A 5-foot-9 guard from Florida who played collegiately at Florida International (2021-23) and Stony Brook (2023-25), Zaida Gonzalez has established herself as a key contributor for the Puerto Rican national team.
She just completed her first World Cup, with her team separated from making the quarterfinals by just three points after a loss to China.
Swish Appeal had the opportunity to chat with Gonzalez, talking about the tournament in Berlin, the Puerto Rican team chemistry and her pro career so far.
Here are a few highlights:
On whether she felt pressure or relief when she learned she would be starting her first World Cup game for Puerto Rico:
Honestly, a little bit of both because being a starter for our first game in the World Cup, playing against a top team in the tournament, Australia, it definitely is pressure put on you. You’re expected to start off the game hot being in the starting five.
So, I’ll say it’s pressure, but at the same time, it is a relief knowing like I am trusted by my coach to be in the starting lineup with such a talented group of girls. It makes you happy, it shows the work that you’ve done over the past weeks in training camp pays off. I think you got to find your happy medium in between both. It’ss exciting, but it’s also pretty nerve-wracking.
On moving to Czech Republic for the final games of the 2025-26 season:
[The offer from] Czech Republic came kind of late, around March and at first it was a conflict because March was also the same time as … or maybe it was February … the World Cup qualifiers. So at the same time that I was being invited for the national team to start training camp for the World Cup qualifiers.
Czech Republic was calling me or calling my agent to get me over there and I had to make a choice. At first I decided I’m not going to be able to go. I told them, “I don’t think I can go because I’m playing with the national team and this is my top priority.” And they said, “Okay, we can’t do nothing about it.” Then my agent called me a few days later and said, “Listen, they still want you, so they’ll wait about a month and a half for me.”
Everything just worked out and I was there to help them that last part of their season. And that was another a great experience for me to finally play in Europe.
A special thank you to Lorenzo Gallotti of Two Points Agency for arranging the interview.
