What if Swin Cash’s Victoria’s Secret dream happened?
Cash was a model before she became 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 night.
“I stopped modeling and just strictly was playing sports because my mom [Cynthia] said that she couldn’t afford for me to go to college. So I had to really focus in on my academics in basketball because I was 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.”
Cash — who was at a crossroads in the late ’90s before the NCAA rule change that players can profit from their name image and likeness (NIL) — is ecstatic that WNBA players are building brands, selling products and being recognized for their skills 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 mom buy a headband… But I was also told that I needed to put my head down and focus on basketball, and to now see the ladies even take it a step further.
“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.”
Cash’s charisma and love for fashion undoubtedly would have landed her tons of brand deals in today’s NIL world.
She couldn’t help but laugh while recounting a remark by her former UConn coach, Geno Auriemma, with her 2002 Huskies teammates, Sue Bird, Tamika Williams and Asjha Jones, in their text group chat.
“Oh Lord! I laugh about this… We’re still in a group chat [today] and so they put in there that coach Auriemma said something — I don’t know whether to be happy or take offense to this. What are we going with this?
“But he literally said, if I think about Swin, he said something along the lines that ‘she would be the Kardashians of [the NIL era].
“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 team had a perfect 39-0 season and won a national title, where Cash was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player in her final college game.
The WNBA, currently in its 30th season, was five years young when the Detroit Shock selected Cash with the second overall pick in the 2002 WNBA draft.
Brand deals weren’t a thing and social media influence was a non-factor in cultivating individual player popularity.
“I was the person that, at NBA All-Star or in Detroit, it didn’t matter where it was, running up to Magic Johnson being like ‘Magic, so tell me about how you got the Starbucks deal?’ Cash said.
“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 were part of a bigger ecosystem of players 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 feature a five-time salary cap increase to $7 million and a new 20 percent revenue-sharing model. The deal boosts minimum salaries to $270,000–$300,000, and includes enhanced family planning benefits, retirement plans, and veteran recognition payments.
Cash did an exceedingly fine job of making her presence known without resources players have at their disposal today.
She was a four-time WNBA All-Star and a two-time All-Star game MVP.
The Pittsburgh native was on the cover 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.
Cash joined Prime Video’s star-studded 2026 WNBA coverage lineup — beginning 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, adding that she can’t wait to showcase a different side of her personality. “We’re really educating you, but not talking over your head, talking directly to you so you can 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 game and studio analyst, Olympic gold medalist Kara Lawson and Emmy Award-winning women’s basketball broadcaster LaChina Robinson are game analysts and Hall of Famer Teresa Weatherspoon and WNBA stars Lindsey Harding and Ty Young will join Cash for in-studio coverage.
Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum will join WNBA on Prime as a player contributor, making select appearances during the 2026 WNBA season.
The 2026 WNBA on Prime Video season tips off with a doubleheader on Thursday, with the Minnesota Lynx facing the Dallas Wings at 8 p.m. ET and the Liberty taking on the Portland Fire at 10 p.m. ET.
Prime Video will exclusively stream 31 regular-season games, the Commissioner’s Cup Championship on June 30, and select postseason games.
Outside of basketball, Cash — a mother of two sons, Saint and Syer, with her husband Steve Canal — continues to give back to the game and support women in sports as a philanthropist and entrepreneur.
She founded Cash for Kids, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering youth, and in 2022 she launched She’s Got Time, an enterprise focused on creating a diverse ecosystem of resources, community, and media for women with careers in sports.
She was named as a board of trustees member of The Women’s Sports Foundation in January.
