When asked how many countries she's played in as a pro, former Arizona women's basketball player Trinity Baptiste started rattling them off:

"Russia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Romania, Turkey, China, and now this past season I played in Germany, and I also played in … somewhere else, Mexico."

Those are a lot of countries to keep track of. She's also played in Brazil and for the Lebanese National Team, and was set to play in Israel before deciding against it because of the war.

In August, Baptiste heads to France.

That's the life of someone who plays professional basketball overseas.

Baptiste hasn't played for the same team in the same country for multiple seasons, just yet. Before a season ends, her agent is already looking for the next best place for her to land.

Her German club won a league championship this past spring, the first time she'd held the trophy at the end of a season. Baptiste said it was "very rewarding" to be on the other side of a championship.

Still, she said there's been nothing like the 2021 run to the NCAA National Championship game with the University of Arizona. That will always be special to her.

What's clear about Baptiste through the years is that she is extremely dedicated to her craft. Saying she works to get 1% better every day would be an understatement. She's one of the hardest-working athletes in the sport.

During the season, she lifts in the weight room regularly. In the offseason, she works on different aspects of her game by playing with grown men, some former professionals.

Once she became a pro, she changed her game and now plays two positions, wing and small forward. She taught herself the skills needed at wing, along with shooting, defense and other aspects of her game. There is no assistant coach working with her on skills every day during the season or in the offseason. Baptiste has done all of this on her own.

There are very few athletes disciplined enough to do this.

She loves her life as a basketball player. She's living her dream.

When she was around 10 years old, playing in the WNBA was her dream. She was later drafted by the Indiana Fever and waived.

"I never thought about overseas, I only wanted to play in the WNBA, and that was it," Baptiste said. "I was watching Minnesota (Lynx) when they were winning (4 titles with) Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus. My dream was to play in the WNBA, but as I graduated, and I got an opportunity to go overseas … now I realize I'm still living my dream, and it's not based on a location."

Locations and team playing styles may differ, but one thing that gives someone like Baptiste a long career is the ability to adjust quickly. She joined her last team midseason after two players at her position were injured. Baptiste had one or two practices before being thrown into a game, learning everything on the fly.

Baptiste shrugged it off:

"It's just how it is in pro sports."

Training camp is typically around two weeks. There is no summer training like in college, where players have time to get to know teammates and their tendencies, such as where they like the ball. Everything as a pro happens at a much faster pace.

Style of play changes for every team. In Turkey, it was fast with a lot of scoring in the open court, while in Germany it was more of a half-court game, with more set plays.

Baptiste said one of the biggest adjustments was "learning how to become a pro."

"I think you have to learn how to be a pro and to be about your business," Baptiste said. "You don't have someone by your side, like in college, you have a lot of resources and a lot of assistant coaches and coaches and sports psychologists. You have so many resources and people there to help uplift you when things aren't going well. As a pro, from my experience in Russia, it seemed that everything was on me, like whatever was happening off the court, it really didn't matter when it came time to play. I needed to be ready to play."

Russia was her first pro experience, and it wasn't easy. Most athletes would have quit after that. Not Baptiste. It's not who she is.

At Arizona, her coach, Adia Barnes, now at SMU, talked to Baptiste a lot about what it's like playing professionally. Barnes played in the WNBA, winning the 2004 championship with the Seattle Storm, and overseas for more than 12 years. Those conversations, including what to do with her money, stuck with Baptiste.

One of the biggest lessons she learned from Barnes was to "sacrifice to become a winner. To put the team's needs first, above my needs," Baptiste said.

That approach has served her well at every stop. She's helped her teams win consistently and had standout games and weeks, earning most valuable player honors along the way. This past spring, she shot 56% from the field and 94% from the free throw line in a shortened season.

Baptiste liked the competitiveness when she played in China in 2025. While there were numerous WNBA players in that league, no one was as competitive as one of her former teammates, Aari McDonald.

"Aari is the fiercest competitor I've ever played with," Baptiste said. "I haven't had another teammate like her on that level of competitiveness and just being a dog. Who knows, maybe one day we'll be able to play together again."

They hadn't played together or against each other in practice in four years. Both of their games had grown in that time. McDonald was even more dynamic, and Baptiste is now scoring more at all levels, inside, mid-range and from long distance. She's more versatile, guarding bigs and even playing point guard at times.

Growing and learning more about herself each season is just a byproduct of a life well-lived for Baptiste.

"I'm most proud of myself for just continuing to go and chase my dream," Baptiste said. "Every day is a miracle to still be playing a game that I love at my age. And just to be doing something positive in the world, when there's so much negativity in the world. Just focusing on myself and my craft, and continuing to work hard every day, that's what I'm most proud of."

PJ Brown is the founder of The Undercovered, a Substack newsletter covering untold stories in women's college, professional and Olympic sports. Find more of her work at theundercovered.substack.com.

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