Dawn Staley on Why the Journey Matters More than the Win

Dawn Staley helped Team USA’s women’s basketball team win gold at the ‘96 Olympics. It was the highlight of her career. Yet she fell into a depression that was so bad, she didn’t even want to look at a basketball. Nothing prepared her to process reaching such a milestone. She was left asking herself: now what? With a resumé is full of career-highs (hi, 3x national champ), Dawn says the real reward isn’t the trophy – it’s all the work it took to get there. Dawn gets into it all in her new memoir, "Uncommon Favor." In this episode of 9 to 5ish, Dawn also shares: How many shoes she has in her collection (sneakerheads beware) Why she aspired to play in the NBA – instead of the WNBA – growing up How the taboo nature of mental health stopped her from asking for help post-Olympics Why she was insulted when approached for a coaching job The one thing she wants to see change for women athletes this year PS: Dawn’s memoir is out now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You can listen to Dawn Staley on Why the Journey Matters More than the Win online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Dawn Staley on Why the Journey Matters More than the Win is an episode from 9 to 5ish with theSkimm.

This episode is 33:17 long.

This episode was published on May 21, 2025.

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