Beauty And The Ball
To be clear: Kysre Gondrezick’s goal is to play basketball for as long as she can. And though she’s currently not rostered on a WNBA team, no waive will stop her. “When basketball is not a part of my routine, I don’t feel whole,” she says, fresh from a basketball workout. Her hair newly dyed an alluring honey blonde, she has the kind of bright smile that doing work you truly love can bring.
Some kids, growing up, want to rebel and follow a different path from their parents. Surrounded by former NBA players—her father, Grant Gondrezick, and her uncle Glen Gondrezick—Kysre felt quite the opposite. “I fell in love the moment I first picked up a basketball,” she says, adding with a laugh that she was probably handed one straight out of the womb. “It’s in my bloodline. I was destined to do this. It’s one of the talents that God has given to me.”
Back in the day, Gondrezick held Deanna Nolan, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson among her biggest basketball inspirations. And thanks to role models like these, along with seeing her father and uncle train with people like Kobe Bryant, Jahlil Okafor and LeBron James, “I knew I wanted to pursue the sport at the highest level,” she says. She played at the University of Michigan (2016-2017), then West Virginia University (2018-2021). She was the first round, fourth overall pick in the WNBA (going to the Indiana Fever) in 2021 before playing for the Chicago Sky in 2024.
Given that she grew up in close proximity to the WNBA before joining the league herself, Gondrezick has seen basketball, and its surrounding culture, evolve. “I grew up seeing the WNBA in its prime. It was really hot back then,” she says. “So to be able to play in the league today, and have the opportunity to play when there’s a lot of buzz and excitement around women’s basketball, is humbling and refreshing. It’s really full-circle.”
“It’s an exciting time for women. I think that having social media and brands behind us gives us more permission to be feminine and stand in our power.”
–kysre gondrezick
The evolution of the game includes the beauty boom we’re currently seeing in the space: Think major sponsors, like Glossier, Mielle and Skims. “It’s an exciting time for women,” Gondrezick says. “I think that having social media and brands behind us gives us more permission to be feminine and stand in our power. The world is giving us that extra support now, to be able to do that for ourselves.”
This includes, for instance, expressing herself via stunning tunnel looks. “It’s funny, because a lot of my fits were very ‘corporate America’ coming to my games,” she says of her chic ensembles—from black blazers to pencil skirts—which she categorizes as “Nineties aura.”
“People were like, ‘She looks like she’s getting ready to go work a nine-to-five,’ ” she remembers. “Well, I am going to work. This is my job. So this is what I’m wearing. But at the same time, we’re being reminded that we can do anything we want to do, with no limitations. I think that a lot of these beauty brands being involved now definitely diminishes stereotypes. It allows this generation to define their own beauty standards, without trying to fit a narrative.” Gondrezick herself counts Lena Horne and Dorothy Dandridge among her beauty and style inspirations. “To know that my name has been part of that impact is very humbling,” she says.
As for her go-to beauty routines? You can find the star leaning on trusted Neutrogena wipes, vitamin C serums for brightness, collagen masks and nighttime Noxzema, to keep her skin glowing and moisturized all winter long. And to compliment her new winter-ready ’do, which she categorizes as her “Beyoncé ‘Crazy in Love’ era,” you’ll definitely find her in “trench coats, leather boots, leather jackets, turtlenecks, jeans and stockings,” she says of her classic approach.
Looking at Gondrezick, you may think her confidence comes easily. And in true Leo fashion, she may also feel that way somewhat. But she gently reminds us that presenting herself takes work. “My journey to self-discovery is ongoing,” she says. “But I’m learning to fall in love with giving myself grace during the process. I’m allowing myself to become my own best friend. I’m learning new ways to be nice to myself—and I’m learning what I like, so that I can have better relationships.”
This means leaning into self-care routines, she says, like “spending time with God on a daily basis, reading and shutting down my phone before bedtime.” These practices come in handy as she embarks on future endeavors: “I’ve been in acting classes. I want to act—and work more in the fashion and beauty spaces as well.”
Reflecting on what comes next, she says, “I think my early 20s were cute—but 2025, and my late 20s, is sexy. I feel myself finally getting out of my own way. I’ve feared becoming the greatest version of Kysre. But in 2025, I’m going to live her.”
CREDITS
Photographed by: Myles Loftin
Styled by: Sharifa Morris
Hair: Areial Taylor using Outre Wigs
Makeup: Shea Mandel using Lilly Lashes at Shea MUA
Nails: Adonay Gotay-Blanco using Kiara Sky
Photography Assistant: Troy Ezequiel Montes
Production by: The Morrison Group
Post Production: Noah Shakoor
Production Assistants: Charlee Black & Noble Ekuma
Shot at: North Houston Studio