Napheesa Collier Explains How She Balances Motherhood and WNBA Finals

WNBA star Napheesa Collier admitted it hasn’t been a cakewalk balancing motherhood and the most prosperous year of her professional basketball career. 

Collier, 28, who welcomed daughter Mila in May 2022 with now-husband Alex Bazzell, is in the thick 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 Paris Olympics. 

In an exclusive interview with Us Weekly ahead of Game 3 of the Finals, Collier said keeping all the plates spinning has taken a village. 

“I’m just really lucky to have such a great family and support system,” said Collier, who spoke to Us via her partnership with Opill, America’s first and only over-the-counter daily birth control pill. “My dad has been with us the past two seasons in Minnesota. He has an apartment in our building. My daughter stays with him the night before games so I can get a good rest.”

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

“My husband takes a huge load of the parenting during the season just because I’m gone so much,” Collier continued. “I’m just so lucky to have a partner who supports me in this way. It’s not easy juggling 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 tip off its inaugural season in January, meaning there’s little rest for the players competing in the WNBA Finals, which includes Collier’s friend and business partner Stewart, 30.

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

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

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

“I believe in what they’re doing so much,” Collier said. “I think it’s really important to get out there and talk to people who can get pregnant and make sure they’re informed about their choices of contraception. Opill provides something that’s affordable for people and over-the-counter so they don’t have to get permission from a doctor or have any of those conversations.”

Collier added, “Reproductive rights for women are universal. It’s something that women should be able to talk about. It shouldn’t be based on your political views. Informing women about that and making sure they have access and options is a human right.”

For more information on Opill, click here.