This year, McBride has time to adjust — to mesh with new teammates and reconnect with familiar faces.
Kayla McBride was disappointed in a number of things about the way the Minnesota Lynx’s 2022 season ended.
Obviously, there was the lack of a playoff appearance, the first time Minnesota suffered such a fate since 2010. That was a less-than-storybook sendoff for future Hall of Fame center Sylvia Fowles.
But what really seemed to bother the guard is how she contributed — or didn’t — to the team’s cause down the stretch run.
“My motor, I think last year, even at the end of last season, I was disappointed,” McBride said. “How fatigued I was toward the end of the season, especially during that playoff push, and Syl leaving, there was a lot of things towards the end of the season and I was disappointed in myself.”
That stayed with McBride. She’s spoken this week about the “sour taste” that was left in her mouth.
“It was really hard for me,” McBride said. “I held onto it a lot in the offseason.”
Much has happened since then. McBride’s Turkish team, Fenerbahçe — a stacked superteam overseas — won its first-ever EuroLeague title. The Lynx shifted even more toward a youth movement. And McBride finally got a break.
The schedule aligned where Fenerbahçe’s season ended early enough for McBride to not only join Minnesota for training camp for the first time in her three seasons with the team, but the Lynx also allotted the guard with a week off before she reported to camp.
During that time, McBride spent time with family — witnessing her brother’s college graduation — and also got some much-needed rest.
“Refreshing is the word that I want to use,” McBride said. “Finally being here and being able to sleep in my own bed before I play a game is amazing.”
In the past two years, McBride re-joined the Lynx and then played a regular-season game a day later. There was zero time for reacclimation or body calibration.
This year, McBride has time to adjust — to mesh with new teammates and reconnect with familiar faces. She can gain a firm grasp of Minnesota’s new five-out offensive approach and impart wisdom on her teammates as the Lynx try to start a fresh season on the right foot.
“Just kind of putting (last season) behind me and focusing on the new and the present energy I have,” McBride told reporters. “I’m just excited. I’m excited to get going.”
There are so many things the veteran brings to the court that help the Lynx. She’s an elite shooter who’s an underrated cutter and thinks she can reach “another level” on defense. But just as important to this team, specifically, is McBride’s leadership. In her 10th WNBA season, McBride is the oldest player on the roster, a fact she laughs at. That instantly makes the guard a leader on this roster.
“I always say this: You get into the throws of the season, who are the ones who are going to rise up for you? Who’s going to be there for you when the things are hitting the fan?” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve told reporters. “She needs to be able to be that for us. Probably a little more intangibles that we’re locked in on for her. We know what she’s going to give us on the court.”
McBride pointed to lessons learned with her Turkish team that she can impart on Lynx teammates this season.
“Understand what it takes to win and what it takes to be a great team. It just takes that buy-in. I think early on in your career, you’re trying to prove yourself and all that,” McBride said. “It gets to the point where you’re 10 years into your career and you’re the oldest, and what you’re trying to give to your team, the message you can give to your team is to how to buy into each other and the main goal, which is to win and be the best version that you can of that team.”