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Speaker 1: I was super worried that when coach Stephanie White or

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Speaker 1: the Fever said she likes Adele and that that's what

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Speaker 1: she wanted as her intro music that considering that their

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Speaker 1: year came to an end, I was worried that you

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Speaker 1: were going to get snarky with it in play the

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Speaker 1: we could have had it all the end. Then it

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Speaker 1: gets uncomfortable, you know what I mean, because there are

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Speaker 1: two ways when a season ends. I think oftentimes and

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Speaker 1: look for any team, it goes without saying for any

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Speaker 1: team when a season ends, there is disappointment right in

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Speaker 1: the moment, but then you can kind of step back

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Speaker 1: and get a broader view of it. And I wanted

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Speaker 1: to do exactly that with the head coach of the

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Speaker 1: Indiana Fever who joins us on the program, Stephanie White, coach,

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Speaker 1: how are you?

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Speaker 2: I'm doing all right? How about you?

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Speaker 1: No complaints? I wanted to I wanted to begin with this.

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Speaker 1: I wanted to read you this, and this is one

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Speaker 1: of many comments that I got when we talked about,

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Speaker 1: you know, that overtime performance with Las Vegas and everything

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Speaker 1: that went into that game and the resolve that your

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Speaker 1: team showed. I got the following from a guy who

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Speaker 1: is a high school basketball coach. He said last night,

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Speaker 1: it was so spot on when everything you talked about

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Speaker 1: and how it leads to being so proud of a

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Speaker 1: sports team. Win or lose is one thing, but sometimes

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Speaker 1: a team does everything that you would want in a team,

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Speaker 1: and it's something that is a fan it makes you

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Speaker 1: proud of the fact that they represent nice job to

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Speaker 1: the fever of representing Indiana basketball the right way, and

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Speaker 1: I totally agree with that. And I'm curious though, if

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Speaker 1: you know, from a professional standpoint, because you have a

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Speaker 1: job to do, coach, are you able to really step

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Speaker 1: back and say that was remarkable what we were able

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Speaker 1: to do.

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Speaker 2: You know, I think maybe in a couple of weeks

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Speaker 2: I'll be able to do that. Really realistically, you look

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Speaker 2: at it and you think, yes, it's pretty remarkable. But

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Speaker 2: at the same time, that's what sport is all about.

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Speaker 2: Out I mean, we think about, you know, the history

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Speaker 2: of sport. It's it's oftentimes the most inspirational stories are

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Speaker 2: the are the you know, remarkable ones right against all

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Speaker 2: odds ones, the ones that have you know, really good

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Speaker 2: human beings that that set an example for for life,

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Speaker 2: not just for sport. And you know that's what this

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Speaker 2: group was, you know. And and oftentimes when you when

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Speaker 2: you may not be as talented as your opponent, or

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Speaker 2: when you may not you know, have have all of

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Speaker 2: the things that that that that that other teams or

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Speaker 2: other people do, it takes the intangibles, uh, and it

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Speaker 2: takes the connectedness, and it takes uh something different inside

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Speaker 2: of you. And and I think that that's what this

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Speaker 2: group has had you.

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Speaker 1: There was a clip that was shown on television where

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Speaker 1: they had you miked up and during a time it

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Speaker 1: was after Kelsey Mitchell had gone down. And you know,

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Speaker 1: we now know that that injury. And I want to

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Speaker 1: give full kudos and credit to the medical staff that

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Speaker 1: was there because we thought it was just oce as

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Speaker 1: a leg cramp, and we now know that that's something

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Speaker 1: that could have been more severe and will be monitored

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Speaker 1: moving forward. But thankfully they were just so fast to

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Speaker 1: act on that and and and that deserves a tip

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Speaker 1: of the cap. But you've got to then kind of

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Speaker 1: rally your team together and you're saying to them, no

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Speaker 1: one is more prepared for and I'm paraphrasing, no one

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Speaker 1: is better built to be able to respond to this

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Speaker 1: than we are. Nobody can handle this like we can.

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Speaker 1: When you were saying that, coach, could you see in

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Speaker 1: their eyes that they that they believed what you were saying?

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Speaker 2: Uh, you know, I think I saw fear to start.

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Speaker 2: And that's why I said it, because we had had

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Speaker 2: so many of those of those moments, and at the time,

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Speaker 2: we obviously didn't know what was going on with Kelsey. Uh.

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Speaker 2: We thought it was cramp cramping as well, and so

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Speaker 2: you know, the severity of of of what was happening

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Speaker 2: wasn't there. But in any time you see a teammate

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Speaker 2: go down, it's it's hard and and we've had all

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Speaker 2: well many of those moments unfortunately throughout the course of

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Speaker 2: the year, and we've had to rally around them and

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Speaker 2: rally for them, and and and rally one another, and

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Speaker 2: so you know, in that moment, it was just a

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Speaker 2: sense that it could have been been a breaking point

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Speaker 2: for our team, but reminding them what we've been through,

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Speaker 2: reminding them that we could find another gear, find another level,

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Speaker 2: that we could find something inside of us that was

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Speaker 2: playing for something more than just to win a basketball game,

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Speaker 2: because we had done it multiple times, and quite frankly,

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Speaker 2: just reminding them who they are in that moment, and

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Speaker 2: and and whether it was going to go our way

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Speaker 2: or not, you know, we we still needed to find

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Speaker 2: something to play for.

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Speaker 1: And by the way, that injury for those that are unfamiliar,

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Speaker 1: and it's a medical term that I'm not even going

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Speaker 1: to try to pronounce, but essentially what happened was she

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Speaker 1: had a muscle deficiency. Were her muscles for a five

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Speaker 1: to seven second period essentially paralyzed on her and she

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Speaker 1: could not move her muscles, And that is something that

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Speaker 1: will be monitored moving forward. We certainly hope the best

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Speaker 1: for Kelsey Mitchell in terms of the way that in

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Speaker 1: that game, I just thought it was a microcosm of

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Speaker 1: your season because every single time, and I'm not gonna

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Speaker 1: lie to you, Stephanie White, the Fever coaches, our guest

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Speaker 1: here with sport coach, and I think you know this.

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Speaker 1: You know, sometimes when you are involved from a working

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Speaker 1: standpoint in a game, you see it differently. You know this.

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Speaker 1: I mean you've done radio and done television analysis of games.

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Speaker 1: You just kind of watch it differently, right, like the

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Speaker 1: fandom and you kind of goes away, right. It is

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Speaker 1: becomes rare with teams that all of a sudden, I

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Speaker 1: get fifteen year old me comes out again and I'm

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Speaker 1: pacing and whatever else. I actually did that in this

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Speaker 1: game because I wanted. It was such a great story,

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Speaker 1: and I loved the resolve of it. And every time

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Speaker 1: it got to like five points, I thought, oh gosh,

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Speaker 1: and then I'd turn around and I come back and boom,

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Speaker 1: it's tied again. It was a microcosm of exactly your year.

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Speaker 1: How was that? What is it about this group that

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Speaker 1: was different?

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Speaker 2: Uh? You know, I think number one, I truly believe

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Speaker 2: in my heart that connected teams are winning teams, and

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Speaker 2: this is a group that was incredibly connected. And it's

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Speaker 2: it's not something that you can produce. It's something that

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Speaker 2: happens organically. And this group, no matter who came into

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Speaker 2: the locker room at what point in the season, they

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Speaker 2: came into the locker room that the people who had

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Speaker 2: been here navigated, embraced, empowered, and also showed them the way.

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Speaker 2: You know, we had gosh, four or five five people

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Speaker 2: on our team that didn't start the year with us,

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Speaker 2: if I'm right about that, And our mantra from the

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Speaker 2: very beginning of the year was we over me. You know,

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Speaker 2: We started the season understanding that we had a lot

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Speaker 2: of talent in the room, in the locker room. But

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Speaker 2: also with with a lot of talent comes challenges because

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Speaker 2: not everybody's going to get to play, even when they

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Speaker 2: should deserve to play, you know, not everything. And and and

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Speaker 2: so we we started the year talking about we over

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Speaker 2: me and every time a new player came in, they

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Speaker 2: hadn't been in our locker room since April. But the

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Speaker 2: players in our locker room lived that. They showed them

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Speaker 2: how to live, that they they they they held them

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Speaker 2: accountable to that, and and that that connectedness, that sacrifice

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Speaker 2: for one another, the sacrifice for for the team. Uh,

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Speaker 2: it just it enabled us to find another level and

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Speaker 2: and another year. And you know, it's in sport, it's

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Speaker 2: about getting tot at the right time. And and this

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Speaker 2: group did that, did that, I think you know, when

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Speaker 2: we did it was a result of that had probably

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Speaker 2: been the team that had been together the longest throughout

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Speaker 2: the course of the season. And and again, as we

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Speaker 2: know in sports, especially when you're watching it from an

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Speaker 2: analytical perspective and not a fan perspective, if it does

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Speaker 2: take time to build that chemistry and connectedness and connectivity

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Speaker 2: on the floor, and that group had the time to

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Speaker 2: do it. I'm not sure at any other point in

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Speaker 2: the season we had a consistent enough you know, eight nine,

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Speaker 2: ten players that were playing that we were able to

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Speaker 2: do that.

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Speaker 1: When you look at Stephanie White, the head coach of

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Speaker 1: the Fever, is our guest coach over the course of

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Speaker 1: the year, you know, especially with when you have a

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Speaker 1: player like Caitlyn Clark who is such a transcendent star. Right,

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Speaker 1: so you're going to have people following what your team

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Speaker 1: is doing that maybe didn't even follow the WNBA three

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Speaker 1: years ago. You're going to have people that don't follow

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Speaker 1: the WNBA but follow Kitlin Clark, et cetera. From a

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Speaker 1: coaching standpoint at times, that can create no win situations

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Speaker 1: because you're going to be scrutinized in whichever way you

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Speaker 1: play it in any aspect when it comes to a

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Speaker 1: player like that. There was critique of Stephanie White at

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Speaker 1: the beginning of the year before really Caitlin Clark went

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Speaker 1: down with injury, just over the play and then the

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Speaker 1: way things came together and the fact that at the

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Speaker 1: end of the year everyone's saying this is coach at

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Speaker 1: the year level stuff. Did you feel vindicated?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I you know, obviously we don't really

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Speaker 2: do it too for other people's opinions. You know, it's

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Speaker 2: it's I had a coach when I very first started coaching.

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Speaker 2: Tell me, if I started listening to the people that

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Speaker 2: were that were in the stands, then then I wouldn't

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Speaker 2: be coaching very long and I'd be sitting with them

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Speaker 2: before too long. So, you know, we don't do it

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Speaker 2: for that. We don't do it for them.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 2: We do it for our players and our team, and

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Speaker 2: we do it because we love the game, and we

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Speaker 2: do it because we love the sport. You know, I

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Speaker 2: love this franchise, and nobody is ever going to be happy.

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Speaker 2: You know. I appreciate uh fever basketball fans in particular,

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Speaker 2: and basketball fans from the state of Indiana, because they

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Speaker 2: know the game, they understand the nuance of the game,

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Speaker 2: and and so for me, uh, it wasn't really about vindication.

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Speaker 2: It was about just putting the best team and that

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Speaker 2: we could forward. I understand that it doesn't happen, you know, automatically.

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Speaker 2: I also understand that that it that it's it's one

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Speaker 2: of those things that you have to get lucky, like

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Speaker 2: you don't just go win championships like it is hard

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Speaker 2: to get to the finals. It is hard to win championships.

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Speaker 2: I know that there are teams who make it look easy,

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Speaker 2: and sometimes there are dynasties that make it look easy.

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Speaker 2: But because of my experience in this sport and twenty

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Speaker 2: six years in this league, you know, I understand the difference.

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Speaker 2: And I've been a part of some really great teams

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Speaker 2: and have also been a part of of the franchise

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Speaker 2: obviously when it first started. So so I don't know

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Speaker 2: vindicated is the right word, as much as I just

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Speaker 2: feel incredibly proud of the foundation that we laid in

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Speaker 2: terms of our culture. I feel really proud of the

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Speaker 2: group that came together to find a way. No matter what,

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Speaker 2: I feel really proud of my staff because I do

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Speaker 2: feel like we have the best staff you know, in

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Speaker 2: the league, and we're creating and we try to think

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Speaker 2: outside the box and we try to put people in

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Speaker 2: positions to be successful, and so I think more than anything,

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Speaker 2: I just the word that comes to mind at the

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Speaker 2: end of the year is just pride.

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Speaker 1: When you look at the league itself, from the time

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Speaker 1: that you played to now, Stephanie White in the growth

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Speaker 1: of the league and the growth of the growth of

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Speaker 1: the interest of the league. One of the byproducts of

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Speaker 1: that is that means that the business aspect of it

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Speaker 1: is going to be scrutinized and people are going to

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Speaker 1: pay a lot more attention to it. That's become obviously,

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Speaker 1: and we're heading into an offseason that's going to be

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Speaker 1: fascinating with the collective bargaining. And then you have the commissioner,

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Speaker 1: Kathy Engelbert. I know you're aware of the comments that

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Speaker 1: NEFISA call you're made, and then Kitlyn Clark kind of

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Speaker 1: getting brought into that, Caitlyn Clark responding to it. What

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Speaker 1: has been your overall assessment of that dialogue and as

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Speaker 1: it relates to your star player.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I hate I hate it all for Caitlin.

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Speaker 2: You know, I feel like, you know, she's a twenty

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Speaker 2: three year old kid who loves to play the skame game,

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Speaker 2: who is a pawn in a lot of other people's

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Speaker 2: games and a lot of other people's narratives, and I

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Speaker 2: hate that for her. You know. It's it's we're coming

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Speaker 2: into a time in the w n b A where

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Speaker 2: we're where we're kind of part of the growing pains

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Speaker 2: of of of becoming quote unquote mainstreams professional sport is

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Speaker 2: some of this stuff. You know, I do think that

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Speaker 2: we are at a pivotal moment in terms of the

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Speaker 2: league's history. And look, I was a part of the

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Speaker 2: very first collective bargaining agreement of the w n b

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Speaker 2: A where we wanted insurance all year long. So now

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Speaker 2: where it is growing and players do deserve more, and

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Speaker 2: leadership needs to reflect, uh where we are as a

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Speaker 2: league and and and and also understand where we are

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Speaker 2: as a league and where players perspectives are coming from.

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Speaker 2: And you know, we have coaches on the sidelines and

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Speaker 2: in Becky Hammond and myself and of course no Epun

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Speaker 2: who was in Seattle, who played in this league, who

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Speaker 2: like this league is is is part of our of

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Speaker 2: our of our lifeblood. Like we we have grown up

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Speaker 2: in this league, and we take pride in this league

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Speaker 2: and the success of this league. And we also take

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Speaker 2: pride in understanding what needs to be done and in leadership.

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Speaker 2: And part of leadership is taking accountability. Part of leadership

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Speaker 2: is it is owning how we move the needle. Part

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Speaker 2: of leadership is not just recognizing uh, the people who

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Speaker 2: who who are part of this this league, but empowering

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Speaker 2: and embracing and understanding what they bring. And you know,

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Speaker 2: your employees are your number one asset, and and so

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Speaker 2: I I do feel like we're we're at a pivotal moment.

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Speaker 2: I do feel like we're at a time where where

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Speaker 2: all things have to be considered and where multiple truths

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Speaker 2: are do exist, certainly, and I think that sometimes right

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Speaker 2: now in our in our country and in our world,

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Speaker 2: we we forget that multiple truths can exist. But you know,

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Speaker 2: I think we are at that at that point to

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Speaker 2: begin to have these very hard conversations about what it

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Speaker 2: looks like moving forward.

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Speaker 1: Do you believe the w NBA has the leadership right

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Speaker 1: now that it needs?

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Speaker 2: You know, it's I think it's a tough question because

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Speaker 2: I do believe that that where we are and where

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Speaker 2: we have been, especially from a business standpoint, you know,

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Speaker 2: it's it's it's it's what we've needed. I do think

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Speaker 2: that there's another layer and level to having someone who

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Speaker 2: who understands the basketball side of the league, and whether

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Speaker 2: that's direct leadership or whether that's you know, building out

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Speaker 2: our basketball operations, our department, you know, within the league.

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Speaker 2: I do think that that the more that we can

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Speaker 2: get former players involved, the more that we can get

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Speaker 2: people who have grown up in this league who don't

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Speaker 2: see this league as it was ten years ago, as

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Speaker 2: it was fifteen years ago. You know, you've got to

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Speaker 2: see the league for what it is now and where

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Speaker 2: it's going. Much in the same way that college sports

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Speaker 2: is not what it was ten years ago, not what

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Speaker 2: it was five years ago. The WNBA is not what

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Speaker 2: it was ten years ago. And I do think that

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Speaker 2: there are some folks in leadership position who still think

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Speaker 2: of it that way. So I think we do need

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Speaker 2: some addition to our basketball operations part of the league,

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Speaker 2: and I think we do need some forward thinking in

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Speaker 2: that as well. But more than anything, accountability can go

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Speaker 2: a long way, and we just want some accountability for

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Speaker 2: some of the concerns that have been consistent concerns for

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Speaker 2: multiple years.

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Speaker 1: Do you with Caitlyn Clark in this as we move

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Speaker 1: forward coach like navigating through just being that pawn as

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Speaker 1: you said, does she have kind of her own team

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Speaker 1: that that guides are through that or does she lean

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Speaker 1: on you a lot in that regard as well?

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Speaker 2: Looks she is so mature for her age. I mean,

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Speaker 2: Jake thinking back to when we were twenty three years old.

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Speaker 2: Holy cow, I know it was a long time ago,

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Speaker 2: five years ago, right, but he's still mature. She she

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Speaker 2: she has people, you know, in her corner and and

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Speaker 2: people that can that can help her. She gets it,

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Speaker 2: she understands the big picture. You know, we'll have conversations.

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Speaker 2: You know, I've I've been in a very small way

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Speaker 2: in some of the some of the situations that she's

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Speaker 2: been in, you know, certainly not with with social media

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Speaker 2: and all of that stuff. But you know, we've got

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Speaker 2: players or in staff that that have played in this league,

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Speaker 2: but but no one outside of Tiger Woods, right of

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Speaker 2: Serena Williams. H you can probably name just maybe a

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Speaker 2: handful more of of athletes who have been the game

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Speaker 2: changers and who have experienced what Caitlin Clark is experiencing,

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Speaker 2: so that no one can can really relate to what

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Speaker 2: she's going through. I think the biggest thing is we

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Speaker 2: can be there for her. You know, we can. We

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Speaker 2: can offer perspective and and and do what we can

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Speaker 2: to help, you know, deflect and navigate and but at

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Speaker 2: the same time, you know, it's a life that she

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Speaker 2: has to lead, and you know, I think she does

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Speaker 2: it admirably. I'm not sure that myself at twenty three

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Speaker 2: years old or myself at forty eight years old could

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Speaker 2: do it in the same way that she does with

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Speaker 2: so much grace and humility.

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Speaker 1: Lastly, Coach, I wanted to share this and it sounds personal,

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Speaker 1: but it's public, and I'll tell you why. And I

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Speaker 1: know that I pointed this out to you. I've mentioned

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Speaker 1: this on the radio before as well. But over the

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Speaker 1: course of this season, my dad has gone through a

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Speaker 1: challenging medical period and while he is hopefully and thankfully

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Speaker 1: looks like he's going to be okay, it's not to

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Speaker 1: say that it has not been a long road with

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Speaker 1: a lot of challenges. And the one thing, literally the

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Speaker 1: one thing on the daily basis that was like my assignment,

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Speaker 1: was to make sure on his board where he is

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Speaker 1: getting his treatments, that he knows when the next fever

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Speaker 1: game's on. He has his fever hat that he would

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Speaker 1: put on for every game. He's been a lifelong sports fan.

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Speaker 1: I don't know that I've seen him magnetized towards a

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Speaker 1: group and towards a team in giving him on a

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Speaker 1: day to day basis a purpose like what you guys did.

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Speaker 1: And I say that not for the you know, awkward

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Speaker 1: nature of a personal story on the radio, but because

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Speaker 1: I think it's a public one, because I think so

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Speaker 1: many people in this town found that and saw that.

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Speaker 1: And I hope, while I know it's been a disappointment

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Speaker 1: in the way the year ended for you guys, and

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Speaker 1: you have a lot going on, that at some point

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Speaker 1: you're able to sit back and accept the gratitude of

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Speaker 1: a city and of a state for representing it the

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Speaker 1: right way and giving a lot of people a purpose.

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Speaker 2: Well, I appreciate that, Jake, thank you so much. And

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Speaker 2: you know this, like I said, this, this group is

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Speaker 2: you mentioned it doing it the right way, you know,

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Speaker 2: leading by example, and we often talk about, you know,

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Speaker 2: sport is the greatest, is the greatest indicator of life

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Speaker 2: and of life lessons. And I think that this group

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Speaker 2: has has shown, community, has shown, you know, the league

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Speaker 2: has shown the nation you know a lot of really

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Speaker 2: good life lessons and been leaders in a lot of

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Speaker 2: different ways, and so I'm really proud of them.

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Speaker 1: Well, coach enjoyed the off season. I know there's still

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Speaker 1: a lot of work to do. You are welcome back anytime,

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Speaker 1: but I am most most most most grateful for your

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Speaker 1: time over the course of the season.

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Speaker 2: I appreciate Jake, thank you.

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Speaker 1: Stephanie White, the head coach of the Indiana Fever