Anastasiia Olairi Kosu has been playing competitive basketball on the big stage since her teenage years. The 6-1 Russian is in her second year with the Minnesota Lynx; she signed a three-year contract last year, a couple days after her 20th birthday.
During our sit-down interview after a recent Lynx practice, Kosu often apologized for her second language, English, but we assured her that it was just fine.
She lost her father, a former professional basketball player in Spain when Kosu was six years old. Her goal was to honor his memory by one day making the WNBA. She watched, played against and with many players who were in the league play during their overseas off-season jobs.
“I just started playing when I was 10,” said Kosu. “I started playing professional in Russia when I was 14, and started playing on the main team when I was 15. That was a really nice time.”
“During my childhood,” continued Kosu, “I’m watching the WNBA players in my home city. That was really cool, and I was imagining I will be playing too. Yeah, that was my dream.
“I saw them and I saw how they play, and that’s really like motivation, and that give me fire in my eyes. I want to play in (the) WNBA, and I want to play professional for national team, too.”
Before she was drafted by Minnesota in the second round, a week or two before her 19th birthday in 2025, Kosu showed that she can hold her own on the court. The forward averaged nearly 16 points and 13 rebounds in six starts when she played for Russia at the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup in Hungary.
Before that, Kosu was MVP of the 2019 FIBA U16 European Championship, averaging a tournament best 14.1 ppg (17 points overall) as Russia claimed the gold medal.
However, once she arrived in the States, Kosu had to make a double adjustment of both playing against older stronger players while learning to speak English.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect this league … it is so physical for me,” admitted Kosu. “But right now, I really love it. I love this game.”
Thus far, Kosu’s playing time is minimal, averaging 4.0 ppg and shooting nearly 48 percent from the field. Against Portland on June 15, she posted only her second double figure effort (11 points and a career high three assists), about two weeks after she scored a career high 12 points June 1 at Phoenix.
Kosu loves being a member of the Lynx, the first W team to clinch a playoff spot. “We are in the best position in the league, and I really love our system, our coaches,” she surmised. “It’s not easy to be here. It’s not easy to get your spot on a team, and we have a lot of great players.
“I’m really appreciative, I’m here and I’m still learning,” says the second-year Lynx. “I think there are no egos on this team, and that’s really helpful because everybody [is] just all together.”
Timberwolves’ move to DAZN is latest hit to local sports fans’ wallets
The Minnesota Timberwolves recently announced that most of its games this upcoming season will only be available on London-based DAZN streaming service as part of a new five-year deal.
It’s reported that it will cost around $35 per month, the current U.S. price to get DAZN.
As a result, the average sports fan once again is being squeezed out either by rising ticket prices or, now, an inability to watch their favorite team without paying extra, especially if they’re already paying for cable or satellite, through which, for years, teams’ games were available via a regional sports channel.
The regional sports network model has all but disappeared due to broadcast mergers, financial difficulties and other factors; all local teams except the Vikings once were home on such channels.
“For many of us who enjoy watching multiple Minnesota sports teams, it can be a challenge not only to have access to all the regional channels, but being able to afford the cost of them as well,” wrote local historian/teacher Dan Whenesota in his recent three-part series on the history of local pro sports on television.
The Lynx this season put 26 regular season games on Victory+ streaming service for free, and the rest of their games are shown either on local TV (three games on KARE-TV) or national television broadcast channels.
Minnesota Twins games are available on their Twins.TV set-up which is available for cable/satellite subscribers, with some games on Ch. 9 as well as a standalone streaming option for purchase.
The Wild has yet to announce their new TV plan for the season, but it is expected to be a standalone streaming option along with games produced in conjunction with the team and the NHL.
To read Dan Whenesota’s series, go to www.whesota.com/when-esotahallman/when-esota-blog.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses at challman@spokesman-recorder.com.
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