ormer Minnesota Lynx All-Star Odyssey Sims led the team in scoring and assists during the 2019 season. The former Baylor star averaged 14.5 points per game in her first year with the Lynx, and a career-high 5.4 assists per game.

Before the start of the 2020 “Wubble” season, Sims gave birth to her first child, a baby boy named Jaiden in the spring. Sims didn’t commit to playing this year and the Lynx prepared for her absence, but as the regular season was delayed two months, Sims eventually joined the team at IMG Academy in August.

“I have a new addition. He’s counting on me,” she said in an interview with ESPN. “He’ll be my inspiration, inspiring me to be better. I think it will change me. I will appreciate the game more, knowing I have a little person that’s mine, that I’m responsible for, every day, all day. I’m going to do it for my son.”

Giving birth a few months earlier and pushing herself to be ready to play any portion of the season is a testament to Sim’s talent and resilience. She joins an elite group of athletes who also balance motherhood, especially those who return to the game after giving birth. Though Sims knew this was something she wanted to pursue.

“Every day that I worked out, every day I continued to work to get my body back, get my strength back and my muscles and everything,” she says in an article done by the Star Tribune. She continues, “I told myself before I came it’s going to be difficult getting into game shape, but I told myself I can do it.”

She returned to the team in mid-August and has been a solid contributor for the playoff-bound Lynx. Sim’s return to the WNBA is an amazing story and a true showcase of how powerful women are.

“I’m happy to have her back on the floor,” Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve told the Star Tribune. “I’m excited to see what she looks like. I can’t wait for it all to come together for us.”

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