Dallas Wings Guard Allisha Gray Is a Gamer, in Every Way

The role reversal has not affected Gray, who has been just as productive, if not more.

In the season’s first game, against the Atlanta Dream, she finished with 19 points and began to relish her role as “bench leader,” powering the Wings’ second unit for several games and helping them become fifth in the league in points off the bench.

But then there was a plot twist: She was moved into the starting lineup because the team was getting off to slow starts. And Goggle Lish — which is what she has called herself since she was poked in the eye and started wearing goggles — continued to perform. She set single-game career highs in 3-pointers made (five) and points (22) while starting, and is now the team’s second-leading scorer with 12.1 points per game.

The New York Times talked to Gray about how her game has evolved, her greatest achievement and how she became a gamer.

This interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

How have you evolved from your rookie of the year season to Year 4?

I think just my feel for the game. I know my first two years in the league everything was kind of, like, fast paced and I was still learning different kinds of ways to score. I’m to the point now where the game has really slowed down for me to where I’m able to read screens more, read cuts, if someone is overplaying me.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/24/sports/basketball/wnba-dallas-wings-allisha-gray.html