WEBVTT - From Pipe Dreams to Hoop Dreams: The WNBA 0:00:02.360 --> 0:00:05.520 In the spring of nineteen ninety seven. There was no 0:00:05.680 --> 0:00:14.960 escaping the news wops women's professional basketball in the United 0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:19.560 States was going to be a thing. For decades, the 0:00:19.600 --> 0:00:22.639 best that talented hoops players could hope for was a 0:00:22.760 --> 0:00:25.960 chance of the US Olympic team or a roster spot 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:29.720 on one of the European professional teams. Pro Leagues had 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:32.440 popped up over the years, but disappeared as quickly as 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:36.760 they materialized. That all changed with a ninety six Olympic 0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:41.600 game and the NBA's announcement that it would create a 0:00:41.640 --> 0:00:42.440 women's league. 0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:45.480 I am pleased to announce that the Board of Governors 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:50.560 approves the concept of the NBA establishing the Women's National 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:51.760 Basketball Association. 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:57.040 It was David Stern's newest obsession, his baby. He ensured 0:00:57.200 --> 0:01:00.960 that it was fully funded and helped secure tea contracts 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:04.400 and arenas for the women to play in. Rebecca Lobo 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:06.720 was one of the first to sign on. 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:09.680 Rebecca Lobo and Cheryl Swoops had become the first players 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:10.840 to sign contracts. 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:12.720 I was excited about it. I was excited about a 0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:16.800 new challenge playing professionally, but really didn't really have any 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:20.640 idea what was to come like when we started doing 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:25.040 promotional stuff. I think maybe November December of nineteen ninety six. 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:28.360 There weren't even team logos yet, Like you see stuff 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:31.360 with Me, Cheryl, Lisa, Lynette Wood in those early days 0:01:31.360 --> 0:01:34.760 and we're just in the WNBA logoed mesh tank top 0:01:35.040 --> 0:01:37.840 and mesh shorts because that's all they had. They had 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:41.040 a logo for the league, no team colors, no team 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:43.720 logos yet. I don't even remember when those were unfailed, 0:01:44.000 --> 0:01:46.120 but it was like all so new that I was like, 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:49.720 all right, where's my mesh tank top when the WNBA logo, 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:52.480 Let's go make a commercial. That's kind of what it was. 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:57.080 The most creative ideas often come from a place of 0:01:57.240 --> 0:01:59.160 constraint of limitation. 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:04.080 No logo, no team names, no problem. 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:07.960 And the famous commercial was that we got next commercial 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:12.720 and I mean, it's you and Cheryl's SWOOVESA and Lisa Leslie, 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:13.880 you know, coming. 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:18.160 Out of the tunnel. So awesome. It was just like 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:20.239 one of the great commercials. 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:24.120 Ever, you know. So we wear these long leather coats 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:26.959 for this and they said their inspiration was reservoir dogs, 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:30.080 which I had not seen. At the end of the shoot, 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:32.239 we're like, can we keep these coats. They say, yes, 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:34.840 I still have that coat in my basement. Don't wear it. 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:37.680 I haven't worn it, but I've got this like maybe 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:40.880 at some point we'll go and like, you know, somebody 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:42.760 will want it because it was part of that commercial 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:46.959 with this long leather jacket used in the original. I 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:49.600 don't have the bray anymore, but I do have the 0:02:49.639 --> 0:02:50.760 long leather jacket. 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:56.280 We got next, one of the great things to come 0:02:56.320 --> 0:03:01.400 from the NBA's famed marketing department, The song Little Green 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:04.240 Bag by George Baker's selection was. 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:06.280 The earworm that the new league needed. 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:10.720 The visuals were in fact inspired by Quentin Tarantino's cult 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:18.400 classic reservoir dogs, Leslie Lobo swoops and matching kangle flat 0:03:18.400 --> 0:03:24.160 caps flipped backwards, floor length leathered trench coats and WNBA 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:28.200 gym bags strutting down a tunnel towards a bright light. 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:35.600 It's quintessential nineties. The hair, the makeup, the attitude, the beret. 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:38.120 That was the other thing they had you guys, I 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:41.440 mean it was it was hysterical. It was like your 0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:44.280 basketball players, but they actually had you guys like, oh, 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:46.680 we're going to make them look like fashion icons, you know, 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:50.840 like you guys had full pageant makeup on and everything. 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:53.560 I think Lisa like had a bear middriff and like 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:56.840 this was nineteen ninety six, so like now you can't 0:03:56.880 --> 0:03:59.360 buy close that that don't show your middrift. But in 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:01.840 those days, she likes they had her all, you know, 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:02.560 cued it. 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:05.720 Out and uh oh yeah, she was like super model material, 0:04:06.160 --> 0:04:08.640 you know. I mean it was definitely like sex Appeal 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:10.600 meets basketball, like that was. 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:13.120 That commercial is. 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:15.720 So iconic, and I think you should wear that jacket. 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:18.080 I do think you should take it out and wear 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:20.880 it like on the air, Like I think we should 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:21.800 figure something out. 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:25.080 Yeah, Like it's so old that I mean it with 0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:27.800 the fashion cycle, it'll probably be in again at some 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:29.360 point in the near future. 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:32.240 Here's how Val Ackerman remembers it. 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:34.600 I mean, I remember we were sitting in a conference 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:37.279 room and NBA Entertainment came in and presented this and 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:39.840 we were are jaws dropped. Keep in mind, we had 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:43.120 no footage in the first year. Heading into the first season, 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:45.599 we had no game footage because we hadn't launched it, 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:49.040 so we had to do promotional spots that were really 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:52.279 just player based on the players that we had signed, 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:53.880 and it was really for a long time just the 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:56.400 three of them were the only players we had signed 0:04:56.400 --> 0:04:58.240 it and who we knew much about because they'd been 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:01.359 on the Olympic team, so we were very very familiar 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:04.120 with their capability and we felt very comfortable pushing them 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:07.200 out there as the stars. And that campaign just captured 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:09.680 at all because it, you know, we got next to 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:12.880 the basketball phrase if you're on the playground and you know, 0:05:13.000 --> 0:05:16.000 and you win, you get next. If you lose, you're off. 0:05:16.320 --> 0:05:18.880 And we here we were saying, okay, now it's Archurn. 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:21.279 You know, the men have had their day. Now it's 0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:21.920 on us. 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:26.400 The video ended with the date June twenty first, nineteen 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:27.240 ninety seven. 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:30.560 Ready or Not? The countdown had begun. 0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:39.760 From the NBA and iHeart podcasts This is NBA DNA 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:44.679 with Me Hannah Storm, Episode eight, Part two from Pipe 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:48.600 Dreams to Hoop Dreams. 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:53.440 Their coach said that would be the key to the game, 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:55.960 boxing out for rebounds, Paramo. 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:59.839 For three and Shade Hiss and everything is going to. 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:06.200 Call that inaugural season of the WNBA Intense would be 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:07.160 an understatement. 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:10.240 It all starts with leaps of us emotionally mentally what 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:11.320 she does out on the floor. 0:06:11.680 --> 0:06:15.800 We worked NonStop on the NBC side setting up a 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:21.920 new league. Creating anything from scratch is logistically complicated for starters, 0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:23.119 where do you play? 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:27.760 And when people are always questioning, you. 0:06:27.640 --> 0:06:31.080 Know, why does the WNBA play in the summer? Well, 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:33.479 they had to fill arenas And that was a big 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:37.280 way that the league got sold. Was not only did 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:41.040 it afford the owners an opportunity to fill their arenas 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:43.400 in the summer, but also it allowed the players to 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:47.600 still maintain playing overseas well. 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:50.280 I will say that the main reason you're right on 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:53.480 both of those counts, The main reason that was television. 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:56.080 The thinking was we would not be able to get 0:06:56.360 --> 0:07:00.479 prime TV windows if you played in the normal basketball 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:05.479 fall winter time frame, because those prime windows had been 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:09.960 consumed already by the NBA, by college basketball men and women, 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:14.080 the NHL. You had sort of NFL going well into 0:07:14.200 --> 0:07:18.360 now January maybe, February late later on February maybe, and 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:19.520 every day. 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:21.560 Of the week now too, right, late. 0:07:21.400 --> 0:07:25.200 Season baseball, late season baseball, in the fall, early season baseball. 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:26.720 And you can't, you can't. 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:28.559 You gotta have a window, phone, you gotta a window. 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:30.280 And that was the summer. And this was, you know, 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:34.000 the year after Major League Soccer had launched, so NBA 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:37.040 hadn't yet figured out like how to program the summer 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:40.200 for themselves with their summer league. So we saw there 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:43.920 the opportunity, and in fact, our early network arrangements were 0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:47.160 with NBCESPN and Lifetime a game of the week in 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:50.880 primetime television. So that was the driver because TV meant 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:53.840 credibility and exposure and revenue. 0:07:55.720 --> 0:07:58.960 Houston trailing by launch twenty seconds. Let's a play on 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:02.080 the broadcasting. It was a huge shift for me. 0:08:02.600 --> 0:08:06.240 For the first time in my career, I'd be calling games. 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:11.320 So the stars had already begun to blossom. The Olympics 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:16.360 just added another layer to Cheryl Swoopster rebec Lobo, Lisa Leslie, 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:19.400 they are they are household names at this point because 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:22.120 everybody watches the Olympics, even if you weren't paying attention 0:08:22.160 --> 0:08:25.880 to women's college basketball. Then jump to the decision by 0:08:25.920 --> 0:08:27.920 the NBA We're going to make a business out of this, 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:33.120 and NBC saying we are going to broadcast those games, and. 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:36.040 Lisa you are going to produce those games. 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:37.480 I know it was. 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:40.599 It was unbelievable and Hannah, you're going to do to 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:43.080 play back play exactly? 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:45.480 I was like, what right? 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:48.760 So, yeah, it was a huge thrill for me. I 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:52.040 hadn't produced many live sporting events at that time. I 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:55.560 was mostly you know, the head filmmaker, and to get 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:59.640 that opportunity as a as a woman in sports television 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:02.280 was huge for me. To you know, have the support 0:09:02.280 --> 0:09:05.600 of the NBA, to have the support of NBC Sports 0:09:05.720 --> 0:09:09.040 to put me in that position really was a huge honor. 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:10.840 And then when they told me that you were going to. 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:13.920 Be my play, my play by play person and Annie 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:16.560 and Annie Myers was going to be the analyst, it 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:17.760 was just a dream come true. 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:20.200 All women crew, a. 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:24.400 Sellout crowd in Houston, Texas, Hannah Storm, Ann Myers, Lisa Mlaski, 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:25.079 and Benbrew. 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:26.800 And to be able to do it with you, Hannah, 0:09:26.960 --> 0:09:29.560 especially because you were just you know, you had just 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:33.360 given birth and we had to figure that piece out 0:09:33.679 --> 0:09:36.080 of how we're going to kind of do rehearsals and stuff, 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:40.040 and you were weaning off breastfeeding, and oh yeah, it 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:44.120 was really a fun time and one of my favorite experiences, 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:47.440 you know. Ever at NBC I must say it was difficult. 0:09:47.720 --> 0:09:51.200 It was difficult, but it was we got better each game. 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:53.680 I thought, Okay, I got an ulcer that summer. That 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:55.520 just tells you everything you. 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:56.040 Need to know. 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:00.880 It was hard, yeah, I mean we had I was 0:10:00.920 --> 0:10:04.079 pregnant during the Atlanta Olympics. Then I had my daughter 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:08.640 Hannah in January, so that was just coming off maternity leave. 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:11.600 And they were like, you're gonna do play by play, 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:14.280 which I had never done in my life, right, And 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:19.320 so I went up actually to Yukon and did a 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:22.440 couple of games, sat there and observed this lovely woman 0:10:22.840 --> 0:10:24.199 named Doris Burke. 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:28.920 Right, and Terry Schindler was I think producing that game. 0:10:29.000 --> 0:10:30.880 Yeah, so Terry Siller was reducing it. 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:33.960 I just remember like I couldn't even the words like 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:35.480 couldn't even come out of my mouth. 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:39.360 I'm like, she'd scored. There's a bucket. 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:45.800 And the guy who really mentored me and was awesome 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:47.720 was Marv Albert Talker. 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:49.280 From Free Yes. 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:52.320 The phone unbelievable. 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:55.560 I would you know back in the day, you know, 0:10:55.720 --> 0:10:59.720 send Marv my tape, my little practice game, some practice games, 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:02.120 and then we would get on the phone and he 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:03.360 would give me pointers. 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:09.240 But I mean, honestly, it was terrifying. Didn't be good 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:11.559 for making things happen. You've got to come up on 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:14.640 an all game launch. She was either scored points in the. 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:16.880 Bank, she penetrates becaushes off. 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:19.400 For her teammates. You can't say she's just a score. 0:11:20.000 --> 0:11:22.120 Well, I was working for ESPN, I was doing the 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:24.520 Women's Final four, and I was doing other than broadcasts 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:28.080 on the ninety five team. So when NBC came to 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:31.600 me to do the broadcast, I was a little hesitant 0:11:31.640 --> 0:11:36.480 because I was committed to ESPN. But NBC came in strong, 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:40.520 and they came in quick, and they said, we've six 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:44.360 year deal and we were going. And NBC was still 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:46.880 really kind of being a network, was really kind of 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:49.640 the top of being able to work for, you know, 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:53.240 a network like that. And so I'd like to think 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:55.000 that I meant offenses because I did come back and 0:11:55.080 --> 0:11:56.040 work for ESPN. 0:11:56.880 --> 0:12:00.800 So you had worked with, among other people, the great 0:12:00.880 --> 0:12:04.280 Keith Jackson. So you worked with the greatest, one of 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:07.440 one of the very greatest of all time, and then 0:12:07.640 --> 0:12:12.720 you have to work with me totally inexperience, had never 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:17.040 called play by play. Doris Burke helped me, do you 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:20.080 know a few practice games Marv Albert helped me, do 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:22.120 you know, gave me some pointers and stuff. 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:25.480 But I had never done it before in my life. 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:27.360 You had good connections. 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:30.680 I mean I was terrified. I got an ulcer that summer. 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:32.880 Well, remember we had to do that. We had to 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:35.560 do that practice gig. We had that practice game. It 0:12:35.640 --> 0:12:38.920 was Anna game was a Milwaukee and I can't remember 0:12:38.920 --> 0:12:40.840 who it was, but that was our first you know, 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:42.599 we had to get our timing together. We didn't know 0:12:42.679 --> 0:12:45.199 each other, I mean, you know, and it was hard 0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:48.120 and certainly not knowing the players, which I knew the 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:51.240 players because I've seen them a long plays since they 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:55.200 were eighteen years old. And but yeah, we I thought 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:56.120 we had a good connection. 0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:57.280 It's so exciting. 0:12:57.320 --> 0:12:59.600 Hi, everybody had a storm, joined by Hall of Famer 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:03.679 and and unfortunately the biggest star here in Los Angeles 0:13:03.800 --> 0:13:05.840 as a woman who grew up just blocked away from 0:13:05.840 --> 0:13:08.680 the great Western form and start at USC, Lisa Leslie. 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:10.360 As we saw last week. 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:14.040 Following the success of the We Got Next campaign, came 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:18.120 the league's two drafts. The first was an elite draft. 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:23.199 Every city needs a franchise player Swoops again, Cheryl Swoops, 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:26.160 who grew up in Texas and starred at Texas Tech 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:31.959 went to Houston. Lobo, Rebecca Lobo, who starred at Yukon, 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:33.280 went to New York. 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:36.640 Leslie from That's a Tour was on. 0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:39.720 Lisa Leslie, who grew up in Compton and start at 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:46.040 usc was a natural fit for LA. There were two 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:48.680 drafts also before that first season, because you had to 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:51.320 figure out how to put this league together. So you 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:55.680 have an elite draft, the purpose sending a player who 0:13:55.800 --> 0:13:58.400 might be a regional star to a city. So you 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:01.360 have Cheryl Swoops in Houston, Rebecca Lobo in New York, 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:04.160 and Lisa Leslian La, all of which make a lot 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:07.200 of sense. And then you have a draft for college 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:09.199 players and unsigned veterans. 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:12.040 So that was a really interesting. 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:13.280 Process, and I'm wondering what it was like for you 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:16.640 announcing Tina Thompson a usc AS that first number one 0:14:16.720 --> 0:14:20.160 college pick two percent data. 0:14:23.440 --> 0:14:25.480 Well, we're glad she came with us because we were 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:28.160 in effect competing with players at that point with the 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:33.000 American Basketball League the ABL, they were not as resourced 0:14:33.040 --> 0:14:36.200 as we were. They played in the Winner, they came 0:14:36.240 --> 0:14:38.760 out with very high player salaries, which in the end 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:41.200 they couldn't support and so they ended up folding I 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:44.320 think after their second season or so, and those players 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:47.600 then came into the WNBA. But Tina, you know, Tina 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:50.120 elected to come with us. She was, of course a 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:55.200 Hall of Famer during her amazing career, with the comments. 0:14:54.000 --> 0:14:57.840 Tina Thompson the MVP, the stars are out tonight. 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:01.920 She joined two other super stars in Cynthia Cooper and 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:02.640 Cheryl Swoops. 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:06.520 Swoop was inching toward the first ever w NBA playoff 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:07.400 triple double. 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:10.720 Oh you are the best in the world, Cheryl. 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:11.880 Right side. 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:14.840 We had eight teams. We knew more about women's basketball 0:15:14.880 --> 0:15:17.400 than our teams did, so we took a lot of 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:20.960 liberties here in sort of spreading it around. So we 0:15:21.000 --> 0:15:24.840 took the best sixteen players of the time, which we thought, 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:27.520 in our opinion, assigned two to each of the eight teams. 0:15:27.520 --> 0:15:30.880 And that that was how Houston got Cheryl and Cynthia. 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:31.560 That was on us. 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:32.360 We blew it. 0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:34.880 We didn't realize how good Cynthia Cooper was. 0:15:36.040 --> 0:15:37.400 Cooper driving the land. 0:15:42.920 --> 0:15:46.040 Then they won more consecutive championship. Oh my gosh, we 0:15:46.160 --> 0:15:47.200 created a dynasty. 0:15:47.280 --> 0:15:49.520 We created a dynasty, and you know, Cheryl, we put 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:53.280 in Texas because that was a marketing decision, sure. And 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:57.000 then the Elite Draft, which which you noted, was our 0:15:57.080 --> 0:16:00.360 second tier, where we then found what we thought were 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:02.680 the next sixteen best players and put them in like 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:05.400 a pool. And then we filled out the rest of 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:08.800 the rosters with again the college draft and everybody else. 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:12.000 So we just we needed to stock the teams to 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:15.400 get it going. And then after that it became more 0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:19.240 normal in terms of the draft every year, et cetera. 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:24.040 But it took a while because of how bargaining unfolded 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:26.840 with the players to really get it to a point 0:16:26.880 --> 0:16:29.320 now where it looks more like what you see in 0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:32.680 men's sports, with the draft, with free agency, with players 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:37.400 filling their contract obligations, having opportunities under certain circumstances to 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:41.280 switch teams. But those early you know, those early teams, 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:45.160 we had some amazing women, great pioneers, eventually hall of 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:50.800 famers women's basketball and Nasmithenix tron. 0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:52.200 To secure a postseason spot. 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:54.480 Now scoops to the left hand on the pump bags 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:58.360 field off the Commets with the league's first dynasty, and 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:01.440 the sports world much as me of a three peet 0:17:01.640 --> 0:17:05.879 and the comments would eventually win four championships in a row. 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:09.679 Cutting in through the hold. Nobody would be. 0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:14.360 A new They were the conference rivals of Rebecca Lobo's 0:17:14.440 --> 0:17:17.360 New York Liberty in the East. 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:20.199 The point he gets on board back and Lowbo will 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:21.000 lay that right. 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:25.600 In along with the Charlotte Sting and Cleveland Rockers. You 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:28.480 obviously you were one of the faces of the new League. 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:32.680 So you know, you've always had a lot of responsibility. 0:17:32.800 --> 0:17:35.520 You had, you know, a lot of pressure on you. 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:39.000 Or was it more fun or did you feel like, 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:42.560 dang man, I better deliver. Here they are they are 0:17:42.640 --> 0:17:45.040 making me one of the most prominent faces. 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:47.520 And also in the New York market, it. 0:17:47.440 --> 0:17:50.159 Was more fun than it was anything else because of 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:52.960 course this was also before social media and everything, so 0:17:53.040 --> 0:17:56.160 it's not like there was constant negativity being thrown into 0:17:56.160 --> 0:17:59.919 your pocket by Joe Schmoe from wherever, and so like, 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:02.160 you know, we're getting to go to NBA All Star. 0:18:02.240 --> 0:18:03.520 We went to NBA All Star I think it was 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:06.240 in San Antonio, maybe that was ninety five with the 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:09.000 Olympic team, but we were at a couple you know, 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:11.199 NBA All Star weekends and we were also going to 0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:13.960 the parties at Planet Hollywood or wherever they were on 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:15.960 those things. All of a sudden, you find yourself in 0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:18.160 a room and you're like, you know, ten yards from 0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:21.919 Arnold Schwarzenegger or Bruce Willis or like other who were 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:24.600 at a time a list like people that you're watching 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:27.119 in the movies. And so that part of it was 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:30.200 really fun, and getting to go to NBA events and 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:33.280 parties and just being involved in things. And then when 0:18:33.280 --> 0:18:36.919 they started announcing, you know, allocations and drafts, I'm like, oh, 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:39.280 I've got some teammates. Now I've got Teresa Weatherspoon and 0:18:39.359 --> 0:18:42.600 Vicki Johnson and Sue Wix, Like, oh, this is cool. 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:45.840 It's starting to come together. Once training camps started, once 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:49.000 the season started, the city has so much to offer, 0:18:49.160 --> 0:18:51.639 and you know, there'd be different events again, and like, 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:53.439 all of a sudden, Spoon and I are invited to 0:18:53.480 --> 0:18:55.280 go and be at this event where there's all these 0:18:55.640 --> 0:18:58.160 professional athletes and actors and whatever. Else. 0:19:00.440 --> 0:19:04.280 In the West, it was the Los Angeles Sparks, Phoenix Mercury, 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:07.280 Sacramento Monarchs, and Utah Stars. 0:19:08.040 --> 0:19:10.080 At NBC, it was our job to. 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:14.199 Introduce sports fans to the faces of the new league Annie, 0:19:14.440 --> 0:19:18.639 Lisa and I interviewed players for profiles to run at halftime, 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:23.320 doing whatever we could to engage fans, and. 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:24.960 We all thought it was important, all of. 0:19:24.960 --> 0:19:27.919 Us, I think, right that we needed to let the 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:31.679 audience know who these incredible women are. And that's the 0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:36.240 purpose of profile type storytelling in general, which started, you know, 0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:38.679 at the Olympics, and then I wanted to bring that 0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:41.840 over into the WNBA because they were you know, yes, 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:45.880 Rebecca Lobo and Lisa Leslie and Charles Soopster household names, 0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:48.560 but not everybody else. Like and I remember the first 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:51.000 game because we were doing the New York Liberty at 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:54.760 the Sparks, I went to Europe to shoot with Teresa. 0:19:54.520 --> 0:20:02.520 Weatherskinol Theresa Wellstreet because you're for that first half time piece. 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:05.080 She was in Lake Cmo playing you know, Italian ball, 0:20:05.640 --> 0:20:08.520 and and she she's now coaching in the w n 0:20:08.560 --> 0:20:10.640 b A, And it was important for us to have 0:20:10.680 --> 0:20:13.119 even for you know, for you to be doing interviews 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:15.960 with some of these players prior to so in addition 0:20:16.080 --> 0:20:19.960 to your play by play, you worked in seamlessly you know, 0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:23.600 little anecdotal stories about each player and some of the rivals, 0:20:23.640 --> 0:20:25.840 and you know some of the players who played against 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:28.400 each other in college, knowing all that, which seems second 0:20:28.520 --> 0:20:29.200 nature now. 0:20:29.760 --> 0:20:32.680 In some cases, the stories wrote themselves. 0:20:32.720 --> 0:20:34.880 Which's the advanced pass for three hits? 0:20:36.480 --> 0:20:37.320 She's got ten. 0:20:37.200 --> 0:20:37.640 Of the game. 0:20:37.720 --> 0:20:40.600 And Cheryl Swoops is one of the one of the 0:20:40.600 --> 0:20:43.240 main stars. She's in that we got next campaign. She 0:20:43.400 --> 0:20:48.320 is all over everything promoting the league, and she's pregnant 0:20:48.800 --> 0:20:52.879 and she is not going to play for a while. 0:20:53.080 --> 0:20:55.919 I think she came back a lot earlier than you know. 0:20:56.240 --> 0:20:58.840 She's pretty superhuman and actually came back to play that 0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:03.160 first year. But that was probably a very, I'm imagining, 0:21:03.440 --> 0:21:06.720 you know, an interesting element to deal with as you 0:21:06.800 --> 0:21:08.280