While Delaney-Smith’s “act as if” ideology helped her overcome cancer, she explains it also made her a stronger person in general, as shown last year when her older sister passed away from lung cancer.

“My dad died very young of lung cancer in his early 50s and my mom died of bone marrow cancer,” she says. “My older sister who’s just 10 months older than me just suddenly died of lung cancer last year. My sister and I are both breast cancer survivors, and my brother is a skin cancer survivor, so yeah, my family has been hit hard by cancer.”

Delaney-Smith’s strength can also be seen in those around her, especially in the attitudes of her past and present players both on and off the court.

“There have been times when we’ve been through some pretty bad stuff, and she doesn’t use [her struggle]. She doesn’t throw it out there, but sometimes you can see it, you see it in her face,” Markley says. “She’s relating to us like, I’ve been there, I’ve been down, I’ve seen the bottom, and this is how you get through it, this is how I’ve done it, and this is what strength is.”

For those who were with Delaney-Smith from the beginning, from the shaved head and wigs, seeing her last Saturday in a game benefiting breast cancer research reminded them of how tough Delaney-Smith is.

“I just heard today that she’s going into her 30th year,” Barnard recounts. “I just turned 30, so she was coaching when I was going into diapers—which is pretty amazing. I will always have her in my heart and my mind as my mentor in life.”

—Staff writer Brian A. Campos can be reached at bcampos@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Alex Sopko can be reached at sopko@fas.harvard.edu.