Speaker 1: Hey, what's up, everybody. I'm Jamel Hill and welcome to
Speaker 1: politics and iHeart podcast and unbothered network production. Time to
Speaker 1: get spolitical. The renowned philosopher Aristotle once referred to women
Speaker 1: as quote deform males who were quote unable to control
Speaker 1: themselves physically and psychologically through the exercise of reason the
Speaker 1: way that men can. Aristotle believed too much education and
Speaker 1: sports activity made a woman infertile. Who knew one of
Speaker 1: the alleged greatest philosophers in world history was actually just
Speaker 1: another toxic podcast bro who never got over his seventh
Speaker 1: grade crush rejecting him. But while Aristotle was busy cementing
Speaker 1: himself as the father of misogyny, something far more important
Speaker 1: was happening. A woman named Sensica was competing in the
Speaker 1: Olympic Games and on her way to becoming the Olympics
Speaker 1: first female champion as a four horse chariot racer. Men
Speaker 1: during Sensica's time thought, just like Aristotle, just to crystallize
Speaker 1: that women have been fighting for your respect, agency and
Speaker 1: equality and athletic spaces since literally before that fellow Jesus
Speaker 1: Christ was born. Things, of course, have gotten better, though
Speaker 1: yesterday's Aristotle is apparently today's presidential candidate, Crookie.
Speaker 2: Joe Biden became mentally impaired, said, but Lion Kamala Harris, Honestly, I.
Speaker 1: Believe she was born that way.
Speaker 2: There's something wrong with Kamala, and I just don't know
Speaker 2: what it is. But there is definitely something missing, and
Speaker 2: you know what, everybody knows it.
Speaker 1: But as we edge closer to possibly electing the first
Speaker 1: female president, who also would be the first black woman
Speaker 1: and Asian to hold that particular office, we sit at
Speaker 1: a particularly interesting moment that we used together what we're
Speaker 1: seeing in politics with what we're seeing in women's sports. Currently,
Speaker 1: women's sports are experiencing a revolution that is led in
Speaker 1: large part by the staggering explosion in women's basketball. Last
Speaker 1: college basketball season, the women's national Championship game outrated the
Speaker 1: men's national championship game for the first time in history,
Speaker 1: not by little, but by a lot. An average of
Speaker 1: eighteen point seven million viewers watched the South Carolina women
Speaker 1: remain undefeated against Caitlin Clark's IOWA team, with the game
Speaker 1: peaking at twenty four million viewers. Meanwhile, the men average
Speaker 1: fourteen point eight million viewers. Hey fellas get your viewers up.
Speaker 1: Despite the naysayers that predicted that momentum wouldn't translate to
Speaker 1: the WNBA, the WNBA went on to experience its most
Speaker 1: watch regular season ever, led by WNBA Rookie of the
Speaker 1: Year Kaitlyn Clark and another heralded rookie, Angel Reese. Twenty
Speaker 1: two regular season WNBA games averaged more than one million
Speaker 1: viewers in person. Attendance was up forty eight percent, and
Speaker 1: every single WNBA team posted year over year growth in attendance.
Speaker 1: Beyond basketball, Simone Biles added three more gold medals to
Speaker 1: her stellar resume at the Paris Olympics this past summer. Overall,
Speaker 1: female athletes competing in the Olympics brought home sixty seven
Speaker 1: of this country's one hundred and twenty six medals, including
Speaker 1: twenty six of Team USA's gold medals. The National Women's
Speaker 1: Soccer League has already surpassed one point five million in
Speaker 1: attendance and is expected to reach two million by the
Speaker 1: end of the season. Aaron Haynes, the editor at large
Speaker 1: for The Nineteenth, an independent, nonprofit news organization that focuses
Speaker 1: on gender politics and policy, believes any conversation about the
Speaker 1: explosion of women's sports should immediately be followed with one
Speaker 1: about women in this year's national election.
Speaker 3: You know, I really think that the trajectory of women's
Speaker 3: sports parallels the rise of women's leadership generally in this
Speaker 3: country in a way that.
Speaker 1: Is undeniable. It might be obvious to some, but others
Speaker 1: still refuse to acknowledge. There is a deep connection between
Speaker 1: women's continued fight for agency in the sports space with
Speaker 1: women's continued fight for their basic rights overall, and the
Speaker 1: excuses for looking away is dwindling. The stakes are high
Speaker 1: for women in this election. We are now living in
Speaker 1: a post Row versus Way world. In twenty twenty two,
Speaker 1: the Supreme Court ended a women's constitutional right to abortion,
Speaker 1: a right that had been protected since nineteen seventy three.
Speaker 1: The year before abortion was ruled to be constitutionally protected,
Speaker 1: there was another major piece of legislation that would be
Speaker 1: an important cornerstone for women in sport. In nineteen seventy two,
Speaker 1: Title nine became public law. That signature legislation prohibited sex
Speaker 1: based discrimination in any education programs or activities that receive
Speaker 1: federal funding. It mandated that schools and universities had to
Speaker 1: provide equal opportunities for both genders and sports. But despite
Speaker 1: the Supreme Court's decision on versus Wade and Title nine
Speaker 1: being seemingly entrenchedgent to law, equal opportunities and reproductive rights
Speaker 1: are still very much on the ballot for the upcoming election.
Speaker 1: Project twenty twenty five created by the conservative think tank
Speaker 1: the Heritage Foundation. Far as I like to think of
Speaker 1: them hell Hydra from the Marvel movies, they developed a
Speaker 1: conservative playbook that will guide Donald Trump if he gets
Speaker 1: another presidential term. Project twenty twenty five is over nine
Speaker 1: hundred pages, and let's just keep it a stack. Nobody
Speaker 1: reading all that something they were definitely counting on because
Speaker 1: if people read it, it would effectively scare the shit
Speaker 1: out of them. So let me do some of the
Speaker 1: hard work for you. Pull up a chair, and I'll
Speaker 1: tell you about how a second Trump term would result
Speaker 1: in infinitely less rights and empowerment for women. Here are
Speaker 1: some of the important cliff notes. Project twenty twenty five
Speaker 1: seeks to end medication abortion, meaning women would no longer
Speaker 1: have access to abortion pills. It would also deny access
Speaker 1: to abortion care in emergency sitution, increase pregnancy and abortion
Speaker 1: surveillance at the federal level, which means hospitals and doctors
Speaker 1: would be required to report not just abortions, but miscarriages
Speaker 1: and steelburs and if you don't report it, then you
Speaker 1: could be denied federal funding. By the way, all of
Speaker 1: you women who use period trackers might want to delete
Speaker 1: that app to be on the safe side. In the workplace,
Speaker 1: Project twenty twenty five would rescind an important executive order
Speaker 1: by former President Lyndon B. Johnson that prohibited federal contractors
Speaker 1: from discriminating on the basis of race and sex, which
Speaker 1: ultimately led to the creation of Title nine. They also
Speaker 1: want to get rid of the Department of Labor Women's
Speaker 1: Bureau and weaken the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission so women
Speaker 1: face discrimination in educational institutions or in federal workplaces. They
Speaker 1: would have to spend a shit ton of money to
Speaker 1: follow lawsuit and that would ultimately be time consuming and defeating.
Speaker 1: Project twenty twenty five also wants to redefine sexual health
Speaker 1: education as pornography and replace it with abstinence only education. Now,
Speaker 1: if there's one thing we can count on, it is
Speaker 1: for teenagers to be abstinate. And speaking of pornography, the
Speaker 1: Project twenty twenty five agenda includes an outright ban on porn,
Speaker 1: including criminalizing it. I bet these Project twenty twenty five
Speaker 1: people are an absolute fucking blast at parties. So to
Speaker 1: recap that, come in for your reproductive rights, your contraception,
Speaker 1: your right to fight against abuses and discrimination, you're porn
Speaker 1: and it seems like, and not to be too dramatic,
Speaker 1: your general right to exist without being harmed. Now, given
Speaker 1: everything that is at stake, the big question is will
Speaker 1: women rise to the challenge in this election and send
Speaker 1: a strong message that they ain't trying to live out
Speaker 1: some new season of a Handmaide's tale. Let's not forget
Speaker 1: the important role women have played in the last two
Speaker 1: presidential elections, for better or for worse. In twenty twenty,
Speaker 1: female athletes in the WNBAC and a clear message about
Speaker 1: what they not going to do, and that is support
Speaker 1: a politician who got them all the way fucked up.
Speaker 4: Well, let's start off with calls for US Senator Kelly
Speaker 4: Leffler to step away from the Atlanta Dream, the WNBA
Speaker 4: team that she co owns. She recently wrote a letter
Speaker 4: to the WNBA Commissioner, and according to NBC News, Lefler
Speaker 4: was explaining her opposition to players wearing Black Lives Matter
Speaker 4: and say her name slogans on warm up jerseys. She
Speaker 4: writes in a letter about the need to take politics
Speaker 4: out of sports, saying sports have the power to be
Speaker 4: a unifying antidote. She says she does not support what
Speaker 4: she calls the Black Lives Matter political movement, saying it
Speaker 4: wants to defund the police, remove Jesus from churches, and
Speaker 4: promotes violence and destruction across the country. Now, this has
Speaker 4: not gone over well with many current and former WNBA players,
Speaker 4: the players Union responding today on Twitter simply saying enough
Speaker 4: out if.
Speaker 1: Fuck around and find out was a person because Kelly
Speaker 1: Leffler found out, she don't want no smoke with the
Speaker 1: women in the WNBA. The Atlanta Dream and other WNBA
Speaker 1: players threw their support behind Leffler's challenger in the Senate race,
Speaker 1: Reverend Rafael Warnott, after initially polling at nine percent, became
Speaker 1: Georgia's first black senator thanks to the popularity boost he
Speaker 1: received from the widespread support from the debut. Eventually, as
Speaker 1: senator were not cast to a vote to confirm Supreme
Speaker 1: Court Justice Kintanji Brown, Jackson as the first black woman
Speaker 1: on the Supreme Court, allowing Joe Biden to fulfill his
Speaker 1: campaign promise to put a black woman in that seat.
Speaker 1: But let's have an honesty moment. We know black women
Speaker 1: are going to show up in this election and show
Speaker 1: up in force as they have in the previous elections.
Speaker 1: In twenty sixteen, ninety one percent of black women voted
Speaker 1: for Hillary Clinton. In twenty twenty, ninety two percent of
Speaker 1: Black women voted for Joe Biden. Meanwhile, with reproductive rights
Speaker 1: on the table and Donald Trump bragging about grabbing women
Speaker 1: by the huha, fifty four percent a white women voted
Speaker 1: for Trump in twenty sixteen, and the number of white
Speaker 1: women who voted for Trump was even higher at fifty
Speaker 1: five percent. Here's Aaron Haynes again on what the white
Speaker 1: women going to do in this election. Will they finally
Speaker 1: reject the man who has been found credibly liable of
Speaker 1: committing rape by a court of law and who loves
Speaker 1: to brag about taking away their reproductive rights? Or will
Speaker 1: white women again be the ops?
Speaker 3: That is the perennial question every four years, right because
Speaker 3: I think you know, whether we're calling them suburban moms
Speaker 3: or lipstick moms or whatever nickname we want to give
Speaker 3: them every four years, like that's who we're talking about.
Speaker 5: We're talking about.
Speaker 3: White women who, frankly, in our modern politics, have tended
Speaker 3: to vote majority Republican.
Speaker 6: Right.
Speaker 1: We don't know if white women are.
Speaker 3: Going to finally come over to you know, the Democratic
Speaker 3: Party and vote in the majority, But will there be
Speaker 3: some greater number of white women that decide to do
Speaker 3: that this year because they literally feel like they have
Speaker 3: skin in the game, especially around the issue of rights
Speaker 3: and freedom, reproductive rights, abortion access in particular. Right, I
Speaker 3: think that you know, what we have seen since the
Speaker 3: DOPS decision in twenty twenty two is that white women
Speaker 3: are starting to say, hey, maybe I do need to
Speaker 3: think about how this is affecting me.
Speaker 7: Right.
Speaker 3: Maybe they didn't care about their black and brown sisters,
Speaker 3: you know, prior to twenty twenty two, but they're now
Speaker 3: understanding that, hey, wait, we do actually have a shared
Speaker 3: fate and our shared gender might actually be the thing
Speaker 3: that I need to think about and not just my
Speaker 3: race and tying myself to whiteness.
Speaker 1: There is still so much that women need to fight for,
Speaker 1: even as we celebrate and acknowledge some of the historic
Speaker 1: gains that have happened, particularly in the last year. But
Speaker 1: the choice is really simple for women in this election.
Speaker 1: What's a better direction for women moving forward a going back.
Speaker 1: I'm Jammelle Hill, and I approve this message. Coming up
Speaker 1: on spolitics, we're going to continue this conversation with a
Speaker 1: woman who is certainly no stranger for standing ten toes
Speaker 1: down in important fights. She's a former WNBA MVP who
Speaker 1: is currently serving her third term as president of the
Speaker 1: WNBA Players Association. We'll discuss this election, this historic WNBA season,
Speaker 1: her being appointed as head of Lebron's voting rights organization,
Speaker 1: and if WNBA players will be tempted to tone down
Speaker 1: their activism now that there's more money being invested in
Speaker 1: the league. Up next on spolitics, the Seattle Storms. Mekka Obumka.
Speaker 1: At the time of this recording, you're just coming from practice,
Speaker 1: So I really appreciate this because God knows what your
Speaker 1: day has been like. But I'm gonna start by asking
Speaker 1: you a question that I am asking every guest who
Speaker 1: appears on spolatives, which is who was the athlete that
Speaker 1: made you fall in love with sports?
Speaker 7: Oh? Wow?
Speaker 6: First of all, thank you for having me it is
Speaker 6: such an honor, and you know, we always loved sharing
Speaker 6: space with fellow tagers, fellow disruptors, and so you know.
Speaker 1: So well, that's a big compliment. I will receive it
Speaker 1: and take it so thank you. Now answer the question.
Speaker 6: Who made me fall in with sports? I probably have
Speaker 6: to honestly say, Kevin Garnett. I think that when I
Speaker 6: first started playing basketball, specifically my parents and my family,
Speaker 6: we were learning about the sport. You know, we were
Speaker 6: all novices, and so we didn't know much about it.
Speaker 6: We didn't know where it could take us, and our
Speaker 6: gateway was of course, the Houston Rockets. And then through that,
Speaker 6: you know, we became Detroit Pistons fans and then Celtics fans,
Speaker 6: and like Kevin Garnett was always just my favorite player
Speaker 6: to watch.
Speaker 1: Wait wait, I got to back you up a second.
Speaker 1: Being from Detroit, you said john became Pistons fans. Yeah,
Speaker 1: tell me about that.
Speaker 6: We loved the Pistons played, you know, and my my
Speaker 6: dad would always kind of use them as an example
Speaker 6: of how to be aggressive and how to be kind
Speaker 6: of apologetic about like your strength. So we loved watching
Speaker 6: Rashid Wallace Ben Wallace Tayshawn Prance. Like, we we grew
Speaker 6: up as a family watching them very much. We were
Speaker 6: first and foremost Rockets fans because you know, we grew
Speaker 6: up watching Tracey McGrady, Steve Francis, Yao Me, Shane Battier
Speaker 6: and so like, we just loved watching the sport and
Speaker 6: how different teams played the sport.
Speaker 5: So the Pistons were one of our teams.
Speaker 1: As someone who was born as they say, in the
Speaker 1: nineteen hundreds, it is in a way it's very sobering
Speaker 1: for me to hear that your early recollections of the
Speaker 1: Pistons are the two thousand and four team that won
Speaker 1: the title. I was like with me, it was the
Speaker 1: team that won, and you know was Isaiah Joders. And
Speaker 1: even with the Rockets, you know, Hakeem Olajuan is my
Speaker 1: favorite center of all time. I mean, you know, again,
Speaker 1: I want people to focus on favorite, Like I know
Speaker 1: some people are gonna say Shack or Kareem as they should,
Speaker 1: but he was the center I enjoyed the most, you know,
Speaker 1: watching play. So when you said Tracy McGrady and y'all mean,
Speaker 1: I was like, ooh, she didn't say a king because
Speaker 1: that wouldn't have been our error.
Speaker 5: Love him, Yeah, but I didn't get up.
Speaker 1: Oh God, I'm old.
Speaker 5: I am a relic.
Speaker 1: Well necka. As you know, this is a very uh
Speaker 1: you know, serious time right now politically in our in
Speaker 1: our country, with everything that is happening. You the mantle
Speaker 1: of leadership for More Than a Vote, which is an
Speaker 1: organization that was started by Lebron and a collection of players,
Speaker 1: including some of your fellow w NBA players, including I
Speaker 1: believe Skyler Diggins Smith. He started More Than a Vote
Speaker 1: as like a voting advocacy organization, and I know it's
Speaker 1: an organization you've been involved with as well. But now
Speaker 1: you will be assuming the mantle of leadership of More
Speaker 1: Than a Vote. Tell me a little bit about how
Speaker 1: that came about.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, like you know, as we all experienced
Speaker 6: in twenty twenty, there was just there was more that
Speaker 6: we wanted to do. And when Lebron came out and
Speaker 6: got a collection of athletes to, you know, to have
Speaker 6: a call for action for justice and change after the
Speaker 6: murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and so many others,
Speaker 6: I don't feel like it was settled in our spirit
Speaker 6: to not do anything.
Speaker 5: Especially as women in the W who were playing in.
Speaker 6: That leuble, we wanted to do whatever we could, and
Speaker 6: so I was just grateful to be a part of
Speaker 6: a group of players that were looking to use their
Speaker 6: platforms to raise awareness, engagement resources for us to be
Speaker 6: able to change what we experience, what is our lived
Speaker 6: experience every day. And from there it's just kind of
Speaker 6: been a major alignment for me. You know, we have
Speaker 6: a lot of experience with help from you as women
Speaker 6: in the W using our platforms to stand for that
Speaker 6: are bigger than what we represent, but also understanding the
Speaker 6: responsibility of what it means to be a professional athlete.
Speaker 6: You know, everyone loves to say shut up and dribble
Speaker 6: in to that, I say, I wish we could, but
Speaker 6: we can't. And I think WNBA players are athletes that
Speaker 6: really understand what it means to stand for something and
Speaker 6: to do.
Speaker 5: Something about it with the platforms that we have.
Speaker 6: And I'm just grateful to have been a part of
Speaker 6: the initial group to you know, more than a vote
Speaker 6: to to make that type of change, but also I'm
Speaker 6: all about sustainable change and to be here again in
Speaker 6: twenty twenty four doing what I can to continue that change,
Speaker 6: especially with the headline of reproductive freedoms. As a woman
Speaker 6: who uses her body for her career, it really means
Speaker 6: a lot to.
Speaker 1: Me now, you know, I realized that twenty twenty in
Speaker 1: many ways it was an unforgettable year because of the
Speaker 1: murders that you cited, Brionna Taylor, George Floyd, A mod Arbury,
Speaker 1: so many others. There was a very intense energy in
Speaker 1: the athlete community, especially in the black athlete community then,
Speaker 1: especially in terms of getting involved in politics and social issues.
Speaker 1: Now you can correct me if I'm wrong, but it
Speaker 1: feels like in twenty twenty four, while I wouldn't expect
Speaker 1: it to match twenty twenty, I probably was expecting it
Speaker 1: to be a little higher. In twenty twenty four, there's
Speaker 1: been a bit of a dip off. Would you say
Speaker 1: that that's a fair observation.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I would agree.
Speaker 6: I think that what feels what felt heightened in twenty
Speaker 6: twenty was the fact that we were in the middle
Speaker 6: of a pandemic. Everyone was at home, you know, we
Speaker 6: were playing in a bubble. It was unique that we
Speaker 6: were in a situation in the season where all of
Speaker 6: the players were in one place at one time and
Speaker 6: here we are post pandemic, well not really, but you know,
Speaker 6: post that kind of isolated, insulated time. We're now reintegrating
Speaker 6: into the world and kind of trying to figure out
Speaker 6: how best we can still maintain that level of engagement
Speaker 6: and energy and awareness while still being in not just
Speaker 6: active seasons, but I mean, the visibility and engagement that
Speaker 6: we're experiencing today is not what we had experience.
Speaker 5: In twenty twenty, let alone a few months ago.
Speaker 6: So understanding where that lands, and then also kind of
Speaker 6: the conversation around our lived experiences with the injustice, with
Speaker 6: injustice on black and brown people, on women, and so
Speaker 6: many different marginalized groups, how that now is woven into
Speaker 6: the cultural conversation of sports. You know, while we're still
Speaker 6: trying to see what we can do to manage our
Speaker 6: daily lives, what it means for us to be black
Speaker 6: women in sport, what it means for those on the
Speaker 6: outside giving their own opinions about that, and then still
Speaker 6: showing up in our communities and making a difference as
Speaker 6: civilians and as citizens of the communities that we represent,
Speaker 6: both in market and as just people.
Speaker 1: Now you know, I know that you're through in your
Speaker 1: career showing this like you're the type of player that's
Speaker 1: going to be sort of engaged in these issues regardless.
Speaker 1: But what does it mean for you, if anything, to
Speaker 1: have Kamala Harris being at the top of the Democratic
Speaker 1: ticket and be, you know, the nominee the person running
Speaker 1: for president.
Speaker 6: For me, I think that there were just so many
Speaker 6: there's been so many question marks around our leadership in
Speaker 6: this country, and one thing about black women is that
Speaker 6: we find a way to make sure that we're on
Speaker 6: the right side of history. And for me, I don't
Speaker 6: think that I've ever lived through a potential president that
Speaker 6: has been disqualified. It has nothing to I don't want
Speaker 6: to say has nothing to do.
Speaker 5: But the priority for.
Speaker 6: Me isn't always about the demographics. Granted, it's difficult for
Speaker 6: us to ignore that because we live in all the
Speaker 6: intersections as black women, especially in black women in sport,
Speaker 6: but I just feel like it's incredibly symbolic of what
Speaker 6: we always say is that we have to work twice
Speaker 6: as hard to get.
Speaker 5: Half as far.
Speaker 6: I feel like we're living that in real time and
Speaker 6: to be able to look at someone that I can
Speaker 6: see myself in that not only represents an illustrious career
Speaker 6: to get to a point where she is incredibly qualified
Speaker 6: to do this job. But for me to also look
Speaker 6: at my own career and think about all of the
Speaker 6: work that we do individually and where we are at
Speaker 6: the point out of the points in our careers, in
Speaker 6: our lives, and using that as using that as as
Speaker 6: a way of being just incredibly it's incredibly relatable in
Speaker 6: so many different ways. It's incredibly relatable and still working
Speaker 6: through the muck to get to where you know you
Speaker 6: deserve to be, to get to where you know you've
Speaker 6: worked to be. But then all of that, of course
Speaker 6: with I personally, I personally think that being a black woman,
Speaker 6: being a woman who went to an HBCU, you know,
Speaker 6: being a woman who was a prosecutor. I think that
Speaker 6: there's so many different intersections that I can appreciate. I
Speaker 6: am also a child of immigrants, Like, there's just so
Speaker 6: much that I can see in myself in someone who
Speaker 6: was incredibly qualified and who could potentially be our president.
Speaker 1: Now there's so much about on what you said, but
Speaker 1: I'll serve with this, have you had much personal interaction
Speaker 1: with the vice president?
Speaker 5: Not personal interaction?
Speaker 6: But I will say, and I mean I'm a Everyone
Speaker 6: saw that she came to our game last year she did.
Speaker 6: That was my first time ever meeting the vice president,
Speaker 6: and she came into our locker room. It was it
Speaker 6: was a celebration because it was BG's first game back
Speaker 6: after being wrongfully detained, and for her to show up
Speaker 6: in that moment, it just represents the way that black
Speaker 6: women show for each other and in times where.
Speaker 5: Where we need that support.
Speaker 6: And I'm just grateful to have been able to meet
Speaker 6: her at all, but especially in that capacity, you know,
Speaker 6: on behalf of BEG and her coming back to us.
Speaker 1: Now, I'm sure you've seen a lot of the political,
Speaker 1: you know, rhetoric, A lot has been about immigrants. You're
Speaker 1: the child of immigrants, and there seems to be a
Speaker 1: very conscious demonization of immigrants. So how have you processed
Speaker 1: hearing from the other presidential candidate and Donald Trump, how
Speaker 1: often he summons, you know, immigrants and uses them, you know,
Speaker 1: politically and especially as a tool of division and dehumanizing
Speaker 1: and demonization. As a child of immigrants, how does that
Speaker 1: land with you?
Speaker 6: I mean, I was raised, My parents raised me to
Speaker 6: believe that there's no one that can say anything about
Speaker 6: me that I'm going to believe, you know, especially they
Speaker 6: don't know me. I think that there's tactics, Like you said,
Speaker 6: there's tools, there's ways to divide groups, to divide people.
Speaker 6: Finding differences and using that against people is something that
Speaker 6: I am familiar with as being a child of immigrants.
Speaker 6: Granted it may not have been.
Speaker 5: A part of the conversation, a part of.
Speaker 6: The cultural conversation as much as it is now, but
Speaker 6: I grew up with kids in school making different types
Speaker 6: of jokes around you know, what are you eating for lunch?
Speaker 6: That smells weird? You know, why do you guys wear that?
Speaker 6: And it's nothing that I'm unfamiliar with, but it's quite
Speaker 6: unfortunate that people can use differences to cause more divide.
Speaker 6: I think that our country was certainly built on people
Speaker 6: being from different places unwillingly and also by choice, but
Speaker 6: mostly unwillingly, and it is it is very sad to
Speaker 6: see today that with the contributions of those people that
Speaker 6: were not originally we're not originally here, that have made
Speaker 6: a life and that have driven culture and have driven
Speaker 6: the success of this country to not be to not
Speaker 6: be respected and supported in a way that we need
Speaker 6: for us to continue to make our country as strong
Speaker 6: as we all know it to be. And I have
Speaker 6: living experience through my parents who have built lives for
Speaker 6: themselves and ultimately for us to be able to do
Speaker 6: what we do and represent ourselves proudly.
Speaker 5: You know, there doesn't there There doesn't go.
Speaker 6: A day where don't hear that Cheney talks about being Nigerian,
Speaker 6: and that's something that was embedded in our household. It's
Speaker 6: something that makes us Nigerian, It's something that makes us American.
Speaker 6: And those are things that I think are represented well
Speaker 6: through the hairs Walls campaign.
Speaker 5: Is that she really.
Speaker 6: Talks about or appreciates where she's come from, how she
Speaker 6: was raised, and how that makes sure who she is
Speaker 6: as an American today.
Speaker 1: Uh. Now, I believe you are serving your third term
Speaker 1: as president of the Players Association. Big titled Now, when
Speaker 1: you first were you know, elected to that position, did
Speaker 1: you imagine doing it three times? Did you imagine you
Speaker 1: would be a three time?
Speaker 8: I did not.
Speaker 6: Here we are and I'm very grateful I run on
Speaker 6: the post three times. But I mean I'm seeing now
Speaker 6: quite possibly maybe through the other the other elected positions
Speaker 6: in our EC that is becoming more competitive.
Speaker 5: You know, I think that you know.
Speaker 6: There's there's people that are wanting to be a part
Speaker 6: of this leadership.
Speaker 5: I'm excited to see that happen.
Speaker 6: Also, when it comes to people wanting to possibly be
Speaker 6: president of the PA, it wasn't always a job that
Speaker 6: people wanted, but I think that our previous presidents did
Speaker 6: an amazing job of, you know, ensuring that the role
Speaker 6: was was respected by the person that held that position,
Speaker 6: and then ultimately that it grew and you know, maybe
Speaker 6: I'll run again.
Speaker 5: We want to be a part of a group of
Speaker 5: women that want to lead these players in this union
Speaker 5: towards great, big change.
Speaker 1: Now. Recently, as I'm sure you saw the WNBA Commissioner
Speaker 1: Kathy Engelbert, she was on CNBC and she was asked
Speaker 1: about the Angel Rees Caitlyn Clark rivalry that has sort
Speaker 1: of dominated the headlines of this WNBA season and how
Speaker 1: there's a bit of a I wouldn't I'm I think
Speaker 1: I'm being generous by calling it a bit, but there
Speaker 1: is a negative undercurrent because of the racial engender dynamics
Speaker 1: that have been brought into the discussion. Real quick, for
Speaker 1: the people listening, I'm going to play what she said,
Speaker 1: and then I want you to respond to.
Speaker 8: That question, which raises some sensitivity of rivalries between players,
Speaker 8: in the case of Angel Reese who's just had to
Speaker 8: shut it down because of a risk injury, Caitlin Clark
Speaker 8: who's continuing to play, rivalry that goes back to their
Speaker 8: college days, presumably where I guess some trash talking entered in.
Speaker 8: But now it seems on some social media channels to
Speaker 8: have taken a darker turn, a more menacing turn, where
Speaker 8: race has been introduced into the conversation, where sexuality is
Speaker 8: sometimes introduced into the conversation.
Speaker 5: How do you.
Speaker 9: Try and stay ahead of that, try and tamp it
Speaker 9: down or act as a league when two of your
Speaker 9: most visible players are involved, not personally, it would seem,
Speaker 9: but their fan bases are involved.
Speaker 8: In saying some very uncharitable things.
Speaker 10: The other thing that's great about the league right now
Speaker 10: we do sit at this intersection of culture and sport
Speaker 10: and fashion and music. Like the WNBA players are really
Speaker 10: looked at now as kind of cultural icons. And when
Speaker 10: you have that, you have a lot of attention on you.
Speaker 10: There's no more apathy. Everybody cares. It is a little
Speaker 10: that bird magic moment. If you recall from nineteen seventy
Speaker 10: nine when those two rookies came in from a big
Speaker 10: college rivalry, one white, one black, and so we have
Speaker 10: that moment with these two. But the one thing I
Speaker 10: know about sports, you need rivalry. That's what makes people watch.
Speaker 10: They want to watch games of consequence between rivals. They
Speaker 10: don't want everybody being nice to one another. So social
Speaker 10: media is different today than it was in nineteen seventy
Speaker 10: nine when it didn't exist. But you know, I always
Speaker 10: tell the players, you know, I was told a long
Speaker 10: time ago, if someone's typing something in and you wouldn't
Speaker 10: ask their advice, ignore it. So it's it's a balance,
Speaker 10: but certainly from a marketing dollars, but corporate partners are
Speaker 10: stepping up to endorse these players much much more so
Speaker 10: than they were five years ago because they see the
Speaker 10: benefit of having women and diverse women representing their brand.
Speaker 1: So how do you feel about what Kathy Engelbird said
Speaker 1: on CNBC.
Speaker 6: Well, you know, I think that, to be honest, it
Speaker 6: felt like a lob that could have been a slam dunk,
Speaker 6: and I thought that it was missed, you know, And
Speaker 6: it's disappointing to hear that response to a question about
Speaker 6: a league that stands for everything that has to do
Speaker 6: with equality and equity and denouncing racism and bigotry and
Speaker 6: homophobia and sexism. I think that we want to be
Speaker 6: able to feel like we have a commissioner, someone who
Speaker 6: is leading this league that represents us and our values
Speaker 6: and our lived experiences.
Speaker 5: Now I will say though, that.
Speaker 6: You know, her lived experiences are not my lived experiences.
Speaker 6: And I am what looks like over eighty percent of
Speaker 6: this league, and so it's very important for us to
Speaker 6: develop relationship where there are gaps in our lived experiences
Speaker 6: to help us present ourselves and these players the way
Speaker 6: that we want to be and the way that we
Speaker 6: know that we should be. I don't think I need
Speaker 6: to make this clear, but I will make this clear.
Speaker 6: There's no rivalry racism.
Speaker 5: In our league. You know that that's not something that
Speaker 5: we stand for.
Speaker 6: It exists, and there's agendas that are pushed because of
Speaker 6: the intense following of these rookies that have come into
Speaker 6: this league. There have been undercurrents of this that we've
Speaker 6: experienced in the WNBA, whether it's through branding and marketing
Speaker 6: and selecting certain players, something that I've experienced, something that
Speaker 6: players have talked to me about experiencing.
Speaker 5: And quite frankly, there is no business.
Speaker 6: In bigotry when it comes to the WNBA. You know,
Speaker 6: we've had players who have had to shut down their accounts.
Speaker 6: They have had players who have had death threats, and
Speaker 6: we now have a player who like the post and
Speaker 6: is now seeing or maybe not even now seeing, but
Speaker 6: now we are now all publicly witnessing the agenda that
Speaker 6: was trying to be pushed by the backing of a
Speaker 6: very talented rookie who herself has even had to publicly
Speaker 6: denounce the just the vile behavior and the vile engagement
Speaker 6: of players, and specifically black women who are experiencing a
Speaker 6: lot of these racist acts and these sexist acts that
Speaker 6: are just being driven behind what seems to be support
Speaker 6: of certain players. And so I really one thing that
Speaker 6: I really don't like about all of this is that
Speaker 6: I feel as though black women a lot of times
Speaker 6: have to clean up miss is that they didn't make.
Speaker 6: And I think that players players should not have to
Speaker 6: be the ones to solve the problems of something that
Speaker 6: needs to be either the league's issue or collaborative effort
Speaker 6: from whether it's the players, the union, and the league
Speaker 6: and I think we're going to reintroduce discussions that I
Speaker 6: know that we are already having on the players Association
Speaker 6: side that started with a conversation with Kathy. I had
Speaker 6: a conversation with Kathy. She was apologetic, she knows she
Speaker 6: missed the ball. She wants to move forward, and she
Speaker 6: doesn't want this to happen again. It's you know, as
Speaker 6: black women, we know anything can kind of happen, but
Speaker 6: we're always here and we're always ready to open the
Speaker 6: door for collaborative efforts. But I do think that, as
Speaker 6: I expressed in twenty twenty to the players and to
Speaker 6: individuals in the league and the PA, that it can't
Speaker 6: always fall on the players to have to deal with
Speaker 6: issues or fix these types of issues.
Speaker 1: And of course, you were referring to Aleah Boston, who
Speaker 1: is Kaitlyn Clark's teammate, who had to basically get off
Speaker 1: social media because early in the season they got off
Speaker 1: to a rough start and her teammates took the blame
Speaker 1: for that, and so she was subjected to a lot
Speaker 1: of these attacks, as is any player seemingly who guards
Speaker 1: Kaitlyn Clark. It's just subjected to a number of attacks,
Speaker 1: and of course, referring to Kaitlyn Clark liking posts by
Speaker 1: Taylor Swift endorsing Kamala Harris, and suddenly that has gotten
Speaker 1: her out of favor with people who I think most
Speaker 1: of us who have watched the league and follow the
Speaker 1: league knew this, and it was always an elephant in
Speaker 1: the room that there were some people who were trying
Speaker 1: to disguise their fandom of her, but really they hate
Speaker 1: black women more than they love her or the WNBA,
Speaker 1: and they were sort of using her as their bat
Speaker 1: signal to kind of get out some feelings that we
Speaker 1: knew that they harbored, whether Kaitlyn Clark existed or not.
Speaker 1: Nothing that has of course been encouraged by her on
Speaker 1: any front. But with that being said, is that you
Speaker 1: mentioned several times in our conversation how the WNBA everybody
Speaker 1: knows what it stands for in terms of how the
Speaker 1: players are politically and socially engaged. That's just in the fabric.
Speaker 1: In the DNA of the players, a third of the
Speaker 1: players in the league are identified as LGBTQ. Plus, you
Speaker 1: have a league that is almost eighty percent of black women.
Speaker 1: And with that being the case, as is the popularity
Speaker 1: of the WNBA is ascending to a different level. How
Speaker 1: concerned are you that the league will still maintain that
Speaker 1: DNA of activism, of speaking out and outspoken this as
Speaker 1: more people get invested in what this league is.
Speaker 6: I mean, to be honest, I've never really felt concerned
Speaker 6: about that, only because I know our players. I know
Speaker 6: the players are not going to just fall for anything.
Speaker 6: And I think that as long as that's not recognized
Speaker 6: collectively and from the league, than incidents like this week
Speaker 6: are just going to continue to happen. And ultimately, that's
Speaker 6: not something that looks good, that's not something that feels good,
Speaker 6: that's not something that foster's and environment where players really
Speaker 6: want to be represented and represent themselves. So I can
Speaker 6: only believe that we have to move forward from this.
Speaker 6: I know that the players always do. I know that
Speaker 6: the players are always going to speak up. I know
Speaker 6: that the union is always going to represent our best interests,
Speaker 6: and I have faith that the league will too. And
Speaker 6: I think that you have to experience instances like Kathy's
Speaker 6: interview and.
Speaker 5: The response from that interview and the response from the.
Speaker 6: Players for us to really look and reflect and think about, Hey,
Speaker 6: this is what needs to move forward and concerning ourselves
Speaker 6: with league investment, when it.
Speaker 5: Comes to.
Speaker 6: Standing on top of our values is going to be
Speaker 6: an issue because if we're worried about the dollars, then
Speaker 6: the integrity of this league it can fall just as
Speaker 6: fast as it got built.
Speaker 5: I'm very strongly, I'm very strong.
Speaker 6: I'm an advocate for the sustainability and the integrity of.
Speaker 5: What you stand on. And we got here, We got
Speaker 5: through twenty sixteen, we got through.
Speaker 6: Twenty twenty, need to be in twenty twenty four, and
Speaker 6: I think that that's the only way that we can continue.
Speaker 5: To move forward.
Speaker 6: And the right people are going to be the right
Speaker 6: people that will stand with us.
Speaker 1: You know, being that you seem to kind of have
Speaker 1: a pension for being president of the Players Association. Have
Speaker 1: you thought about a career or ever thought about a
Speaker 1: career in politics?
Speaker 5: Oh?
Speaker 6: Man, my family has they asked me this all the time,
Speaker 6: especially as someone who you know, someone who's from Houston.
Speaker 6: You know, for a lot of people, don't a lot
Speaker 6: of people feel like we could have a different type
Speaker 6: of senator.
Speaker 1: Y'all need well you can make I'm gonna say it
Speaker 1: for you. You might not be able to say it,
Speaker 1: but because the state of Texas absolutely needs a different senator.
Speaker 5: We're slowly, I mean we if we're not verbal, we
Speaker 5: are lily we are.
Speaker 6: And so that's something that has I haven't really thought
Speaker 6: about it, and it's something that has certainly been entertained
Speaker 6: in conversation amongst friends and family.
Speaker 5: But I'll ask you this, Actually, I understand politics.
Speaker 6: I understand that in the industries that we exist in
Speaker 6: there are politics there too, you know, And I wonder,
Speaker 6: I guess maybe it's because I've just been in sport
Speaker 6: for so long. Don't you feel like we have more
Speaker 6: power with the platforms that exist in the intersection and
Speaker 6: the politics that are revealed within those intersections. Like how
Speaker 6: do you feel about that? I personally feel like I do,
Speaker 6: but I haven't dabbled fully into.
Speaker 5: The pot, like the actual politics of things, right, you know.
Speaker 1: You know that's that's that's a great question. And it's
Speaker 1: crazy because I'm forever encouraging everybody else to run because
Speaker 1: I do think I do believe in sort of something
Speaker 1: that Tony Morrison said that applies to everything, which she said,
Speaker 1: write the book that you want to read that you
Speaker 1: don't see, right, And so because of the complaints that
Speaker 1: we often hear at the grassroots level about the politicians.
Speaker 1: I always say, like, be the candidate that you want
Speaker 1: to win, right, Like, be the candidate that you want
Speaker 1: to see, And so I would say the same to you.
Speaker 1: Is that Yeah? I mean, I know the political landscape
Speaker 1: is very tricky. It is. It's difficult in a lot
Speaker 1: of respects. But if we do want to see the
Speaker 1: systems woult of change, somebody like Neka needs to might
Speaker 1: need to be an office a good experience going already.
Speaker 1: So that's why I asked you that question. And I'm
Speaker 1: not surprised that your family has asked you the same
Speaker 1: question because maybe they see it too.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, I don't close doors.
Speaker 1: You're not gonna rule it out.
Speaker 5: I won't rule it out. I won't rule it out,
Speaker 5: but I will say though, no matter what, I need
Speaker 5: a few more rings and then maybe I'll see that
Speaker 5: to you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm not trying to retire you right now, that's
Speaker 1: for sure, but because you have so much more left
Speaker 1: to accomplish. And what was speaking of basketball? I know
Speaker 1: that you have had your issues, understandable issues with Team USA,
Speaker 1: but what were your thoughts on the fact that the
Speaker 1: Nigerian women's basketball team. They reached the quarterfinals. I think
Speaker 1: that the first African team to do so. Like, how
Speaker 1: did you feel witnessing that in the in the Summer Olympics?
Speaker 6: It felt great, If I wasn't surprised, And I think
Speaker 6: that it was a little bit serendipitous that they you
Speaker 6: know that that they played. I don't know, like they
Speaker 6: just played so hard and they played the hardest competition.
Speaker 5: Like I just feel as though it feels it.
Speaker 6: Felt good being Nigerian and American like that, Like that's
Speaker 6: really the only way that I can describe it. I
Speaker 6: think that it just shows that the best parts of
Speaker 6: me are at the top.
Speaker 5: You know, it was it was, it was I.
Speaker 6: Felt I felt very very, very represented, and so I
Speaker 6: look forward to seeing how much more can be done.
Speaker 6: I look forward to seeing if I.
Speaker 5: Can be on Team Nigerian twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 1: Though in la Okay put it out there listen, you know,
Speaker 1: for those who are listening. Unfortunately, there is a statistic
Speaker 1: that you have that I feel like is such ah,
Speaker 1: it is such a disservice to your career. But I
Speaker 1: think you're the only WNBA MVP two have never made
Speaker 1: Team USA. What is it like for you watching Team
Speaker 1: USA and the Olympics, knowing that you've had a very
Speaker 1: let's use the word political kind of experience with them,
Speaker 1: But what's it like for you to watch Team USA?
Speaker 5: You know, I mean those are my teammates, those are right.
Speaker 5: I think that.
Speaker 6: I've always had respect and I continue to always have respect.
Speaker 5: I mean, I wouldn't I would be lying to you
Speaker 5: if I if I told you that I felt peace,
Speaker 5: you know, like I don't feel peace. And I think
Speaker 5: that it's it's maybe less.
Speaker 6: About watching Team USA and more about the process.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 6: I played for Team USA for fifteen years. You know,
Speaker 6: I did all the things. I was told all the things,
Speaker 6: and I was trusting, you know.
Speaker 5: And I think that.
Speaker 6: It's just it's unfortunate that I feel as though my
Speaker 6: experience is incredibly symbolic of the tools of divisions that
Speaker 6: we're experiencing from, you know, campaigns.
Speaker 5: That want to profit off of division.
Speaker 6: And I think that my experience can resonate with a
Speaker 6: lot of different people who come to places for opportunity
Speaker 6: and do the right thing and are disciplined and try
Speaker 6: to be good and are not not only not rewarded,
Speaker 6: but are disrespected, and so for me, I couldn't sacrifice
Speaker 6: my integrity and continue on. I wanted I had to
Speaker 6: keep that, you know, And I went against I went
Speaker 6: against a lot of close family and friends advice to
Speaker 6: try again.
Speaker 5: It just did. It didn't rest well. It didn't rest
Speaker 5: well to me.
Speaker 6: It felt it didn't feel good to continue to try again,
Speaker 6: and so I'm forging my own path.
Speaker 1: Yeah, when you know Kitlin Clark wasn't selected, obviously, that
Speaker 1: caused a lot of conversation, a lout of controversy, and
Speaker 1: I said, I was like, you know, I get why
Speaker 1: people feel emotional and passionate about it. I was like,
Speaker 1: but if we're talking snubs, the biggest snub by far
Speaker 1: is Mekka Ogum mackay. And it was interesting to hear
Speaker 1: Arique talk about why she withdrew her name out of
Speaker 1: the process. And to me, if you have players who
Speaker 1: are feeling this way, then you might need to evaluate
Speaker 1: your process. But for this moment, we're going to leave
Speaker 1: this conversation right here and take a quick break, and
Speaker 1: when we come back, I'm going to ask you the
Speaker 1: question that is sure to get you in trouble, Mecca,
Speaker 1: because I mean, you just you're so nice and so
Speaker 1: polished and so eloquent. I was like, now we got
Speaker 1: to get her in some trouble. So I have that
Speaker 1: question that is going to get you in trouble coming
Speaker 1: up after the break. As you've seen Mecca like, there's
Speaker 1: been an explosion of coverage for the WNBA this season,
Speaker 1: the sensational rookie class. But if you had to give
Speaker 1: the media a grade for how you felt they've covered
Speaker 1: the WNBA this season, what would it be?
Speaker 5: This is an excellent question.
Speaker 1: And by the way, this was not the controversial question.
Speaker 1: No it wasn't. I got even more controversial.
Speaker 5: Wa A grade?
Speaker 7: Wow?
Speaker 1: Yes, I mean you're you are a basketball player and
Speaker 1: a scholar, so I know you understand grades.
Speaker 5: Great. Okay. So I've been in the league. This is
Speaker 5: my thirteenth season.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm.
Speaker 6: I've been through many many failing grades, many many failing grades.
Speaker 1: I know some years that media has definitely gotten an f.
Speaker 5: I would to give me a feeling grade. This year,
Speaker 5: I wouldn't give them a feeling grade.
Speaker 1: I can give you what would you like me to
Speaker 1: Would you like me to make it pass fail? Or
Speaker 1: is that too binary?
Speaker 7: Yeah?
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's binary. Okay, all right, feeling grade.
Speaker 6: So there, I feel like there's a lot of variables
Speaker 6: that come into the grade that I.
Speaker 5: Would I would I would probably give like a solid sea.
Speaker 5: I would probably give a solid seed only because.
Speaker 6: I think that when it comes to media, there was
Speaker 6: a lot of work that wasn't done before we got
Speaker 6: to this moment that is exactly that is only serving
Speaker 6: as an exacerbation of problems.
Speaker 5: You know. I think that.
Speaker 6: There's a lot of enabling that continues to occur because
Speaker 6: of problems that weren't addressed before. And like from my experience,
Speaker 6: what I would say is representation in stories, representation in media,
Speaker 6: you know, when it comes to who is telling the stories,
Speaker 6: who is pitching the stories, who is asking for the stories,
Speaker 6: who are the stories about? There's not enough diversity in
Speaker 6: a lot of those a lot of those categories. I
Speaker 6: was a part of actually a media summit last year
Speaker 6: or actually at the top of this year, where we
Speaker 6: talked a lot to beat writers, you know, media and
Speaker 6: the WNBA and players.
Speaker 5: And relationships with the media, especially.
Speaker 6: With you know, are changing media rules when it comes
Speaker 6: to coming into the locker room and such.
Speaker 5: I know that a lot of people were up in
Speaker 5: arms about that.
Speaker 6: I think that media coming into the locker room is
Speaker 6: as traditional as white jerseys being the traditional color for
Speaker 6: women who all menstract right, those are just things that
Speaker 6: people are like, Oh, we never questioned it. It's always
Speaker 6: just kind of been a thing. And so now when
Speaker 6: we come with new ideas and innovative ways to protect
Speaker 6: players but also still.
Speaker 5: Ensure that media can do their jobs, it's jolting.
Speaker 6: People are not used to it, and so I give
Speaker 6: it a c because for so long it's been like,
Speaker 6: that's just the way it is, that's just the way
Speaker 6: it is. Well, now we're here. Do we want this
Speaker 6: to continue to just be the way it is? Do
Speaker 6: we have Jamal Hills asking questions and being able to
Speaker 6: tell the stories that they want to tell. Do we
Speaker 6: have do we have Big three shows that are representing
Speaker 6: these women in ways that they feel like, Okay, you know,
Speaker 6: even if this is a hot take on me and
Speaker 6: my team, it's an informed take. These are people that
Speaker 6: have a lot of history of watching these sports, knowing
Speaker 6: these women and looking like a majority of what this
Speaker 6: league looks looks like to tell these stories and talk
Speaker 6: about these sports, and I feel as though we have
Speaker 6: a way. We still have a ways to go to
Speaker 6: even get to an A B, you know, and I
Speaker 6: look forward to seeing how that changes. But the powers
Speaker 6: that be, you know, are the one like the people
Speaker 6: who are in charge of making these decisions.
Speaker 5: That's what really needs to change.
Speaker 1: With the media, Yeah, it's been it's been uncomfortable to watch, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, as a as a media member because the one,
Speaker 1: the biggest, one of the bigger observations I've certainly put
Speaker 1: out there was and I'm gonna keep it real. It's
Speaker 1: like a lot of men who are now china in
Speaker 1: and talking about the W. I'm not saying that you
Speaker 1: have to know the history from soup to nuts. I'm
Speaker 1: not saying that, but there is some institutional knowledge you
Speaker 1: should know. And what amazes me is that men are
Speaker 1: allowed in the space of women's sports. And it's not
Speaker 1: just the W, but I think it's particularly prevalent in
Speaker 1: the W to show up and say I don't know
Speaker 1: anything about this, but here's my opinion, and that opinion
Speaker 1: is being regarded as gospel. And I just there is
Speaker 1: not a woman in mind like I could not show
Speaker 1: up on anybody's NFL set and say, oh that Patrick
Speaker 1: mahomes guys seems kind of good, huh, Like I couldn't
Speaker 1: do that. And yet when I watch sometimes the commentary
Speaker 1: about the W it's people who don't know anything about
Speaker 1: the league, and they are loud and proud of the
Speaker 1: fact that they don't know anything, and yet their opinions
Speaker 1: are taken very seriously. And so I'm hoping that the
Speaker 1: media will take this year to actually grow up a
Speaker 1: little bit, because it's not on the players, it's the
Speaker 1: media is responsible for the coverage and the conversation and
Speaker 1: the narratives that are set, and so it's it's been
Speaker 1: a little disheartening to watch that take place. So I'm
Speaker 1: this will lead to a question as somebody who is,
Speaker 1: you know, sort of in that space. I know you
Speaker 1: don't want to get into the business of necessarily, you know,
Speaker 1: sort of ripping the media, but what are your hopes
Speaker 1: going forward, because now that the popularity is there, the
Speaker 1: coverage is increasing, are you hopeful going forward that the
Speaker 1: media will be more grown up in how they cover
Speaker 1: the W Yeah.
Speaker 6: So, I mean I know how grim it can feel,
Speaker 6: you know, as someone who is watching all of these takes,
Speaker 6: and I mean people picking up a mic for the
Speaker 6: first time now talking talking so much about about a
Speaker 6: league and sports and athletes that we've that we have
Speaker 6: been we have been so passionate about, like we would
Speaker 6: do it without even anyone paying us to talk about
Speaker 6: or play, you know, And so I can feel I
Speaker 6: can feel the tension when it comes to all of
Speaker 6: these new pot takes, but I do feel I do
Speaker 6: feel hopeful because maybe I have a different vantage point
Speaker 6: from the inside. For so long, it's always been easy
Speaker 6: to point back, point out like who's doing what wrong?
Speaker 5: And so I think in a year where we are
Speaker 5: just you know, exploding with attention and media, I you know,
Speaker 5: my radar is like no, okay, And.
Speaker 6: So I'm able to sift it out a little bit
Speaker 6: easier and without emotion because for so long people have
Speaker 6: been getting it wrong and I'm able to and a
Speaker 6: lot of other players are able to appreciate the theist
Speaker 6: just women's sports, the Big Three, Jamel Hill, you know,
Speaker 6: like we're able to really appreciate that and also see
Speaker 6: that there is investment for those who are institutional.
Speaker 5: At this point, like you said, in knowing things about the.
Speaker 6: W because without investment in the Big Three, where the
Speaker 6: hell would we really be watching people covering women's sports,
Speaker 6: you know, like being able and I of course I'm
Speaker 6: biased because my sisters is a part of the Big Three,
Speaker 6: but being able to see them work and just be
Speaker 6: in their bag in that way because of the boom
Speaker 6: in women's sports and the engagement and the feedback that
Speaker 6: they get.
Speaker 5: It comes hand in hand with.
Speaker 6: The stephen As and the Shanna Sharps and people who
Speaker 6: are honestly having their gateway into it. Because for me,
Speaker 6: like I'm not here to criticize anyone, I will tell you, like, hey,
Speaker 6: do your research, like before you start talking. It's cool
Speaker 6: to read up on something, or watch a few games,
Speaker 6: go and look at some WBA classics, you know.
Speaker 5: But I think that the the.
Speaker 6: Loud and wrongness of the media now is an opportunity
Speaker 6: for someone who is credentialed like you to be.
Speaker 5: Like, hm, no, you know, you have community of people.
Speaker 6: With large platforms, and the same way that Monica McNutt
Speaker 6: did what she did, I feel like these are now
Speaker 6: opportunities for us to instead of fight and combat like
Speaker 6: the fans are in the comment section. You can have
Speaker 6: people who are credential you can have people who are
Speaker 6: respected in the WNBA speaking to people who aren't necessarily
Speaker 6: informed on the d NBA, but do have the platform
Speaker 6: and are credential and respected in their own rights to
Speaker 6: bring these communities together and be like, hey, it's okay
Speaker 6: if you didn't know, I'm here to help you out,
Speaker 6: you know.
Speaker 5: And so that's kind of in granted, I may be.
Speaker 6: Someone who generally has Candice would always tell me that,
Speaker 6: like you always see the good in things, and like
Speaker 6: I maybe someone who leans, she's a little bit more pragmatic,
Speaker 6: but I maybe someone who leans to be a little
Speaker 6: bit more optimistic. But I think that there's ways that
Speaker 6: you can still be firm and so let people know
Speaker 6: and read them without it turning into, you know, an
Speaker 6: all out war or fight. But then sometimes you do
Speaker 6: need to get a little bit messy. And so that's
Speaker 6: kind of that's that's.
Speaker 5: What I anticipate.
Speaker 6: I anticipate people being able to have a little bit
Speaker 6: more golf and say, like, you know, like I've been
Speaker 6: doing this, let me let you know you're not right,
Speaker 6: but let's move forward and educate ourselves about it together.
Speaker 1: And so I actually brought up in this conversation you've
Speaker 1: been you've been in the league now thirteen years, which
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, I knew you've been there for
Speaker 1: a while, but it just it still feels like you
Speaker 1: still feel it still feels like it hasn't been that long.
Speaker 1: But I like to know how much thought have you
Speaker 1: given to how much longer you want to do? You
Speaker 1: want to play?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 6: Well, I mean I would say that you know, you
Speaker 6: make plans and you think that things are going to
Speaker 6: go a certain way. I did not, I will be honest,
Speaker 6: I did not anticipate playing in another franchise. I'm very
Speaker 6: grateful that I'm here. I have resources is that give
Speaker 6: me that make me feel like I'm looking at a
Speaker 6: longer runway now, you know, whether it's a facility and ownership,
Speaker 6: engagement and.
Speaker 5: Just being able to feel as though.
Speaker 6: I'm I still feel like I could be out there
Speaker 6: doing things and I know that I have resources and
Speaker 6: staff and support that can help me do those things
Speaker 6: for much longer. And you know, my aspirations to play
Speaker 6: in the Olympics, I think is something that is probably
Speaker 6: also extending my career as well. And so I can't
Speaker 6: tell you how long, but I can't tell you that
Speaker 6: I have goals and to be an Olympian is one.
Speaker 6: To be a multi a multi champion is one, and
Speaker 6: it takes takes a.
Speaker 5: Couple of years to get those things done. So we'll
Speaker 5: see where that lands me.
Speaker 6: But I'm very happy with with still trying to choose
Speaker 6: to achieve those goals.
Speaker 1: Your your sister Cheney recently got married. What was your
Speaker 1: favorite moment or memory from her wedding?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 1: Where are you her? Mad or honor?
Speaker 5: I was?
Speaker 1: I was okay, all right, So you had to give
Speaker 1: the speech?
Speaker 6: I did well, you know, there was so much happening
Speaker 6: that we almost didn't do it speech, but we made it.
Speaker 5: We made it, We made you made it. Okay. Well,
Speaker 5: my favorite part of the wedding.
Speaker 6: So we have a Nigerian culture. We have a traditional wedding.
Speaker 6: It's called demonk Wu, right, and we had to rehearse
Speaker 6: a dance to enter the hall as a part of
Speaker 6: the ceremonies when it comes to call what we called
Speaker 6: the wine carny. And so I would say that when
Speaker 6: we entered the hall and we were doing our rehearse dance,
Speaker 6: that was probably my favorite part of the wedding. There's video,
Speaker 6: there's clips, there's highlights. You can watch it for sure.
Speaker 1: Now here comes the controversy as we want. Yes, now
Speaker 1: here comes the controversy.
Speaker 5: I've been I've been good so far, though you have.
Speaker 1: Been You've been excellent, and I feel like I haven't
Speaker 1: really put you on the hot seat. But this I'm
Speaker 1: hoping we'll do the do the trick. Make the case
Speaker 1: for why Nigerian jollafrice is better than Gahanian jollarice. Make
Speaker 1: the case.
Speaker 5: Why do I have to make the case?
Speaker 1: I didn't look the streets says it's a dad all battle.
Speaker 1: I've had them both. It's hard for me to I
Speaker 1: have had them both, you know. I mean, I have
Speaker 1: to say I am I am kind of leaning towards Ghana.
Speaker 1: I'm not whoa I just I hate to say I'm
Speaker 1: leaning towards Ghanda. Now I felt like, see, gotta tricked
Speaker 1: me just because I was in Ghana when I had
Speaker 1: the rice, right, so like I was anger when I
Speaker 1: had the Nigerian rice that I've had has been in
Speaker 1: the States but made by real Nigerians. Okay, so yes,
Speaker 1: all right, so like, but having it in Ghana, I
Speaker 1: was able to sample a lot of the rice, and
Speaker 1: so I feel yeah, and because it feels a little
Speaker 1: spicier to me and I'm a spicy person. Wow, man,
Speaker 1: it does like But again that's why I said, like,
Speaker 1: let's start beefing these series. Why is Nigerian jollifrice better
Speaker 1: than right jollifrice from Ghana?
Speaker 5: Because it is because it is need to be explainable. Man.
Speaker 1: You hear that got it? You hear that you got
Speaker 1: twenty four hours to response. We are agreed you. You
Speaker 1: you escape that controversy. You talked your ship, which was
Speaker 1: good because now all of Ghana, yes, you have to.
Speaker 1: Now when when Ghana riding into your mentions? I can't
Speaker 1: wait because they take that rice very seriously.
Speaker 5: Tell you you don't play you don't play well.
Speaker 1: Nekka. I want to thank you for joining me on
Speaker 1: politics and for taking some time out and you know,
Speaker 1: twenty twenty eight we want to see it. We want
Speaker 1: to see you in a country's Olympic uniform. Perhaps the Nigerians.
Speaker 1: I mean they made the corner finals before. What could
Speaker 1: they do if they had Knucko on the team. I'm
Speaker 1: just saying, you know what I mean. But yes, but
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining me and yeah, good
Speaker 1: luck going forward and look forward to your political this
Speaker 1: is subjective.
Speaker 5: I appreciate that.
Speaker 1: All right. As I mentioned in the first episode of Politics,
Speaker 1: I'm going to use this final segment to answer your
Speaker 1: questions about sports, politics, maybe even life. Today's question comes
Speaker 1: from Seth Smith.
Speaker 7: Hijamu great first episode of Politics. Really enjoyed the topics
Speaker 7: that you got to cover with the guy that literally
Speaker 7: inspired me to be a journalism major at Paul University
Speaker 7: here in Chicago, Dan Lovebtzard. I really loved a lot
Speaker 7: of the topics you guys covered, and I think what
Speaker 7: you're doing with this particular series is really really important.
Speaker 7: But my question, I guess would be, is how do
Speaker 7: you break into this industry and how do you get started?
Speaker 7: Because I would really love to be a part of
Speaker 7: this world, not even just saying hey, give you a job.
Speaker 7: I swear I'm not, but just like a compass, you
Speaker 7: could provide a lighthouse of like where does somebody go
Speaker 7: if they want to make this a career?
Speaker 1: All right, So Seth, you basically asked me how do
Speaker 1: you break into this business? And what are some of
Speaker 1: the steps you need to take and whether or not
Speaker 1: I can provide you with a blueprint.
Speaker 5: I'm gonna be one.
Speaker 1: Thousand percent honest with you. I can't provide you a blueprint,
Speaker 1: not because I'm stingy and not because I don't want
Speaker 1: to share all the knowledge. Is that the blueprint that
Speaker 1: I came up with to get into this business literally
Speaker 1: doesn't exist anymore. Just to give you a little background,
Speaker 1: I came up through newspapers, so I majored in journalism
Speaker 1: when I went to Michigan State. I had five internships
Speaker 1: when I was in college. I interned at the Lineman
Speaker 1: News in Lima, Ohio, the Philadelphia Acquired, the Detroit Free Press,
Speaker 1: the Cleveland Playing Dealer, the Riley News and Observer because
Speaker 1: I wanted to be a print journalist. That was my
Speaker 1: sort of big thing. And then after that I worked
Speaker 1: at the News and Observer and Raley as a general
Speaker 1: assignment sports reporter for a couple of years, worked in Detroit,
Speaker 1: was a columnist in Orlando before I got to ESPN.
Speaker 1: Keep in mind, ESPN did not hire me to be
Speaker 1: on air talent. That's just something that evolved when I
Speaker 1: was there. They hired me to be a sports columnist
Speaker 1: for ESPN dot Com. So all that to say is
Speaker 1: that blueprint of coming up through print doesn't potentially work anymore.
Speaker 1: So I think probably the best advice that I can
Speaker 1: give you is to just get as many reps as possible.
Speaker 1: You didn't necessarily specify whether you want to produce, whether
Speaker 1: you want to be on air. I know you had
Speaker 1: such wonderful praise for Dan Levittard and I, but if
Speaker 1: you want to be on air, you have to give
Speaker 1: reps because our business is one where your experience is
Speaker 1: your currency, and that's what matters the most. And I
Speaker 1: would say if you're trying to get those reps, start
Speaker 1: wherever you are. If you're still in college, then I
Speaker 1: would say college radio, student TV, all those things that
Speaker 1: are available on campus. If you're not in knowledge, what
Speaker 1: I would say is that a lot of the entry
Speaker 1: level positions in media they just need capable hands. They
Speaker 1: just need people who going to show up on time
Speaker 1: and do the work. And because if you don't have
Speaker 1: a lot of experience, you also have one great quality.
Speaker 1: You're cheap, so that always helps as well. So what
Speaker 1: I would say, as soon as you possibly can start
Speaker 1: getting reps, depending on what it is that you want
Speaker 1: to do in this business. Also, I should mention Dan
Speaker 1: Levatar also came up through newspapers as I did, but
Speaker 1: as you see what's happening with local news, I'm not
Speaker 1: so sure that's a viable path. Also, let me just
Speaker 1: mention this final thing before I wrap up. When you
Speaker 1: want to be on air, hey, listen social media, TikTok,
Speaker 1: YouTube channels like, start talking to people, start getting reps,
Speaker 1: start getting comfortable being in front of a camera. That
Speaker 1: also will help you anyway. Try to answer your question
Speaker 1: as best that I can, and hopefully that will do
Speaker 1: you some kind of good. But you know, keep me
Speaker 1: updated on your progress because I'd love to know how
Speaker 1: you're doing. Thanks, Seth. Now, if you would like to
Speaker 1: ask me a question as well, you can email me
Speaker 1: your question or send me a video with your question,
Speaker 1: as Seth did. But if you send me a video,
Speaker 1: make sure it's thirty seconds or less. Send your questions
Speaker 1: to Spolitics twenty twenty four at gmail dot com. That's
Speaker 1: Politics twenty twenty four at gmail dot com. That's s
Speaker 1: PO L I T I c s. And remember, a
Speaker 1: new episode of Spolitics drops every Thursday on iHeart podcast
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts. This is politics where
Speaker 1: sports and politics don't just mix, they also matter Spolitics
Speaker 1: is the production of iHeart Podcasts and the Unbothered network.
Speaker 1: I'm Your host Jamel Hill. Executive producer is Taylor Schakoigne.
Speaker 1: Lucas Hymen is head of Audio and executive producer. Megan
Speaker 1: Armstrong is associate producer. Original music for Spolitics provided by
Speaker 1: Kyle Visz from wiz FX.