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Speaker 1: In the spring of nineteen ninety seven. There was no

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Speaker 1: escaping the news wops women's professional basketball in the United

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Speaker 1: States was going to be a thing. For decades, the

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Speaker 1: best that talented hoops players could hope for was a

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Speaker 1: chance of the US Olympic team or a roster spot

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Speaker 1: on one of the European professional teams. Pro Leagues had

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Speaker 1: popped up over the years, but disappeared as quickly as

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Speaker 1: they materialized. That all changed with a ninety six Olympic

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Speaker 1: game and the NBA's announcement that it would create a

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Speaker 1: women's league.

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Speaker 2: I am pleased to announce that the Board of Governors

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Speaker 2: approves the concept of the NBA establishing the Women's National

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Speaker 2: Basketball Association.

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Speaker 1: It was David Stern's newest obsession, his baby. He ensured

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Speaker 1: that it was fully funded and helped secure tea contracts

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Speaker 1: and arenas for the women to play in. Rebecca Lobo

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Speaker 1: was one of the first to sign on.

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Speaker 3: Rebecca Lobo and Cheryl Swoops had become the first players

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Speaker 3: to sign contracts.

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Speaker 4: I was excited about it. I was excited about a

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Speaker 4: new challenge playing professionally, but really didn't really have any

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Speaker 4: idea what was to come like when we started doing

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Speaker 4: promotional stuff. I think maybe November December of nineteen ninety six.

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Speaker 4: There weren't even team logos yet, Like you see stuff

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Speaker 4: with Me, Cheryl, Lisa, Lynette Wood in those early days

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Speaker 4: and we're just in the WNBA logoed mesh tank top

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Speaker 4: and mesh shorts because that's all they had. They had

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Speaker 4: a logo for the league, no team colors, no team

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Speaker 4: logos yet. I don't even remember when those were unfailed,

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Speaker 4: but it was like all so new that I was like,

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Speaker 4: all right, where's my mesh tank top when the WNBA logo,

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Speaker 4: Let's go make a commercial. That's kind of what it was.

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Speaker 1: The most creative ideas often come from a place of

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Speaker 1: constraint of limitation.

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Speaker 2: No logo, no team names, no problem.

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Speaker 1: And the famous commercial was that we got next commercial

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Speaker 1: and I mean, it's you and Cheryl's SWOOVESA and Lisa Leslie,

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Speaker 1: you know, coming.

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Speaker 2: Out of the tunnel. So awesome. It was just like

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Speaker 2: one of the great commercials.

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Speaker 4: Ever, you know. So we wear these long leather coats

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Speaker 4: for this and they said their inspiration was reservoir dogs,

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Speaker 4: which I had not seen. At the end of the shoot,

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Speaker 4: we're like, can we keep these coats. They say, yes,

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Speaker 4: I still have that coat in my basement. Don't wear it.

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Speaker 4: I haven't worn it, but I've got this like maybe

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Speaker 4: at some point we'll go and like, you know, somebody

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Speaker 4: will want it because it was part of that commercial

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Speaker 4: with this long leather jacket used in the original. I

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Speaker 4: don't have the bray anymore, but I do have the

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Speaker 4: long leather jacket.

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Speaker 1: We got next, one of the great things to come

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Speaker 1: from the NBA's famed marketing department, The song Little Green

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Speaker 1: Bag by George Baker's selection was.

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Speaker 2: The earworm that the new league needed.

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Speaker 1: The visuals were in fact inspired by Quentin Tarantino's cult

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Speaker 1: classic reservoir dogs, Leslie Lobo swoops and matching kangle flat

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Speaker 1: caps flipped backwards, floor length leathered trench coats and WNBA

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Speaker 1: gym bags strutting down a tunnel towards a bright light.

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Speaker 1: It's quintessential nineties. The hair, the makeup, the attitude, the beret.

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Speaker 1: That was the other thing they had you guys, I

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Speaker 1: mean it was it was hysterical. It was like your

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Speaker 1: basketball players, but they actually had you guys like, oh,

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Speaker 1: we're going to make them look like fashion icons, you know,

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Speaker 1: like you guys had full pageant makeup on and everything.

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Speaker 4: I think Lisa like had a bear middriff and like

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Speaker 4: this was nineteen ninety six, so like now you can't

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Speaker 4: buy close that that don't show your middrift. But in

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Speaker 4: those days, she likes they had her all, you know,

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Speaker 4: cued it.

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Speaker 1: Out and uh oh yeah, she was like super model material,

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Speaker 1: you know. I mean it was definitely like sex Appeal

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Speaker 1: meets basketball, like that was.

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Speaker 2: That commercial is.

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Speaker 1: So iconic, and I think you should wear that jacket.

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Speaker 1: I do think you should take it out and wear

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Speaker 1: it like on the air, Like I think we should

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Speaker 1: figure something out.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, Like it's so old that I mean it with

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Speaker 4: the fashion cycle, it'll probably be in again at some

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Speaker 4: point in the near future.

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Speaker 2: Here's how Val Ackerman remembers it.

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Speaker 5: I mean, I remember we were sitting in a conference

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Speaker 5: room and NBA Entertainment came in and presented this and

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Speaker 5: we were are jaws dropped. Keep in mind, we had

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Speaker 5: no footage in the first year. Heading into the first season,

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Speaker 5: we had no game footage because we hadn't launched it,

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Speaker 5: so we had to do promotional spots that were really

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Speaker 5: just player based on the players that we had signed,

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Speaker 5: and it was really for a long time just the

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Speaker 5: three of them were the only players we had signed

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Speaker 5: it and who we knew much about because they'd been

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Speaker 5: on the Olympic team, so we were very very familiar

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Speaker 5: with their capability and we felt very comfortable pushing them

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Speaker 5: out there as the stars. And that campaign just captured

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Speaker 5: at all because it, you know, we got next to

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Speaker 5: the basketball phrase if you're on the playground and you know,

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Speaker 5: and you win, you get next. If you lose, you're off.

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Speaker 5: And we here we were saying, okay, now it's Archurn.

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Speaker 5: You know, the men have had their day. Now it's

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Speaker 5: on us.

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Speaker 1: The video ended with the date June twenty first, nineteen

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Speaker 1: ninety seven.

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Speaker 2: Ready or Not? The countdown had begun.

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Speaker 1: From the NBA and iHeart podcasts This is NBA DNA

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Speaker 1: with Me Hannah Storm, Episode eight, Part two from Pipe

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Speaker 1: Dreams to Hoop Dreams.

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Speaker 3: Their coach said that would be the key to the game,

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Speaker 3: boxing out for rebounds, Paramo.

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Speaker 2: For three and Shade Hiss and everything is going to.

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Speaker 1: Call that inaugural season of the WNBA Intense would be

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Speaker 1: an understatement.

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Speaker 6: It all starts with leaps of us emotionally mentally what

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Speaker 6: she does out on the floor.

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Speaker 1: We worked NonStop on the NBC side setting up a

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Speaker 1: new league. Creating anything from scratch is logistically complicated for starters,

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Speaker 1: where do you play?

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Speaker 2: And when people are always questioning, you.

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Speaker 1: Know, why does the WNBA play in the summer? Well,

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Speaker 1: they had to fill arenas And that was a big

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Speaker 1: way that the league got sold. Was not only did

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Speaker 1: it afford the owners an opportunity to fill their arenas

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Speaker 1: in the summer, but also it allowed the players to

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Speaker 1: still maintain playing overseas well.

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Speaker 5: I will say that the main reason you're right on

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Speaker 5: both of those counts, The main reason that was television.

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Speaker 5: The thinking was we would not be able to get

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Speaker 5: prime TV windows if you played in the normal basketball

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Speaker 5: fall winter time frame, because those prime windows had been

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Speaker 5: consumed already by the NBA, by college basketball men and women,

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Speaker 5: the NHL. You had sort of NFL going well into

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Speaker 5: now January maybe, February late later on February maybe, and

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Speaker 5: every day.

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Speaker 2: Of the week now too, right, late.

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Speaker 7: Season baseball, late season baseball, in the fall, early season baseball.

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Speaker 5: And you can't, you can't.

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Speaker 2: You gotta have a window, phone, you gotta a window.

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Speaker 5: And that was the summer. And this was, you know,

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Speaker 5: the year after Major League Soccer had launched, so NBA

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Speaker 5: hadn't yet figured out like how to program the summer

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Speaker 5: for themselves with their summer league. So we saw there

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Speaker 5: the opportunity, and in fact, our early network arrangements were

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Speaker 5: with NBCESPN and Lifetime a game of the week in

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Speaker 5: primetime television. So that was the driver because TV meant

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Speaker 5: credibility and exposure and revenue.

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Speaker 3: Houston trailing by launch twenty seconds. Let's a play on

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Speaker 3: the broadcasting. It was a huge shift for me.

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Speaker 1: For the first time in my career, I'd be calling games.

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Speaker 1: So the stars had already begun to blossom. The Olympics

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Speaker 1: just added another layer to Cheryl Swoopster rebec Lobo, Lisa Leslie,

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Speaker 1: they are they are household names at this point because

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Speaker 1: everybody watches the Olympics, even if you weren't paying attention

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Speaker 1: to women's college basketball. Then jump to the decision by

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Speaker 1: the NBA We're going to make a business out of this,

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Speaker 1: and NBC saying we are going to broadcast those games, and.

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Speaker 2: Lisa you are going to produce those games.

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Speaker 5: I know it was.

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Speaker 8: It was unbelievable and Hannah, you're going to do to

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Speaker 8: play back play exactly?

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Speaker 2: I was like, what right?

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Speaker 8: So, yeah, it was a huge thrill for me. I

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Speaker 8: hadn't produced many live sporting events at that time. I

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Speaker 8: was mostly you know, the head filmmaker, and to get

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Speaker 8: that opportunity as a as a woman in sports television

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Speaker 8: was huge for me. To you know, have the support

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Speaker 8: of the NBA, to have the support of NBC Sports

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Speaker 8: to put me in that position really was a huge honor.

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Speaker 4: And then when they told me that you were going to.

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Speaker 8: Be my play, my play by play person and Annie

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Speaker 8: and Annie Myers was going to be the analyst, it

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Speaker 8: was just a dream come true.

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Speaker 2: All women crew, a.

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Speaker 3: Sellout crowd in Houston, Texas, Hannah Storm, Ann Myers, Lisa Mlaski,

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Speaker 3: and Benbrew.

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Speaker 8: And to be able to do it with you, Hannah,

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Speaker 8: especially because you were just you know, you had just

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Speaker 8: given birth and we had to figure that piece out

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Speaker 8: of how we're going to kind of do rehearsals and stuff,

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Speaker 8: and you were weaning off breastfeeding, and oh yeah, it

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Speaker 8: was really a fun time and one of my favorite experiences,

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Speaker 8: you know. Ever at NBC I must say it was difficult.

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Speaker 8: It was difficult, but it was we got better each game.

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Speaker 8: I thought, Okay, I got an ulcer that summer. That

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Speaker 8: just tells you everything you.

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Speaker 2: Need to know.

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Speaker 1: It was hard, yeah, I mean we had I was

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Speaker 1: pregnant during the Atlanta Olympics. Then I had my daughter

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Speaker 1: Hannah in January, so that was just coming off maternity leave.

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Speaker 1: And they were like, you're gonna do play by play,

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Speaker 1: which I had never done in my life, right, And

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Speaker 1: so I went up actually to Yukon and did a

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Speaker 1: couple of games, sat there and observed this lovely woman

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Speaker 1: named Doris Burke.

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Speaker 8: Right, and Terry Schindler was I think producing that game.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so Terry Siller was reducing it.

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Speaker 1: I just remember like I couldn't even the words like

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Speaker 1: couldn't even come out of my mouth.

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Speaker 2: I'm like, she'd scored. There's a bucket.

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Speaker 1: And the guy who really mentored me and was awesome

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Speaker 1: was Marv Albert Talker.

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Speaker 4: From Free Yes.

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Speaker 2: The phone unbelievable.

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Speaker 1: I would you know back in the day, you know,

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Speaker 1: send Marv my tape, my little practice game, some practice games,

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Speaker 1: and then we would get on the phone and he

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Speaker 1: would give me pointers.

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Speaker 2: But I mean, honestly, it was terrifying. Didn't be good

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Speaker 2: for making things happen. You've got to come up on

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Speaker 2: an all game launch. She was either scored points in the.

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Speaker 6: Bank, she penetrates becaushes off.

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Speaker 2: For her teammates. You can't say she's just a score.

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Speaker 9: Well, I was working for ESPN, I was doing the

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Speaker 9: Women's Final four, and I was doing other than broadcasts

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Speaker 9: on the ninety five team. So when NBC came to

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Speaker 9: me to do the broadcast, I was a little hesitant

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Speaker 9: because I was committed to ESPN. But NBC came in strong,

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Speaker 9: and they came in quick, and they said, we've six

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Speaker 9: year deal and we were going. And NBC was still

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Speaker 9: really kind of being a network, was really kind of

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Speaker 9: the top of being able to work for, you know,

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Speaker 9: a network like that. And so I'd like to think

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Speaker 9: that I meant offenses because I did come back and

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Speaker 9: work for ESPN.

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Speaker 1: So you had worked with, among other people, the great

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Speaker 1: Keith Jackson. So you worked with the greatest, one of

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Speaker 1: one of the very greatest of all time, and then

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Speaker 1: you have to work with me totally inexperience, had never

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Speaker 1: called play by play. Doris Burke helped me, do you

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Speaker 1: know a few practice games Marv Albert helped me, do

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Speaker 1: you know, gave me some pointers and stuff.

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Speaker 2: But I had never done it before in my life.

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Speaker 9: You had good connections.

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Speaker 2: I mean I was terrified. I got an ulcer that summer.

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Speaker 9: Well, remember we had to do that. We had to

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Speaker 9: do that practice gig. We had that practice game. It

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Speaker 9: was Anna game was a Milwaukee and I can't remember

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Speaker 9: who it was, but that was our first you know,

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Speaker 9: we had to get our timing together. We didn't know

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Speaker 9: each other, I mean, you know, and it was hard

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Speaker 9: and certainly not knowing the players, which I knew the

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Speaker 9: players because I've seen them a long plays since they

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Speaker 9: were eighteen years old. And but yeah, we I thought

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Speaker 9: we had a good connection.

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Speaker 2: It's so exciting.

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Speaker 10: Hi, everybody had a storm, joined by Hall of Famer

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Speaker 10: and and unfortunately the biggest star here in Los Angeles

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Speaker 10: as a woman who grew up just blocked away from

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Speaker 10: the great Western form and start at USC, Lisa Leslie.

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Speaker 2: As we saw last week.

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Speaker 1: Following the success of the We Got Next campaign, came

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Speaker 1: the league's two drafts. The first was an elite draft.

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Speaker 1: Every city needs a franchise player Swoops again, Cheryl Swoops,

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Speaker 1: who grew up in Texas and starred at Texas Tech

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Speaker 1: went to Houston. Lobo, Rebecca Lobo, who starred at Yukon,

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Speaker 1: went to New York.

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Speaker 2: Leslie from That's a Tour was on.

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Speaker 1: Lisa Leslie, who grew up in Compton and start at

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Speaker 1: usc was a natural fit for LA. There were two

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Speaker 1: drafts also before that first season, because you had to

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Speaker 1: figure out how to put this league together. So you

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Speaker 1: have an elite draft, the purpose sending a player who

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Speaker 1: might be a regional star to a city. So you

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Speaker 1: have Cheryl Swoops in Houston, Rebecca Lobo in New York,

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Speaker 1: and Lisa Leslian La, all of which make a lot

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Speaker 1: of sense. And then you have a draft for college

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Speaker 1: players and unsigned veterans.

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Speaker 2: So that was a really interesting.

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Speaker 1: Process, and I'm wondering what it was like for you

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Speaker 1: announcing Tina Thompson a usc AS that first number one

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Speaker 1: college pick two percent data.

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Speaker 5: Well, we're glad she came with us because we were

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Speaker 5: in effect competing with players at that point with the

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Speaker 5: American Basketball League the ABL, they were not as resourced

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Speaker 5: as we were. They played in the Winner, they came

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Speaker 5: out with very high player salaries, which in the end

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Speaker 5: they couldn't support and so they ended up folding I

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Speaker 5: think after their second season or so, and those players

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Speaker 5: then came into the WNBA. But Tina, you know, Tina

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Speaker 5: elected to come with us. She was, of course a

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Speaker 5: Hall of Famer during her amazing career, with the comments.

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Speaker 6: Tina Thompson the MVP, the stars are out tonight.

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Speaker 5: She joined two other super stars in Cynthia Cooper and

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Speaker 5: Cheryl Swoops.

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Speaker 3: Swoop was inching toward the first ever w NBA playoff

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Speaker 3: triple double.

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Speaker 11: Oh you are the best in the world, Cheryl.

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Speaker 2: Right side.

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Speaker 5: We had eight teams. We knew more about women's basketball

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Speaker 5: than our teams did, so we took a lot of

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Speaker 5: liberties here in sort of spreading it around. So we

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Speaker 5: took the best sixteen players of the time, which we thought,

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Speaker 5: in our opinion, assigned two to each of the eight teams.

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Speaker 5: And that that was how Houston got Cheryl and Cynthia.

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Speaker 2: That was on us.

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Speaker 4: We blew it.

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Speaker 5: We didn't realize how good Cynthia Cooper was.

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Speaker 2: Cooper driving the land.

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Speaker 1: Then they won more consecutive championship. Oh my gosh, we

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Speaker 1: created a dynasty.

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Speaker 5: We created a dynasty, and you know, Cheryl, we put

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Speaker 5: in Texas because that was a marketing decision, sure. And

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Speaker 5: then the Elite Draft, which which you noted, was our

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Speaker 5: second tier, where we then found what we thought were

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Speaker 5: the next sixteen best players and put them in like

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Speaker 5: a pool. And then we filled out the rest of

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Speaker 5: the rosters with again the college draft and everybody else.

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Speaker 5: So we just we needed to stock the teams to

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Speaker 5: get it going. And then after that it became more

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Speaker 5: normal in terms of the draft every year, et cetera.

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Speaker 5: But it took a while because of how bargaining unfolded

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Speaker 5: with the players to really get it to a point

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Speaker 5: now where it looks more like what you see in

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Speaker 5: men's sports, with the draft, with free agency, with players

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Speaker 5: filling their contract obligations, having opportunities under certain circumstances to

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Speaker 5: switch teams. But those early you know, those early teams,

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Speaker 5: we had some amazing women, great pioneers, eventually hall of

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Speaker 5: famers women's basketball and Nasmithenix tron.

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Speaker 2: To secure a postseason spot.

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Speaker 1: Now scoops to the left hand on the pump bags

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Speaker 1: field off the Commets with the league's first dynasty, and

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Speaker 1: the sports world much as me of a three peet

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Speaker 1: and the comments would eventually win four championships in a row.

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Speaker 2: Cutting in through the hold. Nobody would be.

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Speaker 1: A new They were the conference rivals of Rebecca Lobo's

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Speaker 1: New York Liberty in the East.

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Speaker 2: The point he gets on board back and Lowbo will

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Speaker 2: lay that right.

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Speaker 1: In along with the Charlotte Sting and Cleveland Rockers. You

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Speaker 1: obviously you were one of the faces of the new League.

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Speaker 1: So you know, you've always had a lot of responsibility.

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Speaker 1: You had, you know, a lot of pressure on you.

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Speaker 1: Or was it more fun or did you feel like,

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Speaker 1: dang man, I better deliver. Here they are they are

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Speaker 1: making me one of the most prominent faces.

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Speaker 2: And also in the New York market, it.

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Speaker 4: Was more fun than it was anything else because of

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Speaker 4: course this was also before social media and everything, so

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Speaker 4: it's not like there was constant negativity being thrown into

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Speaker 4: your pocket by Joe Schmoe from wherever, and so like,

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Speaker 4: you know, we're getting to go to NBA All Star.

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Speaker 4: We went to NBA All Star I think it was

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Speaker 4: in San Antonio, maybe that was ninety five with the

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Speaker 4: Olympic team, but we were at a couple you know,

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Speaker 4: NBA All Star weekends and we were also going to

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Speaker 4: the parties at Planet Hollywood or wherever they were on

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Speaker 4: those things. All of a sudden, you find yourself in

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Speaker 4: a room and you're like, you know, ten yards from

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Speaker 4: Arnold Schwarzenegger or Bruce Willis or like other who were

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Speaker 4: at a time a list like people that you're watching

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Speaker 4: in the movies. And so that part of it was

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Speaker 4: really fun, and getting to go to NBA events and

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Speaker 4: parties and just being involved in things. And then when

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Speaker 4: they started announcing, you know, allocations and drafts, I'm like, oh,

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Speaker 4: I've got some teammates. Now I've got Teresa Weatherspoon and

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Speaker 4: Vicki Johnson and Sue Wix, Like, oh, this is cool.

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Speaker 4: It's starting to come together. Once training camps started, once

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Speaker 4: the season started, the city has so much to offer,

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Speaker 4: and you know, there'd be different events again, and like,

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Speaker 4: all of a sudden, Spoon and I are invited to

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Speaker 4: go and be at this event where there's all these

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Speaker 4: professional athletes and actors and whatever. Else.

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Speaker 1: In the West, it was the Los Angeles Sparks, Phoenix Mercury,

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Speaker 1: Sacramento Monarchs, and Utah Stars.

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Speaker 2: At NBC, it was our job to.

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Speaker 1: Introduce sports fans to the faces of the new league Annie,

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Speaker 1: Lisa and I interviewed players for profiles to run at halftime,

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Speaker 1: doing whatever we could to engage fans, and.

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Speaker 5: We all thought it was important, all of.

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Speaker 8: Us, I think, right that we needed to let the

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Speaker 8: audience know who these incredible women are. And that's the

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Speaker 8: purpose of profile type storytelling in general, which started, you know,

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Speaker 8: at the Olympics, and then I wanted to bring that

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Speaker 8: over into the WNBA because they were you know, yes,

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Speaker 8: Rebecca Lobo and Lisa Leslie and Charles Soopster household names,

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Speaker 8: but not everybody else. Like and I remember the first

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Speaker 8: game because we were doing the New York Liberty at

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Speaker 8: the Sparks, I went to Europe to shoot with Teresa.

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Speaker 4: Weatherskinol Theresa Wellstreet because you're for that first half time piece.

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Speaker 8: She was in Lake Cmo playing you know, Italian ball,

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Speaker 8: and and she she's now coaching in the w n

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Speaker 8: b A, And it was important for us to have

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Speaker 8: even for you know, for you to be doing interviews

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Speaker 8: with some of these players prior to so in addition

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Speaker 8: to your play by play, you worked in seamlessly you know,

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Speaker 8: little anecdotal stories about each player and some of the rivals,

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Speaker 8: and you know some of the players who played against

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Speaker 8: each other in college, knowing all that, which seems second

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Speaker 8: nature now.

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Speaker 2: In some cases, the stories wrote themselves.

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Speaker 4: Which's the advanced pass for three hits?

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Speaker 2: She's got ten.

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Speaker 6: Of the game.

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Speaker 1: And Cheryl Swoops is one of the one of the

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Speaker 1: main stars. She's in that we got next campaign. She

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Speaker 1: is all over everything promoting the league, and she's pregnant

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Speaker 1: and she is not going to play for a while.

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Speaker 2: I think she came back a lot earlier than you know.

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Speaker 1: She's pretty superhuman and actually came back to play that

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Speaker 1: first year. But that was probably a very, I'm imagining,

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Speaker 1: you know, an interesting element to deal with as you

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Speaker 1: were going into this first season.

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Speaker 5: I remember it was circa New Year's Day, nineteen ninety six.

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Speaker 5: Renee Brown, who dear friend, who we hired, had been

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Speaker 5: an assistant coach on the ninety six team, who I

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Speaker 5: hired to be our player director, and so she was

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Speaker 5: the one out there signing getting players for us to sign.

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Speaker 5: And I remember her calling me and saying, are you

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Speaker 5: sitting down? And I said okay, and she said big news.

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Speaker 5: She said, Cheryl's expecting she's pregnant. And this was after

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Speaker 5: we had signed her. We were using her in at

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Speaker 5: you know, in the marketing campaigns, et cetera. And my

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Speaker 5: first question was, you know, what does she do? I said,

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Speaker 5: that's great, you know, Chris, you gotta be happy for

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Speaker 5: someone who's having a Chimee said.

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Speaker 4: What does she do?

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Speaker 5: And she said June twenty first, she said she wants

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Speaker 5: to just keep doing as much as she can. And

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Speaker 5: I said, okay, so well, you know, just do what

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Speaker 5: we have to do. And that's what we did, made

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Speaker 5: sure she was okay. There's actually there was some creative

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Speaker 5: things that were done to kind of as she got

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Speaker 5: more pregnant, to sort of show her a little less

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Speaker 5: from the bottom down and then more from the bottom up,

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Speaker 5: from the waist up. And she was great. I mean,

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Speaker 5: she kept herself in shape. She of course did not

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Speaker 5: start the season with us because she couldn't, but unbelievably

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Speaker 5: she did want to play in that first season. And

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Speaker 5: I remember her coming back in August. I remember it

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Speaker 5: was a big story.

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Speaker 4: She came back.

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Speaker 5: I think she was out for about six weeks hand

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Speaker 5: if I'm not mistaken, yep, she was, and she came back.

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Speaker 5: Her line that first came back wasn't all that spectacular,

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Speaker 5: but with each passing game she got better and better better.

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Speaker 5: Of course, they won the title that year, and she

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Speaker 5: had no small role in that.

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00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:01,399
Speaker 1: The first ever WNBA game took place as promised on

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Speaker 1: June twenty first, nineteen ninety seven, at the LA Forum, home.

439
00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:09,800
Speaker 2: Of the Lakers. It was Rebecca Lobo's New York.

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Speaker 1: Liberty against Lisa Leslie's La Spars Marque.

441
00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:16,680
Speaker 3: Matchup between Leslie and Lobo as the two cornerstone franchise

442
00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:19,520
Speaker 3: of the Women's NBA square off here this afternoon in

443
00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:22,080
Speaker 3: the debut game, and now here for the player introductions,

444
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:23,560
Speaker 3: our PA announcer Roger.

445
00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:26,560
Speaker 1: The New York Liberty defeated the Sparks that day, sixty

446
00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:27,600
Speaker 1: seven to fifty seven.

447
00:23:30,359 --> 00:23:35,520
Speaker 6: Lads Lobo and Lobo at the basket of sort, Rebecca

448
00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:37,280
Speaker 6: Lobo with sixteen.

449
00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:39,360
Speaker 2: Points, the Lobos on the top sixty two.

450
00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:43,480
Speaker 1: Now I called that game, I called the first season

451
00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:48,840
Speaker 1: for NBC, and I remember being terrified, absolutely terrified.

452
00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:54,840
Speaker 2: As a player. What was your experience in that game?

453
00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:59,399
Speaker 4: Excitement and nerves because like I grew up as a

454
00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:03,080
Speaker 4: Celtics band watching Celtics Lakers, Celtics Lakers, So I'm in

455
00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:06,399
Speaker 4: I'm in this, this arena that I've only seen on

456
00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:09,560
Speaker 4: television before, and some of like the iconic memories I

457
00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:12,440
Speaker 4: have as a kid as a kid watching.

458
00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:17,000
Speaker 1: The late banners are hanging from the ceiling and all that,

459
00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:18,880
Speaker 1: right exactly, and like.

460
00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:21,080
Speaker 4: We're on the team bus and this is back in

461
00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:23,800
Speaker 4: the day. By the way, it was great to be

462
00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:26,960
Speaker 4: involved in the WNBA in the early days because especially

463
00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:29,439
Speaker 4: that first year and second year, when you were on

464
00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:32,680
Speaker 4: the road, you were staying where the teams put their

465
00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:35,679
Speaker 4: male counterparts. So we were staying I think at the

466
00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:38,920
Speaker 4: Ritz or the Four Seasons because that's where the Knicks state.

467
00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:41,199
Speaker 4: So like that first year we were I mean, we

468
00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:44,000
Speaker 4: were flying commercially, but in a lot of ways we're

469
00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:46,120
Speaker 4: you know, it's what the teams knew. All let's put

470
00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:47,880
Speaker 4: him up at a really nice hotel. They don't quite

471
00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:51,280
Speaker 4: do that anymore. But I remember being on the bus

472
00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:54,800
Speaker 4: on the way to the Forum and seeing this giant

473
00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:57,840
Speaker 4: billboard and it was just a huge me and profile

474
00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:02,359
Speaker 4: Lisa Leslian profile we got next opening day and just

475
00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:04,440
Speaker 4: seeing that on the way like, oh my gosh, we've

476
00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:07,600
Speaker 4: done all of this promotion to this point. Now here

477
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:11,160
Speaker 4: it is. And then I think it was in film.

478
00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:13,960
Speaker 4: That morning, we're watching tape and we're having our meeting

479
00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:17,000
Speaker 4: when Nancy Dars who was our coach, and she's going

480
00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:19,000
Speaker 4: over the assignments and she's like, you know, Rebecca, you

481
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:22,600
Speaker 4: have Lisa Bloom and Kim Hampton, one of our veterans

482
00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:25,679
Speaker 4: who I love, just said, let me take Lisa and

483
00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:28,480
Speaker 4: then and then Rebecca can focus more on the offensive hand.

484
00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:31,960
Speaker 4: And I remember just being like, Okay, I like that.

485
00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:32,720
Speaker 4: That works for me.

486
00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:33,440
Speaker 9: Uh.

487
00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:36,679
Speaker 4: And then so but yeah, going out and you know,

488
00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:40,600
Speaker 4: doing media and all of that stuff the day prior,

489
00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:43,240
Speaker 4: and uh, when the game was finally there, it was

490
00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:45,640
Speaker 4: like and there were celebrities court side, which I had

491
00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:49,159
Speaker 4: never experienced, but they were there that day at the Forum,

492
00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:51,760
Speaker 4: and just being like, wow, it's here, but not feeling

493
00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:55,040
Speaker 4: and overwhelming anything other than it's we get to finally

494
00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:55,800
Speaker 4: play basketball.

495
00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:04,200
Speaker 1: For me, it was somewhat terrifying, surreal and thrilling.

496
00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:05,399
Speaker 2: Here's a valve.

497
00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:10,280
Speaker 5: It was an amazing day and night. We had a

498
00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:12,320
Speaker 5: small we had a team from the league office that

499
00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:15,960
Speaker 5: of course trooped out there to see it. I was

500
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:18,640
Speaker 5: with my dear friend Rick Welts, as I mentioned, who

501
00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:21,679
Speaker 5: was this president of NBA properties at the time. We

502
00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:23,880
Speaker 5: were sort of joined at the hip in the year

503
00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:27,440
Speaker 5: leading in, so we were out there together. I remember,

504
00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:30,680
Speaker 5: you know, visiting Jerry Buss before the game in the

505
00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:35,800
Speaker 5: Forum club. He was divorced at that point. He had

506
00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:38,320
Speaker 5: a young woman with him who he introduced us to

507
00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:40,000
Speaker 5: and said he was very excited that she was going

508
00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:42,720
Speaker 5: to be throwing up the ball for the opening tip.

509
00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:44,600
Speaker 5: And I remember looking at Rick like, wait a minute,

510
00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:46,720
Speaker 5: I thought that was supposed to be me, and he

511
00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:48,480
Speaker 5: and I made a panic phone call back to the

512
00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:51,280
Speaker 5: home office. We didn't want to offend doctor Buss, but

513
00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:52,840
Speaker 5: I really did think it was supposed to be me

514
00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:55,520
Speaker 5: and not her, and we straightened that out. It was

515
00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:59,760
Speaker 5: me in the end, because I know, but that was

516
00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:01,720
Speaker 5: kind of a you know, old Brick and I laughed

517
00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:02,359
Speaker 5: about that moment.

518
00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:12,359
Speaker 2: Fine Leslie gets into it.

519
00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:15,199
Speaker 5: I remember the other thing. Two things. I remember that

520
00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:18,840
Speaker 5: the anthem singer didn't arrive on time. I think it

521
00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:21,320
Speaker 5: was Jeffrey Osborne. Maybe I'm wrong, Oh my god.

522
00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:25,040
Speaker 7: Stuck in traffic, right, stuck in traffic, yes, stuck in traffic,

523
00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:27,040
Speaker 7: and we just waited and waited, and then we ended

524
00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:31,400
Speaker 7: up they ended up unearthing some scratchy recording of the anthem,

525
00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:33,200
Speaker 7: so we used that.

526
00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:35,760
Speaker 5: You know, you know, usually you will have this very

527
00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:39,880
Speaker 5: celebrity singer. We didn't have that. And then I remember

528
00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:42,280
Speaker 5: it not being a very good game. I think the

529
00:27:42,359 --> 00:27:45,760
Speaker 5: players were just so nervous and you may remember that too.

530
00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:49,200
Speaker 5: They were just nervous. And Penny Toller made the first

531
00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:50,080
Speaker 5: shot and.

532
00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:53,080
Speaker 3: The first basket it do WRNBA history is scored by

533
00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:54,200
Speaker 3: Penny Teller at.

534
00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:57,240
Speaker 1: Long Beach Steak, and everyone wanted to know was Lisa

535
00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:00,080
Speaker 1: gonna dunk? You know, and that unfortunately, that was the

536
00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:01,240
Speaker 1: storyline going in.

537
00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:04,719
Speaker 5: And the fans. I just remember the fans coming. We

538
00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:06,880
Speaker 5: had a very good crowd. It wasn't a sell out there,

539
00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:09,679
Speaker 5: but it was probably at least thirteen thousand or so,

540
00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:13,240
Speaker 5: which was very very good crowd, and they were buying stuff.

541
00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:15,440
Speaker 5: And I remember the programs that we sold for that

542
00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:18,680
Speaker 5: first year that we got Next on on the cover.

543
00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:21,960
Speaker 5: It was just it was you were teary eyed because

544
00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:24,240
Speaker 5: all the hard work had paid off. It really happened.

545
00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:27,920
Speaker 5: Balls were bouncing, referees were blowing whistles, You heard sneakers

546
00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:31,680
Speaker 5: squeaking on the hardwood floor, and it was real.

547
00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:34,840
Speaker 2: This is really awesome.

548
00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:36,280
Speaker 6: I have talked to a lot of people that have

549
00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:38,720
Speaker 6: come in and a lot of basketball people. There's so

550
00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:41,440
Speaker 6: much excitement you almost feel like you're playing. Everybody is

551
00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:42,040
Speaker 6: so fire.

552
00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:45,280
Speaker 1: On the broadcast side, we had back to back games,

553
00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:48,840
Speaker 1: first La then Phoenix the very next day.

554
00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:51,760
Speaker 2: Welcome to Phoenix, Arizona. Summertime here.

555
00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:54,080
Speaker 3: And the hottest ticket in this hot town is that

556
00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:56,040
Speaker 3: for the Phoenix Mercury as they are.

557
00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:58,959
Speaker 1: I mean the final attendance in LA. I think they

558
00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:03,040
Speaker 1: were expecting twelve that fans, and the final attendance in

559
00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:05,520
Speaker 1: LA was over fourteen thousand, so they were fans like

560
00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:09,200
Speaker 1: in the upper decks. And then talk about Phoenix, they

561
00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:13,680
Speaker 1: had the Suns had established this incredible fan base. And

562
00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:16,760
Speaker 1: then how about New York, the New York Liberty. That

563
00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:19,160
Speaker 1: was a great atmosphere too, Right, what do you remember

564
00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:20,880
Speaker 1: about it because we did their home opener.

565
00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:23,680
Speaker 9: Well, first of all, I want to go to you know, Phoenix,

566
00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:26,360
Speaker 9: and Cheryl Miller just blows everybody away. I mean with

567
00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:30,320
Speaker 9: her enthusiasm and her excitement. One of the great names

568
00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:33,200
Speaker 9: in a Hall of Famer of the game could coach

569
00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:36,320
Speaker 9: and you know her second year they were in the

570
00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:40,479
Speaker 9: finals against Houston, and you know she was there four years.

571
00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:42,840
Speaker 9: But you know, players would just they said, we'll go

572
00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:46,360
Speaker 9: through a wall for you know, just the different players

573
00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:50,120
Speaker 9: that we had in the league. Andrea Stintson was It

574
00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:52,520
Speaker 9: was between her and Cynthia Cooper as far as who

575
00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:54,280
Speaker 9: was going to be the MVP at the end of

576
00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:58,080
Speaker 9: the year. But Andrea Stintson was just fabulous and fun

577
00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:01,800
Speaker 9: to watch. And but like you said, going to Madison

578
00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:05,040
Speaker 9: Square Garden and seeing the New York Liberty and having

579
00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:08,720
Speaker 9: Teresa Weatherspoon, who played at LSU was an eighty eight Olympian,

580
00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:12,320
Speaker 9: gave you such intense energy and she was going to

581
00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:16,640
Speaker 9: beat you defensively, an incredible passer, played with Kim Hampton

582
00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:19,480
Speaker 9: and Lobull was on that team. And you know at

583
00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:23,440
Speaker 9: LOVO Lobile coming off the Yukon Player the Year, winning

584
00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:26,240
Speaker 9: the championship the Olympic team in ninety six, and Rebecca

585
00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:29,600
Speaker 9: was such a big name and faith in New York.

586
00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:30,680
Speaker 2: Rebecca Lobo.

587
00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:33,080
Speaker 3: We last saw her as an Olympian winning gold in

588
00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:36,560
Speaker 3: Atlanta along with her teammate Lisa Leslie. The two of

589
00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:39,360
Speaker 3: them went against each other in practice and now they

590
00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:41,320
Speaker 3: get a chance to square off as professional.

591
00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:43,960
Speaker 5: So I did four games in a row and then

592
00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:45,960
Speaker 5: winded up back in New York at the end of

593
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:48,720
Speaker 5: the week where the Liberty had their home opener, which

594
00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:51,160
Speaker 5: was in that and I was with Dave. David came

595
00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:53,680
Speaker 5: to that one, so my husband and my mother and

596
00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:55,480
Speaker 5: my mother in law and I sat with David and

597
00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:59,360
Speaker 5: Diane stern A mod and were shot and Felicia were shot.

598
00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:01,080
Speaker 5: They were to get and that's who we sat with

599
00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:03,880
Speaker 5: at the game, and they were just piling into the guard,

600
00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:08,040
Speaker 5: piling in, and David it was a looking around like stunned.

601
00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:10,760
Speaker 5: I mean, this guy's never speechless. He just didn't have

602
00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:12,560
Speaker 5: anything to say. He was just taking it all in.

603
00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:15,000
Speaker 5: And that was a crowning moment. And I was really

604
00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:18,640
Speaker 5: happy for him and me, but I was really happy

605
00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:22,200
Speaker 5: for him because he, you know, he he made it happen,

606
00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:24,480
Speaker 5: and for him to see with his own eyes that

607
00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:27,120
Speaker 5: it was real and the people cared about this and

608
00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:28,200
Speaker 5: there was something to this.

609
00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:29,640
Speaker 2: It was a moment.

610
00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:34,560
Speaker 5: I'll never forget.

611
00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:37,880
Speaker 2: The paint he gets a board back and lay back.

612
00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,760
Speaker 1: The New York Liberty had an incredible fan base that

613
00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:47,800
Speaker 1: first season, complete with court side celebrities just like the Knicks,

614
00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:54,040
Speaker 1: Tyra Banks, Rosie O'Donnell, Joan Jet who actually made voodoo

615
00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:58,080
Speaker 1: dollphs of the opposing team. Now, of course the Liberty

616
00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:02,360
Speaker 1: plays at Barkley's, but they began at Madison Square Garden.

617
00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:05,959
Speaker 1: So you play your first home game against Phoenix on

618
00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:10,600
Speaker 1: June twenty ninth, and that's at the Garden, winning that

619
00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:13,680
Speaker 1: one to a sixty five to fifty seven. There were

620
00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:17,440
Speaker 1: almost eighteen thousand people there that day. What do you

621
00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:19,120
Speaker 1: recall about that first home game.

622
00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:22,000
Speaker 4: The memory I have, The strongest memory I have from

623
00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:24,800
Speaker 4: that first home game was we had spent I don't know,

624
00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:27,840
Speaker 4: a couple weeks prior. We had gone to some studio

625
00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:30,800
Speaker 4: and filmed our introduction that was going to play up

626
00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:33,120
Speaker 4: on the jumbo tron at the time, like there's different

627
00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:35,960
Speaker 4: ones of us stepping outside of a skyscraper and like

628
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:38,280
Speaker 4: one of us catches the ball and passes to somebody

629
00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:40,880
Speaker 4: else who steps out of a skryscraper. At the time,

630
00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:44,040
Speaker 4: it was like really cool. It's like, oh, it was cool.

631
00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:47,560
Speaker 4: So they play that and then they're doing the home

632
00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:51,840
Speaker 4: team introductions and my strongest memory is it was so

633
00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:54,480
Speaker 4: loud in the garden. We couldn't hear our name called,

634
00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:58,600
Speaker 4: So I think I may have been second to last introduced,

635
00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:00,680
Speaker 4: but like somebody would be introduced and we didn't know

636
00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:02,600
Speaker 4: the order yet because it was our first home game,

637
00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:04,920
Speaker 4: and like one of the other players who could hear

638
00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:07,760
Speaker 4: it would like push that player, like you go. It

639
00:33:07,920 --> 00:33:11,920
Speaker 4: was so loud. Eighteen thousand were so loud that you

640
00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:14,560
Speaker 4: could not hear your name during introductions on the PA.

641
00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:19,280
Speaker 4: So that's like my strongest memory. And then also because

642
00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:21,960
Speaker 4: we had been told by Kara blaize Zowski, like every

643
00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:24,360
Speaker 4: team in the league had to spend ten because like

644
00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:27,560
Speaker 4: ten grand to get the drape, the big black drape,

645
00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:30,240
Speaker 4: so that when they didn't fill the upper bowl, they

646
00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:32,280
Speaker 4: could you know, make it look it would still look

647
00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:34,400
Speaker 4: good on TV. It would still look good on TV.

648
00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:37,240
Speaker 4: And not only did we not need the drape for

649
00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:39,840
Speaker 4: that game, they did not need it for the entire season.

650
00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:43,360
Speaker 4: They were always there were always fans in that upper bowl,

651
00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:46,960
Speaker 4: but just kind of being blown away of And where

652
00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:49,160
Speaker 4: some of us were staying was right across the street

653
00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:51,480
Speaker 4: at the south Gate Tower at thirty first and seventh,

654
00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:54,720
Speaker 4: So we got to the game by walking across the street,

655
00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:59,200
Speaker 4: like sometimes through the fans to get to the security gate.

656
00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:02,280
Speaker 4: It's wild to them, like we weren't driving up through

657
00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:04,400
Speaker 4: the tunnel or anything. We didn't even you know, that

658
00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:08,000
Speaker 4: was not an option. Were walking across the street. Hey guys,

659
00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:09,560
Speaker 4: I got to get to my game or else I

660
00:34:09,719 --> 00:34:12,760
Speaker 4: you know, sign more autographs the Liberty.

661
00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:16,560
Speaker 1: That first season, you lead the team and blocked shots

662
00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:21,960
Speaker 1: and rebounds. That season, as I mentioned, the ratings were good.

663
00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:25,360
Speaker 1: And then we get to the playoffs, which at the

664
00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:29,680
Speaker 1: time consisted of teams one through four, and Team one

665
00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:32,359
Speaker 1: would play Team four and Team two would play Team three,

666
00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:34,680
Speaker 1: and then the winners of those games would go on

667
00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:40,080
Speaker 1: to play for the championship. You end up playing the

668
00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:41,879
Speaker 1: Houston comments Moment's.

669
00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:43,320
Speaker 2: Late at thirty to twenty eight.

670
00:34:45,239 --> 00:34:48,879
Speaker 1: Arcade and the Cheryl swoops again one of the one

671
00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:52,360
Speaker 1: of the major stars is on the other side. But

672
00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:54,879
Speaker 1: really what the comments were about was a player who

673
00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:57,320
Speaker 1: had been overseas for years, Cynthia Cooper.

674
00:34:57,920 --> 00:34:59,959
Speaker 2: Our team points off the beautiful shot.

675
00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:03,840
Speaker 1: She kind of became a revelation that season. You guys

676
00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:07,000
Speaker 1: had a nice rivalry and it had the comments number

677
00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:09,680
Speaker 1: that season before the championship game.

678
00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:14,480
Speaker 4: Right, yeah, And I can remember hosting Houston at the Garden,

679
00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:16,279
Speaker 4: and I think that's another game that we sold out

680
00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:19,319
Speaker 4: eighteen thousand or whatever it was, and we were we

681
00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:22,400
Speaker 4: finished second in the Eastern Conference because Houston was in

682
00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:25,960
Speaker 4: the Eastern Conference and the early years of the league,

683
00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:28,160
Speaker 4: and so first round of the playoffs, as you mentioned,

684
00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:31,680
Speaker 4: single elimination, we go and play at Phoenix. I think, yeah,

685
00:35:31,680 --> 00:35:33,840
Speaker 4: it was at Phoenix, win that game and then we

686
00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:37,600
Speaker 4: ended up playing at Houston. But yeah, I do remember

687
00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:41,560
Speaker 4: like just playing Houston in those early years and early on,

688
00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:43,520
Speaker 4: you know, Cheryl wasn't with them yet because she had

689
00:35:43,560 --> 00:35:46,160
Speaker 4: just given birth to her son. She eventually rejoins the team,

690
00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:49,040
Speaker 4: not completely at top form, because how can you be

691
00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:51,560
Speaker 4: after just carrying and delivering a baby. But still it

692
00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:52,960
Speaker 4: was a short season player.

693
00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:54,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's not season.

694
00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:56,040
Speaker 1: She doesn't have time to like work her way in

695
00:35:56,120 --> 00:35:58,520
Speaker 1: for a couple of months in play right, Yes.

696
00:35:58,719 --> 00:36:02,080
Speaker 4: But she was still very prettut she played. But they've

697
00:36:02,120 --> 00:36:04,799
Speaker 4: got this player who I'm like, who's Cynthia Cooper? And

698
00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:07,200
Speaker 4: how come nobody in the league can guard her off

699
00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:07,919
Speaker 4: a pick and roll?

700
00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:15,520
Speaker 3: Cooper Cooper driving dishing it up?

701
00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:18,960
Speaker 2: What's a lab One night.

702
00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:23,319
Speaker 1: That first season was short, just twenty eight games over

703
00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:26,840
Speaker 1: two months. In the end, it was the Comments versus

704
00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:30,839
Speaker 1: the Liberty for the first ever w NBA title. Do

705
00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:36,040
Speaker 1: you remember, because I do, specifically the championship. It was

706
00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:38,799
Speaker 1: just a championship game, you know, the way they had

707
00:36:38,840 --> 00:36:41,360
Speaker 1: set it up. One game and they defeat the New

708
00:36:41,480 --> 00:36:44,560
Speaker 1: York Liberty. And I remember sitting in the summit in Houston.

709
00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:47,839
Speaker 1: My mom was there, so I was able to bring

710
00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:51,920
Speaker 1: my baby. But I remember sitting with you and the

711
00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:58,080
Speaker 1: confetti falling from the ceiling of the summit onto the

712
00:36:58,080 --> 00:37:00,120
Speaker 1: players and the fans.

713
00:36:59,719 --> 00:37:01,480
Speaker 2: That feared there was incredible.

714
00:37:02,239 --> 00:37:05,319
Speaker 1: And I panic for a moment, like, wow, I better

715
00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:10,000
Speaker 1: say something profound, And I think I said something like

716
00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:14,120
Speaker 1: the Houston Comments have won the first of the NBA Championship.

717
00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:20,399
Speaker 2: Thanks Lisa on the Houston Comments.

718
00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:23,320
Speaker 3: We'll go down in history as the first ever w

719
00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:25,160
Speaker 3: NBA champions.

720
00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:28,359
Speaker 1: But you do you remember the feeling of just like,

721
00:37:28,719 --> 00:37:32,240
Speaker 1: we worked so hard that season. We had production meetings

722
00:37:32,280 --> 00:37:36,839
Speaker 1: that lasted four hours. We were grinding week after week

723
00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:39,240
Speaker 1: dealing with all this pressure. Do you sort of remember

724
00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:43,400
Speaker 1: the feeling of as that confetti was falling and it

725
00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:45,960
Speaker 1: kind of as that season wound to a close.

726
00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:49,520
Speaker 2: What you were feeling, Well, it's.

727
00:37:49,320 --> 00:37:53,439
Speaker 9: So much builds up to it. And like you talked

728
00:37:53,440 --> 00:37:56,680
Speaker 9: about ninety five, ninety six, now you're ninety seven, and

729
00:37:57,440 --> 00:37:59,840
Speaker 9: you know, people took a lot of athletes will say,

730
00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:02,319
Speaker 9: you know, what we do on the court, what you

731
00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:04,600
Speaker 9: get to see, you don't see behind the scenes. What

732
00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:07,879
Speaker 9: got us there, the hard work, like you said, even

733
00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:10,200
Speaker 9: with us, the work that we did behind the scenes.

734
00:38:10,719 --> 00:38:13,920
Speaker 9: But for me, it was euphoria, honestly, meaning the game

735
00:38:14,239 --> 00:38:16,480
Speaker 9: as long as I have and seeing where it came

736
00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:18,759
Speaker 9: from and all the different people that have tried to

737
00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:21,799
Speaker 9: make another league happen and so forth. And you know,

738
00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:24,279
Speaker 9: you've got to go through failures before you have successes,

739
00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:26,839
Speaker 9: and certainly I think the w NBA has gone through

740
00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:29,880
Speaker 9: a lot of that too. And but that, yeah, to

741
00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:33,520
Speaker 9: see the confetti and to see that people cared and

742
00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:36,799
Speaker 9: that people put money into the league and into their

743
00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:40,839
Speaker 9: teams and that they supported it was so important. And

744
00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:45,280
Speaker 9: to know that you felt validated as women athletes.

745
00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:58,360
Speaker 11: Today we're all part of history.

746
00:38:59,120 --> 00:38:59,840
Speaker 1: He knew that.

747
00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:10,600
Speaker 2: I mean, did you.

748
00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:14,520
Speaker 1: Envision at the time, because you made it to the

749
00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:16,440
Speaker 1: championship Games, you think, oh, we'll get it next year.

750
00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:17,960
Speaker 2: We'll get it next year. We'll get it next year.

751
00:39:18,080 --> 00:39:19,719
Speaker 1: What was it like, kind of running up against that

752
00:39:19,800 --> 00:39:20,839
Speaker 1: juggernaut every year?

753
00:39:21,920 --> 00:39:25,520
Speaker 4: It was just I'm not sure exactly what it was.

754
00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:30,560
Speaker 4: I do, however, remember maybe their third championship, maybe their

755
00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:33,960
Speaker 4: third or fourth championship, and we're getting ready to play

756
00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:36,080
Speaker 4: them one of those years. So we didn't make it

757
00:39:36,120 --> 00:39:38,920
Speaker 4: to it in ninety eight, so maybe ninety nine or

758
00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:41,640
Speaker 4: two thousand, whenever. Whenever, those one of those years, we

759
00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:45,680
Speaker 4: end up playing Houston in the playoffs. And I had

760
00:39:45,680 --> 00:39:48,600
Speaker 4: a friend who was on the on the comics that year,

761
00:39:49,200 --> 00:39:52,440
Speaker 4: and we had literally that morning at shoot arounds, or

762
00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:54,239
Speaker 4: maybe it was the day before because it's a day

763
00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:56,560
Speaker 4: game or something like that. We had gone over like

764
00:39:56,640 --> 00:39:59,839
Speaker 4: for two hours in our shoot around. How we're going

765
00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:02,040
Speaker 4: to guard this, how we're going to guard that, How

766
00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:03,719
Speaker 4: we're going to try to guard see in the pick

767
00:40:03,719 --> 00:40:07,120
Speaker 4: and roll. And my friend told me that Houston shoot

768
00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:11,279
Speaker 4: around was like twenty minutes, and they were like, it

769
00:40:11,360 --> 00:40:14,680
Speaker 4: didn't matter. They still beat us that game and that

770
00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:17,399
Speaker 4: series because they had the best players in the world

771
00:40:17,480 --> 00:40:18,560
Speaker 4: and they had the best team.

772
00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:22,480
Speaker 1: It's so believable, isn't it. Crazy that the Liberty have

773
00:40:22,520 --> 00:40:25,080
Speaker 1: never won a title. I know, I know, you know,

774
00:40:25,320 --> 00:40:28,920
Speaker 1: I mean, this could be the year. But yeah, it's

775
00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:33,400
Speaker 1: kind of wild to think, like, here we are two

776
00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:36,839
Speaker 1: and a half decades later and they still haven't won

777
00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:37,360
Speaker 1: a title.

778
00:40:37,719 --> 00:40:40,240
Speaker 4: Well, and it's just incredible to see the Liberty's journey

779
00:40:40,239 --> 00:40:43,040
Speaker 4: because they've been such an important franchise to the success

780
00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:45,760
Speaker 4: of the WNBA since the beginning, you know, a super

781
00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:49,000
Speaker 4: team last year playing in the finals, you know, selling

782
00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:51,160
Speaker 4: out Barkley Center, and then this year, you know, we

783
00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:53,719
Speaker 4: really have a potential to go for a deep run,

784
00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:56,480
Speaker 4: if not potentially win a championship as well. But it's

785
00:40:56,719 --> 00:40:59,920
Speaker 4: in some ways it kind of mirrors like the WNB.

786
00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:02,759
Speaker 4: It started off with a bang, and then like there's

787
00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:04,960
Speaker 4: some ebbs and flows, and it feels like now it's

788
00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:06,040
Speaker 4: really on the rise again.

789
00:41:06,440 --> 00:41:10,080
Speaker 1: How proud are you of your part in that legacy

790
00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:13,880
Speaker 1: of the WABA which is continuing and ongoing obviously.

791
00:41:13,520 --> 00:41:16,760
Speaker 4: Yeah, it was. It was my overwhelming feeling the bubble

792
00:41:16,800 --> 00:41:21,439
Speaker 4: season of twenty twenty, where the women's players use their

793
00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:26,120
Speaker 4: voice every single turn that they could to stand up

794
00:41:26,160 --> 00:41:29,160
Speaker 4: for what was right. My overwhelming feeling was I am

795
00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:31,680
Speaker 4: so proud to have been a part of this league

796
00:41:31,680 --> 00:41:34,440
Speaker 4: from the beginning and to have these women in a

797
00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:38,399
Speaker 4: place now where if they see something is wrong, they're

798
00:41:38,440 --> 00:41:41,040
Speaker 4: going to speak out on it. That they're always going

799
00:41:41,080 --> 00:41:43,720
Speaker 4: to be on the right side of social justice issues

800
00:41:43,760 --> 00:41:46,120
Speaker 4: and they're always going to be willing to speak out

801
00:41:46,200 --> 00:41:50,640
Speaker 4: on those issues, oftentimes before any other any other athletes do.

802
00:41:51,040 --> 00:41:55,840
Speaker 4: And you know, it's crazy to think, gosh, maybe late nineties,

803
00:41:55,880 --> 00:41:59,040
Speaker 4: early two thousands, two Wix, my teammate with a liberty

804
00:41:59,360 --> 00:42:03,320
Speaker 4: comes out and the first openly gay maybe professional athletes

805
00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:06,640
Speaker 4: at the time, certainly in a team sport, and how

806
00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:10,480
Speaker 4: different that is now and how players can be their

807
00:42:10,520 --> 00:42:14,359
Speaker 4: true selves, people in society in general can be And

808
00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:18,520
Speaker 4: the part that she played in getting everyone there. You know,

809
00:42:18,600 --> 00:42:21,439
Speaker 4: they're they're people who you know, did a lot on

810
00:42:21,480 --> 00:42:23,560
Speaker 4: the court, but there are a lot of important things

811
00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:26,080
Speaker 4: happening off the court as well, and certainly to see

812
00:42:26,239 --> 00:42:29,480
Speaker 4: how the women are now is something I take an

813
00:42:29,520 --> 00:42:33,360
Speaker 4: incredible amount of pride in the even the smallest piece

814
00:42:33,400 --> 00:42:35,839
Speaker 4: I played in the in the foundation of it all.

815
00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:43,120
Speaker 3: It's been a great opportunity for us all to be

816
00:42:43,239 --> 00:42:46,280
Speaker 3: here at the very beginning of this season of something

817
00:42:46,320 --> 00:42:50,279
Speaker 3: special and something that will impact sports for years to come.

818
00:42:50,360 --> 00:42:53,200
Speaker 3: Once again, the final score from Houston to come at

819
00:42:53,239 --> 00:42:53,879
Speaker 3: sixty five.

820
00:42:54,200 --> 00:42:56,640
Speaker 2: Pretty sure. We cried quite a bit that summer.

821
00:42:57,200 --> 00:42:58,279
Speaker 8: Yeah, we did.

822
00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:01,239
Speaker 1: Of just a relief and pressure or you know, you

823
00:43:01,280 --> 00:43:03,960
Speaker 1: talk about the pressure on the players, but there was.

824
00:43:04,080 --> 00:43:06,920
Speaker 1: There was a huge amount of pressure on us. This

825
00:43:07,160 --> 00:43:12,239
Speaker 1: was David Stern's baby, this was national TV, this was

826
00:43:12,280 --> 00:43:12,920
Speaker 1: the first.

827
00:43:12,760 --> 00:43:15,200
Speaker 2: Year of the league. We hadn't done it before.

828
00:43:15,760 --> 00:43:20,040
Speaker 1: There was an enormous amount of pressure to get it right.

829
00:43:20,239 --> 00:43:23,640
Speaker 1: And I think looking back on it, what I'm really

830
00:43:23,640 --> 00:43:28,239
Speaker 1: proud of is that we covered it like the.

831
00:43:28,320 --> 00:43:29,200
Speaker 2: NBA was covered.

832
00:43:29,719 --> 00:43:35,200
Speaker 1: We we treated it like a major sporting event. We

833
00:43:35,280 --> 00:43:38,560
Speaker 1: treated it like it deserved to be treated. And listen,

834
00:43:38,760 --> 00:43:41,920
Speaker 1: I can't even we poured our heart and soul into that.

835
00:43:42,120 --> 00:43:46,840
Speaker 1: I mean, if nothing else, just the effort, Yeah, we tried.

836
00:43:47,120 --> 00:43:50,040
Speaker 1: The passion was there in spades, right.

837
00:43:50,040 --> 00:43:52,560
Speaker 8: Yeah, And there were some you know, great moments, and yes,

838
00:43:52,800 --> 00:43:55,040
Speaker 8: you know, I know I made some mistakes along the

839
00:43:55,040 --> 00:43:59,879
Speaker 8: way that season. You know, you just learning, come on, yeah,

840
00:44:00,040 --> 00:44:04,399
Speaker 8: who is live basketball? And yeah, you know, but you know, overall,

841
00:44:06,280 --> 00:44:10,080
Speaker 8: I think it made an impact. We you know, getting

842
00:44:10,120 --> 00:44:12,640
Speaker 8: to know those players better in some of the coaches

843
00:44:13,080 --> 00:44:16,080
Speaker 8: like Nancy darsh at New York, and you know, just

844
00:44:16,920 --> 00:44:19,279
Speaker 8: it was a special time, a really special time. And

845
00:44:19,320 --> 00:44:23,200
Speaker 8: I hope that, you know, as the league continues to grow,

846
00:44:23,760 --> 00:44:25,759
Speaker 8: and I think the players do they look back at

847
00:44:25,800 --> 00:44:28,480
Speaker 8: those early days because it was hard, and you know,

848
00:44:28,560 --> 00:44:31,400
Speaker 8: most of these players, I think ten players from that

849
00:44:31,440 --> 00:44:35,279
Speaker 8: Olympic team wound up playing and or coaching in the WNBA.

850
00:44:38,200 --> 00:44:39,920
Speaker 2: And would have a storied career.

851
00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:43,520
Speaker 1: As general manager of the Phoenix Mercury, she built her

852
00:44:43,560 --> 00:44:47,680
Speaker 1: own champions winning titles in two thousand and seven, oh

853
00:44:47,800 --> 00:44:49,520
Speaker 1: nine and twenty fourteen.

854
00:44:50,360 --> 00:44:52,960
Speaker 2: Where do you see the league going now?

855
00:44:53,239 --> 00:44:59,240
Speaker 1: On the heels of this incredibly successful NCAA Tournament of

856
00:44:59,560 --> 00:45:03,760
Speaker 1: the Stars, really rising tide lifts all boats.

857
00:45:04,840 --> 00:45:07,120
Speaker 2: There are casual sports.

858
00:45:06,760 --> 00:45:10,000
Speaker 1: Fans now who can name multiple rookies coming into the league.

859
00:45:10,040 --> 00:45:14,880
Speaker 1: With Caitlin Clark leading the way and teams literally changing

860
00:45:14,880 --> 00:45:17,520
Speaker 1: the venues of their games for when she comes into town.

861
00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:23,000
Speaker 1: Charter Flights have now been approved an expansion team in Toronto.

862
00:45:24,560 --> 00:45:25,759
Speaker 2: Where do you see this league going?

863
00:45:27,360 --> 00:45:28,120
Speaker 6: Well, you know, you go.

864
00:45:28,120 --> 00:45:31,120
Speaker 9: Back to day one with bel Ackerman and and all

865
00:45:31,120 --> 00:45:34,120
Speaker 9: the other presidents we've had and Donna Orangeer and now

866
00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:36,640
Speaker 9: we've got Kathy Ngelberg who's done a terrific job as

867
00:45:36,680 --> 00:45:40,200
Speaker 9: far as getting sponsors and so forth, and people locking in.

868
00:45:41,160 --> 00:45:44,319
Speaker 9: The sponsorships have been huge. But you know, people used

869
00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:46,120
Speaker 9: to ask me, oh, where's the WNBA going? It's a

870
00:45:46,160 --> 00:45:49,080
Speaker 9: floding league. And you know, we were adding teams Detroit

871
00:45:49,200 --> 00:45:52,200
Speaker 9: and Washington and Miami Orlando and some teams who weren't

872
00:45:52,200 --> 00:45:55,920
Speaker 9: doing while and so forth, and you know, Utah got

873
00:45:56,040 --> 00:45:59,000
Speaker 9: you know, went under and went to San Antonio and

874
00:45:59,040 --> 00:46:03,640
Speaker 9: San Antonio Las Vegas, and it just people would ask,

875
00:46:03,840 --> 00:46:05,319
Speaker 9: where do you see the league? I said, ask me

876
00:46:05,360 --> 00:46:07,759
Speaker 9: in twenty years. Well, now we're twenty eight years in

877
00:46:08,239 --> 00:46:11,320
Speaker 9: and I'm thinking, hey, another twenty eight we're going to

878
00:46:11,360 --> 00:46:14,600
Speaker 9: be around to show question. I think the fact that

879
00:46:15,360 --> 00:46:19,320
Speaker 9: you know, more and more companies understanding that women's sports

880
00:46:20,320 --> 00:46:22,880
Speaker 9: has taken what over fifty plus years with tied to

881
00:46:22,960 --> 00:46:26,600
Speaker 9: nine to get us there, but they see the benefits

882
00:46:26,640 --> 00:46:30,000
Speaker 9: of what women's sports can bring to the table and

883
00:46:30,360 --> 00:46:35,040
Speaker 9: housemaking money. And certainly social media is a big part

884
00:46:35,120 --> 00:46:39,399
Speaker 9: of things today, and so is betting because a lot

885
00:46:39,440 --> 00:46:44,279
Speaker 9: of these betting companies are major sponsors. And so those

886
00:46:44,280 --> 00:46:47,160
Speaker 9: two things to me, have really changed sports a lot,

887
00:46:47,640 --> 00:46:49,839
Speaker 9: and I think they see that women's sports is kind

888
00:46:49,840 --> 00:46:52,359
Speaker 9: of a new and up and coming even though it's

889
00:46:52,360 --> 00:46:55,719
Speaker 9: been coming for a long time. I you know, the

890
00:46:55,800 --> 00:46:58,360
Speaker 9: expansions coming. As you said, I mean, there are so

891
00:46:58,400 --> 00:47:01,440
Speaker 9: many cities that want women's basketball, and we have the

892
00:47:01,480 --> 00:47:05,280
Speaker 9: excitement of the college players. The NIL has changed things,

893
00:47:05,400 --> 00:47:10,160
Speaker 9: The transport port rule has changed things, and so those

894
00:47:10,160 --> 00:47:12,880
Speaker 9: are things at all these college and high school coaches

895
00:47:12,880 --> 00:47:15,759
Speaker 9: are concerned about are they going to leave and how

896
00:47:15,840 --> 00:47:18,640
Speaker 9: much money they're making it on that level, and then

897
00:47:18,680 --> 00:47:21,319
Speaker 9: coming to the pros, salaries are going to go up

898
00:47:21,400 --> 00:47:23,360
Speaker 9: and up. I would like to see, you know, obviously

899
00:47:23,360 --> 00:47:26,759
Speaker 9: where there's a salary cap. I know that the charter

900
00:47:26,840 --> 00:47:29,560
Speaker 9: flights have just come in to play because of Britney

901
00:47:29,600 --> 00:47:32,840
Speaker 9: Grinder really last year when she came back from Russia.

902
00:47:33,120 --> 00:47:34,839
Speaker 9: She was the start of it. Because now you can

903
00:47:34,840 --> 00:47:38,720
Speaker 9: say Caitlin Clark coming in and you know, the really

904
00:47:38,760 --> 00:47:43,320
Speaker 9: security that these players need, and so that's been something

905
00:47:43,360 --> 00:47:45,680
Speaker 9: that's been plus for the players, I think as far

906
00:47:45,680 --> 00:47:48,520
Speaker 9: as having the charter flights, but also you know, I

907
00:47:48,960 --> 00:47:51,520
Speaker 9: personally would love to see this league longer than four

908
00:47:51,560 --> 00:47:53,640
Speaker 9: four and a half months. I'd love to see it

909
00:47:53,680 --> 00:47:56,400
Speaker 9: at six or seven months. I also would like to

910
00:47:56,440 --> 00:47:58,520
Speaker 9: see it at some point and I don't know however

911
00:47:58,600 --> 00:48:00,680
Speaker 9: they're ever going to work it out. But every two

912
00:48:00,760 --> 00:48:04,480
Speaker 9: years they change when the season starts because of the

913
00:48:04,520 --> 00:48:08,319
Speaker 9: World Cup and also the Olympics, and they take three

914
00:48:08,440 --> 00:48:11,640
Speaker 9: four weeks off. So that's tough because now you've got

915
00:48:11,680 --> 00:48:14,279
Speaker 9: to gear back up and sell it again. So when

916
00:48:14,320 --> 00:48:16,399
Speaker 9: you're out of the market after four months, it's it's

917
00:48:16,480 --> 00:48:20,239
Speaker 9: hard to market the product. And I think because of

918
00:48:20,280 --> 00:48:23,080
Speaker 9: what happened to Britney Griner last year in Russia, not

919
00:48:23,160 --> 00:48:26,759
Speaker 9: as many players they're going over to certain countries, but

920
00:48:26,800 --> 00:48:29,279
Speaker 9: there are still players going over season playing whether it's

921
00:48:29,280 --> 00:48:32,719
Speaker 9: in Italy or Spain or Irelander. You know, there's so

922
00:48:32,800 --> 00:48:36,719
Speaker 9: many different other places to play, and so that's still there.

923
00:48:36,760 --> 00:48:39,440
Speaker 9: But you don't want these kids playing twelve months out

924
00:48:39,480 --> 00:48:42,480
Speaker 9: of the year, and that's what's happening. So I would

925
00:48:42,520 --> 00:48:45,600
Speaker 9: love to see the WNBA be the league that our

926
00:48:45,640 --> 00:48:46,480
Speaker 9: players play in.

927
00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:51,400
Speaker 1: Whether the increased interest in women's basketball continues to manifest

928
00:48:51,440 --> 00:48:56,080
Speaker 1: itself in larger salaries and longer seasons remains to be seen,

929
00:48:56,719 --> 00:49:00,600
Speaker 1: but there is no doubt significant progress has been made

930
00:49:01,000 --> 00:49:04,200
Speaker 1: on the backs of all of those who came before.

931
00:49:06,320 --> 00:49:12,040
Speaker 1: Next Time on NBA DNA, The Spectacular Return of the

932
00:49:12,080 --> 00:49:25,759
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Lakers NBA DNA with Hannah Storm is a

933
00:49:25,800 --> 00:49:30,520
Speaker 1: production of iHeart Podcasts, The NBA, and Brainstorm and Productions.

934
00:49:30,760 --> 00:49:34,800
Speaker 1: The show is written and executive produced by me Hannah Storm,

935
00:49:34,960 --> 00:49:39,080
Speaker 1: along with Julia Weaver and Alex French. Our lead producer

936
00:49:39,120 --> 00:49:43,720
Speaker 1: and showrunner is Julia Weaver. Our senior producers are Peter Kouder,

937
00:49:44,040 --> 00:49:48,520
Speaker 1: Alex French, and Brandon Reese. Editing and sound design by

938
00:49:48,640 --> 00:49:52,680
Speaker 1: Kirk Garn and Julia Weaver. The show's executive producers are

939
00:49:52,760 --> 00:49:57,600
Speaker 1: Carmen Belmont, Jason English, Sean ty Tone, Steve Weintraup, and

940
00:49:57,760 --> 00:49:58,839
Speaker 1: Jason weikelt

941
00:50:00,520 --> 00:50:01,200
Speaker 4: He s