Grindin' for the Longest

Like many women’s hoops stars, ANGEL MCCOUGHTRY spends her WNBA offseasons playing more pro ball overseas. Which is why the 30-year-old is stepping away from the Atlanta Dream this coming season.

- Ryne Nelson

It’s a typically frigid 22-degree January night in Russia when Angel McCoughtry dials the long-distance number to the SLAM Dome in Manhattan.

The Atlanta Dream star is spending her “offseason” in Kursk, a historic Russian city that sits on the largest known iron-ore reserve in the world.

Tucked away among the city’s many universities and 18th Century cathedrals, McCoughtry has been quietly putting in work alongside reigning WNBA MVP Nneka Ogwumike, New York Liberty guard Epiphanny Prince and Minnesota Lynx guard Anna Cruz.

“I wanted to be on a team where I didn’t have to kill myself,” McCoughtry says of her current club, Dynamo Kursk. “Last year [in Turkey], I had to do so much for so many minutes. Then come to the Atlanta Dream, and I had to do so much for so many minutes. It wears you down.”

Now 30, McCoughtry is understandably sensitive when it comes to the mileage she puts on her body.

Since entering the WNBA in 2009, she’s scored more points and recorded more steals than any other player in the league. She’s a six-time All-WNBA team selection and an eight-time All-Defensive teamer.

She's won two Olympic Gold medals (’12, ’16) and two World Cup golds (’10, ’14) with Team USA, too.

And that’s only during her summers.

McCoughtry, like the vast majority of professional women’s players, spends about eight months every year playing outside of the States.