The WNBA revealed the official 2024 All-Star roster on July 2 set to take place in Footprint Center, Phoenix. While most of the contenders on the list were quite expected, the standout was Minnesota’s guard Kayla McBride as she accomplished a spot on the All-Star roster for the fourth time.

Kayla McBride has led the league in free throw percentage and has almost tied for ninth in the country. Fascinating, right? Read on to delve deeper into some of her stunning on-court performances.

How did McBride navigate through early challenges?

McBride, the eldest of four siblings, has always been drawn to basketball and soon became an inspiration for her sisters. While her sister Karlee committed to Indiana University, Jayden opted to play for Georgetown. Contrary to her sisters, McBride attended the University of Notre Dame after an illustrious high school career.

During her collegiate career, she amassed a total of 1,876 points, which opened the gates of the WNBA for her. It was a dream come true as she was the No. 3 overall draft pick by the San Antonio Stars in the 2014 draft. Much like Caitlin Clark, McBride emerged as a force to be reckoned with during her rookie season. In all of her 34 game starts, she averaged 13.0 points per game, ranking third among WNBA rookies.

McBride even had a glimpse of Angel Reese in her rookie year, scoring in double figures in 21 games—the most points secured by Stars rookies since coming to San Antonio. Additionally, she claimed career highs in assists and steals. Despite being selected as an All-Star in 2015, McBride couldn’t playoffs.

This marked the beginning of her downhill graph. On July 2, 2016, McBride injured her right foot in a game against the Minnesota Lynx, leading to her being ruled out for the rest of the season. The next season, McBride returned, playing 30 games with an impressive 15.4 points per game.

McBride’s resilience and rise

While securing a career-high 31 points, the Stars suffered a major setback and finished with an 8-26 record, the least in the WNBA. Soon after, McBride decided to make a switch and play for the Las Vegas Aces in 2018 by signing a multi-year deal. McBride then recorded a new career high of 38 points, leading her team, the Aces, to the championship finals for the first time since 2014. However, her career was impacted by the global pandemic in 2020. This led to becoming an unrestricted free agent until signing with the Lynx.

Joining the Lynx turned out to be a golden opportunity for her. “This is the most proud [selection] that I think I’ve ever had just because of everything we’ve been through with the Lynx organization,” she said. Nearly four years with the Lynx have awarded McBride the 10th spot on the WNBA list for three-point leaders.

She was also selected to represent the Lynx in the Starry 3-point contest before the All-Star game. Her selection was due to her average of 16.4 points and a career-high 1.3 steals per game. McBride currently leads the league in three-pointers this season. On June 7, she set a franchise record by hitting 8 of 13 threes, becoming the only player to reach this milestone this season, as per WNBA’s website. Now, the question is, will she be able to keep up with expectations in the upcoming matchups? Only time will tell.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.