Swimsuit

12 Stunning Photos of WNBA Athletes From Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Shoot in St. Thomas

Featuring Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, DiDi Richards, Nneka Ogwumike and Te’a Cooper.

Cara O’Bleness

Highlights of the 2022 WNBA Athlete Photo Shoot in St. Thomas

Earlier this year, SI Swimsuit brought together five WNBA athletes for a first-of-its-kind group photo shoot in St. Thomas. Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, DiDi Richards, Nneka Ogwumike and Te’a Cooper have strength and grace both on and off the court, which shines through in the photos captured by photographer Laretta Houston.

Bird is a recently retired Seattle Storm guard who has four WNBA championships and five Olympic gold medals under her belt, while Stewart is a four-time NCAA champion and four-time Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA tournament.

Richards, who is a star shooting guard for the New York Liberty, knows what it means to be resilient. She had to learn how to walk again after a college injury left her paralyzed from the waist down. After returning to the court, she went on to be named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2020.

Ogwumike, who plays for the L.A. Sparks, was also a champ at the collegiate level: she graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology while also making four consecutive Final Four appearances. Cooper, who plays guard for the Sparks, uses her platform to advocate for the things that matter the most to her, such as supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.

“We represent a variety of things: of course women, women of color, 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,” Bird told SI Swimsuit. “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.”

Below are 12 of our favorite photos from 2022’s WNBA athlete photo shoot.

Sue Bird
Sue Bird
Breanna Stewart
Breanna Stewart
DiDi Richards
DiDi Richards
Nneka Ogwumike
Nneka Oguwumike
WNBA athletes group shot
WNBA athletes group shot
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Cara O’Bleness

CARA O’BLENESS

Cara is a trending news writer/editor for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. A passionate writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience in print and online media, she loves storytelling and believes that words have the power to change the world. Prior to joining the team, Cara worked as a writer and editor across a number of content verticals, including food, lifestyle, health and wellness, and small business and entrepreneurship. In her free time, Cara loves reading, spending time with her family and making her way through Michigan’s many microbreweries. She is a graduate of Michigan State University's School of Journalism.