shot free throws at a 97.4 percent clip!).
With that said, I have a rooting interest for their opponents, the Las Vegas Aces. And it’s easy to see; the Aces are LOADED with talent. Liz Cambage is super skilled and a terrifying basketball player at 6’8″. She’s also a favorite among most of my peers. A’ja Wilson is fantastic at both sides of the game and was Rookie of the Year last season. Dearica Hamby won Sixth Woman of the Year and has become more and more fearless (sometimes, too fearless) every season. And we’ve seen flashes of Kelsey Plum (like she showed in their game against the Sky), a former #1 pick and the all-time scoring leader in NCAA Division I women’s basketball.
But over the last month, there has been a woman on that team that showed me how powerful these athletes are in, among many things, influencing the youth.
I was watching the WNBA three-point shootout. Just then, my 5-year-old niece, Eden, asked me who the one in red was. She claimed that she would win. I told Eden that her name was Kayla McBride. (Sadly, McBride would fall short in the finals against the winner, Shekinna Stricklen of the Connecticut Sun.)
Later that day, Eden asked me if she could dribble my basketball. I didn’t remember her being interested in the game before.
Over the next few days (weeks, really), she would always ask to dribble the basketball. Later on, we would start doing some passing. And when I would shoot, she would have dialogue with me.
ME: “Look at me! I’m Stephen Curry!”
EDEN: “I don’t even know what he looks like! I’m Kayla (McBride)!”
I posted a pic of her dribbling on Instagram. I tagged McBride because I felt she needed to see her influence. McBride not only liked the picture but she actually put my niece in her Instagram story.
I also noticed that Eden’s hair was in a bun. She told me that it was because she wanted her hair to be like Kayla’s. Eden’s mom would confirm that to me. “Is that why she wanted her hair like that?”
Eventually, my niece started wearing her older brother’s old Jordans. I joked that “it would be over if she started wearing Jordans.” And here we are.
We “adults” tend to force things that we like upon the children (sons, daughters, nephews, nieces, etc.) in our life. But the best thing about this was that she actually liked basketball on her own. Obviously, we don’t know the future; maybe my niece liking basketball might just be a phase. At the very least, though, Kayla McBride has become part of my niece’s life. Again, it goes to show how much influence athletes can have. And it goes to show how much influence women athletes can have. We tell Eden a lot that she can be whatever she wants to be. And if she wants to be like Kayla McBride, we are very cool with that.
So yeah. Go, Aces. And thanks, Kayla.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
TNLP on FaceBook.