“I think from just year one to year four, every year, it just gets more fun for me,” Sims said of her time playing in AU so far. “… I love the game, and the game loves me back. Obviously I know my abilities on the court. I can score, I can pass, I can affect the game defensively.”
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Sims also talked about her experience with AU, and how it’s helped her navigate her relationship with the WNBA and professional basketball in general. AU changes its teams up week to week, with the highest ranking players becoming each team’s designated captain.
“It’s a little different where you’re captain,” Sims explained. “It just gives you the freedom to just play and be you … when I [started playing] AU, I was in the middle of just [thinking] like, ‘What am I? What do I want to do? I want to keep playing basketball. Is this it?’ … I have my struggles with it, with the W, in and out the league the last few years. So AU kind of brought me back to just loving the game, and it’s helped me to basically continue to go. I just told myself I was never going to give up, and I played my way into a contract with L.A. I couldn’t be more thankful to come back for them, to allow me to come back every year. But it’s just fun. It’s fun to be a part of. It’s fun to watch if you’re not a part of it.”
As for how the leaderboard affects her approach to the game, Sims says she tries not to let it impact her focus or attention to detail. Sims is currently ranked second in the league, behind first-ranked Maddy Siegrist.
“You get pluses and minuses, you get deductions and you get points for just about everything,” Sims explained. “So I just always tell myself, that’s going to take care of itself. I can’t go out and play perfect all week and make sure that I try to go 10 for 10 and not have any turnovers, and not have any any errors. I think what’s going to happen, if I’m a champion at the end of it, then it was destined for it to be me. If it’s not, if it’s Maddy, it was destined to be her at the end of the day. … My end goal is always top four, of course, my goal is to be number one at the end of this year, because I’m really, really close. But whoever gets it is going to deserve it out of me and Maddy, so just going to play hard and kind of just … let everything take care of itself.”
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Tune in to hear more from Sims about her experience in Athletes Unlimited, what to expect as the league’s short season comes to a close, and more. Make sure to subscribe to the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast to keep learning about the WNBA, women’s college basketball, basketball history and much more!
