Speaker 1: In Case You Missed It with Christina Williams is an
Speaker 1: iheartwomen's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to another edition of In Case You miss
Speaker 1: It with Christino Williams, and I'm super excited about today's guests.
Speaker 1: As you guys know, today's election day and so here
Speaker 1: to break it all down for us is nine times
Speaker 1: WNBA All Star and champion Mecca Agumacy. Hey, Mecca, welcome
Speaker 1: to the show.
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: Okay, so I want to just dive right into it.
Speaker 1: Today's election day and you've obviously joined Lebron James's More
Speaker 1: Than a Vote initiative, So can you just tell us
Speaker 1: the story behind that collaboration.
Speaker 3: Well, I mean I was kind of, I guess called
Speaker 3: upon in twenty twenty in the election concluding the bubble,
Speaker 3: and of course we had a lot of initiatives going
Speaker 3: on during the election, but that was when I was
Speaker 3: first reached out to about how we as athletes can
Speaker 3: use our platforms to ensure that people are voting, registering,
Speaker 3: understanding how they can impact their communities and also use
Speaker 3: their own platforms and also their own power to be
Speaker 3: able to have a say.
Speaker 1: Why did you choose to have a focus or emphasis
Speaker 1: on reproductive rights with this initiative.
Speaker 3: Well, that's definitely an issue that's front and center. It
Speaker 3: definitely hits home for me and so many other women
Speaker 3: athletes because we earn our living with our bodies and
Speaker 3: to be able to have agency over our bodies, whether
Speaker 3: it comes to how we earn our living, our health
Speaker 3: and benefits and family planning. However it is that people
Speaker 3: want to consider those things for themselves. I think it
Speaker 3: is important to understand that it is our choice and
Speaker 3: there's no business even the governments to be able to
Speaker 3: make a decision on what we can do with our bodies.
Speaker 1: What are some ways that more than the Vote has
Speaker 1: been able to engage voters in this time period and
Speaker 1: what athletes have joined on to support the initiative.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so we have had a lot of different tour stops.
Speaker 3: Of course, there's a lot of voting organizations, and we've
Speaker 3: been able to collaborate with Get out the Vote when
Speaker 3: we all vote, and so many others, and so along
Speaker 3: these tour stops we try to meet people and communities
Speaker 3: where they're at. You know, there's been block parties, there's
Speaker 3: been course rides, there's been low rides, and so we've
Speaker 3: had a lot of opportunity to be able to engage
Speaker 3: with our community, celebrate the culture around democracy and voting,
Speaker 3: and also empower those to understand just how impactful their
Speaker 3: vote is and how you can also use their individual
Speaker 3: platforms to impact their communities. And so I've had the
Speaker 3: pleasure of being able to go to Arizona and low
Speaker 3: ride to a voting location where they had a lot
Speaker 3: of energy and excitement, especially on I think it was
Speaker 3: Latin voters registration Day, either registration or voting day. I
Speaker 3: don't want to misspeak on that, but I had the
Speaker 3: opportunity to do that. I was able to go to
Speaker 3: Atlanta and support Michelle Obama with her continued voting initiatives,
Speaker 3: and so we were able to talk to HBCU students,
Speaker 3: a lot of first time voters, and I've had a
Speaker 3: lot of help with Diana and Maya and Beg They've
Speaker 3: all been a part of this initiative in the key
Speaker 3: swing states where we really want people to know.
Speaker 1: The power of the vote. The WNBA has always been
Speaker 1: at the forefront of activism and social activism. Why is
Speaker 1: it a natural fit for players like yourself, the Beg's,
Speaker 1: the Maya Mores, the Diana Tarazzis to get active and
Speaker 1: mobilize people.
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, I think that we're kind of born
Speaker 3: into it. I think that, you know, being women, mostly
Speaker 3: black women, queer women, I mean, there's just so many
Speaker 3: intersectionalities that we just inherently exist in. And I think
Speaker 3: that because it's something that we've always known, because it's
Speaker 3: the space that we've always occupied, and you know, a
Speaker 3: lot of our differences in communities that don't necessarily look
Speaker 3: like us have brought us together. Being able to play
Speaker 3: as a woman in sport, which is another part of
Speaker 3: the intersectionality that brings us together to understand our differences,
Speaker 3: but also the similar journey in the fight towards equality
Speaker 3: and equity and value and worth. It's just inherent in
Speaker 3: a lot of the women that end up playing in
Speaker 3: the dub NBA, and it's very natural that our disposition
Speaker 3: is not only to want better, but to want better
Speaker 3: for everyone.
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty, we saw what happened when WNBA players
Speaker 1: got together worked together to flip the Senate in Georgia,
Speaker 1: and I feel like during this election cycle, there's still
Speaker 1: that sense of urgency right to get people out and
Speaker 1: engage to vote. But then there's people out there who
Speaker 1: are saying sports and politics should not intersect. So what
Speaker 1: do you say to those critics who feel like athletes
Speaker 1: should stay out of politics.
Speaker 3: I don't see how it's possible, because we are citizens,
Speaker 3: you know, So I think that those that don't want
Speaker 3: sports and politics to intersect are those that want to
Speaker 3: suppress the platforms that we do have, you know, outside
Speaker 3: of politics, we would be remiss not to use our
Speaker 3: platform for good and not to use our platform to
Speaker 3: engage the fans that follow us in ways that I'm
Speaker 3: sure a lot of them identify with. And albeit you know,
Speaker 3: I say all the time, I wish we could just
Speaker 3: shut up and dribble, but that we just simply can't.
Speaker 3: And it's not something that we should do anyway, because
Speaker 3: we see outside of sports, maybe even in entertainment, and
Speaker 3: other experts in their field, other leaders in you know,
Speaker 3: their respective careers using their platforms and sports is something
Speaker 3: that creates a common ground for a lot of different
Speaker 3: people to enter a space, and it's beautiful how you
Speaker 3: can use that platform to extend the commonalities amongst so
Speaker 3: many different people that just simply all love basketball in
Speaker 3: this case.
Speaker 1: As election day unfolds today, what's your final message to
Speaker 1: the voters.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think that the biggest message that I
Speaker 3: can impart upon people is that your vote does matter.
Speaker 3: You know, I can understand how people would think that, oh,
Speaker 3: my one vote does not matter, but it takes many
Speaker 3: singular votes to make a very big decision. And understanding
Speaker 3: the power of being a part of that, the power
Speaker 3: of having a say, the power of just being able
Speaker 3: to represent yourself and your community and then using your
Speaker 3: platform to engage others in the same way is incredibly important.
Speaker 3: So your vote really does matter, and you can do
Speaker 3: it with people who you care about. You can do
Speaker 3: it with people who you're trying to influence as well.
Speaker 3: And practicing this as a part of the beautiful culture
Speaker 3: that is democracy, I think is incredibly important.
Speaker 1: As the w MVPA president and an active player as well.
Speaker 1: What's your take on the recent decision to opt out
Speaker 1: of the current WNBACBAH.
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm not incredibly surprised, you know, we were
Speaker 3: able to get the vote back in and inform the
Speaker 3: league and ultimately make the announcement. I'm not incredibly surprised,
Speaker 3: and I think that the timing. The timing is right,
Speaker 3: and the timing does matter. You know, we're seeing such
Speaker 3: an incredible surge in women's sports, specifically women's basketball, and
Speaker 3: our players want a piece of the business that is growing,
Speaker 3: that has a lot to do, if not mostly to
Speaker 3: do with the players. We want a piece of that
Speaker 3: valuable business. And we know that we serve as the
Speaker 3: foundation for where this league is going. And I'm excited
Speaker 3: to see what we can yield from these negotiations.
Speaker 1: We met Terry Jackson on the show two weeks ago
Speaker 1: and she kind of broke down like what the process
Speaker 1: is starting to look like and this time around, she
Speaker 1: said that everything is literally on the table compared to
Speaker 1: the last negotiations in twenty twenty. So what's the ideal
Speaker 1: outcome for the players and this next round of negotiations
Speaker 1: over the next year.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, I think the outcome.
Speaker 3: Ideal outcome is certainly being able to come to an
Speaker 3: agreement before the twenty twenty sixth season, although I know
Speaker 3: that our players are prepared. Ideally, we want people to
Speaker 3: be incredibly informed and to address all the things that
Speaker 3: are on the table. There's a lot of things that
Speaker 3: are very important to the players. We just opted out,
Speaker 3: so there's a lot of discussions to be had, but
Speaker 3: I do anticipate negotiating more salary and compensation without a doubt,
Speaker 3: you know, and having the player experience, player health and safety,
Speaker 3: player value as it's reflected in contracts, to match the
Speaker 3: experience that is clearly being shown in the DUBNBA as
Speaker 3: we know it today.
Speaker 1: So you mentioned how players are you know, prepared for
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six and how you want to get the
Speaker 1: still done before the twenty twenty sixth season. What players
Speaker 1: consider delaying the start of the twenty twenty sixth season
Speaker 1: to secure a fair CBA deal.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think players are prepared, but it's not
Speaker 3: something that we that's like the desired outcome. There's a
Speaker 3: lot that needs to be discussed before we even get
Speaker 3: to negotiation. So it's very hard to even anticipate how
Speaker 3: negotiations will go. But right now we're prepared for twenty
Speaker 3: twenty five season, I hopefully a collaborative negotiation, and then
Speaker 3: going into twenty twenty six with historical news.
Speaker 1: I'm curious because you know, you are such a high
Speaker 1: performing athlete, play some of your best basketballer season with Seattle.
Speaker 1: But then you have so many responsibilities as the WMVPA president.
Speaker 1: How have you been able to you know, balance those
Speaker 1: demands together.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think in the beginning was there was
Speaker 3: a lot of learning around the role of presidency. And
Speaker 3: then there's been a lot of restructuring of the PA
Speaker 3: staff and even the executive committee and our governance, and
Speaker 3: that has helped a lot. We've grown so much, and
Speaker 3: I don't want anyone thinking that I do this job alone.
Speaker 3: It's definitely not what the role of a president is.
Speaker 3: There's an incredible support staff and our players Association staff,
Speaker 3: but the players aren't engage. We have an executive committee
Speaker 3: that consists of seven members, and we have player reps
Speaker 3: and alternate player reps, and those players communicate with their
Speaker 3: teammates for us to be able to really understand how
Speaker 3: we can move forward and progress in all the things
Speaker 3: that we do. So I think now I kind of
Speaker 3: had hit the groove of it.
Speaker 2: But I am.
Speaker 3: Hoping that this becomes a role that is more coveted,
Speaker 3: I guess, or at least, you know, doesn't resort on
Speaker 3: someone just running unopposed consistently. So I'm excited to see
Speaker 3: how the growth of this role can impact the PA
Speaker 3: and ultimately league missioner.
Speaker 1: Aguma, Kay, how does that sound to you? But seriously,
Speaker 1: I watched Shatter Glass and I saw players like Brianna Stewart,
Speaker 1: John called Jones kind of hyphen I'm saying that they
Speaker 1: would vote for you if you wanted to, you know,
Speaker 1: after your career be the commissioner of the w NBA.
Speaker 1: Would you consider the opportunity if it ever presented itself.
Speaker 2: I mean, I think it's hard to say now.
Speaker 3: I don't close doors, but I definitely know that I
Speaker 3: still want to be involved in sports when I'm done playing,
Speaker 3: which I feel like I still have a few good
Speaker 3: years left to play.
Speaker 1: What, in your opinion makes you appealing as a leader,
Speaker 1: Because so many players, they always bring your name up
Speaker 1: in as such a positive light as being a great leader.
Speaker 1: What do you think is appealing to you to other people?
Speaker 2: I mean, I try to be approachable.
Speaker 3: I am the oldest of four daughters, and I'm Nigerian,
Speaker 3: so I think that naturally I take care of people,
Speaker 3: and I'm a cancer sign. So like it's just kind
Speaker 3: of like a whole bunch of situations. Yeah, I cannot
Speaker 3: escape it. But yeah, I think that I just try
Speaker 3: my best to listen, and I do what I can
Speaker 3: to not just listen, but to provide support in whatever
Speaker 3: way is possible. So if I know the answer, I
Speaker 3: give people an answer. If I don't know the answer,
Speaker 3: I do my best to direct them to someone who does.
Speaker 3: And I think that that starts with listening and ultimately
Speaker 3: developing a disposition that makes people feel like I'm approachable.
Speaker 1: You were the number one pick in the twenty twelve draft,
Speaker 1: drafted to the Sparks with teammates Atlanta Bear Christy Tolliver
Speaker 1: Candas Parker, who's also a legend. What's your best story
Speaker 1: from your rookie season.
Speaker 2: I think it was my rookie year.
Speaker 3: We were playing Seattle at home and I think I
Speaker 3: hit a game winner, and so that was kind of exciting.
Speaker 3: It was early on in the season.
Speaker 1: All right, So you brought up game winners in twenty
Speaker 1: sixteen w NBA Finals. Candas Parker brought it up online
Speaker 1: during the w NBA Finals this year about the shot clock.
Speaker 1: Was it a shot clock violation? Oh?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was.
Speaker 3: Okay, I'm not gonna lie, like the video is not
Speaker 3: gonna lie.
Speaker 2: They missed it.
Speaker 1: They missed it, and you just live with it.
Speaker 2: It is what it is.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, they missed a backcourt violation the game
Speaker 3: before that, and at that time people were talking about
Speaker 3: both calls. You know, Now, do we know if it
Speaker 3: would change the outcome of either one of those games
Speaker 3: or the series.
Speaker 2: We will never know. But it's a part of the game.
Speaker 3: Like, calls are missed all the time, and you know,
Speaker 3: we saw in Game five, like there were a lot
Speaker 3: of situations where people felt like calls could have gone
Speaker 3: different ways.
Speaker 2: It's a part of basketball.
Speaker 3: But you know, no one can take away the fact
Speaker 3: that I won a championship, So I'm not really going
Speaker 3: to complain about it.
Speaker 1: Period love to see it. How would you sum up
Speaker 1: your first season with the Seattle Storm.
Speaker 3: The word that comes to mind is renewed. You know,
Speaker 3: I feel as though I feel renewed as a player
Speaker 3: and as a person. I feel there's a re energizing
Speaker 3: of me and my journey and my career in this league,
Speaker 3: and I'm excited to see, you know where that can
Speaker 3: take me.
Speaker 1: You're unrestricted free agent, and again, what will determine you
Speaker 1: re signing with a Storm or looking for another opportunity elsewhere.
Speaker 3: I mean, right now, what's important to me is definitely ownership, engagement, coaching, staff, practice, facility,
Speaker 3: and being competitive with teammates that provide a good locker room.
Speaker 3: I'm entering a year fourteen, so I don't really have
Speaker 3: time for the bus so I'm like trying to go
Speaker 3: in there, have fun, you know, play when compete, but
Speaker 3: do it also in a way where I feel supported
Speaker 3: both physically and mentally, you know.
Speaker 2: So those are all the things. I mean, Seattle has
Speaker 2: all those things, so.
Speaker 1: He'll keep our eye out for you in the off season. Mecca,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining us this week on
Speaker 1: in Case You Missed It with Christina Williams. Definitely a pleasure.
Speaker 1: And to all of our listeners out there, please please
Speaker 1: please don't forget to go out and vote today. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much, Mecca, Yes.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: We're going to take a quick break and when we
Speaker 1: get back, it's time for the things that I loved
Speaker 1: this week more on A Case You Mistic with Christina Williams.
Speaker 1: When we get back, All right, y'all, it's time for
Speaker 1: the things that I love this week. And I really
Speaker 1: enjoyed attending the air series Jordan brand basketball run last week,
Speaker 1: but it's going to be the thing that I love
Speaker 1: this week. So I was invited along with some other
Speaker 1: women in sports and media to Nike's headquarters in New
Speaker 1: York City to wear tests their new shoe Air Series,
Speaker 1: which is a new basketball shoe that takes insights from
Speaker 1: the Jordan Brand female roster of athletes, and so we
Speaker 1: were able to wear the shoe get some cool Jordan
Speaker 1: brand gear to wear. We went through some skills and
Speaker 1: drills and I'm not gonna lie, your girl is so
Speaker 1: out of shape. I have not played basketball in forever.
Speaker 2: But it was cool.
Speaker 1: It was cool because the coaches that we had and
Speaker 1: our hosts, Ashanti, they made us feel so good. So yeah,
Speaker 1: they put us through the skills and drills and we
Speaker 1: were going full court with everything. We were doing defensive slides,
Speaker 1: we were doing full court layup drills, full court jumpshot drills.
Speaker 1: I thought we were going to look cute, and it
Speaker 1: was just like now, like y'all really came here to
Speaker 1: work us out, and so we did that. We did
Speaker 1: some one b one I'm gonna lie your girl was
Speaker 1: the first call out on the steal the Bacon one
Speaker 1: v one and you know, I got a rebound, I
Speaker 1: crossed up my opponent and took it to the rim
Speaker 1: and I had the first points for my team and
Speaker 1: that was great. So that was fun. It was like
Speaker 1: riding a bike. Everything just started coming back to me.
Speaker 1: And then we had a scrimmage at the end. But
Speaker 1: it was really dope to have a little reunion of
Speaker 1: sorts with some of the women I do know already
Speaker 1: in the basketball space, meet some new people. And I
Speaker 1: actually enjoyed wearing a shoe. I think that. And this
Speaker 1: is I'm not sponsored by them in any way, and
Speaker 1: I'm not just saying this to say it, but it
Speaker 1: was really a really comfortable shoe, Like it felt lightweight
Speaker 1: on my foot. It was very comfortable, I felt cushioned,
Speaker 1: I felt protected, so it gave me really great support
Speaker 1: and the design was fire. I got a really cool
Speaker 1: orange pier to take home with me. So I really, really,
Speaker 1: do you know, believe that this could be the next
Speaker 1: great basketball shoe. And the thing that I love the
Speaker 1: most about it is that it really takes insights from
Speaker 1: women and uses that science, I guess to design the shoe.
Speaker 1: Whereas when you're in this space, you notice that a
Speaker 1: lot of the basketball shoes performance shoes are designed and
Speaker 1: the standard is based off measurements and insights from men.
Speaker 1: So I love this new wave of women's basketball shoes
Speaker 1: that are coming out. Obviously, the Subrindian Mascu shoes are
Speaker 1: out already, A Stewart has her own shoe. Mulac cakes exist.
Speaker 1: But it's really dope to see Jordan Brand just really
Speaker 1: throw their hat in the game. They have a dope
Speaker 1: lineup of rosters front to the show. Deerica Handby is
Speaker 1: one of the athletes signed the Jordan Brand, So it
Speaker 1: was really really dope to be able to attend that
Speaker 1: weird test and YO, do my thing. Will I enjoy
Speaker 1: ever playing basketball again? I don't know that's up for
Speaker 1: debate because your girl's niece was hurting for about forty
Speaker 1: eight hours. So yeah, that was probably like the first
Speaker 1: and last I'm out engaged in some basketball activity. But
Speaker 1: nonetheless I had a lot of fun. That's gonna do
Speaker 1: it for the things that I love. This week, don't
Speaker 1: forget to rate, review and subscribe to the podcast. And
Speaker 1: next up we have WNBA legend Simone Augustus on the show,
Speaker 1: so make sure you put your notifications on because you're
Speaker 1: not gonna want to miss this. Peace in case you
Speaker 1: missed it with Christina Williams 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 podcast, or
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts.