Smith’s family lives in the San Antonio area and are looking forward to watching their WNBA forward a lot more this season.
DALLAS — Basketball fans in the Dallas-Fort Worth area can watch more than half of the Dallas Wings’ 2025 games for free on KFAA! Here’s how to tune in.
Some of the earliest pictures of Dallas Wings forward NaLyssa Smith show her with a basketball in her hands, growing up in the San Antonio area.
“I love Texas. My family’s here, my friends are here,” Smith said.
Her parents, Rodney and Nikki Smith, remember a girl who loved the game of basketball and took to it early. Taking her talents to Baylor University, then the Indiana Fever, before the biggest free agency trade in WNBA history brought her to Dallas.
“We already told Lyssa, have our sheets ready. Have the bed ready,” her mom, Nikki, laughed.
Back in March, during her introductory press conference, NaLyssa touched fans when she shared how happy she was for the trade.
“Now my grandpa will get to come to games because he’s never flown before,” Smith said. “Now he’s up the road, so it’s going to be fun, you know.”
Ahead of the home opener, WFAA asked her what it means to now play in front of her family so close to where she grew up.
“Oh, it’s huge,” Smith shared. “I feel like that’s just my drive. That’s what motivates me is just seeing my people in the stands, seeing them with my jersey on, you know, excited for you. It just brings you back to like the old days. So, just being back in Texas, it’s like a full circle moment.”
A moment her dad, Rodney, couldn’t miss.
“Okay, I’m going to keep it PG,” he chuckled. “Ain’t no way in heck that I was going to miss this game. First game of the season, first game my daughter playing in Texas for a Texas team? I’m excited.”
Rodney used to play basketball. NaLyssa credits him for being the reason she started to play, too, mentioning that her mom is the one who actually signed her up. The joy from two proud parents, rocking Smith’s #1 jersey, walking into College Park Center, was pretty infectious.
“I always say I’m going to be quiet,” Nikki began. “But after she gets that floater. That’s my move! When she hits a floater, I am loud. I am so sorry.”
Now, NaLyssa is playing the game she loves with the people she loves a bit closer.
“I love y’all,” she smiled. “I appreciate y’all always supporting me. They drive everywhere, fly everywhere for me, uh, they’re the reason, you know, I’m in this position, you know, happy to be here and, you know, like just excited for them to see me play again.”