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How some WNBA players are spending their offseason instead of going overseas

While many players have already kicked off international play this WNBA offseason, some players are getting work done right here in the United States.

WNBA: Finals-Seattle Storm at Washington Mystics
Kristi Toliver is one of many WNBA players who won’t be playing overseas this offseason, taking a coaching internship with the Washington Wizards instead.
Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

For many WNBA players, the end of league play means a quick break before heading overseas to play even more basketball until the WNBA season starts up again in the spring. But some players either forgo international play altogether or squeeze in other activities prior to heading out to their other teams. Here’s a roundup of what a few of those players (and teams) are doing this WNBA offseason.


Atlanta Dream

Renee Montgomery participated in Jr. NBA Week, coaching girls at the “Her Time to Play” camp in Atlanta. She also recently shared her offseason workout playlist with ESPN.

Chicago Sky

Alex Montgomery has coached the girls’ basketball team at Steilacoom High School in her hometown of Tacoma, Washington since 2016.

Connecticut Sun

Chiney Ogwumike gets to take a break from having two full-time jobs and concentrate on her ESPN duties where, as of May, she’s an NBA analyst:

Dallas Wings

Skylar Diggins-Smith is a “Her Time to Play” ambassador:

“Representation matters,” said Dallas Wings guard and Her Time To Play ambassador Skylar Diggins-Smith. “Her Time To Play is an important step towards ensuring that young women have access to mentors and others invested in helping them achieve success.”

Diggins-Smith also joined Puma’s #Reform campaign, “which seeks to enact and preserve equality and social change,” as she continues to advocate for gender equality:

Indiana Fever

Cappie Pondexter has signed on as official spokesperson for women’s sports advocacy organization The Ladies’ League. She’s also running a camp in her native Illinois later this month:

Las Vegas Aces

Carolyn Swords is on a mission to get people registered to vote in the upcoming midterm elections. She’s not only making sure her own teammates are registered, but also educating her fellow WNBA players on how to vote while playing overseas.

Swords also recently trained with the UFC’s Michelle Waterson and spoke about how MMA could improve her basketball abilities.

Los Angeles Sparks

Candace Parker recently joined Turner Sports as an NBA and NCAA analyst. She’ll make regular appearances on NBA on TNT and NBA TV, and she will commentate for the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.

Parker also just released her third Adidas custom shoe. It pays homage to the late Pat Summitt, her coach at the University of Tennessee.

Minnesota Lynx

Rebekkah Brunson launched her new waffle-themed food truck that you can check out if you’re in the Minneapolis area. (Oh, and in other news, she also just welcomed her first child with her wife, Bobbi Jo.)

New York Liberty

Marissa Coleman still has her Mellow Mushroom pizza franchise that she co-owns it with the Sparks’ Alana Beard. Coleman also took part in Harvard Business School’s Crossover Into Business Program in the spring, which a handful of WNBA players completed last month.

Phoenix Mercury

Devereaux Peters participated in a panel at the Young Feminist Conference in Chicago, following up on her August op-ed in the Washington Post in which she spoke about deciding who deserves her power.

Meanwhile, Mercury’s season-long documentary series, The Chase, is still pumping out episodes. The latest one focuses on the team’s run to the 2018 semifinals:

Seattle Storm

Sue Bird, like Carolyn Swords, is also joining the “get out the vote” party, releasing a video for When We All Vote. Also, the WWE’s Triple H sent a custom champion belt the Storm’s way, and let’s just say Bird got into it a little bit:

Washington Mystics

Monique Currie is spending her first WNBA offseason not going overseas to focus on her real estate investing company, Currie Collective LLC. She’ll also be refereeing high school boys’ basketball, with an eventual goal of becoming an NBA referee.

Tierra Ruffin-Pratt and Kristi Toliver are interning with the Washington Wizards, with Ruffin-Pratt working as a video intern and Toliver as a coaching intern.