It’s time for another episode of the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast. In this episode, host and The Next’s editor-in-chief Howard Megdal is joined by Minnesota Lynx star and Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier. Howard and Napheesa discuss Collier’s community involvement, the importance of financial literacy in general but also for young athletes, and even a discussion of Collier’s daughter Mila’s early athletic prowess.
Collier on what it means to be an active part of the community, especially being a presence in kids’ lives as a female athlete:
I take it really seriously. And it’s so cool to see the little kids who know who I am and who follow the Lynx. And, you know, afterwards they were wanting autographs. To be that figure of someone in the community and especially a women’s basketball player that the little boys and little girls look up to and … want to be like, I think it’s really impactful.
Again, it’s a job that takes seriously. I know that we reach the youth a lot in our sport, and so to be a good role model for them … it’s a big role and it’s a big responsibility. So I love doing that and being active in the community and going out and seeing them and hopefully creating that fandom, where this is the norm. It’s not like, “Oh, I’m just starting to watch women’s basketball.” It’ll be, “My favorite player is a woman’s player first before a men’s player.” So it’s really cool to kind of see that starting so young.
Collier on the added stress for the younger generation of athletes who are now having to balance financial maturity with college sports:
While I am sad that I missed that — because obviously I wish I could have made money in college — it also comes with a maturity. I was older when I started making that money. … So I definitely don’t envy the people in college who are kids coming out of high school with all of a sudden there’s $100,000 thrown at them for going to a school … and they just have to worry about so many things other than just playing basketball, which is what college is really about.
So while I think it’s an amazing thing, and I’m happy that we have NIL, I definitely don’t envy that side of it because it’s a lot of pressure on top of school, which is very stressful. They’re playing so many games, trying to make the tournament, things like that. The struggles that come with college life.
To stay up to date with every episode of the podcast, subscribe on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Plus, you can read more about Collier’s work with Unrivaled here, as well as our WNBA offseason coverage to keep up with what Collier and the Lynx are up to.