Early in their careers, feeling out the constraints on the modern female athlete, Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart grew familiar with a mindset that could be alternately positive and patronizing. It came up in statements about wanting to support women’s basketball, to do the right thing. This was generally well-intentioned, and sometimes accompanied by real generosity, too. It just seemed tremendously limiting to WNBA players like them.
“When people see you as a charity, they don’t care whether you make money or not,” says Collier. “They’re doing this for a good cause.”
