Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're reviving
Speaker 1: Sabrini an Escu with a champagne drip and chess compressions.
Speaker 1: On today's show, the WIBA Finals celebration continues. We'll chat
Speaker 1: with the ESPNS Andrea Carter about the sensational series between
Speaker 1: the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Links, and we'll
Speaker 1: reflect on the legacies of the matchup stars. Plus an
Speaker 1: NWSL scoring sweep and Orlando streak of a different kind
Speaker 1: and biased dresses. That's right, it's all coming up right
Speaker 1: after this welcome back slices. Here's what you need to
Speaker 1: know today. After the New York Liberties thrilling WNBA Finals win,
Speaker 1: Cheryl Reeve, head coach of the Minnesota Lynx, blasted the officiating.
Speaker 2: Take a listen.
Speaker 3: I know all the headlines will be Reeve christ foul.
Speaker 4: Bring it on, right, Bring it on, because this shit
Speaker 4: was stolen from us.
Speaker 2: Bring it on.
Speaker 1: Reeve also took a jab at New York for the
Speaker 1: team's five one hundred thousand dollars fine for illicit use
Speaker 1: of charter flights in twenty twenty one, and a little
Speaker 1: side jab at the Las Vegas ass for that franchise
Speaker 1: is rule violation regarding player benefits.
Speaker 2: Here's some more.
Speaker 4: You know what, we gave hope to those teams that
Speaker 4: aren't willing to circumvent the cap or you know, fly
Speaker 4: illegally or all this stuff that's happened over the last
Speaker 4: five years, right, and so I mean, do it the
Speaker 4: right way. It gives hope for those other teams that
Speaker 4: you can build a team just like ours.
Speaker 3: You don't have to have a super team, right, you
Speaker 3: don't have to have that. There's a different way to
Speaker 3: do it. So I'm incredibly proud of them.
Speaker 1: Meantime, Liberty coach Sandy Broundella was asked about Reef's comments
Speaker 1: on officiating during her own postgame press conference.
Speaker 2: Here's what Brondelo had to say.
Speaker 5: I thought that, yeah, pretty fair. I mean, last game,
Speaker 5: you know, I mean, that's what you're gonna give and take.
Speaker 5: Like again, number one, we should have won that game,
Speaker 5: you know, close it out. But look, I have so
Speaker 5: much respect for Cheryl and I have so much respect
Speaker 5: for that Minnesota League because, ma'am, I mean, that was ugly,
Speaker 5: but we found a way to win.
Speaker 2: At the end of the day.
Speaker 1: Both Brondelo and Reeve had called out bad officiating earlier
Speaker 1: in the series, with a lack of consistency at the
Speaker 1: center of their concerns. Always tough to have a major
Speaker 1: championship a great series like that leave you with so
Speaker 1: many questions about officiating, but certainly something for the league
Speaker 1: to look into after complaints about officiating pretty much throughout
Speaker 1: the season and postseason. Now in happier post title news,
Speaker 1: The Liberty sat down with Robin Roberts on GMA on
Speaker 1: Monday morning, and it was great to see the whole
Speaker 1: team up on stage talking about the franchise's first win.
Speaker 1: We got to do a little diggy to find out
Speaker 1: why Sabrina Escu almost didn't make it. I think it
Speaker 1: might be back to that Champagne trip we saw her
Speaker 1: getting on Sunday when she was cramping up.
Speaker 2: Try to take pictures with the trophy.
Speaker 1: More WNBA news, the WNBA Players Association announced that they're
Speaker 1: opting out of their collective bargaining agreement. According to Cheneogumkay,
Speaker 1: who broke the news on ESPN, the union's Executive Committee
Speaker 1: and the Board of Player Representatives voted on Monday to
Speaker 1: get out of their current CBA two years early. The
Speaker 1: current agreement, which was initially set to expire in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty seven, will still be in effect through next season.
Speaker 1: Opting out just means that the union and the league
Speaker 1: now have a year to negotiate a new deal, or
Speaker 1: else there will be a work stoppage. Heading into the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty sixth season, the union is likely to focus
Speaker 1: on getting players bigger salaries and more financial incentives, especially
Speaker 1: following the league's recent historic media rights deal valued at
Speaker 1: two hundred million dollars per year. In a statement, WNBA
Speaker 1: Commissioner kat the Engelbert said, quote, with the historic twenty
Speaker 1: twenty four WNBA season now in the books, we look
Speaker 1: forward to working together with the players and the WNBPA
Speaker 1: on a new CBA that is fair for all and
Speaker 1: lays the foundation for growth and success for years to come.
Speaker 2: End quote.
Speaker 1: Elsewhere in the w We've got yet another new coaching vacancy,
Speaker 1: as the Dallas Wings fired head coach Letricia Trammel on
Speaker 1: Friday after just two seasons. Trammell's been a fan favorite
Speaker 1: because of her charisma and her raw, unfiltered emotion, and
Speaker 1: just last season, she helped the Wings to the franchise's
Speaker 1: best record since eight, but this season injuries through a
Speaker 1: wrench in Dallas's plan. Star forward Satusably missed twenty five
Speaker 1: out of forty games with a shoulder injury, and two
Speaker 1: time All Star Natasha Howard sat with a broken foot
Speaker 1: that she suffered during the first game of the season.
Speaker 1: There were more injuries to including promising young player Maddy
Speaker 1: Segresse breaking her left index.
Speaker 2: Finger and missing time.
Speaker 1: And to be honest, the rest of the league just
Speaker 1: got better while the Wings didn't. They wrapped twenty twenty
Speaker 1: four next to last in the league with a nine
Speaker 1: to thirty one record. Trammell is the fourth head coach
Speaker 1: to be fired since the twenty twenty four regular season ended,
Speaker 1: joining Kurt Miller, Teresa Witherspoon, entity Schwreight to the NWSL.
Speaker 1: Just days after breaking the NWSL single season goal record,
Speaker 1: Kansas City's Tenwchiwenga became the first player in NWSL history
Speaker 1: to score on every team in a single season. She
Speaker 1: accomplished the feat by scoring her twentieth goal of the
Speaker 1: season in a four to one victory over the San
Speaker 1: Diego Wave. Also in the NWSL, the Orlando Pride lost
Speaker 1: for a second time in as many games, falling to
Speaker 1: Gotham three to one.
Speaker 2: It's the first time.
Speaker 1: Orlando has conceded three goals in one game this season.
Speaker 1: A lot of tears and hugs this weekend as several
Speaker 1: NWSL players were celebrated. Gotham and former national team star
Speaker 1: Kelly O'Hara got a big retirement sendoff in New York.
Speaker 1: NWSL legend and current Angel City player Merret Matthias was
Speaker 1: honored in LA as she ends her career, and at
Speaker 1: that same Angel City game, Kristin Press was recognized for
Speaker 1: her one hundred caps in the NWSL. More NWSL news,
Speaker 1: the playoffs are nearly set over the weekend. Utah, Angel City,
Speaker 1: and San Diego were all eliminated from contention. That leaves
Speaker 1: three teams in contention for the final two spots, Portland,
Speaker 1: BAFC and Louisville. They'll have to wait a while to
Speaker 1: see who makes the cut, as the NWSL is pausing
Speaker 1: the regular season for a week for the NWSL Times
Speaker 1: League Mxfeminial Summer Cup Championship game, taking place between Kansas
Speaker 1: City and Gotham this Friday night. The final week of
Speaker 1: regular season action will be the weekend of November first,
Speaker 1: Also in soccer news, more than one hundred players are
Speaker 1: protesting FIFA's sponsorship deal with Saudi Arabian oil giant ORAMCO.
Speaker 1: One hundred and six international athletes, including former US national
Speaker 1: team captain and current Thorns player Becky Souerbrun, signed a
Speaker 1: letter calling out Saudi Arabia's human rights violations against women
Speaker 1: and members of the Lgbtqia plus community, as well as
Speaker 1: Saudi Aramco's environmental impact. The four year FIFA Aramco partnership
Speaker 1: includes sponsorship rights for the twenty twenty seven Women's World
Speaker 1: Cup in Brazil. The letter calls the deal a quote
Speaker 1: middle finger to women's soccer end quote, and cites a
Speaker 1: list of women in Saudi Arabia who have been punished
Speaker 1: after speaking up for women's rights. FIFA seems to be
Speaker 1: unphased and unwilling to budge. In a statement to multiple
Speaker 1: news outlets, the soccer Federation said it quote values its
Speaker 1: partnership with Aramco and its many other commercial and rights
Speaker 1: partners end quote. We got to take a quick break
Speaker 1: when we come back. It's the mother of nothing.
Speaker 2: Andrea Carter.
Speaker 1: Joining us now. She's a host, analyst and reporter for ESPN.
Speaker 1: Covering the WNBA, the MNBA, and Women's and men's college hoops.
Speaker 1: She graduated from Universe See of Tennessee with her bachelor's
Speaker 1: degree in communications and her master's degree in kinesiology. Was
Speaker 1: part of the last hoops class to sign under the
Speaker 1: Late Pat Summit, and before injury sidelined her, she made
Speaker 1: ball handlers fear for their lives. She's a part of
Speaker 1: ESPN's Big Three alongside Al Duncan in Cheneogum Makay a
Speaker 1: Georgia native, and she loves the crap out of her
Speaker 1: snake child named Nothing.
Speaker 2: It's Andrea Carter. What's up? Andrea?
Speaker 3: What's up? You said that nothing? He's just in his
Speaker 3: little tank over here, just keeping me company.
Speaker 1: I was going to request that he be a part
Speaker 1: of the interview, but I do want you to focus
Speaker 1: on important things. Maybe at the end we'll we'll put
Speaker 1: nothing in your arms, because we got to start with
Speaker 1: the snake, actually, because I didn't believe that that was
Speaker 1: yours when I first saw your photos a couple years ago.
Speaker 1: I remember I slid into your DMS and I'm like,
Speaker 1: what is happening? So can we get the brief story
Speaker 1: on nothing? And just snakes in general.
Speaker 6: Yeah, so I had snakes growing up, Like as a child,
Speaker 6: my biological dad had a snake.
Speaker 3: That's where it all started.
Speaker 6: And then my mom, when it was just her and I,
Speaker 6: she got me a pet snake. Take me to the zoo,
Speaker 6: and I would always want to see the snakes. I
Speaker 6: have art like from elementary school where I drew snakes,
Speaker 6: and when I.
Speaker 3: Grow up, I will have a pet snake. Like it
Speaker 3: was just always a thing.
Speaker 6: And my stepdad, who raised me most of my whole life,
Speaker 6: came in when I was pretty young and he's like,
Speaker 6: no snakes. And so as I got older, I was like,
Speaker 6: when I go to college, I'm getting a snake. And
Speaker 6: literally freshman year, a group of my friends I had
Speaker 6: shoulder surgery that year started at the very beginning of
Speaker 6: the season, was sidelined with an injury, had shoulder surgery,
Speaker 6: and after getting through that rehab, which was brutal, I
Speaker 6: do all my other surgeries before I did my shoulder again,
Speaker 6: they got me a snake and I've had him since then.
Speaker 3: And that was twenty thirteen.
Speaker 2: So how long do snakes live?
Speaker 6: He could live like twenty to thirty years just here
Speaker 6: in the wild. I think it decreases a little bit. Yeah,
Speaker 6: but he's fed regularly and kept.
Speaker 1: Saying do you need a snake watcher? Or can he
Speaker 1: be alone while you're gone on your trips and be alone?
Speaker 6: I'll have someone to come. I have a few good friends.
Speaker 6: One of my college teammates, Bashara, actually, so he was
Speaker 6: raised with hers in Atlanta, So she'll come by and
Speaker 6: just like change his water, take him out, kind of
Speaker 6: play with him a little bit.
Speaker 3: But I've left him for a week at a time. Yeah,
Speaker 3: someone comes to changes water.
Speaker 1: It's a little different from a dog sitter to be like,
Speaker 1: will you come hang out with my snake?
Speaker 3: I love less work he eats does a month?
Speaker 2: Does nothing have? Does nothing have?
Speaker 1: I did not intend on asking this many snake questions,
Speaker 1: but now I'm in. Does nothing have the kind of
Speaker 1: scales that are super like buttery feeling like super soft?
Speaker 3: Yeah, yes, like he is.
Speaker 1: I've handled several snakes and some of them are like, truly,
Speaker 1: I hate to say it feels like a beautiful bag,
Speaker 1: because you know that's insulting to the snake population. But
Speaker 1: some of them are a little scalier and gross. But
Speaker 1: then the buttery ones, like I'm in I'm in.
Speaker 6: And he's iridescent. When he sheds like he gets super irridesent.
Speaker 6: Take him outside and he's the best.
Speaker 1: He's okay, Well nothing, I'm sorry for even invoking the
Speaker 1: idea of pursus.
Speaker 2: I am anti snakes purse. Okay, important stuff.
Speaker 1: WNBA Finals and the game five overtime win for the
Speaker 1: Liberty on Sunday or was it a loss? Drea give
Speaker 1: it to a straight Did the Liberty win or did
Speaker 1: many lose?
Speaker 5: Ugh?
Speaker 6: I Ah, that's so tough because obviously two things are true.
Speaker 6: But for me, I'm just like Minnesota lost it, or
Speaker 6: like or it was like was it taken from Minnesota?
Speaker 6: And this is the hard part, right because obviously there's
Speaker 6: so much nuance, and it's never black and white.
Speaker 3: There's always a gray area.
Speaker 6: So there are going to be people that said that
Speaker 6: was not a foul on Atlanta Smith. There are also
Speaker 6: which I was so mad at myself when watching the replay,
Speaker 6: I was so focused on the foul and where Alanta
Speaker 6: Smith was sliding and watching that I didn't notice the
Speaker 6: travel that could have been called on Briennasto caught the ball.
Speaker 6: So there are so many things where people could be
Speaker 6: like if if that call went the other way, or
Speaker 6: if that call wasn't called at all, what would have happened, Like,
Speaker 6: who knows what that would what would have happened. Would
Speaker 6: Minnesota have gotten the ball or if they overturned the
Speaker 6: foul call, then maybe would they have done a jump
Speaker 6: ball and then would Minnesota have gotten that or would
Speaker 6: they been able to set their defense? And then on
Speaker 6: the other side, for the Liberty side, it's also like, yeah,
Speaker 6: but there was still five seconds left, so who knows
Speaker 6: what would have happened. We still could have tied it.
Speaker 6: And then there's also the main group of people I
Speaker 6: think that are like, you know, but there was still
Speaker 6: five minutes left in overtime to go win it, and
Speaker 6: so there's so many that's that's the beautiful thing.
Speaker 3: About the game and the frustrating thing about the game
Speaker 3: is there's all this gray area.
Speaker 6: Obviously, hats off to the New York Liberty for winning,
Speaker 6: because they went like, at the end of the day,
Speaker 6: they can't what was what was.
Speaker 3: New York supposed to do?
Speaker 6: It be like, oh, actually she didn't foul me and
Speaker 6: I traveled, so we're not gonna like you play the
Speaker 6: game that the refs call and so you can't be like, oh,
Speaker 6: New York shouldn't have to do done, and they dominated overtimes,
Speaker 6: so I'd say New York won it in Minnesota lost.
Speaker 2: And there we go. Yeah, we get you muted on
Speaker 2: around the horn.
Speaker 1: I want you to know that, but in this show
Speaker 1: will allow you to have the nuance of both being true.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you, ronwall Jones. What does this mean
Speaker 1: for her? The finals MVP? Adding that to her legacy.
Speaker 3: It's huge. And you know, John Quall is the player.
Speaker 3: She's so kind like, she is such a kind like.
Speaker 6: She's someone that you just actively root for, and she's
Speaker 6: someone that's also experienced heartache.
Speaker 3: At Connecticut, she had.
Speaker 6: Opportunities to win a championship with really good teams and
Speaker 6: the makeup of those teams was obviously something that she
Speaker 6: felt like she had to step away from and couldn't
Speaker 6: find success there, and then has this opportunity with New
Speaker 6: York and there's so much attention on them last year,
Speaker 6: and last year seemed difficult from the outside looking in
Speaker 6: like and figuring out where she now fits with the Liberty,
Speaker 6: and then this year for her to almost come into
Speaker 6: her own again and know her role and just be
Speaker 6: so consistent all season long and then so consistent in
Speaker 6: the finals and have her moment where she is so celebrated.
Speaker 3: It's wonderful. You know, this is a.
Speaker 6: Player for me with John Cuell, I don't think she's
Speaker 6: celebrated enough and that we could do a better job
Speaker 6: of that in the media.
Speaker 3: She wasn't celebrated when she won the MVP Award. She
Speaker 3: wasn't celebrated.
Speaker 6: If there's a beautiful article written about it after the fact,
Speaker 6: but that was almost written about how she wasn't celebrated enough. Yeah,
Speaker 6: and so you know, she is a player that deserves it.
Speaker 6: She's a center that can score.
Speaker 3: From all three levels.
Speaker 6: She shot fifty percent from the field, forty from three
Speaker 6: to ninety percent from the free throw line. That Minnesota
Speaker 6: really had no answer for John Quell and she was
Speaker 6: the key to their victory. So I think just as
Speaker 6: far as being a matchup nightmare and being a consistent
Speaker 6: presence to win a championship, that is now added to
Speaker 6: her resume, and I think it's great.
Speaker 3: She deserves it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you mentioned that she's sort of the intersection of
Speaker 1: so many things that we talk about in this league
Speaker 1: that are off underappreciated, woman of color, queer woman, masculine
Speaker 1: presenting big right. We love our guards, we love our
Speaker 1: you know, flashy, and she just gets the job done.
Speaker 2: From six Women of the Year to season MVP, now.
Speaker 1: Finals, MVP Champion, plenty of All Defense, plenty of All
Speaker 1: Star appearances.
Speaker 2: Where does her career fit into the best all time?
Speaker 1: For you?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 3: Wow?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean I would definitely say John CLO's up there.
Speaker 6: I mean, how many players in the league have an
Speaker 6: MVP and a championship like that alone? Puts her in
Speaker 6: a group or in a tier that is above a
Speaker 6: lot of players, and she could she still hopefully has
Speaker 6: a lot of time left and her game actually still
Speaker 6: has room to grow.
Speaker 3: And depending on whether she.
Speaker 6: Stays with New York or where she goes next, you know,
Speaker 6: she's absolutely a player who could win another MVP if
Speaker 6: she wanted to win another championship if she wanted to.
Speaker 6: So I think that there are obviously the players that
Speaker 6: won multiple championships multiple they're in the tier of their own.
Speaker 6: But John Quell's almost in that middle space, you know,
Speaker 6: where she's like above the majority of the players, and
Speaker 6: she's reaching for that top tier. And I think it's
Speaker 6: special and it's also a testament to you know, John
Speaker 6: Quell is a player that left her family and her
Speaker 6: the Bahamas and to come here and play basketball. So
Speaker 6: her story and her testament to almost betting on herself
Speaker 6: when she went to New York, it's really cool. But yeah,
Speaker 6: she's she's she's moving into the top tier, but she is.
Speaker 3: She's well above the majority, well.
Speaker 1: And so consistent across this series, which was what the
Speaker 1: Liberty needed because you look at Stewie and Sabrina big missus,
Speaker 1: big makes, but big misses, lots of misses. It felt
Speaker 1: like roller coaster esque for both of them throughout this
Speaker 1: five games.
Speaker 2: Where does Stewie fit into the goat conversation now?
Speaker 1: Because it's odd that she ends up winning this title
Speaker 1: and is a part of this team and adds that
Speaker 1: to a resume that is almost unmatched. But also throughout
Speaker 1: this series, I saw a lot of conversation about how
Speaker 1: Nafisa Collier was the one who would now slid into
Speaker 1: right behind Asia Wilson as opposed to Brianna Stewart. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean what a season that fee had, right, Like,
Speaker 1: Nefisa was absolutely amazing.
Speaker 2: What have for sure?
Speaker 6: One MVP if the Minnesota Links would have won like
Speaker 6: the Pole playoffs and her final series was just phenomenal.
Speaker 6: The defense that she played against Brianna Stewart. When you
Speaker 6: talk about this season, Nafisa is one hundred percent like
Speaker 6: right behind Asia Wilson.
Speaker 2: It was.
Speaker 3: It was clear as day.
Speaker 6: When you get into the larger conversation of where people
Speaker 6: stand in this league, Stewie has created separation.
Speaker 3: With the MVPs and with the championships, But.
Speaker 6: When you get into who's catching up as just as
Speaker 6: far as individual presence an individual, as far as being
Speaker 6: effective goes as an individual, Fees up there.
Speaker 3: Fee's right there.
Speaker 6: When you watch those two go one on one, it
Speaker 6: was phenomenal and Fee often won those matchups, but they
Speaker 6: the way that they battled and for me, fees on
Speaker 6: her way, Like, I absolutely think Nafisa will win an MVP.
Speaker 6: Nefisa Callier will win a championship. It might be multiple
Speaker 6: her games. She's so tough to guard and like she
Speaker 6: is a player that has perfected.
Speaker 3: The fate the faded way. Like think about how many
Speaker 3: players in the league, in the w and in the NBA.
Speaker 6: That have almost perfected that shot to the point where
Speaker 6: it's unguardable. She already has that in her bag. She's
Speaker 6: not even having to add that. Now she's going to
Speaker 6: add everything else. So for me, v is catching up.
Speaker 6: You know, she had a couple of tough seasons just
Speaker 6: with Minnesota in general, but Fee as a player individually
Speaker 6: is coming into her own and I think she'll move
Speaker 6: into again. Like we're witnessing players that will be marked
Speaker 6: as some of the greatest we've ever seen, which is
Speaker 6: so cool.
Speaker 1: Do you think Minnesota could have the firepower to make
Speaker 1: another run next season if the roster doesn't get changed
Speaker 1: too much?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think.
Speaker 6: I actually think Minnesota could be a team that makes
Speaker 6: a move similar to the New York Liberty because coming
Speaker 6: into this season right New York added Leoni Foebish and
Speaker 6: then they trusted that Niaresabeli would kind of come into
Speaker 6: your own, which she did to perfection.
Speaker 3: Shout out to her, because what a performance. I could
Speaker 3: see Minnesota.
Speaker 6: They could definitely go and try to get a big name,
Speaker 6: which would also totally work, but I could also see
Speaker 6: them doing something where I'm as an analyst at the
Speaker 6: beginning of the season being like, wait, that's.
Speaker 2: It said, and you were like and she shut me up.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and she did, And I love that.
Speaker 6: Like, the one thing I will do is coll as
Speaker 6: beta Spade when it happens, and then collas beta.
Speaker 3: Spade in reflection whether I'm right or wrong.
Speaker 6: And uh, you know, I think Minnesota for me, they
Speaker 6: were such a tight knit group. Like when I was
Speaker 6: watching them play, there were times where I was like,
Speaker 6: Minnesota has the better team, like in terms of the
Speaker 6: team and the way they mesh and the way they
Speaker 6: celebrate each other and the way it looks like they
Speaker 6: just play with so much joy. But the Liberty at
Speaker 6: times had better pieces, right, talented and more daces yep, yeah,
Speaker 6: and more depth exactly. So if Minnesota kind of the
Speaker 6: way New York did, they add a couple of pieces
Speaker 6: that maybe people are like, but it adds to their death.
Speaker 6: I think Kaylea McBride and a Fisa Collier can absolutely
Speaker 6: lead a team. Courtney Williams coming into her own in
Speaker 6: that point guard position.
Speaker 3: That's where I wonder what they'll do.
Speaker 6: Will they keep her as the point guard or will
Speaker 6: they kind of move her into her more natural spot
Speaker 6: if she thinks her natural spot is the two what's
Speaker 6: that conversation with Courtney and where does she feel her best, Like,
Speaker 6: is that there big three and they try to add
Speaker 6: support or do they try to bring someone else big in.
Speaker 6: There's so many things that could happen, But I think
Speaker 6: this team with a tweak, like it doesn't have to
Speaker 6: be a big change. The Minnesota Links with a tweak
Speaker 6: could win a championship.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean this offseason there's gonna be a ton of
Speaker 1: disc gushion around the super teams and the teams that
Speaker 1: got it done because of coaching and balance and vibes
Speaker 1: like the Links. But also there's gonna be a big
Speaker 1: shake up in the form of the Valkyries, the expansion draft,
Speaker 1: and what it means for the league to build another
Speaker 1: team next year, two more teams the year after.
Speaker 2: It's gonna look a lot different.
Speaker 1: Do you have any idea who you think the Liberty
Speaker 1: are going to core in the off season or Minnesota.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's tough, obviously, I think, and I don't.
Speaker 6: I would if you're in Minnesota, you core a fee
Speaker 6: of course, like you you have to keep her, You
Speaker 6: have to keep Nafisa Callier. She is, you know, one
Speaker 6: of one in her own right, And I know we
Speaker 6: use that term loosely, but there really isn't necessarily a
Speaker 6: player like the FISA caller when it comes to footwork,
Speaker 6: when it comes to the fade away, when it comes
Speaker 6: to her defensive presence, and when it comes to her
Speaker 6: poise like NAFISA callier is so she almost just looks
Speaker 6: unbothered when I watched her play unfazed. Yes, like we
Speaker 6: saw that exactly, and like I love if she gets
Speaker 6: fired up. But I think they would core her if
Speaker 6: they had to. If you could pick one, right, I
Speaker 6: think would be in a FISA and for New York.
Speaker 3: I think it's interesting. I think it would.
Speaker 6: To me, I would just course Stewie, like Stewie does
Speaker 6: so much for you, uh, because she could play all
Speaker 6: five positions, So that to me is.
Speaker 3: Something that you you don't want to let go of.
Speaker 1: It's just gonna be fun to watch the Valkyries create
Speaker 1: a brand new team and see who hangs on to whom.
Speaker 2: All right, last two quickies.
Speaker 1: Kathy Engelbert's dress featuring the New York skyline? Is this
Speaker 1: are we feeding into Minnesota conspiracy theories?
Speaker 2: Should Kathy have taken a hard look at the mirror
Speaker 2: and said, I don't know if this is the right choice.
Speaker 3: Probably.
Speaker 6: I like, yeah, like you wear one and we get
Speaker 6: we get it all the time now and it's kind
Speaker 6: of like phased.
Speaker 3: Out now that I'm more in studio.
Speaker 6: But when I used to call games, it was like
Speaker 6: a big thing, like you don't wear the team's color.
Speaker 6: You never wear the team's color, supecially not the home
Speaker 6: team color, but don't wear any team's color at all.
Speaker 3: Is studio, it's a little bit different. Like I'm in
Speaker 3: the studio.
Speaker 6: I'm just grabbing as many you know, suits as I
Speaker 6: can to be here for twelve days, and sometimes I'm
Speaker 6: just not thinking. But I do think the skyline of
Speaker 6: the city was a little crazy, like I maybe come
Speaker 6: in in a certain fit, yeah, and then change into it,
Speaker 6: but then have a Minnesota dress also to believe that
Speaker 6: you weren't picking sides.
Speaker 1: I don't know how many brands are making Minnesota skyline
Speaker 1: dresses unfortunately.
Speaker 2: But also East Coast bias.
Speaker 1: But also I feel like in her mind, she was like, oh,
Speaker 1: it's Game five, We're in New York. It's just about yes,
Speaker 1: you know, and I'm from New York. But I would
Speaker 1: have said just stay away from that just in case.
Speaker 1: All right, Finally, unrivaled. How excited are you for this league?
Speaker 1: Do you have any bold predictions about you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously a great TV deal, obviously a great chance to
Speaker 1: see some of the superstars we love from the W.
Speaker 1: But any bold predictions about the format or someone who
Speaker 1: might show and that's unexpected in that format.
Speaker 6: Oh, I think it's gonna be. Oh, I think it's
Speaker 6: gonna be so much fun. Like, I think it's gonna
Speaker 6: be amazing to watch. I'm so excited. I will be
Speaker 6: down in Miami as a like, hanging out watching games.
Speaker 3: I can't wait. And it's just new, Like anytime there's
Speaker 3: a new format. The three at three on three in
Speaker 3: itself is a completely different game. It's so much fun
Speaker 3: to watch.
Speaker 6: Like you can watch a player, you know, like a
Speaker 6: Rique Goomba Walle just cook, like just b one on
Speaker 6: one matched up and she'll have so many opportunities to
Speaker 6: cook and create and and we'll see, you know, obviously,
Speaker 6: bring a student a Fisa Collier, those two as business.
Speaker 3: Partners, like a better for I know than the finals.
Speaker 3: I'm I'm excited.
Speaker 2: I called it h I called it Tampa City, USA.
Speaker 1: Everyone said it's Tampa Bay because it's down in Florida, Andrea,
Speaker 1: we love you so much. Thank you for making time
Speaker 1: after an incredibly busy run here with the playoffs.
Speaker 2: Thanks so much for coming on.
Speaker 1: We got to take another break when we come back.
Speaker 1: Conspiracy Coup Tour, Welcome Back Slices. The WNBA season is
Speaker 1: technically over, but we can't stop thinking about this final series.
Speaker 1: So in honor of all the shots, blocks, steals and
Speaker 1: sellies that are still taking up space in our brains,
Speaker 1: it's time for the moment we can't stop talking about,
Speaker 1: presented by DraftKings, and for me, It'snfisa Collier changing her
Speaker 1: future with a season and a postseason that left no
Speaker 1: doubt about her place among the league's very best. Fee
Speaker 1: has cemented her status as a no doubt MVP candidate
Speaker 1: heading into next season, a player who we are certain
Speaker 1: will be hot on the heels of the current Queen
Speaker 1: Las Vegas Aces, Asia Wilson.
Speaker 2: Just listen to these numbers.
Speaker 1: This playoffs, Nafisa Collier set the WNBA record for points
Speaker 1: in a single postseason. In the finals, she averaged nineteen points,
Speaker 1: eight rebounds, two point six assists, three point four steals,
Speaker 1: and one point eight blocks while shooting forty nine point
Speaker 1: four percent from the field. Her seventeen steals in the
Speaker 1: finals marked the most ever by a player in a
Speaker 1: WFA Final series, besting Tamika Ketching's previous record of sixteen
Speaker 1: in the two thousand and nine WNBA Finals.
Speaker 2: She led her team in four major.
Speaker 1: Statistical categories during these finals, points, rebounds, steals, and blocks.
Speaker 1: Last night, she also surpassed to Meka Catchings for most stocks,
Speaker 1: steals and blocks in a single postseason with her forty
Speaker 1: eighth and also tied Nakisha Sales for second most steals
Speaker 1: in a postseason with her twenty fifth. Nafisa Collier, you
Speaker 1: deserve some flowers for the effort that you put up
Speaker 1: for the links, despite it being a losing effort in
Speaker 1: the finals, So shouts to Fee. We can't wait to
Speaker 1: watch you next season. Download the Draftking Sportsbook app now
Speaker 1: and use code good Game. New customers can match us
Speaker 1: five bucks to get two hundred dollars instantly in bonus
Speaker 1: bets only on Draftking Sportsbook with code good Game, the
Speaker 1: crown is yours. We always love that your list in,
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: It's just one last reminder to fill out our survey.
Speaker 1: A huge thank you to the hundreds of you who
Speaker 1: have already filled it out.
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1: We want to make this show as great as possible
Speaker 1: for you and we need your feedback to do that.
Speaker 1: So click the link in the show notes take two
Speaker 1: minutes to fill it out, or you can find it
Speaker 1: on my Twitter at Sarah Spain and if you fill
Speaker 1: it out, you'll be entered to win a prize pack.
Speaker 2: Thanks slices.
Speaker 1: We always love hearing from you, and if you got
Speaker 1: something you think we should know about, send it our way.
Speaker 1: Good game at wondermediaetwork dot com or leave us a
Speaker 1: voicemail at eight seven two two o four fifty seventy
Speaker 1: like Tim Lowell, who's been keeping us updated on the
Speaker 1: Women's T twenty Cricket World Cup, and he let us
Speaker 1: know that Team New Zealand, losers of ten straight T
Speaker 1: twenty international matches, coming in surprise, they won the whole
Speaker 1: damn thing. Tim told us it's the first time in
Speaker 1: any Women's World Cup that neither England nor Australia played
Speaker 1: in the final, and it's the first year that the
Speaker 1: international Cricket Council introduced equal prize money for its men's
Speaker 1: and women's tournaments, So good timing and congrats.
Speaker 2: To the Kiwis. Don't forget to subscribe, Rate and review slices.
Speaker 2: It's it's easy.
Speaker 1: Watch WNBA commissioner Kathy Engelbert wearing a dress featuring the
Speaker 1: New York skyline to Game five of the WNBA Finals.
Speaker 2: Rating weirdness, review, fashion aside.
Speaker 1: It's not a great look for the commissioner of the
Speaker 1: league to show up to any game, let alone a
Speaker 1: decisive Game five in a dress that clearly picks a side. Now,
Speaker 1: there are some Minnesota fans out there who felt like
Speaker 1: the fix was in, and you might have convinced him
Speaker 1: it was just standard fan paranoia until they saw that
Speaker 1: Empire State building planted right between Kathy's collarbone and hips.
Speaker 1: Heads up for Nwslchemish Jessica Berman, be very careful when
Speaker 1: selecting your fit for the championship next month. We're all
Speaker 1: watching now, it's your turn, slices, Rate and Review.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Good game, Andrea, good game, New York Liberty. Yes again
Speaker 1: if you win your franchise's first title of twenty eight years.
Speaker 1: You deserve a couple back to back good games and
Speaker 1: use sponsorship deals with companies that cause harm to humans
Speaker 1: and the environment.
Speaker 2: Good game with Sarah Spain.
Speaker 1: It's an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep
Speaker 1: Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1: Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzie
Speaker 1: and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz,
Speaker 1: Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rudder,
Speaker 1: Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and Lindsay Cradowell. Production assistant from
Speaker 1: Lucy Jones and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain.