NaLyssa Smith (born August 8, 2000) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Dallas Wings The Dallas Wings are an American professional basketball team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Wings compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team is owned by a group ...

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA). She played college basketball for Baylor, winning the NCAA Division I Championship in 2019 and the

Wade Trophy The Wade Trophy is an award presented annually to the best upperclass women's basketball player in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I competition. It is named after three–time national champion Delta State ...

in 2021. She was drafted second overall by the

Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Fever compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was founded for ...

in the

2022 WNBA draft The 2022 WNBA Draft, the WNBA's draft for the 2022 WNBA season, was held on April 11, 2022, in New York City and aired live on WNBA on ESPN, ESPN in the United States and on The Sports Network, TSN1/4 in Canada at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time Zone, EDT ...

Early life

Smith grew up in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

and played at East Central High School, averaging 23.4 points, 13.7 rebounds, and 3.4 blocks per game as a senior. A five-star recruit and the no. 3 recruit by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, Smith committed to playing

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

at Baylor over schools such as

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

, and

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

College career

Freshman year

As a freshman, Smith came off the bench for the Lady Bears and provided steady minutes. Baylor coach,

Kim Mulkey Kimberly Duane Mulkey (born May 17, 1962) is an American college basketball coach and former player. Since 2021, she has been the head coach for Louisiana State University's LSU Tigers women's basketball, women's basketball team. A Pan-American ...

, praised Smith and said that she won many games for the Bears during their national championship season because opposing teams were too focused on the team's star players, Lauren Cox and Kalani Brown. In the national championship game, she came off the bench to replace an injured Cox and put up eight points and four rebounds to help Baylor win the title over Notre Dame.

Sophomore year

Smith was promoted into the starting lineup in her sophomore year and improved on her production, averaging 14.3 points and 8 rebounds en route to earning first-team All-Big 12 honors. She also led the Lady Bears in

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the ter ...

s with a total of 11.

Junior year

Smith continued to improve, averaging a near double-double and winning Big 12 Player of the Year. In the NCAA tournament, Smith scored 24 points in the Lady Bears' Sweet Sixteen match against

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

and tied a tournament record for most field goals made without a miss with 11. Smith's stellar season garnered her a number of awards, such as the

, the

Katrina McClain Award The Katrina McClain Award is an award presented annually to the best women's basketball power forward in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I competition. It is named after Hall of Famer Katrina McClain-Pittman, a two-t ...

, and

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors from the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

Women's Basketball Coaches Association The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels. The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches. The mission of the WBC ...

, and the

United States Basketball Writers Association The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 with the urging of National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The U ...

Professional career

WNBA

Indiana Fever (2022–2024)

On April 11, 2022, Smith was drafted second overall by the

in the

, and would go on to be selected to the

WNBA All-Rookie Team The WNBA All-Rookie Team is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) honor given since the 2005 WNBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the WNBA head coaches, who are not allowed to vote f ...

alongside then teammate,

Queen Egbo Queen Kamsiyochukwu Egbo (born June 29, 2000) is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. She previously played in the WNBA for the Indiana Fever, Washington Mystics, Connecticut Sun, Los Angeles Sparks and Las Ve ...

Dallas Wings (2025–present)

On January 31, 2025, sports journalist Kendra Andrews reported that Smith and the 8th pick in the

2025 WNBA draft The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)'s draft for the 2025 WNBA season, 2025 season was held following the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. It marked the first draft for the newest expansion team for the league, ...

would be traded to the

in a three-way team deal that would send

Sophie Cunningham Sophie Cunningham may refer to: * Sophie Cunningham (writer) * Sophie Cunningham (basketball) {{hndis, Cunningham, Sophie ...

and the 2025 19th overall pick from the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

to the Fever. The deal was finalized on February 2, 2025 and was officially part of a larger four-team trade.

Overseas

Galatasaray

On August 30, 2023, she signed with

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

of the Turkish

Women's Basketball Super League The Women's Basketball Super League (, KBSL), also known as the ING Women's Basketball Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the top women's professional basketball division of the Turkish women's basketball league system. The league was establ ...

(TKBL).

Zhejiang

Smith signed with the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the

Women's Chinese Basketball Association The Women's Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the WCBA, is the first-tier professional women's basketball league in China. It was established in 2002 as the women's counterpart to the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). ...

for the 2024–2025 season. She was released by the team after suffering an ankle injury.

Unrivaled

Mist BC (2025–present)

In January,

Mist BC Mist Basketball Club, also known as Mist BC, is an American professional basketball team. They are a member of the Unrivaled basketball league, and made their debut in January 2025. The teams are based in Miami, Florida and Phil Handy is the Mist ...

signed Smith to a relief player contract due to

DiJonai Carrington DiJonai Victoria Carrington (born January 8, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for Stanford and later Baylor before bein ...

and

Jewell Loyd Jewell Loyd (born October 5, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Nicknamed the "Gold Mamba", she played college basketball at Notre Dame and was selec ...

being unavailable for their January 24 game versus

Phantom BC Phantom Basketball Club, also known as Phantom BC, is an American three-on-three professional basketball team. They are a member of the Unrivaled (basketball), Unrivaled basketball league, and made their debut in January 2025. The teams are based i ...

National team career

Smith was a member of the United States women's national under-18 basketball team at the 2018 FIBA Americas U18 Championship, helping them win the gold medal in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. She was selected to represent the

United States women's national under-19 basketball team United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

at the

2019 FIBA Under-19 Women's Basketball World Cup The 2019 FIBA Under-19 Women's Basketball World Cup (Thai: บาสเกตบอลหญิงชิงแชมป์โลกรุ่นอายุไม่เกิน 19 ปี 2019) (formerly FIBA U19 Women's World Championship) was ...

, but withdrew due to injury concerns.

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

''Stats current through end of 2024 regular season'' , - , align="left" ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, align="left" ,

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, 32 , , 32 , , 30.7 , , .419 , , .381 , , .618 , , 7.9 , , 1.4 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 2.4, , 13.5 , - , align="left" ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, align="left" ,

, 31 , , 28 , , 28.5 , , .477 , , .284 , , .677 , , 9.2 , , 1.4 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 2.7 , , 15.5 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, style="background:#D3D3D3", 40° , , 37 , , 24.8 , , .480, , .292 , , .567 , , 7.1 , , 1.0 , , 0.8, , 1.0 , , 1.3, , 10.6 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 3 years, 1 team , 103 , , 97 , , 27.8 , , .458 , , .330 , , .620 , , 8.0 , , 1.3 , , 0.5 , , 0.6 , , 2.1 , , 13.0

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

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, 2 , , 1 , , 6.5 , , .000 , , —, , —, , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 1 year, 1 team , 2 , , 1 , , 6.5 , , .000 , , —, , —, , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 1.0 , , 0.0

College

, - , style="background:#ffcc00; width:10%; text-align:center;", 2018–19* , style="text-align:left;" , Baylor , 38 , , 1 , , 15.3 , , .543 , , .111 , , .681 , , 5.1 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 0.9 , , 8.4 , - , style="text-align:center;" , 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;" , Baylor , 28 , , 27 , , 24.1 , , .586 , , .000 , , .746 , , 8.0 , , 0.6 , , 0.9 , , 0.6 , , 1.7 , , 14.3 , - , style="text-align:center;" ,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;" , Baylor , 31 , , 31 , , 30.5 , , .561 , , .214 , , .792 , , 8.9 , , 1.2 , , 1.2 , , 0.8 , , 2.8 , , 18.0 , - , style="text-align:center;" , 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;" , Baylor , 35 , , 35 , , 32.9 , , .550 , , .237 , , .795 , , 11.5 , , 1.1 , , 0.7 , , 1.1 , , 2.5 , , 22.1 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2 , Career , 132 , , 94 , , 25.4 , , .558 , , .200 , , .768 , , 8.3 , , 0.8 , , 0.8 , , 0.7 , , 1.9 , , 15.5

Personal life

Smith is the daughter of Rodney and Nikki Smith. She is in a relationship with her Dallas Wings teammate

. Her father played basketball at UTSA, and her brother, Rodney Jr., played soccer at the

University of Saint Mary The University of Saint Mary (USM) is a private Catholic university in Leavenworth, Kansas, United States. It is sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, who established it in 1923 as Saint Mary College. Though it was originally a sch ...

References

External links

*
Baylor Lady Bears profile

USA Basketball profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, NaLyssa 2000 births Living people American women's basketball players Basketball players from San Antonio LGBTQ basketball players LGBTQ people from Texas American lesbian sportswomen Power forwards Baylor Bears women's basketball players All-American college women's basketball players Indiana Fever draft picks Indiana Fever players Dallas Wings players Galatasaray S.K. (women's basketball) players 21st-century American sportswomen Athletes Unlimited basketball players Unrivaled basketball players