Kayla McBride does not know Naomi Osaka. So McBride doesn't know the specifics of what Osaka is going through, how it led to her withdrawing from the French Open — and, perhaps, stepping back from the game for a while in general — to deal with issues in her life.
She doesn't know why Osaka felt dealing with postmatch media interviews is so difficult.
But here's something McBride does know: She supports Osaka, 100%.
"Mental health is something, as athletes, sometimes our ego can get in the way," McBride said after Lynx practice Tuesday. "We focus on being athletes all the time. It's, 'OK, I have this, I have this.' You do media, you want to say the right things. … Sometimes it takes away from what really matters. The game, having fun. That's why we picked up a ball in the first place. Or a racquet."
McBride understands that, firsthand.
She has, in the past, been open about her own struggles with mental health. How she decided not to go overseas in the fall of 2019 because she felt she needed to get way from the game. And then about how the COVID-19 pandemic — and the quarantines that went with it — ultimately took her away from the game. In a Players Tribune piece she penned last September she talked about how being away from the game forced her to deal with an anxiety issue that had its roots in her childhood.
Both McBride and Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve talked about the issue Tuesday. Reeve in particular talked about how much things have changed when it comes to talking about mental health issues from when she was a player.
And how much change is still needed. "A player should feel safe enough to come to an organization and say, 'I'm struggling and I need help,' " Reeve said. "There should not be consequences for that."
