Speaker 1: In Case You Missed It with Christina Williams is an
Speaker 1: iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports
Speaker 1: and Entertainment. Welcome back to In Case You miss It
Speaker 1: with Christina Williams. And it's been a hell of a week, y'all.
Speaker 1: So it started with the New York Liberty Championship Parade.
Speaker 1: Your girl had the opportunity to cover the parade for
Speaker 1: Fox five. So that was definitely an out of body
Speaker 1: experience to be able to be part of such a
Speaker 1: historic moment in women's sports, but also for New York City.
Speaker 1: I mean I grew up in the city and so
Speaker 1: it felt like a full circle moment to be able
Speaker 1: to participate in that New York Liberty Championship Parade. The
Speaker 1: vibes ver immaculate. Everyone came out, the players, they definitely
Speaker 1: did their big ones on the podium and it was
Speaker 1: a lot of fun. But in the women's basketball space,
Speaker 1: you know that there's not one day that can go
Speaker 1: by without it absolutely being mass chaos. And so this
Speaker 1: past week, Christy Sides and Stephanie White have both parted
Speaker 1: ways with their respective teams and here break it all
Speaker 1: down with me is Chris Williamson, who is a CDs
Speaker 1: host and analyst. Chris, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much Christine for having me. You guys
Speaker 2: do a great job on your show. I'm blessed and
Speaker 2: honor to be a guest here. I can't wait to
Speaker 2: chop it up with you.
Speaker 1: Listen. I'm so excited that you're here. Has been a
Speaker 1: long time covin. Feel so honored that you're a part
Speaker 1: of the show this week. So Chris, firstly, what were
Speaker 1: your thoughts about the New York Liberty Parade? What were
Speaker 1: your thoughts about that?
Speaker 2: My thoughts about the Liberty Parade one, I literally told
Speaker 2: my wife the day before the parade, I'm gonna wake
Speaker 2: up in the morning to watch it live or to
Speaker 2: go to the parade. Mind you, I had a late
Speaker 2: night at CBS, and then of course the next day
Speaker 2: comes and I'm way tired, and it's a wrap. It's
Speaker 2: a wrap on the parade. So I watch it all,
Speaker 2: you know, from my house, from my apartment, and it's
Speaker 2: amazing because this is something that the city hadn't been
Speaker 2: able to experience from a pro basketball standpoint in fifty
Speaker 2: one years. And of course, who gets it done? Women?
Speaker 2: If you need some handle, a woman will get the
Speaker 2: job done. And that is what the New York Liberty did,
Speaker 2: just to see how incredibly enthusiastic the crowd was and
Speaker 2: the players like they're just having one of the best
Speaker 2: times of their life. John cold Jones Finals MVP. Brandon
Speaker 2: Stewart looks like she's on top of the world, you know,
Speaker 2: Sabrina Yournescue with her your NESCU shirt and the letterman jacket.
Speaker 2: It's it's something out of a right. Because they're one
Speaker 2: of the original franchises. They hadn't been able to get
Speaker 2: it done in five tries, and then on the sixth
Speaker 2: time they finally accomplished it, and everybody is able to
Speaker 2: see how amazing these ladies are and the post yeah,
Speaker 2: the the City Hall ceremony, then Club Barclays, all of
Speaker 2: it was like, yo, they are getting down and are
Speaker 2: lit as hell. So I was a fan watching all
Speaker 2: the sights and scenes and the crowd and how much
Speaker 2: passion they had for these players and that they rode
Speaker 2: for them from day in and day out.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, listen, women's sports are the standard here in New
Speaker 1: York City. Gotham FC got it done last year, and
Speaker 1: of course the New York Liberty brought it home this year.
Speaker 1: Hopefully the New York Knicks and Yankees can round it out.
Speaker 1: But we'll see, we'll see, all right. In the world
Speaker 1: of women's basketball, I mean, obviously, I just mentioned that
Speaker 1: Christy Sides and Stephanie White have both ways to their team,
Speaker 1: with their teams joining a long list of franchises and
Speaker 1: coaches in this league who no longer have necessary jobs.
Speaker 1: Stephanie White is the front runner, according to multiple reports,
Speaker 1: for that Indiana Fever job. What do you make of
Speaker 1: all this shift and movement happening on the coaching side
Speaker 1: in the WNBA.
Speaker 2: Here's what I'll say. I think in certain situations, I
Speaker 2: understand the moves that are being made, but these organizations
Speaker 2: better be careful for what they wish for because what
Speaker 2: you had previously maybe better than what you end up getting.
Speaker 2: You know, the grass is not always greener on the
Speaker 2: other side, and so I think there's an element of
Speaker 2: we need immediate results, we need instant gratification, and that's
Speaker 2: something that extends to all of society right now, specifically
Speaker 2: in American society, where you want a championship overnight and
Speaker 2: that doesn't happen like what we saw with Becky Hammond
Speaker 2: and the Aces coming in Boom. Two time champion back
Speaker 2: to back, that's rare, okay, So for me, I just
Speaker 2: hope that these organizations are not making rash decisions and
Speaker 2: they're actually making calculated moves that are going to be
Speaker 2: better for the team long term. With the fever, you know,
Speaker 2: Christie Sides, she she tweeted it out. She was like,
Speaker 2: I left, I left the place better than when I
Speaker 2: found it, And she ain't lying. And it was a
Speaker 2: very short least for her, even though I understand the
Speaker 2: move because of some of the x's and o's decisions
Speaker 2: and personnel strategies that she had with the team, specifically,
Speaker 2: you know, not playing lexi hole. But how much rope
Speaker 2: are you going to give if if Stephanie White is
Speaker 2: the head coach, right, how much rope are you going
Speaker 2: to give her? Because it doesn't set up for a
Speaker 2: healthy environment. And this is not just a fever, but
Speaker 2: if you're firing coaches every two years, again, there are
Speaker 2: certain situations where excuse me, it's understandable, right, Okay, that
Speaker 2: person does not belong in this position and they can go.
Speaker 2: But when you have some tangible results and there's promise there.
Speaker 2: Maybe let that coach work through their issues, work through
Speaker 2: their flaws so that they can build a championship team
Speaker 2: at the end of the day. So that's where I'm
Speaker 2: with it. I think a lot of teams are making
Speaker 2: interesting decisions that perhaps will not turn out to be
Speaker 2: in their favor going long term.
Speaker 1: No, I absolutely agree, And to your point, I mean,
Speaker 1: one can look at the Minnesota links in shar Reeve
Speaker 1: and how she's one of the most tenured coaches in
Speaker 1: the history of the league. She's won four championships, got
Speaker 1: to the finals multiple times. Great things take time to develop,
Speaker 1: and it's not gonna have and overnight, as you mentioned
Speaker 1: Chicago Sky and Tea Spoon and that whole messy situation. Right,
Speaker 1: But do you think that perhaps teams are feeling pressured
Speaker 1: to get more experienced coaches or to shuffle things around
Speaker 1: because one the expansion is happening into the new media
Speaker 1: rights deal is going to put more eyes on the
Speaker 1: league in itself.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's a great point that you make.
Speaker 2: I firmly believe that the expansion situation has a role
Speaker 2: in the fact that this new media rights deal, which
Speaker 2: is undervalue by the way. As Shoel Miller put it accurately,
Speaker 2: I think during the All Star Game, all Star weekend
Speaker 2: it should be much more. But that's a conversation for
Speaker 2: another day. And so they feel this pressure to find
Speaker 2: a basketball savon or experience head coaches that are going
Speaker 2: to lead them to the promised land. And if you're
Speaker 2: recycling head coaches, right, let's say Kurt Miller gets a job,
Speaker 2: then Literacia Trammel gets your job, and so on and
Speaker 2: so forth. Well you know how much rope are you
Speaker 2: going to give them? You know, it all goes back
Speaker 2: to that. But to answer your question directly, I do
Speaker 2: think the expansion and how the league is going to
Speaker 2: get stronger, and the fact that they're more eyeballs these teams,
Speaker 2: these organizations who in some ways are not you know,
Speaker 2: run well. They feel, oh, we got to make a
Speaker 2: quick decision. It has to be done this way.
Speaker 1: And who are you?
Speaker 2: Who are these candidates? You know, I know, Natalie, you
Speaker 2: know what the Golden State Valkyries. That was a great
Speaker 2: move expansion team. But when you look at it in
Speaker 2: a totality and totality, it's like, overall, what are what
Speaker 2: is the actual goal here? Like are you actually going
Speaker 2: to get it or are you just trying to do
Speaker 2: something that is a quick fix but it's not going
Speaker 2: to end up in what you want.
Speaker 1: That absolutely makes sense. And so when you talk about
Speaker 1: the candidates, I think that you look at the top
Speaker 1: assistance on some of those top teams, and so you
Speaker 1: look at New York Liberty, do you think hole Off
Speaker 1: is gonna part ways with Sandy Brundelo. I don't think so.
Speaker 1: So then you look at the Minnesota Lakes. Who's on
Speaker 1: that bench, Katie Smith who's been rumored to been taking
Speaker 1: interviews for general manager positions, Rebecca Bronson. You look at
Speaker 1: the Las Vegas Aces. I think that Tyler marsh is
Speaker 1: one of the most experienced coaches when it comes to
Speaker 1: the WNBA. You look at the work that he has
Speaker 1: done with the Aces, winning two championships. But I think
Speaker 1: that what stands out to me about Tyler in terms
Speaker 1: of being a top candidate would be how he's able
Speaker 1: to develop players. I feel like that is something that
Speaker 1: is not really covid when it comes to WNBA coaches.
Speaker 1: You've seen the work and how Jackie Young has improved
Speaker 1: and did a whole three sixty with her game, oh,
Speaker 1: you can credit that to her relationship with Tyler Marsh
Speaker 1: and being able to work with him. So I don't
Speaker 1: like he has NBA experiences with the Indiana Pacers, and
Speaker 1: so I think that his phone should be ringing. I
Speaker 1: think about Christy Tolliver. You know, Phoenix Mercury on the
Speaker 1: Accessions Thank You. She has experience in the NBA as
Speaker 1: an assistant coach. Could she make a run going back
Speaker 1: to d C and take that head coaching job. So
Speaker 1: Aletricia Trammell, she deserves another another chance at this She's
Speaker 1: been reported to have been a front runner candidate for
Speaker 1: the Chicago Sky Sky job. She's a defense minded coach.
Speaker 1: I think that, you know, her time at Dallas was
Speaker 1: cut short. You know, when you look at that roster,
Speaker 1: you think about all the adversity they had to overcome
Speaker 1: in a season with injuries and and you know, just
Speaker 1: fit they were in the playoffs last year didn't really
Speaker 1: happen this time around. But I think it's gonna be
Speaker 1: very interesting to see what teams decide to do. Do
Speaker 1: you decide to pick out the crop of coaches that
Speaker 1: are already there and experienced. In Kurt Miller, the lectrician
Speaker 1: Trammels Ta Tisha writes, or do you go in a
Speaker 1: new direction and you know, hire more NBA based coaching.
Speaker 1: I know that w fans hate when that happens, but
Speaker 1: we've seen the success with coaches like Becky Hammond, not
Speaker 1: so much with Derek Fisher. So it could go either
Speaker 1: way when it comes to the top candidates that are
Speaker 1: eligible for some of these jobs. I know that Los
Speaker 1: Angeles Sparks are using a third party agency to field
Speaker 1: some candidates for their head coaching position, and so who
Speaker 1: are some top candidates in your opinion?
Speaker 2: Listen, you hit it on the head with you know.
Speaker 2: I was going to bring up Christy Tylliver or Tyler Marsh.
Speaker 2: I know he. I think he's been linked to perhaps
Speaker 2: Atlanta Dream. Katie Smith is a great one. Brion January,
Speaker 2: I know she. I think she's gonna take on a
Speaker 2: role as a G League coach. I forget for which
Speaker 2: one exactly, but she's somebody that I think Motor City
Speaker 2: right for the affiliated Detroit Pistons. I think she's somebody
Speaker 2: that could really be a great coach when it's all
Speaker 2: said and done, and I rather them take chances on
Speaker 2: people have experience as assistant coaches, whether it's in the
Speaker 2: WNBA and in addition to the NBA, then more so
Speaker 2: than okay, recycling all these head coaches that we've already seen,
Speaker 2: nothing wrong with that, but I think if you're going
Speaker 2: to give these new coaches, first time head coaches, more
Speaker 2: rope and patients, I think that is the way to go.
Speaker 2: Of course, it all has to do with the roster
Speaker 2: construction and what the team's identity is or what it's
Speaker 2: going to be. But yeah, you brought up a bunch
Speaker 2: of names that I was already going to bring up,
Speaker 2: and I would like to see Teresa Weatherspoon is somebody
Speaker 2: that I think should definitely be a head coach in
Speaker 2: the WNBA. And of course she's not without flaws, but
Speaker 2: she was done dirty by the Chicago Sky and I
Speaker 2: think you have to put her in a situation where
Speaker 2: their stability up top. When I'm talking about the GM,
Speaker 2: the president, the ownership, where they are going to buy
Speaker 2: in and give a head coach the ample amount of
Speaker 2: a great deal of runway, I should say to have
Speaker 2: this team, the respective team succeed in their goals.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely well, Chris, thank you so much for joining
Speaker 1: us this week on In Case You Missed It with
Speaker 1: Christina Williams. It's been a pleasure chat with you.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Christina. I always love talking to you.
Speaker 2: I'm so honored to be on the show. You always
Speaker 2: do great work.
Speaker 1: Thank you. All Right, we're gonna take a quick little
Speaker 1: break and when we get back, Maurice joins us. Welcome
Speaker 1: back to In Case You missed It with Christina Williams,
Speaker 1: and we got Marie hanging out with us this week.
Speaker 1: She's an Emmy Award winning journalist, a co host and
Speaker 1: producer for the Unapologetically Angel podcast. Please welcome in Marisee
Speaker 1: to the show.
Speaker 3: Yay, thank you for having me. I'm so excited. I
Speaker 3: love being introduced because it reminds me, oh, I do
Speaker 3: do that, and.
Speaker 1: You've been doing it for so long. Listen. I have
Speaker 1: been such a fan from afar, just being able to
Speaker 1: watch your growth in this space, whether it be you
Speaker 1: in the news space, seeing you publish a book, being
Speaker 1: at overtime. Tell us about your personal journey and how
Speaker 1: did you end up where you are today.
Speaker 3: She Yeah, I can't take any credit because I never
Speaker 3: thought that the job I have now, or any of
Speaker 3: the jobs I have had would have been my job.
Speaker 3: Like I never thought I was gonna work in sports.
Speaker 3: I grew up loving sports. My whole family players sports.
Speaker 3: But I really wanted to do entertainment, Like I just
Speaker 3: knew I was going to be like on news, red
Speaker 3: carpets and stuff. But whenever I would apply to those internships,
Speaker 3: I just wouldn't get them, and I would get the
Speaker 3: sports internships, and I'm like, Okay, God, like maybe I
Speaker 3: do need to start listening to you. He's like, girl,
Speaker 3: go over here. So just I interned every semester in
Speaker 3: college and I ended up doing a lot of sports internships.
Speaker 3: Then from there, like you said, I was a TV
Speaker 3: news reporter for two years. I don't watch local news,
Speaker 3: so I was like, I don't want to work in
Speaker 3: local news anymore. So I switched to digital media, did
Speaker 3: the Tokyo Olympics, and then went to overtime for three years,
Speaker 3: and then now I'm on Angel Spot.
Speaker 1: How were you able to just find the balance and
Speaker 1: just stay motivated through all those different stops in your career.
Speaker 3: I think my main thing is just always I'm very
Speaker 3: big on like keeping my head down and just doing
Speaker 3: the work. There have been a lot of times where
Speaker 3: it's like, obviously, you know, as a young black woman,
Speaker 3: not even in corporate America, but in sports specifically, like
Speaker 3: it is, it's very tricky, and there have been a
Speaker 3: lot of times where I would just be like crying
Speaker 3: to my mom, Oh my boss said this, or I
Speaker 3: didn't get this job, or they keep overlooking me. But
Speaker 3: I would just keep my head down and do the
Speaker 3: work and like try to stay focused because I have
Speaker 3: a list of goals that I wrote right when I
Speaker 3: graduated college. I only have one goal left, so like,
Speaker 3: I just keep thinking towards those goals, and it's like,
Speaker 3: if I give up, I'm never going to reach them.
Speaker 1: I absolutely love that, just your perseverence and just knowing
Speaker 1: that you know you are where you're supposed to be
Speaker 1: and that the journey, obviously for us women is especially
Speaker 1: black women, there's no one straight path to success. So
Speaker 1: I appreciate you sharing that. So let's talk about your
Speaker 1: new project. What makes you the perfect fit for the
Speaker 1: show with Angel Reese.
Speaker 3: Well, I'm from Chicago, born and raised Angel. I have
Speaker 3: on my little skyhead y. I mean, I'm a huge
Speaker 3: Sky fan. So when Angel came to Chicago, I was
Speaker 3: so excited, but I had also I had interviewed her
Speaker 3: before at Overtime, and so when I interviewed her before,
Speaker 3: we had some sort of chemistry. We always joked that
Speaker 3: were because Angel Reice my Reese, but I think one
Speaker 3: thing that when Playmaker was creating the podcast, they kind
Speaker 3: of were able to understand my vision as a young
Speaker 3: black woman who works in sports. I bring something different
Speaker 3: because I understand where Angel's coming from. I'm twenty seven,
Speaker 3: she's twenty two, so like I've been where she's been before.
Speaker 3: I relate to her a lot, and I'm able to
Speaker 3: help show how multifaceted Angel is because she's not just
Speaker 3: a hooper, like you can't be like shut up and
Speaker 3: dribble like she plays basketball. She's really into fashion. She's
Speaker 3: really into business and starting businesses, like she's good with finances,
Speaker 3: she's great on social media. So I was really excited
Speaker 3: about the opportunity because I am a storyteller. I know
Speaker 3: how to help her draft question and like create a
Speaker 3: show and do all that, but also just help show
Speaker 3: who Angel is because a lot of times people just
Speaker 3: you might see someone in the headlines and not really
Speaker 3: know who they are, and so that's what the goal
Speaker 3: of the podcast is to be able to show all
Speaker 3: of her different sides, because she has a lot of them.
Speaker 1: I absolutely love that, And for all of the young
Speaker 1: journalists listening or the people who are aspiring to be
Speaker 1: in sports, I think one of the things that maya
Speaker 1: just hit v nail ahead with is how to maintain
Speaker 1: relationships in this industry. How important that is. She says
Speaker 1: she met Angel from interviewing her at a previous job
Speaker 1: and just building that relationship, you know. I think that
Speaker 1: one of the things, especially in today's media world, how
Speaker 1: sports media is ever changing. I feel like the biggest
Speaker 1: question has been for a lot of people who are
Speaker 1: in traditional media versus new and emerging is how do
Speaker 1: we maintain those relationships with athletes to be able to
Speaker 1: better tell those stories. But then you also hit the
Speaker 1: nail on ahead with understanding Angel and being able to
Speaker 1: relate to her as a black woman in this industry,
Speaker 1: because I think that for me, at least, one of
Speaker 1: the reasons why I started to do this and be
Speaker 1: in this business was because of that lack of representation
Speaker 1: when it comes to black women and newsrooms and not
Speaker 1: being able to get those opportunities at traditional places. But
Speaker 1: then being able to carve out my own niche in
Speaker 1: the industry. So what's been the best part about working
Speaker 1: with Angel so far?
Speaker 3: I think just to be on the overall podcast journey
Speaker 3: with her is fun because obviously, like in college basketball,
Speaker 3: she would do interviews in the w she does interviews
Speaker 3: and she's very like direct, like she'll say what she's
Speaker 3: thinking in those interviews, but it's not necessarily her narrative.
Speaker 3: So she can say how she's feeling, put the quote
Speaker 3: out there, but then an outlet can take it, spin it,
Speaker 3: and then villainize her. That's not you know, that's not
Speaker 3: the situation with the podcast because you get to write
Speaker 3: your own story. So it's fun for me to see,
Speaker 3: like we know Angel the hooper, we can see the
Speaker 3: fashionista or the social media icon, but now she's trying
Speaker 3: to make that transition into podcasting broadcasting, and I'm happy
Speaker 3: to just be on that journey with her.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and for you, how has it been kind of
Speaker 1: sort of taking the back seat, because you know, your
Speaker 1: career has been so funk facing as a talent, being
Speaker 1: on camera yourself, and now you're kind of like behind
Speaker 1: the scenes. Yes, you're also a co host, but How
Speaker 1: has that been for you to be able to to
Speaker 1: adapt to that part of the work.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's interesting because I used to take a lot
Speaker 3: of classes about producing and I would always be like,
Speaker 3: I don't really know if I want to produce, like
Speaker 3: I want to be in front of the camera. But
Speaker 3: I think the older I get, the more I learn,
Speaker 3: Like I said, how Angels multifasceted? So am I so
Speaker 3: like I can still write this amazing show and then
Speaker 3: go do my other stuff on there, like I have
Speaker 3: other podcasts and shows that I do. But I think
Speaker 3: for me, it definitely has been an adjustment, but I
Speaker 3: still like the content that I'm doing. Like even at overtime,
Speaker 3: I ran the social media pages like I would make
Speaker 3: content in front of the camera, but I still was
Speaker 3: like posting thirty times a day behind the scenes. So
Speaker 3: I'm used to doing the extra work behind the scenes too.
Speaker 1: You guys have had several big names on the pod
Speaker 1: so far, Sheryl swoop S, Dwayne Wade. Who's been the
Speaker 1: most interesting guest so far?
Speaker 3: Okay, I'm gonna see from my point of view, Okay,
Speaker 3: I really enjoyed the Kayla Nicole episode, just because I
Speaker 3: think she's known as being Travis Kelsey's ex, but in
Speaker 3: the show, she didn't say Travis's name once. Angel didn't
Speaker 3: say the name once. They never said Taylor Swift Like.
Speaker 3: It was really interesting for me because she works in sports,
Speaker 3: she's a broadcaster, and I think people forget that because
Speaker 3: of the very public relationship she was in. So for me,
Speaker 3: it was exciting to have her come on the show
Speaker 3: and talk about like, Oh, well, here's my new gig
Speaker 3: in sports, and here's how I got started, and here's
Speaker 3: some things that I hope to one day be an actress,
Speaker 3: like to be able to talk about who she is
Speaker 3: and not just oh, let's talk about your five year relationship.
Speaker 3: Like it was fun to really get to know her.
Speaker 3: She was sharing some wild stories but also some good
Speaker 3: stories too. She was really fun.
Speaker 1: I would have to say I thoroughly enjoyed that episode,
Speaker 1: And I love how the show has become not only
Speaker 1: a safe space for Angel to you know, set the reconstrate,
Speaker 1: or you control her own narrative, but also the guests
Speaker 1: in a way, like they get to come on and
Speaker 1: tell their side of the story. So I love that
Speaker 1: Caylen Nicole episode personally shout out to Kayla all right,
Speaker 1: we're going to take a quick little break and when
Speaker 1: we get back more from mayors. So maya. With so
Speaker 1: many more eyeballs on the WNBA these days, we've seen
Speaker 1: both the positive effects of that and the negative effects
Speaker 1: of that when it comes to bad behavior controls on
Speaker 1: the internet. Obviously Angel has spoken about this issue, But
Speaker 1: what do you think that needs to be done to
Speaker 1: protect players like Angel moving forward? Or how can media
Speaker 1: be better?
Speaker 3: How can be better? I think we need to kind
Speaker 3: of draw the clear distinction between media that have been
Speaker 3: working in women's sports for years and media who just
Speaker 3: started yesterday, sir. There's a huge difference, and so a
Speaker 3: lot of times you might have a very public figure
Speaker 3: who works in sports, not women's sports. You just now
Speaker 3: hop on the bandwagon and then they're saying so, but
Speaker 3: it's like you don't really know what you're talking about,
Speaker 3: or you only know five players, so you keep talking
Speaker 3: about the same five players. Like I think that we
Speaker 3: kind of need to push the people where this is
Speaker 3: their niche, whether it's women's basketball, women's soccer, like women's volleyball,
Speaker 3: we need to kind of focus more on the people
Speaker 3: in those lanes to uplift them as their sports gets bigger,
Speaker 3: and not just oh, well, they're a big name at
Speaker 3: this company, let's just have them talk about it. Like No,
Speaker 3: let's focus on the actual people who know it, because
Speaker 3: they do know the players, they care about the players,
Speaker 3: they've worked in the industry for years, and they build relationships,
Speaker 3: you know, Like that's why you and I we can
Speaker 3: go interview someone and have an entirely different angle than
Speaker 3: someone else who's like, hey, how does this feel like? No,
Speaker 3: we want to hear your actual story.
Speaker 1: No, I absolutely agree. And you know, Sarah Spain said
Speaker 1: on her show one time, she said, we can't cover
Speaker 1: this league in a vacuum. There's so much nuance when
Speaker 1: it comes to covering not only the WNBA, but women's
Speaker 1: sports in general, because when you talk about a league
Speaker 1: like the WNBA that's seventy percent black and have those
Speaker 1: marginalized groups, you just can't approach it like every other sport.
Speaker 1: And so I totally agree with having that approach of
Speaker 1: who are the experts in this space, you know, rather
Speaker 1: than who has the most followers, because we see that
Speaker 1: that has not been working when it comes to how
Speaker 1: these players are getting their stories told. But thank God
Speaker 1: for people like you and I who are in now
Speaker 1: these positions where we have shows where we can, you know,
Speaker 1: sort of be positives and not the negatives when it
Speaker 1: comes to certain behaviors that have been gone on this
Speaker 1: past season. All right, where do you see the w
Speaker 1: NBA as far as the growth over the next five years,
Speaker 1: you had to like pinpoint it.
Speaker 3: I think it's interesting because right now people are very
Speaker 3: harsh on the league, like they'll be like, oh my god,
Speaker 3: I can't stream this game and like freaking out. But
Speaker 3: I think people forget how young the league is, Like
Speaker 3: we're not even thirty years in. It's a very young league.
Speaker 3: So I feel like right now, I always make the
Speaker 3: comparison like this is when the NBA was in, like
Speaker 3: the Michael Jordan no in like the Larry Bird Magic
Speaker 3: Johnson era, Like we don't even have our Michael Jordan yet.
Speaker 3: It's probably Juji Watkins like when she comes in. Okay,
Speaker 3: now we got MJ. But this is still very early.
Speaker 3: So I think people need to remember that this is
Speaker 3: the early stages. In a couple of years from now,
Speaker 3: I think our MJ is gonna come in. It's gonna
Speaker 3: be way bigger. There we see now there's what three
Speaker 3: more franchises being added after Golden State, So I think
Speaker 3: it's definitely gonna grow way faster, and it's in a
Speaker 3: lot of money.
Speaker 1: And I think if you compare the WNBA at twenty
Speaker 1: eight years versus how the NBA was in twenty eight years,
Speaker 1: it's already so far ahead we look at that marker.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I'm excited for the growth of the w
Speaker 1: Golden State coming next year, you have Canada and Portland
Speaker 1: following shortly after that, So I'm super excited about where
Speaker 1: this league can go. Marie, before you get out of here,
Speaker 1: let us know where we can find you in. What
Speaker 1: do you have coming off the pipeline? What can we
Speaker 1: expect from you?
Speaker 3: So I gotta plug Angels podcast. It's unapologetically angel on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter,
Speaker 3: TikTok everywhere. My personal page is at Maya McCole with
Speaker 3: an M, not an inn like knuckle at Mayama coll.
Speaker 3: I do a lot of content, sports content. I'm trying
Speaker 3: to up it now because I really do love college
Speaker 3: basketball and with the season starting, I need more college
Speaker 3: basketball content.
Speaker 1: You say college basketball, Who are you looking forward to
Speaker 1: seeing this season?
Speaker 3: I'm excited to see USC see the adjustments they've made
Speaker 3: with their new pickups and how Juju is going to
Speaker 3: be in her sophomore season. I'm I'm also excited for LSU,
Speaker 3: just because I feel like Flage is getting hotter and
Speaker 3: hotter each year. They've made a lot of adjustments, and
Speaker 3: I would like to see how they are without Angel
Speaker 3: because I feel like Amisa tomorrow like she's gonna pop off.
Speaker 3: She's projected to be a number three draft pick, so
Speaker 3: I want to see what she has going on, and
Speaker 3: then she's coming to Chicago. But then also Paige, Like
Speaker 3: I love Page, I love working with Paige, and I
Speaker 3: feel like this being her last year, she has to
Speaker 3: like it's like now or never, and if you're a
Speaker 3: number one draft pick, like you got to show us something,
Speaker 3: and I think she will. She always does.
Speaker 1: Yeah. In addition to that, I'm looking forward personally to
Speaker 1: see in South Carolina. I mean, obviously Camilla Cardozo is
Speaker 1: now the w playing in Chicago with Angel, but also
Speaker 1: you know they have some players coming down the pipeline.
Speaker 1: I think we'll definitely step up. Seeing the continued growth
Speaker 1: of my Lasha for Wally, I'm looking forward to seeing that.
Speaker 1: But again, madis thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 1: We joining us this week on and Case you missed
Speaker 1: It with Christina Williams and to hear more about what
Speaker 1: Maya is doing. Make sure you tune into the Unapologetically
Speaker 1: Angels Show on all the places wherever you can find
Speaker 1: your podcast. Thank you so.
Speaker 3: Much, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1: I just want to thank both Chris and Maya again
Speaker 1: for hanging out with us today with such a blast
Speaker 1: to catch up with both of them. Make sure you
Speaker 1: follow all of the work and all of the great
Speaker 1: things that they are doing in women's sports and beyond.
Speaker 1: If you like this podcast, don't forget to please rate, review,
Speaker 1: and subscribe to this show. And I'm looking forward to
Speaker 1: seeing y'all back here next time. Peace in Case you
Speaker 1: missed It with Christina Williams is an iHeart women's sports
Speaker 1: production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
Speaker 1: can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts.