2023 Champion NaLyssa Smith returns to AU Pro Basketball in 2026

Smith, who averaged 24.2 points and 12.3 rebounds per game during her championship run in 2023, scored a record 50 points in the final game of the season to clinch the title.

Smith, who will be joined next year by Aces teammates Kiah Stokes and Aaliyah Nye, said the freedom of how Athletes Unlimited operates under a player-driven mentality had a lot to do with her return.

And though the players choose new squads weekly and generally coach themselves, she also enjoys receiving input from the team’s designated facilitators.

“How you get to pick your own teams, pick the players you want to play with, I think that was the biggest thing for me,” said Smith, who briefly played in Unrivaled’s inaugural campaign earlier this year. “So I think just the freedom aspect is the thing I liked the most.

“I kind of let my facilitator do everything. I just want to play basketball. I told them they could take care of everything else.”

It worked well for the No. 2 overall pick from the 2022 WNBA Draft, as Smith scored 20 or more points in 12 of her 15 games during the 2023 AU season, while also registering 12 double-doubles.

Smith, who grew up in San Antonio and won a national championship with Baylor, said she didn’t need much convincing, but was swayed by the fact that she’ll get to see her brother, Rodney Jr., often.

“My brother has lived in Nashville for the past … six years, so I’m excited just to spend (time) with him,” Smith said. “Just see, like, a different side of the world in Nashville, so that’s really what pulled me the most was going to be out there (with) my brother.”

Now with her second team during the current WNBA season, after being traded from Dallas to Las Vegas, Smith sees that keeping professional basketball players in the United States during the offseason has helped the popularity grow exponentially.

“I think all these new leagues that are coming, I think it just raises the bar for everybody else to keep up with women’s basketball and different outlets to watch women’s basketball,” she said. “So I think it’s just growing the game at the end of the day.”

ACES HIGH

As the All-Star Break converges on Indianapolis, Smith is hoping she can contribute to an Aces’ run to the postseason, after the two-time champions from 2022 and 2023 finished the first half of their season 11-11.

Smith was brought in to assist A’ja Wilson in the paint and on the boards, and the three-time MVP couldn’t be any more pleased with her newest teammate.

“I’ve always been a fan of Lyss from afar, ever since she got drafted into this league,” Wilson said Wednesday after the Aces’ 90-86 win in Smith’s return to Dallas. “I love the game, I love the pace that she plays with, she’s a rebounding fanatic.

“The thing that took me by surprise is how she can just pick up information so quickly. Like, it’s amazing the way we could just show her a play, and she’s like, ‘Alright, I got you,’ and she’s in the right place. Like, I can’t do that. So, it’s just been tons of fun playing alongside her.”

Smith was complimentary of Wilson, saying the reigning MVP has been “the biggest person in my corner” since the trade on June 30, leading the charge of support from a team known for its sisterhood in the locker room.

“I feel like somebody with that prestige, and then they are big in my life, I feel like that’s something I’ll hold on to forever, just because you don’t have to do that,” Smith said. “And so for her to do that. It just shows her character.

“I have a lot of support on this team, I have a lot of people that I can go to and ask questions, from the staff to the players. So it’s honestly been a smooth transition so far. I’ve been in this league for a little bit of time, but I’ve never been on a team like this. So it just feels good to be on a team like this, where winning is a standard. So it feels good.”

Aces coach Becky Hammon said she’s also been a longtime fan of Smith since her days in Indianapolis with the Fever.

Now it’s just a matter of doing what Wilson said, picking up things with ease, possibly getting more acclimated before the second half of the season, and becoming comfortable in schemes and what the team needs from her on the defensive end of the floor.

“I think she has a really good skill set,” Hammon said. “She’s really great on the glass for us, we wanted to get some help in there, both offensively (and defensively). She’ll start finishing a little bit more for us, I think.

“We’re just getting comfortable with where her looks are going to kind of be and playing in the system. But she’s been great, she’s been great to coach, she’s been a great teammate, so we’re really happy with that pickup.”

Just as Athletes Unlimited will be in February, ecstatic with the return of the 2023 champion.

W.G. Ramirez has been a Southern Nevada-based sports writer since 1987. He is a freelance writer who covers women’s basketball extensively for several outlets. Follow Willie on X at @WillieGRamirez