Speaker 1: Welcome to All the Smoke, a production of The Black
Speaker 1: Effect and our Heart Radio and partnership with Showtime. Welcome
Speaker 1: back to another edition All the Smoke. Jack. We got
Speaker 1: a special guest here man, uh, former player turned owner.
Speaker 1: Like a lot of people talk about that, but how
Speaker 1: often did that really happen? Welcome to the show, Renee Montgomery. Well,
Speaker 1: thank you all for having me. Yeah, I mean you
Speaker 1: had us both on your shows. It was only right to,
Speaker 1: you know, come back around, especially with all the amazing
Speaker 1: news that's kind of surrounding you of Labist. I mean,
Speaker 1: get into the first and foremost congratulations, I'm becoming the
Speaker 1: first former player turn owner and executive. Thank you. Tell
Speaker 1: us how let's all all that came about? You know,
Speaker 1: it started back in October. Um. I felt like I
Speaker 1: wanted to do something something different, and there was a
Speaker 1: lot going on. We know, the A had a lot
Speaker 1: going on. There was Stacy Abram shutting it down. The
Speaker 1: Hawks were very active with the more than a vote.
Speaker 1: So I just wanted to think, all right, how can
Speaker 1: we take this a step further? So then I thought
Speaker 1: I started to see about Atlanta Dream maybe selling the team.
Speaker 1: So I'm like, you know, I started to just think
Speaker 1: about it, talk to some some money people and see
Speaker 1: if we could get some coins together. It didn't really
Speaker 1: work out in the beginning, but then I saw a
Speaker 1: Lebron tweet and I'm like, maybe they can get me
Speaker 1: in touch with the right people, And he got me
Speaker 1: in touch with the commissioner of the w n B A,
Speaker 1: Kathy Engelbert, and then after that it was off to
Speaker 1: the races. So leave it to Lebron. And it's crazy
Speaker 1: because like I had already kind of tried to put
Speaker 1: it in proposal before, but we didn't have the funds there.
Speaker 1: We didn't have enough funds, and so, um, it was
Speaker 1: more so of who's already in the bids and how
Speaker 1: can we figure it out from there? Tell me what
Speaker 1: it feels like to to think owner and executive when
Speaker 1: you literally just stepped away from the game. It's crazy
Speaker 1: because my teammates is like, I think it's more waiting
Speaker 1: for them because I was just playing with them last year.
Speaker 1: For me, I think it was the next step. Honestly, Um,
Speaker 1: everything I was already doing was kind of moving towards
Speaker 1: the business side of things. I think athletes shoul be
Speaker 1: more on the business. I don't know why we're not
Speaker 1: more on the business side of things. We know the
Speaker 1: business better than anybody else knows it. So I've been
Speaker 1: talking about that a lot, and just having the voice
Speaker 1: of the athlete. I know y'all been on teams where
Speaker 1: you're like, that makes no sense. Why are we doing
Speaker 1: it like that? We know things that make no sense.
Speaker 1: But if you have suits at the top that never played,
Speaker 1: they have no ideas. So I just wanted to be
Speaker 1: that voice. I think that was the main thing. I
Speaker 1: think what's so amazing is obviously Kelly Loftler was the
Speaker 1: previous owner, and you know all the attention surrounding this
Speaker 1: last voting process back in November UM and you know
Speaker 1: she was running and and and really the turmoil started
Speaker 1: before that. You know the team, you guys actually had
Speaker 1: kind of disagreed on some stances. And one thing I
Speaker 1: say about the w n B as you guys are
Speaker 1: so unified on all your messaging, which I don't even
Speaker 1: think you guys are ahead of the NBA on like
Speaker 1: you guys somehow saying like a smoke signal, you guys
Speaker 1: are all down for the ship, which I love. But
Speaker 1: talk to us a little bit about what it was
Speaker 1: like playing for her, and then once you kind of
Speaker 1: found out her true colors, when people kind of started
Speaker 1: shifting to the other side. Yeah, you know the w
Speaker 1: n b A Unified you said it, uh, went into
Speaker 1: the wobble with the Social Justice Council. So that's kind
Speaker 1: of how everything got on the same page. I wasn't
Speaker 1: even in the wobble, but they was hitting me up
Speaker 1: like Yo, this is what we're doing, this is how
Speaker 1: we move, and so I felt so connected. Um, and
Speaker 1: it was like, it's crazy being here in Atlanta and
Speaker 1: opting out because everything happened here and it's not even
Speaker 1: just with with the previous ownership, but just the runoff,
Speaker 1: Like who would have thought we would have had a
Speaker 1: run off that never happens, but it happened with us,
Speaker 1: you know, here in Atlanta, and it happened the year
Speaker 1: I opted out. And so the players, I mean, you're right,
Speaker 1: like just stood tintoes down, like everybody who just was
Speaker 1: kind of like posted up behind me, behind everything going on.
Speaker 1: So um, it's it's wild to explain because as it
Speaker 1: kept happening, it kept getting more and more traction, and
Speaker 1: then I was like, yo, this is like this is
Speaker 1: kind of wild. Like even as I was like in
Speaker 1: a part of it, I was like, this is kind
Speaker 1: of crazy, what's going on? Because you're gonna have a
Speaker 1: break more on making a dream a destination team. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we gotta do that. Like everybody loves coming to the eight,
Speaker 1: Like that's when you come to Atlanta. When you play Atlanta,
Speaker 1: people circle that on their calendars. They're telling their friends
Speaker 1: everybody that they're coming here, but nobody want to play here.
Speaker 1: Like we're some with that, So I understand. I mean
Speaker 1: even when I left Minnesota, we won a championship in
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen, and when I was leaving Minnesota, everybody's like, yo,
Speaker 1: you're good, Like they was asking me why I'm going
Speaker 1: to Atlanta, and I'm like, I don't understand. I've lived
Speaker 1: in Atlanta for nine years, so I wanted to play
Speaker 1: for where I lived. But I don't know. We have
Speaker 1: to make it. People want to win, and just Atlanta
Speaker 1: sports have not one. So yeah, like people love the city,
Speaker 1: but you love the city, would you want to win too?
Speaker 1: So as athletes, we have to make that next step
Speaker 1: um the dream. We're a little bit different in the
Speaker 1: sense of we've been to the finals multiple times we won,
Speaker 1: but the program just isn't there, the organization isn't there.
Speaker 1: So we're gonna start treating the players like professional athletes.
Speaker 1: And I know on the men's side that's normal for y'all,
Speaker 1: but on the women's side, we don't necessarily get catered
Speaker 1: to like like it is on the men's side. So
Speaker 1: that's what I want to do with the Atlanta Dream.
Speaker 1: Just start making that that that destination. They just start
Speaker 1: getting the celebrities that support the guys need to support
Speaker 1: you out the same way, thank you, And I think
Speaker 1: I think that's a big step. A lot of people
Speaker 1: come to the guys games, not even for the goddamn
Speaker 1: hals part to see at the game, but the women's
Speaker 1: team actually wins, so they need that same support. God damnage. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so I'm gonna see y'all at the game. It might
Speaker 1: be closed, you know, this season, but once everything opens up, Yeah,
Speaker 1: we need all that star power. And even with what
Speaker 1: happened with the n C Double A, like, let's talk
Speaker 1: about that. Obviously, you guys have continued to fight for
Speaker 1: equal footing equality and then a perfect example of in
Speaker 1: the n B n C Double A is super slimy
Speaker 1: and slick anyway, and if if if it didn't get
Speaker 1: called out, it would have gone unnoticed. It would have
Speaker 1: continued to be the way. But someone happened to call
Speaker 1: out a reck of weights when the men have every minute.
Speaker 1: But then they try to come out and say instead
Speaker 1: of the same, we're wrong. They make up some bullshit
Speaker 1: excuse that there wasn't plenty of room, and then someone
Speaker 1: shows there's plenty of room, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: So what are your I guess you just add that
Speaker 1: to the checklist of you know that the fight for
Speaker 1: you guys. Know, And that's the thing, Like if anybody's
Speaker 1: been around women's sports, it's not new. Like in two
Speaker 1: thousand nine, we want a championship. We were undefeated and
Speaker 1: I'm sure that on the men's side, whoever won that
Speaker 1: year probably had double the swag. But like you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, I'm not I'm not surprised. So anybody
Speaker 1: that's around women's sports, around sports in general, we know
Speaker 1: how it goes. You know, we still flying commercial, we
Speaker 1: know how it goes. I went from at Yukon we
Speaker 1: were lying private. You see what I'm saying. So if
Speaker 1: anybody is paying attention this is not a surprise, but
Speaker 1: it's not acceptable, Like we're not surprised, but we are
Speaker 1: disappointed that man, Like, that's that's an oversight. And so
Speaker 1: what they said was, we really didn't plan on having
Speaker 1: any weight rooms until the sweet sixteen. Um, but why
Speaker 1: not that that's the question, you know, like that the
Speaker 1: excuse was that there wasn't any plan until the sweet sixteen.
Speaker 1: But what about the sixty four? Did they not want
Speaker 1: to get in a workout? Yeah? So for me, it's
Speaker 1: this is I'm glad it got called out. If we're
Speaker 1: being honest, like I was. I was so happy that
Speaker 1: you had imagery because people won't believe it until they
Speaker 1: see it. Like some people have to see something to
Speaker 1: believe in it. So you saw the picture. You saw
Speaker 1: the picture, you saw the food, you saw the swag bags.
Speaker 1: You can't deny it. So now you gotta do something
Speaker 1: about it. What I thought was dope. There you start
Speaker 1: seeing other male athletes post on it, and I reposted
Speaker 1: it and a lot of people we posted it, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. And that's the kind of attention
Speaker 1: because as male athletes, our voices travel, you know, especially
Speaker 1: the guys still currently in the league. So it's we're
Speaker 1: all in this fight with y'all. Man, We're gonna keep
Speaker 1: pushing with you guys. I appreciate that. And speaking of
Speaker 1: no sho, a lot of college players spoke out ray Allen.
Speaker 1: I saw Steph Curry you like you guys, But that matters.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people don't know. But it's
Speaker 1: kind of the same what Stack was saying about going
Speaker 1: to the games. Sponsors care about that. Like it's like
Speaker 1: sponsors they might be on for the wrong reasons, Like
Speaker 1: you know, you saw all these sponsors post stuff like hey,
Speaker 1: women's in c double a D y'all need some weights,
Speaker 1: like you know you saw them. But I just want
Speaker 1: to know where they're hitting up the women inside before
Speaker 1: that happened, you know, like who's buying in when it's
Speaker 1: not popular, who's buying in before the noise happened. So
Speaker 1: if they keep that content noise with allies like you guys,
Speaker 1: I mean, I think for whatever reason, the sponsors are
Speaker 1: like it, take us back to your upbringing childhood. When
Speaker 1: did you find basketball? Oh man, I grew up there.
Speaker 1: We didn't have it when I started practicing. I didn't
Speaker 1: even have a hoop outside. I was just dribbling all
Speaker 1: over the place. And then I did it for so
Speaker 1: long that my dad made a hoop, very unconventional hoop,
Speaker 1: but it worked for me. Nobody from West Virginia had
Speaker 1: been high d one. On the women's side. We have
Speaker 1: Randy Moss, Jason Williams and all of them holding it
Speaker 1: down on the other side, um, but no one had
Speaker 1: been the one. No one for sure had been in
Speaker 1: the w n b A. So for me, I was
Speaker 1: just dreaming like And when I say that, I mean
Speaker 1: really like I didn't have anyone to to kind of
Speaker 1: be like, oh, I want to be like that. I
Speaker 1: just when people would tell me, well you're kind of small,
Speaker 1: ill like yes, you know, like I would be okay.
Speaker 1: But it was just just the one to you know.
Speaker 1: I think that's what drove me. Just being in West Virginia.
Speaker 1: I'm like, how am I going to get these coaches
Speaker 1: to come here and look at me? And so I
Speaker 1: started playing a you and just our team ended up
Speaker 1: being really good. We had Candice Parker was on our team.
Speaker 1: We started recruiting because we don't we don't necessarily have
Speaker 1: the talent pool like that, so we started recruiting from
Speaker 1: all over um, and we got on the map. And
Speaker 1: even when I became a McDonald's All American, it was
Speaker 1: like when I was there, people like, who is this
Speaker 1: West Virginia? You know, like it was who's this West
Speaker 1: Virginia girl? Um? But you know it just country roads
Speaker 1: brought me here, and you know what I mean, Like
Speaker 1: it's kind of what makes me. You know, I had
Speaker 1: to like dream it. So when people are like, oh,
Speaker 1: this has never been done, I'm used to dreaming about
Speaker 1: stuff that's never been done. You gotta say country times team.
Speaker 1: You know, I went to ok So it's country out there.
Speaker 1: You're gonna get dizzy the road. Well, I don't know.
Speaker 1: So for me to be living here in Atlanta like this,
Speaker 1: like people don't really know how wild that is from
Speaker 1: my family and like my hometown, Like that's it's crazy.
Speaker 1: What's happening? Yeah, very dead. Greended high school career three
Speaker 1: times state champ What stands out to most of you
Speaker 1: about your high school experience at basketball? That fourth year
Speaker 1: we didn't win. I'm not gonna lie. It was my
Speaker 1: senior year, so imagine winning every single year and then
Speaker 1: on my senior year we're losing the championship. So That's
Speaker 1: what stands out to me. Um, and then it reversed that.
Speaker 1: You can. We lost my first three years and then
Speaker 1: my senior year we went undefeated. So I think with Hoopers,
Speaker 1: you definitely remember the losses more so than you remember
Speaker 1: the winds. I can remember things about the wins, but
Speaker 1: definitely remember that that fourth year, my senior year, just
Speaker 1: not going out on top. But you know, again West Virginia,
Speaker 1: it's the competition was actually better than what people would
Speaker 1: think of. But it was like you still even though
Speaker 1: I had won three out of the four years, I
Speaker 1: had to go to Yukon like basically just fresh, starting over.
Speaker 1: Didn't nobody care about that, Like people that played in Cali,
Speaker 1: New York. I had lots of teammates from those areas.
Speaker 1: They didn't care like they were last placed. They was like,
Speaker 1: we're playing in New York like you in West Virginia.
Speaker 1: I ain't paying no mind. So just always just that
Speaker 1: proving yourself mentality. It's easy to remember the losses when
Speaker 1: you win the championship on every level, at least three
Speaker 1: on every level. So I could see why you only
Speaker 1: remember getting a little you can not get it which
Speaker 1: one I mean that loss I can remember. That's it
Speaker 1: right with me, But you know you do. I kind
Speaker 1: of feel like you do learn more from lossuit. So
Speaker 1: obviously you worked hard to get the wins, but at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, you're not going to critique
Speaker 1: a win. You know, for the most part, you're definitely
Speaker 1: a critique and remember like, damn, I can get better side.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's how you go from the loss, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: what was your recruiting process? Like school, Um, we started
Speaker 1: to get on the map, so I really could have
Speaker 1: chose anywhere I wanted to go. Um, I chose you
Speaker 1: on my junior year, so I didn't even wait. I
Speaker 1: was like, what y'all want me? What you do? Like,
Speaker 1: let's let's do this. But it actually wasn't even in
Speaker 1: the beginning. I was more so leaning towards Maryland because
Speaker 1: that's where my sister lives. So I'm like, all right,
Speaker 1: I can go to U M d um. They got
Speaker 1: a good program there, and then I just went to
Speaker 1: I went to my visit to Yukon. This is kind
Speaker 1: of crazy. I had all the other business lined up.
Speaker 1: I even put Hawaii on there because I just wanted
Speaker 1: to you know, sorry, so you already know I went
Speaker 1: to Yukon and signed with them right after King, So
Speaker 1: all the other trips, those were terrible calls to make.
Speaker 1: Just letting everybody know West Virginia through a fit because
Speaker 1: I didn't take my trip to wu Um. I knew,
Speaker 1: like when I went there, they didn't roll up the
Speaker 1: red carpet for me. You know. Everybody else was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: you're gonna come here, You're gonna start for years. I'm like,
Speaker 1: how many people they're telling this too? Though, you know,
Speaker 1: like I just I like transparency. So Coach O M
Speaker 1: was like, look, we already got a point guard. We
Speaker 1: know you're good. I don't know if you're gonna start,
Speaker 1: you know, like he's if y'all know Coach r M.
Speaker 1: And he's the same way for recruiting. So I think
Speaker 1: the players that go there, I think it says a
Speaker 1: lot about the players because you got people, Yeah, you
Speaker 1: got people promising you the world. So people that go
Speaker 1: to Yukon coach r In which just doesn't moves like that,
Speaker 1: So that that says something about the players. I think
Speaker 1: what was your college experience, Like, I mean going to
Speaker 1: a legendary program, having a legendary coach able to capture
Speaker 1: one title your senior year. But I'm sure the experience
Speaker 1: is something you'll never forget, something you'll never forget. I mean,
Speaker 1: who already went there knowing the point guards that were
Speaker 1: before me? So it's like, I think that's that, that's
Speaker 1: the not to cut you off. Who was there when
Speaker 1: you came in. So when I came in, it was
Speaker 1: Keisha Swania, so she was, um, she was one year
Speaker 1: ahead of me, so we didn't. It was it was
Speaker 1: almost wide open in a sense of that's kind of
Speaker 1: how I was making my Yeah. But when I say
Speaker 1: before me, I meant like a suber Jennifer Rosotti, just
Speaker 1: that group of caliber of point guards. So for me,
Speaker 1: it's for me like I said, I welcome that type
Speaker 1: of shot, and I'm like, dang, it's lit here. So
Speaker 1: you have to you have to do something big to
Speaker 1: make an impact of the school like that, and you can.
Speaker 1: While everyone knows that we are good at partying, we
Speaker 1: played good we played good basketball too, But I think,
Speaker 1: but it's like no, And I say that because a
Speaker 1: lot of times it's like stores Connecticut, people are like,
Speaker 1: what do you do up there? Other than party? But
Speaker 1: I mean I think that the players we have a sisterhood.
Speaker 1: You see us now, like we're all still close, Like
Speaker 1: it's not it's not like we're all still cool. Like
Speaker 1: we're all still close. Um, we got a group chat.
Speaker 1: And I think that's just the ties that we built,
Speaker 1: Like we build a real sisterhood there. And I think
Speaker 1: that's the culture that they make you have because practices
Speaker 1: is so hard, everything is so hard that you've gotta
Speaker 1: band together, Like we all got to be mad at
Speaker 1: coach together because we're not gonna beat him otherwise, Like
Speaker 1: they make you figure it out together. So that's the
Speaker 1: thing I think I learned best at Yukon, just that
Speaker 1: he coach would do so many different things. We have
Speaker 1: practice guys. There will be like eight practice guys against
Speaker 1: us are five, and we'd have to figure out a
Speaker 1: way to beat the trap and we'd have to do
Speaker 1: different things. So he would always say, like I don't
Speaker 1: really care what the circumstances, give me a solution. So
Speaker 1: I think that's kind of my mentality now moving forward
Speaker 1: on everything, Like all right, whatever the circumstances, there is
Speaker 1: a solution, Like, yeah, I gotta find it. Um, what
Speaker 1: was it like playing for him in particular? And maybe
Speaker 1: some advice that stuck with you early on, that that
Speaker 1: they got you through it. There's so much um, But
Speaker 1: I would say planning for him early on. People you know,
Speaker 1: they always say coach has favorites, and I people like
Speaker 1: to label me as one of those, but I always
Speaker 1: I still think I got yo that song. Um. Playing
Speaker 1: for him is like no other because everyone else on
Speaker 1: the other side hates him, and then you see like
Speaker 1: he's so down for you and he makes people mad,
Speaker 1: like he'll say whatever you probably think you're thinking as
Speaker 1: a player, and he's say, oh yeah, he's gonna say it,
Speaker 1: and he's gonna look at you in the face and
Speaker 1: be like and like, you know he's gonna he's about
Speaker 1: that life. And so playing for him it makes you
Speaker 1: like proud, like you want to prove, Like if he
Speaker 1: says something to the media, I'll be like, yeah, I
Speaker 1: don't like listen, y'all already know Coach said that, So
Speaker 1: let's do our thing. Like just the advice that he
Speaker 1: always just gave us was that no one cares, Like
Speaker 1: like people think that people care about your situation, No
Speaker 1: one cares, like they don't care if we're battling injuries,
Speaker 1: they don't care. If we have no seniors, people never care.
Speaker 1: And so once you realize that in all aspects of life,
Speaker 1: like your boss don't care, what's going on at home?
Speaker 1: You know, like no one cares. And so that's I've
Speaker 1: always kept that mentality like people don't care why you're late.
Speaker 1: You late, like people don't you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: Like you just if you keep that mentality that no
Speaker 1: one cares, figure it out and do it right. Um.
Speaker 1: That that's kind of what stuff was. Yeah, what was
Speaker 1: your first impression of like more I remember she I
Speaker 1: remember playing pick up with her, and I'm like, she's different,
Speaker 1: Like you know, you can just or you just see
Speaker 1: people do stuff just like like what was that? Like
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? When and then she does
Speaker 1: something else and you're like, oh, she's like she's legit
Speaker 1: um and you just knew I mean, and she's And
Speaker 1: there's a lot of players that come out and just talk.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of players that get all kinds of
Speaker 1: hype and then when you see them, you'd be like
Speaker 1: they're okay, you know, like they might be the best
Speaker 1: in that class, but that might be a weak class.
Speaker 1: So you know, they're all right, she had all the hype.
Speaker 1: So you come in looking at her what in that lens?
Speaker 1: And I mean as good as advertising, just some of
Speaker 1: the stuff she would do, Like I really just be like, Mama,
Speaker 1: I know you lying. And I got to I got
Speaker 1: to play with her in college and in the pros.
Speaker 1: And so to see her in college she already had
Speaker 1: that just raw natural ability she can do everything. But
Speaker 1: then to see her in the pros and like she
Speaker 1: had honed did on, like she knew she was a killer,
Speaker 1: and she was killing every night. Um, not that she
Speaker 1: wasn't in college, but you could just tell, um, you know,
Speaker 1: she's like one of those generational players that you talked about.
Speaker 1: You're not gonna see them anymore like her. Did you
Speaker 1: play with someone and you know I did this? Yeah,
Speaker 1: our Minnesota team. I meant Sympia Fowls was on that
Speaker 1: team as well. Um yeah we were were That's why
Speaker 1: people thought I was crazy. Um, your senior year thirty
Speaker 1: nine and oh national champions Uh, anything that any doubt
Speaker 1: ever creep in, anyone ever come close to knocking that
Speaker 1: crown off during that run. I mean, think about this
Speaker 1: going to Yukon and not winning the championship. I mean,
Speaker 1: every time I tell somebody go to you, like how
Speaker 1: many you want? Like that's the first question everybody asked.
Speaker 1: My junior year, I was sitting in the goose sex.
Speaker 1: So my senior year I was I would say scared.
Speaker 1: I was terrified to go down as the worst in history.
Speaker 1: They let us know we would be the worst too,
Speaker 1: like the coaching staff would let us know, like we
Speaker 1: always went here, you know, like you guys gotta do it.
Speaker 1: And so I remember the preseason. It started in preseason
Speaker 1: like where I was turned up like I was. I
Speaker 1: was crazy, like I want a lie, like I was
Speaker 1: on one because I just didn't want to be that
Speaker 1: one that that left without it. And then you get
Speaker 1: halfway through the season, we haven't lost the game, and
Speaker 1: I'm like, all right, that's dope. But once you get
Speaker 1: towards the end of the season you haven't won, you
Speaker 1: don't want to be that first loss in the tournament
Speaker 1: you get bounced out. So I would say the whole
Speaker 1: season I was, we were tight. And what I mean
Speaker 1: by tight is like, you know, like we gotta do
Speaker 1: everything right because we don't have any more chance. I
Speaker 1: didn't have any more chances, and so my teammates treated
Speaker 1: it like they didn't have any more, and that was
Speaker 1: the dopest thing to me. We had a teena Charles
Speaker 1: on that team, Maya Moore, and I think they wanted
Speaker 1: it more of me sometimes in the way that they
Speaker 1: would be offended if people weren't doing things right, because
Speaker 1: they would be like, this is her last year, you know,
Speaker 1: like they would get on the people using that as
Speaker 1: um the incentive. And so that was probably the coolest
Speaker 1: part about that year is how much everyone wanted it
Speaker 1: for me. You still were able to have fun or
Speaker 1: even though you were Okay, that was my senior years,
Speaker 1: so let's be clear. Pisting the trophy up, Yeah, which
Speaker 1: one cool? She flexed You didn't even know it. See
Speaker 1: you see that you see that life place? Uh just
Speaker 1: I would say the last one and being the first
Speaker 1: to be a Husky Varno, Yeah, you know, the Ukon trophy.
Speaker 1: That was special for all the reasons that I just said,
Speaker 1: Like I was like, oh my gosh, we did it
Speaker 1: and we weren't even in the game at the end
Speaker 1: of the game because we was able to get up
Speaker 1: by enough and I still was nervous, like I wanted
Speaker 1: the buzzer to go off. I wanted it to be done, like,
Speaker 1: I don't want no problems. We know March madness can
Speaker 1: get crazy. That one. I mean that one's up there
Speaker 1: because in college you a four years. In high school too,
Speaker 1: like you get a limited amount of years. And the pros.
Speaker 1: Do you remember the pros that didn't win championships? We
Speaker 1: can all name him, like the grades that didn't win
Speaker 1: a championship, Like there's a whole category. You yeah, problems,
Speaker 1: but there's a whole category for that. So you know
Speaker 1: I had I was fortunate to be on some of
Speaker 1: those powerhouse teams. UM was a crazy year because Prince
Speaker 1: was there and he invited us to party with him.
Speaker 1: Um happen like a private causer for us. I was
Speaker 1: one of the like and I have to always preface this.
Speaker 1: They went all night. It's really crazy because him and
Speaker 1: his band, they literally put on a concert all night.
Speaker 1: They made us leave our phones at the door. They
Speaker 1: allowed us though this is how much they think about
Speaker 1: this stuff. They allowed us to have media there to
Speaker 1: write articles about it, so that we it wasn't just
Speaker 1: a memory that we could know. But no photos, no nothing.
Speaker 1: I was on stage with them. That's there's scenes for that,
Speaker 1: Like I I did, like we didn't just play a
Speaker 1: game like we was turned up. Um yeah, like and that.
Speaker 1: And it's crazy because as we know, he passed away
Speaker 1: the very next year. So when we went in twenty seventeen,
Speaker 1: it was different, you know, like they had they had
Speaker 1: a band that covered music, Princess music. But it just yeah,
Speaker 1: I just had this feeling like this this it was
Speaker 1: a happy moment, but had this somber feeling like thing
Speaker 1: we was just with Prince and you know he's passed
Speaker 1: away now, so I would say there's that different emotion. Also,
Speaker 1: got uh traded halfway through the season in so it
Speaker 1: was a crazy year for me. Back in a little bit.
Speaker 1: Winning the national champion at Yukon. You got a chance
Speaker 1: to meet President Obama at the time. What was that experience?
Speaker 1: Like it was motivation, you know, Like my senior year,
Speaker 1: we got to meet President Obama. He had just got
Speaker 1: into office. I remember when it found not that he
Speaker 1: became president. We were at Coach r Amma's house, like
Speaker 1: celebrating turned up that that we had our first black president.
Speaker 1: And then we were like, oh, we need to go
Speaker 1: on and win a championship and meet him. So when
Speaker 1: we won in fifteen, it was the second time he
Speaker 1: knew my because she had won every year since then. Basically,
Speaker 1: so him and Maya were like best things. And it
Speaker 1: was pretty cool because him and coach as well. It's
Speaker 1: different when he knows sports, you know, like he was
Speaker 1: into it. He knew who we were, so that was
Speaker 1: a different type of feeling. We played pig with him.
Speaker 1: By the way, he's like, how much time? My god,
Speaker 1: He's asking his people how much time? By god. They
Speaker 1: was like, you don't have time, Joe Lefty, Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's all right. Like you know that he used to
Speaker 1: be able to play some pick up and stuffing back
Speaker 1: in the day. He had something, but he was he didn't.
Speaker 1: We didn't get to play a whole game. They were
Speaker 1: telling him, you don't have time, and he's like, all right,
Speaker 1: we'll play pig and he made times and we went
Speaker 1: out there. Um actually some photos of me shooting with him.
Speaker 1: But yeah, we didn't get to finish the game. We
Speaker 1: got a little little Lefty jump. That's cool. So, uh,
Speaker 1: two thousand nine, the number four overall pick coming from
Speaker 1: West Virginia going to Yukon. Now you're the fourth pick
Speaker 1: in the w n B A crazy because little me.
Speaker 1: But what's really crazy is it was it was wild
Speaker 1: because everybody was saying I was going anywhere from one
Speaker 1: to ten because again it was that whole I have
Speaker 1: to every stage of my life, I've had to like
Speaker 1: prove myself again. So when it became pros I was
Speaker 1: too small, like that was my my scouting report. They're like, yeah,
Speaker 1: she's good in college, it's a great system and Yukon,
Speaker 1: but how can I yeah, like you know, so it
Speaker 1: went from anywhere I could be one to ten. So
Speaker 1: I was like thinking about sitting in that room, you know,
Speaker 1: like you know when everybody's numbers getting called and you're
Speaker 1: just sitting there. I got invited to the draft. Um
Speaker 1: my parents were there, coach or Emma was there, and
Speaker 1: I'm like, I had no idea what's gonna happen, like
Speaker 1: and that's a terrifying feeling if anybody's everything, Like that's
Speaker 1: a scary feeling where you don't know where you're gonna go.
Speaker 1: You just want to hear your name. So one past
Speaker 1: that was Atlanta at one Angel mccatrey went there. Um
Speaker 1: number two was Marissa coleman Um and then number three,
Speaker 1: Christie Tolliver, and then it came me and I was
Speaker 1: just like I was relieved, I'm telling you. I was like,
Speaker 1: all right, let's get to work because again I saw
Speaker 1: I saw the press clippings. I knew that people didn't
Speaker 1: think I could be successful at that next level. So
Speaker 1: that's that's what I remember about the draft. Two thous
Speaker 1: tenure traded to Connecticut. Yeah, what was that experience like
Speaker 1: starting to learn the business? Yeah? Yeah, and it actually
Speaker 1: was a little bit late. I remember when I got drafted.
Speaker 1: The Connecticut coaching staff they basically like we're coming like
Speaker 1: you know, like they were like, we're coming for you. You
Speaker 1: You belong in Connecticut, and I was like what, yes,
Speaker 1: like let's go. It didn't happen that year, so it
Speaker 1: basically took a season, but I was excited. I mean,
Speaker 1: the four years at Yukon, that's like my family there.
Speaker 1: How far enough to go up? How far from like campus?
Speaker 1: Did you guys play like forty minutes? So not terrible,
Speaker 1: but the crazy part was there was already Ukon players
Speaker 1: like on there, so it was yeah. And then Tina Charles.
Speaker 1: We drafted Tina Charles that year, so it felt like college,
Speaker 1: no class, and I was like, okay, yeah, this is
Speaker 1: this is I didn't really do too much class, but
Speaker 1: I feel you in college, well, we had to handle
Speaker 1: that type of business. So it became like, oh what
Speaker 1: basketball is just the business. And then it was like
Speaker 1: the whole crew. Kleena Green ended up coming up there.
Speaker 1: So I literally had my squad in Connecticut. So yeah,
Speaker 1: we were off to the races for that. What was
Speaker 1: your welcome to the w n B A moment? I
Speaker 1: would say my welcome to the w n B A
Speaker 1: moment was losing a lot my rookie season. That was
Speaker 1: just something that I used to We all experienced that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, it's a shock when you gotta lose and
Speaker 1: you want to be mad at it. You gotta scouting
Speaker 1: report for the next team that could be the next
Speaker 1: day or the day after. I had to really get
Speaker 1: used to that. Like I didn't take losses very well.
Speaker 1: Like I just like in college, we were taught that
Speaker 1: the loss is a big blow, you know, like we
Speaker 1: didn't have them very often. And then in the pros
Speaker 1: we weren't very good, Like we just weren't very good
Speaker 1: my my rookie season. And so I just remember being like, Wow,
Speaker 1: did you have that mix? You have the mix of
Speaker 1: people like yourself, I know I'm gonna be here. How
Speaker 1: can we get out of this? You've got people that's
Speaker 1: hanging around and know if they're gonna be on the
Speaker 1: team next then you got some mother fucker's that just
Speaker 1: don't care, you know what I'm saying. So it's a
Speaker 1: time let me trying to pull all that together, exactly.
Speaker 1: And so I'm used to winning, so like I understand
Speaker 1: more as you get in the Pros, like I would
Speaker 1: be really upset after a loss and they'd be like,
Speaker 1: chill like you, they would be like exactly. So that
Speaker 1: was my welcome to the w B A moment where
Speaker 1: I was like, all right, I gotta like you can
Speaker 1: still take hard, but I gotta like handle losses better.
Speaker 1: That's where I really like was like, this is the
Speaker 1: Pros two thousand eleven. You have a career season, voted
Speaker 1: to the All Star team for the first time. What
Speaker 1: was that? Like? That was we were rolling in Connecticut
Speaker 1: and I mean I think we had three players that
Speaker 1: were All Stars that year, like we I can remember
Speaker 1: being excited that I wasn't going by myself. Um, it
Speaker 1: was my first time team in Charles's first time, and
Speaker 1: so this is crazy because it ended up being my
Speaker 1: only time as an All Star. I flew my whole
Speaker 1: family out, I flew I got everybody hotel rooms, and
Speaker 1: I remember saying like, this could be my only one.
Speaker 1: You never know, like the league is unpredictable, you never
Speaker 1: know what's gonna happen. And everybody was like, I don't
Speaker 1: think you should be spending all this money, like you'll
Speaker 1: be back. And it's crazy because that was my only
Speaker 1: All Star. Um. The very next season, my coach and
Speaker 1: the All season came to me and they were like,
Speaker 1: we have no firepower coming off the bench. And I'm like,
Speaker 1: all right, cool, what's that got to do with me?
Speaker 1: You know what I mean? And then he was like,
Speaker 1: we need you to come off the bench. And I'm like,
Speaker 1: I was literally just an All Star last year the
Speaker 1: first like, and so I went from being an All
Speaker 1: Stars starting all the games in coming off the bench. Um.
Speaker 1: And so that was that was a shocker to me
Speaker 1: because I was still young then. UM. And so I
Speaker 1: ended up getting six Woman of the Year kind of
Speaker 1: just kind of just owning it. But it's the pros,
Speaker 1: you know, it's like the business of basketball. You start
Speaker 1: to learn it quick talk to us with that experience,
Speaker 1: Like we talked to Lamar on him about that yesterday
Speaker 1: when you interviewed him, like he was a starter, and
Speaker 1: then you know they wanted him to move to the bench.
Speaker 1: The same thing. The first year he moved to the bench,
Speaker 1: he won six Man of the Years. So what was
Speaker 1: that mentally like having a the whole another mindset coming
Speaker 1: off the bench, completely different mindset when I'm when I'm
Speaker 1: starting the game as a point guard, my first instinct
Speaker 1: is the all right, can we say who can I
Speaker 1: set up? Let's get her going, Let's get her going.
Speaker 1: All right. I might have a little shot here and there,
Speaker 1: But when you come off of the bench, they want
Speaker 1: that like instant offense, that instant impact. And so like
Speaker 1: they first had to tell me, like, we need you
Speaker 1: to be more aggressive, like and that that second unit,
Speaker 1: you're probably our first or second option. And so I
Speaker 1: had to be more aggressive in the style that I
Speaker 1: like to play. In a sense, nobody's really gonna be
Speaker 1: mad about having to shoot more. So basically he was like, look,
Speaker 1: the perker coming off the benches, You're gonna get more
Speaker 1: shot and so you had to just I just kind
Speaker 1: of had to own it, you know. I talked to
Speaker 1: my parents because I'm like, this is kind of crazy.
Speaker 1: Like I thought, this is pretty wild that I was
Speaker 1: literally my first All Star. I was excited, and then
Speaker 1: like my whole trajectory changed, and it actually it changed
Speaker 1: my whole career because then everybody started to know that
Speaker 1: I could do both and so probably wanted you to
Speaker 1: be that six man every time. And I mean like
Speaker 1: big teams like I ended up going to Minnesota where
Speaker 1: they didn't even lack nothing, but they wanted that extra
Speaker 1: off the bench, and so it's to be free agency.
Speaker 1: I like, like it made me be a commodity, honestly,
Speaker 1: and so I even told my coach, coach Tebo, I
Speaker 1: was like, you know what, like at the time, I
Speaker 1: was not feeling it, but it makes your stock rise.
Speaker 1: Like people saw me different. They saw me as a score,
Speaker 1: they saw me as that impact player off the bench.
Speaker 1: They saw me as a leader of the second unit,
Speaker 1: which people want. And so my young self was not
Speaker 1: feeling it. But as I got older and the contracts
Speaker 1: kept coming and I kept and I kept getting guaranteed contract. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I was like there might be something to this, this versatility.
Speaker 1: So two thousan, you head back to Minnesota and you're
Speaker 1: able to get your first professional championship. Yeah, that was
Speaker 1: a trying year. When I got traded, I was actually
Speaker 1: not even practicing with the team. I was at home
Speaker 1: in bed Um. There was a pig GroEL set our
Speaker 1: apartment complex, and like a dummy, I ate it off
Speaker 1: and I got salmonella poisoning. I didn't even know it
Speaker 1: was salmonella at the time. From yeah, there was like
Speaker 1: an actual pig that they were I know, we're not
Speaker 1: supposed I know, I know, and look so now I
Speaker 1: can't even barely eat. Like I learned my left I
Speaker 1: learned my lesson. I was sick as a dog. And
Speaker 1: so they come to my apartment complex and they're like, yo,
Speaker 1: coach wants to see you. I'm like no, no, they
Speaker 1: know I'm not practicing, like and they're like, no, coach
Speaker 1: wants to see you. So we all know what that means.
Speaker 1: I'm like, what's going on? What's going Yeah, what's going on?
Speaker 1: I'm sick. So I go they love story short. They
Speaker 1: tell me I'm traded the Minnesota coach. Coach read caused
Speaker 1: me and I'm like, Coach, I'm really sick, Like I
Speaker 1: don't know what's wrong, but I'm really sick. I hadn't
Speaker 1: got the test results back. She's like, yeah, I don't care.
Speaker 1: You gotta play in two days. And I'm like, this
Speaker 1: is crazy. My family was there at the time visiting me,
Speaker 1: which ended up being the craziest blessing because I couldn't
Speaker 1: do anything. They packed up my whole apartment, put it
Speaker 1: in my car, ship my car to me, UM, and
Speaker 1: then I was heading to Minnesota, and I was practicing
Speaker 1: and practiced during the daytime and a nighttime. I was
Speaker 1: like like working out trying to get my core together
Speaker 1: because anybody who knows anything about that, like I was wrecked,
Speaker 1: Like my whole stomach was just done, and so I
Speaker 1: didn't have any core strengths. And I was working out
Speaker 1: crazy at night, tired in practice during the day because
Speaker 1: I'm working out at night. UM, and then our starting
Speaker 1: point guard Lindsay Wayalen ends up getting hurt and the
Speaker 1: team needs me for a big role. So I would
Speaker 1: say that was one of my like most memorable championships
Speaker 1: because people didn't know everything I was doing on the
Speaker 1: back end to try to get myself back to where
Speaker 1: they thought I was. They were getting traded for a player,
Speaker 1: but I was like not the player that they were
Speaker 1: expecting at that time. And um, I can remember not
Speaker 1: remembering anything during that first game I played. I had
Speaker 1: an I V before the game and just dugged it out. Tough.
Speaker 1: So sixteen, you guys go from back to back championships, lose,
Speaker 1: seventeen you get your vindication. Yeah, and six team was
Speaker 1: a tough one. We played l A all three years like,
Speaker 1: so it was like everyone knew it was gonna happen.
Speaker 1: And then when they got they we lost on a
Speaker 1: buzzer beater, very controversial, but they won UM and soroversy
Speaker 1: one um, And so yeah, it was about that get back,
Speaker 1: Like that was all we could think about, you know.
Speaker 1: And and if you won a championship, like it's different
Speaker 1: if you've never won, but if you've won and then
Speaker 1: you lose it, there's a different type of one. Like
Speaker 1: you you want it because you know what it feels like.
Speaker 1: And so yeah, we wanted that back. And I knew
Speaker 1: it was my last year on my my contracts, so
Speaker 1: I also knew, like when this is gonna be crazy
Speaker 1: if we can win a championship this year, It'll set
Speaker 1: things up. Yeah, it'll set things up. And so for
Speaker 1: for for me, I was just excited, like I'm like,
Speaker 1: we can. We had the talent um, and so we
Speaker 1: ended up getting that championship, and like I said, it
Speaker 1: was it was fun. It was fun. So eighteen, you
Speaker 1: decided to bring your talents to Atlanta. You signed a
Speaker 1: multi year contract, Like you said, you wanted to come
Speaker 1: play where you lived at for a while. What was
Speaker 1: that experience? Like? That was dope? And and I kind
Speaker 1: of knew what I was getting myself into as far
Speaker 1: as Atlanta was concerned. We didn't have the fan base.
Speaker 1: It's not there. So I went from Minnesota. We're literally
Speaker 1: selling out Target Center where where the Minnesota Links play. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the Timberwolves don't even Oh my gosh, So we're selling out,
Speaker 1: you know, we're selling out the arenas, and so I'm
Speaker 1: used to when we run out, there's just white noise,
Speaker 1: like just the crowd is going crazy. And so in Atlanta,
Speaker 1: we were running out to ourselves going crazy. We're run
Speaker 1: out to us climbing for each other, and uh, because
Speaker 1: we were had to be our own hype man. And
Speaker 1: we you know, as we started, it was crazy because everybody,
Speaker 1: remember I told you when I said I was signing here,
Speaker 1: Everybody's like, you're right, sis, Like what's good? And then
Speaker 1: we ended up being the number two team that year,
Speaker 1: and so everybody was like, oh you all right since
Speaker 1: like um and we were rolling. So we went into
Speaker 1: the playoffs the number two team, and as the season started,
Speaker 1: we saw more and more fans kind of join in,
Speaker 1: and in the playoffs we actually had a little crowd.
Speaker 1: They're a little thump to it. So yeah, so we
Speaker 1: um Angel mccatry end up getting hurt that year. I
Speaker 1: really think we had a we we were terrible to
Speaker 1: first half and we lost two games. The whole second half,
Speaker 1: like we were just rolling. Injuries got us and that
Speaker 1: was about it. Yeah, you never really shied away from
Speaker 1: the big shot you had clutched in your d n A.
Speaker 1: Is there one moment that stands out? Yeah, that that
Speaker 1: l A game. Um, we were playing against l A.
Speaker 1: We were both twelve and oh thirteen and O was
Speaker 1: like a record, um that no team had ever done.
Speaker 1: And of course we were playing l A for that
Speaker 1: thirteenth win. That's just how things work out, and it
Speaker 1: was really crazy because I think my mom was getting
Speaker 1: cramps or wasn't foul trouble fouled out, I don't remember,
Speaker 1: but she wasn't available. That would have typically been who
Speaker 1: shot our last shot, but so since she wasn't available,
Speaker 1: coach was like, all right, Renee, um, yeah, you're in,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, let's let's get it. Like you know,
Speaker 1: so dude, you know when they tell you're in, you're
Speaker 1: like looking at the clipbore real hard, making sure you
Speaker 1: don't mess your stuff up. She drip a play for me,
Speaker 1: which is really crazy. Our point guard Lindsay Wayland was
Speaker 1: in the game. Um, gotta in bounce past jove. The
Speaker 1: baseline had a backscreen coming for me. I can literally
Speaker 1: remember that. There was like people on the sidelines. It
Speaker 1: was in l a. They were like reaching out to me,
Speaker 1: trying to like distract me. Um. I remember that just
Speaker 1: because it was like all the hype involved. Was like
Speaker 1: I told you, we played them every year in the
Speaker 1: in the finals, and so just to have that game
Speaker 1: winner against them and he didn't. Was the baseline drive
Speaker 1: baseline drift screen, Yeah, that's yeah, game for the game.
Speaker 1: So we got one of those same plays in our
Speaker 1: history the same time I made it. No, I passed
Speaker 1: you pass it to me? Oh did you? Yes? You
Speaker 1: made you know you didn't go base so you went
Speaker 1: down the middle of member of Bedris set the screen. Yeah, uh,
Speaker 1: June sid a tweet that were kind of shape. You're
Speaker 1: directed to the trajector the world of your you know,
Speaker 1: your career and and kind of find your your life
Speaker 1: after basketball path. Although at the time you made not
Speaker 1: have known, but you know, you decided to set the
Speaker 1: season out to focused on social justice. Your former your
Speaker 1: former college teammate and and and proteinmate did the same thing.
Speaker 1: What was behind that thinking a lot? You know, I
Speaker 1: had seen what's going on Atlanta. I told you we
Speaker 1: were right in the thick of things. There were protests
Speaker 1: going on everywhere. It was on the news. So I
Speaker 1: would look out my window. Yeah, Like I would look
Speaker 1: out my window. I could literally see the protests happening.
Speaker 1: And then I would look on the TV screen and
Speaker 1: be like, dang, like Atlanta is really like So for me,
Speaker 1: I was like I need to be a part of this,
Speaker 1: like I feel it like And I would talk to
Speaker 1: my my parents and my mom was actually in Detroit
Speaker 1: during the Detroit riots, and so she was telling me
Speaker 1: like maybe I think this one feels different. And I'm
Speaker 1: like why, you know what, I'm asking all kinds of question,
Speaker 1: like why is this one different? And she's like, look
Speaker 1: at the crowd. You know when we did our thing,
Speaker 1: it was all minorities, like all black people. Right now
Speaker 1: we see yeah, And so she kept telling me like
Speaker 1: I think this one is different. I'm like, yo, I
Speaker 1: need to be a part of this movement, like let's
Speaker 1: how do we pour gasoline on it? And so I
Speaker 1: was thinking, and I'm like, can I imagine myself in
Speaker 1: the bubble? Like That's kind of what I had to
Speaker 1: to to think about because we knew that's where it
Speaker 1: was going, and I just didn't see it, like I like,
Speaker 1: I really kept on And this wasn't like people think
Speaker 1: I woke up and sent the tweet, Like didn't happen
Speaker 1: like that, Like I knew. I was debating it for
Speaker 1: like two weeks, you know. I was trying to think
Speaker 1: about the pros, the cons, am I gonna quit my job.
Speaker 1: I don't even have a job, you know, Like I'm
Speaker 1: thinking about all those different things. But every time something
Speaker 1: else would happen or someone else would would would get murdered.
Speaker 1: I'm like, nah, this ain't it? Like to me, it
Speaker 1: was like this just saying it, and so yeah, like
Speaker 1: I really just felt like like my heart would have
Speaker 1: been in it. And so everything I've told you all
Speaker 1: it's been about proven and myself and it's all about
Speaker 1: passion for me, and so my heart wasn't gonna be
Speaker 1: in at that season, and I don't want to do
Speaker 1: that to my teammates, my coaches. So I just made
Speaker 1: the decision, like to follow where my heart was taking me.
Speaker 1: It's it's just something in you that that's different, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. A lot of people to stand
Speaker 1: up for people that you don't even know, I stand
Speaker 1: up for the rights of others and all that. It
Speaker 1: says a lot about you to put yourself on the
Speaker 1: line for other people that you don't even know. And
Speaker 1: a lot of people don't have the curse to do that,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So for you, the stage
Speaker 1: you were in, the person you are in to position
Speaker 1: you in, for you to stand like that, like I
Speaker 1: told you on your show, that meant the world to me,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Because a lot of people don't.
Speaker 1: A lot of people have the platforms and have the
Speaker 1: position to say things for the for the betterment of
Speaker 1: all of us, but they don't do it, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. And with with everything you have to
Speaker 1: lose for you to do that, with so many of
Speaker 1: your sisters in the same position, it just meant the
Speaker 1: world to see for me, So I appreciated that. I
Speaker 1: appreciate that, And you know, for me, what was interesting
Speaker 1: about that was I didn't know where it was gonna
Speaker 1: take me, you know what I mean. Like a lot
Speaker 1: of people think I had a plan, like I really yeah,
Speaker 1: Like I really didn't have a plan. So that's why
Speaker 1: even sitting here in the ownership and like in June,
Speaker 1: I was like thinking, all right, do I'm not about
Speaker 1: to have the drive uber? Like I didn't know, Like
Speaker 1: I really didn't know because I was already calling games.
Speaker 1: I was scheduled to call the women's in C double A,
Speaker 1: the G League Championship. But everything I can, so it
Speaker 1: was like all my revenue, all my income was connected
Speaker 1: to sports, and sports like just got canceled. So I
Speaker 1: was like weighing that heavy. I have my family and
Speaker 1: so I'm like this decision wasn't just about me, and
Speaker 1: so you know, thank you for coming on the show,
Speaker 1: because I felt connected to two people like you all
Speaker 1: that are just you know, that fabric like you can
Speaker 1: just you can just feel it when when somebody's doing
Speaker 1: something for the papers or somebody's really doing it. So
Speaker 1: I wanted to make sure people knew it wasn't This
Speaker 1: wasn't for this is not for Cloud, this isn't even Cloud.
Speaker 1: Like I didn't know if I was like canceled, because
Speaker 1: if y'all can remember that Kyrie call, I was on
Speaker 1: that Kyrie call and elaked and people were really mad
Speaker 1: basically to hear that Kyrie was talking about opting out basically,
Speaker 1: and so I already knew what people felt about players
Speaker 1: that opted out. So I was even debating on that tweet,
Speaker 1: should I tell people why I'm offing out like I thought,
Speaker 1: because you could just say, hey, I'm opting out for
Speaker 1: personal reasons, like I debated that, but then I was
Speaker 1: like nah, like yeah, like I just wanted people to
Speaker 1: know I'll ever think go ahead. I was. I was
Speaker 1: on the phone with him, you know, like every day
Speaker 1: for three weeks up until that, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: We talked a lot, and I knew where his head
Speaker 1: was but a lot of people don't understand how could
Speaker 1: you worry about playing the game when you're seeing your
Speaker 1: people dying exactly, when you're seeing people getting killed for
Speaker 1: no reason, A game is not that si bigger and
Speaker 1: it starts to be bigger than that where you think,
Speaker 1: like basketball, like I don't even like you almost feel
Speaker 1: like you don't even have time for that now because
Speaker 1: there's like there's something real going on right now. And Kyrie,
Speaker 1: you can see that he got it, and that's kind
Speaker 1: of how I even gravitated towards and I'm like, he
Speaker 1: really gets it. And now people start to see because
Speaker 1: he's giving out scholarships, he paid some of our salaries
Speaker 1: um for the women that opted out in the w
Speaker 1: b A, he paid George Floor baby Mama house, like
Speaker 1: people like he not just talking about it, and so
Speaker 1: that's why I'm talking about like some people like they
Speaker 1: just say it because it sounds nice, it's a sound bite,
Speaker 1: and there's some people that's really about that life and
Speaker 1: he really is obviously not going into the bubble where
Speaker 1: you're still proud of your sisters and what they were
Speaker 1: able to accomplish with their message. And and that's the
Speaker 1: thing A lot of people thought that, like when I
Speaker 1: opted out, I wanted everybody to opt out with me.
Speaker 1: I'm like, no, no, no, this is what I'm doing,
Speaker 1: Like this was what like I do. I'm glad that
Speaker 1: there was a w n b A season because look
Speaker 1: what happened. Like look what the w n b A. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the w n b A used this season too. These
Speaker 1: are things we are already passionate about. But we leaned
Speaker 1: into it, like if people don't know the w b
Speaker 1: A and seen with Minnesota, we already wore shirts and
Speaker 1: said change starts with us. Because in Minnesota, Fialandocs still
Speaker 1: had been murdered by the police at that time, so
Speaker 1: this wasn't new to to any of us in the
Speaker 1: w n b A. It was kind of like we
Speaker 1: were kind of like oh no, no, no, like enough
Speaker 1: is enough to your point, And so, like I said,
Speaker 1: we had a pipeline. I felt very connected to the
Speaker 1: players in the in the Wobble, and I think they
Speaker 1: felt connected to me. Um even Birdie reached out to
Speaker 1: me one time. I was like, hey, you know we're
Speaker 1: um vetting uh, Senator war Knock. We have a council
Speaker 1: that's helping us and I'm like, oh, let me, let
Speaker 1: me hear about this, and then I started to hear
Speaker 1: the stacey like some big names were on the council.
Speaker 1: So people think that the players just printed the shirts
Speaker 1: and put them one And was like, yeah, this is
Speaker 1: how we know. Like there was real processes done. They
Speaker 1: were vetting people, they were thinking this out, and so
Speaker 1: for me, yeah, we we were we were united, and
Speaker 1: I wanted people to just felt like I wasn't calling
Speaker 1: people like, yo, you opted out with me. I think
Speaker 1: people want to be like thought I was doing that,
Speaker 1: not like everybody had opted out. That's what they had
Speaker 1: in their hearts. You guys, well, I mean I said
Speaker 1: this when when all of it happened on when I
Speaker 1: was doing ESPN. But you guys have been fighting for
Speaker 1: equal footing, particularly just as women in sports, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. So when other issues come along, when
Speaker 1: it stands for equality, it makes all the sense in
Speaker 1: the world where you guys are so unified when it
Speaker 1: comes out, because this is not a new fight to
Speaker 1: you guys, Like you said, you've been fighting the good fight,
Speaker 1: which was you know, police brutality. But you guys have
Speaker 1: been fighting since you started dribbling a basketball about equal
Speaker 1: footing and and respecting the space. So that's why it
Speaker 1: wasn't surprising to me. And like I said, I think
Speaker 1: the NBA took a note from you guys because you
Speaker 1: guys were on your ship instantly together. Whether you're in
Speaker 1: the bubble or not, you guys were together. And I
Speaker 1: think that's you know that that showed. And now he
Speaker 1: and I went back and forth on like Jack bitch
Speaker 1: and because he didn't think people should play, I thought
Speaker 1: they should play, and I thought they should play. Because
Speaker 1: our voices travel like you're gonna hear Lebron and you'll
Speaker 1: probably hear CP, but do you hear the guys that
Speaker 1: aren't those top tier superstars without the NBA logo behind them,
Speaker 1: with the NBA logo behind them, with the w NBA
Speaker 1: logo behind your female counterparts. Our voices travel around the world,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And that's about both my
Speaker 1: point from that and to that point, like I see
Speaker 1: both sides because I see what Stack is saying to like,
Speaker 1: imagine if there's no W n B A and everybody
Speaker 1: has to answer to why, I mean, you know, and
Speaker 1: then it happened, you know, And I thought I talked
Speaker 1: about it, I said, Okay, so the NBA stopped because
Speaker 1: of COVID the first time, the second time, the NBA
Speaker 1: and WNBA's office for racism, Like who would have ever? Like?
Speaker 1: Is that? That's that's wild to think about. When you
Speaker 1: think about people don't really realize how much of a
Speaker 1: business sports are. I think people have a hard time understanding,
Speaker 1: like sports is strictly a business. I know you guys
Speaker 1: see it as a game. But for a big business,
Speaker 1: big corp to shut down because of racism, that's not
Speaker 1: like like, that's not and they really didn't want it.
Speaker 1: But the players made it, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: The players made that ship happen because you know, I,
Speaker 1: like you said, this is big business, big money, Like
Speaker 1: that's the last thing they want to see. But they
Speaker 1: got a respect to be TV contract. You don't play
Speaker 1: that game. There's somebody that's supposed to be getting paid
Speaker 1: for you plant Like, there's so many things that the
Speaker 1: NBA is a business and the w b A it's
Speaker 1: a business. So I think that they took that and
Speaker 1: they made these businesses have to focus on social justice.
Speaker 1: So that's my only reason for liking that they had
Speaker 1: to play because when the players weren't going to play again.
Speaker 1: What the NBA have to do? They were calling the owners.
Speaker 1: They said the owners got to get on board. They
Speaker 1: were making they forced the NBA's head and because they
Speaker 1: needed them to come back. So I really do see
Speaker 1: both sides in a sense of like you have to change.
Speaker 1: It is a business. But the business we know needs
Speaker 1: to change, Like we all know that from the ownership
Speaker 1: group on like we we don't. I don't understand why
Speaker 1: there's not representation and ownership group. Even in the NFL.
Speaker 1: They have to make a rule, the Runy rule, to
Speaker 1: try to get people. The fact that they have to
Speaker 1: make the it tells you how crazy that is. People.
Speaker 1: There's a rule for it. Why should there be a
Speaker 1: rule for you to give equal opportunity to business to
Speaker 1: work for them but not work with them. They hire
Speaker 1: people look like I can't play, but you can't own
Speaker 1: not a day, So what to me? You know? I mean,
Speaker 1: I think they obviously they hire people who look like them.
Speaker 1: Left it's so important for her to be in an
Speaker 1: ownership position now because you hire people who like you
Speaker 1: would start at the top of its management and then
Speaker 1: it works its way down. It's not what you know
Speaker 1: is who you know. And so if who you know
Speaker 1: is who you know, you don't know us, well like
Speaker 1: that you're not gonna hire. You're gonna hire somebody you're
Speaker 1: comfortable with. And so you already know that's what we're
Speaker 1: doing here in Atlanta, Like that's our focus like day
Speaker 1: one now, the people we hire small business, minority owned business,
Speaker 1: like that's literally our whole focus and love it. So
Speaker 1: you were a big part of more than a vote,
Speaker 1: um all the way through the runoff with you know,
Speaker 1: Senator Warnock or uh what you spoke on. How important
Speaker 1: was that to you? Big time? Um, It's crazy because
Speaker 1: I know people have to be tired because we were
Speaker 1: banging the drums since I can remember um in June
Speaker 1: where I threw a June Team pop up block party
Speaker 1: at Centennial And I'm like, man, people are really turned
Speaker 1: right now, but November is far away, Like I just
Speaker 1: kept on remember like thank November so far away, Like yeah,
Speaker 1: like I I so I started to create a campaign
Speaker 1: called Remember the Third and November because like we're passionate
Speaker 1: right now, but I hope people understand, like you gotta
Speaker 1: take that passion to the polls, like you gotta fight
Speaker 1: people at their own ground, like we can be mad
Speaker 1: and do stuff in protests, but you gotta go to
Speaker 1: the polls. So I remember thinking like circling the calendar
Speaker 1: November three, and then we had to run off, and
Speaker 1: I was like, oh my goodness, we gotta go at
Speaker 1: it again, like you gotta rub the engines up. So
Speaker 1: that's kind of what I remember, just being like, look,
Speaker 1: I know you're probably tired of it. I know, like
Speaker 1: no one wanted this, but we got to just time,
Speaker 1: because I don't think people even knew that you gotta
Speaker 1: go back, you know. I think people like, no, no,
Speaker 1: already voted for that, like so just kicking my vote again,
Speaker 1: still coming and and that's the engagement we don't really understand.
Speaker 1: But what was it, Like, I mean, you guys had
Speaker 1: a big hand in flipping a state. That's wild. I'm saying, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's wild. And even as it was happening, you know,
Speaker 1: like I was doing stuff with Stacey Atrams at that time,
Speaker 1: SI's for culture, and I'm like, this is really crazy,
Speaker 1: like I told you, and you you guys know, when
Speaker 1: you're in the thicker things, it's kind of hard to
Speaker 1: see it from like the bird's view. So I was
Speaker 1: just in it, like they was hitting me up like yo,
Speaker 1: we're trying to do this, and I'm like I'm down,
Speaker 1: like what's up. So it was kind of just like
Speaker 1: that type of situation. And then as we watched on
Speaker 1: the news unfold, like we're watching national news unfold and
Speaker 1: it's looking like we might pull this off in I'm
Speaker 1: telling you, it's it's something that like probably after a while,
Speaker 1: like it'll sink in. But I don't even think we
Speaker 1: like we knew the magnitude of what we were doing.
Speaker 1: But when people started to tell us that Senator Warnock
Speaker 1: was like pulling in the single digits before you know,
Speaker 1: we started a campaign for him, that's pretty crazy to
Speaker 1: see what happened. So yeah, um, life off the court
Speaker 1: has been going amazing. You announced your retirement in February.
Speaker 1: Are you at peace with that? Yeah? Um. When I
Speaker 1: announced my retirement, I knew that you couldn't be a
Speaker 1: player and owner, so people didn't know that at the time,
Speaker 1: but I had to get you know, my affairs in order.
Speaker 1: So I was very comfortable within a sense of I
Speaker 1: don't feel like I left anything out there, you know.
Speaker 1: I felt like, obviously I would have loved to play
Speaker 1: like one last season and have that you know, that
Speaker 1: farewell season. But to me, like the way I played,
Speaker 1: the way I prepared, I really did feel like I
Speaker 1: gave like everything I had, and so I didn't feel
Speaker 1: like I left anything out there. And then I thought
Speaker 1: about the bigger picture. I'm like, for me to be
Speaker 1: an owner and to be able to be the voice
Speaker 1: of the players, like the players, I know problems that
Speaker 1: we have right now here. That just was driving me.
Speaker 1: I'm like, man, we gotta make this happen. How can
Speaker 1: we make this happen? And I'm telling you my family,
Speaker 1: they were my family. My fiance just were back at me.
Speaker 1: They were my battery packet because sometimes I just like
Speaker 1: I got discouraged, like real talk, because I'm like, I
Speaker 1: don't know how I'm gonna get to this seat at
Speaker 1: the table. It felt so far away, and I was
Speaker 1: trying to reach out to people, but I'm trying to
Speaker 1: do it on the low because I'm still playing. And
Speaker 1: I just didn't like sometimes I got discouraged. But my family,
Speaker 1: now you're gonna be this owner, you know, like they
Speaker 1: were really like sometimes they was on my head, like Nana,
Speaker 1: this is for you because sometimes I'll just be like,
Speaker 1: all right, we'll find a different way. Like maybe I
Speaker 1: could be in the front office and I would change
Speaker 1: the the way. Um, But my family like they knew it,
Speaker 1: like they saw it for me before I did. And
Speaker 1: so that's what I think about the most with that,
Speaker 1: because there were times, like I told that Stred in
Speaker 1: October when people people don't know the long process of
Speaker 1: that took. So there was times where I'm like, oh man,
Speaker 1: it's Christmas. Let's just like let me enjoy Christmas instead
Speaker 1: of trying to plot and playing and figure out. But
Speaker 1: I'm so glad I did you know? That was a long,
Speaker 1: a long journey, but like we're here, I'm so thankful
Speaker 1: you just stated that we talked about you don't really
Speaker 1: what's going to understand the magnitude of what you're doing
Speaker 1: while you're in the mix. But have you taken a
Speaker 1: step back and like fed like Renee from West Virginia
Speaker 1: as an owner of a professional sports team, have you
Speaker 1: have you have you had a chance to kind of
Speaker 1: do that yet us And I'm about to go back
Speaker 1: to West Virginia for my sister's wedding um next week.
Speaker 1: I think that's when it will really, you know, like
Speaker 1: when you get back to like humble beginnings, because right now,
Speaker 1: I've been so busy ever since it like ever since
Speaker 1: it happened, like I have been really busy, and you yeah,
Speaker 1: I think so, so like once I can ever get
Speaker 1: some time like because right now I'm covering March madness,
Speaker 1: you know, like it's like I don't have to worry
Speaker 1: about a job anymore. And that's a blessing because at
Speaker 1: a certain point I really was was worried. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: was really worried. And so now I think like two
Speaker 1: stacks point, once I get that time that VACA is
Speaker 1: coming in June, once I get that to just kind
Speaker 1: of just like be like what does that happening around it?
Speaker 1: Just go hitch yeah, like damn some joint. Look now, um,
Speaker 1: you mentioned you're covering March madness. You did some broadcasting
Speaker 1: early in your career. Obviously you're great, you know, relaying
Speaker 1: your your opinions and thoughts. When did broadcasting jump into
Speaker 1: the picture for you? I'm going to school for it,
Speaker 1: so you know, I went to UA. I was a
Speaker 1: communications major. You know, sometimes you pick a major just
Speaker 1: because like let me just give me anything, Like I
Speaker 1: had teammates and did that. Well, I'm the daughter of
Speaker 1: a college professor. So yeah, I was in the baclaurette
Speaker 1: program in high school, like I had to be like
Speaker 1: all of those honors things. So I went into college
Speaker 1: like game. I was actually gunning for two majors actually,
Speaker 1: and I finished. I had ended up with a minor,
Speaker 1: but I knew it, like I kind of am a planner,
Speaker 1: Like I planned. I planned. Yeah, I'm planned my whole
Speaker 1: wife out really, Like even when I was young. I
Speaker 1: told you I was in West Virginia dribbling on the
Speaker 1: pavement when you have concrete, and I'm like, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go D one. Even when I was young, Um, there
Speaker 1: weren't even a w NBA until I was eleven, So
Speaker 1: I was just thinking D one and I've just been
Speaker 1: I've been planning every since honestly. But yeah, at Yukon,
Speaker 1: that was that was the plan. So just announcing the
Speaker 1: podcasts talk or Takeline. Excuse me, Um, how did that
Speaker 1: come about? Yeah, they reached out to me. Um I did. Uh,
Speaker 1: It's crazy because I got multiple jobs from interviews like that.
Speaker 1: I did with a plan for him. So I didn't
Speaker 1: interview with TMZ Sports, like they wanted to talk about
Speaker 1: me off and out, and then they offered me a
Speaker 1: job to co host TMZ Sports. Um. Then I did
Speaker 1: an interview with pod Save America and it's when the
Speaker 1: cook crooked like network and so then that's how they
Speaker 1: saw me on that, and they reached out to my
Speaker 1: manager and was like, hey, I think we you know,
Speaker 1: we want to do sports and culture where they meet basically,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, I mean that's my whole life. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's my whole life. Um. And they were just like
Speaker 1: breaking it down Jason conceptsi and as the host they need.
Speaker 1: They they're looking for a co host. Um. Did a
Speaker 1: couple you know, interviews, and then they called me like okay,
Speaker 1: so we want to roll with you. What's next? And
Speaker 1: that was dope because like, as you all know, y'all
Speaker 1: vote are on my podcast remotely Renee, and so I
Speaker 1: didn't know how that worked. I'm like, can I do
Speaker 1: to Like I didn't. I don't really know how all
Speaker 1: that works. UM, So I let them know and they
Speaker 1: were cool with it. My podcast is a little different
Speaker 1: than that, So I mean that's been really cool because
Speaker 1: the topics that you know, y'all vote done TV. The
Speaker 1: topics that the TV tells you to stay away from.
Speaker 1: That's what we talked about. Goddamn right, that's what we
Speaker 1: talk about. So that's it's dope for me, you guys.
Speaker 1: First guest was Jeremy Lyndon. Obviously we're in a weird
Speaker 1: place right now where Asian hate crimes are are are
Speaker 1: popping up every day. Um, how was it talking to him?
Speaker 1: I mean, Jack and I both know him, Uh, great
Speaker 1: do very very well spoken, um and really kind of
Speaker 1: a fixture for that community. So how was it talking
Speaker 1: to him and kind of hearing his point of point
Speaker 1: of view? It was different because you know, we're used
Speaker 1: to being oppressed, you know what I mean. Everybody understands
Speaker 1: our history. They understand why we're mad. Some people do,
Speaker 1: some people don't. But people understand, they get it. But
Speaker 1: when it comes to Asian hate, I feel like they
Speaker 1: have to almost explain to people why they're mad and
Speaker 1: then allowed to be mad. And I think that's the
Speaker 1: struggle that you know, a lot of the Asian community
Speaker 1: hasn't even here in Atlanta where we just had that shooting,
Speaker 1: Like it's unbelievable because we can relate, you know, like
Speaker 1: as far as minorities are Gonnacern, we know what it's
Speaker 1: like for somebody to not like you but hate you.
Speaker 1: Like that's a wild concept, to not know somebody at
Speaker 1: all but you hate them. And so I think that
Speaker 1: you know, that's being experienced for different cultures right now,
Speaker 1: and it needs to be almost a point where minorities
Speaker 1: now they're starting to see we have the same problem. Yes,
Speaker 1: so we think I think a lot of people thought
Speaker 1: that this was a black problem, you know, like a
Speaker 1: lot of people really thought this is a black problem.
Speaker 1: This is a black community, black and brown community problem
Speaker 1: the most. But it's all it's all moneyority exactly. And
Speaker 1: I think that's starting to be seen more. I think
Speaker 1: the the Asian community is starting to gravitate two allies
Speaker 1: and they know that we're an allied because we get it.
Speaker 1: And so I think just talking to him and even him,
Speaker 1: I mean as people know, like he was called I
Speaker 1: believe coronavirus on the court. I mean that's athletes, you know, Like,
Speaker 1: so that's crazy because I never had a teammate or
Speaker 1: someone like say something crazy to me on the court.
Speaker 1: I don't know how I would handle that, Like, I
Speaker 1: don't I don't really know, like I've never experienced that.
Speaker 1: So he even experienced that, and the way he handled
Speaker 1: it was great, you know what I mean. Like I said,
Speaker 1: he wanted he didn't want to get to them and
Speaker 1: troub We didn't want to call him now. He wanted
Speaker 1: to sit down and educate them. It's big, it's a
Speaker 1: big person. Amazing, he's a he's a good guy. Because
Speaker 1: I just don't know how I would handle that if
Speaker 1: somebody said something wild to me like that on the court. Um.
Speaker 1: And so I think they just understand that, you know,
Speaker 1: the communities are allies now, like let's be allies and educate.
Speaker 1: Right when you said it's not just our problem. That
Speaker 1: was the one thing he spoke about when he was
Speaker 1: doing the marches because he's like, mad, I've seen every
Speaker 1: single color out there and struggling to you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. So it's not just a black problem around problem,
Speaker 1: it's a minority problem. The way the system is set up,
Speaker 1: and there's there's about to say it's a white problem.
Speaker 1: Is it's because there's a lot of people that didn't
Speaker 1: realize it was a problem. That's a problem. If you
Speaker 1: didn't if you didn't know there was a problem. That's
Speaker 1: the problem because it's all around us. It's all around us,
Speaker 1: and so that's even going back to the n C
Speaker 1: double a thing. People have to see it, like they
Speaker 1: need to see it. So when they saw the video
Speaker 1: of George Floyd, I think that's the first time some
Speaker 1: people really got it, Like they still wanted to some
Speaker 1: people still wanted to deny it and he should have
Speaker 1: did this and he was doing that and drug and
Speaker 1: I'm just like, no, did you watch the nine minutes
Speaker 1: or did you transt forward through it? I haven't, But
Speaker 1: I think that was very eye opening for people because
Speaker 1: they're like, wow, how could somebody do that? And for us,
Speaker 1: we're like, you know, we know that's happened plenty of
Speaker 1: times before, basically, and so like I told you in
Speaker 1: six team, we were talking about this, you know, and
Speaker 1: it's Minnesota, so it's not even the first instance for them.
Speaker 1: And so when people start to realize that, and then
Speaker 1: they start to go down that rabbit hole, when they
Speaker 1: start to that's that rabbit hole where they start to
Speaker 1: you start to educate people on stuff, and they don't
Speaker 1: want to believe it, so they go to Google and
Speaker 1: then they're like yeah, and then you start to see
Speaker 1: that eye opening. That's what happened a lot in I think.
Speaker 1: And so I mean, I don't mind if you don't
Speaker 1: like it's it's one thing to not know, but if
Speaker 1: you know better, do better. Yeah, who are your top
Speaker 1: five is? Go to another conversation. Give me away from
Speaker 1: that because you know I'm to be Macael x Ron
Speaker 1: his mother. All right? Who your top players in the
Speaker 1: w B right now? Oh my gosh, y'all really that's tough, um,
Speaker 1: and we're talking about in their prom because right now,
Speaker 1: just period. I mean, I'm gonna have to go shoot
Speaker 1: the Yukon Special. Uh, can't go wrong, y'all. Can get
Speaker 1: your whole team that played the w b A and
Speaker 1: win some w b A game. That would be let
Speaker 1: I'm going with Diana Tarassi, Um, Tina Charles to Bird.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, like I got it roll with my dogs.
Speaker 1: But and that's a fact. Like people argued, if you want, um,
Speaker 1: who else, Brianna Stewart, that's cheat. I'm just saying that
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give you the the UKN Special. And that's what
Speaker 1: I said, argued, if you want to, Um, no, I'm
Speaker 1: not in the league. She's an owner number. You forgot.
Speaker 1: I forgot that now. But I know the men always
Speaker 1: put themselves on the team. I would I wouldn't even
Speaker 1: do that. Nice. Um let's see who are we gonna go?
Speaker 1: And we got a point guard, shooting guard and Diana
Speaker 1: still we'll put her at the four t ts. She
Speaker 1: had to be. Oh, let's go with Sylvia fause I'm
Speaker 1: about to say that she's mean she down as the greatest.
Speaker 1: She's gonna go down as the greatest. And like I said,
Speaker 1: I was going to do a U CON special, but
Speaker 1: that's my pud and so and she's I mean, if
Speaker 1: we're talking five, she's like the most gitle giant killer
Speaker 1: you have. You talk to her, you don't know what
Speaker 1: she's about to do to you. But yeah, that's that's crazy. Yeah,
Speaker 1: um w n b A is about to celebrate twenty
Speaker 1: five years. Tell us about the progression you like and
Speaker 1: what more you feel needs to happen. I like that,
Speaker 1: So let me just tell you a progression ten where
Speaker 1: the shirt change starts with us. Um, we even put
Speaker 1: a police shoot on there. That's crazy because we wanted
Speaker 1: people to understand. We got fined for that and they
Speaker 1: told us. If you want to keep wearing that shirt,
Speaker 1: you're gonna keep getting fine. So basically, the w n
Speaker 1: b A was not rolling in sixteen. And again, this
Speaker 1: is the summer before Colin Kaepernick took a knee, So
Speaker 1: this was unheard of for people to do what we
Speaker 1: had done, and the w n b A was just,
Speaker 1: I mean to give them to a defense. This had
Speaker 1: never been seen before, for we just rocked up with
Speaker 1: shirts we made and wore for warm ups, and so
Speaker 1: they weren't feeling it. They were not with it, and
Speaker 1: they basically and then other teams joined in and started
Speaker 1: to wear just black shirts and it became like a
Speaker 1: little movement and the w n b A was not
Speaker 1: with that movement. And so then when you fast forward
Speaker 1: to we dedicated our whole season of social justice. If
Speaker 1: you're on the Taylor on the back of our jerseys,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm saying we're moving in the right way. Uh,
Speaker 1: they're start They're now starting to listen in a sense
Speaker 1: of like we're gonna do this regardless, like they kind
Speaker 1: of And I think that's the thing about the women's players.
Speaker 1: We have this like it's gonna happen. So what's your
Speaker 1: stance on this. That's gonna be on you. But this
Speaker 1: is what we're gonna do. And they just really like
Speaker 1: they kind of leaned into it. I mean for them
Speaker 1: to put Brianna Taylor on the back of all of
Speaker 1: our jerseys, that's pretty big. We did a say her
Speaker 1: Name campaign every week where we we talked about it.
Speaker 1: You know, they they the national anthem. You know, there
Speaker 1: was just different things that we were allowed to do
Speaker 1: and I stay allowed to do because they could have
Speaker 1: find us. But they leaned into it. So the year
Speaker 1: twenty five, it's looking good. Um, I think that they
Speaker 1: they get it. You know, the hashtag is counted. I
Speaker 1: think give me the lion. But they even um, they
Speaker 1: had the legends coming back. They're owed to the people
Speaker 1: before us, and I'm big about that. Like I feel
Speaker 1: like I'm old school in a sense of like the
Speaker 1: o gs and the o gs like, let's like always
Speaker 1: put them on a pedestal. So it looks like the
Speaker 1: w NBA is gonna do that this year. It's good.
Speaker 1: We had Sheryl Swoops on and she said that was
Speaker 1: one of the things that bothered her so much. Happy Birthday,
Speaker 1: How do your birthday too? The legend. Um. I love her,
Speaker 1: so yeah, and that's the thing, like we should we
Speaker 1: should honor our o g is way more than I
Speaker 1: think what we've done. And so even in the new promo,
Speaker 1: the advertisement, Lisa Leslie was narrating it, so you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. They're on the right way, they're in
Speaker 1: the right direction. But yeah, she come on, now, that's
Speaker 1: not even her. That's cool. But hey, give me your
Speaker 1: thoughts on the current Hark squad and what they need
Speaker 1: to win a game or two. Excuse me, we were
Speaker 1: on an eight game road streight, let's be clear, the
Speaker 1: temperature a little bit straight. We want eighth straight. And
Speaker 1: then last night we lost to the Clippers. We were
Speaker 1: actually up by like money, we're at like twenty and
Speaker 1: ended up losing to the Clips. I think everybody knows
Speaker 1: we got that new point is that we can make
Speaker 1: some noise, but we're not consistent, and so I think
Speaker 1: that's why you remember us losing. We just want eight,
Speaker 1: but everybody remembers us losing because we just haven't been consistent.
Speaker 1: But it's been fun covering them. Trey Young, I think
Speaker 1: that snub was the best thing that could have happened
Speaker 1: to us. You know, like he got snub this year,
Speaker 1: the only player in the top ten scoring that didn't
Speaker 1: make All Star. I mean, it was just wild, but
Speaker 1: it was just the record. I think so. But if
Speaker 1: the records matter, then we should check a lot of
Speaker 1: all I mean, what is the criteria then, But the
Speaker 1: only reason that knicks, the only reason around the made
Speaker 1: it because they was tied for ford for at the time.
Speaker 1: But that's just that's this year. There's been a lot
Speaker 1: of play, Like I never know what the criteria is
Speaker 1: for m v P. For all starts, they feel people
Speaker 1: who never played basketball, we have to say something. Hello somebody.
Speaker 1: Don't let me start hello somebody. Um, since we're in
Speaker 1: the NBA season, favorite player to watch I don't play. Yeah,
Speaker 1: if you guys ain't playing, I ain't really watching, you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. But well, I would just go
Speaker 1: with Trey just because I get to watch him night
Speaker 1: and Ninity. I mean, he's flashy, so it's not even
Speaker 1: like I'm just picking him because he's the Hogs. Like,
Speaker 1: he doesn't wow stuff in the game I've been in
Speaker 1: the last twenty years. He's about far the Besides, Joe
Speaker 1: was cool, but he's the most exciting player to watch
Speaker 1: since I've been living in Atlanta. Yeah, definitely, definitely. I
Speaker 1: mean it's just like what Steph Curry brings to the
Speaker 1: game that made change the whole game. Like they're shooting
Speaker 1: from the logo and that's a good shot, Like you know,
Speaker 1: like it's like you don't even be like, hey, that's
Speaker 1: a terrible shot. Like when Trey shoot said, I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm sorry, Yeah, that's you have a finals prediction,
Speaker 1: finals prediction. Man injury, that's the thing. Like it's tough
Speaker 1: because I mean, we all would assume that the Lakers
Speaker 1: would find a way to be in the finals if
Speaker 1: they're healthy, but now you know, first a d and
Speaker 1: then Lebron. I don't know, I can't nervous trusting teams
Speaker 1: that play well in the regular season because we've seen
Speaker 1: a seventies sixers every year. We think that they're gonna
Speaker 1: be every year they look I mean, Joel Embid. People
Speaker 1: are talking about em for m VP. I know, but
Speaker 1: if you're talking about m VP color per person and
Speaker 1: if you have the team, why is the postseason always
Speaker 1: such a struggle? You know? Like so for me, I'm
Speaker 1: trying to think, like who are some some dogs in
Speaker 1: the league. That's there's a difference. So there's a difference
Speaker 1: that Portland's team is always interesting. I feel like when
Speaker 1: you got a player like Damian Lillard, who it don't
Speaker 1: matter who he's mashed up against, like, hes gonna show up.
Speaker 1: I don't think they're gonna be in the finals, but
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna be somebody to watch. Just the
Speaker 1: West is so tough, but I don't really have a prediction.
Speaker 1: And what does that say about Brooklyn? They're best players
Speaker 1: hurt and people still got them going to the finals.
Speaker 1: That's how good they are. And you know what, I
Speaker 1: gotta see it too, Like I gotta leave it, you
Speaker 1: believe I gotta see it. Because we talked about playoffs again.
Speaker 1: I mean we've seen we're talking about playoffs with KDD,
Speaker 1: Kyrie and James though okay, yes, but we're talking about
Speaker 1: playoffs and we're talking about injuries as well, and so
Speaker 1: a couple of those players. Like that's why I said
Speaker 1: injuries aside. If we're talking everybody has their dogs, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna say Brooklyn in l A in the finals. If
Speaker 1: everybody is playing and everybody's healthy, I just don't know.
Speaker 1: If that's going to be the case. Recently, Shock had
Speaker 1: a comment that the hoop should be lowered. Didn't take
Speaker 1: too well to it to say, Shock, no thoughts about it.
Speaker 1: I think that's so wild. Um like should Josh should
Speaker 1: yo s be raised? There's too many people dunking. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't know, like is it like is it too easy?
Speaker 1: Matter to me? Right now? I'm slapping that, So yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm a touching that too. But what I will say
Speaker 1: in y'all defense, I'll take some women on some of
Speaker 1: my NBA teams before some of the Sorry motherfucker's you
Speaker 1: have a lot of them men didn't belong in the NBA.
Speaker 1: They didn't care then no way, So I would have
Speaker 1: took a lot of y'all wait before some of the teammates.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, we don't need to change the game
Speaker 1: that Nate Smith created. That is so silly, just because
Speaker 1: and I mean, if you ask people why to change
Speaker 1: the game, it's literally one reason for dunking, you know,
Speaker 1: like it's not because women don't shoot well enough from
Speaker 1: the three maybe the rooms. It's always just dunking. And
Speaker 1: so if that's like and I know that's what the
Speaker 1: NBA prize them now, I know, but people, this is
Speaker 1: casual fans talking. This is casual fans talking because they
Speaker 1: don't know that I mean, Katus Parker was dunking and
Speaker 1: as certain you know what I mean. So people are
Speaker 1: only basing that on dunking. And so if you're doing that,
Speaker 1: then you're not really taking into account what the women's
Speaker 1: game is good at anyway, you know, like we play
Speaker 1: actual fundamental basketball, not saying the men don't, but we're
Speaker 1: not even allowed to travel. So think about that. We
Speaker 1: have to pivot, we have to take only two steps.
Speaker 1: That's different, you know. And so I think that if
Speaker 1: you're saying the room should be lowered, then you don't
Speaker 1: really appreciate what's already going on in the game, considering
Speaker 1: your journey um to where you are now, where you sit.
Speaker 1: What is it a piece of advice you would give
Speaker 1: to an aspiring young lady looking to be an athlete
Speaker 1: or more of even a business owner, you know, I think,
Speaker 1: But women it is different, Like at you can't a
Speaker 1: guy could be like the eleventh man on the team.
Speaker 1: You couldn't tell him he wouldn't go into the league,
Speaker 1: Like you really could not tell like guys have this
Speaker 1: like inner boastfulness that they believe in themselves, and so
Speaker 1: women will critique ourselves until maybe we shouldn't even go
Speaker 1: to the w b A. Like that's how we we
Speaker 1: we think about ourselves and women we tend to almost
Speaker 1: dim our light because we think about what are people
Speaker 1: going to say and what are people going to think?
Speaker 1: And so I think, if nothing else in I think
Speaker 1: that young girls should see that, like women like we
Speaker 1: got something to say. Like, I think that even you
Speaker 1: don't see a lot of women as many as you
Speaker 1: should in high management positions, shall star our VP. I'm
Speaker 1: like Harris now the first time think about that though
Speaker 1: she's that's the first time in history that a woman
Speaker 1: has held that high of a position. Why, Like, I
Speaker 1: don't think it's for not being capable at this point,
Speaker 1: but I think it's the norm and how people treated
Speaker 1: women and how people, you know, having a woman boss.
Speaker 1: I've been in positions where I'm going to call I'm
Speaker 1: gonna call with my manager and people are talking to
Speaker 1: him like he's he's the talent, or he's the one
Speaker 1: because he's a guy. So you got another guy talking
Speaker 1: and that's just how it happens. And so I think
Speaker 1: now I think young girl should realize, like there's not
Speaker 1: a position that we can't hold, even though if it
Speaker 1: hasn't happened yet, it doesn't mean it can't. And so
Speaker 1: I think that just that boldness, we need to have
Speaker 1: that same We don't have to be arrogant, but we
Speaker 1: need to have that same inner thing that guys have
Speaker 1: where you like, I'm telling you it could be a
Speaker 1: guy that hasn't played pick up in so long, but
Speaker 1: if somebody's like, check up, but I want to, like,
Speaker 1: you know, like guys just have that it's a bad thing.
Speaker 1: That's what I said. Yeah, one thing men need to
Speaker 1: do that women do more than we do. Y'all more
Speaker 1: real with y'all say you know what I'm saying, we'll
Speaker 1: wake up to like you can go do it, you know,
Speaker 1: and damn where you can't do it, don't fall for it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but that's that confidence, you see, Like, that's that confidence.
Speaker 1: So that's why I said a little in between, take
Speaker 1: a little bit from it. But women just are way
Speaker 1: too real, almost too real in the sense of we
Speaker 1: might dim our own bright light. And so I would
Speaker 1: just say, yeah, that's over with quick hitters. First answer
Speaker 1: to come to mind, spit it out. Toughest player you
Speaker 1: ever had the garden. Why, Um, she has a quick tip? Yeah,
Speaker 1: because I used to be in the smaller player so
Speaker 1: I don't like when people are under my dribble and
Speaker 1: I don't like when people are quickens than me and
Speaker 1: different things of that nature. So yeah, she's she's a
Speaker 1: tough guard. Carolina. Yeah, we ask that question. You said,
Speaker 1: NBA players of all time, all time? Why you do
Speaker 1: that to me? Um, let's go Tina Thompson, Cynthia Cooper. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I know, right, running suit Cynthia Cooper. Yeah. Like if
Speaker 1: we're gonna name teams, um, Don Staley, come on, come on, now,
Speaker 1: this is hard because I mean we're talking o G.
Speaker 1: I told you I like to pay respect, and so
Speaker 1: there's so many, um let's see, I mean put it.
Speaker 1: I mean, oh, let's go buy more. Yeah. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: and there's I could think of an honorary five and
Speaker 1: a second, but yeah, I'll just roll with that. Top
Speaker 1: three basketball movies in your opinion. So I just was
Speaker 1: talking to Ray Allen, so we gotta put he got
Speaker 1: game one there. Um, you said, do you say basketball
Speaker 1: or sport? Basketball? Okay, cool. Then loving basketball white man
Speaker 1: can't jump, it's two out of my thread. Yeah? Five?
Speaker 1: Then against dead alive? Who would you invite? My gosh,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna ask Jesus to sit at the table right,
Speaker 1: ask you some questions. Let's have a little change shot
Speaker 1: my go with Oprah. I want to see what she's
Speaker 1: talking about. Um, I'm not Barack Obama. There, let's have
Speaker 1: a Actually, let's let's substitute Barack for Kamala Harris. Let's
Speaker 1: see what she's talking about. Get some women at the table.
Speaker 1: Um is that? That's three? Oh? What is her name? Shirley?
Speaker 1: The lady that ran for president? Shirley? Come on now,
Speaker 1: come on, baby, Malcolm X. What is her name? We
Speaker 1: didn't we didn't get behind? Uh? Shirley, Yes, Shirley Chisholm
Speaker 1: ran for BP. I want to talk to her because
Speaker 1: imagine her being that bowl. She was already writing the
Speaker 1: president's speeches and then she's like, you know what, I'm
Speaker 1: just running for myself. So I want to talk to her,
Speaker 1: have a little chat. Um who else? Let me see? Actually, actually,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna have Abraham Lincoln said at the table, because
Speaker 1: I want to see where he released stands on a
Speaker 1: lot of stuff. We give him a lot of credit
Speaker 1: for stuff. So let's really see what you're talking about. Eggs. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like I want to tell you because I feel like
Speaker 1: he was progressive for that time. But I want you know,
Speaker 1: I want to have a chat and see if you
Speaker 1: had to have one message on the well, we got
Speaker 1: politicians at the tables are and then you have Wooden
Speaker 1: d interest too might look a little crazy. One message
Speaker 1: on a billboard for the world to see. Moments equal momentum,
Speaker 1: Moments equal momentum. I think that everybody doesn't realize how
Speaker 1: big things can get. But I opted out. That was
Speaker 1: one moment, through a cookout. That was another one, and
Speaker 1: things started to just spiral after that. Retired, that was
Speaker 1: a moment added to the momentum. Became an owner of
Speaker 1: the FCF Beast of the football team, then became one
Speaker 1: of the Atlanta Dreams. So yeah, all those moments. That's
Speaker 1: how you create your own momentum. You create your own moments,
Speaker 1: right dancer. If you have one person that you would
Speaker 1: like to see on all the smoke, who would it be?
Speaker 1: But whever you answer, whatever I answer, if you have
Speaker 1: to help, you have to help us with that guest.
Speaker 1: That's very clever. Let me think about that. You already
Speaker 1: have Simona gusts On here and that's the only um
Speaker 1: hold on she Let me just think make sure because
Speaker 1: I think she's so different in a sense of she's
Speaker 1: a sneaker head, but she likes like all of the stuff.
Speaker 1: She has a Louisiana background. But let me think, I mean,
Speaker 1: they got it. They can't be ignoring your calls. No
Speaker 1: more needed because you're older now. So that's just going
Speaker 1: straight through one is not tempering it. No. I get
Speaker 1: so many tweets like, was that comment you just made
Speaker 1: temper like talk about the players that are playing? Um, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm roll with with uh. If it ain't, If it
Speaker 1: ain't Serena Grace, who's an upcoming artist, I'm rolling with
Speaker 1: Simona Augustus. That's how I'll go with that any day. Well,
Speaker 1: Renee Montgomery, thank you for your time to appreciate what
Speaker 1: you mean, what you want? What do you mean on
Speaker 1: the show time that the house of business car company car? Yeah,
Speaker 1: company cars in Jack's pocket. Anyway, that's a wrap all
Speaker 1: the smoke. Thank you to our guests again, Renemed Montgomery.
Speaker 1: You can catch us on Showtime Basketball YouTube, and the
Speaker 1: Nightheart platform Black Effects see you all next week. This
Speaker 1: is All a Smoke, a production of The Black Effect
Speaker 1: and Our Heart Radio in partnership with Showtime