WNBA star Napheesa Collier admitted that balancing motherhood and the most prosperous year of her professional basketball career was no cakewalk.

Collier, 28, who welcomed daughter Mila in May 2022 with nu-man Alex Bazzellis in the middle of the WNBA Finals with the Minnesota Lynx, just two months after earning her second consecutive gold medal as a member of the Team USA women’s basketball team at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

In an exclusive interview with We weekly Before Game 3 of the Finals, Collier said spinning all the plates took a village.

“I’m really fortunate to have such an amazing family and support system,” says Collier, who spoke to us through her partnership with Opill, America’s first and only daily birth control pill available without a prescription. “My dad has been with us in Minnesota for the past two seasons. He has an apartment in our building. My daughter stays with him the night before the match so I can get a good rest.”

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Collier was drafted with the sixth overall pick by the Lynx in the 2019 WNBA Draft after a stellar four-career collegiate career at UConn. She and Bazzell, 34, married in October 2022, five months after their daughter’s arrival.

“My husband takes on a huge burden of parenting during the season just because I’m gone so much,” Collier continued. “I am so lucky to have a partner who supports me in this way. It’s not easy to juggle this. He also has a full-time job.”

Bazzell is president of Unrivaled Basketball, the new women’s 3-on-3 league launched by Collier and New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart in May.

The six-team league will conclude its inaugural season in January, meaning there will be little rest for the players competing in the WNBA Finals, including Collier’s friend and business partner Stewart, 30.

“We’re going to be rivals for a while to come, no matter how many games it takes to get a championship,” Collier said of Stewart and the Liberty. “When that’s over, of course you love all the players on the other team. But not now. You can’t think about that. They are public enemy No. 1.”

Collier added, “We can chop it up once the season is over.”

In addition to her parenting and basketball duties, Collier is also a passionate spokesperson for reproductive rights, which is why she has teamed up with Opill.

“I believe so much in what they’re doing,” Collier said. “I think it’s really important to get out there and talk to people who could become pregnant and make sure they’re informed about their contraceptive choices. Opill offers something that is affordable to people and available without a prescription, so they don’t have to get permission from a doctor or have those conversations.

Collier added: “Reproductive rights for women are universal. It’s something women should be able to talk about. It should not be based on your political views. Informing women about this and ensuring they have access and choice is a human right.”

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