WEBVTT - Let Them Be Great with Sheryl Swoopes 0:00:00.800 --> 0:00:03.440 Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're happy 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:08.800 to announce a new hypeman has dropped. Jason Kelsey handshake emoji. 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:13.399 Olympic Women's Rugby a match made in Heaven. Swifties that means, 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:16.400 set your DVRs, learn the names of the players. Let's 0:00:16.400 --> 0:00:18.919 give this Olympic women's rugby team the love they deserve. 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:21.439 On today's show, we'll be talking with four time Olympic 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:25.000 gold medalists and four time WNBA champion, The Woman, the Myth, 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:29.480 the Legend, Cheryl Swoops, plus our big Easter Egg reveal. 0:00:29.840 --> 0:00:31.920 It's more proof that I should not be left to 0:00:31.960 --> 0:00:34.839 my own devices. But first, here's what you need to 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:40.479 know today. Tmusa waterpolo is currently one in one in 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:44.040 Olympic competition after a thirteen eleven lost to Spain on Monday. 0:00:44.320 --> 0:00:46.440 This was a rematch of the Olympic final three years 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:47.239 ago in Tokyo. 0:00:47.600 --> 0:00:47.960 Get this. 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:51.199 It's only the US team's second loss at the Olympics 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:54.560 since two thousand and eight. The US women's water polo 0:00:54.600 --> 0:00:56.200 team is one of the most dominant teams in the 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:59.120 world in any sport, so it's always big news when 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:01.760 they lose. But it also doesn't mean much in the 0:01:01.800 --> 0:01:04.480 context of the Olympic tournament. Hopefully just leads to a 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:06.920 rematch in the gold medal game. Next up for Team 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:11.880 USA Italy on Wednesday at twelve thirty pm Eastern in 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:14.959 rugby in a chippy quarter final match with Great Britain, 0:01:15.000 --> 0:01:18.960 Team USA held on in one seventeen to seven to advance. 0:01:19.319 --> 0:01:21.800 Next up is a semi final match against New Zealand 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:25.640 today at nine thirty am Eastern, live on Peacock. The 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:29.080 US is seeking its first ever Olympic gold medal in rugby. 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:32.600 Both bronze and gold medal games are later on this afternoon. Also, 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:35.160 if you're still not following our rugby Queen Alana Mayor, 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:38.120 you're like a million or so people behind, so get 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:40.160 on that right now. You can watch her convert Jason 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:43.080 Kelsey to hype man, stiff armed people a la Marshaun Lynch, 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:45.399 and turn pretty much every moment of the Olympics into 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:50.240 a comedy routine. The gymnastics team final is today, beginning 0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:51.960 at twelve to fifteen pm Eastern. 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:53.200 Here's how it works. 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:56.200 During the final, each country has three athletes compete on 0:01:56.240 --> 0:02:01.360 each apparatus, and all three scores count despite tweaking your 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:04.680 calf while warming up during Sunday's qualification, is expected to 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:11.680 compete on all four apparatuses Apparati apparatus, same with Jordan Chiles, 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:14.040 while Jade Carey will appear on vault and Sudney Lee 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:17.880 will compete on bars, beam and floor. The Americans will 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:20.360 enter the team final as the favorites for gold, and 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:23.640 they posted the best score in qualifying by a long shot. 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:27.079 But of course, gymnastics is an unforgiving sport and anything 0:02:27.080 --> 0:02:29.880 can happen. Remember in the team final three years ago, 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:33.440 Simone Biles, dealing with the twisties, had to withdraw and 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:35.880 the US went on to win silver again. That event 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:38.320 is twelve to fifteen pm Eastern, So take a long 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:39.000 lunch break. 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:40.000 You know I'm gonna be. 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:43.120 Watching Team USA takes the court for the first time 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:46.160 in three x three basketball today at eleven thirty am 0:02:46.320 --> 0:02:49.160 Eastern against Germany. That US team is going to be 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:52.880 super fun to watch. Sierra Burdick, Derek Hamby, Ryan Howard 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:55.800 and Hayley Vanlyth. And a quick refresher on three x 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:58.200 three just in case you haven't watched it since Tokyo, Okay. 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:00.920 The Games are super fast, like if you go get 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:02.320 a snack and you come right back, you might miss 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:02.760 it fast. 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:05.280 Each game is only ten minutes, but it can end 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:05.960 sooner than that. 0:03:06.040 --> 0:03:09.080 If one team reaches twenty one points, watch that on 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:10.919 NBC or stream it on peacock. 0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:13.320 Maybe had a couple screen setups. They don't miss any 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:13.720 of the action. 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:17.400 Speaking of basketball, team, USA is five on five. Squad 0:03:17.520 --> 0:03:21.120 kept it tighter than expected early against Japan, but then 0:03:21.200 --> 0:03:23.320 pulled away for a one oh two seventy six win. 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:25.840 Asia Wilson led the team with twenty four points and 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:30.919 thirteen rebounds. We can't shout out USA women soops without 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:32.760 a quick good game, good game. 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:36.200 Fact you times two fact number one. 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:40.160 With their win against Japan, it's been eleven thousand, six 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:43.400 hundred and eighty two days since the basketball team lost 0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:47.320 an Olympic game. Fact number two. Only three of the 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:50.880 twelve players on the current US roster were alive for 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:55.280 that loss. Diana Tarassi, Alisa Thomas, Britney Griner shout out 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:57.800 the olds. Speaking of USA hoops, we got to take 0:03:57.840 --> 0:03:59.640 a break, but when we come back. I had the 0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:03.040 one of interviewing Cheryl Swoops for the keynote conversation at 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:06.600 Monday's Athletes Unlimited Innovation Summit, you can hear why she 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:09.840 was brought to tears talking about Athletes Unlimited basketball, her 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:12.760 take on the evolution of the WNBA, and her response 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:14.640 to the accusations leveled against her at. 0:04:14.520 --> 0:04:15.640 The beginning of this season. 0:04:15.960 --> 0:04:22.920 Come on back, welcome back. 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:25.919 Settle in for a great conversation I had yesterday with 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:31.920 the legendary Cheryl Swoops. Cheryl Swoops was the first player 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:35.360 to be signed in the WNBA, A three time WNBA MVP, 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:38.480 four time WNBA Champion. As an eleven year member of 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:41.640 the Houston Comets, she accumulated over two thousand career points, 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:44.240 five hundred career rebounds, three hundred career assists, and two 0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:47.760 hundred career steals. She has won three Olympic gold medals. 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:50.440 She's one of eleven women's basketball players to have won 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:53.440 an Olympic gold medal and NCAA Championship, a FOEBA World 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:56.680 Cup gold, and a WNBA title. She was elected to 0:04:56.680 --> 0:04:58.560 the Naismith Hall of Fame in twenty sixteen and the 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:01.200 Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in twenty six seventeen. She's 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:05.000 a coach and analyst a mom and a legend. She 0:05:05.080 --> 0:05:07.279 took on Michael Jordan and went on one at his camp, 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:10.240 and even though she lost, she got lipstick and makeup 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:11.880 all over his T shirt and got to take it 0:05:11.920 --> 0:05:12.760 home as a souvenir. 0:05:12.839 --> 0:05:13.520 So she's a winner. 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:19.200 In my book, it's Cheryl Swoops the goat. 0:05:19.720 --> 0:05:23.080 What's up, girl, Shay Sarah? 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:24.760 Hi, so great to see you again. 0:05:24.800 --> 0:05:26.680 We just hung at the WNBA All Star Week and 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:28.479 we're gonna get to some stuff from that. But I 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:31.280 want to actually start back when you were playing Michael 0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:32.479 at his camp. 0:05:32.520 --> 0:05:34.279 And here's why. 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:38.000 It was this moment in time, this peak maybe of 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:40.400 your stardom. You're getting invites to MJ's camp, You're the 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:43.360 first player ever in the WNBA, You've got your own shoe, 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:46.440 the air swoops like in those first couple of years. 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:48.719 What stands out to you from that time and that 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:49.839 attention you were getting. 0:05:52.400 --> 0:05:56.720 Gosh, I guess if I compare that time to today, 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:02.280 I'm like, that was nothing right, because it's just crazy 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:05.320 attention that the league's getting today. But I think for me, 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:08.760 like back then, what really stood out, honestly was the 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:13.680 fact that Michael Jordan knew who I was. You know, 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:17.240 like Michael Jordan to me like, there will never be 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:22.960 another one? Me too, girl, You'd like right, like he 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:29.160 just he just was Michael. And I remember when I 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:32.520 didn't get the call. My college coach at the time, 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:36.640 Marcia Sharp, she got the call and was like, Hey, 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:39.479 Michael Jordan wants you to come work as a basketball camp. 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:42.920 And so I was like, wow much, Seriously, how much 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:45.719 do I have to pay to go work his basketball camp? 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:49.080 She's like, Cheryl, that's not how that works. But I 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:53.040 remember just having a very brief conversation with him about 0:06:53.480 --> 0:06:56.159 he watched the Final four and he just had so 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:58.599 much to say about my game and had so much 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:02.559 to say about women's basketball that I was just like, Wow, 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:06.920 We've made it. That was the That was my mindset 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:09.320 and my thought back then. But when I compare it 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:13.440 to where we are today, I'm like, wow, well. 0:07:13.360 --> 0:07:15.360 I want to talk about that because the Wnball Star 0:07:15.400 --> 0:07:17.640 Game just had this insane ratings three point four to 0:07:17.640 --> 0:07:21.520 four million people, and that shattered the last record of 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:24.360 one point four million that was back in two thousand 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:27.000 and three when you were playing. But one point four 0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:29.480 million is a lot. A lot of times we say 0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:32.040 those statistics, and we don't ask ourselves, well, what was 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:34.400 going on in two thousand and three, why was that 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:36.800 a record? Yere right, So you were in that game. 0:07:36.840 --> 0:07:39.840 Those early years of the W had incredible attention. They 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:42.640 were it was quite popular. People were excited about it. 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:45.040 But then it dipped, and I'm wondering to what do 0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:48.640 you attribute some of that really high excitement when it 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:52.000 started and then the lull before the recent major growth. 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:53.880 I don't know, you know, I really was having this 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:57.640 conversation with someone the other day when we were talking about, like, 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:00.240 when the W started in ninety seven, it was the 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:03.240 excitement behind it and everyone was ready for it, and 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:05.960 it was coming right off the ninety six Olympics. So 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:09.200 like the enthusiasm and the excitement, people were like, give 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:12.240 us more, give us more. And so I think the 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:18.239 first like ten years of the W was really really fun. 0:08:18.320 --> 0:08:21.760 It was exciting, and you were winning every time. Well 0:08:22.160 --> 0:08:25.400 that made it even better. But I know people look 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:28.360 at the game today and they're like, wow, like these 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:30.840 women are really good. And I said to someone the 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:33.360 other day, I said, but we've always been good, Like 0:08:33.440 --> 0:08:36.640 the game has always been exciting. I think the biggest 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:41.000 difference today is social media to me plays a huge 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:44.079 part of where the game is today. Right, there are 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:47.920 more eyes and fans feel very connected to the players 0:08:48.320 --> 0:08:51.439 right or wrong, like them, love them, hate them. It 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:55.560 gives them a space to feel like they're connected to 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:59.400 that athlete. And at some point when the WNBA first started, 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:04.439 right the first ten years, we're excited, I think fans 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:07.160 got bored. I guess right, it was like, well, the 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:10.080 comments won the first flour and someone else won this one. 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:13.360 Like give us something different, give us something more exciting 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:17.040 to cheer about. So at one point there it was 0:09:17.040 --> 0:09:20.120 like people forgot about the WNBA and then you lost 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:26.080 teams right Houston, Sacramento, teams who won championships, and a 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:28.840 lot of people forgot about the WNBA. And I think 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:32.800 at one point the league finally figured out, like we 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:36.280 need to continue to market this league year round. We 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:38.240 can't just market it in the summer because in the 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:40.920 off season people tend to forget about the WNBA. 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:43.880 And I feel like that's investment too. It bursts onto 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:47.120 the scene and is really popular. Despite some poisoning of 0:09:47.160 --> 0:09:50.280 the well, there were very prominent male sports writers who 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:52.320 were making fun of the w There were even some 0:09:52.440 --> 0:09:55.600 questions still do yes, but yes they usually get shouted 0:09:55.600 --> 0:09:57.360 down now though, and before it was like, hey, it's 0:09:57.400 --> 0:09:58.559 okay that there's this butt. 0:09:58.360 --> 0:09:59.679 Of the joke that we're going to make women. 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:02.680 But I think also the marketing was an interesting choice, 0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:05.240 like some of the Sue burd in a halter top 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:06.880 and swing cash on the hood of a car. It 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:08.880 was like that that's not really what we're going for here, 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:12.000 but it thrived anyway, and then it was like, well, 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:13.680 we put some money in and now it exists and 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:16.640 we're done, and instead there needed to be a continued investment. 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:18.080 That seems to be a problem with a lot of 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:18.760 women's sports. 0:10:18.800 --> 0:10:20.640 Is this idea of like putting a little bit in 0:10:20.679 --> 0:10:23.720 and then demanding ROI instead of realizing, like any startup 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:26.560 or new business, you need to put in a lot 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:29.120 of money with the intention that over the long haul 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:31.000 you're going to get back what you're putting in. And 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:33.240 that felt like some of that drought was because of 0:10:33.520 --> 0:10:37.880 not really feeling like investing in it. The early years 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:41.240 were also a fascinating time for people to remind themselves 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:45.400 that women are athletes and women, and you actually changed 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:49.480 minds on that in a really meaningful way. Because you're drafted, 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:51.600 you're getting ready to play your first WNBA season, and 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:55.120 you get pregnant and the league decides to actually film 0:10:55.160 --> 0:10:58.520 you being pregnant, film you coming back just six weeks 0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:01.400 after you gave birth to play, and they tried to 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:03.920 make you sort of the everyday mom that was relatable, 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:06.959 like Cheryl Swoops has ever been every day at literally anything? 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:11.080 I am Sarah, Well, you do have a back problem 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:11.920 as an. 0:11:13.960 --> 0:11:14.959 So that's relatable. 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:20.920 And the whole personal summer menopause thing that's relatable. Yeah, 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:26.240 this travels, it's right, But you help destigmatize female athletes 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:26.880 giving birth. 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:28.440 What was that like for you? 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:30.960 Because you're just starting your WNBA career, You're a twenty 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:33.000 six year old, there's all the pressure of helping me 0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:36.120 the face of this new league and you're a new mom. 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:39.680 I mean it was a lot. But before I even 0:11:39.679 --> 0:11:41.640 answer that, I want to go back to what you 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:44.079 ask earlier. I think one of the things with the 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:48.560 league in the beginning was really trying to figure out, 0:11:48.760 --> 0:11:52.679 like how do we market these women? And I'm not 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:57.240 sure the league really knew like who is our audience? 0:11:57.400 --> 0:11:59.680 Who are we trying to market to? Who do we 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:01.960 want to get to come out to the game. And 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:06.320 back then, right like all of us were we were 0:12:06.440 --> 0:12:10.200 trying to wear this hat only one right that the 0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:12.640 league said this is this is the image we've got 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:14.880 to put out and this is what we need people 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:18.199 to think we are. And today one the league has changed. 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:22.880 But more than that, the players have basically said, I'll 0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:26.960 keep it clean. But the players honestly are like, wells, yeah, 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:30.600 Like we're going to be who we are and you're 0:12:30.640 --> 0:12:32.360 either going to like us, you're gonna love us, or 0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:34.360 you're gonna hate us, but it's not going to change 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:37.280 who we are as individuals. And I think that in 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:41.680 itself has really changed where the league is. It's changed 0:12:41.720 --> 0:12:44.400 more brands wanting to get on board and say I 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:46.079 really want you to be a part of my brand 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:47.280 and represent my company. 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:50.839 It's a response to society too, though for originally the 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:56.640 league is very concerned about racism, homophobia, judgments about female 0:12:56.640 --> 0:12:59.200 athletes and whether they fill the roles of women that 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:01.240 we expect. It was like, let's pretty them up and 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:03.559 make sure everyone thinks they're hot while they're playing sports, right, 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:08.320 And instead now it's just be authentically yourself feminine, masculine, gay, straight, villain, 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:11.360 funny whatever, and just in life in society at large. 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:13.760 Were allowing people to be themselves more and that allows 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:16.120 the athletes to step into what you're talking about, which 0:13:16.160 --> 0:13:17.920 is massive for women's sports. I think it's one of 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:20.080 the biggest things that has turned the tide for every 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:21.479 single women's sports. 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:24.480 Well, and it's and it's huge today, right because back then, 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:28.320 you know, we there were things that we didn't like, 0:13:29.400 --> 0:13:32.440 but we didn't feel like we had that voice to 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:36.120 necessarily stand up and say this is not right or 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:40.040 this is we don't agree with this. And I always 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:41.880 say someone had to be the first. So when the 0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:44.480 league started at ninety seven, we were just happy to 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:48.880 have a league, right, didn't really matter charter flights, we had, roommates, 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:51.440 didn't have our own room. I'm a mom. I have 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:55.240 a roommate with a child, right, and so if I 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:57.720 wanted my own room, I had to pay the difference. 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:01.040 So there were so many things that looking back on it, 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:05.199 I'm like, how in the world as a professional athlete, 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:08.960 as an adult professional athlete, we're having to share rooms 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:12.479 with someone else? Like I Yeah, anyway. 0:14:12.120 --> 0:14:14.400 And who drew the short straw of rooming with Cheryl 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:14.960 and her kids. 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:24.360 Uh. But I couldn't even imagine though, having to have 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:27.200 a roommate, right, even if I didn't have a kid. 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:30.880 I just I need my own space. So to that point, 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:34.240 when I found out in ninety seven that I was pregnant, 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:36.840 it took me a while to tell the league because 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:39.600 I had no idea how they were going to respond 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:42.200 at first, and there was a part of me that 0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:45.840 was like, I cannot believe I'm letting the league down right, 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:48.480 being the first player to sign and they're doing all 0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:50.680 of this marketing behind me, and then I find out 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:54.280 I'm pregnant. So finally I was like, all right, they're 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:56.720 gonna find out, so I need to tell them. But 0:14:56.800 --> 0:14:58.760 I have to tell you the support that I received 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:02.480 back then from Nike and even from the league, there 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:06.720 was never any pressure at all to come back and 0:15:07.480 --> 0:15:09.600 be a part of the league. That was important to 0:15:09.680 --> 0:15:14.080 me because I wanted to do that. But it's so 0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:18.600 crazy when I think about what I personally went through 0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:24.200 as a woman, as a mom, as an athlete, oh gosh, 0:15:25.120 --> 0:15:27.400 but just the struggles that I had to go through, 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:31.640 and so I today I hear or I listened to 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:34.040 like Skyler Diggins. I listened to her tell her story, 0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:38.120 and I went through those things, but I had nobody 0:15:38.160 --> 0:15:40.080 that I could talk to. So it was one of 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:43.480 those things where I went, I practiced, I played, I 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:47.320 did my job like no one had a clue what 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:49.800 I was really going through, Like just on a personal 0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:54.280 level of how do I balance being the best mom 0:15:54.320 --> 0:15:57.840 I can be but also being the best athlete I 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:00.320 can be because there was so much pressure, right, so 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:04.080 many eyes on me. I remember reading this one story. Sorry, 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:06.720 I didn't know I was gonna cry, but I remember 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:10.320 reading this one article from this reporter who I won't 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:17.080 name but he's still free. But he just basically said, 0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:22.320 like there's no way she will ever be able to 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:26.160 be a mom and be a successful athlete, which I'm 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:28.360 sure there are so many women who deal with that, right, 0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:33.840 like motherhood and being a career, having a career, being 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:37.200 a wife, whatever that is. And I remember reading that 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:42.360 and the first thing I thought was, like, you have 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:45.880 no idea who I am, and you have no idea 0:16:45.880 --> 0:16:52.680 what I'm capable of. So like that type of stuff 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:56.720 just only fuel my fire, right, But I also knew 0:16:57.520 --> 0:17:01.280 that there would be more women who would come after me, 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:03.680 who would be in that same situation. So for me, 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:06.639 it was so important that I was able to not 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:12.040 just show the w and show men, but I wanted 0:17:12.080 --> 0:17:15.439 to show women like, like, we can do this, We 0:17:15.520 --> 0:17:18.359 can be great moms, we can have great careers, and 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:20.840 we don't have to make sacrifices on any of it. 0:17:20.880 --> 0:17:23.800 And I won't say it was easy, but I had 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:26.240 a great circle of people around me was I did okay. 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:27.680 I did okay. 0:17:28.359 --> 0:17:30.440 You know what, though, it reminds me when we talk 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:32.760 about the growth of women's sports and some of the setbacks, 0:17:32.800 --> 0:17:35.440 if we don't acknowledge the things that happened with intention, 0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:39.280 we are ignoring the context that's required to really understand 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:44.879 the path toward today. The pseudoscience that was used to 0:17:45.080 --> 0:17:48.560 argue that women shouldn't play while pregnant or after pregnant, 0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:51.720 The pseudoscience that said women would come back from pregnancy 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:54.439 less than or less capable, which was not founded at 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:57.920 all in actual medicine. All of that was used with 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:01.359 intention to tell women that their space was at the 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:04.760 home with their children. I mean, it was like two 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:07.520 thousand and three, the head of the International Ski Federation 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:11.200 said women still shouldn't do ski jumping because. 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:13.320 Their uteruses would fall out. 0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:17.879 Two thousand and three, we're still doing that, and so 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:20.600 when we don't acknowledge the stuff that happens with intention 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:23.359 to hold us back. The seventy year soccer band in 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:25.520 England and now women's soccer is doing great and people 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:25.800 are like. 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:26.840 Well, they finally figured it out. 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:29.320 No, there was a seventy year band of women playing 0:18:29.359 --> 0:18:32.040 professional soccer there. You think that held them back a little? 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:34.320 Like we got to talk about it, yeah, because otherwise 0:18:34.359 --> 0:18:36.879 we blame the product, and it's never been the product. 0:18:37.720 --> 0:18:38.160 Anyway. 0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:41.800 Let's talk about the All Star works ever. Ever, ever, ever, 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:44.520 let's talk about the All Star weekend. I went to 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:47.520 a very lovely dinner in your honor, which was beautiful. 0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:49.719 We love to see people get their flowers, even if 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:51.960 it's a few years late. You got your flowers at 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:53.719 the time, but we're still giving them to you. And 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:55.240 you mentioned that you want to have a brunch to 0:18:55.240 --> 0:18:58.160 connect current WNBA players with the players of the past, 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:00.000 and not just the big names like you, but everybody 0:19:00.160 --> 0:19:01.320 who helped bank the league what it was. 0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:02.399 Why is that so important to you? 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:07.720 I mean, you know a lot of people look at 0:19:08.040 --> 0:19:11.800 the W when it started, and of course they remember 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:16.320 myself and Lisa and Rebecca and Don and Coop and Tina, 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:21.520 which rightfully so. But for me, this brunch, which by 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:23.760 the way, I know that's time why we're talking about it, 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:29.280 but thanks to AU a huge sponsor, was an incredible brunt. 0:19:29.400 --> 0:19:32.800 Love it, but it was so important to me last 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:35.520 year was the first one in this year, but I 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:38.480 want to be able to bring back former players and 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:41.520 celebrate them and like you said, and give them their flowers, 0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:45.080 because every single player that was a part of the 0:19:45.280 --> 0:19:48.720 W when it started, they play a huge role in 0:19:48.720 --> 0:19:51.480 where we are today. And I think because of all 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:54.399 the attention that the league is getting to day the 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:58.560 rookie class, rightfully so. But there's a part of me 0:19:58.760 --> 0:20:04.920 that feels disrespected for those other players because you don't 0:20:04.920 --> 0:20:06.879 hear about them very much, you don't talk about them 0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:11.639 very much. The league doesn't really do anything for them. 0:20:12.040 --> 0:20:13.919 And so I want to put all of us in 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:16.600 a room together where we can celebrate each other, where 0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:19.560 we can reminisce the good, the bad, everything in between. 0:20:19.600 --> 0:20:22.080 We can talk about the crazy hairstyles we had and 0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:26.280 you know, the outfits that we were, But I want 0:20:26.320 --> 0:20:28.840 to put us in a room where we're just being 0:20:28.880 --> 0:20:32.560 celebrated and we're talking about where we were, where the 0:20:32.640 --> 0:20:35.679 league was, where it is today, where we're going. I 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:39.320 think it's a great time for celebration, but also trying 0:20:39.359 --> 0:20:42.760 to bridge that gap between former players and current players, 0:20:43.000 --> 0:20:46.560 because unfortunate thing is. As well as I think the 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:49.159