The 11-year veteran guard has helped spark a strong start to the season for the Minnesota Lynx, on pace for one of her best seasons as a pro in 2024.
Kayla McBride has nearly been through it all at this point in her professional basketball career, playing year-round while taking the court in the WNBA during the summers and heading overseas in the offseason.
Now with her second WNBA franchise after spending the first seven years of her career with the San Antonio Stars and Las Vegas Aces (San Antonio relocated to Las Vegas in 2017), McBride is currently in Year 11 with the Minnesota Lynx, providing the team with a valued veteran presence on and off the court.
“I’m just so thankful for this organization in believing in me and continuing to believe in me. … I’m just playing with a lot of joy and freedom because of that.” — Kayla McBride
Yet in 2024, McBride is doing something she has never done to this extent in her career. When some thought the veteran guard would start to be on the decline at the age of 32, she is proving them wrong by doing the exact opposite.
And she is doing just that while on her way to a career year and taking her game — and her team — to an even higher level.
“Everybody is just telling me to be myself,” McBride said on the Hitting the Hardwood Podcast with Mitchell Hansen. “For me, I’ve just been feeding off of that confidence.”
Career Year So Far
McBride is well known for her ability of being a knock-down shooter from anywhere on the court, notably from deep. She has also become one of the best defenders on the Lynx since joining the team in 2021, oftentimes defending the best offensive talent on the other team.
In her first three seasons with Minnesota spanning from 2021-23, McBride shot 42.1% from the field and 35.9% from three, giving the Lynx a reliable offensive talent on the roster.
In 2024, the already great shooter has become even more dominant. Through Friday’s win over Los Angeles, which improved Minnesota to 10-3 overall, McBride is on pace for her best shooting season ever while also ranking atop the WNBA.
“I have a lot of confidence in what I do. Especially over the last year,” McBride said during the season. “I think at the end of last season, the last 10 games, and into overseas and now, I kind of found my flow at this point in my career. And I’ve just been trying to capitalize on that.”
Through 13 games, McBride is averaging 17.0 points, 3.7 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 48.3% from the field and 49.5% (!!) from three. She is currently on pace to set career highs in assists, steals and both shooting marks while posting her second-best point per game average of her career.
When it comes to where she ranks among the rest of the WNBA, McBride is tied for 14th in scoring while leading the league in 3-point field goals made per game (3.5) and 3-point percentage. She also tied a WNBA record for the most 3-pointers made over a two-game span in early June, making 15 threes over two games against Phoenix and Seattle.
“What I felt (at the start of the year) was that the energy was great. … But everybody came in with their own confidence, which allowed me to just find my way. I already had that with (Napheesa Collier), but with the other players just finding my way,” McBride said on the Hitting the Hardwood Podcast.
“The first few games I kind of struggled while figuring it out, but once I did, I kind of hit the ground running. I play overseas all the time, so I was already playing a whole season before I got here. I felt like I was in game shape and ready, but it was just about finding my way. And that has happened so organically.”
Finding Joy in Minnesota
McBride is having fun on the court in one of her best seasons as a pro, but she’s having even more fun off of it with her teammates and coaches.
In the offseason of 2020, McBride entered free agency not really knowing what the next step in her career looked like or who it would be with. She ended up deciding on Minnesota to be that destination, and it has become a second home for the guard.
“Minnesota has just been a saving grace for me in my career. I felt really lost when I was leaving Vegas. Not a lot of people know my story when leaving Vegas. I found a home here very quickly. It means a lot to me, to be here,” McBride said this season. “You hear your name in franchise records and you know the players who came before you, and it just matters a lot to me. I try to be the best version of myself for this organization because I know how much they believed in me in free agency and with the (contract) extension.
“I’m just so thankful for this organization in believing in me and continuing to believe in me. That’s what you see now, I’m just playing with a lot of joy and freedom because of that,” she continued. “It’s the people. The people I get to go to work with everyday — the staff, my teammates, the fans — it’s just a really special place.”
With finding that home, McBride has found the fun in basketball again, which has allowed her to play loose and with more joy while taking her game to the next level.
“You have ups and downs throughout your whole career,” she said. “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.”
McBride believes she has found the perfect situation at home with the Lynx. The last few seasons in Minnesota has brought back the fun in the game for the veteran guard. And that has led her to possibly having the best year ever while leading her team to another level in 2024.
“I’m just trying to find the joy in the little things, like the fact that I get to go to work with great people. And these aren’t just great people on the court, but off the court as well,” McBride said. “Sometimes you have to pinch yourself because you realize you’re exactly where you want to be and you’re living one of your dreams.
“I think this organization has created that environment to allow players like this group to come in and just kind of flourish. It’s just been a lot of fun figuring it out. … We still find a way to find a joy.”