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Speaker 1: Full Circle is an iheartwomen's sports production and partnership with

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Speaker 1: Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on

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Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, everybody,

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Speaker 1: hig good, Morntane. So exciting to get to talk to

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Speaker 1: Lexi in front of people. Usually it's just us too,

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Speaker 1: the riverside and the dream.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the other side in the house. So this is

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Speaker 2: always fun. What is this our third third live show? Yes, yes,

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Speaker 2: season one, So that's really exciting. I know a lot

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Speaker 2: of people aren't able to share their stories and their

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Speaker 2: thoughts in front of like a live audience. I mean,

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Speaker 2: we're always so grateful to have these opportunities, but we

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Speaker 2: are also talking to our loyal listeners, so let's get

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Speaker 2: into it.

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Speaker 3: Yeah for sure.

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Speaker 1: Since we're speaking in front of a bit of a

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Speaker 1: new crowd, I want to start by giving sort of

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Speaker 1: a background about me and Lexi and why we started

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Speaker 1: the show. To begin with Lexi as if you need

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Speaker 1: any introduction again to our listeners, but tell the people

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Speaker 1: a little bit about what you do.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: So I'm Alexi Brown. I currently play in the WNBA

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Speaker 2: for the Seattle Storm. I just finished my eighth season

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Speaker 2: in the w which is absolutely incredible. I did not

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Speaker 2: even think I was going to make it to year eight, So,

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Speaker 2: you know, being able to say that I finished my

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Speaker 2: eighth season is such a blessing.

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Speaker 3: Oh oh, thanks, guys, thank you.

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Speaker 2: I got into the media space probably a few years ago.

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Speaker 2: I have been a recurring guest on Gil's Arena with

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Speaker 2: Gilbert Arenas and company, talking all things NBA and a

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Speaker 2: little bit of WNBA and being in that space, it

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Speaker 2: kind of made me realize that there weren't really many

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Speaker 2: spaces like that, just specifically for women's basketball on the WNBA.

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Speaker 2: So having that opportunity, having that experience talking to those

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Speaker 2: guys picking their brains. You know, Gil is a marketing genius,

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Speaker 2: like I just learned so much from him, and it

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Speaker 2: just inspired me to create my own space for women's

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Speaker 2: basketball is safe space, a place where we can just

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Speaker 2: talk hoop very candidly but also very respectfully. And I

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Speaker 2: had to bring on my girl Mariah, who's doing her

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Speaker 2: own amazing things, and I'll let her get into that

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Speaker 2: because she's I will say she was one of the

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Speaker 2: first creators on socials to really talk about women's basketball

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Speaker 2: very unapologetically, and I've always appreciated that about her, so

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Speaker 2: I've definitely had to bring her onto this journey with me,

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Speaker 2: so let them know, like, what everything, all of the

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Speaker 2: things that you do amazing.

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Speaker 1: I am Mariah. I'm a professional sports fan. Essentially, I

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Speaker 1: explained sports primarily for women, and so my social media

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Speaker 1: is basically a space that the girls, the gays, whoever

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Speaker 1: you are can come to my space and learn about

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Speaker 1: what's going on in the sports world. And as the

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Speaker 1: WBA has been having this meteorc rise, once I picked

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Speaker 1: up on that happening, I was like, I have to

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Speaker 1: talk about this and kind of introduce my audience to

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Speaker 1: the players, teams, the lore, the drama, the storylines, what's

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Speaker 1: going on on and off the court, so they can

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Speaker 1: really get to know these incredible women like Lexi and

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Speaker 1: their stories and amplify the things that I'm hearing in

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Speaker 1: the background from these players and people in media that

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Speaker 1: aren't typically being talked about. So it's also really special

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Speaker 1: to get to have this platform where me and Lexi

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Speaker 1: get to have creative freedom and talk about women's basketball

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Speaker 1: exclusively in a way that's focused on what's going on

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Speaker 1: on the court and it's just been a special journey.

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Speaker 1: So speaking of the growth of women's sports, though, I

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Speaker 1: want to start by talking about the growth of the

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Speaker 1: WNBA LEXI from your perspective, why do you feel that

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Speaker 1: the league has grown so much?

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Speaker 3: So many reasons.

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Speaker 2: I got drafted in twenty eighteen, and in twenty eighteen,

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Speaker 2: the landscape for women's sports looked so different than it

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Speaker 2: does now. And to be able to still be a

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Speaker 2: part of the league during this you know, momentum shifting

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Speaker 2: time is such a blessing. I remember getting drafted in

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Speaker 2: you know, so having conversations teams were having conversations with

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Speaker 2: my college coaches about how my social media I was

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Speaker 2: on social.

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Speaker 3: Media too much.

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Speaker 2: I was posting pictures too much, I had a YouTube

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Speaker 2: channel started.

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Speaker 3: They didn't really like that.

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Speaker 2: So seeing the shift of that conversation to like now,

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Speaker 2: it's like, if you're not posting enough, if you're not blogging,

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Speaker 2: if you're not giving people in our fans like an

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Speaker 2: inside look of your day to day life, like you're

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Speaker 2: kind of falling behind. So for me getting drafted, I

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Speaker 2: continue to post, I continue to make my vlogs, and

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Speaker 2: it you know, it was a little problematic for me

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Speaker 2: at the beginning, not gonna lie, but it was something

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Speaker 2: that I was really confident in and I saw, you know,

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Speaker 2: the vision. I saw the future of what women's sports

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Speaker 2: could be and what it was going to be.

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Speaker 3: I remember.

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Speaker 2: Our bubble season actually in twenty twenty, I v blogged

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Speaker 2: the entire thing. It's still up if you guys want

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Speaker 2: to go see what that was. Like. We always talk

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Speaker 2: about we're all trauma bonded for life through that because

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Speaker 2: it was such a crazy experience. But you know, that

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Speaker 2: was just something that I've always been super passionate about.

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Speaker 2: So to see so many other players being authentically themselves,

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Speaker 2: I will say, like the WNBA and college like they

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Speaker 2: were gatekeeping us from the world, I felt like, and

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Speaker 2: I think they knew what I knew they were doing

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Speaker 2: on purpose, because look at what's happening now, Like now

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Speaker 2: everybody wants a piece of the w Everyone wants a

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Speaker 2: piece of women's sports. So I'm just glad that the

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Speaker 2: floodgates have now opened and now we're on a path,

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Speaker 2: like we can't go backwards now.

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Speaker 1: The moment that always sticks out in my mind as Okay,

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Speaker 1: this is different is obviously this if you watch one's

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Speaker 1: basketball you know what I'm talking about, And if you're

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Speaker 1: listening on audio, the Angelry Spring lsu Iowa that whole era.

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Speaker 1: It was something shifted when that happened, and in good

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Speaker 1: and bad ways. But I think to speak on what

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Speaker 1: you were saying, we noticed that it shifted from just okay,

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Speaker 1: these are talented basketball players, which it seemed like the

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Speaker 1: universities and the league alike wanted to keep you guys

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Speaker 1: at that level. At these are athletes. We see them

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Speaker 1: as athletes. We don't like the Instagram all that extra stuf.

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Speaker 1: But then when we see a moment like that, it

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Speaker 1: shows that people like that extra stuff. People want to

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Speaker 1: see Angel Reese be Angel Reese. And as that has

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Speaker 1: grown into Walking Victoria's Secret and Caitlin and Gatorade commercials

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Speaker 1: and State Farmed. I mean, they turned the marshal maadness

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Speaker 1: into a marketing masterclass. They're in every commercial we talk

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Speaker 1: about all the time. People want to see that personality.

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Speaker 1: It's why people love sports outside of just the games.

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Speaker 1: But that's that extra thing that makes it special. And

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Speaker 1: I'm not even like no shade, but women just do

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Speaker 1: that differently yeah than the boys do.

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Speaker 2: I mean I think that even the COVID year, when

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Speaker 2: everybody was at home, everyone was on socials. I think

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Speaker 2: that was also a major shift as far as marketability.

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Speaker 2: I just feel like women, we just do social media

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Speaker 2: better than.

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Speaker 3: Our male counterparts.

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Speaker 2: And that's no disrespect to them, Like that's just something

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Speaker 2: that they simply don't have to worry about.

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Speaker 3: As pro athletes, they literally make.

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Speaker 2: Their millions of dollars playing their sport, and if they

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Speaker 2: don't feel like doing anything off the court, typically they

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Speaker 2: don't have to. For us, it's flip flopped, like, if

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Speaker 2: you want to make a good living for yourself, you

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Speaker 2: have to be you have to have seven thousand hats on.

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Speaker 3: And for me, someone that.

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Speaker 2: Loves to work and loves to have so many different

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Speaker 2: interests and hobbies for me like, okay, that's cool.

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Speaker 3: I would love to do that.

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Speaker 2: But I know a ton of players who are like

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Speaker 2: I wish I could just play basketball for a living

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Speaker 2: in mind my business and go to the gym and

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Speaker 2: go home. And I'm hoping that in the future that

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Speaker 2: will be a possibility. And you know, that's one of

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Speaker 2: the biggest things with even with our CBA negotiations, we

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Speaker 2: want to have that opportunity for women to be able

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Speaker 2: to just focus on their craft, focus on their game,

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Speaker 2: but also build their own personal brands, but not having

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Speaker 2: to feel like it's you know, do or die, Like

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Speaker 2: if I don't get this Brandy, if I don't get

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Speaker 2: the sponsorship, I'm not going to be able to live

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Speaker 2: somewhere in the off season. I'm gonna have to go

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Speaker 2: get a job somewhere else in the off season. I

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Speaker 2: don't have to go overseas in the off season. So

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Speaker 2: being able to have so many more of those opportunities now,

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Speaker 2: and that's what we're fighting for with our current negotiations.

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Speaker 3: I'm really excited.

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Speaker 2: I mean, it's not hasn't been an easy battle at all.

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Speaker 2: Like I think we knew it was going to be hard,

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Speaker 2: but not this hard.

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Speaker 3: We didn't know that the league.

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Speaker 2: Was going to push back so hard on giving us

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Speaker 2: a fair share.

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Speaker 3: Of what we rightfully deserve. But we're getting there.

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Speaker 2: I mean, I think, you know, the conversations are moving

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Speaker 2: in the positive direction, but that's because of the growth

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Speaker 2: of you know, our support, the marketing dollars, the investment

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Speaker 2: from ownership groups, from companies, from brands. You know, it's

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Speaker 2: just night and day from when my rookie year to now, Like,

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Speaker 2: I honestly just can't believe how much has changed.

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Speaker 1: A lot has changed, but I feel like the play

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Speaker 1: on the court, as far as the physicality and the

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Speaker 1: way y'all get down, hasn't changed much. But the thing

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Speaker 1: that has really shifted is the media perspective and the

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Speaker 1: media attention. Brands like you spoke about how has because

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Speaker 1: you've been in leave for eight years, how has the

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Speaker 1: media specifically changed since this whole rise.

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Speaker 3: I mean, it's night and day.

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Speaker 2: I remember being in college and they had all ten

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Speaker 2: of the current tournament games on one channel, and you

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Speaker 2: had they like rotated them around or it was very

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Speaker 2: really based. You can only watch the games that were

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Speaker 2: near where you were living. And now every tournament game

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Speaker 2: is on a different channel. And I was just in

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Speaker 2: college in twenty seventeen eighteen, and like we were fighting

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Speaker 2: for our lives to get any type of coverage during

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Speaker 2: March matters during the tournament. I also think that now.

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Speaker 2: I mean, I feel like last year we always talked

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Speaker 2: about on our show the coverage.

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Speaker 3: Of the WNBA.

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Speaker 2: Yes, it was a lot, but we always called it

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Speaker 2: extremely irresponsible for the most part, which was another reason

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Speaker 2: why we were so adamant of starting the show as

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Speaker 2: soon as we could.

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Speaker 3: And I think even this.

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Speaker 2: Year, I felt like the coverage like it wasn't as

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Speaker 2: much as it was last season, And even this year,

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Speaker 2: I felt like there had moments of a lot of

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Speaker 2: irresponsible coverage because there wasn't any ridiculous narratives and drama

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Speaker 2: and storylines. But for some reason, it's very hard for

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Speaker 2: these platforms, for these networks like ESPN to just talk

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Speaker 2: about what is going on in the games because we

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Speaker 2: played basketball at a very high level, and I feel

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Speaker 2: like that is the respect that we're missing from those

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Speaker 2: larger platforms, which is why it was so important for

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Speaker 2: me and Mariah to take this time to use our

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Speaker 2: platform to cover the w BA responsibly. And I feel

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Speaker 2: like we still have a long way to go. But

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Speaker 2: I mean, I'm so grateful for iHeart for bringing this

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Speaker 2: opportunity to us because I think we still are like

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Speaker 2: one of the only ones doing this, So I'm like

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Speaker 2: really proud of us for that.

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Speaker 3: And we've been renewed for a season two, so we're

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Speaker 3: really excited about that.

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Speaker 2: So the cover is just going to continue, and yeah,

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Speaker 2: I just feel like we still have a long way

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Speaker 2: to go.

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Speaker 3: But we have also come such a long way.

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Speaker 1: It's fascinating how storylines drive sports and marketing in a

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Speaker 1: way like I was talking about earlier with the ring moment,

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Speaker 1: But I'm curious as a player, how in locker rooms

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Speaker 1: you guys talk about this idea of we could be

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Speaker 1: doing everything on the court and people want drama. Like

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Speaker 1: people want drama, And in a way you spoke about

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Speaker 1: how as a player, doing all those things off the

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Speaker 1: court and having those narratives around you might benefit you

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Speaker 1: in the way of like building your brand off the court.

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Speaker 1: But is it annoying that it's like, I'm working so

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Speaker 1: hard in practice day in and day out. I'm up

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Speaker 1: at six, I'm eating healthy, I'm at pilates, I'm doing

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Speaker 1: all these things to be a better player, and at

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Speaker 1: the end of the day, people they want it seems

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Speaker 1: like they want drama.

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Speaker 3: Right, No, that's exactly right.

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Speaker 2: But I feel like that is also the amazing thing

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Speaker 2: about the personal branding.

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Speaker 3: Aspect of it.

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Speaker 2: And I think that is the biggest difference between women's

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Speaker 2: sports and men's sports, and I think that is like

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Speaker 2: the next level to the WNBA reaching this like mountain

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Speaker 2: top of success and marketability is marrying these players individual

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Speaker 2: fan bases, because these players have massive individual fan bases,

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Speaker 2: and then the organizations our fan bases are very like

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Speaker 2: fickle one because rosters are changed so much. There's not

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Speaker 2: really any stability in a lot of rosters, especially the

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Speaker 2: last few years, which is annoying because this is when

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Speaker 2: we've had the influx of the most fans, and fans

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Speaker 2: are like confused and can't keep up, like this player

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Speaker 2: was on this team last week and now they're on

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Speaker 2: this team playing in the playoffs, but they were just

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Speaker 2: on they were just at home.

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Speaker 3: Why are they on the team.

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Speaker 2: So it was like a little confusing for fans, and

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Speaker 2: then also a lot of us having to go overseas.

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Speaker 2: You know, we kind of fall off the face of

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Speaker 2: the planet for a few months, and then we come

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Speaker 2: back and we're like, hey, fans, like we missed y'all

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Speaker 2: for six months, and our fans have already gone and

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Speaker 2: found a new player to cheer four or a new

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Speaker 2: team to cheer four. So finding a way to marry

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Speaker 2: these really amazing individual fan bases that these players are

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Speaker 2: coming from college and with like I've never seen anything

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Speaker 2: like it. And then you know, these diehard WNBA fans

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Speaker 2: that havegate kept us. You know, we talk about all

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Speaker 2: the time as well, like the old fans versus the

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Speaker 2: new fans. They kind of like are always going at

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Speaker 2: it because the new fans don't really know much about

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Speaker 2: the w and the old fans are like, well, we've

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Speaker 2: been here for twenty years and y'all are just now coming. Well, yeah,

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Speaker 2: we need to welcome everybody with open arms. And another

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Speaker 2: thing that we do on our show is make the

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Speaker 2: game in our league very digestible for everybody, so everybody

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Speaker 2: can enjoy it without us making someone feel dumb or

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Speaker 2: anything like that for not maybe understanding certain aspects of

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Speaker 2: the women's game. So just being able to marry those

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Speaker 2: two things together. I think with this new CBA and

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Speaker 2: you know, everybody being a free agent, hopefully players are

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Speaker 2: going to start signing multi year contracts. People have been

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Speaker 2: signing one to two year deals for the last few years,

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Speaker 2: so it's been hard to you know, build teams and

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Speaker 2: things to support, which is why I think the Las

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Speaker 2: Vegas Aces have found so much success in the last

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Speaker 2: few years because they're one of the few teams that

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Speaker 2: are able to keep their core together over multiple years,

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Speaker 2: which is why They've won three out of the last

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Speaker 2: four championships. If we're looking at a blueprint of how

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Speaker 2: a team should be ran, how organizations should be ran,

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Speaker 2: how ownership should invest in their players, the Aces are

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Speaker 2: number one on the list for sure.

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Speaker 1: You brought up going overseas to play, and I think

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Speaker 1: a lot of people aren't aware of how much that

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Speaker 1: affects the dynamics of the league because it's like, we're

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Speaker 1: all going to separate countries during the offseason. It's not

306
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Speaker 1: the NBA where they're playing pick up together and Jimmy

307
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Speaker 1: Butler's inviting everybody over to his house for like that

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Speaker 1: doesn't happen because it's like, my homegirl is in Russia,

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Speaker 1: my homegirls in China.

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Speaker 3: Like, we can't really like that. Zoom were on FaceTime, Right.

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Speaker 1: What's the importance of these off season leagues because this

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Speaker 1: is a new thing relatively. You're playing Athletes unlimited, so

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Speaker 1: speak a little to that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So I've been playing in Athletes Unlimited for four years.

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Speaker 2: I'm about to start my fifth season and I know

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Speaker 2: you guys all probably no one rivaled which started last year,

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Speaker 2: which has been amazing. It's been an opportunity for us

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Speaker 2: to just stay home during the off season and still

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Speaker 2: play basketball, work on our craft, and ultimately build relationships

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Speaker 2: with other players that we typically wouldn't have the opportunity

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Speaker 2: to because we're all jetting off to different countries or

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Speaker 2: doing coaching jobs, or at home with their families and

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Speaker 2: things like that. Also, I was talking to Ry about

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Speaker 2: this earlier. It's showing fans that, like, we all really

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Speaker 2: are like a big giant family, and I think that's

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Speaker 2: also something that had been missing in the WNBA, which

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Speaker 2: is why when all these new fans and came to

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Speaker 2: watch and saw how hard and physical our game was,

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Speaker 2: they were like, do all these girls hate each other?

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Speaker 2: Like why are they playing like this? Why are they

331
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Speaker 2: playing so hard? And that was not the case at all.

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Speaker 2: We just are really passionate about this game, and we're

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Speaker 2: still fighting for the equity, that inequality that we rightfully

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Speaker 2: deserve as women athletes. So we come out there and

335
00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:21,120
Speaker 2: leave it all on the floor every single night. But

336
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Speaker 2: then when the game's over and the season ends, everybody

337
00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:26,080
Speaker 2: just goes their separate ways and you have to, you know,

338
00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:29,120
Speaker 2: reconvene six months later after being a superstar and whatever

339
00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:32,560
Speaker 2: team you're on now, you have twelve superstars feeling really

340
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Speaker 2: good about themselves, trying to come into one place and

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Speaker 2: win a championship after we haven't seen each other in

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Speaker 2: six months.

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Speaker 3: And that's just a hard way to win.

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Speaker 2: It's a hard way to you know, build an organization

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Speaker 2: and long term success. I think Athletes Unlimited, the Jonathans

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Speaker 2: who are our co founders.

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Speaker 3: If you okay, let me, let me step back.

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Speaker 2: Athletes ulimited as a network of women's sports leagues. We

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Speaker 2: have basketball, we have volleyball, we have softball, and basketball

350
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Speaker 2: was the last league added to the family of sports.

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Speaker 3: And basically they just went all in.

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Speaker 2: On women's sports before it was the cool thing to do,

353
00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:11,480
Speaker 2: before anybody else was doing it. Our first season was

354
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Speaker 2: in twenty twenty two, and every single year it's just

355
00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:16,920
Speaker 2: grown a little bit more, a little bit more. We've

356
00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:20,080
Speaker 2: gotten more talented players every single year. It's a forty

357
00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:23,200
Speaker 2: player roster and there's one winner at the end. I

358
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Speaker 2: won't get into the details of the leader board and

359
00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:26,320
Speaker 2: the rules.

360
00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:28,680
Speaker 3: It's a little bit complicated. I will probably have.

361
00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:31,040
Speaker 2: An episode dedicated just at leat it's a limited one

362
00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:33,360
Speaker 2: day just everybody can get on the same phage with it.

363
00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:37,600
Speaker 2: But we have, you know, a mixture of veterans, We

364
00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:39,760
Speaker 2: have a mixture of rookies. We have some people that

365
00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:42,000
Speaker 2: just have played strictly overseas.

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Speaker 3: We have a beautiful mix of players.

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Speaker 2: And to be able to have the opportunity state side,

368
00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:50,640
Speaker 2: families and friends can come watch us. It's been amazing

369
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Speaker 2: and it's been career changing for me and career changing.

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Speaker 3: For a lot of other players as well. And you

371
00:16:56,520 --> 00:16:58,120
Speaker 3: came to a game. Yeah, no, I didn't come to

372
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Speaker 3: a game. I can't come again. She came to Nashville.

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00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:02,800
Speaker 3: Hasn't come to a game yet, But no, we had

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Speaker 3: a game. We didn't have games yet. But Maria will

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00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:05,879
Speaker 3: be coming. She will be pulling up.

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Speaker 2: And if you guys have a chance to make it

377
00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:10,040
Speaker 2: to Nashville, it's all through February.

378
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Speaker 3: You guys will have a great time. I promise. It's

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00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:13,600
Speaker 3: it's it's it's really it's really fun.

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Speaker 1: Why Nashville, Like what's the women's swarts landscape?

381
00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:20,359
Speaker 2: Like in Nashville they are thirsty for a women's basketball team, Like,

382
00:17:20,600 --> 00:17:24,359
Speaker 2: oh my gosh. So they actually came to us asking

383
00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:28,040
Speaker 2: if we wanted to relocate athletes unlimited to Nashville. We

384
00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:31,040
Speaker 2: played our first season in Las Vegas, played two seasons

385
00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:33,399
Speaker 2: in Dallas, and after our second year in Dallas, we

386
00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:35,840
Speaker 2: felt like we needed to be in a marketplace that

387
00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:40,000
Speaker 2: was more supportive of women's basketball. Not saying that Dallas

388
00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:42,360
Speaker 2: was the worst place ever, but you know, we were

389
00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:45,919
Speaker 2: competing against some universities. The Dallas Wings were there, the

390
00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:48,359
Speaker 2: Mavericks were in season during our season, so we didn't

391
00:17:48,359 --> 00:17:50,640
Speaker 2: feel like we got the whole city behind us.

392
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Speaker 3: And now here comes Nashville.

393
00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:54,840
Speaker 2: And when I tell you the whole city is behind us,

394
00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:56,680
Speaker 2: the whole city is behind us. I was just there

395
00:17:56,840 --> 00:17:59,160
Speaker 2: for a few days right before I came here, and

396
00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,679
Speaker 2: the love, support, the investment that Nashville has shown for

397
00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:06,320
Speaker 2: us from year one to year two has been absolutely unbelievable.

398
00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:10,080
Speaker 2: They put in a bid for WNBA team the Tennessee Summit.

399
00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:12,360
Speaker 2: They want that, they want that bad, but they are

400
00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:15,160
Speaker 2: They love us, They love sports. Like I know, Nashville

401
00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:17,280
Speaker 2: is known for music, it's music city, but like that

402
00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:20,080
Speaker 2: is a big sports town. So we're really excited to

403
00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:23,560
Speaker 2: be the only women's professional women's basketball team in Nashville.

404
00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:25,520
Speaker 2: We're hoping that in the future a w team can

405
00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:28,160
Speaker 2: get there. But they love us there like they love

406
00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:28,640
Speaker 2: us down.

407
00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:31,200
Speaker 1: We've been talking about the expansion teams a lot, me

408
00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:34,720
Speaker 1: and Lexi and the cities and who would be first

409
00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:37,399
Speaker 1: to win a championship and whatnot. Do you think Nashville

410
00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:38,520
Speaker 1: needs to be up on that list?

411
00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:40,600
Speaker 2: I think so we were talking, we were talking to

412
00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:44,959
Speaker 2: some of the investors and leadership in Nashville and we

413
00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:46,720
Speaker 2: were talking about, like there's no teams in the South,

414
00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:50,160
Speaker 2: just the dream and it's very weird, why but there

415
00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:52,000
Speaker 2: are no WNBA teams in the South.

416
00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:54,120
Speaker 3: I think Florida needs one.

417
00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:57,240
Speaker 2: I think I mean, the Charlotte Sting was a team,

418
00:18:57,320 --> 00:18:59,480
Speaker 2: the Orlando Miracle was a team, the Miami Soul was

419
00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:02,399
Speaker 2: a team. Like the teams have been there. We need

420
00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:04,480
Speaker 2: to bring one of those back. But I think having

421
00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:06,760
Speaker 2: a team in Nashville would be amazing. That the support

422
00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:09,520
Speaker 2: that we've had the last two seasons. I'm really excited

423
00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:14,040
Speaker 2: for this season. Like they they are definitely investing in

424
00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:15,960
Speaker 2: women's sports in a big way. And I'm just really

425
00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:18,440
Speaker 2: grateful that we made that leap to go to Nashville

426
00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:20,520
Speaker 2: because it was very it was like unshouted to it,

427
00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:22,840
Speaker 2: or there's no women's pro teams there, so we were like,

428
00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:24,639
Speaker 2: is this really like they do music?

429
00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:26,600
Speaker 3: They do country music, Like, we don't want to go there,

430
00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:27,360
Speaker 3: but they've.

431
00:19:27,119 --> 00:19:30,840
Speaker 2: Been actually the most amazing thing and we're really excited

432
00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:31,960
Speaker 2: for season two in Nashville.

433
00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:35,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, I looking into the new teams and all of

434
00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:38,080
Speaker 1: the places that I feel like need teams and want teams.

435
00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:40,800
Speaker 1: I trust the fans because the fans in each of

436
00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:42,440
Speaker 1: those cities are like, we want a team, we want

437
00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:44,600
Speaker 1: a team. It's ownership.

438
00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:45,960
Speaker 3: I'm more worried about that.

439
00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:49,919
Speaker 1: The people who choose to become owners of WNBA teams

440
00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:54,040
Speaker 1: are people who want to actually be invested in the WNBA.

441
00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:58,240
Speaker 1: And that brings me to our CBA conversation. Could you

442
00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:00,679
Speaker 1: give a little bit of background because you are directly

443
00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:04,800
Speaker 1: involved in these conversations about the collective Bargaining Agreement and

444
00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:05,760
Speaker 1: what that means.

445
00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:08,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, So for those that don't know what the Collective

446
00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:12,440
Speaker 2: Bargaining Agreement, it's basically like the law of the WNBA

447
00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:18,679
Speaker 2: as far as salaries, housing, health benefits, transportation, Like every

448
00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:21,280
Speaker 2: little minute detail about what goes on in our league

449
00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:24,080
Speaker 2: is covered in the CBA. So this year we had

450
00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:25,960
Speaker 2: the opportunity to opt out of the one that we

451
00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:27,439
Speaker 2: negotiated in twenty twenty.

452
00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:28,520
Speaker 3: I was in the.

453
00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:31,359
Speaker 2: League during that CBA negotiation period, but I was not

454
00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:34,320
Speaker 2: as involved in it as I am in this CBA

455
00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:38,119
Speaker 2: negotiation period. At that time, the twenty twenty CBA was

456
00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:42,159
Speaker 2: to us, it was transformational, like we had benefits for

457
00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:45,680
Speaker 2: mothers that we didn't have before, health benefits. Salaries did

458
00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:48,800
Speaker 2: increase in a large way. But you know, we put

459
00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:51,679
Speaker 2: that opt out clause in because we trusted the product

460
00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:53,000
Speaker 2: that we were going to put out was going to

461
00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:55,240
Speaker 2: promote the growth of the league and in.

462
00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:55,720
Speaker 3: A big way.

463
00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:59,240
Speaker 2: And I think even these last two years has surpassed

464
00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:01,440
Speaker 2: any type of growth that we could have even imagined,

465
00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:04,080
Speaker 2: which has been amazing. So our choice to opt out

466
00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:07,000
Speaker 2: is because mainly, like we want our salaries to grow

467
00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:09,720
Speaker 2: with the league, the league's growth, and right now we

468
00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:12,520
Speaker 2: are capped out at US fixed percentage. No matter how

469
00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:15,679
Speaker 2: much the league makes, we only get a very small,

470
00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:18,560
Speaker 2: tiny fixed percentage of the overall revenue of the league.

471
00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:21,119
Speaker 2: Actually it's not even the overall revenue, it's only some

472
00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:24,040
Speaker 2: of the revenue. So that is one of our biggest

473
00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:27,000
Speaker 2: talking points with our new CBA is that we want

474
00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:29,560
Speaker 2: to have the opportunity for our salaries to grow with

475
00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:32,600
Speaker 2: the league's growth, and that has just been something that

476
00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:36,119
Speaker 2: we've been very stuck on, unfortunately. But I think in

477
00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:40,000
Speaker 2: recent weeks the conversations have gone into a positive direction,

478
00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:42,560
Speaker 2: and I think now a lot of people are truly

479
00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:44,800
Speaker 2: understanding what we're asking for. We're not asking to make

480
00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:47,200
Speaker 2: twenty million dollars a year. We're not asking to make

481
00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:51,480
Speaker 2: fifty million dollars like Shay and Lebron and Luca. Like,

482
00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:54,159
Speaker 2: we know we're not Shay, Lebron and Luca. We know

483
00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:56,840
Speaker 2: we're not the NBA, but we deserve to have a

484
00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:58,720
Speaker 2: bigger piece of the pie that we have.

485
00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:01,280
Speaker 3: Just blood, sweat and tears into the.

486
00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:03,720
Speaker 2: Pie and it just keeps growing and growing and growing,

487
00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:06,760
Speaker 2: and our slice just keeps getting smaller and smaller and smaller.

488
00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:08,280
Speaker 3: And that's something that needs to change.

489
00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:16,800
Speaker 1: Yeah. I just got back from New York City for

490
00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:21,399
Speaker 1: a Rod's premiere of his documentary or whatever. And I

491
00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:24,199
Speaker 1: didn't know so much stuff about baseball, Like, come on,

492
00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:26,840
Speaker 1: but I didn't know so much stuff about this. But

493
00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:29,720
Speaker 1: in the documentary that we watched, they talked about when

494
00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:32,080
Speaker 1: he signed his first big contract. At the time, it

495
00:22:32,119 --> 00:22:34,439
Speaker 1: was like two hundred and thirty five million dollars in

496
00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:38,720
Speaker 1: two thousand and one. Crazy and the second biggest sports

497
00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:40,760
Speaker 1: contract in the I promise is a relevant. The second

498
00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:43,040
Speaker 1: biggest sports contract in the world at the time was

499
00:22:43,119 --> 00:22:45,320
Speaker 1: Kevin Garnett and it was like one hundred million dollars,

500
00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:49,080
Speaker 1: so big jump. But when he signed that contract, it

501
00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:53,280
Speaker 1: was people were upset, like people were pissed, who does

502
00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:55,840
Speaker 1: he think he is at? Like why is he making

503
00:22:55,840 --> 00:23:00,199
Speaker 1: this much money? It's ridiculous, Like people were upset, like

504
00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:02,240
Speaker 1: a rip off, like holding up signs.

505
00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:02,600
Speaker 3: They were.

506
00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:04,520
Speaker 1: It was a different time, but people were throwing money

507
00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:05,960
Speaker 1: on the field, monopoly money.

508
00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:07,080
Speaker 3: Just people were kissed.

509
00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:10,439
Speaker 1: And he was talking about how and now being an

510
00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:13,000
Speaker 1: owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves, he was talking about how

511
00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:16,719
Speaker 1: at the time it was very like as an athlete,

512
00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:18,960
Speaker 1: you are not supposed to be asking for that much.

513
00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:24,119
Speaker 1: And it's interesting how people feel like they have a

514
00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:27,159
Speaker 1: right to tell athletes in leagues what they do and

515
00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:31,080
Speaker 1: don't deserve monetarily, like you need to be humble and

516
00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:33,680
Speaker 1: you need to not ask for too much when you're

517
00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:36,560
Speaker 1: the whole product. So so who gets all the money?

518
00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:39,399
Speaker 1: The owner that that brought me here to do all

519
00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:41,919
Speaker 1: the work. What do you mean I don't deserve to

520
00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:44,320
Speaker 1: have a piece of the pie When I am, I'm

521
00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:46,560
Speaker 1: the whole product, not a little bit of it. The

522
00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:47,960
Speaker 1: WNBA is the players.

523
00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:50,480
Speaker 3: What is the NBA going to be without?

524
00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:52,320
Speaker 1: Where else are you putting the money If you're not

525
00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:53,240
Speaker 1: putting it into the players?

526
00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:54,159
Speaker 3: It's ridiculous to me.

527
00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:57,680
Speaker 2: It is And we have a very complicated financial structure,

528
00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:02,080
Speaker 2: like the NBA owns some owners own some like it's

529
00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:03,040
Speaker 2: just all over the place.

530
00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:04,840
Speaker 3: It is very mixy, unfortunately.

531
00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:07,720
Speaker 2: But we we've been begging the WNBA to be a

532
00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:09,920
Speaker 2: little bit more transparent about that and they just will

533
00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:12,200
Speaker 2: not be, which, okay, that's their right. They have a

534
00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:15,200
Speaker 2: business model that they want to make sure last long term,

535
00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:17,720
Speaker 2: and we want to be able to get paid what

536
00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:19,240
Speaker 2: we deserve long term as well.

537
00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:21,120
Speaker 3: So there's going to have to be a happy medium.

538
00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:23,919
Speaker 2: Another another thing that we've really been focusing on is

539
00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:27,520
Speaker 2: our traveling conditions. Like I remember my first three years

540
00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:29,520
Speaker 2: in the league, we were still flying commercial, we were

541
00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:32,240
Speaker 2: sharing hotel rooms like we were in college, and that

542
00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:34,560
Speaker 2: was just the norm, Like that's just you know, that's

543
00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:36,639
Speaker 2: what we expected when you had the dream of being

544
00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:37,240
Speaker 2: the WNBA.

545
00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:39,240
Speaker 3: You talked to other players and they.

546
00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:41,439
Speaker 2: Were very transparent about okay, guy, like this is not

547
00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:43,480
Speaker 2: going to be like college, like we're you're back in

548
00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:45,840
Speaker 2: the airports. You might have to share a room if

549
00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:47,920
Speaker 2: you're a rookie, and you know, we were just all

550
00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:49,960
Speaker 2: like yeah, the w like it's our dream, like we

551
00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:52,360
Speaker 2: still I don't care, like whatever, like I've always want

552
00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:53,160
Speaker 2: to play WNBA.

553
00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:57,680
Speaker 3: That's not negotia. That wasn't negotiating in our CBA.

554
00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:00,600
Speaker 2: The charter flights. Kathy kind of was just like here,

555
00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:03,600
Speaker 2: charter flights. So that's something that we also have to

556
00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:05,480
Speaker 2: renegotiate in our CBA.

557
00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:07,000
Speaker 3: Is are we going to keep the charter flights?

558
00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:09,280
Speaker 2: Yes, we are, Like I'm not I'm not going back

559
00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:12,600
Speaker 2: to the airports, but I don't care what anybody says,

560
00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:15,800
Speaker 2: Like when you find something beautiful and nice and fun

561
00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:18,080
Speaker 2: and you're like, oh this, we were in the airports,

562
00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:20,840
Speaker 2: like I couldn't believe it, like Maya More and Diana Tarassi,

563
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:21,240
Speaker 2: we're in.

564
00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:22,800
Speaker 3: The airports, are you kidding me?

565
00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:25,040
Speaker 2: So the fact that we have the charter flights now

566
00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:27,760
Speaker 2: is amazing, but it was something that was not negotiated.

567
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:30,400
Speaker 2: So that's something that we also have to negotiate are

568
00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:32,520
Speaker 2: I don't know if you guys, any of you guys

569
00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:35,240
Speaker 2: followed WNBA closely, but we had a lot of injuries

570
00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:37,880
Speaker 2: this year. So another thing that we've been fighting for

571
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:42,920
Speaker 2: is expanded roster spots, because having ten eleven players any

572
00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:45,639
Speaker 2: given night is not enough players for the amount of talent,

573
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:47,800
Speaker 2: the amount of games, the amount of traveling that we do.

574
00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:50,520
Speaker 1: I mean, can I just say ten players on a

575
00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:51,520
Speaker 1: WNBA team, y'all?

576
00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:53,080
Speaker 3: Do you know that means that they can scrimmage and

577
00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:55,040
Speaker 3: practice with no sobs, no subs.

578
00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:56,040
Speaker 1: That is insane.

579
00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:58,520
Speaker 2: They're saying that we do not scrimmage practice for that

580
00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:02,480
Speaker 2: exact reason because we need to keep everybody healthy. But yeah,

581
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:06,280
Speaker 2: ten players, I mean the max is twelve, but typically

582
00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:10,200
Speaker 2: almost every team carries ten or eleven because almost every

583
00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:12,080
Speaker 2: team unfortunately has someone.

584
00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:14,000
Speaker 3: Dealing with like a major injury like our team.

585
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:17,080
Speaker 2: For example, one of my teammates, Katie lu Samuelson, tore

586
00:26:17,119 --> 00:26:20,199
Speaker 2: her knee in training camp, So instead of cutting her

587
00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:22,800
Speaker 2: or waiving her, because that would be a horrible.

588
00:26:22,359 --> 00:26:24,399
Speaker 3: Thing to do, we kept her on the roster.

589
00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:26,560
Speaker 2: But that was a spot that was taken up that

590
00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:27,680
Speaker 2: we didn't have available.

591
00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:29,440
Speaker 3: But I mean, I'm glad that we were able to do.

592
00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:32,280
Speaker 2: That for her because before the last CBA she would

593
00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:34,960
Speaker 2: have had to go home figure out figured out yourself, girl.

594
00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:37,679
Speaker 2: So I'm just really grateful that, you know, we do

595
00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:39,880
Speaker 2: have the spots that we have, but there's a lot

596
00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:43,520
Speaker 2: of talent. I mean, I know, if anybody's watching the playoffs,

597
00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:47,560
Speaker 2: the Fever were basically playing with nobody that they started

598
00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:50,240
Speaker 2: their season with, almost got to the WNBA finals with

599
00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:53,400
Speaker 2: players that they signed throughout the season because they kept

600
00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:55,480
Speaker 2: having injuries going down and we just don't want that

601
00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:56,520
Speaker 2: to continue to happen.

602
00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:58,040
Speaker 3: To happen A sensitive subtract.

603
00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:00,159
Speaker 1: I was sitting at the Atlanta Dream game watching the

604
00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:02,680
Speaker 1: Fevers bench and new players beat up on us and

605
00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:03,720
Speaker 1: knock us out of the playoffs.

606
00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:04,879
Speaker 3: It was it was car breaking.

607
00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:21,000
Speaker 1: Let's roll back to travel for a second. I want

608
00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:24,680
Speaker 1: to reiterate the fact that you guys asking for these things.

609
00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:27,720
Speaker 1: It might sound to the casual fan like it's just

610
00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:29,680
Speaker 1: being bougie, Like we don't want to be in the airport.

611
00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:32,840
Speaker 1: Remember when it wasn't the Chicago Sky that their flight

612
00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:33,320
Speaker 1: was delayed.

613
00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:35,640
Speaker 3: I was on two teams or that has happened where

614
00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:36,000
Speaker 3: we have.

615
00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:39,480
Speaker 1: Your professional basketball game because your flight is delayed.

616
00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:41,240
Speaker 3: I gave you all a fun story time.

617
00:27:41,359 --> 00:27:45,480
Speaker 2: So when I was playing for the Sparks, I think

618
00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:48,280
Speaker 2: it was I was playing for the Sparks. Neka Gumaka

619
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:50,800
Speaker 2: is the president of our player Association, Madam President.

620
00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:51,440
Speaker 3: She's the best.

621
00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:53,679
Speaker 2: I've been so grateful to be in her presence on

622
00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:54,240
Speaker 2: two teams.

623
00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:57,879
Speaker 3: Now. We got stuck in the DC.

624
00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:02,600
Speaker 2: Airport one night, and they gave us the choice. Y'all

625
00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:04,280
Speaker 2: can stay in the hotel. Are y'all stay in the

626
00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:08,400
Speaker 2: airport overnight, or we'll uber you guys to a hotel and.

627
00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:09,760
Speaker 3: You guys can sleep at the hotel. You know what

628
00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:12,399
Speaker 3: I mean. I said, I'm going to a hotel. Okay, goodbye.

629
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:15,600
Speaker 2: Mecca and Cheney, her sister, who was also our team

630
00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:18,679
Speaker 2: at the time, stayed in the airport basically to like

631
00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:21,880
Speaker 2: prove a point to Kathy and be like, look where

632
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:25,240
Speaker 2: y'all got us sleeping tonight? Like I was like, wait

633
00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:27,320
Speaker 2: to take one for the team, Meka, So glad we

634
00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:27,719
Speaker 2: have you.

635
00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:30,920
Speaker 3: I'll see you in the morning. Bed. But and that's

636
00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:32,320
Speaker 3: why she's the president. I'm not.

637
00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:36,320
Speaker 2: But like she literally stayed overnight in the airport, like

638
00:28:36,359 --> 00:28:38,880
Speaker 2: so she could document it and be like, this is ridiculous.

639
00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:41,480
Speaker 2: We are a professional team, we have a game in

640
00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:44,320
Speaker 2: forty eight hours and we are sleeping on the floor

641
00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:48,680
Speaker 2: at the DC airport and it's that's unacceptable. So just

642
00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:51,240
Speaker 2: that's just like one of the tiny things that Nika

643
00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:54,080
Speaker 2: does day in and day out, just to continue to

644
00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:57,240
Speaker 2: promote our league and show how valuable we are as women,

645
00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:00,760
Speaker 2: as athletes, as mothers, as sisters, as dog like, just

646
00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:03,040
Speaker 2: all of the things. So I said, you know what,

647
00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:05,040
Speaker 2: nocause that's why I love you. But I'm going to

648
00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:08,719
Speaker 2: go to the hotel sleep in a bit. But I

649
00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:10,600
Speaker 2: mean I remember it went crazy on Twitter, like blew

650
00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:11,240
Speaker 2: up on Twitter.

651
00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:13,560
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I remember this. Yeh, I remember this. I

652
00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:16,320
Speaker 1: love when you guys do that. Also, like take oh,

653
00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:18,080
Speaker 1: I have social media. You think nobody said know about this?

654
00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:19,880
Speaker 1: Watch this, I'm on live, I'm in the air.

655
00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:22,800
Speaker 2: I mean that's basically the turning point of women's sports

656
00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:25,760
Speaker 2: I think was the NCAA Women's tournament on the DONA

657
00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:30,240
Speaker 2: prints showed the weightlifting room, not even the room.

658
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:30,640
Speaker 3: The space.

659
00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:35,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, the weightlifting area that they provided to the women's

660
00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:39,200
Speaker 2: teams versus the entire weight room that was dedicated to

661
00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:42,760
Speaker 2: the men's teams playing in the tournament. And she took

662
00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:46,640
Speaker 2: a huge risk doing that. She really did. And you know,

663
00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:49,000
Speaker 2: she has whatever she has going on. I don't know.

664
00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:51,320
Speaker 2: You guys don't follow Sadona prints. She's a little a

665
00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:54,160
Speaker 2: little bit of trouble. But what she did at that

666
00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:57,000
Speaker 2: moment would change the trajectory of women's sports.

667
00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:58,719
Speaker 3: I feel like, oh, it was monumental.

668
00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:04,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was monumental because women's athletes are just as

669
00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:07,800
Speaker 1: important to their sport as male athletes are. That's why

670
00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:12,120
Speaker 1: the percentage thing is important, because it's like, you, guys

671
00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:14,520
Speaker 1: do everything that they do.

672
00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:15,880
Speaker 3: You wake up, you go to.

673
00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:19,040
Speaker 1: Practice, you do it. Not more because I mean, they

674
00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:21,080
Speaker 1: pay people to run their social media Lexi's over here.

675
00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:24,120
Speaker 3: I gotta get my picture stuff, I gotta do my

676
00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:24,800
Speaker 3: own content.

677
00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:28,560
Speaker 2: I'm on calls with brands, creative calls, like everything. But

678
00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:30,680
Speaker 2: it's something I'm passionate about. I really enjoy doing it.

679
00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:33,600
Speaker 2: But again, like I said, not everybody has time to

680
00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:35,880
Speaker 2: do that, wants to do that, and they shouldn't have to.

681
00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:38,160
Speaker 1: You don't have time, your professional athlete, My full time

682
00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:40,040
Speaker 1: job is doing that. Editing and stuff, but you still

683
00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:43,040
Speaker 1: sometow find a way to be a professional athlete LEXI

684
00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:46,239
Speaker 1: outside of travel and all of those things. Is there

685
00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:49,440
Speaker 1: anything else that has come up in CBA negotiations that

686
00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:52,360
Speaker 1: people may not know about.

687
00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:53,360
Speaker 3: Two things.

688
00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:58,080
Speaker 2: First thing is taking care of retired players. So right now,

689
00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:01,320
Speaker 2: there's no pensions, you don't at any healthcare, you don't

690
00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:03,480
Speaker 2: get anything like when you're done with the WNBA.

691
00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:05,400
Speaker 3: Like you're done, Like you're done.

692
00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:08,920
Speaker 2: So we're really trying hard to find a way to

693
00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:11,200
Speaker 2: take care of retired players, whether that's like with the

694
00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:14,840
Speaker 2: NBA ten plus years, any type of you know, structure

695
00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:16,960
Speaker 2: that we can at least start putting in place to

696
00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:18,960
Speaker 2: take care of retired players. It's something that we've been

697
00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:22,080
Speaker 2: talking about a lot because I feel like in the

698
00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:25,320
Speaker 2: last few years a lot of former players have showed

699
00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:28,280
Speaker 2: up for us in big ways that we haven't.

700
00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:29,240
Speaker 3: Really seen in the past.

701
00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:33,040
Speaker 2: So, you know, finding a way to pay them back

702
00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:35,600
Speaker 2: for you know them continue to show up every single day,

703
00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:38,600
Speaker 2: flying the commercial flights, playing in the you know, not

704
00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:42,680
Speaker 2: really that full arenas, practicing at rec centers next to

705
00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:44,040
Speaker 2: the adult zoomba class.

706
00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:45,280
Speaker 3: That happened to me, guys that was.

707
00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:47,800
Speaker 2: In me and Connecticut it was practice adult Zoom but

708
00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:48,320
Speaker 2: right next door.

709
00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:50,240
Speaker 3: It was like that was way too specific to me.

710
00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:53,800
Speaker 2: That was the first whole story of the divider in

711
00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:57,040
Speaker 2: the gym. You have Zoomba and then our w WBA

712
00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:00,000
Speaker 2: practice right next door, but continue to show up every day.

713
00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:01,360
Speaker 2: You know, there's a way that we have to be

714
00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:03,600
Speaker 2: able to take care of them long term. And then

715
00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:06,360
Speaker 2: a personal thing for me is just the health benefits.

716
00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:09,120
Speaker 2: I was diagnosed with crone disease two years ago, so

717
00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:12,680
Speaker 2: you know, having access to the best healthcare professionals, having

718
00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:15,400
Speaker 2: really good health insurance has something that you know, has

719
00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:16,480
Speaker 2: always been important to me.

720
00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:17,240
Speaker 3: Health insurance.

721
00:32:17,280 --> 00:32:19,640
Speaker 2: You know, you're on your parents till what you're twenty six,

722
00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:22,120
Speaker 2: so you're like, okay, I'm just a baby. Yeah you're

723
00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:25,520
Speaker 2: coming up, is coming girl. But you know, you don't

724
00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:27,760
Speaker 2: really worry about things like that, and then you get

725
00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:30,320
Speaker 2: hit with like a really hard thing and a chronic illness,

726
00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:31,680
Speaker 2: and you're like, oh my gosh, Like what would I

727
00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:33,760
Speaker 2: have done if I didn't have health insurance? So that's

728
00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:37,040
Speaker 2: something that I've really prioritized personally, But again, I don't

729
00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:39,440
Speaker 2: I'm not going to put my own things above the collective.

730
00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:41,720
Speaker 2: But when they ask us like, oh, what are important?

731
00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:43,640
Speaker 2: What are things that important to you guys? Health care,

732
00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:46,800
Speaker 2: you know, long term retired players, that's something that has also.

733
00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:47,320
Speaker 3: Really been important.

734
00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:49,320
Speaker 1: You are so humble talking about I'm not going to

735
00:32:49,360 --> 00:32:51,880
Speaker 1: put my thing over, it's health care. Like see, that

736
00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:55,920
Speaker 1: ain't a small things, right right. My favorite thing that

737
00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:58,520
Speaker 1: has come out of the positive and the negative of

738
00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:00,840
Speaker 1: this whole era of women's or it's growing and the

739
00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:04,120
Speaker 1: CBA negotiations and y'all demanding what you deserve is the

740
00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:07,200
Speaker 1: sisterhood of it all. I think there's this false narrative.

741
00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:10,320
Speaker 1: I think I know there's this false narrative that, oh,

742
00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:13,920
Speaker 1: they hate the new girls, they hate them, they're such haters,

743
00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:16,120
Speaker 1: they're so jealous, blah blah blah blah blah. And to

744
00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:20,200
Speaker 1: see the players standing up for those girls, I mean

745
00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:24,360
Speaker 1: to see y'all saying, hey, I mean you do realize

746
00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:27,280
Speaker 1: that Page and Angel and Caitlin aren't getting paid what

747
00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:29,920
Speaker 1: they deserve either. And the way that you guys all

748
00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:33,200
Speaker 1: come together, even despite the media literally trying to pay

749
00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:35,600
Speaker 1: you against each other for a storyline. Could you just

750
00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:38,040
Speaker 1: speak a little bit to that sisterhood that's happening behind

751
00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:41,840
Speaker 1: the scenes, because I do want to mention that you

752
00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:43,600
Speaker 1: guys do all have to agree, like if there is

753
00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:45,360
Speaker 1: going to be a lockout or something. There are people

754
00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:47,760
Speaker 1: that are like, hold on, I'm sacrificing my salary too.

755
00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:49,000
Speaker 1: I don't know if I'm feeling this.

756
00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:51,720
Speaker 3: How is that it's easy?

757
00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:53,840
Speaker 2: Like I, like you said, like there was just this

758
00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:59,040
Speaker 2: really crazy narrative painted that we were just so jealous

759
00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:01,640
Speaker 2: of this young group. They got all this money in

760
00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:04,000
Speaker 2: college and they got all of this, like yes they did,

761
00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:06,720
Speaker 2: Oh well, like we walk so they can run, and

762
00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:08,719
Speaker 2: now they're running, so this next group can sprint and

763
00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:11,279
Speaker 2: fly and do whatever they want. So it's like you

764
00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:14,360
Speaker 2: pay it forward. They're not getting paid what they deserve,

765
00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:17,160
Speaker 2: We're not getting paid with what we deserve. Them coming

766
00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:21,040
Speaker 2: in has benefited all of us. Like literally the definition

767
00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:23,640
Speaker 2: of everybody eats is going on right now, like them

768
00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:25,960
Speaker 2: bringing in all these new fans, Like it's not an

769
00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:29,040
Speaker 2: individual sport. So someone's coming in to watch page, someone's

770
00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:31,000
Speaker 2: coming in to watch a Juju, someone's coming to watch

771
00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:33,960
Speaker 2: an angel A Caitlin. There are nine other women on

772
00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:35,879
Speaker 2: the court that they are also watching as well.

773
00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:37,040
Speaker 3: And if you do your job.

774
00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:39,680
Speaker 2: If you show up, you gonna find yourself with some

775
00:34:39,760 --> 00:34:42,319
Speaker 2: new fans. You're gonna have a lot of eyeballs on you.

776
00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:44,520
Speaker 2: And a lot of people have felt away about the

777
00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:47,840
Speaker 2: Indiana Fever getting all of those TV games, But the

778
00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:50,400
Speaker 2: way that that Fever season turned out, a lot of

779
00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:54,719
Speaker 2: players that needed an opportunity got an enormous one this year,

780
00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:56,839
Speaker 2: and they showed up, and they showed out, and they

781
00:34:56,880 --> 00:35:00,359
Speaker 2: probably will be on a WNBA roster for you years

782
00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:02,359
Speaker 2: to come. When they were some of them were at

783
00:35:02,360 --> 00:35:04,360
Speaker 2: home wondering if they would ever get a chance to

784
00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:07,080
Speaker 2: win the WNBA again. So I'm not gonna say that

785
00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:10,200
Speaker 2: was directly linked to Caitlyn Clark being on the Indiana Fever,

786
00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:14,719
Speaker 2: but it helped, even.

787
00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:17,560
Speaker 3: On the bench help. It was good everybody.

788
00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:20,440
Speaker 2: Everybody get an airtime, everybody and whether they're hurt, whether

789
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:23,480
Speaker 2: they're on the court, whether they're new, that though, all

790
00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:26,560
Speaker 2: those eyeballs just benefited that team in so many ways. Yes,

791
00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:29,360
Speaker 2: there was some negative sides, dark weird things going on

792
00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:32,320
Speaker 2: as well, but we choose to focus on the positive

793
00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:33,320
Speaker 2: here on full Circle.

794
00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:34,040
Speaker 3: That's so funny.

795
00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:35,520
Speaker 1: You said that right before I was about to say,

796
00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:40,279
Speaker 1: but you know what I hate. No, seriously, I can't

797
00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:42,439
Speaker 1: stand the fact that that two things can't be drue

798
00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:44,799
Speaker 1: once what you just said to me, right, yeah, we

799
00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:47,000
Speaker 1: love them, like that's my girl. You call Paige nec

800
00:35:47,120 --> 00:35:49,080
Speaker 1: all the time. But at the same time, when I

801
00:35:49,080 --> 00:35:51,359
Speaker 1: get on that court, I am going at her right

802
00:35:51,719 --> 00:35:54,000
Speaker 1: like that that it's sports, it's competition.

803
00:35:54,719 --> 00:35:55,640
Speaker 3: You're supposed to.

804
00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:58,319
Speaker 1: Do the way the NBA players treated like the new

805
00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:00,480
Speaker 1: rookies coming in like a Michael Jordan. You know those

806
00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:02,320
Speaker 1: stories where they'll be like, oh yeah, like I was

807
00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:03,800
Speaker 1: trying to bust his lip on the court.

808
00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:04,920
Speaker 3: But it's sports.

809
00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:09,640
Speaker 2: That's literally created rules because they were fouling him too much,

810
00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:11,280
Speaker 2: Like can we please be serious?

811
00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:14,120
Speaker 1: It's like nice, but it's supposed to be that way.

812
00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:17,120
Speaker 1: That's what makes sports interesting, you think. Because y'all are women,

813
00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:18,840
Speaker 1: you're supposed to be like, hey, girl, like let me

814
00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:19,879
Speaker 1: braide your hair on the court.

815
00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:23,040
Speaker 3: Like no, no, it's funny you say that. Okay.

816
00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:24,840
Speaker 2: So when I was in Nashville, we had some of

817
00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:28,760
Speaker 2: the newer players with us as well, and Ja C. Sheldon,

818
00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:30,960
Speaker 2: who's a rookie in Connecticut now with DC.

819
00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:32,319
Speaker 3: We were at.

820
00:36:32,239 --> 00:36:34,560
Speaker 2: Dinner and we were all sharing stories and blah blah blah,

821
00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:37,480
Speaker 2: and she said, I remember the first game I played,

822
00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:40,200
Speaker 2: and all of you guys were like hugging each other

823
00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:42,680
Speaker 2: at half court before it's tip. But she was like,

824
00:36:43,239 --> 00:36:46,800
Speaker 2: why are they hugging? Like what, Like y'all are all friends,

825
00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:49,440
Speaker 2: and we were like, girl, we've been in the trenches together.

826
00:36:50,080 --> 00:36:51,799
Speaker 2: This is not what you're in right now. Is not

827
00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:54,719
Speaker 2: the trenches. You are in a beautiful, wonderful place. You

828
00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:57,600
Speaker 2: don't know what it was like before y'all got here,

829
00:36:57,800 --> 00:36:59,879
Speaker 2: And y'all you should be so thankful that you don't

830
00:36:59,920 --> 00:37:01,360
Speaker 2: have to deal with some of the stuff that we

831
00:37:01,360 --> 00:37:04,120
Speaker 2: had to deal with here and overseas as well. Like

832
00:37:04,160 --> 00:37:07,120
Speaker 2: we were just sharing all of our overseas horror stories

833
00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:09,520
Speaker 2: and like the young ones were just like mortified and

834
00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:11,600
Speaker 2: like just so happy, Like we're so happy when we

835
00:37:11,680 --> 00:37:13,680
Speaker 2: have athletes on limited we don't have to go overseas.

836
00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:16,600
Speaker 2: Like it's a great character building guys, Like you should.

837
00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:16,920
Speaker 3: Go over there.

838
00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:19,840
Speaker 2: Maybe for a year you will learn a lot about yourselves.

839
00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:22,000
Speaker 2: Like maybe you should just dabble for a few months

840
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:23,839
Speaker 2: and just see if you really love basketball for real,

841
00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:25,719
Speaker 2: because that's what overseas does.

842
00:37:25,760 --> 00:37:28,120
Speaker 3: It tests you I mean this whole era.

843
00:37:28,520 --> 00:37:31,520
Speaker 1: I was talking to Tosh Cloud about this and like, so,

844
00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:33,839
Speaker 1: no shade, but if you have to go through this,

845
00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:35,080
Speaker 1: why are you doing this?

846
00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:36,839
Speaker 3: Like at the end of the day, it's like, why

847
00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:38,920
Speaker 3: are you dealing that? This is hard to work?

848
00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:41,400
Speaker 1: And she was like, Oh, I'm sick.

849
00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:42,080
Speaker 3: Like I love.

850
00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:45,400
Speaker 1: Basketball, I'm addicted to basketball. But it's beautiful that you

851
00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:46,960
Speaker 1: guys feel that way about this war, you know.

852
00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:49,160
Speaker 3: I mean, we have to or else we wouldn't be here.

853
00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:52,040
Speaker 2: So I'm just really grateful and like having a platform

854
00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:54,400
Speaker 2: like this like amazing. I never thought I would have

855
00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:57,360
Speaker 2: my own show with an amazing co host and Mariah

856
00:37:57,480 --> 00:37:58,000
Speaker 2: being able to.

857
00:37:58,080 --> 00:38:00,759
Speaker 3: Spread the gospel women's basketball. This is like my dream

858
00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:02,960
Speaker 3: of true. Thanks for listening to Full Circle.

859
00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:06,000
Speaker 1: We'll be back next week with more basketball for the girls,

860
00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:08,680
Speaker 1: by the girls. We want to hear from you. Leave

861
00:38:08,719 --> 00:38:10,920
Speaker 1: us a review on Apple Podcasts and tell us what

862
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:13,480
Speaker 1: you want us to talk about. Full Circle is hosted

863
00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:16,640
Speaker 1: by Lexi Brown and Mariah Rose. Our executive producer is

864
00:38:16,719 --> 00:38:20,640
Speaker 1: Jesse Katz. Our supervising producer is Grace Fused. Our producer

865
00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:24,480
Speaker 1: is Zoe Danklab. Listen to Full Circle on America's number

866
00:38:24,520 --> 00:38:27,920
Speaker 1: one podcast network, iHeart, open your free iHeart app and

867
00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:30,400
Speaker 1: search Full Circle with Lexi Brown and Mariah Rose and

868
00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:31,120
Speaker 1: start listening.