Lynx’s Alanna Smith: X-factor, All-Defensive player, grad student

NEW YORK — Two years before Alanna Smith grabbed the offensive rebound that set up Courtney Williams’ 4-point play in one of the most remarkable sequences in WNBA history, Smith was at home in Australia not even thinking about the league.

The 6-foot-4 forward played the first nine games of the 2022 season with the Indiana Fever. By the end of May, despite signing with Indiana that offseason, the Fever released her. The Fever roster was young and inexperienced, and it went on to win just five games. Smith was only 25, but Indiana had deemed her services unnecessary.

“I was in the mindset that I wasn’t going to play in the W again,” Smith said. “I didn’t really want to.”

But there Smith was Thursday night during the Minnesota Lynx’s eventual Game 1 WNBA Finals victory over the New York Liberty, taking the floor after a career season that saw her make the All-Defensive second team. Ahead of the opening tip, Smith, who says she is “self-reflective to a fault,” took in the scene. She tries to remember her journey before each game. “Two years ago, you were at home, not even thinking about the WNBA,” she said. “It’s a nice little reminder that anything can happen.”

Smith’s path has not been linear. But over the last two seasons, the six-year veteran’s growth has been dramatic. What’s even more impressive is that she’s performed to such standards — 10.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game on 39.8 percent 3-point shooting this season — while juggling another commitment: grad school.

This summer, Smith began a master’s degree in psychology, taking online classes from Australia’s Monash University. While playing for the Opals at the Paris Olympics, Smith was enrolled in a six-week intensive course on the ethics of psychology. She learned about internal biases and how past experiences inform interactions as she thought about how to slow down A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and Emma Meesseman.

More recently, Smith took a six-week statistics class. It finished Monday, just one day before the Lynx’s Game 5 semifinal win over the Connecticut Sun. Her last assignment involved writing a journal manuscript interpreting a data set.

Effective time management has been key for Smith, who honed such skills as a Stanford undergraduate. She studies while recovering at home. Lynx teammates note she’s always doing homework on flights or working on her tablet on bus rides. “I try to distract her from homework to come to do stuff,” star forward Napheesa Collier said. “Sometimes successfully, sometimes not.”

Smith, who aspires to be a registered psychologist, said she doesn’t want to burden on her teammates by asking them for help. But late in the season, she did on at least one occasion.

“I’m good at statistics. I’m good at all subjects, math, reading, writing, science, whatever you need,” reserve guard Natisha Hiedeman said she told Smith.

“I told her I could have been her tutor,” Hiedeman added. How did Smith react to her teammate’s suggestion?

“She wanted a different one,” Hiedeman recalled.

One area where Smith seldom needs assistance is on defense.

That was part of what former Chicago Sky coach and general manager James Wade knew when he convinced Smith to return to the WNBA in 2023. Yes, Wade saw Smith averaging more than 20 points and nearly 10 rebounds per game while playing in Poland that winter, but he spotted her defensive versatility, too.

While out of the league, Smith believed she was never going to play in the WNBA again unless a roster spot was all but guaranteed. She didn’t want to risk moving to America for another short-term deal that could upend her life again if things were to go awry. “But (Wade) gave me a secure spot,” she said. “He gave me security.” And in turn, a confidence to know she could thrive in the W.

Last offseason, after a bounce-back year in Chicago, Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve was similarly intrigued. She had watched Smith’s multidimensional game dating to Smith’s time with the Cardinal. It helped that before signing Smith to a two-year deal this offseason, Collier told Reeve that Smith was one of the toughest players to compete against.

Minnesota’s defense relies on players moving on a string and scrambling around to close off driving lanes or potential open shooters. Smith has excelled. She is third league-wide in defensive rating among players with more than 1,000 minutes this season. “I don’t worry about anything she does,” Reeve said. “There is immediate trust because all of her movements make sense.”

Added Williams: “She defends the biggest, sometimes best player on the other team. She never complains. She gets knocked down. Beat up every other night, and she gives us 100 percent.”

Alanna Smith catches and finishes the two at the basket 🫡#WNBAFinals presented by @YouTubeTV pic.twitter.com/JcnCg4D2S6

— WNBA (@WNBA) October 11, 2024

Against New York, Smith is largely tasked with slowing down star center Jonquel Jones. How she fares will be vital throughout the rest of the series, which continues Sunday afternoon. Jones finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds in Game 1, but she had been held to single digits in three of four matchups with Minnesota heading into the finals.

Smith said she approaches guarding Jones by breaking the game down into small moments, focusing on little details every possession down the floor. “Like, this play I’m not going to let her touch the ball,” Smith said. “This play, I’m going to box out really, really hard. If I can reduce the impact, I think that’s a win for me.” Reeve said Smith’s impact is understated. Still, she stressed after Game 1 that the forward’s impact is an important reason Minnesota is leading 1-0 in the finals.

Smith is focused on the task at hand. But that doesn’t mean another commitment doesn’t loom large in the future. “I’ve got two weeks before my next class starts,” Smith said.

Just enough time to reset, refresh and potentially win a WNBA championship.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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