Out to Lunch: Lindsay Whalen is ready to have joy back in basketball

On Minnesota Now, we hear from many different people in Minnesota over the phone and in the studio. But we don’t often meet them in the community, where news — and life — happens. In our “Out to Lunch” series, MPR News host Nina Moini sits down for a meal with people from Minnesota news and culture to get to know them better.

Our lunch guest: Lindsay Whalen

The restaurant: The Freehouse in Minneapolis

The following has been edited for length and clarity. Use the audio player above for the full conversation.

Tell me about growing up in Hutchinson

It was awesome. It was the best. I mean, I rode my bike everywhere, to school, to open gym to camp in the summer, basketball and to tennis. I’m the oldest of five. We call it first family and second family, because we had me (42), my sister Katie (38), my brother Casey (36), then they didn't have any kids for a while. And then my sister is 32 and my brother is 30.

I feel that that was part of too, just my responsibility now into coaching, playing on teams, being the point guard, that was kind of natural for me because just birth order in the family.

Did you think you’d eventually be playing professionally when you were in high school?

Well, no, because there was no WNBA. So I remember in our first house, I'd play a whole season as somebody on the Gophers and just shoot and shoot and shoot and shoot and practice and shoot. I knew I could get a scholarship and my parents wouldn't have to pay for college. I kind of realized I could play in the WNBA after my sophomore year of college. And then into my junior year, that became a big goal of mine. But, before then it wasn't even a thought.

What do you like about coaching versus playing?

The difference of playing and coaching is, as a coach, you have to be kind of two steps ahead of what's happening in practice. Whereas a player, you're just kind of reacting to what the coach is telling you to do. So as a coach you have to be thinking ahead.

There's also like a psychology piece to it, of getting the best out of yourself, getting the best out of each other. Because you're not going to feel great every day. The most healthy any player ever is, is the first day of training camp. That's why it's great to have a team. Because one day, I'm gonna be feeling great, you might not be feeling great. Vice versa the next day, so then we can pick each other up.

How do you reflect back on your time as the Gophers Women’s Basketball head coach?

When I got the job at the U of M, I was winding down my playing career with the Lynx. I just figured I'll do this for the next 20 years of my life and, you know, ride off in the sunset. I'm gonna be this great coach that has this lifetime career at the U of M, this is what I meant to do. And obviously it didn't work out that way.

When it was all said and done with coaching at the U of M, that was fine. It was the lead-up and then probably the first two weeks after, three weeks after, four weeks after, that time period that was the hardest.

How it all transpired in those meetings to make a coaching change, make a leadership change from the administration, that was a lot. Because there's a lot of emotion. I am who I am in the state where nobody wants to mishandle situations. I had a couple opportunities, but I just kind of was like, I just needed a break. Because my last year, I played for the Lynx and coached the Gophers. I never really was able to digest my playing career, because there were six months there where I was doing two things and it was just too much. So I took 18 months until Cheryl called.

It was nice to take a take a breath, take a beat. But, there's nothing better than being a part of a team. That's just what I know the most about. Hindsight is 2020, now it's like, I'm where I'm supposed to be and in the role I'm supposed to be.

What would make you really happy for next season, other than winning a championship?

I think for me, it's just selfishly, to be back in a really fun environment around basketball. Not that it wasn't at the U of M, there was times it was really awesome. And at the end, to be honest, it really wasn't, it was really tough. And then how it ended was really tough. So I think just like being a part of a team that's just kind of that joy back around being in a team around basketball.

The Last Bite: What are the ingredients to being a good member of a team?

I think that every day, everybody brings something. So I think just being as consistent to whatever that is that you bring to the table. There’s enough external things that can happen. There’s enough outside emotion. There’s enough variables that can happen outside of your control, that if you can be more the most consistent person and the most consistent teams, those are the ones that like consistently have success.

And things might change throughout the year. I think if you just start with being positive and being somebody who brings a lot of energy, I think that that’s a good starting place to being a good teammate.