{"id":278543,"date":"2025-11-12T16:42:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T16:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/278543\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T16:42:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T16:42:07","slug":"kysre-gondrezick-becomes-first-black-professional-athlete-to-be-a-playboy-playmate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/278543\/","title":{"rendered":"Kysre Gondrezick becomes first Black professional athlete to be a Playboy Playmate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former WNBA<\/a> player Kysre Gondrezick is heating things up and making history.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Nov. 10, Playboy, which officially relaunched this year since pausing its publishing operations in 2020<\/a>, unveiled its 2025 Playmate lineup, naming the 28-year-old professional basketball player as its June cover star \u2014 and the first-ever Black professional athlete to earn the title.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlayboy\u2019s 2025 Miss June,\u201d Gondrezick wrote in the caption of a post on Instagram<\/a> sharing a carousel of sultry, 1970s-inspired shots from her shoot.<\/p>\n

Bathed in hazy, retro glamour, the spread captures the former Chicago Sky point guard in tiny bra and panty sets\u2014one leopard, the other a nudey brown shade\u2014her hair falling in big, fluffy \u201870s waves. In others, she switches to a soft, coily style, posing around a mid-century modern styled home and inside a vintage car. One photo shows her reading with her derriere cheekily exposed, as another zooms in on her long legs draped across the front seat as she cradles a basketball \u2014 a recurring prop throughout the shoot.<\/p>\n

\u201cProud to be the first Black professional athlete in history to ever grace Playboy magazine and this year\u2019s centerfold,\u201d she added in her caption.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Playmates will be featured in both the upcoming Winter 2025\u201326 issue and the 2026 Playboy Calendar. Gondrezick is one of three Black women to make this year\u2019s lineup, alongside models Mykeesha Nelson<\/a> and Louisa Ama<\/a>. The milestone arrives as women\u2019s sports continue to soar in visibility and cultural cachet, particularly the WNBA, where several players have turned their on-court acclaim into full-fledged lifestyle and fashion brands<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In their post introducing Gondrezick<\/a>, Playboy highlighted what her inclusion represents, sharing excerpts from a recent conversation about her evolution from full-time WNBA player to free agent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat people label as a transition, I embody as evolution. I\u2019m not stepping outside who I am. I\u2019m building a multidimensional brand,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecoming a WNBA player and getting to that level, you put in a lot of work to get there,\u201d she continued. \u201cYou have to put in even more work to stay there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t