There’s Something Supernatural: Arella Guirantes
WNBA players already struggle to achieve visibility, given that the league is smaller and less publicized than the NBA, and waiving adds another layer of hardship. But the promise shown in Guirantes’ game, skill level, and significance as a professional player prevails as an undeniable fact, one noticed and upheld by Jasmine Jordan when she selected Jordan Brand’s incredible roster, and in the uproar of positive attention Guirantes received with her appearance on the Orange Carpet at All-Star Weekend. Guirantes is taking the situation in stride, bouncing back, and adjusting to life as a free agent, with the paradox of heroes and villains as a guide towards continued perseverance.
Speaking to me on Zoom from her hometown of Bellport, NY, where she lives and trains, and is staying in “game shape” while figuring out her next move, she dove right in with one of her favorite quotes — a reference from The Dark Knight, “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”
Waiving, or releasing a player from their team, is a reality of the league that can essentially leave players in an in-between state unless they are picked up by a new team within a mandated window of time. While waiving is common practice in professional basketball, and doesn’t necessarily reflect on a player’s abilities or keep them from joining a team in the future, but that doesn’t make it any less of a challenge, especially for an early-career player like Guirantes.
Guirantes has been playing basketball for most of her life, and she’s up for any challenge. While she may be young, she possesses a high level of self-awareness born of great experience, and easily lists the qualities that make her a great player: “I have an ability to impact the game in multiple ways and an I.Q. for the game. I play inside, outside. I’m a three-level scorer. I make my teammates play better, and I have really good defensive principles.” She sums it up with a laugh, “I know how to play basketball the right way. That’s it.”
The intensity of the training Guirantes partakes in every day is enough to make anyone who’s ever foolishly doubted the strength of female athletes rethink their position. Much of her free time is spent at the gym, and with upcoming international games, she’s staying busy. “I’m doubling down on workouts,” she says. “Even though I’m not playing in the league right now, I have big games around the corner. I workout with weights, do shooting, and do skill work. It’s usually three to four times a day that I’m in and out of the gym.”
She recognizes the importance of staying down to earth and not letting her self-esteem be dictated by those around her. “My whole career, I’ve been kind of quiet. Now I’m on the scene, and people are noticing me more. I feel like I’ve been the underdog my whole life.” She acknowledges that, “people don’t usually believe in you until you believe in yourself,” and credits her faith and her community for helping to cultivate this confidence.
Guirantes was always driven to compete. Growing up, she regularly attended Knicks and Liberty games. “New York ’til I die,” she says, and basketball was always around, thanks to her athletic parents who were active in the neighborhood. “I just knew I wanted to play with the boys and beat all of them. If anybody tried to mess with me, I’d just come back at them harder. That’s the environment I grew up in. We’d have roast battles and stuff at the gym, so I never took anything too personally,” she says. While the conversation around female athletes often focuses on the sexism they face, Guirantes has never seen it as a personal setback. “You see it on Twitter with trolls, but it’s rare that you see it in real life.” In her experience, “Guys are actually eager to play you more, since you’re a girl and they know you’re good. A lot of times they actually respect you more. I play and work out with NBA G League guys all the time, and they treat me the same. We go at it. We’re just one big hoop community, honestly.”
Finding community has been an essential theme throughout Guirantes’ career. “I’m always in my community working out, so I see a lot of kids, and it’s very inspiring to me that they still are really in my corner. They don’t even know half the stuff I’m going through, but they’re happy to see me, and happy that I’m playing HORSE with them. I do all I can to show them I’m still motivated. One night, I ran home from the gym, and there were some kids outside, and they started clapping. It was like a movie scene. It shows them you gotta keep going, no matter your circumstances.” Guirantes is an embodiment of empowerment and success, standing out with natural charisma and dedication to the sport — regardless of title or status.
Rather than compare herself to her fellow players, she acknowledges that, “We all go through the same things and know what it’s like to be athletes and have people on the outside who have misconceptions.” These connections proved especially valuable in navigating the highs and lows of this transitional time. “One of my closest friends now, we had the same situation at the same time with the same team,” she explains. “We were going through it together, and we still have conversations to this day, and tell each other to stay grounded.” Going back to basics has been healing: “I was telling her about finding my love for just playing pickups and random games in New York City, and falling in love with the game again.”
The WNBA as a whole does not get the mainstream respect or attention it deserves, having been overshadowed by the NBA since its inception. “I do think the WNBA is trying their hardest,” says Guirantes. “I’d love to see more teams in more places and more televised games.” Getting cut wasn’t easy, but Guirantes knows that these setbacks come with the tricky territory of being an athlete.
Off the court, she describes her personal style as being that of “an old soul,” declaring that “it’s simple, but can be bold at times. It’s either extra as hell, or more tomboy and laidback.” The superheroes and supervillains who inspire her philosophically are also a source of aesthetic inspiration, personas like Marvel’s Moon Knight and Thanos. She dreams of one day being a character in a comic book, has worn her hair in Harley Quinn-inspired colors, and most recently, she used a cape seen on the Marvel show Moon Knight as a reference point for a look she collaborated on with avant-garde New York design collective Vaquera. Vaquera’s playful sense of experimental worldbuilding and subversive spirit makes them a perfect fit for Guirantes. When she first mentioned her love of superheroes and supervillains to the designers, “their eyes lit up,” she recalls. When she first met the Vaquera designers, she told them, “I love big anime characters — anything that I am feeling, I’ll translate into what I look like.” The aforementioned cape is a white lace creation that brings an edgy femininity to the superhero’s most common accessory, playing up Guirantes’s strength and mystique.
Guirantes is on her hero’s journey. “The most I can do is hold myself accountable, be consistent, and be patient. I’m pretty determined to not rush this process. I want to soak it in and use it as motivation, but also use it to keep me humble. I think it’s one of the best things I could go through right now, because it’s making me stronger and more resilient. I’m not saying I’m psychic or anything, but I’m right on time with a lot of things.” She explains, “My name actually means ‘Angel Messenger of God.’” She finds inspiration in this divine optimism. “I’m living in the moment, seeing where things take me,” she says, “but in the back of my head, I have things I want to accomplish. I’m just going with the flow right now, and a great thing about basketball is it opens [me up to] so many opportunities, and as a kid, I was willing to accept all of them. I don’t think there’s anything I can’t do if I put my mind to it.”
