Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're screaming
Speaker 1: Happy Black History Month louder than ever this year. It's Monday,
Speaker 1: February third, and on today's show, we'll be talking with
Speaker 1: unrivaled basketball co founder and Minnesota Links superstar and Avisa
Speaker 1: Collier about playing in her own league while helping run it,
Speaker 1: the WNBA's unidentified tamper rules, and having a quarter of
Speaker 1: the w's players in one place during free agency, plus
Speaker 1: all the latest w trades and deals. Aposto Bam Lives,
Speaker 1: We're Forever twenty two and we celebrate spreadsheet excellence. It's
Speaker 1: all coming up right after this. Welcome back and Happy Monday.
Speaker 1: Here's what you need to know today.
Speaker 2: In the WNBA.
Speaker 1: Well, y'all, free agency is free agencying, and a lot
Speaker 1: has happened since we last spoke. So let's run through
Speaker 1: the non exhaustive highlight, shall we. We're going to give
Speaker 1: you a team by team look at player movement now. First,
Speaker 1: what started out last week as a two team deal
Speaker 1: with the big headline of Alyssa Thomas heading to Phoenix
Speaker 1: turned into a four team trade between the Sun, the Wings,
Speaker 1: the Fever, and the Mercury we'll start with the Mercury,
Speaker 1: already newsmakers for the departure of Brittany Griner.
Speaker 2: Then they end up adding two of the biggest.
Speaker 1: Fish in the free agency pond, the aforementioned Alissa Thomas,
Speaker 1: and as we learned on Saturday, they also get the
Speaker 1: Unicorn Satu SABII. Now you'll hear plenty more on how
Speaker 1: that four team deal affects other teams coming up. Heading
Speaker 1: to Indiana a shocker in the Hoosier State, as Dewana
Speaker 1: Bonner is not following her fiance Alisa Thomas to Phoenix.
Speaker 1: Multiple outlets reported on Sunday that Bonner is headed to
Speaker 1: the Indiana Fever to play for her former Connecticut Sun
Speaker 1: head coach Stephanie White. The fifteen year VET, six time
Speaker 1: All Star and two time WNBA champ joins newly signed
Speaker 1: three time WNBA champ Natasha Howard, plus Sophie Cunningham, who
Speaker 1: arrived in Indy in the Satu Sabli deal. There, of course,
Speaker 1: alongside Caitlin Clark, Galia Boston, Kelsey Mitchell, Fever also grabbed
Speaker 1: the number nineteen.
Speaker 2: Pick in the upcoming draft.
Speaker 1: You put all that together, and all of a sudden
Speaker 1: Indy's looking like a squad, so no more.
Speaker 2: Alyssa, Thomas and dB together.
Speaker 1: But there is good news on the hoops and gay
Speaker 1: shit front because in Texas, the Dallas Wings got Djna
Speaker 1: Carrington and Melissa Smith in that four team deal, a
Speaker 1: win for love and for the gays. The Wings also
Speaker 1: get Ty Harrison the trade who was originally reported as
Speaker 1: heading to Phoenix before that deal expanded to four teams.
Speaker 1: Wings also get the number twelve overall pick in the
Speaker 1: upcoming draft to the Land of Rain and Tall Trees,
Speaker 1: where we found out that the Seattle Storm re signed
Speaker 1: WNBA president and nine time All Star Necka Ogou Mackay
Speaker 1: after she texted the news to her sister, fellow baller
Speaker 1: and ESPN reporter Chenay live on air. Cute way to
Speaker 1: give little Sis the scoop. So the Storm moved forward
Speaker 1: with Neka Skyler, Digg and Smith and the picks and
Speaker 1: assets that they got in the Kelsey Plum Jewelloyd deal
Speaker 1: down in Atlanta.
Speaker 2: The Dream weren't done.
Speaker 1: After signing nine time All Star Britney Grinder last week.
Speaker 1: They also signed three time All Star Brianna Jones, who
Speaker 1: spent the first eight seasons of her w career in Connecticut.
Speaker 1: The Dream also added Shatory Walker Kimbro, who spent the
Speaker 1: last four years with the Washington Mystics.
Speaker 2: Speaking of Washington, the Mystics are real quiet. Not much
Speaker 2: to report. Out West.
Speaker 1: We know the La Sparks picked up two time champ
Speaker 1: Kelsey Plum and now they've re signed Odyssey Simms, who
Speaker 1: originally joined the team last year on a hardship contract.
Speaker 1: Upstate from the Sparks, the Valkyries well in the Midwest. First,
Speaker 1: my Chicago Sky brought back two time champ and five
Speaker 1: time All Star Courtney Vanderslut. Then over the weekend it
Speaker 1: was reported that they've also nabbed Rebecca Allen and Keia Nurse.
Speaker 1: In the Desert, you'll recall that the Las Vegas Aces
Speaker 1: acquired two time champ Jewel Lloyd, and also they nabbed
Speaker 1: the number thirteen draft pick in the upcoming draft. And
Speaker 1: out east, the Connecticut Sun. This team is damn near unrecognizable,
Speaker 1: having lost or traded their entire twenty twenty four starting five.
Speaker 1: But some good news came for the Sun on Sunday.
Speaker 1: Fitting I suppose, as Soursos told the ESPNS, Alexa Philip
Speaker 1: who they're getting Eight time All Star and three time
Speaker 1: Olympian Tina Charles, who spent the first four seasons of
Speaker 1: her career in Connecticut, winning League MVP back in twenty twelve.
Speaker 1: Charles is the league's all time leading rebounder and second
Speaker 1: overall all time in scoring, behind only Diana Tarassi. She's
Speaker 1: thirty six years old, but she still put up nearly
Speaker 1: fifteen points and ten boards a game last season for
Speaker 1: the Dream. Now, once all the details of the Sun's
Speaker 1: four team trade with the Wings, Fever, and Mercury shook out,
Speaker 1: the Sun also ended up with Rebecca Allen, Natasha Cloud,
Speaker 1: j C. Sheldon, and the number eight pick in the
Speaker 1: upcoming draft. Fun fact, by the way, from across the timeline,
Speaker 1: no non expansion WNBA franchise has ever finished a season
Speaker 1: without playing at least two players who started a game
Speaker 1: for them in the prior season. As of now, the
Speaker 1: Connecticut Sun are down to just Marina May, who started
Speaker 1: three games for them last season after being traded there.
Speaker 1: As for the Links in Liberty, last year's finals contenders,
Speaker 1: they're mostly staying put and running it back, with the
Speaker 1: exception of Van der Slut leaving New York for the Sky.
Speaker 1: We'll link to ESPN's Free Agency tracker in the show
Speaker 1: notes and keep you posted on any future Wheelan and Dlan,
Speaker 1: and we'll link to slice Alana Rebitzer's WNBA free agency charts.
Speaker 1: She dabbled in a little interactive data visualization to show
Speaker 1: player movement.
Speaker 2: You can check them out more WNBA news.
Speaker 1: Last week we reported that the Indiana Fever will play
Speaker 1: a preseason exhibition game against the Brazilian national team at
Speaker 1: Caitlin Clark's alma mater, Iowa. Well, now we know my
Speaker 1: Chicago Sky will also take on Brazil, but at LSU
Speaker 1: Skystar Angel Reese's.
Speaker 2: Old stomping grounds.
Speaker 1: That game will be May second, inside the Pete Marovitch
Speaker 1: Assembly Center and we're sure to see plenty of fans
Speaker 1: pop in Reese's pieces at that one. And while we're
Speaker 1: on the topic of Angel responsorships, did you guys see
Speaker 1: her McDonald's deal. You can now order the Angel Ree Special.
Speaker 1: It's the first meal offered by McDonald's for a few
Speaker 1: athlete pretty baller more hoops on Sunday, rating WNBA MVP
Speaker 1: Asia Wilson's number twenty two jersey was raised to the
Speaker 1: rafters of Colonial Life Arena at South Carolina ahead of
Speaker 1: the second rank Game Cocks eighty three sixty six win
Speaker 1: over Auburn. Wilson was the program's first National play of
Speaker 1: the Year and first four time All American, and she
Speaker 1: was the first three time SEC Player of the Year.
Speaker 2: In league history.
Speaker 1: Wilson let the game Cocks for their first Final four
Speaker 1: and first national championship, and upon graduating in twenty eighteen,
Speaker 1: became the program's first number one overall WNBA draft pick.
Speaker 1: Asia's Boo bam Adebio, fresh off a game winner for
Speaker 1: the mnba's Miami Heat Saturday night, was in attendance, and
Speaker 1: she gave him a little sly acknowledgment.
Speaker 3: I wouldn't be who I am today without the love,
Speaker 3: support and sacrifices of so many people. And what a
Speaker 3: blessing to have those most special to me courtside today,
Speaker 3: especially my favorite Olympian from out of town, Wink.
Speaker 1: Long live Apostre bam And speaking of twenty two is
Speaker 1: being honored on two to two, Kaitlyn Clark's number twenty
Speaker 1: two Jersey was retired at Carver Hawky Arena at the
Speaker 1: University of Iowa on Sunday, as Well, the all time
Speaker 1: leading scorer in NCAA Division One history, led the Hawkeyes
Speaker 1: to back to back trips to the National Championship, going
Speaker 1: on to be the number one pick in the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty four WNBA Draft and earning All Star and Rookie
Speaker 1: of the Year honors. The ceremony took place after Iowa
Speaker 1: was huge seventy six sixty nine upset of number four USC.
Speaker 1: Former Hawkeyes head coach Lisa Bluter was in attendance and
Speaker 1: spoke about knowing that this.
Speaker 2: Moment would come for Kaitlin Clark. Take a listen, just
Speaker 2: a couple of short years ago, I came into the arena.
Speaker 2: You were in here getting your shots off before the
Speaker 2: practice like you always are. And now you tell you
Speaker 2: pause for a second, and you looked up there and
Speaker 2: you looked at those jerseys. I went over to you
Speaker 2: with my m around your shoulder and said, Kaitlyn, someday
Speaker 2: your name is.
Speaker 1: Going to be up there.
Speaker 4: Your jerseys can.
Speaker 1: By the way, shout out to Lucy Olson, who went
Speaker 1: nuts in that game against the Trojans, dropping twenty eight
Speaker 1: points the hard way. She didn't hit a single three pointer.
Speaker 1: All her buckets came at the free throw liner from
Speaker 1: the floor. She also posted four assists and four boards
Speaker 1: in the win. Olson transferred from Villanova to Iowa, and
Speaker 1: head coach Jan Jensen hoped she'd be able to make
Speaker 1: up some of the scoring that left when Clark was
Speaker 1: drafted to the WNBA. I'd say she's doing a pretty
Speaker 1: good job. Quick shout out to Des Moines based store Raygun,
Speaker 1: not to be confused with and certainly not named in
Speaker 1: honor of the Australian breakdancer Raygun. The retailer temporarily rebranded
Speaker 1: its Iowa City store as Forever twenty two and dropped
Speaker 1: new Clark merch To commemorate the weekend, a post on
Speaker 1: the store's Instagram announced it's like the spirit Halloween of
Speaker 1: women's basketball. In NWSL news, we officially lost another one
Speaker 1: US women's national team player. World Cup winner and Olympic
Speaker 1: gold medalist, Crystal Dunn signed a two year deal with
Speaker 1: Paris San Germain, officially moving on from GOTHAMFC after just
Speaker 1: a season. Done previously played abroad with Chelsea, and while
Speaker 1: it was brief stint, she did help them lift the
Speaker 1: Women's Super League trophy in twenty eighteen. Now she'll head
Speaker 1: to France, the home country of her husband Pierre Soubrier.
Speaker 1: They'll of course bring their three year old son Marcel,
Speaker 1: but no word yet on whether they'll be allowed to
Speaker 1: bring their chickens. Family obviously a priority for Done, because
Speaker 1: in a statement released by PSG on Friday, she said quote,
Speaker 1: I'm so happy to be able to start this new adventure.
Speaker 1: My family supports me and comes with me, so it's
Speaker 1: important for me to find a club that has confidence
Speaker 1: in me as a player, but that also accepts that
Speaker 1: I come with my family. I have a connection with
Speaker 1: France and I already feel at home end quote accepts
Speaker 1: that I come with my family. Another cryptic comment from
Speaker 1: a player leaving Gotham FC worth noting Gotham hired Subrier
Speaker 1: as a consultant shortly after signing Done. He'd long been
Speaker 1: a trainer with the Thorns and the Spirit, and before
Speaker 1: joining Gotham had been cleared to return to the league
Speaker 1: following a year's suspension for administering a medication that contained
Speaker 1: coding in twenty twenty two as a trainer with the
Speaker 1: Portland Thorns. Coding requires a prescription and should only be
Speaker 1: administered by a physician. To gymnastics Jordan Childs scored her
Speaker 1: second perfect ten of the season and tenth in her
Speaker 1: UCLA career on Saturday, lifting her number six Bruins to
Speaker 1: a comeback win over number five Michigan State. Chiles was
Speaker 1: battling illness all week, including one hundred and four fever
Speaker 1: on Wednesday, but she called it her flu game and
Speaker 1: showed out on her Prince themed floor routine to secure
Speaker 1: the win. You can watch it via the link in
Speaker 1: our show notes. Athletes Unlimited Basketball tips off on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: and the first draft of the season is today at
Speaker 1: noon Eastern. Team captain Sidney Colson, Kirsten bell A, Vina Westbrook,
Speaker 1: and Isabelle Harrison will put their GM hats on and
Speaker 1: pick the players they want to rock with in week one.
Speaker 1: You can catch the draft live on AU's YouTube page.
Speaker 1: We'll link to it in our show notes. Also, keep
Speaker 1: an eye out for more w signings of AU hoops players.
Speaker 1: Because we already mentioned Kia Nurse and Odyssey Simms. I'm
Speaker 1: starting to think we got a little second Tampa Bay
Speaker 1: down in Nashville, maybe like a little Tampa town in
Speaker 1: college hoops. There's a special matchup going on at seven
Speaker 1: pm Eastern TI Tonight, number ten, Duke travels to number
Speaker 1: seventeen NC State for one of this year's annual Play
Speaker 1: for K games, benefiting cancer research and healthcare. The name
Speaker 1: Play for K is an honor of k Yao, a
Speaker 1: Natesmith and Women's Basketball Hall of Famer and the NC
Speaker 1: State women's basketball head coach from nineteen seventy five until
Speaker 1: her passing in two thousand and nine. Yao was diagnosed
Speaker 1: with breast cancer in nineteen eighty seven, but continued to
Speaker 1: coach despite the disease.
Speaker 2: Starting in two thousand and six, she dedicated one of the.
Speaker 1: Wolfpack's home games each year to raising awareness and money
Speaker 1: for the fight against women's cancers. In the almost twenty years,
Speaker 1: sense more than a thousand schools have held Play for
Speaker 1: K games, with funds going to the k Yo Cancer Fund,
Speaker 1: started by Yoo before her death. It's truly an incredible
Speaker 1: example of community action. Oh and the action between these
Speaker 1: two acc fos should be really good too.
Speaker 2: Catch it Live on ESPN. Two unrivaled games.
Speaker 1: Tonight give you a couple more reasons to kick it
Speaker 1: on the couch, with Phantom BC playing Miss BC at
Speaker 1: seven thirty Eastern, followed by Vinyl BC against the undefeated
Speaker 1: Lunar Owls. The myst were the last team in the
Speaker 1: l League to get a W. They finally got off
Speaker 1: the schneid with a victory on Saturday over the Vinyl.
Speaker 1: Both of tonight's games will be available live on tnt
Speaker 1: oh when in case you missed it. Rose BC ford
Speaker 1: Asrey Stevens, was at the center of a very cute
Speaker 1: moment at Unrivaled this weekend. The whole crowd sang her
Speaker 1: Happy Birthday on Saturday night after her team's win. Happy
Speaker 1: belated Aquarius Queen will throw the video in our show notes.
Speaker 1: We got to take a quick break when we come back.
Speaker 1: Hoo do who It's Unrivaled Basketball co founder and Lunar
Speaker 1: Owl's BC player and a FISA collier.
Speaker 2: We caught up with her at the tail end of
Speaker 2: last week Justice.
Speaker 1: WNBA Free Agency t was eaten up, stick around.
Speaker 2: Joining us now.
Speaker 1: She's a four time WNBA All Star, former WNBA Rookie
Speaker 1: of the Year, last year's Defensive Player of the Year,
Speaker 1: and runner up for WNBA MVP, a two time Olympic Champ,
Speaker 1: Ncuba Champ.
Speaker 2: You're a league, Turkish Super League, FIBA, Europe.
Speaker 1: Super cup Champ Unrivaled co founder Mama to Mela, lover
Speaker 1: of mystery novels and one of the baddest hoopers in
Speaker 1: the world.
Speaker 2: It's DEFEASA call your fee. Thanks so much for joining.
Speaker 4: Us, Thanks for having me. That was a great introduction.
Speaker 2: Thank you. I had to keep it real short.
Speaker 1: You have a lot of accolades, and we have only
Speaker 1: so much time, but I just have to tell you personally,
Speaker 1: like in the last couple of years, you become one
Speaker 1: of my favorite players to watch. So I'm so excited
Speaker 1: to get the chance to actually talk to especially about Unrivaled,
Speaker 1: because we've been fan growing over here ever since a
Speaker 1: lot of the information started to come out about who
Speaker 1: was playing and everything else. What's been the biggest surprise
Speaker 1: now that the season's actually up been running.
Speaker 4: Thank you. I think just how fast like the momentum
Speaker 4: has like it caught on and how fast like people
Speaker 4: kind of embraced it, you know, obviously, like we think
Speaker 4: it's a good idea. We started it, we we knew
Speaker 4: how successful like it could be if everyone bought in.
Speaker 4: But to see like the fans and the girls and
Speaker 4: just ever like the women here, just everyone buying into it.
Speaker 4: I wouldn't say it's surprising, but it's really like heartwarming
Speaker 4: and kind of just validates everything that we've put into
Speaker 4: this for the bests.
Speaker 2: Yeah, just two years, that's wild.
Speaker 1: I mean, so we had your husband Alex on the show,
Speaker 1: and I know you guys ran a lot of practice
Speaker 1: basketball runs to test for you know, points and how
Speaker 1: to do the cameras and everything else. What's been surprising
Speaker 1: basketball wise?
Speaker 4: If anything, I would say how fast it is. So
Speaker 4: of course, you know, like we're gonna have shorter quarters
Speaker 4: and the fourth quarter is like so exciting. But I
Speaker 4: think that's a little bit surprising is how much fun
Speaker 4: like I'm having in the fourth quarter because you know,
Speaker 4: something I've never done before. And then also just how
Speaker 4: good you have to get at your skills, Like you
Speaker 4: have to improve in your ball handling, you have to
Speaker 4: improve in your skill sets in your defense. It forces
Speaker 4: you to get better. So we build the model to
Speaker 4: access all those points and for you to get better
Speaker 4: all around. But I think just seeing it in like
Speaker 4: actually happening and how fast it's happening. I mean, we
Speaker 4: just finished our second weekend and I can already see
Speaker 4: an improvement in people, and I feel an improvement in myself.
Speaker 4: So that's been really good to see.
Speaker 1: You couldn't have known that the league's first season would
Speaker 1: tip off shortly after you and co founder Breonna Stewart
Speaker 1: were going to head in the w finals.
Speaker 2: Makes for a great story.
Speaker 1: But was it a frosty couple first days or weeks
Speaker 1: of planning right after the finals?
Speaker 4: No, not at all. I mean during the finals, for sure,
Speaker 4: like we weren't talking. We were like we were just
Speaker 4: so locked into we both wanted to win, of course,
Speaker 4: But after that, like is totally cool. I mean I
Speaker 4: feel like I would. I have no hard feelings, she
Speaker 4: has no hard feelings. It's basketball at the end of
Speaker 4: the day, and you do whatever you can to win.
Speaker 4: And so I think we both understand that we played
Speaker 4: the game for a long time and so it wasn't
Speaker 4: weird at all when we came back together.
Speaker 1: What's your dynamic as co founders, Like, who brings what
Speaker 1: strengths to the table?
Speaker 4: That's a good question. I've never gotten that one before.
Speaker 4: I think we bring honestly a lot of similar strength,
Speaker 4: just because I feel like we're on like pretty parallel paths,
Speaker 4: you know, going to the same college and we're both
Speaker 4: mothers and the game. We're both elite players in our game,
Speaker 4: so I think we just kind of validate each other's perspective.
Speaker 4: Where you hear from one person, you believe it. Of
Speaker 4: course with two people saying the same thing, just like
Speaker 4: the way that we see the holes that's in what's
Speaker 4: happening in the WNBA or in the game in general,
Speaker 4: the way that we think we can make it better
Speaker 4: and why other elite players would buy into this. So
Speaker 4: I think again, I think we just validate each other's
Speaker 4: points in that you know, we're the top people doing
Speaker 4: this and we can get other top people to do
Speaker 4: it as well.
Speaker 1: Did you talk to a handful of players and just
Speaker 1: test out, like would you guys be willing to do this?
Speaker 2: Like if we do this league, would you play? How many?
Speaker 1: Did you feel like you needed to kind of get
Speaker 1: a taskit approval from before you felt comfortable going forward.
Speaker 4: We didn't do it in that way where we're like,
Speaker 4: if we did this, you know, do you want to
Speaker 4: do it? We had already started the ball rolling and
Speaker 4: then it was just getting those first dominoes to fall,
Speaker 4: Like we are doing this and if we have you
Speaker 4: behind it, it's going to make it that much more successful,
Speaker 4: and then you know, you will get the ball rolling
Speaker 4: where we can get other players. And so getting that
Speaker 4: buy in from the initial players was really crucial. So
Speaker 4: we went after you know, obviously top people first. That's
Speaker 4: a league of it's a league of all top people.
Speaker 4: And also there's a little bit of a challenge because
Speaker 4: it's something that's never been done before. It's kind of
Speaker 4: hard to explain. Even when we before we started playing
Speaker 4: the games, like a lot of the fans thought it
Speaker 4: was still half court. It's just like a comset that
Speaker 4: is a little bit hard to explain. So getting them
Speaker 4: to buy in on that, I thought was just like
Speaker 4: showed a lot of faith in what we're doing. And
Speaker 4: you know, so yeah, that was that was like feels
Speaker 4: like forever ago. But it was cool in those initial
Speaker 4: days when you're trying to get that initial buy in.
Speaker 2: How are you balancing playing and the co founder role.
Speaker 4: I think I compartmentalized, Like when I'm at the gym
Speaker 4: and I'm with my team, I'm strictly a player. It
Speaker 4: is like kind of murky sometimes when players will come
Speaker 4: up to me and be like, can we do this
Speaker 4: or can we do this? I'm like I'll ask the
Speaker 4: guys upstairs, I don't know, and then kind of at
Speaker 4: the end of the day, when I'm talking to Alex,
Speaker 4: my husband, like about what's going on on the other side,
Speaker 4: then you kind of put on the other hat of
Speaker 4: like you just see behind the scenes a lot more
Speaker 4: of you know, fis that need to be put out
Speaker 4: or what's going on where so cool?
Speaker 1: Does it make you more empathetic to your w team, presidents,
Speaker 1: commission everything else, or does it make you feel like,
Speaker 1: now I've figured out how to get this done and
Speaker 1: now I want to go back and tell them how
Speaker 1: to do it.
Speaker 4: I'm not definitely not cocky enough to think that I
Speaker 4: can tell them how to run the league. It is
Speaker 4: very different. You know, they are handicapped by a lot
Speaker 4: of things just with the NBA that we don't have
Speaker 4: to deal with. But at the same time, I do
Speaker 4: think that we have things here that can be implemented
Speaker 4: in the WNBA. I really like our business plan a lot,
Speaker 4: and I like the way that, you know, how we're
Speaker 4: able to treat the players. So we built this because
Speaker 4: we think there are things that can be improved upon
Speaker 4: and we want that. We want to ride to like
Speaker 4: raise the level of all women's sports, So hopefully this
Speaker 4: can just be an example of some things that can
Speaker 4: get better.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I was briefly co owner of the Chicago Red Stars,
Speaker 1: and I came in being like, screw the man, and
Speaker 1: then I was like, oh, no, I'm the man, and
Speaker 1: I'm like, how do I figure out how to bring
Speaker 1: the things that I want to see changed? But also
Speaker 1: now respect and understand that it's a little trickier than
Speaker 1: just like giving everybody what they want all the time.
Speaker 2: Like it's there's more things that stand in the way.
Speaker 1: So you're starting to learn some of that business side
Speaker 1: of like running things while you're.
Speaker 2: Also a part of it.
Speaker 1: But what we've seen clearly from Unrivaled is putting the
Speaker 1: players first, prioritizing what you need from preseason athlete MRIs
Speaker 1: to childcare all that stuff. Are there things that you
Speaker 1: are going to push to bring back to the w NBA,
Speaker 1: especially as part of the new CBA negotiations.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I think there definitely should just be
Speaker 4: a standard level of facilities in care and like accessibility
Speaker 4: that players have. You know, you have you still have
Speaker 4: teams where they're practicing rec centers like with the general public.
Speaker 4: That's like a safety concern, not even just better facilities.
Speaker 4: That's a safety issue, and especially as our league gets
Speaker 4: more popular and we have superstars, it's just it's not safe.
Speaker 4: So things like that, and you know, we really try
Speaker 4: to provide the best of the best for everything, you know,
Speaker 4: weight rooms, staffing, like the equipment that we're using, and
Speaker 4: not just that, but stuff that's fun as well. Like
Speaker 4: I'm not saying every team needs to have an esthetition
Speaker 4: on handlet you here, those extra things are the things
Speaker 4: that make it a professional environment where you're not just
Speaker 4: having the necessities, but you're having you know, a little
Speaker 4: bit extra too. It's is always nice, but just the
Speaker 4: standard I think it needs to rise in some of
Speaker 4: in some of the teams.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it makes you feel special to have
Speaker 1: things that you know are just not utilitarian, but are
Speaker 1: also just to make you feel like, oh, we're pro athletes,
Speaker 1: so we get.
Speaker 2: Estheticians and we get so nice. Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: You mentioned that you have players coming up to you
Speaker 1: with suggestions or questions. What's the wildest thing that someone
Speaker 1: has said, like, ooh can we get this?
Speaker 4: It's not even stuff like that I've actually gotten. We
Speaker 4: try to think of everything, honestly, and before we build this,
Speaker 4: the team you know, came to me and Stewie and
Speaker 4: they're like, Okay, let's make a list of everything. If
Speaker 4: money wasn't an option, what would it be? And we
Speaker 4: honestly hit all those all those things. And so I
Speaker 4: haven't really heard anybody ask for something that we don't have.
Speaker 4: It's more like, you know, I had like sweatshirts that
Speaker 4: hadn't been released yet, like where can we get those?
Speaker 4: Or I guess just like, oh, like something for a
Speaker 4: maybe like can we get like a bigger training room
Speaker 4: area And that's something that just we're in this place
Speaker 4: for two years and we only have like limited space,
Speaker 4: so like stuff like that. But I mean, I haven't
Speaker 4: really heard anything that people are wanting.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no outlandish demands nighttime warm chocolate cookie deliveries or
Speaker 1: things like that. On One of the things we've noticed
Speaker 1: in watching the first couple of weeks is these miked
Speaker 1: up moments that seem to be everywhere. We can hear
Speaker 1: play clalls, we can hear coaches being like she's not hurt,
Speaker 1: she's alright, you know, we can hear all that stuff.
Speaker 1: What's the response from the player so far do they
Speaker 1: like that?
Speaker 2: Inside? Look where are they like, Man, I'm gonna get caught.
Speaker 4: I haven't heard anything bad about it. I think people
Speaker 4: realize that, Like, I mean, one of the pillars of
Speaker 4: it unrivaled is the content piece. Because brand building is
Speaker 4: so important to our game. A lot of people don't
Speaker 4: realize we make most of our money off the court,
Speaker 4: and so building your brain is essential to like our
Speaker 4: livelihoods in this career, and so I think they really
Speaker 4: embrace that. And I think people realize, like we literally
Speaker 4: all have a vested interest. We are all have equity
Speaker 4: in this league. We need to do everything we can
Speaker 4: to make sure it's successful. And one of those things
Speaker 4: is content. You know, It's something that like might feel
Speaker 4: pesky sometimes, but I think especially in this setting where
Speaker 4: we know it directly affects, like the money in our pockets,
Speaker 4: it makes it a lot easier to do all these things.
Speaker 4: And I think it's fun, Like, yeah, I love hearing
Speaker 4: the content for sure, even if before you're like, okay,
Speaker 4: I got to get miked up hearing the little tidbits
Speaker 4: we all laugh about in the locker room, Like it's
Speaker 4: something that you can talk about and joke about. Later,
Speaker 4: so it's kind of fun.
Speaker 1: It is interesting when you have equity in the league,
Speaker 1: which all the players do, how much you want to
Speaker 1: work toward making it successful in a way that's a
Speaker 1: little bit harder to do, Like if you're a w
Speaker 1: social manager and you're like, can you do all this
Speaker 1: content for me?
Speaker 2: The players like, yeah, but who's money am I making? Right?
Speaker 2: And how am I helping it?
Speaker 1: There's a little bit of that balance, which like, I
Speaker 1: love that y'all made everybody be a part of wanting
Speaker 1: this to succeed. You mentioned players requesting merch people want jerseys,
Speaker 1: and I you know, when Alex came on our show,
Speaker 1: he talked about how players need to make money off
Speaker 1: their own name. Where are those jerseys and when are
Speaker 1: we gonna start getting y'all some cash based on us
Speaker 1: by buying your gear.
Speaker 4: I don't know. I need to ask him because I'm
Speaker 4: wondering the same thing people are asking me about jerseys.
Speaker 4: I think it's like this happens so fast, like our
Speaker 4: deal with under Armour and them getting like our jerseys
Speaker 4: was such a quick turnaround. So I'm sure it's in
Speaker 4: the works, Like we want to get that out there
Speaker 4: and get you know the people what they want, the
Speaker 4: jerseys get the athletes paid, so I'm sure that they're
Speaker 4: working over time to make it happen.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's so much conversation about roughly a quarter of
Speaker 1: the WNBA's players in one place during free agency. So
Speaker 1: I need you to take us behind the scenes because
Speaker 1: in my head, I'm picturing like these big wine Feld dinners.
Speaker 2: It's like a table for thirty six.
Speaker 1: Everyone's you know, talking about their playing experiences, talking up
Speaker 1: or talking down their organizations, maybe pitching each other to join.
Speaker 2: Like what's it really like?
Speaker 4: Honestly, there's way more touch points than that. Like we
Speaker 4: are all in the same space. So I'm like I
Speaker 4: leave even how I see a player right there, like, hey,
Speaker 4: let me come talk to you for a second. Let
Speaker 4: me talk to you about Minnesota. You know it's we are.
Speaker 4: So I mean I pass them every day. All of
Speaker 4: our areas are communal except for like, you know, your
Speaker 4: your locker room, and so I'm seeing you in the
Speaker 4: weight room, I'm seeing you in treatment, I'm seeing you
Speaker 4: you know, in the sauna or whatever, in the makeup
Speaker 4: room wherever. It is, like it's like your regular like
Speaker 4: your team. The w NBA where you're around the facility,
Speaker 4: you can just talk to your teammates whenever you want.
Speaker 4: It's like that here. So you really with the wubble
Speaker 4: almost Yeah, but we're not trapped.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're free to leave.
Speaker 4: So it really facilitates those conversations where you can build
Speaker 4: those relationships. It's not like an awkward phone call to
Speaker 4: someone that you don't have that much of a relationship with.
Speaker 4: So I think this has actually been pretty instrumental in
Speaker 4: like the freegency stuff.
Speaker 1: How do you make sure you're not tampering because we
Speaker 1: tried to look up the tampering rules and we cannot
Speaker 1: find them in black and white in like the CBA
Speaker 1: or the.
Speaker 2: Rule book, but we know they exist.
Speaker 1: So how do you know when a conversation goes from
Speaker 1: like let me tell you some things I love about
Speaker 1: the great state of Minnesota to like a full on
Speaker 1: pitch or something you're not supposed to do.
Speaker 4: I mean, I don't know the tampering rules either, but
Speaker 4: I don't really know how nobody does. Yeah, I don't
Speaker 4: know how they can facilitate or put a rule on
Speaker 4: you just talking to someone. You know, I'm not like
Speaker 4: whining and dining, like I said, I'm just talking to
Speaker 4: you in the hallway.
Speaker 1: Like, I mean, you kind of are whining and dining
Speaker 1: everyone because you gave them a whole last league in Miami.
Speaker 2: With a budget, cool shit and some money.
Speaker 1: If there was ever a good pitch, you and Brie
Speaker 1: are doing it right now by giving people a whole
Speaker 1: second income. Have you been surprised just walking around either
Speaker 1: with people that you didn't know that well that you're like, oh, man,
Speaker 1: like I really get along with this person, or people
Speaker 1: that you see like hanging out and forming clicks that
Speaker 1: you're like, I would not have paired those folks to
Speaker 1: be friends.
Speaker 4: Honestly, not really. It's been so like fun just getting
Speaker 4: to know everyone. It's not like we have our separate teams.
Speaker 4: You do obviously like your locker room you're practicing with
Speaker 4: your team, but again, there's so many like communal areas
Speaker 4: where you talk to everyone like you're like they're your teammate.
Speaker 4: So just getting to know everyone a lot more has
Speaker 4: been really cool and you get to I don't know,
Speaker 4: it's just like this camaraderie. I guess that it's building,
Speaker 4: which has been really fun to see.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for me, it feels like I'm so competitive, that
Speaker 1: it'd be so fun to meet everyone. But then when
Speaker 1: you get back to like the w and you're all
Speaker 1: in your separate little silos again, are you interested to
Speaker 1: see how these relationships it'll probably make it more fun
Speaker 1: to go see friends and compete and travel, but also
Speaker 1: to know them well enough when you're you know, staring
Speaker 1: them down trying to get to the hoop.
Speaker 4: Yeah. I think the good thing that I've noticed about
Speaker 4: the WNBA, we've always, like the DUBBA has always been
Speaker 4: really small, and so you know, obviously it's even smaller
Speaker 4: group here at Unrivaled. But I think like we're just
Speaker 4: so good at being professionals. Like when we're on the court,
Speaker 4: my team is my team. I'm riding and dying with them,
Speaker 4: like I'm gonna do whatever I need to do to
Speaker 4: make sure that my team wins. But when the game's over,
Speaker 4: like you leave it on the court, it doesn't matter
Speaker 4: if you got in like little TIFFs on the court,
Speaker 4: if you're talking trash. You realize that that's the heat
Speaker 4: of the game. And we're competitive, we're professional athletes. Like
Speaker 4: there's a monster that comes out in all of us,
Speaker 4: you know, But I think you just understand that what
Speaker 4: happens there is there and then like we leave it,
Speaker 4: we leave it there, and then you can be friends
Speaker 4: again when I see you in the moment.
Speaker 1: A lot of people needed to figure that out with
Speaker 1: the W last year, a lot of new viewers that
Speaker 1: didn't quite understand that y'all were professional athletes doing your thing.
Speaker 1: We are so looking forward to the one on one tournament,
Speaker 1: and I'm wondering how much trash talk is going on
Speaker 1: leading up to it, because for me, like you know,
Speaker 1: when you're entering something like that, you're like, oh yeah,
Speaker 1: my knee kind of hurts, Like you're putting out those
Speaker 1: excuses just in case you don't play as well as
Speaker 1: you want, but you're also kind of talking some smack
Speaker 1: to try to get people afraid of facing you, Like,
Speaker 1: do people seem nervous or excited.
Speaker 4: Or there's a big cash bonus. So trash talk has
Speaker 4: already commenced, right, two hundred racks. I'm I'm doing what
Speaker 4: I need to do to win that.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 4: We even have enter teams trash talk. Courtny is already
Speaker 4: trying to trash talk me.
Speaker 2: Amazing. Who's got the biggest mouth?
Speaker 1: Is it?
Speaker 2: Courtney?
Speaker 5: Oh?
Speaker 2: Courney Williams around here somewhere.
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, Oh my gosh, I can't even imagine, Like
Speaker 1: it's gonna be fascinating to see, Like is it a
Speaker 1: fast moving big is it a guard with sick handles
Speaker 1: who can avoid getting blocked?
Speaker 2: Like how much mobility come into play?
Speaker 1: Like this is like the stuff of dreams for bar arguments,
Speaker 1: to actually get to see all the best players play
Speaker 1: against each other.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we get to settle the conversation that people are
Speaker 4: having hypothetically, you know, every day.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Fun, you mentioned Courtney Williams.
Speaker 1: Your lunar Owls roster is crushing it, Skyler digg and Smith,
Speaker 1: Alicia Gray, Shakira Austin, Cameron Brink of course the cheerleader
Speaker 1: for the squad.
Speaker 2: What's making you guys?
Speaker 1: Go?
Speaker 2: Why are you so good?
Speaker 4: I think we just have a lot of competitors and
Speaker 4: people who gel well, we have taken this like, I mean,
Speaker 4: we just take it really seriously, Like we are in
Speaker 4: the weight room together every day, We're doing treatment every day,
Speaker 4: taking care of our bodies when we show up to practice,
Speaker 4: like we're there to get better. So I just think
Speaker 4: we have really competitive people on our team who want
Speaker 4: to win and it's been really fun. We jell really
Speaker 4: well together. Our chemistry has been great. From the beginning.
Speaker 4: We played a lot, even from our first day of
Speaker 4: training camp. We were playing like quarters to get that
Speaker 4: chemistry up. So we worked hard to do it and
Speaker 4: it's been really fun to do with this group.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's cool.
Speaker 1: You and Courtney have the Links connection, You and Skyler
Speaker 1: have the Olympic connection. How did you get the other
Speaker 1: folks to feel as connected?
Speaker 4: I played with Alisha too, just through USA. I think
Speaker 4: the only person I hadn't was Shakira. But I think
Speaker 4: we just don't have any egos on our team either,
Speaker 4: Like everyone is there to learn from each other.
Speaker 2: You just said that about Courtney Williams. I want you
Speaker 2: to hear what you just She doesn't know.
Speaker 4: Courtney's really good. She talks her talk, but she's like, yeah,
Speaker 4: she's pretty good with it, and she knows that she's
Speaker 4: in the wrong or whatever it is. Yeah, but yeah,
Speaker 4: we just don't have egos in that way where everyone
Speaker 4: is equally there to teach each other and to learn
Speaker 4: from each other, which you don't get all the time.
Speaker 4: So I think that's what has also allowed us to
Speaker 4: joe really well. Is there's no person who's trying to
Speaker 4: be big dog that's you know, saying I need to
Speaker 4: get the most shots. We're really genuinely there for the
Speaker 4: team and if I have a good shot, I'm going
Speaker 4: to pass it up for a great shot for you.
Speaker 4: And so that mentality has allowed us to play really well.
Speaker 2: That's awesome. Okay, last question for you.
Speaker 1: Because we had your husband Alex on the show to
Speaker 1: give us an unrivaled one oh one get us all
Speaker 1: prep for the league, we were thinking about you guys
Speaker 1: working together. I mean, obviously you work together on skills
Speaker 1: and everything else. He's a great trainer, but now you're
Speaker 1: creating this league. What did you butt heads about? Was
Speaker 1: there anything that you really disagreed on or that you
Speaker 1: had to convince him or he had to convince you.
Speaker 4: Not really, I feel like we're pretty in sync with everything.
Speaker 4: I feel like we see the game the same way,
Speaker 4: and I definitely concede to him a lot on the
Speaker 4: business side, like the way that he sees business like.
Speaker 4: He's really great at that part. So if anything, I
Speaker 4: feel like it would be something on the player side
Speaker 4: where I feel like I know more. But I don't
Speaker 4: think we've butted heads on anything yet. That's pretty good
Speaker 4: in the future, but that's pretty good.
Speaker 2: What about me, La? Are you allowing her to give
Speaker 2: her insight and two cents on everything?
Speaker 4: If I did that, there would be everywhere, no bedtimes
Speaker 4: and fruit around every corner.
Speaker 2: Okay, well, expansion next year, Team Blue.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, you will sell a lot.
Speaker 1: Of merch if you can get that trademark. We would
Speaker 1: thank you so much for taking the time. I know
Speaker 1: you're so busy. We're such big fans over here, so
Speaker 1: thanks for coming on.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I appreciate it. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thanks again to Fee for joining us. We got to
Speaker 1: take another break when we come back. Want to you
Speaker 1: Slices went above and beyond. You even made producer Alex
Speaker 1: a little emotional stick around. Welcome back Slices. Hey, you
Speaker 1: want to see producer Alex tear up while? You could
Speaker 1: send her a video of lost pets reuniting with their owners.
Speaker 1: Or you could watch or listen to an episode of
Speaker 1: Anderson Cooper's podcast All There Is About grief, or for
Speaker 1: a different kind of tears. You could make a spreadsheet,
Speaker 1: a glorious spreadsheet like Super Slice Aaron Raw did. Aaron
Speaker 1: made a spreadsheet with all the good Game with Sarah
Speaker 1: Spain recommendations, a tab for the books we've discussed, a
Speaker 1: tab for the podcast we've shouted out, one for other
Speaker 1: media like films and essays that we've suggested, and even
Speaker 1: a tab for the merch companies that we've recommended. This
Speaker 1: beauty of a Google doc even less the episode number
Speaker 1: where you can find the discussion and the links to
Speaker 1: the content that we included in the show notes that day.
Speaker 2: Chef's Kiss Aaron standing ovation over here. This is incredible.
Speaker 2: This is just unbelievable.
Speaker 1: Yeah, like honestly, literal tears. Literal tears, and folks, you
Speaker 1: know what she wasn't done. She also made a spreadsheet
Speaker 1: for the major North American women's sports leagues, including the
Speaker 1: season in which they play, links to the team site,
Speaker 1: social accounts, where to watch, and even some unique rules
Speaker 1: for each league. She's an organized queen, you know, and
Speaker 1: wouldn't love it more. And of course we'll put the
Speaker 1: links to both of those docs in the show notes.
Speaker 1: We'll book mark them and use them. Folks, she did
Speaker 1: all that beautiful work and now we don't have to
Speaker 1: someone get Alex a tissue. We love that you're listening,
Speaker 1: but we want you to get in the game every
Speaker 1: day too, So here's our good game play of the day.
Speaker 1: Tell us your biggest winners from WNBA Free Agency. Maybe
Speaker 1: Dja and Melissa getting to play together.
Speaker 2: And who are the losers?
Speaker 1: I mean, who's organizing the flower delivery for Marina Maybrey.
Speaker 1: She just learned how to season food and she's got
Speaker 1: no one to cook for. All our friends have left town.
Speaker 1: We want to hear your biggest takeaways to all the
Speaker 1: w Free Agency news, so send them in. Also, we
Speaker 1: told you about those annual play for k games. Well,
Speaker 1: if you want to help, you can donate at kyou
Speaker 1: dot com.
Speaker 2: We'll put the link in our show notes. We always
Speaker 2: love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: To hit us up on email, good game at wondermedianetwork
Speaker 1: dot com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven
Speaker 1: two two oh four fifty seventy And y'all, I'm not
Speaker 1: saying this for my health, it really helps us.
Speaker 2: If you subscribe, rate and review, go five stars, write
Speaker 2: a review, tell us you love us. It's super easy watch.
Speaker 1: Women athletes making enough green to treat their parents. Rating
Speaker 1: five out of five. Big Old Bag is a dope
Speaker 1: review on last week's episode of Unapologetically Angel skystar Angel
Speaker 1: Rees surprised her mom with the birthday cake and so
Speaker 1: much more.
Speaker 2: Take a lesson.
Speaker 5: What's your birthday today?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 4: And for your birthday today? Oh wow, well this is
Speaker 4: your cake.
Speaker 5: You said that if your mortgage was paid off that
Speaker 5: you will retire or you can pick if you want
Speaker 5: to work still. So your mortgage today has been paid.
Speaker 5: See you drop in a cake today. Your mortgage has
Speaker 5: been paid. You ain't gonna worry about your mortgage no more.
Speaker 5: And if you want to still work and keep yourself,
Speaker 5: if you want to keep yourself busy, you can keep
Speaker 5: yourself busy. But Jammel has a handle. Shout out to
Speaker 5: Jamel to making it happen Anda, of course. But your
Speaker 5: mortgage is paid and you don't gotta work. You don't
Speaker 5: have to work anymore. Yes, yes, And when I went
Speaker 5: to Chicago this year, actually I'm getting a house, y'all.
Speaker 5: You can come stay with me whenever you want to,
Speaker 5: so you jesus okay, happy by day.
Speaker 1: We are so used to seeing videos of dudes buying
Speaker 1: their folks cars and houses and taking care of all
Speaker 1: the people that help them reach the top. It is
Speaker 1: incredible and incredibly overdue getting to see the world's best
Speaker 1: women athletes make enough money playing their sport to do
Speaker 1: the same. Shout out Angel and shout out to her mama.
Speaker 1: Also Angel aka Big Angel, who's in the University of
Speaker 1: Maryland at Baltimore County Hall of Fame and played pro
Speaker 1: ball in Luxembourg. Those hoops genes clearly do and work.
Speaker 1: Now it's your turn rate and review. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1: See you tomorrow when Voice in Sports Steph Strack and
Speaker 1: student athlete Maggie Monson join us to talk about a
Speaker 1: big name school getting called out for Title nine violations
Speaker 1: and the push for better compliance on Capitol Hill. Good Game, Fee,
Speaker 1: Good Game, Beyonce, saw that Cowboy Carter Tour announcement and
Speaker 1: you Puck Satawani Phil six more weeks of Winter My Ass.
Speaker 1: Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
Speaker 1: production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
Speaker 1: can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
Speaker 1: our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
Speaker 1: producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.
Speaker 2: Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez and Grace Lynch.
Speaker 1: Our associate producer is Lucy Jones and I'm Your host
Speaker 1: Sarah Spain