Perseverance pays off for first-time all-star Mabrey eight years into WNBA career

TORONTO — Marina Mabrey has made longevity the calling card of her WNBA career and it has finally paid off with an all-star game appearance.

Mabrey had 11 points, six rebounds and four assists in the Toronto Tempo’s 83-75 loss to the Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday, a day after she was named an all-star reserve. The 29-year-old guard said that it had been a goal of hers to reach the all-star game since she was a teenager.

“When I was in high school I was like, ‘I want to be in the WNBA and I want to be a WNBA all-star.’ I had no idea how hard it was, but it’s OK, it was cute,” said Mabrey before the game. “This league is so hard, and it’s every other day, every day you’re playing, you’re practising, they’re challenging you, they’re holding you accountable, you’re moving teams, you’ve got different teammates, you have to figure out how to work with people, and so on and so on.

“I just think that it’s easy to lose that vision and that belief in yourself, but I don’t think I ever lost it.”

Her perseverance had certainly been tested over her career.

The six-foot-one shooting guard was taken in the second round of the 2019 WNBA draft, 19th overall, by the Los Angeles Sparks. After a season in L.A., she played for the Dallas Wings, Chicago Sky and Connecticut Sun before getting taken sixth overall by Toronto in the expansion draft.

Mabrey was averaging 21.1 points, 3.7 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game heading into Wednesday’s game. That’s a career-high in points and above her career average in the other three categories.

In Mabrey’s own words, as the 19th overall pick in her draft class she wasn’t supposed to still be in the WNBA at this point of her career, let alone an all-star.

“I wasn’t supposed to be on a team, wasn’t supposed to be playing, wasn’t supposed to be starting, I wasn’t supposed to be an all-star,” said Mabrey. “Hopefully any players out there watching that want to be great, it doesn’t matter where you’re drafted, it doesn’t matter what your situation is, if you continue to work hard and believe in yourself and get a little bit lucky here and there, it can still work out for you.”

Her parents, Patti and Roy Mabrey, were both competitive triathletes and she said that some of the lessons they taught her about fitness have helped her extend her career.

“They talked to me about, stretching, sleeping, eating, putting the work in and continuing to make sure that you figure out what works for your body and how you can be a great athlete,” said Mabrey. “But you still have that like mental side (taken care of), that you can play basketball at such a high level, but also have like a work-life balance down.

“I think they did a really good job teaching me how to time manage and find what works for me.”

Mabrey’s biggest problem in the weeks leading up to the WNBA All-Star Game on July 25 is that Brittney Sykes, her partner in Toronto’s backcourt, is out with left plantar fascia. Sykes has missed seven games and counting, allowing opposing defences to double team Mabrey.

“Unfortunately, she’s getting a lot of trapping, so we’re trying to put her off the ball, off the action,” said Tempo head coach Sandy Brondello. “She passes really well. She’s probably not going to get an open shot.

“We’ve probably just got to find more solutions to get a little bit of pinch action where she can create something like isolations.”

Mabrey was more direct about the physicality she faced against the Valkyries.

“I think there’s probably a difference between physicality and absolutely foulling,” said a visibly angry Mabrey. “But I’ll keep my money to myself.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 9, 2026.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press