We recently talked to two WNBA players: one a longtime local favorite, and the other looking for her chance to stick and shine.
Banham says coaching ‘still in my blood’
When a reporter jokingly called Rachel Banham a grizzled WNBA veteran, she couldn’t help but smile.
“It’s so funny,” the Lakeville, Minn. native said. “I’m the third oldest on our team.” She celebrates her 31st birthday July 15.
“And it’s so weird to me to even say that, but it’s fun being a vet because I just feel like I’ve seen so much and I’m able to give advice or be able to handle a lot of different adversities.”
Banham signed with the Connecticut Sun back in February as a free agent. She returned to the team that drafted her out of Minnesota in 2016, fourth overall, and played her first four seasons there (2016-19). Then the 5’10” guard signed with Minnesota and played the last four seasons here.
A flat-out scorer in college, Banham can still do the same when the opportunity presents itself. She needs less than 70 made field goals to reach 500 in her career. She already has surpassed 200 made three-pointers and 1,000 points in her career as well.
Banham on Sunday hit a pro career high 24 points and tied a team record with eight 3-pointers in a win over Phoenix.
“For the first time, my leadership role is a lot bigger,” continued Banham. “My role is always to be that light in the locker room, to be the energy to keep people locked in and happy and feeling good. That’s always been my role.”
Now in her second stint with the Sun, “I think my leadership role is bigger, and then just being adaptable and being able to play in different positions,” she said proudly.
The last two off seasons Banham was a Minnesota Golden Gophers assistant coach, a position she left when she signed with Connecticut.
“I got to learn a lot,” said Banham. “The technology side probably was the biggest thing.”
Was the Gophers job a one-off? “Coaching is definitely still in my blood,” said Banham. “Maybe I’ll go to the pro side next. I need to figure that out and start exploring it.
“But I definitely want to keep coaching in some capacity.”
Kone ‘started very young’
She was part of a seemingly complicated draft-day trade between Chicago and Minnesota in April that brought second-year forward Sika Kone to the Lynx this season. The 2024 first-round draft pick that Minnesota shipped away eventually resulted in Angel Reese being selected by the Sky.
As Reese is a starter and a strong contender for Rookie of the Year honors, the 6’2” Sika Kone is seeing reserve minutes off the bench. “I have to improve,” admitted the Mali native. I play inside, so I have to work more on my shots to get more confident, to be able to improve my game.”
After she led Mali to a fourth-place finish at the 2021 U19 World Cup in Hungary and made the All Star 5, Kone was selected by New York in the third round of the 2022 WNBA draft. She made her WNBA debut in 2023 with Chicago, who claimed her off waivers two days after being waived by the Liberty.
“When I started basketball,” recalled Kone, “I started very young.” She eventually went to Spain. “I was still going to school and was playing basketball competitively,” she pointed out. “I played like a pro so young when I went to Spain.”
But the WNBA, the world’s best pro league, is another platform altogether.
“I have a lot of things to work on being in the league,” concluded Kone. “I’m ready for this. I gotta learn to get clever.”