Syracuse, N.Y. — There was a time when Kayla Alexander wondered if she would ever represent her native country of Canada on the highest stage, the Olympics.
The former Syracuse women’s basketball star suffered back-to-back knee injuries in 2018 and 2019, which made the already Herculean task much more difficult.
“I’m human. I definitely had my doubts and moments where I was wondering if, ‘OK, maybe I should just pivot to a different dream,’ Alexander said Wednesday, just a day after officially being named to the Canadian women’s national team for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
“But I guess there’s something inside of me that says when you truly want something, it’s kind of hard to stay away for too long, and I’m thankful I kept pushing through and am able to experience this.”
Alexander, a native of Ontario, will participate in her first Olympic Games later this month after earning a spot on the 12-player roster, joining the likes of Phoenix Mercury guard Kia Nurse and Connecticut sophomore Aaliyah Edwards. The women’s basketball competition is set to begin July 25 and will finish with the gold-medal game Aug. 7.
“It’s just the highest honor,” she said. “To be able to say that you can represent your country at the highest level of playing is one that I absolutely love, so I’m incredibly honored and grateful for this opportunity.”
The seven-year WNBA veteran is coming off a successful run in the 2021 FIBA AmeriCup in Puerto Rico, where she averaged nine points and seven rebounds as Canada advanced to the third-place game against former Syracuse center Kamilla Cardoso and the Brazil women’s national team.
Alexander and the rest of Team Canada were notified they qualified for the final roster a couple of days after they returned from Puerto Rico.
The first person she called was her father ... after her FaceTime to the family group chat went unanswered.
The Alexander family — including her brother Kyle, a former center for the Miami Heat — often uses the group FaceTime feature because they’re never in the same country at once.
“I called my pops first and I was like, ‘Where is everybody?’ Alexander said. “He said people were working but I told him the news and he was thrilled. He’s not big on many words but I can tell he was excited for me because he knows the journey it was to get to this point for me.”
In August of 2019, almost a month before she hurt her knee for a second consecutive year in the FIBA AmeriCup, Alexander released her first children’s book, “The Magic of Basketball.”
It’s a tale she wrote with her sister, Kesia, that motivates kids to realize and appreciate the opportunities they can discover through playing sports.
Asked if she was thinking about a sequel now that she’s a part of her first Olympic team, Alexander said the short answer is yes.
“My sister and I have been wanting to continue with the series and continue adding to the book,” Alexander said. “Perseverance is definitely one of the gifts that we mentioned in the original book so we have a little bit more that we can build that storybook with now. But yes, the goal is to continue to write future books with my sister.”
A second book framed around her Olympic experience would be insightful, especially considering her battle back to playing at a highly-competitive level.
But Alexander says the main task at hand is to do something that has never been done in the history of the Canadian women’s national team: Bring home a medal.
The program has now qualified for seven Olympic Games, and the closest it’s been to the top three was in 1984 when Canada finished in fourth place.
“We said going into Tokyo that the goal is to get on that podium, so I’m pretty sure that’s the mindset that every single woman on this team and coaching staff has in mind,” Alexander said.
The Canada senior women’s press conference on Wednesday was also just one day after Syracuse University launched an external investigation due to recent allegations against SU women’s basketball coach Quentin Hillsman.
Hillsman, who Alexander played for from 2009-2013, is being accused of inappropriate behavior, including unwanted physical contact, threats and bullying by nine former players and 19 former managers and staff members.
“I saw the news regarding Syracuse and I heard that they’re opening up an external investigation and I want the investigation to take place first,” Alexander said. “I don’t really have much to comment on right now. I can only speak for my personal experience. I can’t speak for others. I know that we do not all have the same shared experience at Syracuse.”
Alexander was Syracuse’s career leader in points after graduating in 2013. She was picked eighth overall in the 2013 WNBA Draft by the San Antonio Silver Stars, where she spent most of her career before stops with the Indiana Fever, Chicago Sky and Minnesota Lynx.
Regardless of how her Olympic journey concludes, she’s just proud of her ability to overcome adversity to reach the world’s most popular sporting event.
“I feel like sports are a great setup for life,” she said. “Life isn’t perfect. Things aren’t always going to go according to your plan, but you have to find the ways to persevere and push through and find the positive in everything, or try to.
“God has a plan and purpose for everything. It may not always play out the way we want it to but know that his plans will always prevail despite whatever your circumstances are.”
Contact Mike Curtis anytime: Email | Twitter
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