SAN FRANCISCO — Kaila Charles has never doubted her game. Even when she was floating around the WNBA on hardship deals and non-guaranteed contracts, she knew she belonged. That faith landed her with the Golden State Valkyries, where she’s become a two-way spark plug and one of the most energetic players on a team that ranks second in defensive efficiency.
But the confidence she carried onto the court didn’t always extend to her hair.
A few months ago, Charles cut off her relaxed ends and let her natural coils out. For her, it was more than a fresh look. It was a reckoning with years of internalized messages about what Black women’s hair should look like, messages that told her her texture was unmanageable and unprofessional.
Why she did it
Charles grew up hearing her natural hair called nappy
and unmanageable,
labels that stuck in her head well into adulthood. She wore her hair straight for years, partly because she believed that’s what polished and professional looked like. But she got tired of hiding.
I think there’s a stigma with natural hair,
Charles told ClutchPoints. Sometimes it’s not deemed professional or beautiful. Growing up, it wasn’t as popular as it was now, and so just as I was getting older and coming into who I am as a woman, I just wanted to wear it and be that representation for younger girls.
She said she internalized the criticism so deeply that it took years of unlearning. I didn’t realize how conditioned society had me. To not accept who I was and how I was made.
She credits her faith with helping her see that she was made exactly as she was supposed to be, and that wearing her hair out is a stance of pride.
The fan reaction that shifted everything
Still, walking into the arena with her natural hair for the first time made her nervous. But the Valkyries fanbase met her with an outpouring of love that she says healed something in her.
The team posted her tunnel walk on social media, fans flooded her replies on Threads, and messages from parents started rolling in. One woman said her daughter pointed at the screen and said, Mom, her hair is beautiful!
Another fan told Charles her natural look was so important for so many little girls watching you.
Charles posted her own thank-you message: I got soooo many compliments on my hair today, definitely healed my inner child a bit.
She said the moment felt full-circle, like all those years of hiding had led to this one warm, affirming night.
How the hair connects to the hustle
And Charles isn’t just feeling good off the court. In her last two games, she’s been a force on the offensive glass, crashing the boards on critical possessions. Head coach Natalie Nakase has pointed to Charles as the tone-setter for the team’s energy, especially after a stretch where the Valkyries let multiple double-digit leads slip.
I feel like every time I watch her play, it’s a new level of energy,
Nakase said after Charles put up 13 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and a +15 rating against the Sparks. That’s why we kept punching. Because of her effort and energy.
There’s an old sports saying about looking good and playing good, and maybe there’s something to it. But for Charles, the real point isn’t how her hair makes her play. It’s what it signals to the young Black girls who might see themselves in her.
Black women in their hair, people like to police it,
she said. I don’t want people to hide their hair because they’re ashamed of it, or because they don’t deem it as acceptable. And so I would just tell myself to just accept it. Just love it.
Charles hopes they understand that natural hair isn’t something to shrink from. It’s something to explore and own. We can pull up in any hairstyle, any color, anything, and we look good,
she said. If you just walk with pride, people will feel that aura.
And the Valkyries and their fans feel it. In how she plays. In how she talks. In how she shows up, exactly as she is.
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