How Alanna Smith's persistence brought back the fun and changed WNBA star's career

• Alanna Smith was named in the All-Star 5 at the Paris Olympics, where the Opals claimed bronze
• She was a key piece of the Minnesota Lynx's run to the WNBA Finals, losing in five games to New York
• Smith's journey is remarkable considering she missed out on the Opals team for the FIBA World Cup in 2022

Alanna Smith is at the peak of her powers.

Over the past 12 months, she led the Australian Opals to a remarkable bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, was a vital starting piece on a Minnesota Lynx squad that made it all the way to the WNBA Finals and just finished a season in the Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA) where she averaged 18.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.4 steals per game for Shandong.

To fully appreciate the magnitude of what Smith has accomplished in recent years, you need to understand that it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the 28-year-old Tasmanian.

Drafted eighth overall by the Phoenix Mercury in 2019 after a stellar college career at Stanford University, Smith struggled to lock down consistent minutes in star-studded teams, averaging just under 10 minutes per game across her first three seasons in the WNBA.

Injuries were taking their toll too, and Smith spoke candidly about her early years in the WNBA.

“Honestly, my confidence wavered a lot when I was in my early stages,” Smith told Basketball.com.au.

“It's one thing about the WNBA and just your professional career in general, there are moments where your confidence can be rocked, and I definitely experienced that pretty early on for probably two or three years.  

“I just had to learn how to build my own self-confidence, even in moments and situations where it was really, really hard. That's something as a young professional player, when you're fresh on the scene that's really, really hard to do. I was kind of thrown into the fire and had to learn on the fly, but it definitely took me a while to learn how to generate that self-confidence for myself.”

Smith was waived by the Indiana Fever in 2022 after nine games and was then left off the Opals squad for the World Cup in Sydney later that year.

All those setbacks only made the successes even sweeter.

“Just the entire year last year; we went through the Olympics and got bronze and then making it to the championship series with Minnesota, it was poetic justice,” she said.

“Just all the hard work, the tears and everything that I'd gone through kind of came to a point last year and it was really a moment of pride just in terms of how hard I've worked and also just the people that have stuck by me, despite all the ups and downs.  

“It all made it worth it in the end.”

It’s clear what self-belief and being in the right environment can do for a player. Now full of confidence, Smith is one of the best shooting bigs in the world. She shot 40% from deep for Minnesota last season and 42% for the Opals in Paris.

“I would say shooting has always been a strength of mine,” she said.

“It's just probably been my confidence that's built over the last couple years. I went through what some would consider a bit of a rough patch in my career, just in terms of not making teams and injuries, but shooting has always been something that I would say is a part of my game.  

“Just this last couple of years, the comfort side of things has definitely helped with that.”

Smith’s resurgence began in Poland, immediately after the disappointment of missing that Opals World Cup squad. She put a tough year behind her and proceeded to dominate the Polish League on her way to being named 2022/23 league MVP after averaging 22 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists per game for AZS AJP Gorzów Wielkopolski.  

She had rediscovered her joy for the game.

“It was after a really hard year that I'd had; being cut from Indiana and then that World Cup team as well,” she said.

“I had already signed in Poland and had a decision to make; am I going to go over there and think about this and let it really affect me, or am I just going to go over there and have fun?

“My main focus for that Polish season was just to enjoy basketball again, because it had got to the point of it where I was having a really hard time enjoying the game. That season for me was just focusing on having fun again and it really, really paid off. I had some great teammates (including fellow Australian Chantel Horvat) around me too, who were kind of in the same boat, just wanting to have a fun time playing basketball.”

Since that season, Smith’s career has rocketed to new heights and her Lynx squad last season was in many ways a reflection of her. Written off by some, but those doubters clearly didn’t know who they were dealing with. Despite Minnesota ultimately falling in heartbreaking fashion to New York in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals, it was an incredible season by a Lynx squad that wouldn’t be denied.

“We just had a fairytale season,” she said. “

Starting off with everyone thinking we were going to be bad and ranking us low in the preseason rankings, then we went through the season and won a lot of games, finished second and had the best defence in the league.”

“Then finally getting through to that championship series, we kind of knew from the start what we were capable of and so it was a little bit of a screw you to the haters. Everyone that had doubted us, we made it through and we knew all along we were capable of that.”

The dynamic duo of Smith and MVP-candidate Napheesa Collier was a game-changer for Minnesota last season. They compliment each other so well and allow one another to shine on a nightly basis.

“It's an honour [to play with her],” Smith said.

“She's one of the best players in the world, so being able to play alongside her and then train with her too, you just learn from the best and you know the saying, iron sharpens iron.  

“Not only is she getting better as she trains, but she's helping everyone around her get better too. I'm just really grateful that I'm able to be around a player like her and also just a person like her too. She's one of the most humble superstars that I know and she just makes it so easy to play with her. I'm super keen to get back out on court with her again.

“The goal is the same; to get back to that point and go that one step further. It's also just about taking it step by step, getting to a championship series is one of the hardest things to do, so I think we just want to continue to build off what we did last year.”

Smith did a lot of winning in 2024 and breaking through with the Opals to claim a bronze medal was something she had been dreaming of since she was a kid. She was the key for Australia, playing a consistently impressive role throughout the tournament and was recognised with well-deserved All-Star Five honours. It was recognition of unbelievable resiliency and hard work after being left off the World Cup squad two years earlier to shining bright as the best-performed player on an Olympic medal-winning squad.

“[The bronze medal game] was amazing,” she said.

“I've been in some big games before, but that was next level and I know for all of us on that team, it had been a childhood dream to win a medal at an Olympics. To be able to achieve that with the group that we had, it was unreal.  

“We had such a dedicated group of women who were all amazing people too, I just wouldn't have wanted to do it with anyone else.”

Even when things weren’t going well for the Opals, Smith was standing tall, highlighted by her 15 points and seven rebounds against Nigeria in the tournament-opening loss. Then when it was all on the line against Belgium in the bronze medal game, Smith was again at the forefront, recording a double-double of 13 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. Her intensity and work rate shone through when Australia needed it most.

“It's all about short term memory, especially in tournaments like that where you play a heap of games in a short amount of time,” she said.

“You can't focus on games that were in the past, it's about looking forward and focusing on the next goal. For me, it was just about that next game mentality.”

Not letting that loss against Nigeria break their spirit was a credit to the culture and belief the Opals have built over a number of years. It all paid off with a bronze medal.

“Even with how that first game against Nigeria went, obviously we didn't play the way we wanted to play and we were getting a lot of negative feedback, a lot of comments about the game and people saying that we were washed basically,” she said.

“I think what really helped us get through that and just focus on the next game was the culture that we had spent a long time trying to build and curate.  

“I don't think it would have gone the way that it did if we didn't have that foundation of such a good culture amongst us.”

It’s been a spectacular 12 months for Alanna Smith and with the 2025 WNBA season just around the corner, she’ll be looking to keep the good times rolling with in Minnesota.

About the Author

Hayley Wildes is passionate about all things Australian women’s basketball and loves to highlight the stories of players from all levels and competitions across the globe. From our own backyard in the WNBL, to the WNBA and the Opals, and everything in between, Hayley has you covered.