WNBA star and model Kysre Gondrezick is addressing the heat she faced after becoming the first Black woman athlete to grace the cover of Playboy.
On the latest episode of 7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony, the Chicago Sky shooting guard discussed her Playboy cover shoot and fellow player Angel Reese modeling for Victoria’s Secret.
Gondrezick described the increasing opportunities for female athletes as leveling the playing field between men and women.
“We’re in a position now where we’re being offered the same resources and opportunities as our male counterparts,” she shared around the one-hour, 43-minute park of the interview above.
“That’s uncomfortable, I think, for people because of the new time that we’re in," she continued. "There has been a stereotype when it comes to women that we’ve always just supposed to take the background, and just take care of the foundation, and that we can’t build our own, right?”
Gondrezick said it’s “refreshing” to push back against stereotypes that oppress women, but she admitted that it’s also the same reason why she and other female athletes catch heat from critics.
“People aren’t ready to embrace that yet,” she said. “They’re not even giving us permission to be able to embrace it. Like, while Angel has done Victoria’s Secret—and I can’t speak upon her—as I have done PlayBoy, I’m sure she can relate.
"Or anyone else that is breaking barriers, we’re still learning who we are as well. We’re still learning how to break barriers and become comfortable with everything that comes with it. … Hopefully I’m paving the way for girls who never thought it would be possible.”
She also recalled the first time she ever saw an issue of Playboy. She admitted that at 8 years old, she was too young for the adult magazine when she found it in the back of a family member’s closet.
“I immediately questioned myself, you know, as a little girl,” she said. “Because as someone that grew up as a tomboy with cornrows and headbands, you know … I was like, ‘Would I look like her?’ And I didn’t even know that I didn’t need to compare myself. I just hadn't found the beauty within myself yet that I have now in my womanhood. Never did I think picking it up at 8 years old, I would be turning around, gracing it at 28.”
Watch the full interview above.