Marina Mabrey entered the WNBA as the 19th overall pick in the 2019 Draft. Mid-second-round selections are routinely cut during training camp, never guaranteed a roster spot, and rarely expected to amount to much at the professional level. But looking back from where Mabrey stands today, as the face of a franchise, fresh off signing a historic two-year, $2.4 million contract with the Toronto Tempo, it’s been quite a journey to get here.

Reflecting on that contract and the history it represents, Mabrey found herself transported back to those early days of doubt and uncertainty. “When I first got to the league, people weren’t sure if I was a WNBA player, if I even belonged here,” she said. But signing that Tempo deal brought with it a powerful reminder: the reality she now occupies is one she built herself, one early morning gym session at a time. “Seeing the vision every time I woke up early in the gyms and went,” Mabrey said.

“To work my way up as one of the best players, especially shooters in the league, is kind of like a full circle moment because I believed in my vision even when other people maybe didn’t see it,” Mabrey added.

Out of college, Marina Mabrey was a talented offensive player, especially in scoring. She graduated in 2019 as Notre Dame’s all-time leader in made three-pointers, and ranked eighth in school history with 1,896 career points. She even won an NCAA championship alongside Arike Ogunbowale, who now leads the Dallas Wings. But regardless of her college accomplishments and offensive talent, there was still a lot of doubt surrounding her long-term potential in the WNBA at the time. And so she had to put in the work to establish herself professionally.

And indeed, it’s quite a career she has built despite all the doubts that surrounded her during those early days in the league. Now entering her eighth WNBA season, Marina Mabrey has already surpassed 2,000 career points, and she’s still going strong. In fact, during the 2025 season with the Connecticut Sun, she averaged 14.4 points, a team-high 4.0 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game.

It is precisely that profile that convinced the Toronto Tempo to make her the cornerstone of their entire franchise. As one of the two expansion teams joining the WNBA in 2026, the Tempo aren’t simply bringing Mabrey in as a key piece; they are building the team around her.

Marina Mabrey’s story is indeed quite an inspiring one, especially considering how much doubt surrounded her entering the league compared to where she stands today. And for Mabrey herself, the journey is about more than basketball or contracts.

She hopes that inspires the next generation coming after her. “I hope that anyone watching, little girls watching, kind of hopes that whatever their vision was and their dream was, they believe in that and don’t let anyone tell them that it’s not there. If it wasn’t possible and it wasn’t for you, you wouldn’t have seen it,” Mabrey said.

Marina Mabrey Embraces Responsibility After Toronto Makes Her Franchise Centerpiece

For Marina Mabrey, being the face of a franchise is a dream come true. As she said, “I’m grateful more than anything. Like when you’re younger, you dream of moments like this.”

However, moments like this do come with responsibilities that can feel intimidating. But regardless, Mabrey has chosen to embrace it, even though it may seem overwhelming. “When it happens, it can feel like, oh, this is a lot of responsibility,” she said. “But at the end of the day, I manifested this. I created this in my mind when I was younger. And I think that um, if I wasn’t capable of it, I wouldn’t have been able to see it.”

As she said, this was indeed something that she had worked for and dreamed of. And now that the dream is a reality, she’s more than willing to pay the price to sustain that dream. For her, that would mean supporting her teammates and leaning on them. As she puts it, “it’s a team thing for a reason.” And so for her, the goal is just to make sure that she’s “making all her teammates better and making it an enjoyable experience for everyone.”

She’s already keeping to her word. Marina Mabrey exploded for 27 points and 7 rebounds in her first official appearance for the Toronto Tempo. The game ended in a narrow 68-65 loss to the Washington Mystics. They will be hoping to turn things around when they face the Seattle Storm on May 14.