Speaker 1: In Case You Missed It with Christina Williams is an
Speaker 1: iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports
Speaker 1: and Entertainment. Hey, what's up, guys? Is Christina Williams and
Speaker 1: welcome back to another special edition of In Case You
Speaker 1: missed It with Christina Williams here on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1: And we're just a couple of days away from the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five WNBA Lottery drafts and about a month
Speaker 1: away from the WNBA Expansion Draft. So here to break
Speaker 1: it all down with me today is agent, attorney and
Speaker 1: founder of Disrupt the Game Sports Agency Alison Gaylor and
Speaker 1: VP of Talent Representation Jackie hilly Moss. Thank you for.
Speaker 2: Being here today, Thanks for having us.
Speaker 1: So, Alesten, I just want to start from the top.
Speaker 1: Can you just talk about your journey to starting the
Speaker 1: Disrupt the Game Agency and what sets Disrupt the Game
Speaker 1: apart from any other sports agency.
Speaker 3: Sure. So, I was super lucky. I grew up in
Speaker 3: and around the business because my uncle's been in the
Speaker 3: business forever. So I started interning when I was seventeen,
Speaker 3: ready to go play basketball low level, not like Jackie
Speaker 3: or any of our clients at Brown University and learned
Speaker 3: like basically that the product was amazing on the court
Speaker 3: in the WNBA. I'd never really been like a fan
Speaker 3: of the WNBA as a kid, but knew the product
Speaker 3: was amazing, but we had a bit of a marketing problem.
Speaker 3: This was back in two thousand and seven, but basically
Speaker 3: internal lot through school and then worked for one company
Speaker 3: out of school and decided to start disrupt the game
Speaker 3: in April of twenty twelve. So I was twenty two
Speaker 3: years old. Bit of young and dumb and naive and fearless,
Speaker 3: I guess, but knew that that the WNBA was going
Speaker 3: to take off at some point and always felt like
Speaker 3: players and marketability of the players was going to, you know,
Speaker 3: kind of be the key that unlocks the growth across
Speaker 3: all the women's sports. And yeah, started the agency. Actually,
Speaker 3: Jackie was one of my first clients. That was twelve
Speaker 3: years ago, which is crazy, sure was.
Speaker 1: And Jackie, you have had a hell of a journey.
Speaker 1: You started off as a WNBA player, you had some
Speaker 1: experience overseas, and then you moved on to a coaching
Speaker 1: stint with the New York Liberty and now you're the
Speaker 1: VP of Talent Representation that disrupt the game. Can you
Speaker 1: just break down your journey and how you ended up here. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think for me, I didn't wake up after I
Speaker 2: was done playing basketball and say, okay, I want to
Speaker 2: be a sports agent now. I don't think any professional
Speaker 2: basketball player, or any professional player in their sport is
Speaker 2: really prepared for what that journey ahead looks like. You know,
Speaker 2: you try and prepare as much as you can for
Speaker 2: life after sport, but when you actually get to that point,
Speaker 2: it's really hard. And I think that you know, you're
Speaker 2: trying to figure out your identity and who you are
Speaker 2: as not a player in your sport anymore.
Speaker 3: So that is a really hard transition.
Speaker 2: And I kind of fell into the role of an
Speaker 2: assistant coach with the New York Liberty. I knew I
Speaker 2: didn't want to coach, but it was just an opportunity
Speaker 2: that present ended itself for me, and I said, hey,
Speaker 2: let's do it. Let's give it a try. I can
Speaker 2: still be in and around the WNBA, so maybe that
Speaker 2: you know, retirement won't feel as hard. But going through
Speaker 2: the season solidified my reason I didn't want to be
Speaker 2: a coach. It's not something that I really wanted to do.
Speaker 2: Or had aspiration of doing. But I did learn so
Speaker 2: much being within that organization and being able to see
Speaker 2: Jonathan Coldpho, in my opinion, is one of the best
Speaker 2: gms out there, and just seeing how the business worked
Speaker 2: from that side of things super interesting and really just
Speaker 2: insightful and helpful for me, you know, for the future.
Speaker 2: And then I moved to Portland, Oregon, and I worked
Speaker 2: at Nike and Corporate for a couple of years because
Speaker 2: I wanted to get my feet wet there and see
Speaker 2: what that was all about.
Speaker 3: And I just wanted more.
Speaker 2: And my relationship with Alison and the relationship to her
Speaker 2: and I built throughout the twelve years of working together.
Speaker 2: I saw how impactful she was to people and the
Speaker 2: women that she represented both on and off the court
Speaker 2: because she was for me. But I saw her, you know,
Speaker 2: develop Cheneguo McKay's business and just all the clients that
Speaker 2: she worked with, and she's just always done really great work.
Speaker 2: And I wanted to do something where I could also
Speaker 2: be impactful. And I think looking at it from you know,
Speaker 2: a player and then a coach, and then now on
Speaker 2: the agency side, there's just three different things that I've
Speaker 2: been able to hit that are really important, and I
Speaker 2: just I hope that my value is like felt with
Speaker 2: these women, and that's the hope anyways. But it's been
Speaker 2: a really awesome journey and I'm super happy where I've
Speaker 2: landed as a sports agent and just want to make
Speaker 2: a difference and want to help these women in any
Speaker 2: way that I can.
Speaker 3: There's no one on the agency side besides Jackie that
Speaker 3: has experienced as a WBA player, WA assistant coach and
Speaker 3: then now being on the agency side. It's complete, It's
Speaker 3: super invaluable, for sure.
Speaker 1: I agree, just having all those different experiences, it definitely
Speaker 1: would help them give you lefs tween you're trying to
Speaker 1: recruit new clients and the w or women's basketball space
Speaker 1: and beyond. Alison, I want to go back to you
Speaker 1: because you talked about how your uncle was an inspiration
Speaker 1: for you to get into the agency side of things.
Speaker 1: What was it like to be a woman in a
Speaker 1: male dominated industry in profession when it comes to being
Speaker 1: a sports agent and owning a sports agency.
Speaker 3: Well, you already know, Christina. It's not easy, that's for sure,
Speaker 3: even within women's sports to be, you know, a woman,
Speaker 3: let alone a young woman just trying to grind im
Speaker 3: prove themselves. But I always joke around that I had
Speaker 3: the trifecta basically young, independent, and female, and it was
Speaker 3: very easy for people to poke. I mean, when I
Speaker 3: started through TRUP with the game, most of the agents
Speaker 3: in the space were like old white men. To be honest,
Speaker 3: and fast forward twelve years or even seven years, a
Speaker 3: lot of the W and BAS stars are represented by women,
Speaker 3: which is amazing but definitely not easy. You always have
Speaker 3: to over prepare and be able to prove that you
Speaker 3: know what you're doing. I mean, I went to law
Speaker 3: school a lot in the way of building disrupt the
Speaker 3: game out and so that helps because I'm a lawyer,
Speaker 3: so I have a little bit of credibility there, and
Speaker 3: between that and my uncle being in the business like
Speaker 3: that was kind of what grounded me for sure.
Speaker 1: This year, we've seen the momentum in women's sports across
Speaker 1: the WNBA women's soccer as well. How have you seen
Speaker 1: the shift when it comes to the sports agency business.
Speaker 1: I know that you just talked about how a lot
Speaker 1: of the WNBA players are represented by women agents, but
Speaker 1: what other shifts are you seeing or trends happening in
Speaker 1: the industry.
Speaker 3: Every big agency has gotten into women's sports in a
Speaker 3: very serious way. So there's a lot that has changed
Speaker 3: on the agency side, because I think there's this perspective
Speaker 3: that not only is it a growing industry right with
Speaker 3: everything's up, but there's this perception that there's like all
Speaker 3: this money in it now, which isn't quite the case yet. Hopefully,
Speaker 3: once the new CBA hits in twenty twenty six, rising
Speaker 3: tides will lift all votes and we'll all kind of
Speaker 3: rise that way. But I would say most of the
Speaker 3: agents that were in the space before the last couple
Speaker 3: of years weren't necessarily in it because they thought this
Speaker 3: was the most lucrative job for them. It was more like,
Speaker 3: let's build this all together. And now it's a it's
Speaker 3: definitely more competitive, that's for sure. But the good thing
Speaker 3: is Jack and I thrive in competitive environments sure too.
Speaker 1: And certainly being former athletes probably help us with that
Speaker 1: as well. When it comes to developing relationships with clients,
Speaker 1: what does that recruitment process look like?
Speaker 2: And I think Alison and I we do the recruiting
Speaker 2: piece together. I'm pretty locked in in women's college basketball,
Speaker 2: and then even more so now just the high school
Speaker 2: scene as well, because that's where we're at with NIL.
Speaker 2: So I think first it's just us identifying who we
Speaker 2: think would be the right fit for disrupt the game.
Speaker 2: And I think first and foremost we look for the
Speaker 2: person and like, does that person fit us? Because I
Speaker 2: think you have to be able to want to work
Speaker 2: with these women, you know, and it has to be
Speaker 2: a situation where you want to do good work for them,
Speaker 2: and it's a people first business for sure. So I
Speaker 2: think first and foremost it's that, And then I think
Speaker 2: we have a good eye for talent as both of
Speaker 2: us are former players, so we kind of know who's
Speaker 2: going to stick in the league and who we think
Speaker 2: is going to be, you know, very dominant and have
Speaker 2: a long time in the WNBA. So the recruiting process
Speaker 2: looks different for each client, but I think for the
Speaker 2: most part, we go through the university first and see
Speaker 2: if we can build a relationship in that way, because
Speaker 2: that just seems, you know, the most organic and natural
Speaker 2: to get in touch with the player first through their
Speaker 2: coaching staff at their universities, and then we also learn
Speaker 2: a little bit more about them too as people, and
Speaker 2: then you know, if there's the parts to them that
Speaker 2: aren't really showcased, you know, from them playing basketball, We're
Speaker 2: able to just learn a ton from the coaching staff.
Speaker 2: And then from there it's setting up a call with
Speaker 2: the player and their parents most of the time because
Speaker 2: at that point in their career, their parents are usually
Speaker 2: pretty involved. And then I think once Alison and I
Speaker 2: get on a zoom call with clients, we pretty much
Speaker 2: lock it in from there. I don't know our percentage
Speaker 2: rate is when you know, after we get on a
Speaker 2: call with clients, but it's pretty high because I think
Speaker 2: the dynamic between Alison and I we give the full package,
Speaker 2: and what you see is what you get. You know,
Speaker 2: with Allison, she has her law degree, so everything with contracts,
Speaker 2: like you're looking at Alison, She's going to be able
Speaker 2: to handle all that and then you know, the basketball
Speaker 2: piece of it that is a lot me and I
Speaker 2: think that it is really invaluable with these women and
Speaker 2: our clients to have that aspect and that level of
Speaker 2: just representation through and through.
Speaker 3: Over the years, you learn who works for you and
Speaker 3: who you work for, and it's just it's a relationship
Speaker 3: with clients. So some clients want to talk to us
Speaker 3: a lot and that's what they're looking for is more
Speaker 3: of a relationship, and some want to want us to
Speaker 3: leave them alone, and so it just it just varies.
Speaker 3: But this is the first year we stepped into NIL
Speaker 3: and we've signed five of the top twenty five players
Speaker 3: in women's college basketball, which is awesome, and you know,
Speaker 3: Jack being on board has been a super important piece
Speaker 3: of that, just to be able to scale and you know,
Speaker 3: sign more players and get more into it in NIL
Speaker 3: because we, like I did not step into it once
Speaker 3: the laws changed in twenty twenty one. I wanted to
Speaker 3: take a step back and see how it goes. But
Speaker 3: the truth is we don't have a choice. We have
Speaker 3: to get in, you know, even in high school at
Speaker 3: this point because agencies are going after players, you know,
Speaker 3: pretty early and helping navigate the college decision for them
Speaker 3: and then through their college years and then right into WNBA.
Speaker 1: You talked about how some athletes just want to play
Speaker 1: their sport if that's it, but other athletes we have
Speaker 1: different aspirations in how it's starting as early as high
Speaker 1: school when it comes to NIL with building an athlete's brand.
Speaker 1: So how do you approach that from the agency side.
Speaker 3: Yeah, basically, we look, we look at each athlete as
Speaker 3: like a holistic kind of company, right or brand, and
Speaker 3: we look at them from their sport and what they
Speaker 3: do on quarter on pitch, they that dictates everything else.
Speaker 3: So the better they play, the more opportunities come everywhere else.
Speaker 3: And then we look at obviously, endorsement says low hanging fruit,
Speaker 3: that's you know, pretty easy. And then for the higher
Speaker 3: level of athlete or superstar, whatever you want to call it,
Speaker 3: then we look into like do they want to get
Speaker 3: into broadcasts or entertainment or podcasts, or do they want
Speaker 3: to get into speaking engagements just that there's a whole
Speaker 3: gamut of things, or even do they want to get
Speaker 3: into entrepreneurship and build companies because that's really where you know,
Speaker 3: athletes can make long term, you know, real money. And
Speaker 3: so it just kind of depends. We have this corny graphic.
Speaker 3: I think it's corny, but I also like it on
Speaker 3: the our presentations that show like it's a half court
Speaker 3: and it shows like a play sort of like a
Speaker 3: mock basketball play, and it shows like here's where the
Speaker 3: athlete is in terms of basketball, endorsements, speaking engagements, entertainment,
Speaker 3: and like here's how they all intertwine because they all
Speaker 3: leverage each other same thing with social media or PR
Speaker 3: and we try to help put the right pieces together
Speaker 3: or we just kind of help them with that ourselves.
Speaker 2: I think too, to piggyback off of that, I think
Speaker 2: Alison has done a really good job throughout her career
Speaker 2: of creating opportunities for her clients off the court. And
Speaker 2: I think initially for me, that's what really drew me
Speaker 2: into Alison, because she was so creative and she was
Speaker 2: really passionate about like life off the court as well.
Speaker 2: So I do think like within this agency, we do
Speaker 2: go above and beyond for our client and we try
Speaker 2: and look past just the basketball court and their WNBA
Speaker 2: or NWSL careers. And I think it's really special and
Speaker 2: it's really valuable to have that piece of it. And
Speaker 2: I think that I've been fortunate enough to be able
Speaker 2: to learn from that too and try and apply whatever
Speaker 2: I can to benefit the athlete as well.
Speaker 1: I'm interested in hearing any interesting stories about how you
Speaker 1: got the opportunity to rep someone. I know that former
Speaker 1: number one picture a Gooomckay is a client of Viewers.
Speaker 1: WBA champion Benijelanney Hamilton is also a client, so you
Speaker 1: all have a very elite roster of athletes that you represent.
Speaker 1: Any interesting stories about how you were able to recruit
Speaker 1: someone to disrupt the game.
Speaker 3: One of my favorite stories is Crystal Dunn and I
Speaker 3: were connected through a mutual friend and they had asked like,
Speaker 3: is it okay if Crystal reaches out to you? And
Speaker 3: she literally sent me a text like, Hey, this is
Speaker 3: Crystal Dunn. I'm a player for that and of yourselves
Speaker 3: North Carolina Courage and the US women's national team. Is
Speaker 3: it okay if we chat on the phone sometimes? And
Speaker 3: I literally picked up the phone and called it right away.
Speaker 3: I was like, you don't have to introduce yourself to me.
Speaker 3: I know exactly who you are. But players are humans
Speaker 3: at the end of the day, and a lot of
Speaker 3: players don't have to engage with a lot of people,
Speaker 3: and so our job is really a big connection point
Speaker 3: to their relationships, you know, across the board, whether it's
Speaker 3: with their sporting team on basketball or soccer, or endorsements
Speaker 3: or we're like kind of the relationship connective tissue.
Speaker 1: CREUS has there been an uptick and interest and when
Speaker 1: it comes to sponsorships and endorsement opportunities, for these women
Speaker 1: athletes that you represent, because I know a couple of
Speaker 1: years ago the statistics number wise was like these athletes
Speaker 1: received less than one percent of sponsorship dollars and endorsement dollars.
Speaker 1: Has there been a sort of uptake in the last.
Speaker 3: Year incrementally yes, overall? Is it like a super material
Speaker 3: difference in you know, the status of our business? Like no,
Speaker 3: I mean yeah, I would say the biggest change came
Speaker 3: from twenty twenty into twenty twenty one, Like not to
Speaker 3: put her tea out there, but the business of genev
Speaker 3: wom K kind of doubled overnight in terms of endorsements
Speaker 3: because all the sudden brands were like, oh, we should
Speaker 3: invest in black women and where do we find black
Speaker 3: women WNBA? And who's visible in the WNBA. Cheney obviously
Speaker 3: was one of the more visible players throughout her playing career.
Speaker 3: And so yeah, I think from twenty twenty one to now,
Speaker 3: there's way more brands in the space. They're spending more money,
Speaker 3: but on a per player basis, not every player is
Speaker 3: going to get you know, six figure endorsements on a
Speaker 3: year over year basis. But with that said, we've had
Speaker 3: more clients get more deals than ever before, which is amazing.
Speaker 1: What role do you see the media playing into all
Speaker 1: of that, Like, how do you advocate for these players
Speaker 1: to get more representation in the media for those sponsorship opportunities.
Speaker 3: The relationship between media and players is one that we're
Speaker 3: all collectively trying to improve, right because some players see
Speaker 3: the value of media. Some players don't because they already
Speaker 3: feel like they're so accessible during season, you know, before games,
Speaker 3: after games, et cetera, et cetera. Media is super important,
Speaker 3: and players getting out there with their person and who
Speaker 3: they are is super It's it's easy to watch them
Speaker 3: play and be like, oh, that this is how they
Speaker 3: play basketball. But personality wise, most most people don't know
Speaker 3: the personalities of a lot of players, and so media
Speaker 3: is the medium in which that happens. So super important,
Speaker 3: but sometimes it takes an effort to to get them there.
Speaker 3: Like Kelsey Mitchell just did a piece in the Player's
Speaker 3: Tribune and she spent a lot of time on it,
Speaker 3: and like we were, you know, we tried to be
Speaker 3: as additive as we could, but it definitely was a
Speaker 3: collective effort with her and the Players Tribune to get
Speaker 3: it where it needs to go. But it's it's tricky,
Speaker 3: you know, things that aren't paid right to justify the
Speaker 3: time that it takes for those athletes when they're already
Speaker 3: so busy doing what they need to do for their sport.
Speaker 3: So it's a it's a push and pull for sure.
Speaker 1: Really understand then, Yeah, Jess, I just actually just read
Speaker 1: that Kelsey Mitchell piece on the on the Player's Tribune
Speaker 1: and it was it was definitely heartfelt because she's controlling
Speaker 1: her own narrative, right, and we're seeing a trend of
Speaker 1: athletes being able to do that on their various platform
Speaker 1: Shane Boo McKay on ESPN Breaking News. Well, so it's
Speaker 1: very interesting to see how your clients have taken the
Speaker 1: lead on things like that. So how important is it
Speaker 1: from an agency's perspective to continue to build these relationships
Speaker 1: with media.
Speaker 3: The more proactive media is, even if they're bugging us,
Speaker 3: the more opportunities typically go their way because Jackie and
Speaker 3: I are like good humans first, at least we think
Speaker 3: we are, and so we're not going to leave you
Speaker 3: on red and not respond, right, So the more annoying
Speaker 3: you are, like Christina, you do a great job of
Speaker 3: reaching out and just shooting your shot, and the more
Speaker 3: you shoot your shot, the more you're gonna hit. So
Speaker 3: I would just say be as proactive as possible. We're
Speaker 3: easy to reach, sort of easy to reach, but just
Speaker 3: be as proactive as possible, and ultimately media will get
Speaker 3: more and more opportunity with players even just to like
Speaker 3: have people stop reaching out and just like do it already, like.
Speaker 2: Go, chances are Alison won't respond, and then I'll be
Speaker 2: the one that responds.
Speaker 3: That is spec typically outworks. We play good cup back cop.
Speaker 1: For people who may be interested in becoming future sports agents,
Speaker 1: what advice would you give them?
Speaker 3: Go intern and work for different agencies and get a
Speaker 3: feel for what you like and where you can make
Speaker 3: an impact and make sure you're providing value for people,
Speaker 3: and then just try to get in where you fit in.
Speaker 3: The more experience you have in practical experience, sometimes the
Speaker 3: best way to learn is trial by fire. Jackie can
Speaker 3: attest to that. I could attest to that too, and
Speaker 3: just figuring it out. It's a lot of them make
Speaker 3: them up business still in women's sports, like it's you
Speaker 3: figure it out as you go, and the more proactive
Speaker 3: you are, the more opportunities come your way. In for
Speaker 3: your clients too.
Speaker 1: All Right, we're gonna pause right there, and we're gonna
Speaker 1: take a quick break and when we come back more
Speaker 1: from Alison Gaylor and Jackie Haley Mos from Disrupt the Game. Now,
Speaker 1: let's get into the bread and butter of this interview.
Speaker 1: The w NBA Draft lottery is coming up this weekend.
Speaker 1: What does the process look like from the agency side
Speaker 1: of things?
Speaker 3: Basically, so for for us, our two clients that hopefully
Speaker 3: will be lottery picks, or at least that's the plan,
Speaker 3: our Anissa Moro from LSU and then Kikiri often from USC.
Speaker 3: That's the thing we can do for Anissa and for
Speaker 3: Kiki is just keep them informed. Hey, the lottery is
Speaker 3: happening on Sunday. Here are the teams that could potentially
Speaker 3: have the top four picks. Bays you know, the Valkyries
Speaker 3: are coming in with a fifth pick. Just education is
Speaker 3: super important and just making sure there is informed as
Speaker 3: possible so that there's no no surprises. But them staying
Speaker 3: in the loop on stuff is important. And that's an
Speaker 3: adjustment for us too. Is like we're not used to
Speaker 3: representing players in college. We're used to recruiting players in
Speaker 3: college until the draft and then we're like dumping information,
Speaker 3: you know, onto them with them, et cetera. So this
Speaker 3: is definitely unique and different, but in a very positive
Speaker 3: way for sure.
Speaker 1: And when it comes to, you know, just this entire process,
Speaker 1: how are you talking through when it comes to the
Speaker 1: draft process where you see players gets rapt to the
Speaker 1: right organization based on the fit or based on like this,
Speaker 1: the numbers with the salary cap, how are you explaining
Speaker 1: that entire process to maybe the rookies that will come in.
Speaker 3: We always tell our players it's about fit, not about number,
Speaker 3: even though number is you know, for confidence sake, for
Speaker 3: ego's sake, except like that's if you're a number one
Speaker 3: pick or number two pick, like that's for life. But
Speaker 3: same thing if you're number five pick. I mean, we
Speaker 3: we talked to jac Sheldon about that at length going
Speaker 3: into this draft process this past year where she was
Speaker 3: the fifth overall pick to the Dallas Wings. We wanted
Speaker 3: to make sure she was gonna be with a team
Speaker 3: where she would get opportunity, because it's it's great if
Speaker 3: you get picked high, but like if you're not, if
Speaker 3: you're going to a team that you don't necessarily fit
Speaker 3: with that's that's not good and the money is negligible,
Speaker 3: Like on the NBA side, going from pick four to
Speaker 3: pick five, like you might be losing you know, four
Speaker 3: or five hundred thousand per year on that drop. Like WMBA,
Speaker 3: it's it's the same. It's literally picks one through four
Speaker 3: get x amount of dollars, picks five, three, eight, get
Speaker 3: y amount of dollars, you know, except it's just it's
Speaker 3: not that material of a difference to.
Speaker 2: Just like level setting expectation, because look, when a when
Speaker 2: a player goes into a team, especially in their first
Speaker 2: four years, like the situation might not be the best, right,
Speaker 2: there could be a lot of different things that happen.
Speaker 2: And I think in college, like players can transfer so
Speaker 2: easily now and just enter the transfer portal and they
Speaker 2: can just kind of lead their situation very easily. And
Speaker 2: then the WNBA it's a little bit harder. You know,
Speaker 2: there's a lot of things you have to go through
Speaker 2: to figure out how to get traded and to get moved.
Speaker 3: It's not as easy.
Speaker 2: So I think Alison and I try and level set
Speaker 2: expectation with that too of just like okay, like here's
Speaker 2: a situation, and here's what we kind of have to do,
Speaker 2: you know, to get through it kind of thing.
Speaker 1: Then you see the CBA opt out impacting free agency,
Speaker 1: impacting the draft process in the future.
Speaker 3: I mean, the CBA opt out is going to be
Speaker 3: interesting as it relates to like the startup season in
Speaker 3: twenty twenty six, right, because if the CBA doesn't get
Speaker 3: done before the season, that would mean that there's some
Speaker 3: type of lockout or something where there's an impasse and
Speaker 3: the CBA has to get done for players, you know,
Speaker 3: players and teams to play like the WNB cannot take
Speaker 3: form in games until and unless the CBA is papered
Speaker 3: and signed, and so I think as far as I know,
Speaker 3: but yeah, it's going to impact free agency. There's gonna
Speaker 3: be a lot more analysis and strategy and ingenuity that's
Speaker 3: going to come on the team side, and then also
Speaker 3: on the agent side, because there's going to be a
Speaker 3: wider range of salary numbers and other things in the
Speaker 3: CBA that you can negotiate. That's going to require more
Speaker 3: thought and more more planning and more process, and that's
Speaker 3: going to weed a lot of people out. It's going
Speaker 3: to be fascinating, to be completely honest, because when big
Speaker 3: change happens overnight. Some people are gonna get with it
Speaker 3: and some people, you know, some teams, some agents aren't.
Speaker 3: And so we're we're going to be with it, that's
Speaker 3: for sure.
Speaker 1: You mentioned Kelsey Mitchell's Players Tribute article and within that
Speaker 1: piece she spoke about wanting to explore free agency. How
Speaker 1: does that look and a year of an expansion draft
Speaker 1: where teams can protect certain amount of players and she's
Speaker 1: a free agent.
Speaker 3: There hasn't been an expansion draft in the WNA for
Speaker 3: a very long time. This is super new. Most of
Speaker 3: the people that are in GM spots, agent spots, you know, players,
Speaker 3: never have been through it before. But basically, as it
Speaker 3: relates to free agents, teams are going to have to
Speaker 3: protect those players to retain their you know, their ability
Speaker 3: to core them if that's something that they're interested in.
Speaker 3: So where Kelsey would come in is that if if
Speaker 3: Indiana wants to preserve the rights to core her, you know,
Speaker 3: if and when they do that, come come early January,
Speaker 3: they're going to have to protect her, which is normal,
Speaker 3: you want to preserve your rights basically, but it's going
Speaker 3: to be it's going to be interesting, for sure, and
Speaker 3: a lot of change when when a new team's coming in,
Speaker 3: and then you look at twenty twenty six, where two
Speaker 3: new teams are going to come in with the new CBA.
Speaker 3: That's a lot a lot more jobs, which is good
Speaker 3: for people in our position because that's more more players
Speaker 3: getting opportunity. But it's also going to come with more
Speaker 3: malleability across the board of of what players are getting
Speaker 3: paid and how many years they signed for, and just
Speaker 3: there's with so much change, it's hard to commit to
Speaker 3: things long term in my opinion at least because you
Speaker 3: kind of want to see how they go. And I
Speaker 3: think there's gonna be a lot of movement in twenty
Speaker 3: twenty five free agency and a lot of one year
Speaker 3: deals for those free agents because everybody's going to want
Speaker 3: to be a free agent going into twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1: I guess Jackie, you can speak to what trends that
Speaker 1: you're seeing in free agency movement, Like what are players
Speaker 1: prioritizing when it comes to being a free agent.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think players just want to be
Speaker 2: happy and they want to be in a situation where
Speaker 2: they can thrive on and off the court. And you know,
Speaker 2: every player has different needs and wants, But I think
Speaker 2: at the end of the day, like really good players,
Speaker 2: they want to win and they want to be in
Speaker 2: an organization that is, you know, has the potential to win.
Speaker 2: And then there's some people that have a different priority.
Speaker 2: You know, they want to be the go to score.
Speaker 2: They want to be that you know, that go to players,
Speaker 2: So maybe not being on a winning team is as
Speaker 2: important to them.
Speaker 3: I think it varies.
Speaker 2: But from my experience with our clients, all of our
Speaker 2: clients want to be in a situation where they can
Speaker 2: win and do well and be happy off the court.
Speaker 2: Like that's the perfect situation, right, But not every situation
Speaker 2: is going to be completely perfect. But it's all trial
Speaker 2: and error and we just do our best to kind of,
Speaker 2: you know, help them get to the place that we
Speaker 2: think will be best.
Speaker 1: Working ahead to twenty twenty five, I mean, you just
Speaker 1: mentioned that a lot of players are going to sign
Speaker 1: these one year deals. When it comes to the expansion
Speaker 1: and free agency and the CBA opt out, what are
Speaker 1: you both looking forward to the most when it comes
Speaker 1: to the future of the WNBA.
Speaker 3: It's a very easy answer from our perspective, at least
Speaker 3: from my perspective, because we obviously want the players to
Speaker 3: get paid more and in terms of their on court
Speaker 3: salary and not have to be so dependent on off
Speaker 3: the court income because they're making more and they can
Speaker 3: you know, support their lives through what they make in
Speaker 3: their WNBA salary. So that's definitely one thing I'm looking
Speaker 3: forward to is players just getting more of their you know,
Speaker 3: the line share of what they're helping build in terms
Speaker 3: of overall you know, league revenue and that type of thing.
Speaker 3: Maybe not the line share, but at least a more
Speaker 3: proportional portion of it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I agree as well. I think players
Speaker 2: the need for wanting to go overseas has just decreased
Speaker 2: over time. You know, as someone who played overseas for
Speaker 2: eight years, like the experience for me was invaluable, but
Speaker 2: I was also in a very different position where I
Speaker 2: needed to go play overseas in order to have a
Speaker 2: spot in the WNBA. But yeah, I mean, increased salaries
Speaker 2: is definitely the goal and the hope for all these
Speaker 2: players because they deserve it.
Speaker 1: Well, I want to thank you both for being on
Speaker 1: this episode of In Case You Missed It with Christina
Speaker 1: Williams here on iHeartRadio. It's been a pleasure to chat
Speaker 1: with you both and get some insight at the WNBA
Speaker 1: lottery draft and the expansion draft coming up.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Christina. We appreciate you having a son and
Speaker 2: really like what you're doing with your podcast.
Speaker 3: Thanks for having us.
Speaker 1: All Right, y'all, we got to pay some bills, so
Speaker 1: we're going to take a quick little break and when
Speaker 1: we come back, we have the Things that I loved
Speaker 1: this week. Stay tuned, we have more coming up. Welcome
Speaker 1: back to in case you missed it with Christina Williams.
Speaker 1: I just want to thank Allison and Jackie again for
Speaker 1: coming through talking all things WNBAH draft, lottery and expansion draft.
Speaker 1: And now it's time for my favorite part of the show,
Speaker 1: the Things that I love this week. So recently, my
Speaker 1: friends from middle school and I we did a holiday
Speaker 1: themed friends giving where each person came dressed up as
Speaker 1: their favorite holiday. So naturally I stressed up in a
Speaker 1: onesie Christmas pajama. My friend LaToya also did the Christmas thing.
Speaker 1: We had some cute little reindeer glasses. I hit friends
Speaker 1: that celebrated and have pajama themed single De Mayo Black
Speaker 1: History work, which is a really cool theme, Pajama Pride Month, Easter,
Speaker 1: my friends got really really creative. I think that it
Speaker 1: was something that was much needed. We had it pot
Speaker 1: luck style, so everyone.
Speaker 3: Brought a dish.
Speaker 1: The girl was in charge of bringing the fried chicken,
Speaker 1: and my friend Nicole, I'm sorry to Cole, I will
Speaker 1: put you out there, but she's one of the friends
Speaker 1: that can't necessarily cook, so she bakes some really interesting
Speaker 1: cookie desserts and it was it was really interesting. I
Speaker 1: love you, Nicole, but it was. It was great to
Speaker 1: just spend time with some of my childhood friends and
Speaker 1: just getting a little bit of TLC. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think this month, and I can speak for everyone, it
Speaker 1: was it's spent a little bit of hard, you know,
Speaker 1: post election results, and so it was great to just
Speaker 1: be in communion with some of my friends from childhood
Speaker 1: and uh, just appreciate where we are in life and
Speaker 1: have that sense of gratitude since it's kind of a
Speaker 1: month of gratitude. And so yeah, that was a lot
Speaker 1: of fun to you know, have that friends, given we
Speaker 1: were big ass kids too. We had little games like
Speaker 1: we actually played penditel a donkey and I actually lost
Speaker 1: because we were supposed to get spinned around three times.
Speaker 1: And my friend's show show, she spent me around six
Speaker 1: times and so your girl was dizzy and almost spell
Speaker 1: But anyways, that was something that I love. This week
Speaker 1: much needed quality time with my friends and so don't
Speaker 1: forget to rate, review and subscribe to the podcast. Next
Speaker 1: week we have USC women's basketball head coach Lindsay Gottlie
Speaker 1: joining us, so you don't want to miss that, and
Speaker 1: that's going to do it for this show. Peace in
Speaker 1: case you missed it with Christina Williams is an iHeart
Speaker 1: women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 1: You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts. Six