Four WNBA All-Defense First Team awards, 11 postseason appearances, WNBA Champion, sharp as a tack, incredibly competitive—Tanisha Wright is not a fun person to play against. That’s why the Lynx are so glad that this season she’s on their side.
Wright hasn’t played basketball in a while. She spent last year off the court. She needed a mental break. Wright still loved the game, but she needed to not be thinking about only basketball, all the time.
But after taking a job as an assistant coach at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Wright realized that she couldn’t walk away just yet.
“After going through a season of coaching and playing with my girls and seeing them compete I really started to feel like I wanted to compete at a high level,” Wright said.
She’s excited to get back to the floor, and her year off isn’t a hurdle to overcome, it’s an experience that has made her better. Wright’s year of rest has rejuvenated her, and her time coaching has added another level to her approach to the game.
“You do everything differently once you’ve been on that side of things,” she said. “Much, much, much more focused on the details of things, because you realize that the small details make the big difference in winning and losing games.”
Her time on UNC Charlotte’s bench will make Wright a valuable asset to a team that rightfully has championship aspirations this season. She knows what it takes to win, and she has developed an incredibly nuanced understanding of the game. Whether it’s helping to get the best out of her teammates, or performing on the court herself, the Lynx are happy that Wright’s journey back to playing basketball ended with them.
“Transitioning from coaching it and seeing it, and not actually being able to do it, now you get to be able to put into play everything you just taught your young kids,” Wright said.
But Wright is not here to be a coach. In looking for a place to begin her playing career anew, she was clear about one thing—she wanted to play. Wright missed the high-level competition of the WNBA and she knows she still has the ability to make an impact on the court as well as off of it.
“Obviously, I understand the importance of having a veteran leader on teams and what that can bring especially to the young kids,” said Wright. “But I wanted to do that and contribute on the court as well.”
In the Lynx, Wright found a more than willing partner. When the team heard that Wright was planning a comeback, getting her in a Lynx uniform became a top priority. Their excitement was heightened when they saw that Wright hadn’t lost a step in her year off.
“She’s the ultimate professional so she’s always going to be in shape, ready to go, working hard,” Lynx point guard Lindsay Whalen said.
“We are giddy about Tanisha Wright. She brings an instant energy, an instant physicality to her defense,” coach Cheryl Reeve said. “This is a veteran we thought was a must have.”
Her new teammates are thrilled to have Wright on board. Outside of her locker-room leadership and veteran experience, Wright brings the Lynx a defensive tenacity and versatility that will give opposing teams fits. Paired with the speed of Danielle Robinson, the Lynx’s backup guards will be very hard to score against.
“I love the fact that we continue to bring vets into this group,” forward Rebekkah Brunson said. “They understand what it takes to win, they understand how to be great leaders and great teammates.”
“She’s a great defender and I’m happy to have her on our side. She harassed [Whalen] a lot, so I think [Whalen] is excited to have her on our side too,” Brunson added.
The Lynx’s rotation isn’t set, and it’s not yet clear exactly how Reeve will balance the different talents of Whalen, Wright, Robinson, and Seimone Augustus, but one thing is for sure—Wright will find a way to contribute.
“The biggest thing I can bring to this organization is to be myself,” she said. “I’m naturally a leader, competitor, I’m going to be super competitive when I’m out there. When I’m playing I want to win.”
That’s exactly what the team wants to hear. They don’t want their new additions to defer to returning players or worry about fitting their games to what the team already has in place. Minnesota only brought in players who fit what they want to do on the court and are ready to contribute to their culture.
“We want [new players] for their strengths, so you may come in to this team that’s won several championships and think, ‘Oh maybe I shouldn’t shoot this shot,’ but we want them to play their game, we want them to do what they’ve done their whole careers that’s brought them here,” Whalen said.
For Wright, that will be getting stops, setting a tone on defense, and doing whatever dirty work her team needs from her—in short, being the player that the Lynx used to hate playing against. This fact isn’t lost on Reeve:
“We walk out of here each day just going, ‘We’re sure glad she’s with us.’”