STELLA VIE Where are you at right now? How are you feeling this week, in your career, your body, in this moment of incredible momentum for sports globally?

OLIVIA NELSON-ODODA I’m feeling really good right now — heading into my fifth season in the WNBA. I had a moment of reflection the other day, thinking about where it all started. I was seven years old when I first picked up a basketball, and now I’m coming up on almost 20 years in this sport. I remember writing down as a kid, “I want to play professionally” — and just thinking about all the time and energy I’ve poured into this craft, for myself and for the people watching. Looking at each stage of my journey and how far I’ve come, it’s been really special. Especially this past week — our team strung together two wins, things are starting to click. It made me think about what it means to stay committed to something, to persevere — and how that thread runs all the way back to my childhood.

S That really speaks to how sports are as much an individual endeavor as a team undertaking. The game requires synergy between team members, coaches, and inside of yourself. That personal psychology and collective knowledge both affect your body and your instincts. It’s so meta, how psychology, knowledge and relationships translate into physical experiences, statistics and entertainment.

O Basketball is a team sport, but if you are not right mentally, physically, emotionally - it only takes one person to falter the connection and chemistry that a team needs. Everyone plays a part, from coaching staff all the way down to a player on the bench. It’s very rare that you come across teams and organizations that have synergy, where everything connects. This week, I started noticing synergy in our team… we’re starting to connect the dots, it’s special. Those unspoken moments that you experience when you’re part of a team, when you realize that you’re going through it, and creating it, together.

S “Why do you think that the team’s synergy has started to crystallize in the last few weeks? How does the shift feel?”

O I think just finding the right rotations, putting the right players to play with each other, and feeding off of people that want to get better. It’s a result of the amount of time and effort we are putting into practice, outside of game days, and in the weight room and how we treat ourselves. It comes from all of the little things we do. Team bonding activities have also helped this group specifically. It warms my heart when things start to click. I’ve been part of teams where you win games but the team isn’t successful in other areas. Things need to flow across the board for it to feel like it does right now.

S Prior to the current synergy that you’re feeling, was there an obstacle that you needed to overcome? What has shaped who you are today and how you show up as a team member?

O When I was younger, being sidelined with an injury for almost a year and having to face the adversity of coming back and still dealing with chronic pain. As athletes, we’re putting our bodies on the line constantly. I think even when I was at school at UConn, facing challenges of having to uphold a standard for a team that’s always used to winning, constantly winning, constantly producing, having to uphold that, especially for fans or critics. Then, you move on to pros and the uncertainty of the pro world coupled with the business aspect of it. It’s especially hard to build that positive team atmosphere and culture when people are being traded or coaches are changing. There’s so much uncertainty in this world now, where you really don’t know what could happen next, particularly in pro sports. At this level, the biggest adjustment has been getting used to knowing that a GM or a president could make a business decision about you and the entire trajectory of your career on any given day, at the drop of a dime. Each level of basketball has brought different types of adversity to adjust to.

S The built in adversity of being an athlete is certainly dynamic when coupled with the business side. You are an athlete, and a business person, it’s a job at the end of the day. What other factors affect you and your teammates, how you make decisions and how you show up as players?

O Some of my teammates even have families. They have to relocate their families or make a business decision on which team they want to sign with, based on their current situation with their families and what makes sense for them personally. They have to consider factors outside of themselves. It’s interesting seeing how everyone’s personal journey impacts them on and off the court.

S I’m curious how you balance the mental and physical requirements of the sport, alongside other components like family, social life, stability, all of the other parts of having a well rounded life.

O I’m still figuring it out. I’m doing a lot better, with maturity and experience in the league. You learn more about yourself over time. Having the right people around you - the right veterans - is critical. Particularly when putting up boundaries with social media, a huge component of our WNBA world, and pro sports in general. Your mistakes and highlights - they’re all posted. When I was in high school, I remember being showcased on Instagram for the first time. Now 10 years later, it’s just so parasocial. Particularly for the WNBA, since our league is smaller than the NBA, fans get to connect closely with us. It feels like a different world to be a player in this media climate, compared to when I started. Fans also view their part in watching us on a whole different level. They want to be super involved, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing, particularly when it helps our league grow at the rate that it is.

S What a difference those 10 years have made. It’s hard to balance the commodification of the sport with the beauty of being able to spread your craft and story to a larger audience. I’ve noticed how social media has really enabled athletes to drive a shift in the visual culture around strength and beauty, and the female body.
Do you notice positive impacts related to young women being able to follow and interact with your journey in a way that couldn’t have before this social media transformation?

O Absolutely. I mean, even being able to shoot with this magazine is a great example. 10 years ago, women in the WNBA were not doing this kind of thing, or there was a stigma behind it. Stick to basketball. We all heard the “shut up and dribble” thing. I push back on that, because I’m so passionate about just the creative side of photography and modeling and showcasing the feminine body through art like this. I’m happy that it’s more widely accepted as a component of the industry these days. I also love how it differs from the men’s side. We offer a different lens that people really like, allowing younger girls to see themselves and be inspired to try basketball, and picture themself on the cover of a magazine one day. The WNBA hasn’t always been so accepting like this. In the last few years it’s really become more acceptable to venture outside of the basketball space and develop an identity related to other avenues that we are passionate about.

S What are you passionate about? Is there anything that you’re currently building or working on that people may not know about yet?

O I am launching a fashion line called Kayelise, named for my grandmother and my aunt who passed away from ovarian and cervical cancer in Kenya. I wanted to create a line that not only honors them but also showcases something I’m passionate about - fashion. The brand’s core mission advocates for preventative measures and supports research and funding to address critical issues relating to women’s reproductive health. The line is eco-friendly and sustainable, using natural fabrics that are good for you, for your skin and body. I love weaving together family and fashion, honoring the people that are part of my roots and my history

Last night I met a fan at a meet-and-greet who told me, “I love what you’re doing with ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, spreading awareness and showcasing that.” It was special to hear somebody responding positively to my advocacy in this space. Women’s reproductive health is very taboo, especially in Kenya, where my roots are, but here in the US too. It’s also under-researched and underfunded. It’s been an incredible experience to tie something that I’m passionate about to a cause that’s so near and dear to my heart and to spread
awareness.

S That’s incredible. It’s a testament to how basketball has really become a platform to enable your other facets to come into the light.

O Exactly, it doesn’t do the women in the league justice to limit them to being just basketball players, especially now when we have a platform that can touch so many different people. When we connect with the people that support us, that’s just an amazing, amazing feeling.

S What distinguishes the particular relationship that you have with your fans in the WNBA?

O People often compare the WNBA and the NBA. I think we’re forming our own lane, a bubble where it no longer needs to be a counterpart to men’s basketball. Your favorite WNBA player doesn’t need to be compared to a men’s league player. She can just be her, right? It doesn’t have to be the female version of this person, it could just be this person. We’re forming our own identities, disconnected from male characters. The growth in this area is really encouraging to witness.

S You came of age in a very different basketball landscape to the one which you are detailing for us right now. Is there a moment that stands out to you when you realized that basketball could become your profession?

O When I made my first junior USA team, I was 15 years old. I come from a small town, without a lot of basketball momentum. I saw girls playing for USA teams on the internet, so I told my high school coach I wanted to try out. The camp required an invite and luckily I got invited and made the team for the first time. I played six or seven years of USA basketball and started getting offers from interested schools. This was when I realized I could get a scholarship, go to school, maybe even play basketball for a living. It all just took off from there.

S So that moment really marks when you first felt momentum with the sport. I’m also
curious to know about an even earlier, more sensorial experience… Do you remember that first moment when basketball became a part of your life?

O I was playing at my local YMCA, at seven years old. The league was still co-ed. My parents tell me that I would get so mad when the little boys or little girls would take the ball and run with it. I remember being pissed - I’d referee them, tell them they were travelling. I was a little kid, but I’d already started reffing, patrolling other players on the court.

S What’s the role that you play on your current team now?
Do you still patrol your current teammates with that same
YMCA spirit?

O I’m more likely to patrol the refs these days. I get on the refs a lot, I got a few technicals for it this year. Screaming at them to be better, make the right calls. Saying how I feel. My teammates are pros at this point, they know what they’re doing. So I shifted that childhood patrol energy to focus on the refs.

S Well your teammates certainly know what they’re doing and so do you. You’re at a profound moment in your career, where you’re veteran enough to have experienced a few seasons at this level and have developed a certain level of comfort with the league. And it sounds like your inner knowing is a sharp compass that you are honing. We’re really excited at TWNTY to feature you on the cover. Crafting a fashion story around the strength of the athletic body, around beauty and presence and femininity. How do you feel about the images?

O I love them because they’re organic and so raw. I love being on set all day connecting with the photographer. It’s like basketball, working with a team for an entire day on set, you have to build chemistry, meet people, talk through things, figure out
what works.

And that’s what we did, meeting the photographer for the first time, developing a great connection and feeling so happy seeing the photos afterwards. Feeling pride that we produced that, as a team, with stylists and photographers, hair, makeup and everyone involved. It’s a collective effort, and an organic product, made with humans and human creatives, not artificial intelligence which has been replacing so many of these creative projects lately.

S Do you feel like your spirit comes through in the images?

O Absolutely, absolutely. I can see myself grow more comfortable in the photos from the end of the session, being more natural trying out different poses and different outfits. I get excited just talking about it, I love the whole organic process. It reminds me so much of pouring myself into the craft of basketball. There are mistakes, some bad shots or bad photos, but in the grand scheme of things you keep persevering, enjoying the process, creating beautiful things. It’s parallel with how we do things in basketball.

S It speaks to a moment when creating media and creatively meeting the demands of being a public figure can actually be energizing and inspiring.

O I love it all, just working with people and building chemistry.
It all mirrors things that I do in my profession, with teammates
and staff.

S Do you have rituals or routines before games or even in your daily life that keep you grounded? This is an intense career, how do you keep going?

O There’s no secret formula, I haven’t cracked the code, but I focus on decompressing. Especially after a game, your body is so amped up regardless of the outcome of the game. I’ve learned to let go of certain things and decompress. Right now, we have two days off so I flew home to see my family. I’m wearing a bathing suit and sunglasses right now, I’ve been outside tanning. The season is hectic, I barely get to see my family. When I can come home for 32 hours and see them, I do. I’m not doing anything basketball related.

This lets me come back a little more energized. It’s all a process, I’m still learning what’s best for me. The little bits and pieces make a difference, whether that’s watching my favorite TV show or just being around the people who I love to be around. Self care. Getting a massage.
Being outside. The little things keep me grounded.

S The body learns over time, it lets us know what sustains it and fortifies it. The knowledge accumulates over time.

O It’s so interesting what works differently for each of my teammates. Some of them like to stay in their room all day, resting, and that’s how they come back in the best headspace. I have to be in the sun, be outside, get little dopamine hits, get ice cream. We just learn what works for us over time. The sooner you do, the better you feel.

S Certainly. It’s all trial and error. Do you have any advice to pass along to people who follow you and follow your career?

O Everybody’s journey is different. Everyone runs a different race. Do not compare yourself. It’s so easy to compare yourself now with social media, people’s accomplishments are shouted from the rooftops. It’s so natural to compare your journey with someone else’s. Do not do that. You never know when your time will come, when you will hit that peak, when things will just kind of start working out for you. You’ll just enter this flow space.

For years I would compare myself and it became so damaging to my expectations for myself. When you can just slow down, stop focusing on what everyone else is doing and focus on what you can control, that’s when the best things start happening. I’m focusing on that and I can feel things starting to click. But for the longest time I would compare myself to others and it caused so much depression and anxiety. Relinquishing control of those considerations has put me in a better headspace and allowed better things to come into my life.

S It’s such a conscious practice, a constant effort to remind ourselves to live mindfully, and not in a place of comparison.

O Totally, it’s easier said than done. It’s a constant practice. The more I remind myself to snap out of it, the better I feel. This is my life, my journey, I’ve got this.