When Kennedy Burke arrived in Connecticut this season, her biggest adjustment wasn’t trading New York City for Uncasville. It was stepping into a role that she’s never been in before where she’s learning to find her voice.
After spending the last few seasons as a role player with a star-filled New York Liberty team, Burke is now being asked to be a leader on the league’s second youngest team –– which has required her to be more vocal and assertive on and off the court.
“I’m with a younger team that’s very gritty, and we’re just hungry to fight and get a win, no matter what it may look like, but we’re continuing to grow. It’s gonna take some time, but I believe that we’re gonna be just fine,” Burke told The IX Sports.
Adjusting to a new leadership role
The Sun brought Burke to Connecticut with high expectations. With the Liberty, she supported and played behind their ‘Big Three’ of forward Breanna Stewart, center Jonquel Jones and guard Sabrina Ionescu. She averaged 12.1 minutes in her first season with the Liberty and now across 16 games with the Sun she is averaging 23.6 minutes per game.
Her job was often to assist her teammates in getting open looks and high percentage shots, but now as one of the veteran leaders on a team with 10 players under the age of 25, she is learning to embrace her role and grow as a vocal leader.
It’s something head coach Rachid Meziane is looking for from Burke.
“She seemed too shy,” Meziane told The IX Sports when asked if Burke had been vocal in the locker room. “I would like her to talk more, and to help our young players more… but I can also understand that she’s also looking to find herself with this new role, so I don’t like to take the risk to ask her to do a lot for her teammates when she’s still looking to find herself and find a role on the team. We have to be patient, but I’m sure that she will become the player she wants and the player we want.”
Burke admitted that using her voice more has not been easy since she’s used to fulfilling a different leadership style.
“It’s new to me, it’s a challenge, but it pushed me to use my voice more often on the court,” Burke said. “Usually, when it comes to me, I like to lead by example in different ways, instead of talking, so I know I have to step out of my comfort zone and talk more. I feel like each game I’m getting better and better with just using my voice.”
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Playing for Rachid Meziane
In the past, Burke played for Meziane in France where they spent two seasons (2022-2024) together with the French basketball club Villeneuve-d’Ascq. She helped lead the team to a Euroleague championship and finish as the runner-ups for the 2023-24 season.
She also won back-to-back Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards in the French Ligue Féminine de Basketball (LFB) under Meziane.
The success that they’ve had overseas has played a large role in Burke joining the Sun on a one-year, $1 million contract. But their success wasn’t the only reason she wanted to play for Meziane.
“Even though it’s been kind of a bumpy start for us, he knows when to keep it light, but at the same time knowing when it’s time to focus and be serious,” Burke said. “But I really enjoy playing for him. He’s a great person, not only a great coach. So I’m just excited to be back with him.”
Meziane helped recruit Burke to come to Connecticut where he sold her on the team’s vision and culture. It didn’t take long for her to buy into his plan having already established trust with him overseas.
“When I’m thinking about the past, she was one of the best players in the French league, one of the best players in Europe,” Meziane said. “She was doing everything, shooting the ball, posting… She was one of the best stealers in our league.”
Burke’s improvement
With it still being so early in the season, Burke has already made strides of improvement.
Meziane said that at the start of the season she would stop attempting to shoot the ball again if she missed a shot, but now, Burke is being less hesitant to shoot again.
“When she’s missing a shot, she’s trying to continue to be aggressive, to continue to shoot the ball. For me it’s a big step, for her and also for us,” Meziane said.
Meziane wants Burke to be herself but is also giving her grace knowing that the adjustment has not been easy for her.
“I just want her to be a little bit more herself with us here. I know the transition is probably a little bit too big for her, like playing with superstars like [Breanna] Stewart, JJ [Jonquel Jones], Sabrina [Ionescu], and being here now, and trying to play a big role is just probably too fast for her. So, I just want to give her time to adjust to this new role, and I can see that, day after day, and game after game, she’s progressing,” Meziane said.
On Friday morning before Connecticut’s game against the Toronto Tempo, Meziane detailed how he wanted Burke to trust herself more and embrace a larger role within the offense. That night she delivered one of her best performances of the season and displayed many of the qualities that Meziane believes are key to unlocking another level of her game.
“Yeah, well first, I think she made the right plays, she shot the ball, she was a little more aggressive, she crashed the board, she [got] downhill, she posted up like I said,” Meziane said postgame. “She’s for me, a three-level scorer and I think that tonight, she showed that. I hope that you know this kind of production could help her to build some confidence. Offensively, she found her role and we need it, because we have a lot of young players on this team, [and] she’s not one of them. So she has to bring us this type of performance every single night.”
Despite their heartbreaking 101-97 loss to the Tempo, Burke scored a season-high 18 points to go along with three rebounds and two steals. Her performance helped the Sun lead by double-figures heading into halftime.
UCLA connection
The UCLA women’s basketball program under head coach Cori Close has historically found success in preparing players for the next level. On the Sun, that includes both Burke, who was drafted in the second round of the 2019 WNBA draft and Sun rookies Charlisse Leger-Walker, who was a part of the record breaking six-draftees in this year’s 2026 draft alongside Gianna Kneepkens.
“I’ve spoken to KB [Kennedy Burke] a little bit about it, and we kind of relate on that, and just what that was like for us. But it’s definitely a program where they emphasize that a lot, and it’s going to help you not just in basketball but in your everyday life,” Leger-Walker said.
Burke has also had an impact on helping her adjust to the league during her rookie season and has even been giving her “little pep talks.”
“I just think the chats that we’ve had, especially about the mindset of being a pro, it’s completely different [compared] to college, and I think she’s been such a great resource and friend for me to go to, to really ask about that stuff,” Leger-Walker said.
“…And obviously she has a lot of experience at this level, and so just leaning on her for that advice, and she’s someone…that I trust. Even with our ups and downs of having to quickly get back from games or leaving a loss and focusing on the next thing… She’s been amazing.”
Adjusting to a new city
New York City and Uncasville are complete opposites when it comes to lifestyle and environment with one being urban and the other being rural. But Burke doesn’t seem to mind.
“I like that Connecticut is very chill, and I’m able to be more by myself and really focus on my mental health and just being able to get the rest that I need, but at the same time, work on my game, whenever I can,” Burke said.
Burke also told The IX Sports that she enjoys lobster rolls and that she will have to check out some places that were recommended to her.
“I’m very introverted, so I really haven’t had the time to really explore Connecticut yet, but I’m a big fan of seafood, and I know Connecticut is known for seafood. Eventually when my parents come next week, we’ll be able to explore the city more, because we’ll have that long stretch of games at home. So, I’m looking forward to that,” Burke said.
The Sun are roughly only a third into the season, so Burke has plenty of time to continue to learn her new role and grow as a player despite the team’s rough 2-15 start. Connecticut will continue to return to the drawing board as they hope to be able to turn their season around, something that will depend partially on how Burke performs and leads.
“For me, she has everything to be a very good player in this league and not only someone who can play around stars. She could be a star in this league,” Meziane said.
