http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWzWNgPUBLI rWzWNgPUBLI
I can remember going to a Blue Star Elite Camp.
I got invited there.
It was in Terre Haute, Indiana.
And a country girl from Baton Rouge.
Didn't know nothing about nothing.
I just knew I was going to train at this particular camp.
And, you know, all the girls, they was like: I'm #1 in the country.
I'm #2.
I'm like, number #1 at what?
Like, we're ranked.
I didn't know nothing about rankings, nothing about who these girls were.
And I just kinda went to this camp and just, you know, balled out.
And, actually, I went, you know, won a 1 on 1 competition against a young lady that's
plays in the league right now, Nicole Powell.
She plays for the New York Liberty.
We were the finalist in the 1 on 1 competition, and I beat her.
And I think that she was like maybe #5, #6 in the country -- I don't know what it was.
But, you know, it was a big deal.
The guy that ran the camp, afterwards, he was like: You know, we got an opportunity
for you to go do a photo shoot.
Didn't tell me nothing about what was going on, just like, you know, do a photo shoot.
I'm like, okay, cool.
Get to the photo shoot, Chamique Holdsclaw walks in -- big time player.
You know, everybody wanted to be Chamique Holdsclaw when she was at Tennessee -- she
was, you know, all everything.
And I'm just like nervous, shaking, like: Oh my god, like wow, I'm with Chamique Holdsclaw.
So we start taking pictures.
And at the end, my dad was there, we were kinda making each other laugh, saying little
stuff, and the guy was like: Just keep going, like keep doing that.
Whatever he's doing to make you laugh, like keeping doing that.
So, I kept doing it, and we got the shot that was on the cover.
Didn't know that was gonna be a cover shot.
Like, I didn't get the news until we got -- we were playing in the state tournament for high
school basketball.
And my teammates went to Walgreens for something, and they ended up running across the magazine.
And it was like, Mo, you're in the magazine.
And I'm like, nah, you're lying.
Quit playing with me.
They brought it back to the hotel.
And I was on the front cover, and I saw the pictures inside with Chamique Holdsclaw, and
I was like in amazement.
Like wow.
Like, you know, basketball is really paying off.
Like, you're hard work is really paying off.
I'm going through, you know, a wonderful time in my life.
And it was like I wanted to share it, you know, with the world.
Everybody wanna know who you are.
If you win the championship and, you know, do all these wonderful things, people are
like: Who are you?
Well, I'm an African American.
I'm a lesbian.
You know, I'm a basketball player.
You know, the list goes on who I am.
And I think that was the biggest thing for me.
Like, I didn't think I was coming out.
Like, I was already out, but it was like just letting the fans know who I am.
And mainly to be yourself.
Like, be who you are -- I don't care who you prefer: Male, female, whatever.
Just live your life.
You know, live your life and be happy with it.
My dad always said "quote" -- he'd be like, "If you like it, I love it."
So that's kinda like my motto.
That's what I go by.
But to be able to let people in on my life, show them the love of my life, and what we
talked about, you know, how we met and, you know, what we were going through and, you
know, the whole process -- it was amazing.
It was kinda like a weight lifted off of my shoulder, as far as being who I am.
Now I can really open up and be who I am.
Seimone has worked probably harder than anybody else to make this team, because two years
ago on the World Championships, she wasn't in great shape cause of her knee surgeries.
She's not physically healthy, and I thought: You know what?
She might be done.
And I think in the last two years, she's worked herself back into the team and has overcome
more than any other player that we have.
So, I feel a strong sense of commitment and obligation to her to kinda reward her for
how hard she's worked.
And I'm really, really proud of her.
And Seimone, you don't have to worry about -- she doesn't say anything.
She just plays.
You know, she's a pro's pro.
Everybody on this team can score.
So if you couldn't score, you wouldn't be on this team.
But Seimone does it in such a way that doesn't take any energy.
So she gets the ball, and she can almost tell the other player on the team that's guarding
it -- Seimone could catch it and go: Listen, I'm gonna take two dribbles right over there,
and then I'm gonna shoot it.
And there's nothing you can do about it.
And she does.
So, you know, she's able to do things that she wants to do, because she's just so efficient.
And everybody on the team knows that.
So if I ask anybody on the team: Hey, we need to make a shot to win a game.
Then like half the team will point -- just give the ball to Seimone, no problem.
Seimone is the bomb.
You know, I've known Seimone since we were in 6th grade, 7th grade, so I've seen her
be a dominant 6th grader, and now she's probably playing the best basketball of her career
-- it's really, really good to see, because she's a great person for mostly -- anything
she … She's really mature.
I think she's really found her game, she's found confidence on the court, and you see
that with, you know, the Championship last summer, with her being on the second Olympic
team for her -- you can see that maturation process really taking place.
Her game is different than anybody else's.
You know, she's so smooth on the court.
Sometimes, you don't think she's trying, because she's just so effortless with the way she
handles the ball, the way she can get into her jump shots so easily -- she really is
one of the funniest players to watch.
This is a tough road coming back from ACL and a hysterectomy fibroid tumor removal.
Has definitely been a humbling process.
You know, I came back my first year with 20 pounds of weight and just not in shape, just
not ready for basketball.
My first bit of basketball that was on the court was here at USA Basketball, and I could
just tell, you know, I wasn't at the elite level, you know, that I left at before I got
hurt.
So, just the grind of finding confidence within myself to believe that I could get back was
definitely a challenge, but one that now I appreciate more than anything.
This gold medal means a lot more than '08 will ever mean.
This tattoo -- this one: My grandmother's name -- this is my dad's mom, and then my
mom's mom is on this ankle, and the symbol is "love and unity."
And my grandma is -- got my heart.
This grandmother, actually, like she does everything: She cooks for me, she cooked for
me in college.
She was actually -- she worked at my high school for 30 years, and she put all her kids
through that high school and all her grandkids through that high school.
So she's like the cook of the family.
And this grandmother was a RN nurse.
So, of course, she was with the team when we traveled, things like that, to make sure
everyone stayed healthy.
So, it's like a dedication to them.