Lady Liberty: A One-on-One with the NBA's First Female Player
Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 1:35 am
"Everybody just always assumes I'm a dude."
Outside of her highly athletic 6'1" build, it's borderline impossible to see how anyone could make the mistake of thinking that the Washington Wizards' Kendall Liberty is a man, though absolutely nobody would see her and peg her as an NBA player to begin with either. Olive-skinned with curly shoulder-length auburn hair (Kendall identifies as biracial), she flashes an awkward grin as she continues.
"That's actually how I legit ended up as Mr. Basketball in high school. Whoever was doing the award wasn't really paying attention, they just saw my stats by my name and named me Mr. Basketball. And in Indiana, that's a pretty big deal."
The notoriety gained from a simple mistake in high school didn't carry over to college, where the highly-touted 5-star prospect played 5th fiddle to a stacked Purdue team featuring current WNBA stars Shaniqua Shanell, Kayleigh Hanover, Vanessa Barone, and Maria Cortez-Martin ("I didn't really get much of a chance to do anything super big, it was kinda frustrating, even though I love those gals"). Despite a pair of All-Conference selections and an All-American selection under her belt for her last two seasons, she was pegged as a middling role player with a knack for defense. With the distinct lack of hype around her resulting in her not being selected in the WNBA Draft, Kendall prepared to focus on her post-grad life as an architect...until the NBA's Washington Wizards came calling.
So how did things go down?
I don't actually know how things progressed behind the scenes, I guess it was just the same as last time with the Mr. Basketball thing, but apparently my name showed up somewhere on a list of draft prospects. So one day Lance - my brother - yells at me to come downstairs, there's someone on the phone for me. Turns out it's the Wizards' GM, asking if I could come in for a pre-draft workout. I don't think I sound like a guy but he didn't seem surprised to hear my voice. So I let him know, ummm, there must be a mistake, you know I'm a girl right? And he pauses for a second, then says "Well I guess you're definitely worth a look then." And that was that.
Were you a Wizards fan growing up?
(Laughs) No, not really. I didn't even start liking basketball until I started junior high! My dad's from DC though, so he was a die-hard. I actually started off a Clippers fan, y'know, because of Phil Brooks.
He's a big influence on you?
Oh yeah, he was totally my idol once I started playing ball. He's from Evansville, and pretty much a legend in Indiana, even though he went to college out of state, at Georgia. I pretty much tried to imitate everything he did in high school, I tried to set records at my school equal to the ones he set at his, I studied his moves, his style, even his hairstyle! (Laughs) The hair thing was probably a bad idea, though somehow I ended up winning Mr. Basketball just like he did, so I guess it paid off! Of course, he ended up leaving the Clippers and signing with DC, so I ended up following them. I guess that's why I ultimately went along with all of this, it felt like fate.
How'd it feel to hear your name called?
It...was honestly like nothing else I'd ever experienced. I wasn't there, but I was on video, and the Wizards had sent me a package that they wanted me to open up when my name was called. I saw that jersey, and...man. I was already emotional just from actually hearing my name called, but to open that box up and see my name, on an official NBA jersey...it was so unreal.
Were they the only team that contacted you pre-draft?
Yeah, and I thought that was totally weird. I talked to a couple of other rookies during ASG weekend, and a lot of them said the same, that only two or three teams at most contacted them, and apparently this was considered a weak draft. Word had started spreading that teams were just taking guys with little research or thought to it. I guess that's why Xist made the deal to move up and draft me, he was worried that some team would pick me up just because.
Not even the media covered you?
Pre-draft? Nope, I guess it was a combination of the dude name thing and the fact that everyone was talking about Hayes, Fang, Patton, those guys. A week or so before the draft, word got out and then they started talking about it a bit, I got an interview or two, etc., but I really don't think anyone took it seriously and just figured that it was a stunt to spice up a dull news cycle. The media didn't really start swarming until halfway through preseason. Maybe up until then, they thought I'd just get cut.
So how was the transition to the NBA?
It was hard! I expected it to be different, but it was far beyond what I'd thought. It's like everything's different, the timing, the speed...I basically had to spend the first half of the season getting in sync with the game, because when I first got here during training camp, yikes.
Wow, really? You started off the season as a starter.
I know, and I was freaking terrified! Every night I felt like throwing up. Everyone was cool about it, but the pressure was still there. You just know it's there, right? You can feel it.
So your teammates were cool from the start?
Oh yeah, they're a great group of guys. It's one of the coolest groups of people that I've ever been a part of.
And now you guys are in the Finals.
Yeah. It's incredible to think about it, this time last year I was prepping for tests, now I'm prepping for a chance to go down in history. It's crazy.
Did you think you would be here?
No way. I mean, winning is always on our minds, we totally wanted this, but wanting and expecting is different, you know? And Tony, man, he really wants this, so I know he's stoked.
Cucone?
Yeah. I'm really grateful to him, he's been so helpful. It would've been so easy to freeze out a complete unknown rook who's playing the same position, but not only was he cool, but he saw it as a challenge, to learn how to adapt his talents to excel at different positions. He really wants to go down as the best PG in Wizards history, period, ahead of Wesley, Webb, JR, T-Evans, all those guys. So he figures the only way to do that is to do what they never did, and that's win a ring.
Dope. So there's been a bit of backlash to you playing, from unexpected sources to boot. Any thoughts?
Honestly, I think people get too caught up in the idea of being first. Like, if you're first, that must mean that you're obviously better, that you deserve it or something. That's not always the case though, it's more like right place, right time, right situation. And I'm not even the first woman to be drafted, I'm just the first to actually play. So yeah, like people say that I don't deserve to be here, that there are so many other women out there both then and now that should've gotten this opportunity, and yeah I agree to a point. There's a lot of talented women, and I'll never say that I deserve this over them. But deserve doesn't have anything to do with it, I'm the one that's here now, and I gotta make the most of it so that the ones people do feel deserve it can get a real shot.
Word. Well thanks for your time, good luck in the Finals.
Thank you!
Outside of her highly athletic 6'1" build, it's borderline impossible to see how anyone could make the mistake of thinking that the Washington Wizards' Kendall Liberty is a man, though absolutely nobody would see her and peg her as an NBA player to begin with either. Olive-skinned with curly shoulder-length auburn hair (Kendall identifies as biracial), she flashes an awkward grin as she continues.
"That's actually how I legit ended up as Mr. Basketball in high school. Whoever was doing the award wasn't really paying attention, they just saw my stats by my name and named me Mr. Basketball. And in Indiana, that's a pretty big deal."
The notoriety gained from a simple mistake in high school didn't carry over to college, where the highly-touted 5-star prospect played 5th fiddle to a stacked Purdue team featuring current WNBA stars Shaniqua Shanell, Kayleigh Hanover, Vanessa Barone, and Maria Cortez-Martin ("I didn't really get much of a chance to do anything super big, it was kinda frustrating, even though I love those gals"). Despite a pair of All-Conference selections and an All-American selection under her belt for her last two seasons, she was pegged as a middling role player with a knack for defense. With the distinct lack of hype around her resulting in her not being selected in the WNBA Draft, Kendall prepared to focus on her post-grad life as an architect...until the NBA's Washington Wizards came calling.
So how did things go down?
I don't actually know how things progressed behind the scenes, I guess it was just the same as last time with the Mr. Basketball thing, but apparently my name showed up somewhere on a list of draft prospects. So one day Lance - my brother - yells at me to come downstairs, there's someone on the phone for me. Turns out it's the Wizards' GM, asking if I could come in for a pre-draft workout. I don't think I sound like a guy but he didn't seem surprised to hear my voice. So I let him know, ummm, there must be a mistake, you know I'm a girl right? And he pauses for a second, then says "Well I guess you're definitely worth a look then." And that was that.
Were you a Wizards fan growing up?
(Laughs) No, not really. I didn't even start liking basketball until I started junior high! My dad's from DC though, so he was a die-hard. I actually started off a Clippers fan, y'know, because of Phil Brooks.
He's a big influence on you?
Oh yeah, he was totally my idol once I started playing ball. He's from Evansville, and pretty much a legend in Indiana, even though he went to college out of state, at Georgia. I pretty much tried to imitate everything he did in high school, I tried to set records at my school equal to the ones he set at his, I studied his moves, his style, even his hairstyle! (Laughs) The hair thing was probably a bad idea, though somehow I ended up winning Mr. Basketball just like he did, so I guess it paid off! Of course, he ended up leaving the Clippers and signing with DC, so I ended up following them. I guess that's why I ultimately went along with all of this, it felt like fate.
How'd it feel to hear your name called?
It...was honestly like nothing else I'd ever experienced. I wasn't there, but I was on video, and the Wizards had sent me a package that they wanted me to open up when my name was called. I saw that jersey, and...man. I was already emotional just from actually hearing my name called, but to open that box up and see my name, on an official NBA jersey...it was so unreal.
Were they the only team that contacted you pre-draft?
Yeah, and I thought that was totally weird. I talked to a couple of other rookies during ASG weekend, and a lot of them said the same, that only two or three teams at most contacted them, and apparently this was considered a weak draft. Word had started spreading that teams were just taking guys with little research or thought to it. I guess that's why Xist made the deal to move up and draft me, he was worried that some team would pick me up just because.
Not even the media covered you?
Pre-draft? Nope, I guess it was a combination of the dude name thing and the fact that everyone was talking about Hayes, Fang, Patton, those guys. A week or so before the draft, word got out and then they started talking about it a bit, I got an interview or two, etc., but I really don't think anyone took it seriously and just figured that it was a stunt to spice up a dull news cycle. The media didn't really start swarming until halfway through preseason. Maybe up until then, they thought I'd just get cut.
So how was the transition to the NBA?
It was hard! I expected it to be different, but it was far beyond what I'd thought. It's like everything's different, the timing, the speed...I basically had to spend the first half of the season getting in sync with the game, because when I first got here during training camp, yikes.
Wow, really? You started off the season as a starter.
I know, and I was freaking terrified! Every night I felt like throwing up. Everyone was cool about it, but the pressure was still there. You just know it's there, right? You can feel it.
So your teammates were cool from the start?
Oh yeah, they're a great group of guys. It's one of the coolest groups of people that I've ever been a part of.
And now you guys are in the Finals.
Yeah. It's incredible to think about it, this time last year I was prepping for tests, now I'm prepping for a chance to go down in history. It's crazy.
Did you think you would be here?
No way. I mean, winning is always on our minds, we totally wanted this, but wanting and expecting is different, you know? And Tony, man, he really wants this, so I know he's stoked.
Cucone?
Yeah. I'm really grateful to him, he's been so helpful. It would've been so easy to freeze out a complete unknown rook who's playing the same position, but not only was he cool, but he saw it as a challenge, to learn how to adapt his talents to excel at different positions. He really wants to go down as the best PG in Wizards history, period, ahead of Wesley, Webb, JR, T-Evans, all those guys. So he figures the only way to do that is to do what they never did, and that's win a ring.
Dope. So there's been a bit of backlash to you playing, from unexpected sources to boot. Any thoughts?
Honestly, I think people get too caught up in the idea of being first. Like, if you're first, that must mean that you're obviously better, that you deserve it or something. That's not always the case though, it's more like right place, right time, right situation. And I'm not even the first woman to be drafted, I'm just the first to actually play. So yeah, like people say that I don't deserve to be here, that there are so many other women out there both then and now that should've gotten this opportunity, and yeah I agree to a point. There's a lot of talented women, and I'll never say that I deserve this over them. But deserve doesn't have anything to do with it, I'm the one that's here now, and I gotta make the most of it so that the ones people do feel deserve it can get a real shot.
Word. Well thanks for your time, good luck in the Finals.
Thank you!