Hailey Van Lith

As part of her ongoing collaborations with multinational financial services firm Chase Freedom, Hailey Van Lith named her favorite hoopers in the NBA in segment uploaded by Overtime on TikTok. She began by choosing Anthony Edwards over Victor Wembanyama but later pivoted to Jalen Brunson. She placed the New York Knicks’ guard over players like Jayson Tatum and Damian Lillard.

However, Kyrie Irving made it to Van Lith’s top of the list, as she picked Irving over hall-of-farmers like Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and LeBron James.

Basketball fans reacted to Hailey Van Lith’s choice, mocking her in the comment section:

“As a knicks fan her choosing brunsen over Shai and Tatum is crazy,” a fan wrote.

“So she loves overrated bums got it,” another fan commented.

“Damn she really doesn’t know ball😂,” another fan wrote.

More fans chimed in with their reaction to Van Lith’s picks:

“This is why we cannot trust pro basketball players opinions, they might be very good at the game, but they dont always know ball,” a fan commented.

“She at TCU rn, only saying Brunson and kyrie cause 1 played for Dallas and the other is playing with Dallas right now lol cmon now,” another fan wrote.

“She’s playing in Texas now of course she picked Kyrie. Kyrie over Luka was a surprise though,” another fan commented.

Hailey Van Lith pursued an undergraduate degree to understand NIL

Hailey Van Lith was still in high school when the concept of NIL began appearing on social media and the basketball industry. Knowing that it will heavily impact a player’s journey, the then-Cashmere High School student pursued an undergraduate degree in finance to better understand NIL.

Alongside the aim of learning the concept and workings, she said she wanted to achieve more control of the monetary side of its benefits and establish a strong foundation for her family.

“I actually got my undergrad in finance because of it (NIL),” Van Lith said in Overtime’s Day In The Life video released on Nov. 10. (2:10)

“I wanted to know how to understand my own money, knowing that I could have an opportunity to set my kids up for their future, to set my kids’ kids up if I know how to use my money correctly. That definitely inspired me to pursue finance for my bachelor’s degree.”

Hailey Van Lith’s NIL is currently valued at $779k, making her the fifth-highest valued NIL athlete in women’s basketball.