{"id":969386,"date":"2026-11-13T17:18:14","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T17:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/969386\/"},"modified":"2026-11-13T17:18:14","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T17:18:14","slug":"the-secret-to-performing-under-pressure-that-helped-wnba-star-gabby-williams-win-finals-mvp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/969386\/","title":{"rendered":"The Secret to Performing Under Pressure That Helped WNBA Star Gabby Williams Win Finals MVP"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Estimated3 min read<\/p>\n

WNBA superstar Gabby Williams<\/a> is proof that hard work and persistence pay off. Drafted into the league in 2018 by the Chicago Sky, the 30-year-old has been slowly building her r\u00e9sum\u00e9 ever since\u2014both stateside and abroad\u2014notching her first EuroLeague championship in 2022 with Hungary\u2019s Sopron Basket, being named a WNBA All-Star in 2025, and, finally, winning a WNBA Championship in 2026 with the Golden State Valkyries. (She was named Finals MVP too.)<\/p>\n

Yes, 2026 has been a big year for the forward, and she has only a couple more months to rest up before taking on her next challenge: debuting in the Unrivaled league, as part of the Miami-based Laces BC.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s three-on-three, so you can’t hide,\u201d Gabby tells editors Abigail Cuffey, Amanda Lucci, and Jacqueline Andriakos on the latest episode of The Huddle<\/a>. \u201cThe positive feedback that I’ve heard from people who have done it, [is] that the personal development side is great. Players usually go on to have great W seasons after doing Unrivaled.\u201d<\/p>\n

How could Gabby possibly top this past year!? We\u2019ll have to wait to find out, but in the meantime, she opens up about finding a home with the Valkyries, keeping herself healthy and injury-free, and building a life outside of basketball.<\/p>\n

More episodes of The Huddle:<\/p>\n

Game Recognizing Game<\/p>\n

Over the years, Gabby has earned the nickname \u201cthe French Army knife,\u201d due not only to her dual-citizenship (her dad is American; her mom is French) but also to her versatility on the court.<\/p>\n

Her role on many teams has been defined by what the team needed, whether it was creating opportunities or defending the paint. But when she went into free agency and signed with the Valkyries earlier this year, it was the first time Gabby recalls someone in the league asking what she wanted to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was proud to do whatever the team needed,\u201d Gabby says. \u201cBut it was nice to trust myself.\u201d That trust\u2014both in herself and from her team\u2014has obviously paid off. Not only does Gabby say she feels more like herself than she ever has, but she has the championship (the Valkyries\u2019 first) to show for it.<\/p>\n

Staying Strong and Healthy<\/p>\n

Given how little downtime Gabby takes\u2014she often spends part of her off-season playing abroad\u2014she\u2019s crafted a wellness routine that prioritizes stretching, mobility, and maintenance to keep her body in peak physical condition.<\/p>\n

And it starts first thing when she wakes up. \u201cI’m a big foam-roller stretcher, especially as I’m getting older,\u201d she says. \u201cI’ll spend a good like 20, 15 minutes first thing in the morning just doing my mobility stuff so that when I come to the gym my body’s awake and ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the gym, Gabby and her trainers prioritize accessory work over big Olympic lifts, to limit the wear and tear on her body.<\/p>\n

In the off-season, Gabby shifts from a maintenance mindset to an improvement focus with her workouts. If she wants to strengthen a particular body part or movement pattern (like being more explosive) this is when she has the time and energy to do it.<\/p>\n

No matter her training regimen, Gabby ends her day much like she starts it\u2014with recovery. She loves an epsom salt bath and can\u2019t get enough of her Normatec compression<\/a> therapy.<\/p>\n

Looking Beyond the Court<\/p>\n

It might be surprising to hear a WNBA champion say \u201cbasketball is not life,\u201d but that\u2019s precisely Gabby\u2019s philosophy when it comes to balancing her priorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that’s why I’ve been able to have so much success in basketball is because I’ve learned how to compartmentalize,\u201d she says. She credits that mindset to the coaching team at the University of Connecticut, where she played in college.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoach said, \u2018When you’re on the court, I want you to be focused. I don’t want you to be thinking about school. I don’t want you to be thinking about your personal life. So while you’re doing your other stuff, don’t focus on basketball as much. Find the time for your school. When you’re going out, go out, have fun.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

And so Gabby does just that, whether it\u2019s solving a puzzle or picking up a new book. \u201cIt is just the perfect way to consume your mind with something else,\u201d she says of reading. She\u2019s even started a Valkyries book club, but it got a bit sidetracked by, of all things, the playoffs. Luckily, there\u2019s always the 2027 season to start anew.<\/p>\n

To hear more from Gabby, including her undying love of figure skating and how she\u2019s upped her style game, click play on the latest episode of The Huddle above.<\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Amy Wilkinson is a contributing entertainment editor at Women’s Health, where she edits the magazine’s celebrity cover stories and writes health features. She has previously held editor titles at Entertainment Weekly and MTV News. In 2021, Amy completed her 600-hour teacher-training at Core Pilates NYC to become a comprehensively trained Pilates instructor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"3 min read WNBA superstar Gabby Williams is proof that hard work and persistence pay off. Drafted into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":969387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,200411,330211,782,330210,784,237154,1642,199835,330209,273948,82,630],"class_list":["post-969386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-collection-sports-athletes","tag-collection-the-huddle","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-6d0848ce-f9b2-48e3-b70d-a5889d6df5a9","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-us","tag-read_time-4","tag-shorttitle-wnba-star-gabby-williams-shares-her-mvp-mindset","tag-sponsored-false","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/969386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=969386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/969386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/969387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=969386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=969386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=969386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}