She would be the Kardashian…
What if Swin Cash’s Victoria’s Secret dream occurred?
Cash was a model before she grew to become a two-time NCAA champ with the UConn Huskies, where her jersey is retired, a three-time WNBA champ and two-time Olympic gold medalist, en route to a Hall of Fame induction in 2022.
“I remember being that player that had all these other kind of skill sets. I modeled and I walked New York Fashion Week when I was 14,” Cash, now 46, recalled in an interview with The Post before making her debut as a studio analyst for Prime Video’s WNBA coverage on Thursday evening.
Swin Cash visits The Post studios in New York City to promote WNBA on Prime forward of the league’s historic thirtieth season on May 5, 2026. Brian Zak/NY Post
“I ended modeling and just strictly was enjoying sports activities because my mother [Cynthia] said that she couldn’t afford for me to go to school. So I had to actually focus in on my lecturers in basketball because I used to be going to get a scholarship, and I did.
“But I always wanted [to model for] Victoria’s Secret. I wanted to walk, I wanted to do all these other things. I knew that brands [and] other media outlets weren’t giving [the WNBA] the attention we needed — because I knew if they just showed our game, that’s what you connect to.”
University of Connecticut ahead Swin Cash reacts after scoring against Oklahoma in the first half at the 2002 NCAA Women’s national basketball closing in San Antonio, Texas, March 31, 2002. REUTERS
Cash — who was at a crossroads in the late ’90s before the NCAA rule change that gamers can revenue from their title image and likeness (NIL) — is ecstatic that WNBA gamers are building manufacturers, promoting merchandise and being acknowledged for their expertise off the court.
“If you fall in love with a player, you’re watching enough [WNBA basketball],” Cash said. “They have a headband on, and you’re making your mother buy a headband… But I used to be also told that I needed to put my head down and focus on basketball, and to now see the girls even take it a step additional.
“I never put my head down. I kept doing what I needed to do, standing on business, but they’re at another level. They’re running their brands in a way that is only going to make it better for the whole ecosystem, because now they’re allowed to be their authentic self, and that translates to them competing and getting better — but they also can step out at the Met Gala. I think all of the women across the board are taking advantage of that. That’s what makes me kind of tear up, is that the opportunity is there and they’re seizing the moment.”
Swin Cash modeled as a teenager and walked New York Fashion Week at age 14. Instagram/Swin Cash
Cash’s charisma and love for fashion undoubtedly would have landed her tons of model offers in today’s NIL world.
She couldn’t help but snigger while recounting a comment by her former UConn coach, Geno Auriemma, with her 2002 Huskies teammates, Sue Bird, Tamika Williams and Asjha Jones, in their textual content group chat.
“Oh Lord! I snigger about this… We’re still in a group chat [today] and so they put in there that coach Auriemma said one thing — I don’t know whether or not to be joyful or take offense to this. What are we going with this?
“But he actually said, if I believe about Swin, he said one thing along the strains that ‘she would be the Kardashians of [the NIL era].
Sue Bird addresses the crowd as Swin Cash (L) and Geno Auriemma (R) look on during the 2025 Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony at Symphony Hall on September 6, 2025 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Getty Images
“I passed out. I said, ‘Well, it’s a compliment. You know what? When opportunity presents itself, you are big business… Sue says this a lot. We were ahead of our time for how we thought about the business of basketball, the business of sports, and I’m grateful that I had great mentors, great advisors, advocates.”
That 2002 Huskies crew had a good 39-0 season and received a national title, where Cash was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player in her closing school sport.
The WNBA, presently in its thirtieth season, was 5 years younger when the Detroit Shock chosen Cash with the second general decide in the 2002 WNBA draft.
Brand offers weren’t a factor and social media affect was a non-factor in cultivating particular person participant reputation.
“I used to be the individual that, at NBA All-Star or in Detroit, it didn’t matter where it was, working up to Magic Johnson being like ‘Magic, so tell me about how you got the Starbucks deal?’ Cash said.
Swin Cash received two championships with the Detroit Shock. Instagram/Swin Cash
“I wanted to understand it and everyone was just being open to tell me and to teach me and to help me. I was always curious about how do I get there. I may not be able to get to your level. And I remember being poured in to by all these different men and women because I just asked the questions.”
Cash and her former UConn teammates have been half of a greater ecosystem of gamers who helped lay the groundwork for the the historic seven-year Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) the WNBA and WNBPA reached in March.
Starting with the 2026 season through 2032, new CBA will characteristic a five-time wage cap increase to $7 million and a new 20 p.c revenue-sharing model. The deal boosts minimal salaries to $270,000–$300,000, and contains enhanced household planning advantages, retirement plans, and veteran recognition funds.
Cash did an exceedingly wonderful job of making her presence recognized without assets gamers have at their disposal today.
She was a four-time WNBA All-Star and a two-time All-Star sport MVP.
The Pittsburgh native was on the cowl of Sports Illustrated as one of their Fashionable 50 in April 2016.
“[After my playing career] a lot of my time was always thinking and imagining what [the WNBA] could be,” Cash said. “And I think every ounce of what I did as a player on the court, off the court, in the community, business wise, was always looking towards the future of where the game was going, where the league was going. I am so, so proud of where it is today and what it will definitely be in the future.”
Cash was the Director of Franchise Development for the Liberty from 2017-18, before she served as the Vice President and then Senior VP of Basketball Operations and Team Development for the New Orleans Pelicans of the NBA from 2019-2025.
Swin Cash attends the Prime Video celebration for the WNBA On Prime Tip Off at Brooklyn Museum on May 5, 2026 in Brooklyn, New York. Getty Images for Prime Video
Cash joined Prime Video’s star-studded 2026 WNBA coverage lineup — starting Thursday — following her first season as an Analyst and Front Office Insider for NBA on Prime.
“With the technology in-studio, we’re going to be able to kind of take you out of your seat and make you feel like you’re a part of the game,” Cash said, including that she will’t wait to showcase a different facet of her character. “We’re actually educating you, but not speaking over your head, speaking instantly to you so you will get it.
“One thing I can tell you… I can put you on the floor [on Prime’s studio court] and say, all right, Candice, you’re here, and actually show you this one pick and roll or this court perspective. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Hall of Famer Cynthia Cooper joins Candace Parker as a rotating sport and studio analyst, Olympic gold medalist Kara Lawson and Emmy Award-winning ladies’s basketball broadcaster LaChina Robinson are sport analysts and Hall of Famer Teresa Weatherspoon and WNBA stars Lindsey Harding and Ty Young will be part of Cash for in-studio coverage.
(L-R) Swin Cash, LaChina Robinson, Ty Young, Cynthia Cooper, Amina Hussein, Kara Lawson, Allie Clifton, and Candace Parker attend the Prime Video celebration for the WNBA On Prime Tip Off at Brooklyn Museum on May 5, 2026 in Brooklyn, New York. Getty Images for Prime Video
Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum will be part of WNBA on Prime as a participant contributor, making choose appearances during the 2026 WNBA season.
The 2026 WNBA on Prime Video season ideas off with a doubleheader on Thursday, with the Minnesota Lynx dealing with the Dallas Wings at 8 p.m. ET and the Liberty taking on the Portland Fire at 10 p.m. ET.
Prime Video will completely stream 31 regular-season video games, the Commissioner’s Cup Championship on June 30, and choose postseason video games.
Outside of basketball, Cash — a mom of two sons, Saint and Syer, with her husband Steve Canal — continues to give back to the sport and assist ladies in sports activities as a philanthropist and entrepreneur.
She based Cash for Kids, a nonprofit devoted to empowering youth, and in 2022 she launched She’s Got Time, an enterprise centered on creating a various ecosystem of assets, group, and media for ladies with careers in sports activities.
She was named as a board of trustees member of The Women’s Sports Foundation in January.
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