Speaker 1: Being involved in basketball is nothing new for Lindsay Harding.
Speaker 1: She played the sport for over two decades and has
Speaker 1: competed at the highest of levels. But after calling it
Speaker 1: a career a year and a half ago, she had
Speaker 1: to figure out what was next. Ultimately, she landed a
Speaker 1: scouting opportunity with the seventy sixers. I felt lucky enough
Speaker 1: that they saw something in me and really wanted something different.
Speaker 1: It wasn't just so you're a woman and you're here.
Speaker 1: It's you've done things that most of these guys haven't done,
Speaker 1: and we want to know with your experience, you know
Speaker 1: how you see things. Armed with that well rounded perspective,
Speaker 1: Harding has hit the ground running, spending a ton of
Speaker 1: time on the road and trying to do what scouts do,
Speaker 1: evaluate and gather information that could eventually benefit her organization.
Speaker 1: Half of my job has to do with intel. You
Speaker 1: just never know. It could be something so small that
Speaker 1: can make a big difference in decisions. Harding story, and
Speaker 1: now she's learning a new part of the game. On
Speaker 1: this episode of the broadcast What's Up out There seventy podcast,
Speaker 1: people hope everything is going well. My name's Brian Seltzer.
Speaker 1: Really looking forward to a having you back and listening
Speaker 1: to this edition of the podcast. If you are a
Speaker 1: return listener, be thrilled if this is your first time,
Speaker 1: and see most of all, really excited to bring you
Speaker 1: a conversation with a phenomenal basketball player and now new
Speaker 1: addition to the seventy sixers family, Lindsay Harding, hired as
Speaker 1: a scout by the Sixers over the summer. Before we
Speaker 1: bring on Lindsay, a reminder that to subscribe to the podcast,
Speaker 1: well you got to do is find our feeds on
Speaker 1: any number of places Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, SoundCloud,
Speaker 1: tune in, pocketcasts, pretty much any podcasting platform that is
Speaker 1: out there. All you gotta do is search Sixers podcast
Speaker 1: network that will take you to our feed and then
Speaker 1: please do subscribe. Lindsay Harding, let's quickly run through some
Speaker 1: cliff notes of her biography and then bring her on
Speaker 1: to talk more about her career and what it's been
Speaker 1: where she now sees it possibly Heading played a duke,
Speaker 1: graduated in two thousand and seven, number one pick in
Speaker 1: that year's w NBA draft, A well rounded two way
Speaker 1: point guard who made the w NBA All Rookie Team
Speaker 1: her first year, was a Naismith College Basketball Player of
Speaker 1: the Year the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Defensive Player of
Speaker 1: the Year after a senior season at Duke, and in
Speaker 1: addition to playing in the w NBA for a decade,
Speaker 1: she also spent extensive time overseas, which ultimately led to
Speaker 1: an opportunity for her to play for the Belarus women's
Speaker 1: national team, and she had a spot in the Olympics
Speaker 1: in two and sixteen in Brazil. So that's the thumbnail
Speaker 1: sketch on Lindsay Harding. Now we'll bring her on to
Speaker 1: talk more about how her career has helped put her
Speaker 1: on a path towards joining the seventy six ers basketball
Speaker 1: operations department in the role of a scout who's been
Speaker 1: covering a little bit of everything rares at Lindsay for
Speaker 1: a scout to have an opportunity to be situated, even
Speaker 1: if only for a brief moment, on home base. So
Speaker 1: as we're talking right now, what brings you to Camden
Speaker 1: in the Philadelphia area? Just passing through over the course
Speaker 1: of kind of thing, A very busy time of year
Speaker 1: for you. I think everyone missed me. Every time I
Speaker 1: come back, I get so many hugs. I'm a hugger anyway. No,
Speaker 1: just been busy on the road watching all these teams,
Speaker 1: and you know, I live here now. And it's funny
Speaker 1: because everyone asked me, how how do you like Philadelphia?
Speaker 1: I'm like, you know what, I'm not here long enough
Speaker 1: to get a good feel of it. So whenever I
Speaker 1: can and get back, I do come in and just
Speaker 1: kind of reconnect with everybody. That's the main point of
Speaker 1: all of this, as you know, being being able to
Speaker 1: have conversations, maybe have some meetings if I need to,
Speaker 1: and then after a couple of days I go back
Speaker 1: out there. Well, let's get first things straight. First, are
Speaker 1: the seventy six or a hugging organization? That was something
Speaker 1: new to me? Well, you know what I think because
Speaker 1: I don't know. Look, I don't know. If guys is
Speaker 1: run around and hug each other, then me, I'm from
Speaker 1: the South. I'm a hugger. I come in and it's
Speaker 1: been a while. It's not like, Okay, if I saw
Speaker 1: you every day, I'm not gonna hug you every day.
Speaker 1: But there's some people that I really literally haven't seen
Speaker 1: probably in a month, because when I come they're gone.
Speaker 1: So when I see them. It's a big little reconnection hug,
Speaker 1: and then then we go. My first inclination is to
Speaker 1: ask what your day to day is like, but I
Speaker 1: almost think it might make more sense, like what's your
Speaker 1: week to week like, even how much you're on the road,
Speaker 1: and just what goes into your schedule? What is it like?
Speaker 1: Give us a sample. Um, well, I'm I'm learning. You know,
Speaker 1: this is my first time I'm trying to do plan
Speaker 1: my own schedule. And I remember the first first month,
Speaker 1: you know, we try to plan at least a month
Speaker 1: in advance. I was excited, like I had a game
Speaker 1: all the time, and everyone looked at me. They're like,
Speaker 1: slow down, you're gonna understand what we're talking about. So
Speaker 1: I try to do three to four games on a
Speaker 1: couple of days, maybe off, two maybe three off. We'll
Speaker 1: see and just kind of do that over and over
Speaker 1: so I can have back to back games. You know,
Speaker 1: I can have a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, maybe even
Speaker 1: a Friday. Then I'll have Saturday Sunday off. Or I
Speaker 1: may have a Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. It depends on
Speaker 1: the schedule and who we're trying to see, and so
Speaker 1: get up in the morning, and well, it depends if
Speaker 1: there was a game tonight before. If there was a
Speaker 1: game tonight before, get up the next morning, fly to
Speaker 1: the next city. Why once you get there, that's when
Speaker 1: I probably get a lot of work done during the day.
Speaker 1: Then you get to the arena about two hours before
Speaker 1: the game. That's when your job kind of starts and
Speaker 1: watch the game, go to sleep, and you do it
Speaker 1: all over again. When I first started doing this job,
Speaker 1: I was traveling maybe seventy five eighty percent of the
Speaker 1: road games. And the one thing that I had absolutely
Speaker 1: zero idea what type of toll it was going to take,
Speaker 1: is just the notion of constant travel. It seems very
Speaker 1: easy on the outside, especially when you take into account, well,
Speaker 1: the team travels on these very nice Supremo Outcome planes
Speaker 1: and you stay in the hotels, the team stays at
Speaker 1: You don't have that type of life first of all now,
Speaker 1: but then just constantly being on the move, it's it's
Speaker 1: not just a mental drain. There's a physical side of
Speaker 1: it too. It is it really makes a difference the
Speaker 1: time that you're flying. I repeat that, the time that
Speaker 1: you're flying makes a difference. So if I'm flying on
Speaker 1: a ten eleven o'clock flight, I'm pretty good because I
Speaker 1: got a good night's sleep and I can I can go.
Speaker 1: And sometimes there are times where you have to take
Speaker 1: that six o'clock because that's the only one, which means
Speaker 1: you're getting up at four when the night before the
Speaker 1: game was over at like eleven, and you ate. By
Speaker 1: the time you got to bed, you got maybe three
Speaker 1: or four hours, and you have to just kind of
Speaker 1: go with it. So that's why when I'm on about
Speaker 1: three or four games, I take those two days off
Speaker 1: because I want to sleep it and catch up and
Speaker 1: be healthy and just be good. If I'm not sleeping, well,
Speaker 1: if I'm not healthy, I'm not going to do my job,
Speaker 1: you know. Well, So it's a little difficult, but I'm
Speaker 1: gonna use to it. Now now I'm kind of understanding
Speaker 1: it and getting in my own rhythm, and now I'm
Speaker 1: much more comfortable. There's a lot of stuff that I'd
Speaker 1: like to touch upon over the course of this interview. Obviously,
Speaker 1: you had a phenomenal playing career, really excellent at the
Speaker 1: college in pro level and before that, obviously, but I
Speaker 1: want to try and fill in some gaps first. So
Speaker 1: you retired from the w NBA end of the two
Speaker 1: thousand sixteen twenty sixteen season, went over to Turkey, went
Speaker 1: overseas to play, and then what was in between after
Speaker 1: Turkey and joining the seventy six ers, What was going
Speaker 1: on then? What were the type of things you were
Speaker 1: looking into? And then how ultimately did you land with
Speaker 1: the seventy six ers. So I finished in twenty sixteen.
Speaker 1: The WNBA then went overseas because that's what we all do.
Speaker 1: We go WNBA overseason, just back and forth, played in Turkey.
Speaker 1: Istembel came back in May of twenty seventeen and was done.
Speaker 1: So I took four months and just vacation. I was
Speaker 1: on any beach I could and just a vacation. But
Speaker 1: I spent time. I went to Summer League that summer
Speaker 1: and tried to reconnect with a lot of people. I
Speaker 1: knew I wanted to be in the NBA. I didn't
Speaker 1: know exactly what capacity, but I knew that I had
Speaker 1: a lot of relationships and I wanted to just talk
Speaker 1: to people and have guidance and mentors and see what
Speaker 1: they kind of suggest. And while I was there, Bethany Donophan,
Speaker 1: who works at the NBA League office was telling me
Speaker 1: about a program that they have they just started a
Speaker 1: year before for former players who want to get in
Speaker 1: the office and like the league office and understand that.
Speaker 1: And I thought it would be a great opportunity. So
Speaker 1: I interviewed for that and had that opportunity. It's called
Speaker 1: a Basketball Operations Associates program. So I had to pack
Speaker 1: up everything and moved to New York City lived there too.
Speaker 1: It was about a year program. Then you got a
Speaker 1: chance to kind of rotate throughout the different departments within
Speaker 1: basketball operations, from referee data analytics to you know, CBA
Speaker 1: seller cap, just everything to get an understanding. And it
Speaker 1: also helps with the transition from playing of you know
Speaker 1: what exactly what direction do I really want to go?
Speaker 1: And while I was there, the one thing I can
Speaker 1: tell you is, at least or now, I really didn't
Speaker 1: want to be in that office twenty four seven and
Speaker 1: I really wanted to work with a team. I missed
Speaker 1: that competitiveness, I missed, you know, my team, and so
Speaker 1: I from there. You know, someone who has relationships with
Speaker 1: a lot of people, and I can talk to anybody.
Speaker 1: I do, and you know, I talked to different teams
Speaker 1: and organizations about you know, getting my foot in the
Speaker 1: door and trying to help with with my next career.
Speaker 1: And I had an opportunity here. I interviewed for this
Speaker 1: position here for Philly, and I felt lucky enough that they,
Speaker 1: you know, saw something in me that I can help,
Speaker 1: you know. So it's it's great and I know that
Speaker 1: they are definitely invested and really wanted something different, you know.
Speaker 1: And it wasn't just so you're a woman and you're here.
Speaker 1: It's you've done things that most of these guys haven't done,
Speaker 1: and we want to know with your experience, you know,
Speaker 1: how you see things, what were some of those things
Speaker 1: they ever tell you, the people that you interviewed with,
Speaker 1: what some of those distinguishing qualities were. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think with my experience in Europe for being, you know,
Speaker 1: one going back and forth with the w NBA. I mean,
Speaker 1: when we're in Europe, we're there for seven eight months
Speaker 1: and you're not on this resort, you're living, you have
Speaker 1: a car, you have a grocery store, you live, and
Speaker 1: you learn different cultures and all the different coaches I've
Speaker 1: played for in the different styles, the different environments, just everything.
Speaker 1: And then also transitioning back to the w NBA. I
Speaker 1: had a chance to play for a national team, Belarus
Speaker 1: national team and played with them, so all of those
Speaker 1: experienced together and how I see things. If I never
Speaker 1: played it in Europe, I would definitely not see the
Speaker 1: game that I see it in the way I see
Speaker 1: it now. How So can you elaborate on that a
Speaker 1: little bit? It's it's just different. It's just different. I
Speaker 1: feel in Europe, the fours and fives were shooting threes
Speaker 1: kind of before we were, you know, and they wanted
Speaker 1: they wanted the bigs to come because they didn't have
Speaker 1: bigs that were going to play down low and post
Speaker 1: you up, you know, so they were kind of already
Speaker 1: already doing that. Just as a style of play can
Speaker 1: be different, they're practicing is different. You know. If you
Speaker 1: look at the NBA team as the season goes on,
Speaker 1: there's not a ton of practice. You know, after eighty
Speaker 1: something games. These guys are tired, right, they have to focus,
Speaker 1: but you still want to get things in. In Europe,
Speaker 1: they will still practice you two a days in the
Speaker 1: playoffs if they need to or if they feel it.
Speaker 1: It's just different. But there are a lot of things
Speaker 1: that I did learn from there. Things I like things
Speaker 1: that I didn't like, but also just seeing and also
Speaker 1: different talent too. Different players have played with that. Some
Speaker 1: are not you would look at and you'd say they're
Speaker 1: not a great athlete, they're not this and that, But
Speaker 1: how do they keep ending with twenty and ten? There's
Speaker 1: something about this this player that makes them good and
Speaker 1: really like focusing on that too. Was it always going
Speaker 1: to be personnel for you? Was there ever a chance
Speaker 1: we could have seen Lindsay Harding and black and white
Speaker 1: striped shirt, black pants being a referee. I know, right,
Speaker 1: I had that kind of come in my head. I
Speaker 1: had some people going to talk to me about that
Speaker 1: opportunity of doing that, and of course coming from the
Speaker 1: court running that sounds like fun and great and to
Speaker 1: everyone's booing you and coming at you, and it no,
Speaker 1: it's I think it's amazing when I had that time
Speaker 1: in the league office and saw after every game, how
Speaker 1: much I mean, there's a person that sits and reviews
Speaker 1: eight hours of that one game. Did they do this right?
Speaker 1: Is this a correct call? Is it not? It's crazy
Speaker 1: what these refs kind of go through and people don't know.
Speaker 1: People just see them out there and they disagree with
Speaker 1: a call and they do all this stuff. You don't
Speaker 1: know that these these men and women women now are
Speaker 1: the best of what they do, just like the players are.
Speaker 1: And to get to that level and to you know,
Speaker 1: it's just amazing. But I don't think I really have that.
Speaker 1: I like all positive, let's just put it that way.
Speaker 1: I like all positive. And every time you walk in
Speaker 1: it's like as a referee, they just see the jersey
Speaker 1: and you're not a person. You are against us. It's
Speaker 1: a point guard. You probably had to view the game
Speaker 1: a certain way, and you did it at a very
Speaker 1: elite level when you were playing. And I don't know
Speaker 1: if it ever got to point in your career when
Speaker 1: you started thinking what would happen after the career was
Speaker 1: all said and done. Did you start looking at other
Speaker 1: players differently? Did you find yourself evaluating talent while you
Speaker 1: were out there playing on the court, And how is
Speaker 1: that informed what you're doing now? And how is what
Speaker 1: you're doing now a different way of looking at the games?
Speaker 1: I think, I mean as a player and as a
Speaker 1: point guard. You know Parsonnel, right, you have to know
Speaker 1: who you're playing. Of course, your coaches have always given
Speaker 1: you a scouting report and you know, and you also
Speaker 1: have to do it on the floor, Like if I
Speaker 1: know someone is amazing at going left and taking a
Speaker 1: jump shot, I'm not going to let them go left right.
Speaker 1: So you you you notice certain trends or certain things
Speaker 1: that people do over and over, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: You know they're kind of bread and butter moves. So
Speaker 1: you learn that and know that. But when I was playing,
Speaker 1: I didn't just say I'm going to focus on personnel.
Speaker 1: I was thinking more of and I said this before
Speaker 1: and a lot of my interviews, it's it's it's relationships.
Speaker 1: It's help in that that next direction and what that
Speaker 1: next career. And about four or so five four years ago,
Speaker 1: I had the opportunity to be an assistant coach in
Speaker 1: Summer League with the Raptors, and I was still playing,
Speaker 1: but I had that opportunity and it was a great experience,
Speaker 1: and that's what really pushed me to you know what,
Speaker 1: I really would love to try to have a career
Speaker 1: in the NBA. So it was more, you know, how
Speaker 1: can I get these experiences, how can I gain these relationships.
Speaker 1: I'm on the women's side, but I don't know these guys.
Speaker 1: I don't know these coaches. I don't know the gms.
Speaker 1: How can I try to get there when I can?
Speaker 1: So I spend a lot of time there doing that
Speaker 1: when I was in Summer League. And again I told you,
Speaker 1: I went back to Summer League after I finished to
Speaker 1: see if I can get any opportunities. I think, almost
Speaker 1: as tried and true as it is coaches warming up
Speaker 1: players on a court part of the pregame rituals, at
Speaker 1: least in NBA circles, seeing personnel people and scouts chatting
Speaker 1: on the sidelines. What are those chats? Like? What are
Speaker 1: they about? What are you finding and learning that they're about?
Speaker 1: It is there like I always because I try to observe,
Speaker 1: like is there a certain language that that scouts speak
Speaker 1: that that you found or anything like that. I mean
Speaker 1: I realized I start seeing the same people everywhere, you know,
Speaker 1: and if and how the games work, they may be
Speaker 1: on the same trip with you and maybe on the
Speaker 1: same flight. You never know it. I mean it's interesting
Speaker 1: because for me, especially now, it's developing those relationships. You know,
Speaker 1: it's getting to know these people who they are, their background,
Speaker 1: their path and how they got to where they were.
Speaker 1: So like for me, a lot of it is that
Speaker 1: and from that you just you know, you can chat
Speaker 1: about anything, right. Half of my job is it has
Speaker 1: to do with intel and information that I can get
Speaker 1: that I feel will be useful for us. So and
Speaker 1: it doesn't necessarily have to be about the teams that
Speaker 1: you're watching. They may just say, hey, did you hear
Speaker 1: about this? And I'm like no, and it's like, whoa,
Speaker 1: that's information. Let me bring that back and see if
Speaker 1: anyone else hurt that, and you know, is there any
Speaker 1: truth to it? Or if you're watching a certain player
Speaker 1: and you know, you may ask this another scout, what
Speaker 1: do you think about this guy? And especially some of
Speaker 1: these scouts who do college because they've been watching this
Speaker 1: guy forever and it's really good to hear other people's opinion.
Speaker 1: And but the biggest thing too is trying to get
Speaker 1: you know, talk to coaches or other players or other
Speaker 1: personnel there and just see because you just you just
Speaker 1: never know it could be something so small that can
Speaker 1: make a big difference in decision with organizations. As you said,
Speaker 1: I'm learning and I'm learning that well, it's got to
Speaker 1: be such a fascinating process to try and I would
Speaker 1: think figure out how to judge what good information and
Speaker 1: good intelligence is. Is that part of it too, where
Speaker 1: everything you're taking in i'd have to assume people know
Speaker 1: who you are, who you work for. Is a kind
Speaker 1: of like judge it with a grain of salt? Or
Speaker 1: how do you evaluate information that you get? Well? For one,
Speaker 1: if you That's why relationships are big, right, So if
Speaker 1: I really know someone and I have a great relationship
Speaker 1: with them and this and this, they're more likely to
Speaker 1: tell you the really good stuff, right, the really good
Speaker 1: stuff that you're like, wow, some of it. Some of
Speaker 1: it I may not know. I may not know how
Speaker 1: true it is. I may not know if it's like hearsay,
Speaker 1: I don't know. But for me and you know, with
Speaker 1: my organization, like I, I'll bring it back and say
Speaker 1: what do you think about that? Or is this crazy?
Speaker 1: Or you know, and you talk to people and obviously
Speaker 1: we have other scouts too, and it's kind of like
Speaker 1: what do you know about this and this and that?
Speaker 1: And you just kind of like talk amongst each other
Speaker 1: and we just kind of hold tight with each other.
Speaker 1: But that's kind of what you do, is you bring
Speaker 1: it back because I never know. It could be something small,
Speaker 1: it could be something not, And I just ask, who
Speaker 1: are some of the people internally that you found yourself
Speaker 1: leaning on getting adjusted? Well, Vince Rosman, main guy. He's
Speaker 1: the one that I probably ask everything too, probably like
Speaker 1: too much. Like so what about this? Another guy, he's
Speaker 1: a scout. He came in with me, Jara Holden. He's
Speaker 1: been in the league, around the league for years and
Speaker 1: he's another great one. I mean, he's been doing this
Speaker 1: for years. So for me to, you know, come in
Speaker 1: as a scout, how do you approach this when you
Speaker 1: want to talk about this? How do you start a
Speaker 1: conversation in that way? And how do you because you
Speaker 1: don't ever want to be someone that comes in and
Speaker 1: it's like, Hi, I'm lindsay so and you like, you know,
Speaker 1: that's kind of rude. Rude, you know it's rude. Like
Speaker 1: it because people have done it to me. And I
Speaker 1: don't know if they think, oh, she's a newbie, she's
Speaker 1: gonna tell us everything we want. No, we don't do this,
Speaker 1: But I'm just saying it's been good to have that.
Speaker 1: Um an other like Rod Baker another one. I went
Speaker 1: on a trip with him. He does our mainly college.
Speaker 1: Went on a trip with him in North Carolina. I
Speaker 1: went to see, of course, my Blue Devils and some
Speaker 1: other teams, and I got a chance to see how
Speaker 1: he did it. Um Jordan Cohen has been a scout.
Speaker 1: I mean, I can't even tell you how many years,
Speaker 1: but I went on my first trips with him. He
Speaker 1: does pro personnel as well, so he can help me
Speaker 1: get the lay of the land and what to do.
Speaker 1: So everyone's been very, very helpful. How comfortable are you
Speaker 1: feeling a couple months into this thing. Oh, I'm much
Speaker 1: more comfortable now. Before it was. You know, every organization,
Speaker 1: you at least want to know somebody there, right, That's
Speaker 1: the whole point when you're traveling. But and I do,
Speaker 1: But there had been some that I I didn't know anyone.
Speaker 1: I might have known a player or two, but they're
Speaker 1: warming up and they're playing. It's on the outside I
Speaker 1: may not know anyone, and you have to walk in
Speaker 1: and get to know people, and you know, be able
Speaker 1: to get to know them and see where it goes.
Speaker 1: But again, like I said, sometimes you see the same
Speaker 1: scouts around and everyone, not even just my organization. Other
Speaker 1: scouts have been very helpful. If I'm sitting there talking
Speaker 1: and a coach comes up that I don't know. They
Speaker 1: do an introduction and it's just easy. So we kind
Speaker 1: of like help each other out because we're all there
Speaker 1: for the same thing. Everyone knows that you're a scout.
Speaker 1: We know what you're here for. I always wonder, when
Speaker 1: talking to someone who's one of the first of some
Speaker 1: type of person to be doing something, how much value
Speaker 1: to place in that narrative. It's easy on the outside
Speaker 1: for someone who can't identify with that, like myself, that like, wow,
Speaker 1: this is a pretty cool story. Second w NBA player
Speaker 1: to ever be a full time scout in the NBA.
Speaker 1: But how much does that matter to you? How do
Speaker 1: you that in what context do you put all that into? Um,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's awesome when you know. I've had some
Speaker 1: I've had some interviews before and they talk about that
Speaker 1: and they're like, oh, you're doing this. And I also
Speaker 1: had another interview before and they're like, I think you're
Speaker 1: the first black woman to do it. And that was
Speaker 1: something else too, that's like, oh, that's awesome. You want
Speaker 1: to be great at your job because you want the
Speaker 1: person that's gonna come next to not have to you know,
Speaker 1: come on, what if I was horrible and lazy and
Speaker 1: they don't want to do anything. It's gonna be horrible.
Speaker 1: How are they gonna want to hire someone else outside
Speaker 1: of the box again? Right? So I feel the same
Speaker 1: with Becky Hammond that you have to be great at
Speaker 1: what you do. You have to be a professional, you
Speaker 1: have to just like I said, be great because you're
Speaker 1: sending the tone and um and I feel that, especially
Speaker 1: what she's doing, she is because she's out there. I
Speaker 1: feel the same for me as well. Oh it's like,
Speaker 1: you know, there's not many of us out here scouting,
Speaker 1: so there's could be another player. There could be a
Speaker 1: woman that it has never played but want to get
Speaker 1: in it. And it's like, you know what, let me
Speaker 1: hopefully do well, keep my great, great reputation and it
Speaker 1: can be easier for the next and then it won't
Speaker 1: be so and so hired a female this, it'll just
Speaker 1: be here's the new scouts. Because that's always what I wondered,
Speaker 1: Is it in some ways diminish the fact that like, yeah,
Speaker 1: this Philadelphia seventy six ers are this big operation and
Speaker 1: they're obviously at a very high level. They probably hired
Speaker 1: you mostly because you're great at what you do. And
Speaker 1: you have a proven track record of being involved in
Speaker 1: the field of basketball, and there are other qualities that
Speaker 1: obviously put you in front of them and made them
Speaker 1: want to hire you. So I always I never know
Speaker 1: how to frame those questions. That's well, that's that's, that's it,
Speaker 1: and I don't want it to be well, they mostly
Speaker 1: hired you for that. No, that's why they hired me,
Speaker 1: and that's why with my interviews, in the conversations that
Speaker 1: I've had, I had with them too, and I brought
Speaker 1: this up, you know, I brought this up. I said,
Speaker 1: I know it's like I'm a woman and this and that,
Speaker 1: and they're like, yeah, we see that. But you know,
Speaker 1: you've had an experience and have done this and this
Speaker 1: that most of our people haven't had, and we want
Speaker 1: you to bring in. We feel that it's going to
Speaker 1: be different, unique, it's going to help us, and that's
Speaker 1: what you wanted to be focused on. And I think
Speaker 1: it's great. Like if you walk around the office, this
Speaker 1: organization has a lot of women in here. You know,
Speaker 1: we have a lot more. I mean there was some
Speaker 1: when I came and I traveled and I came back
Speaker 1: and there's more and they're big into that, you know,
Speaker 1: and I think it's great, awesome. I would be remiss
Speaker 1: if I didn't get into some duke stuff at the
Speaker 1: very least. How much duke chatter is there around these parts,
Speaker 1: or maybe not even chatter, but just that fraternal feeling
Speaker 1: of cameronosity and that sort of thing. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: it's great to be here with JJ. Me and JJ
Speaker 1: came in at the same time. We were freshman at
Speaker 1: the same time. It do all your years, yeah, with it.
Speaker 1: So he still looks the same, He's still taking those
Speaker 1: same shots, still running working hard. I feel like he
Speaker 1: has not aged. But it was great to see him.
Speaker 1: He told me when he saw me we were eating lunch.
Speaker 1: He was like, I was so excited. I was like,
Speaker 1: she's coming. Of course. It's great to have Elton here. Um.
Speaker 1: He was the first one that I interviewed with when
Speaker 1: I was interviewing for the job here, and it was
Speaker 1: great to kind of talk to him, and him being
Speaker 1: a former player as well and pretty new from like
Speaker 1: newly retired. It was just really good to have that
Speaker 1: that conversation because it is different, you know, it's different
Speaker 1: from being on the floor to completely changing to this.
Speaker 1: So if it's great. And it's not just here, it's
Speaker 1: around the league everyone, you know, all us Blue Devils
Speaker 1: kind of I want to say, stick together. They called
Speaker 1: a brotherhood, but I've been the one that's kind of
Speaker 1: slipped into and the you know in the NBA, so
Speaker 1: like they take me in and as well, and of
Speaker 1: course when we talk about things, you know, the Duke
Speaker 1: team now is pretty good, pretty good, so we're proud
Speaker 1: of that. Did you and Elton have any prior interactions?
Speaker 1: Did you cross paths before we did? You know, I
Speaker 1: was with the league office and you know, he was
Speaker 1: the geele GM and there was just a couple of
Speaker 1: times that we would just finally when we'd see each other,
Speaker 1: whether it's at the you know, I think he was,
Speaker 1: was he at the combine or he was at the
Speaker 1: showcase in Toronto last year, we got a you know,
Speaker 1: a chance to really like talk and I think I
Speaker 1: even asked him then, like how are you adjusting and
Speaker 1: how are you liking things? Because at that time it
Speaker 1: was like a year out, you know, how are you?
Speaker 1: And he loved it. He loved it, you know, and
Speaker 1: now he's where he's at, So I'm just trying to
Speaker 1: get on his path. His path and then kind of
Speaker 1: learn the way. He has a couple of quick hitters
Speaker 1: about your career. When did you know that you were
Speaker 1: going to be a number one pick? Did you have
Speaker 1: any idea going into that year's draft that you were
Speaker 1: going to be the time? Well, going in the draft,
Speaker 1: um that year, I mean my senior year, you were up.
Speaker 1: I mean I was up for all the different awards
Speaker 1: right and pretty good. But I knew because I think
Speaker 1: it was a day or two before the draft. I
Speaker 1: had gotten on the phone with See it's different here.
Speaker 1: They don't bring you in a lot and do everything
Speaker 1: with the w's different. But I got on the phone
Speaker 1: with a coach at the time, it was just San
Speaker 1: Antonio Stars they're now in Vegas, and they had the
Speaker 1: two pick and he said, if you're left at two,
Speaker 1: I'm taking you. So I was like, one or two,
Speaker 1: that's not bad. One or two. So that's kind of
Speaker 1: when I kind of knew. And then just the day of,
Speaker 1: it's just nerves and you're just anxious and you're just
Speaker 1: just want to know what you're doing, where you're going,
Speaker 1: and kind of that time is finally here, that time
Speaker 1: that I wanted since I was twelve, It's like, finally here.
Speaker 1: And for us, it's not like I'm going at nineteen
Speaker 1: week go after college. So I had four years. I
Speaker 1: was in my twenties a little bit, and you know
Speaker 1: at that moment, favorite teammates story from your time in
Speaker 1: the w NBA. Favorite teammate story, gosh, I can say
Speaker 1: this instead of teammate story, let's just say favorite season.
Speaker 1: And my favorite season was I had left. I was
Speaker 1: at DC. I was in DC playing for the Mystics,
Speaker 1: but I signed to play for Atlanta. And when I
Speaker 1: got there, it was this big deal. They had all
Speaker 1: this double Lindsay Harding's coming point guard. We're gonna do
Speaker 1: all this. And Atlanta was good. They were good, they
Speaker 1: did well, and I got there. The first nine games
Speaker 1: were oh and nine. We were oh and nine and everyone.
Speaker 1: Then all of a sudden, you know what changed? Why else?
Speaker 1: She's not that good. She brought this as negative and
Speaker 1: I'm just like, oh my gosh. And we weren't getting killed.
Speaker 1: It was like one or two possessions losing and I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: we're right here. Then all of a sudden, we went
Speaker 1: on a tear. We went all the way, we went
Speaker 1: to the Finals that year. We didn't win, and we
Speaker 1: probably shouldn't have because we weren't as talented as the
Speaker 1: team that won. But it says a lot. I always
Speaker 1: remember that. I always remember that when they're slow starts,
Speaker 1: when maybe you're at five hundred, when you're not maybe
Speaker 1: playing your best basketball, it's also how you lose two.
Speaker 1: And that's what's important. You have to watch, you know,
Speaker 1: are we getting blown out? Did we have chances to win?
Speaker 1: That's learning opportunities. Those are what's really important because that experience.
Speaker 1: For me, that's one or two possessions. That's a mistake
Speaker 1: I could have made by calling this play or not
Speaker 1: doing this or mystery bound or misfree throws. That's something
Speaker 1: and once you realize that, and we kind of figured
Speaker 1: that out, you can go. So I always remember that,
Speaker 1: And I'll flip that question around. Were there any one
Speaker 1: or handful of players who felt like you learned and
Speaker 1: benefited from going up against that taught you a lot
Speaker 1: of about yourself about the game. Um gosh, there were
Speaker 1: a lot of players. Um, I think one player in
Speaker 1: particular that sticks out, uh Timmy Catchings, who's now with
Speaker 1: any Well, she's still live Indiana, But with the Pacers. Uh.
Speaker 1: She was someone who has always been an All Star,
Speaker 1: has always been probably the greatest since she's picked up
Speaker 1: a ball. She can score. But she had the same
Speaker 1: effort and love on defense, Like she sacrificed her body
Speaker 1: all the time taking charges. She guarded the best player.
Speaker 1: How often do you see the best offensive player on
Speaker 1: the team guarding the best offensive player on the other team.
Speaker 1: You very rarely see that in the NBA because I
Speaker 1: rather get the points of they don't want to get
Speaker 1: him in foul trouble, like right now. So she was
Speaker 1: like and it was just kind of like we knew
Speaker 1: she would never not guard a Diana Trassi or not
Speaker 1: guard know, any of the better players. No, she's gonna
Speaker 1: guard them. And she's also going to give you about
Speaker 1: twenty five thirty She's gonna do that and so and
Speaker 1: she just had that effort. But I just remember playing
Speaker 1: against her, now we weren't the same position. There were
Speaker 1: a couple of times I had to get switched on her,
Speaker 1: which was horrible. But and there were times she would,
Speaker 1: you know, guard me. She was very smart, new the game.
Speaker 1: But I love that about her. She wasn't like I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna do this and and score. I'm great at this.
Speaker 1: She's like, no, I'm gonna score, and I'm gonna get
Speaker 1: down because that's one thing I've learned about defense and
Speaker 1: learned from her, when you sacrifice your body when you're
Speaker 1: out there, I'm gonna guard the best player. That's heart, right,
Speaker 1: that's heart, and she always had it and I will
Speaker 1: always remember that from her. One then on, this sounds
Speaker 1: like while you seem to very much have had a
Speaker 1: plan over the course of your career and your life,
Speaker 1: also there's this side where it sounds like you're willing
Speaker 1: to go with the flow and take the path where
Speaker 1: it takes you. Do you set a vision looking out
Speaker 1: into the future. Do you have mile markers that you
Speaker 1: would like to reach in terms of whatever the long
Speaker 1: goal is for you. I mean, it's so interesting. You know,
Speaker 1: in the NBA, there's no like exact path. You don't
Speaker 1: go to ninth grade, tenth grade, eleventh grade, twelth grade
Speaker 1: like some people just go straight to twelfth grade and
Speaker 1: then others you just have to go. So for me
Speaker 1: and how I'm taking this is and like you said,
Speaker 1: one step at a time, I looked at this opportunity
Speaker 1: of being a scout, and Brown was a scout and
Speaker 1: he's a head coach someone else. You know. I told
Speaker 1: you I did some summer league stuff before with the
Speaker 1: Raptors years ago, and their GM was a scout. And
Speaker 1: so I feel that this is a great opportunity to
Speaker 1: learn what everyone does, how they do it, and see
Speaker 1: what opportunities I have next. So that's where I'm at. Well,
Speaker 1: put great stuff, Lindsay Harding, Thanks much, free time, Thank
Speaker 1: you awesome and no Lindsay Harding and hear a little
Speaker 1: bit more firsthand about her story. To read more about
Speaker 1: Lindsay and her journey. Certainly not someone who has been
Speaker 1: boxed in bad pun but appropriate I feel over the
Speaker 1: course of her life, especially in basketball. You can head
Speaker 1: to Sixers dot com and check out a feature we
Speaker 1: wrote on Lindsay as well, called learning a New Game.
Speaker 1: So that's up on the website and on the seventy
Speaker 1: sixers social platforms. And it's not yet, it will be soon.
Speaker 1: Thanks Londsie Harding for taking a chunk out of her
Speaker 1: day a few weeks ago to record that conversation. Thanks
Speaker 1: to you for listening, and we'll talk to you next
Speaker 1: time here on the broadcast. See it