WNBA stars stun in photo shoot for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition

WNBA stars have drawn a stack of comments on social media after revealing they featured in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition.

This year’s iconic Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition featuring American basketball players has blown fans away.

While the full, official shoot doesn’t drop until later this week, SI Swimsuit released a teaser of what to expect when it posted some snaps on its Instagram page on Tuesday.

WNBA stars Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, Nneka Ogwumike, Te’a Cooper and DiDi Richards are all included.

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Sports Illustrated Editor-in-Chief MJ Day called the project “one of my all time favourite shoots ever”, adding: “These players not only dominate on the court but are tirelessly leading the charge in speaking out on social justice issues — fighting for racial justice and equality and working together to create sustainable change.”

Many of the players re-posted photos from the shoot on their personal social media pages. LA Sparks star Ogwumike drew a ton of comments on her post, including one from Australian WNBA teammate Liz Cambage, who called her a “goddess”.

Bird, who plays for the Seattle Storm, told Sports Illustrated: “We represent a variety of things: of course women, women of colour, members of the LGBTQIA2+ community and much more.  

“The (Swimsuit) issue for so many years has been iconic and has represented a lot for women. Now you are seeing an evolution in what that can mean and what that can look like, and I think the WNBA players being a part of that is what makes it special. There is no better group of women to showcase that evolution.”

Bird’s post on Instagram also sparked plenty of reaction, including from US soccer star Alex Morgan and fellow basketballer Alysha Clark, who replied in the comments section.

Sparks point guard Cooper felt privileged to be able to take part in the famous shoot.

“It says ‘sports’ but they always looked like models, so I would have never thought one day I would be one,” she told Sports Illustrated.

“It was very empowering to be a part of this because of the people I did it with. Everybody’s story was different and just spending time with them, us all being in the WNBA as professionals was overwhelming.”