Kysre wants to rewrite the rules of what it means to be a professional athlete. The WNBA player turned free agent is making history as the first female professional basketball player to grace Playboy's pages as a Playmate, part of a larger pursuit of a modeling career. But don't call it a career pivot.

"What people label as a transition, I embody as evolution," says the 28-year-old, whose journey spans from Houston to Michigan, through the University of Michigan and West Virginia University. "I'm not stepping outside who I am. I'm building a multidimensional brand."