Layshia Clarendon Is Using Athletes Unlimited to Send a Message—On and Off the Court

The 31-year-old WNBA veteran is set to make their return to the court after being cut by the Lynx last season.

For the first time in a long time, Layshia Clarendon enjoyed their summer. Hanging on the boat with friends, savoring time with their wife and child, delighting in days on the lake—Clarendon basked in all Oakland had to offer. It’s a luxury she hadn’t indulged in since her college days at Cal. Clarendon’s summer of rest and relaxation, however, came at a cost: They were waived from the Lynx in May, ending their 2022 WNBA season early. The league veteran admittedly was devastated and needed a break from basketball to regroup. (Clarendon alternately uses she, he and they pronouns.)

“I have a lot of gratitude for what I gained from a lot of that loss,” Clarendon says, reflecting on the last year.

Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve cited Clarendon’s health in her reasoning for cutting the guard, alluding to a lingering injury. Clarendon reveals she was surprised by Reeve’s public comments, as she felt healthy and ready to compete—even going so far as to contact the team doctor for a copy of her MRI to confirm she wasn’t missing anything. Clarendon addressed the confusion in a tweet, writing, “I’ve gotten a few media requests for comments on being waived and my injury. I have no comments other than I am 100% cleared to play and practice. I’m feeling strong and ready to play!”

Clarendon says he wasn’t interested in getting into a public back-and-forth, but he needed to clarify things, especially for teams contacting him about a potential roster spot. “It was important for me to advocate for myself and set the record straight,” says Clarendon. “I have a right to have a voice and a say in this. And I am healthy.”

Hungry for more, Clarendon is set to return to the hardwood with a busy spring ahead. The 5'9" guard signed a training camp contract with the Sparks in early February amid a flurry of WNBA free-agency moves. “Playing on the West Coast has always been something I wanted, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for my family,” says Clarendon.

But before Clarendon gets started with the Sparks, he’ll be participating in Athletes Unlimited, a player-centric league in its second season. The five-week campaign tips off Feb. 23 in Dallas, with Clarendon joining WNBA greats like Natasha Cloud, Isabelle Harrison and Courtney Williams in the 44-player competition. Per Clarendon, the AU opportunity comes at precisely the right time, coinciding with WNBA free agency and ahead of the regular season. “Joining AU was always about getting back on the court professionally again for me. Being on a WNBA roster only makes the opportunity AU provides better,” he says. The league also features a unique points system, with players accumulating them for wins, individual stats and game MVP honors. The four players at the top of the leaderboard are awarded captainships and the right to pick their teams for the upcoming week.

Perhaps the most enticing component of AU—which ultimately drew Clarendon to the league—is its domestic setting. Typically, WNBA players spend the offseason playing abroad, with those contracts eclipsing the money athletes can make in the States. However, competing far away from home has its downsides, with players leaving their families and forgoing the opportunity to establish a presence in their WNBA market. As Brittney Griner’s detainment in Russia also highlighted, playing overseas involves navigating the potential risks of living in a foreign country.

Eager to get in reps, Clarendon considered looking abroad this year, but leaving her wife and kid was too much to bear. “It was so torturous to think about doing that, because I really don’t want to go play overseas,” says Clarendon. While the contract is not yet comparable to the money abroad—Clarendon says her salary starts around $11,000—Athletes Unlimited is increasingly a part of the conversation around keeping WNBA players home in the offseason. The W’s prioritization clause, which partially goes into effect this year, mandates that players return from abroad in time for preseason training, further complicating athletes’ relationship with overseas play.

Implementing a soft salary cap is among the solutions players like Clarendon have advocated for in an effort to chip away at the compensation discrepancy. Right now, the WNBA operates on a hard cap, which is $1,420,500 for the 2023 season. Without much wiggle room, teams must make tough decisions, maneuvering to get to 12 roster spots. The veteran guard is also one of many prominent WNBA voices supporting expansion to remedy the problem of painful cuts across the league. “I think the pushback should be if we’re not going to have expansion in X years, roster spots should be expanded,” says Clarendon. “Some form of expansion should be on the horizon, like as soon as 2024.” However, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has presented a less ambitious timeline, citing ’25 as a possibility. “We're not in a rush,” said Engelbert at a February event held in Oregon by Sen. Ron Wyden. “I would say two to four years out, I’d like to see at least two teams come into the league and, longer term, more than that.”

As forthright as Clarendon is about issues plaguing the league, the basketball star is perhaps even more strident when it comes to social issues. They’ve already considered how to capitalize on their participation in Athletes Unlimited to amplify policies they care most about.

“I’m curious to talk to Beto [O'Rourke], being in Texas,” she says. “I’ve mentioned this to people on the AU board about getting Beto to a game and leveraging the momentum that he was recently building.” Clarendon is acutely aware of the debate emerging around competing in specific markets where anti-LGBTQ laws are being enacted. “There is a lot going on in Texas,” Clarendon says. “There’s a lot of people fighting here and doing really good work and how can we keep supporting them and leveraging the momentum that they’ve recently gained.”

As a Black and trans player in women’s sports, Clarendon has long been conscious about competing in certain markets, remarking that for many the intersection of local politics and sports isn’t new.

“It is something actually we’ve always had to navigate. You’re just constantly trying to make sure your safety is O.K. first and foremost,” says Clarendon. “It is something that we think about often with taking our child to a new city and putting them in care where their trans parent is going to show up to pick them up, and they have two moms, and we gender expansive parent our child—and how is that going to land?”

Clarendon says fellow WNBA players have been eager to learn, even on issues that at first trigger some pushback. Players try to start by “educating ourselves internally first and foremost,” according to Clarendon, which is presumably why the W has emerged as such a powerful front on a range of social issues. While Clarendon is one of the more uninhibited players in basketball today, he has begun to share the burden and privilege of leadership with others, revealing that ceding responsibility to others has been a major part of his growth and evolution.

This is a running theme in Clarendon’s life, a vocal champion for himself, but also, crucially, for others. The WNBA veteran has consistently been outspoken about players’ rights, social justice and LGBTQ issues. “It’s great, and it’s frustrating, and it’s a terrible gift,” Clarendon says through a laugh, remarking on their innate outspokenness. Really, though, Clarendon’s boldness is rooted in empathy—a palpable part of her personality almost immediately evident upon meeting the basketball star. “I think we belong to one another as people and I very much live my life that way. I think there is a part of it that’s ingrained in my personality to care.”

For Clarendon, an essential part of connection is transparency—and that maxim extends to himself, as well. In January 2021, Clarendon went public with their experience undergoing top surgery, posting about the procedure on social media. “I’m feeling free & euphoric in my body & want Trans people to know and see that we’ve always existed & no one can erase us,” Clarendon wrote in her announcement. As the first openly trans and nonbinary player in the WNBA, Clarendon’s voice is vital, but using it has, at times, been anxiety-inducing. “There is always hesitation,” she says, meditating on her decision to open up about her identity. “It’s always for me a process of overcoming maybe what people think or how it will maybe impact my job or my career.”

Showing up as his authentic self for the 2021 season—despite his trepidations—translated on the court, with Clarendon helping the Lynx turn around a 0–4 start, averaging 10.4 points and 5.7 assists per game to lift Minnesota to a 22–10 finish. The stats align with the numbers she’s consistently put up in her decade-long W career. “I can’t dunk magically,” Clarendon quips, referencing the myth around trans athletes’ perceived competitive edge.

Clarendon’s candor has also bonded her to fans in a unique way—a development that surprised even her. “I didn’t realize there were so many trans people in Minnesota until I actually played there,” marvels Clarendon. “I had so many trans people walk up to me constantly. … So I definitely feel that and I really appreciate it from folks.”

All of it—leading on and off the court, going public with their journey, coming back after injury, returning to the court after being cut—while taxing, keeps Clarendon coming back for more. This year could be seen as his phoenix-rising-from-the-ashes moment, with plenty to prove, but the 31-year-old doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder—in fact, he sounds as sprightly and wide-eyed as a rookie. So, what would a successful 2023 look like for the W vet? For Clarendon, it’s simple: “having fun, being in the moment, being very present.”