Q. The season just got done last night, but when you look back at the whole thing, the adjustments, the new people, new staff, new scheme, all of it coming together, when you look back and kind of look at the season as a whole and evaluate how it all kind of shook out, what stands out to you? What do you kind of think about both how the team evolved and also your role within it?
STEFANIE DOLSON: I mean, I think just like holistically, I think all we asked from everyone was, like, competing all the time. We obviously knew it was new staff, new management. Essentially a new team, like a lot of new players. We knew it was going to be a lot of growing pains and a lot of ups and downs.
I think overall, I think everyone was really adaptable. Everyone really ran with the punches. I think we grew together. Everyone grew individually. Me, I grew as a leader, something I wasn't necessarily expecting or ready for, but I think I tried to do it as best I could. Sometimes I didn't know what to say, but I tried my best to say something and to encourage everyone.
I think just overall, it's a season that we can look back at it and be happy with and be proud of ourselves for because I think we did a lot of really, really great things.
Q. I know there were some early challenges for you just getting into the scheme and the new way they wanted to play and how they were using you in different places on the floor. Did you eventually feel like you got to a space where you were comfortable and it felt like it was clicking and just kind of your own game? How did you look at that because I know there were some challenging times, particularly early in the year.
STEFANIE DOLSON: Yeah, well, from the jump, my body was not the best in the beginning, so I think that was a big reason why also playing wasn't my best. Then to be honest with you, I think having less post players helped. I think everyone as a player knows the more you play, the easier it is to get into a rhythm.
In the beginning, the first half of the season, it was a lot of in and out, in and out for two minutes, a minute here. It was tough, and it was something that we all knew what the situation was, but at the same time it doesn't make it easier to find that rhythm.
I think once I was able to go out and play a little bit more freely and more minutes on the court, ultimately it helped me individually, and then I think it also helped the whole team just learn how to play with each other and kind of grow together.
Q. Looking forward, obviously weird off-season with the CBA still not signed yet and so many people becoming unrestricted free agents, including yourself. When you look ahead at your future, have you envisioned what you want that to look like, whether it's here or elsewhere? What kind of things are you looking for in your next stop in 2026 as you -- are we going to be year 13? For year 13, how do you envision things at this stage of your career and hitting unrestricted free agency one more time?
STEFANIE DOLSON: Yeah, well, I don't know, to be honest with you. I don't have a lot of answers for that question just because, one, I'm not a big planner. I like things to just happen. I'm pretty go with the flow.
But yeah, this off-season is going to be crazy, honestly, with a lot of free agents, like you said, the CBA, everything. Not much from me in terms of knowing what the next step is.
I do think that, like you said, going into year 13, this is probably like a transition period for me in terms of this season wasn't what itches expecting but I think it's what I needed in terms of learning how to transition into the next part of my career, which could be more of being a vet, being a leader, obviously playing time going down, which is fine with me in terms of my age and my body, if that's what a team needs from me.
I think for me, it's just going to be making sure my body is right, healthy, all that stuff this off-season. That's what I'm going to focus on. Then everything else will come when it needs to.
Q. Whatever that team may be, are you like, hey, I want a team that's a playoff contention mindset or anything like that?
STEFANIE DOLSON: To be honest with you, I don't know. I don't know. I think I could easily play on a team that's also still rebuilding and be that vet leadership. But of course I want to be competitive and I want to still win a championship. I would love to still win another championship.
But that doesn't mean that a team like this or other places who are in a rebuilding or young team, doesn't mean that they can't compete. I see it kind of like an OKC type of thing where they're so young but they grow together, and if I can be a part of that and still by the end of it win a championship, I'd be happy.
So I don't know the answer, to be honest with you. But we shall see.
Q. I know you played in Unrivaled last year. Do you have any off-season plans to play in that league or another league again?
STEFANIE DOLSON: Yep, potentially. Not in another league. It would be either that or nothing. We'll see. It's up in the air right now, depending on -- there's a lot of things up in the air, but again, my body is my most important thing right now for me, so if playing is good for me, great. If it's not, then I won't be -- I'll just work on training, again, making sure my body is healthy and preparing for next season.
Q. You've won championships before. What was so critical for the team this year to accomplish that you felt like they accomplished and setting forth on that path?
STEFANIE DOLSON: I think just setting the foundation of, like, belief. Inasmuch as I don't like the vulnerable, the emotional stuff, I think they did a lot of that this season, which is a good foundation now to grow on. If you start with just, like, X's and O's and this and that and do this and do that, it's like, sometimes it's harder to build those relationships.
I think this season we started with the foundation of building relationships and setting the standards of what we want to do going forward, and I think that was really important for this team, for the longevity of it, and we did it. I think we can all be really proud of that.
Q. I want to ask you about Kiki. She's had such a phenomenal year of breaking records, team records, league records. What has impressed you about her demeanor and how she holds herself and that also translating to her skills on the court?
STEFANIE DOLSON: Just her professionalism and maturity. I think for someone like me, I sometimes worry about the young ones, this generation, it can be a lot about social media and the extra stuff, not just about basketball. I feel like she embodied coming here and just caring about playing really hard, getting better every day, competing every day. We saw it from the first day of training camp.
I think she just held herself to a really high standard, and it was just a pleasure to play with her and to teach her a little bit and to see how she grew and everything just because she's such a great human. Like I said, she just cared about basketball, which is great.
Q. Not the CBA specifically but where the league is going, as you mentioned, you've been in the league for a while, played in several different markets and big teams in this league, won championships before. Where do you want to see this league going to with this new collective bargaining agreement?
STEFANIE DOLSON: That's a great question. I don't know. I think just the continuation of growing. We can never stop getting better or learning or whatever, like individual as people, so I think the league can do the same.
Obviously it starts with us getting paid and with the CBA negotiations happening this season, and once I think we feel that support from the league, it'll be even easier to go out there and produce even better basketball and the fans will be more excited, and again, with these new exciting players coming in, just the growth of the league just continuing to go up and not hopefully getting stagnant, just everyone continuing to invest and adding to it and not getting complacent with, okay, we've grown and we can say here. No, we want to keep growing. We want to keep making this league better and making more people watch and excited about women's basketball.
Q. Piggybacking on the growth and development and leadership, you talk about this generation of players. What about this class of athletes that you've been having on your team reminds you of you in your earlier part of your career, especially with all the accomplishments because you've won at every level? And what did those memories do as far as animating you in your transition and growth this year?
STEFANIE DOLSON: That's a lot of words in that question. You're lucky I'm not hung over. I really wouldn't have been able to keep up with that one.
Let me start with the first part. I think all of them, like all the rookies on our team this year, as I spoke about with Kiki, like Sonia, Lucy, Georgia, they just embodied caring about basketball and really pouring into each other and the teammates. I think that reminds me of me because coming to the league I was the same. It didn't matter how many minutes I played, I was just happy to be here, proud of myself for being here, and I think a lot of our rookies felt that and showed that. Lucy is in the gym every day practicing shooting. Georgia, as awful as it is what happened, she would be on the sideline every practice, speaking up every practice, like always had something to say in a good way and just encouraging in everything and just like Sonia and Kiki coming in and competing every day and doing exactly what they know they're good at.
I wouldn't say it reminded me of me because they came in with a lot more confidence than I did, that's for sure. And were way more impactful. But it was just fun to see them grow. As someone who has been here for a long time, watching them get better and grow and be excited to come to practice and everything, that is special to me and makes me want to come to practice more, too, when you're around people like that.
Q. I also have a question about Kiki because you're the resident veteran post player. She talked about wanting to become a three-point shooter. That's a journey that you went through. Obviously I acknowledge that a lot of that growth is opportunity and having a coaching staff that believes in you, but there's so many bigs in every level of basketball that want to become shooters and fail. What worked for you that let you become a shooter going from your first season to your second season and so forth in your career?
STEFANIE DOLSON: Yeah. To be honest, I don't know. I've always had confidence in my shot, though, even in college I liked to shoot threes. Not many, but I liked them.
But I don't know, I guess just having teammates and coaches that just believe in you and knowing that if it's the right shot that whether it goes in or not, like no one is going to be mad or upset about it.
So I think putting that belief in her will help in this off-season especially, and then obviously just practicing. I went last season shooting as many as I did and making as many as I did because the off-season before I worked nonstop on my shot and pushed myself outside my comfort zone to work on things that I'd probably never do in a game but made me more comfortable to take the easy shot.
So I think for her, it's just going to be about pushing herself to take those uncomfortable shots and continuing to work on it, and then we'll all believe in her when I see her make a few (smiling).
Q. You mentioned earlier about how the team was able to set the foundation for habits and things moving forward. I just wanted to ask about the staff in general. You were under the old staff; you've seen other staffs across the league. What were your impressions from them as a group, Sydney and everyone as a group in year one?
STEFANIE DOLSON: I thought they did great. I think, like I said before, this was a lot of newness for everyone, including the coaches, so I think they had to learn how to coach together and how to figure things out together. Sydney put a lot of faith in his assistant coaches, too, which is not always the case. Sometimes there's staffs where the head coach does everything, and sometimes there's staffs where the assistants do everything or it's just equal across the board.
I think they did a really good job of being -- like stepping up at different times. But it was just so clear, concise. We knew what we were doing on offense, we knew what we were doing on defense, and then Syd just poured into us. There was not a day where I didn't feel like he cared about every one of us, and that's also really special because there's a lot of head coaches that don't do that. I've had the good and the bad with coaches, and he's definitely great. It was a pleasure for me to be on the team and for this staff just in general.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports