Damiris Dantas played a hugely important bench role for the Fever all season until she missed the team's final playoffs game with a concussion — an effort that was especially important as the team contended with multiple injuries and uncertainty all season long. Dantas showed up in 38 games for the team and averaged 4.6 points and 2.4 rebounds in 11.6 minutes per match.
Dantas pulled all this off and also found time to participate in the FIBA AmeriCup match in support of her home country Brazil, where her team made it all the way to the final match.
But that doesn't mean that playing this season was always easy for Dantas, and she opened up about what challenges she's been contending with in a post shared on Instagram last week. Dantas' post sheds light on the huge mental load that is often silently carried by athletes — something that isn't often apparent to fans who are watching in person or at home.
Dantas posted a lengthy caption alongside of footage of her playing this season in honor of a profile that recently aired on ESPN's Encontros WNBA. She explained that watching the documentary gave her a "mix of feelings" and that she watched alongside her family members.
"We are living in the automatic train, play, travel, win, lose and sometimes forget to look back," a translation of her post reads. "Today, looking back at everything, I'm reminded of the girl who dreamed of being a basketball player at the back, with a heart full of will. I remembered how many times I thought about giving up, and how many people crossed my path to remind me that I was not alone."
Dantas also noted that it's athletes are not always doing okay – and that "it's not always strength, focus, and overcoming," but that they also battle a lot of intense feelings of being "afraid, tired, and lonely."
"I had to stop I needed to breathe, understand myself, take care of myself," she said. "It was one of the most difficult periods of my life — not because of the lack of courts, but because of the need to look at me more lovingly and less charged."
Damiris Dantas will enter her 12th season in the WNBA next year, and presumably will be back on the squad with the Fever — though the season is far from decided, and there's no telling what roster the team will put together. Both Stephanie White and Fever GM Amber Cox have been very open about their intention to make sure they keep Kelsey Mitchell on the team, but have said little else about the impending 2026 free agency.