November 6, 2025 • 38 mins
On this episode of Full Circle, Lexie Brown and Mariah Rose are live from Brandweek sharing their takes on the growing pains of the WNBA – from CBA negotiations and player support to the changes in media coverage. They reflect on the future of women’s sports, and the importance of creating a platform where players can take back the mic and advocate for better conditions.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Full Circle is an iheartwomen's sports production and partnership with
Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, everybody,
hig good, Morntane. So exciting to get to talk to
Lexi in front of people. Usually it's just us too,
(00:22):
the riverside and the dream.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yeah, the other side in the house. So this is
always fun. What is this our third third live show? Yes, yes,
season one, So that's really exciting. I know a lot
of people aren't able to share their stories and their
thoughts in front of like a live audience. I mean,
we're always so grateful to have these opportunities, but we
are also talking to our loyal listeners, so let's get
(00:47):
into it.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Yeah for sure.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Since we're speaking in front of a bit of a
new crowd, I want to start by giving sort of
a background about me and Lexi and why we started
the show. To begin with Lexi as if you need
any introduction again to our listeners, but tell the people
a little bit about what you do.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
So I'm Alexi Brown. I currently play in the WNBA
for the Seattle Storm. I just finished my eighth season
in the w which is absolutely incredible. I did not
even think I was going to make it to year eight, So,
you know, being able to say that I finished my
eighth season is such a blessing.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Oh oh, thanks, guys, thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I got into the media space probably a few years ago.
I have been a recurring guest on Gil's Arena with
Gilbert Arenas and company, talking all things NBA and a
little bit of WNBA and being in that space, it
kind of made me realize that there weren't really many
spaces like that, just specifically for women's basketball on the WNBA.
(01:48):
So having that opportunity, having that experience talking to those
guys picking their brains. You know, Gil is a marketing genius,
like I just learned so much from him, and it
just inspired me to create my own space for women's
basketball is safe space, a place where we can just
talk hoop very candidly but also very respectfully. And I
(02:09):
had to bring on my girl Mariah, who's doing her
own amazing things, and I'll let her get into that
because she's I will say she was one of the
first creators on socials to really talk about women's basketball
very unapologetically, and I've always appreciated that about her, so
I've definitely had to bring her onto this journey with me,
so let them know, like, what everything, all of the
(02:31):
things that you do amazing.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
I am Mariah. I'm a professional sports fan. Essentially, I
explained sports primarily for women, and so my social media
is basically a space that the girls, the gays, whoever
you are can come to my space and learn about
what's going on in the sports world. And as the
WBA has been having this meteorc rise, once I picked
(02:53):
up on that happening, I was like, I have to
talk about this and kind of introduce my audience to
the players, teams, the lore, the drama, the storylines, what's
going on on and off the court, so they can
really get to know these incredible women like Lexi and
their stories and amplify the things that I'm hearing in
the background from these players and people in media that
aren't typically being talked about. So it's also really special
(03:16):
to get to have this platform where me and Lexi
get to have creative freedom and talk about women's basketball
exclusively in a way that's focused on what's going on
on the court and it's just been a special journey.
So speaking of the growth of women's sports, though, I
want to start by talking about the growth of the
WNBA LEXI from your perspective, why do you feel that
(03:38):
the league has grown so much?
Speaker 3 (03:41):
So many reasons.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
I got drafted in twenty eighteen, and in twenty eighteen,
the landscape for women's sports looked so different than it
does now. And to be able to still be a
part of the league during this you know, momentum shifting
time is such a blessing. I remember getting drafted in
you know, so having conversations teams were having conversations with
(04:02):
my college coaches about how my social media I was
on social.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Media too much.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I was posting pictures too much, I had a YouTube
channel started.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
They didn't really like that.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
So seeing the shift of that conversation to like now,
it's like, if you're not posting enough, if you're not blogging,
if you're not giving people in our fans like an
inside look of your day to day life, like you're
kind of falling behind. So for me getting drafted, I
continue to post, I continue to make my vlogs, and
it you know, it was a little problematic for me
(04:32):
at the beginning, not gonna lie, but it was something
that I was really confident in and I saw, you know,
the vision. I saw the future of what women's sports
could be and what it was going to be.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
I remember.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Our bubble season actually in twenty twenty, I v blogged
the entire thing. It's still up if you guys want
to go see what that was. Like. We always talk
about we're all trauma bonded for life through that because
it was such a crazy experience. But you know, that
was just something that I've always been super passionate about.
So to see so many other players being authentically themselves,
(05:04):
I will say, like the WNBA and college like they
were gatekeeping us from the world, I felt like, and
I think they knew what I knew they were doing
on purpose, because look at what's happening now, Like now
everybody wants a piece of the w Everyone wants a
piece of women's sports. So I'm just glad that the
floodgates have now opened and now we're on a path,
like we can't go backwards now.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
The moment that always sticks out in my mind as Okay,
this is different is obviously this if you watch one's
basketball you know what I'm talking about, And if you're
listening on audio, the Angelry Spring lsu Iowa that whole era.
It was something shifted when that happened, and in good
and bad ways. But I think to speak on what
(05:45):
you were saying, we noticed that it shifted from just okay,
these are talented basketball players, which it seemed like the
universities and the league alike wanted to keep you guys
at that level. At these are athletes. We see them
as athletes. We don't like the Instagram all that extra stuf.
But then when we see a moment like that, it
shows that people like that extra stuff. People want to
(06:06):
see Angel Reese be Angel Reese. And as that has
grown into Walking Victoria's Secret and Caitlin and Gatorade commercials
and State Farmed. I mean, they turned the marshal maadness
into a marketing masterclass. They're in every commercial we talk
about all the time. People want to see that personality.
It's why people love sports outside of just the games.
But that's that extra thing that makes it special. And
(06:29):
I'm not even like no shade, but women just do
that differently yeah than the boys do.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
I mean I think that even the COVID year, when
everybody was at home, everyone was on socials. I think
that was also a major shift as far as marketability.
I just feel like women, we just do social media
better than.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Our male counterparts.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
And that's no disrespect to them, Like that's just something
that they simply don't have to worry about.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
As pro athletes, they literally make.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Their millions of dollars playing their sport, and if they
don't feel like doing anything off the court, typically they
don't have to. For us, it's flip flopped, like, if
you want to make a good living for yourself, you
have to be you have to have seven thousand hats on.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
And for me, someone that.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Loves to work and loves to have so many different
interests and hobbies for me like, okay, that's cool.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
I would love to do that.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
But I know a ton of players who are like
I wish I could just play basketball for a living
in mind my business and go to the gym and
go home. And I'm hoping that in the future that
will be a possibility. And you know, that's one of
the biggest things with even with our CBA negotiations, we
want to have that opportunity for women to be able
to just focus on their craft, focus on their game,
but also build their own personal brands, but not having
(07:38):
to feel like it's you know, do or die, Like
if I don't get this Brandy, if I don't get
the sponsorship, I'm not going to be able to live
somewhere in the off season. I'm gonna have to go
get a job somewhere else in the off season. I
don't have to go overseas in the off season. So
being able to have so many more of those opportunities now,
and that's what we're fighting for with our current negotiations.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
I'm really excited.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
I mean, it's not hasn't been an easy battle at all.
Like I think we knew it was going to be hard,
but not this hard.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
We didn't know that the league.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Was going to push back so hard on giving us
a fair share.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Of what we rightfully deserve. But we're getting there.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
I mean, I think, you know, the conversations are moving
in the positive direction, but that's because of the growth
of you know, our support, the marketing dollars, the investment
from ownership groups, from companies, from brands. You know, it's
just night and day from when my rookie year to now, Like,
I honestly just can't believe how much has changed.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
A lot has changed, but I feel like the play
on the court, as far as the physicality and the
way y'all get down, hasn't changed much. But the thing
that has really shifted is the media perspective and the
media attention. Brands like you spoke about how has because
you've been in leave for eight years, how has the
media specifically changed since this whole rise.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
I mean, it's night and day.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
I remember being in college and they had all ten
of the current tournament games on one channel, and you
had they like rotated them around or it was very
really based. You can only watch the games that were
near where you were living. And now every tournament game
is on a different channel. And I was just in
college in twenty seventeen eighteen, and like we were fighting
(09:10):
for our lives to get any type of coverage during
March matters during the tournament. I also think that now.
I mean, I feel like last year we always talked
about on our show the coverage.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Of the WNBA.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Yes, it was a lot, but we always called it
extremely irresponsible for the most part, which was another reason
why we were so adamant of starting the show as
soon as we could.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
And I think even this.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Year, I felt like the coverage like it wasn't as
much as it was last season, And even this year,
I felt like there had moments of a lot of
irresponsible coverage because there wasn't any ridiculous narratives and drama
and storylines. But for some reason, it's very hard for
these platforms, for these networks like ESPN to just talk
about what is going on in the games because we
(09:52):
played basketball at a very high level, and I feel
like that is the respect that we're missing from those
larger platforms, which is why it was so important for
me and Mariah to take this time to use our
platform to cover the w BA responsibly. And I feel
like we still have a long way to go. But
I mean, I'm so grateful for iHeart for bringing this
opportunity to us because I think we still are like
one of the only ones doing this, So I'm like
(10:14):
really proud of us for that.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
And we've been renewed for a season two, so we're
really excited about that.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
So the cover is just going to continue, and yeah,
I just feel like we still have a long way
to go.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
But we have also come such a long way.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
It's fascinating how storylines drive sports and marketing in a
way like I was talking about earlier with the ring moment,
But I'm curious as a player, how in locker rooms
you guys talk about this idea of we could be
doing everything on the court and people want drama. Like
people want drama, And in a way you spoke about
how as a player, doing all those things off the
(11:02):
court and having those narratives around you might benefit you
in the way of like building your brand off the court.
But is it annoying that it's like, I'm working so
hard in practice day in and day out. I'm up
at six, I'm eating healthy, I'm at pilates, I'm doing
all these things to be a better player, and at
the end of the day, people they want it seems
like they want drama.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Right, No, that's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
But I feel like that is also the amazing thing
about the personal branding.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Aspect of it.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
And I think that is the biggest difference between women's
sports and men's sports, and I think that is like
the next level to the WNBA reaching this like mountain
top of success and marketability is marrying these players individual
fan bases, because these players have massive individual fan bases,
and then the organizations our fan bases are very like
(11:50):
fickle one because rosters are changed so much. There's not
really any stability in a lot of rosters, especially the
last few years, which is annoying because this is when
we've had the influx of the most fans, and fans
are like confused and can't keep up, like this player
was on this team last week and now they're on
this team playing in the playoffs, but they were just
on they were just at home.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Why are they on the team.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
So it was like a little confusing for fans, and
then also a lot of us having to go overseas.
You know, we kind of fall off the face of
the planet for a few months, and then we come
back and we're like, hey, fans, like we missed y'all
for six months, and our fans have already gone and
found a new player to cheer four or a new
team to cheer four. So finding a way to marry
these really amazing individual fan bases that these players are
(12:32):
coming from college and with like I've never seen anything
like it. And then you know, these diehard WNBA fans
that havegate kept us. You know, we talk about all
the time as well, like the old fans versus the
new fans. They kind of like are always going at
it because the new fans don't really know much about
the w and the old fans are like, well, we've
been here for twenty years and y'all are just now coming. Well, yeah,
we need to welcome everybody with open arms. And another
(12:56):
thing that we do on our show is make the
game in our league very digestible for everybody, so everybody
can enjoy it without us making someone feel dumb or
anything like that for not maybe understanding certain aspects of
the women's game. So just being able to marry those
two things together. I think with this new CBA and
you know, everybody being a free agent, hopefully players are
(13:16):
going to start signing multi year contracts. People have been
signing one to two year deals for the last few years,
so it's been hard to you know, build teams and
things to support, which is why I think the Las
Vegas Aces have found so much success in the last
few years because they're one of the few teams that
are able to keep their core together over multiple years,
which is why They've won three out of the last
four championships. If we're looking at a blueprint of how
(13:38):
a team should be ran, how organizations should be ran,
how ownership should invest in their players, the Aces are
number one on the list for sure.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
You brought up going overseas to play, and I think
a lot of people aren't aware of how much that
affects the dynamics of the league because it's like, we're
all going to separate countries during the offseason. It's not
the NBA where they're playing pick up together and Jimmy
Butler's inviting everybody over to his house for like that
doesn't happen because it's like, my homegirl is in Russia,
(14:05):
my homegirls in China.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Like, we can't really like that. Zoom were on FaceTime, Right.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
What's the importance of these off season leagues because this
is a new thing relatively. You're playing Athletes unlimited, so
speak a little to that.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Yeah, So I've been playing in Athletes Unlimited for four years.
I'm about to start my fifth season and I know
you guys all probably no one rivaled which started last year,
which has been amazing. It's been an opportunity for us
to just stay home during the off season and still
play basketball, work on our craft, and ultimately build relationships
with other players that we typically wouldn't have the opportunity
(14:40):
to because we're all jetting off to different countries or
doing coaching jobs, or at home with their families and
things like that. Also, I was talking to Ry about
this earlier. It's showing fans that, like, we all really
are like a big giant family, and I think that's
also something that had been missing in the WNBA, which
is why when all these new fans and came to
(15:01):
watch and saw how hard and physical our game was,
they were like, do all these girls hate each other?
Like why are they playing like this? Why are they
playing so hard? And that was not the case at all.
We just are really passionate about this game, and we're
still fighting for the equity, that inequality that we rightfully
deserve as women athletes. So we come out there and
leave it all on the floor every single night. But
then when the game's over and the season ends, everybody
(15:23):
just goes their separate ways and you have to, you know,
reconvene six months later after being a superstar and whatever
team you're on now, you have twelve superstars feeling really
good about themselves, trying to come into one place and
win a championship after we haven't seen each other in
six months.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
And that's just a hard way to win.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
It's a hard way to you know, build an organization
and long term success. I think Athletes Unlimited, the Jonathans
who are our co founders.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
If you okay, let me, let me step back.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Athletes ulimited as a network of women's sports leagues. We
have basketball, we have volleyball, we have softball, and basketball
was the last league added to the family of sports.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
And basically they just went all in.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
On women's sports before it was the cool thing to do,
before anybody else was doing it. Our first season was
in twenty twenty two, and every single year it's just
grown a little bit more, a little bit more. We've
gotten more talented players every single year. It's a forty
player roster and there's one winner at the end. I
won't get into the details of the leader board and
the rules.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
It's a little bit complicated. I will probably have.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
An episode dedicated just at leat it's a limited one
day just everybody can get on the same phage with it.
But we have, you know, a mixture of veterans, We
have a mixture of rookies. We have some people that
just have played strictly overseas.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
We have a beautiful mix of players.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
And to be able to have the opportunity state side,
families and friends can come watch us. It's been amazing
and it's been career changing for me and career changing.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
For a lot of other players as well. And you
came to a game. Yeah, no, I didn't come to
a game. I can't come again. She came to Nashville.
Hasn't come to a game yet, But no, we had
a game. We didn't have games yet. But Maria will
be coming. She will be pulling up.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
And if you guys have a chance to make it
to Nashville, it's all through February.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
You guys will have a great time. I promise. It's
it's it's it's really it's really fun.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Why Nashville, Like what's the women's swarts landscape?
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Like in Nashville they are thirsty for a women's basketball team, Like,
oh my gosh. So they actually came to us asking
if we wanted to relocate athletes unlimited to Nashville. We
played our first season in Las Vegas, played two seasons
in Dallas, and after our second year in Dallas, we
felt like we needed to be in a marketplace that
was more supportive of women's basketball. Not saying that Dallas
(17:40):
was the worst place ever, but you know, we were
competing against some universities. The Dallas Wings were there, the
Mavericks were in season during our season, so we didn't
feel like we got the whole city behind us.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
And now here comes Nashville.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
And when I tell you the whole city is behind us,
the whole city is behind us. I was just there
for a few days right before I came here, and
the love, support, the investment that Nashville has shown for
us from year one to year two has been absolutely unbelievable.
They put in a bid for WNBA team the Tennessee Summit.
They want that, they want that bad, but they are
They love us, They love sports. Like I know, Nashville
(18:15):
is known for music, it's music city, but like that
is a big sports town. So we're really excited to
be the only women's professional women's basketball team in Nashville.
We're hoping that in the future a w team can
get there. But they love us there like they love
us down.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
We've been talking about the expansion teams a lot, me
and Lexi and the cities and who would be first
to win a championship and whatnot. Do you think Nashville
needs to be up on that list?
Speaker 2 (18:38):
I think so we were talking, we were talking to
some of the investors and leadership in Nashville and we
were talking about, like there's no teams in the South,
just the dream and it's very weird, why but there
are no WNBA teams in the South.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
I think Florida needs one.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
I think I mean, the Charlotte Sting was a team,
the Orlando Miracle was a team, the Miami Soul was
a team. Like the teams have been there. We need
to bring one of those back. But I think having
a team in Nashville would be amazing. That the support
that we've had the last two seasons. I'm really excited
for this season. Like they they are definitely investing in
women's sports in a big way. And I'm just really
(19:15):
grateful that we made that leap to go to Nashville
because it was very it was like unshouted to it,
or there's no women's pro teams there, so we were like,
is this really like they do music?
Speaker 3 (19:24):
They do country music, Like, we don't want to go there,
but they've.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Been actually the most amazing thing and we're really excited
for season two in Nashville.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Yeah, I looking into the new teams and all of
the places that I feel like need teams and want teams.
I trust the fans because the fans in each of
those cities are like, we want a team, we want
a team. It's ownership.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
I'm more worried about that.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
The people who choose to become owners of WNBA teams
are people who want to actually be invested in the WNBA.
And that brings me to our CBA conversation. Could you
give a little bit of background because you are directly
involved in these conversations about the collective Bargaining Agreement and
what that means.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Yeah, So for those that don't know what the Collective
Bargaining Agreement, it's basically like the law of the WNBA
as far as salaries, housing, health benefits, transportation, Like every
little minute detail about what goes on in our league
is covered in the CBA. So this year we had
the opportunity to opt out of the one that we
negotiated in twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
I was in the.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
League during that CBA negotiation period, but I was not
as involved in it as I am in this CBA
negotiation period. At that time, the twenty twenty CBA was
to us, it was transformational, like we had benefits for
mothers that we didn't have before, health benefits. Salaries did
increase in a large way. But you know, we put
(20:48):
that opt out clause in because we trusted the product
that we were going to put out was going to
promote the growth of the league and in.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
A big way.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
And I think even these last two years has surpassed
any type of growth that we could have even imagined,
which has been amazing. So our choice to opt out
is because mainly, like we want our salaries to grow
with the league, the league's growth, and right now we
are capped out at US fixed percentage. No matter how
much the league makes, we only get a very small,
(21:15):
tiny fixed percentage of the overall revenue of the league.
Actually it's not even the overall revenue, it's only some
of the revenue. So that is one of our biggest
talking points with our new CBA is that we want
to have the opportunity for our salaries to grow with
the league's growth, and that has just been something that
we've been very stuck on, unfortunately. But I think in
(21:36):
recent weeks the conversations have gone into a positive direction,
and I think now a lot of people are truly
understanding what we're asking for. We're not asking to make
twenty million dollars a year. We're not asking to make
fifty million dollars like Shay and Lebron and Luca. Like,
we know we're not Shay, Lebron and Luca. We know
we're not the NBA, but we deserve to have a
(21:56):
bigger piece of the pie that we have.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Just blood, sweat and tears into the.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Pie and it just keeps growing and growing and growing,
and our slice just keeps getting smaller and smaller and smaller.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
And that's something that needs to change.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Yeah. I just got back from New York City for
a Rod's premiere of his documentary or whatever. And I
didn't know so much stuff about baseball, Like, come on,
but I didn't know so much stuff about this. But
in the documentary that we watched, they talked about when
(22:29):
he signed his first big contract. At the time, it
was like two hundred and thirty five million dollars in
two thousand and one. Crazy and the second biggest sports
contract in the I promise is a relevant. The second
biggest sports contract in the world at the time was
Kevin Garnett and it was like one hundred million dollars,
so big jump. But when he signed that contract, it
was people were upset, like people were pissed, who does
(22:53):
he think he is at? Like why is he making
this much money? It's ridiculous, Like people were upset, like
a rip off, like holding up signs.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
They were.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
It was a different time, but people were throwing money
on the field, monopoly money.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Just people were kissed.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
And he was talking about how and now being an
owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves, he was talking about how
at the time it was very like as an athlete,
you are not supposed to be asking for that much.
And it's interesting how people feel like they have a
right to tell athletes in leagues what they do and
don't deserve monetarily, like you need to be humble and
(23:31):
you need to not ask for too much when you're
the whole product. So so who gets all the money?
The owner that that brought me here to do all
the work. What do you mean I don't deserve to
have a piece of the pie When I am, I'm
the whole product, not a little bit of it. The
WNBA is the players.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
What is the NBA going to be without?
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Where else are you putting the money If you're not
putting it into the players?
Speaker 3 (23:53):
It's ridiculous to me.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
It is And we have a very complicated financial structure,
like the NBA owns some owners own some like it's
just all over the place.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
It is very mixy, unfortunately.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
But we we've been begging the WNBA to be a
little bit more transparent about that and they just will
not be, which, okay, that's their right. They have a
business model that they want to make sure last long term,
and we want to be able to get paid what
we deserve long term as well.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
So there's going to have to be a happy medium.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Another another thing that we've really been focusing on is
our traveling conditions. Like I remember my first three years
in the league, we were still flying commercial, we were
sharing hotel rooms like we were in college, and that
was just the norm, Like that's just you know, that's
what we expected when you had the dream of being
the WNBA.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
You talked to other players and they.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Were very transparent about okay, guy, like this is not
going to be like college, like we're you're back in
the airports. You might have to share a room if
you're a rookie, and you know, we were just all
like yeah, the w like it's our dream, like we
still I don't care, like whatever, like I've always want
to play WNBA.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
That's not negotia. That wasn't negotiating in our CBA.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
The charter flights. Kathy kind of was just like here,
charter flights. So that's something that we also have to
renegotiate in our CBA.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
Is are we going to keep the charter flights?
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Yes, we are, Like I'm not I'm not going back
to the airports, but I don't care what anybody says,
Like when you find something beautiful and nice and fun
and you're like, oh this, we were in the airports,
like I couldn't believe it, like Maya More and Diana Tarassi,
we're in.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
The airports, are you kidding me?
Speaker 2 (25:23):
So the fact that we have the charter flights now
is amazing, but it was something that was not negotiated.
So that's something that we also have to negotiate are
I don't know if you guys, any of you guys
followed WNBA closely, but we had a lot of injuries
this year. So another thing that we've been fighting for
is expanded roster spots, because having ten eleven players any
given night is not enough players for the amount of talent,
(25:45):
the amount of games, the amount of traveling that we do.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
I mean, can I just say ten players on a
WNBA team, y'all?
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Do you know that means that they can scrimmage and
practice with no sobs, no subs.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
That is insane.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
They're saying that we do not scrimmage practice for that
exact reason because we need to keep everybody healthy. But yeah,
ten players, I mean the max is twelve, but typically
almost every team carries ten or eleven because almost every
team unfortunately has someone.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
Dealing with like a major injury like our team.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
For example, one of my teammates, Katie lu Samuelson, tore
her knee in training camp, So instead of cutting her
or waiving her, because that would be a horrible.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
Thing to do, we kept her on the roster.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
But that was a spot that was taken up that
we didn't have available.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
But I mean, I'm glad that we were able to do.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
That for her because before the last CBA she would
have had to go home figure out figured out yourself, girl.
So I'm just really grateful that, you know, we do
have the spots that we have, but there's a lot
of talent. I mean, I know, if anybody's watching the playoffs,
the Fever were basically playing with nobody that they started
their season with, almost got to the WNBA finals with
(26:50):
players that they signed throughout the season because they kept
having injuries going down and we just don't want that
to continue to happen.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
To happen A sensitive subtract.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
I was sitting at the Atlanta Dream game watching the
Fevers bench and new players beat up on us and
knock us out of the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
It was it was car breaking.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Let's roll back to travel for a second. I want
to reiterate the fact that you guys asking for these things.
It might sound to the casual fan like it's just
being bougie, Like we don't want to be in the airport.
Remember when it wasn't the Chicago Sky that their flight
was delayed.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
I was on two teams or that has happened where
we have.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Your professional basketball game because your flight is delayed.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
I gave you all a fun story time.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
So when I was playing for the Sparks, I think
it was I was playing for the Sparks. Neka Gumaka
is the president of our player Association, Madam President.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
She's the best.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
I've been so grateful to be in her presence on
two teams.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
Now. We got stuck in the DC.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Airport one night, and they gave us the choice. Y'all
can stay in the hotel. Are y'all stay in the
airport overnight, or we'll uber you guys to a hotel and.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
You guys can sleep at the hotel. You know what
I mean. I said, I'm going to a hotel. Okay, goodbye.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Mecca and Cheney, her sister, who was also our team
at the time, stayed in the airport basically to like
prove a point to Kathy and be like, look where
y'all got us sleeping tonight? Like I was like, wait
to take one for the team, Meka, So glad we
have you.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
I'll see you in the morning. Bed. But and that's
why she's the president. I'm not.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
But like she literally stayed overnight in the airport, like
so she could document it and be like, this is ridiculous.
We are a professional team, we have a game in
forty eight hours and we are sleeping on the floor
at the DC airport and it's that's unacceptable. So just
that's just like one of the tiny things that Nika
does day in and day out, just to continue to
(28:54):
promote our league and show how valuable we are as women,
as athletes, as mothers, as sisters, as dog like, just
all of the things. So I said, you know what,
nocause that's why I love you. But I'm going to
go to the hotel sleep in a bit. But I
mean I remember it went crazy on Twitter, like blew
up on Twitter.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Oh yeah, I remember this. Yeh, I remember this. I
love when you guys do that. Also, like take oh,
I have social media. You think nobody said know about this?
Watch this, I'm on live, I'm in the air.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
I mean that's basically the turning point of women's sports
I think was the NCAA Women's tournament on the DONA
prints showed the weightlifting room, not even the room.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
The space.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Yeah, the weightlifting area that they provided to the women's
teams versus the entire weight room that was dedicated to
the men's teams playing in the tournament. And she took
a huge risk doing that. She really did. And you know,
she has whatever she has going on. I don't know.
You guys don't follow Sadona prints. She's a little a
little bit of trouble. But what she did at that
(29:54):
moment would change the trajectory of women's sports.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
I feel like, oh, it was monumental.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
Yeah, it was monumental because women's athletes are just as
important to their sport as male athletes are. That's why
the percentage thing is important, because it's like, you, guys
do everything that they do.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
You wake up, you go to.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
Practice, you do it. Not more because I mean, they
pay people to run their social media Lexi's over here.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
I gotta get my picture stuff, I gotta do my
own content.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
I'm on calls with brands, creative calls, like everything. But
it's something I'm passionate about. I really enjoy doing it.
But again, like I said, not everybody has time to
do that, wants to do that, and they shouldn't have to.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
You don't have time, your professional athlete, My full time
job is doing that. Editing and stuff, but you still
sometow find a way to be a professional athlete LEXI
outside of travel and all of those things. Is there
anything else that has come up in CBA negotiations that
people may not know about.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
Two things.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
First thing is taking care of retired players. So right now,
there's no pensions, you don't at any healthcare, you don't
get anything like when you're done with the WNBA.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Like you're done, Like you're done.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
So we're really trying hard to find a way to
take care of retired players, whether that's like with the
NBA ten plus years, any type of you know, structure
that we can at least start putting in place to
take care of retired players. It's something that we've been
talking about a lot because I feel like in the
last few years a lot of former players have showed
up for us in big ways that we haven't.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
Really seen in the past.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
So, you know, finding a way to pay them back
for you know them continue to show up every single day,
flying the commercial flights, playing in the you know, not
really that full arenas, practicing at rec centers next to
the adult zoomba class.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
That happened to me, guys that was.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
In me and Connecticut it was practice adult Zoom but
right next door.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
It was like that was way too specific to me.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
That was the first whole story of the divider in
the gym. You have Zoomba and then our w WBA
practice right next door, but continue to show up every day.
You know, there's a way that we have to be
able to take care of them long term. And then
a personal thing for me is just the health benefits.
I was diagnosed with crone disease two years ago, so
you know, having access to the best healthcare professionals, having
(32:12):
really good health insurance has something that you know, has
always been important to me.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Health insurance.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
You know, you're on your parents till what you're twenty six,
so you're like, okay, I'm just a baby. Yeah you're
coming up, is coming girl. But you know, you don't
really worry about things like that, and then you get
hit with like a really hard thing and a chronic illness,
and you're like, oh my gosh, Like what would I
have done if I didn't have health insurance? So that's
something that I've really prioritized personally, But again, I don't
I'm not going to put my own things above the collective.
(32:39):
But when they ask us like, oh, what are important?
What are things that important to you guys? Health care,
you know, long term retired players, that's something that has also.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Really been important.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
You are so humble talking about I'm not going to
put my thing over, it's health care. Like see, that
ain't a small things, right right. My favorite thing that
has come out of the positive and the negative of
this whole era of women's or it's growing and the
CBA negotiations and y'all demanding what you deserve is the
sisterhood of it all. I think there's this false narrative.
I think I know there's this false narrative that, oh,
(33:10):
they hate the new girls, they hate them, they're such haters,
they're so jealous, blah blah blah blah blah. And to
see the players standing up for those girls, I mean
to see y'all saying, hey, I mean you do realize
that Page and Angel and Caitlin aren't getting paid what
they deserve either. And the way that you guys all
come together, even despite the media literally trying to pay
(33:33):
you against each other for a storyline. Could you just
speak a little bit to that sisterhood that's happening behind
the scenes, because I do want to mention that you
guys do all have to agree, like if there is
going to be a lockout or something. There are people
that are like, hold on, I'm sacrificing my salary too.
I don't know if I'm feeling this.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
How is that it's easy?
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Like I, like you said, like there was just this
really crazy narrative painted that we were just so jealous
of this young group. They got all this money in
college and they got all of this, like yes they did,
Oh well, like we walk so they can run, and
now they're running, so this next group can sprint and
fly and do whatever they want. So it's like you
pay it forward. They're not getting paid what they deserve,
(34:14):
We're not getting paid with what we deserve. Them coming
in has benefited all of us. Like literally the definition
of everybody eats is going on right now, like them
bringing in all these new fans, Like it's not an
individual sport. So someone's coming in to watch page, someone's
coming in to watch a Juju, someone's coming to watch
an angel A Caitlin. There are nine other women on
the court that they are also watching as well.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
And if you do your job.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
If you show up, you gonna find yourself with some
new fans. You're gonna have a lot of eyeballs on you.
And a lot of people have felt away about the
Indiana Fever getting all of those TV games, But the
way that that Fever season turned out, a lot of
players that needed an opportunity got an enormous one this year,
and they showed up, and they showed out, and they
probably will be on a WNBA roster for you years
(35:00):
to come. When they were some of them were at
home wondering if they would ever get a chance to
win the WNBA again. So I'm not gonna say that
was directly linked to Caitlyn Clark being on the Indiana Fever,
but it helped, even.
Speaker 3 (35:14):
On the bench help. It was good everybody.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
Everybody get an airtime, everybody and whether they're hurt, whether
they're on the court, whether they're new, that though, all
those eyeballs just benefited that team in so many ways. Yes,
there was some negative sides, dark weird things going on
as well, but we choose to focus on the positive
here on full Circle.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
That's so funny.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
You said that right before I was about to say,
but you know what I hate. No, seriously, I can't
stand the fact that that two things can't be drue
once what you just said to me, right, yeah, we
love them, like that's my girl. You call Paige nec
all the time. But at the same time, when I
get on that court, I am going at her right
like that that it's sports, it's competition.
Speaker 3 (35:54):
You're supposed to.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
Do the way the NBA players treated like the new
rookies coming in like a Michael Jordan. You know those
stories where they'll be like, oh yeah, like I was
trying to bust his lip on the court.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
But it's sports.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
That's literally created rules because they were fouling him too much,
Like can we please be serious?
Speaker 1 (36:11):
It's like nice, but it's supposed to be that way.
That's what makes sports interesting, you think. Because y'all are women,
you're supposed to be like, hey, girl, like let me
braide your hair on the court.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
Like no, no, it's funny you say that. Okay.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
So when I was in Nashville, we had some of
the newer players with us as well, and Ja C. Sheldon,
who's a rookie in Connecticut now with DC.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
We were at.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
Dinner and we were all sharing stories and blah blah blah,
and she said, I remember the first game I played,
and all of you guys were like hugging each other
at half court before it's tip. But she was like,
why are they hugging? Like what, Like y'all are all friends,
and we were like, girl, we've been in the trenches together.
This is not what you're in right now. Is not
the trenches. You are in a beautiful, wonderful place. You
(36:54):
don't know what it was like before y'all got here,
And y'all you should be so thankful that you don't
have to deal with some of the stuff that we
had to deal with here and overseas as well. Like
we were just sharing all of our overseas horror stories
and like the young ones were just like mortified and
like just so happy, Like we're so happy when we
have athletes on limited we don't have to go overseas.
Like it's a great character building guys, Like you should.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
Go over there.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
Maybe for a year you will learn a lot about yourselves.
Like maybe you should just dabble for a few months
and just see if you really love basketball for real,
because that's what overseas does.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
It tests you I mean this whole era.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
I was talking to Tosh Cloud about this and like, so,
no shade, but if you have to go through this,
why are you doing this?
Speaker 3 (37:35):
Like at the end of the day, it's like, why
are you dealing that? This is hard to work?
Speaker 1 (37:39):
And she was like, Oh, I'm sick.
Speaker 3 (37:41):
Like I love.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
Basketball, I'm addicted to basketball. But it's beautiful that you
guys feel that way about this war, you know.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
I mean, we have to or else we wouldn't be here.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
So I'm just really grateful and like having a platform
like this like amazing. I never thought I would have
my own show with an amazing co host and Mariah
being able to.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
Spread the gospel women's basketball. This is like my dream
of true. Thanks for listening to Full Circle.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
We'll be back next week with more basketball for the girls,
by the girls. We want to hear from you. Leave
us a review on Apple Podcasts and tell us what
you want us to talk about. Full Circle is hosted
by Lexi Brown and Mariah Rose. Our executive producer is
Jesse Katz. Our supervising producer is Grace Fused. Our producer
is Zoe Danklab. Listen to Full Circle on America's number
(38:24):
one podcast network, iHeart, open your free iHeart app and
search Full Circle with Lexi Brown and Mariah Rose and
start listening.
Full Circle is an iheartwomen's sports production and partnership with
Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, everybody,
hig good, Morntane. So exciting to get to talk to
Lexi in front of people. Usually it's just us too,
(00:22):
the riverside and the dream.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yeah, the other side in the house. So this is
always fun. What is this our third third live show? Yes, yes,
season one, So that's really exciting. I know a lot
of people aren't able to share their stories and their
thoughts in front of like a live audience. I mean,
we're always so grateful to have these opportunities, but we
are also talking to our loyal listeners, so let's get
(00:47):
into it.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Yeah for sure.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Since we're speaking in front of a bit of a
new crowd, I want to start by giving sort of
a background about me and Lexi and why we started
the show. To begin with Lexi as if you need
any introduction again to our listeners, but tell the people
a little bit about what you do.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
So I'm Alexi Brown. I currently play in the WNBA
for the Seattle Storm. I just finished my eighth season
in the w which is absolutely incredible. I did not
even think I was going to make it to year eight, So,
you know, being able to say that I finished my
eighth season is such a blessing.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Oh oh, thanks, guys, thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I got into the media space probably a few years ago.
I have been a recurring guest on Gil's Arena with
Gilbert Arenas and company, talking all things NBA and a
little bit of WNBA and being in that space, it
kind of made me realize that there weren't really many
spaces like that, just specifically for women's basketball on the WNBA.
(01:48):
So having that opportunity, having that experience talking to those
guys picking their brains. You know, Gil is a marketing genius,
like I just learned so much from him, and it
just inspired me to create my own space for women's
basketball is safe space, a place where we can just
talk hoop very candidly but also very respectfully. And I
(02:09):
had to bring on my girl Mariah, who's doing her
own amazing things, and I'll let her get into that
because she's I will say she was one of the
first creators on socials to really talk about women's basketball
very unapologetically, and I've always appreciated that about her, so
I've definitely had to bring her onto this journey with me,
so let them know, like, what everything, all of the
(02:31):
things that you do amazing.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
I am Mariah. I'm a professional sports fan. Essentially, I
explained sports primarily for women, and so my social media
is basically a space that the girls, the gays, whoever
you are can come to my space and learn about
what's going on in the sports world. And as the
WBA has been having this meteorc rise, once I picked
(02:53):
up on that happening, I was like, I have to
talk about this and kind of introduce my audience to
the players, teams, the lore, the drama, the storylines, what's
going on on and off the court, so they can
really get to know these incredible women like Lexi and
their stories and amplify the things that I'm hearing in
the background from these players and people in media that
aren't typically being talked about. So it's also really special
(03:16):
to get to have this platform where me and Lexi
get to have creative freedom and talk about women's basketball
exclusively in a way that's focused on what's going on
on the court and it's just been a special journey.
So speaking of the growth of women's sports, though, I
want to start by talking about the growth of the
WNBA LEXI from your perspective, why do you feel that
(03:38):
the league has grown so much?
Speaker 3 (03:41):
So many reasons.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
I got drafted in twenty eighteen, and in twenty eighteen,
the landscape for women's sports looked so different than it
does now. And to be able to still be a
part of the league during this you know, momentum shifting
time is such a blessing. I remember getting drafted in
you know, so having conversations teams were having conversations with
(04:02):
my college coaches about how my social media I was
on social.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Media too much.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I was posting pictures too much, I had a YouTube
channel started.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
They didn't really like that.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
So seeing the shift of that conversation to like now,
it's like, if you're not posting enough, if you're not blogging,
if you're not giving people in our fans like an
inside look of your day to day life, like you're
kind of falling behind. So for me getting drafted, I
continue to post, I continue to make my vlogs, and
it you know, it was a little problematic for me
(04:32):
at the beginning, not gonna lie, but it was something
that I was really confident in and I saw, you know,
the vision. I saw the future of what women's sports
could be and what it was going to be.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
I remember.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Our bubble season actually in twenty twenty, I v blogged
the entire thing. It's still up if you guys want
to go see what that was. Like. We always talk
about we're all trauma bonded for life through that because
it was such a crazy experience. But you know, that
was just something that I've always been super passionate about.
So to see so many other players being authentically themselves,
(05:04):
I will say, like the WNBA and college like they
were gatekeeping us from the world, I felt like, and
I think they knew what I knew they were doing
on purpose, because look at what's happening now, Like now
everybody wants a piece of the w Everyone wants a
piece of women's sports. So I'm just glad that the
floodgates have now opened and now we're on a path,
like we can't go backwards now.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
The moment that always sticks out in my mind as Okay,
this is different is obviously this if you watch one's
basketball you know what I'm talking about, And if you're
listening on audio, the Angelry Spring lsu Iowa that whole era.
It was something shifted when that happened, and in good
and bad ways. But I think to speak on what
(05:45):
you were saying, we noticed that it shifted from just okay,
these are talented basketball players, which it seemed like the
universities and the league alike wanted to keep you guys
at that level. At these are athletes. We see them
as athletes. We don't like the Instagram all that extra stuf.
But then when we see a moment like that, it
shows that people like that extra stuff. People want to
(06:06):
see Angel Reese be Angel Reese. And as that has
grown into Walking Victoria's Secret and Caitlin and Gatorade commercials
and State Farmed. I mean, they turned the marshal maadness
into a marketing masterclass. They're in every commercial we talk
about all the time. People want to see that personality.
It's why people love sports outside of just the games.
But that's that extra thing that makes it special. And
(06:29):
I'm not even like no shade, but women just do
that differently yeah than the boys do.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
I mean I think that even the COVID year, when
everybody was at home, everyone was on socials. I think
that was also a major shift as far as marketability.
I just feel like women, we just do social media
better than.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Our male counterparts.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
And that's no disrespect to them, Like that's just something
that they simply don't have to worry about.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
As pro athletes, they literally make.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Their millions of dollars playing their sport, and if they
don't feel like doing anything off the court, typically they
don't have to. For us, it's flip flopped, like, if
you want to make a good living for yourself, you
have to be you have to have seven thousand hats on.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
And for me, someone that.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Loves to work and loves to have so many different
interests and hobbies for me like, okay, that's cool.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
I would love to do that.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
But I know a ton of players who are like
I wish I could just play basketball for a living
in mind my business and go to the gym and
go home. And I'm hoping that in the future that
will be a possibility. And you know, that's one of
the biggest things with even with our CBA negotiations, we
want to have that opportunity for women to be able
to just focus on their craft, focus on their game,
but also build their own personal brands, but not having
(07:38):
to feel like it's you know, do or die, Like
if I don't get this Brandy, if I don't get
the sponsorship, I'm not going to be able to live
somewhere in the off season. I'm gonna have to go
get a job somewhere else in the off season. I
don't have to go overseas in the off season. So
being able to have so many more of those opportunities now,
and that's what we're fighting for with our current negotiations.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
I'm really excited.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
I mean, it's not hasn't been an easy battle at all.
Like I think we knew it was going to be hard,
but not this hard.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
We didn't know that the league.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Was going to push back so hard on giving us
a fair share.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Of what we rightfully deserve. But we're getting there.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
I mean, I think, you know, the conversations are moving
in the positive direction, but that's because of the growth
of you know, our support, the marketing dollars, the investment
from ownership groups, from companies, from brands. You know, it's
just night and day from when my rookie year to now, Like,
I honestly just can't believe how much has changed.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
A lot has changed, but I feel like the play
on the court, as far as the physicality and the
way y'all get down, hasn't changed much. But the thing
that has really shifted is the media perspective and the
media attention. Brands like you spoke about how has because
you've been in leave for eight years, how has the
media specifically changed since this whole rise.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
I mean, it's night and day.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
I remember being in college and they had all ten
of the current tournament games on one channel, and you
had they like rotated them around or it was very
really based. You can only watch the games that were
near where you were living. And now every tournament game
is on a different channel. And I was just in
college in twenty seventeen eighteen, and like we were fighting
(09:10):
for our lives to get any type of coverage during
March matters during the tournament. I also think that now.
I mean, I feel like last year we always talked
about on our show the coverage.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Of the WNBA.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Yes, it was a lot, but we always called it
extremely irresponsible for the most part, which was another reason
why we were so adamant of starting the show as
soon as we could.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
And I think even this.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Year, I felt like the coverage like it wasn't as
much as it was last season, And even this year,
I felt like there had moments of a lot of
irresponsible coverage because there wasn't any ridiculous narratives and drama
and storylines. But for some reason, it's very hard for
these platforms, for these networks like ESPN to just talk
about what is going on in the games because we
(09:52):
played basketball at a very high level, and I feel
like that is the respect that we're missing from those
larger platforms, which is why it was so important for
me and Mariah to take this time to use our
platform to cover the w BA responsibly. And I feel
like we still have a long way to go. But
I mean, I'm so grateful for iHeart for bringing this
opportunity to us because I think we still are like
one of the only ones doing this, So I'm like
(10:14):
really proud of us for that.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
And we've been renewed for a season two, so we're
really excited about that.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
So the cover is just going to continue, and yeah,
I just feel like we still have a long way
to go.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
But we have also come such a long way.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
It's fascinating how storylines drive sports and marketing in a
way like I was talking about earlier with the ring moment,
But I'm curious as a player, how in locker rooms
you guys talk about this idea of we could be
doing everything on the court and people want drama. Like
people want drama, And in a way you spoke about
how as a player, doing all those things off the
(11:02):
court and having those narratives around you might benefit you
in the way of like building your brand off the court.
But is it annoying that it's like, I'm working so
hard in practice day in and day out. I'm up
at six, I'm eating healthy, I'm at pilates, I'm doing
all these things to be a better player, and at
the end of the day, people they want it seems
like they want drama.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Right, No, that's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
But I feel like that is also the amazing thing
about the personal branding.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Aspect of it.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
And I think that is the biggest difference between women's
sports and men's sports, and I think that is like
the next level to the WNBA reaching this like mountain
top of success and marketability is marrying these players individual
fan bases, because these players have massive individual fan bases,
and then the organizations our fan bases are very like
(11:50):
fickle one because rosters are changed so much. There's not
really any stability in a lot of rosters, especially the
last few years, which is annoying because this is when
we've had the influx of the most fans, and fans
are like confused and can't keep up, like this player
was on this team last week and now they're on
this team playing in the playoffs, but they were just
on they were just at home.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Why are they on the team.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
So it was like a little confusing for fans, and
then also a lot of us having to go overseas.
You know, we kind of fall off the face of
the planet for a few months, and then we come
back and we're like, hey, fans, like we missed y'all
for six months, and our fans have already gone and
found a new player to cheer four or a new
team to cheer four. So finding a way to marry
these really amazing individual fan bases that these players are
(12:32):
coming from college and with like I've never seen anything
like it. And then you know, these diehard WNBA fans
that havegate kept us. You know, we talk about all
the time as well, like the old fans versus the
new fans. They kind of like are always going at
it because the new fans don't really know much about
the w and the old fans are like, well, we've
been here for twenty years and y'all are just now coming. Well, yeah,
we need to welcome everybody with open arms. And another
(12:56):
thing that we do on our show is make the
game in our league very digestible for everybody, so everybody
can enjoy it without us making someone feel dumb or
anything like that for not maybe understanding certain aspects of
the women's game. So just being able to marry those
two things together. I think with this new CBA and
you know, everybody being a free agent, hopefully players are
(13:16):
going to start signing multi year contracts. People have been
signing one to two year deals for the last few years,
so it's been hard to you know, build teams and
things to support, which is why I think the Las
Vegas Aces have found so much success in the last
few years because they're one of the few teams that
are able to keep their core together over multiple years,
which is why They've won three out of the last
four championships. If we're looking at a blueprint of how
(13:38):
a team should be ran, how organizations should be ran,
how ownership should invest in their players, the Aces are
number one on the list for sure.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
You brought up going overseas to play, and I think
a lot of people aren't aware of how much that
affects the dynamics of the league because it's like, we're
all going to separate countries during the offseason. It's not
the NBA where they're playing pick up together and Jimmy
Butler's inviting everybody over to his house for like that
doesn't happen because it's like, my homegirl is in Russia,
(14:05):
my homegirls in China.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Like, we can't really like that. Zoom were on FaceTime, Right.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
What's the importance of these off season leagues because this
is a new thing relatively. You're playing Athletes unlimited, so
speak a little to that.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Yeah, So I've been playing in Athletes Unlimited for four years.
I'm about to start my fifth season and I know
you guys all probably no one rivaled which started last year,
which has been amazing. It's been an opportunity for us
to just stay home during the off season and still
play basketball, work on our craft, and ultimately build relationships
with other players that we typically wouldn't have the opportunity
(14:40):
to because we're all jetting off to different countries or
doing coaching jobs, or at home with their families and
things like that. Also, I was talking to Ry about
this earlier. It's showing fans that, like, we all really
are like a big giant family, and I think that's
also something that had been missing in the WNBA, which
is why when all these new fans and came to
(15:01):
watch and saw how hard and physical our game was,
they were like, do all these girls hate each other?
Like why are they playing like this? Why are they
playing so hard? And that was not the case at all.
We just are really passionate about this game, and we're
still fighting for the equity, that inequality that we rightfully
deserve as women athletes. So we come out there and
leave it all on the floor every single night. But
then when the game's over and the season ends, everybody
(15:23):
just goes their separate ways and you have to, you know,
reconvene six months later after being a superstar and whatever
team you're on now, you have twelve superstars feeling really
good about themselves, trying to come into one place and
win a championship after we haven't seen each other in
six months.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
And that's just a hard way to win.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
It's a hard way to you know, build an organization
and long term success. I think Athletes Unlimited, the Jonathans
who are our co founders.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
If you okay, let me, let me step back.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Athletes ulimited as a network of women's sports leagues. We
have basketball, we have volleyball, we have softball, and basketball
was the last league added to the family of sports.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
And basically they just went all in.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
On women's sports before it was the cool thing to do,
before anybody else was doing it. Our first season was
in twenty twenty two, and every single year it's just
grown a little bit more, a little bit more. We've
gotten more talented players every single year. It's a forty
player roster and there's one winner at the end. I
won't get into the details of the leader board and
the rules.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
It's a little bit complicated. I will probably have.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
An episode dedicated just at leat it's a limited one
day just everybody can get on the same phage with it.
But we have, you know, a mixture of veterans, We
have a mixture of rookies. We have some people that
just have played strictly overseas.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
We have a beautiful mix of players.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
And to be able to have the opportunity state side,
families and friends can come watch us. It's been amazing
and it's been career changing for me and career changing.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
For a lot of other players as well. And you
came to a game. Yeah, no, I didn't come to
a game. I can't come again. She came to Nashville.
Hasn't come to a game yet, But no, we had
a game. We didn't have games yet. But Maria will
be coming. She will be pulling up.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
And if you guys have a chance to make it
to Nashville, it's all through February.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
You guys will have a great time. I promise. It's
it's it's it's really it's really fun.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Why Nashville, Like what's the women's swarts landscape?
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Like in Nashville they are thirsty for a women's basketball team, Like,
oh my gosh. So they actually came to us asking
if we wanted to relocate athletes unlimited to Nashville. We
played our first season in Las Vegas, played two seasons
in Dallas, and after our second year in Dallas, we
felt like we needed to be in a marketplace that
was more supportive of women's basketball. Not saying that Dallas
(17:40):
was the worst place ever, but you know, we were
competing against some universities. The Dallas Wings were there, the
Mavericks were in season during our season, so we didn't
feel like we got the whole city behind us.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
And now here comes Nashville.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
And when I tell you the whole city is behind us,
the whole city is behind us. I was just there
for a few days right before I came here, and
the love, support, the investment that Nashville has shown for
us from year one to year two has been absolutely unbelievable.
They put in a bid for WNBA team the Tennessee Summit.
They want that, they want that bad, but they are
They love us, They love sports. Like I know, Nashville
(18:15):
is known for music, it's music city, but like that
is a big sports town. So we're really excited to
be the only women's professional women's basketball team in Nashville.
We're hoping that in the future a w team can
get there. But they love us there like they love
us down.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
We've been talking about the expansion teams a lot, me
and Lexi and the cities and who would be first
to win a championship and whatnot. Do you think Nashville
needs to be up on that list?
Speaker 2 (18:38):
I think so we were talking, we were talking to
some of the investors and leadership in Nashville and we
were talking about, like there's no teams in the South,
just the dream and it's very weird, why but there
are no WNBA teams in the South.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
I think Florida needs one.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
I think I mean, the Charlotte Sting was a team,
the Orlando Miracle was a team, the Miami Soul was
a team. Like the teams have been there. We need
to bring one of those back. But I think having
a team in Nashville would be amazing. That the support
that we've had the last two seasons. I'm really excited
for this season. Like they they are definitely investing in
women's sports in a big way. And I'm just really
(19:15):
grateful that we made that leap to go to Nashville
because it was very it was like unshouted to it,
or there's no women's pro teams there, so we were like,
is this really like they do music?
Speaker 3 (19:24):
They do country music, Like, we don't want to go there,
but they've.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Been actually the most amazing thing and we're really excited
for season two in Nashville.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Yeah, I looking into the new teams and all of
the places that I feel like need teams and want teams.
I trust the fans because the fans in each of
those cities are like, we want a team, we want
a team. It's ownership.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
I'm more worried about that.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
The people who choose to become owners of WNBA teams
are people who want to actually be invested in the WNBA.
And that brings me to our CBA conversation. Could you
give a little bit of background because you are directly
involved in these conversations about the collective Bargaining Agreement and
what that means.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Yeah, So for those that don't know what the Collective
Bargaining Agreement, it's basically like the law of the WNBA
as far as salaries, housing, health benefits, transportation, Like every
little minute detail about what goes on in our league
is covered in the CBA. So this year we had
the opportunity to opt out of the one that we
negotiated in twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
I was in the.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
League during that CBA negotiation period, but I was not
as involved in it as I am in this CBA
negotiation period. At that time, the twenty twenty CBA was
to us, it was transformational, like we had benefits for
mothers that we didn't have before, health benefits. Salaries did
increase in a large way. But you know, we put
(20:48):
that opt out clause in because we trusted the product
that we were going to put out was going to
promote the growth of the league and in.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
A big way.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
And I think even these last two years has surpassed
any type of growth that we could have even imagined,
which has been amazing. So our choice to opt out
is because mainly, like we want our salaries to grow
with the league, the league's growth, and right now we
are capped out at US fixed percentage. No matter how
much the league makes, we only get a very small,
(21:15):
tiny fixed percentage of the overall revenue of the league.
Actually it's not even the overall revenue, it's only some
of the revenue. So that is one of our biggest
talking points with our new CBA is that we want
to have the opportunity for our salaries to grow with
the league's growth, and that has just been something that
we've been very stuck on, unfortunately. But I think in
(21:36):
recent weeks the conversations have gone into a positive direction,
and I think now a lot of people are truly
understanding what we're asking for. We're not asking to make
twenty million dollars a year. We're not asking to make
fifty million dollars like Shay and Lebron and Luca. Like,
we know we're not Shay, Lebron and Luca. We know
we're not the NBA, but we deserve to have a
(21:56):
bigger piece of the pie that we have.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Just blood, sweat and tears into the.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Pie and it just keeps growing and growing and growing,
and our slice just keeps getting smaller and smaller and smaller.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
And that's something that needs to change.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Yeah. I just got back from New York City for
a Rod's premiere of his documentary or whatever. And I
didn't know so much stuff about baseball, Like, come on,
but I didn't know so much stuff about this. But
in the documentary that we watched, they talked about when
(22:29):
he signed his first big contract. At the time, it
was like two hundred and thirty five million dollars in
two thousand and one. Crazy and the second biggest sports
contract in the I promise is a relevant. The second
biggest sports contract in the world at the time was
Kevin Garnett and it was like one hundred million dollars,
so big jump. But when he signed that contract, it
was people were upset, like people were pissed, who does
(22:53):
he think he is at? Like why is he making
this much money? It's ridiculous, Like people were upset, like
a rip off, like holding up signs.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
They were.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
It was a different time, but people were throwing money
on the field, monopoly money.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Just people were kissed.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
And he was talking about how and now being an
owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves, he was talking about how
at the time it was very like as an athlete,
you are not supposed to be asking for that much.
And it's interesting how people feel like they have a
right to tell athletes in leagues what they do and
don't deserve monetarily, like you need to be humble and
(23:31):
you need to not ask for too much when you're
the whole product. So so who gets all the money?
The owner that that brought me here to do all
the work. What do you mean I don't deserve to
have a piece of the pie When I am, I'm
the whole product, not a little bit of it. The
WNBA is the players.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
What is the NBA going to be without?
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Where else are you putting the money If you're not
putting it into the players?
Speaker 3 (23:53):
It's ridiculous to me.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
It is And we have a very complicated financial structure,
like the NBA owns some owners own some like it's
just all over the place.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
It is very mixy, unfortunately.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
But we we've been begging the WNBA to be a
little bit more transparent about that and they just will
not be, which, okay, that's their right. They have a
business model that they want to make sure last long term,
and we want to be able to get paid what
we deserve long term as well.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
So there's going to have to be a happy medium.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Another another thing that we've really been focusing on is
our traveling conditions. Like I remember my first three years
in the league, we were still flying commercial, we were
sharing hotel rooms like we were in college, and that
was just the norm, Like that's just you know, that's
what we expected when you had the dream of being
the WNBA.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
You talked to other players and they.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Were very transparent about okay, guy, like this is not
going to be like college, like we're you're back in
the airports. You might have to share a room if
you're a rookie, and you know, we were just all
like yeah, the w like it's our dream, like we
still I don't care, like whatever, like I've always want
to play WNBA.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
That's not negotia. That wasn't negotiating in our CBA.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
The charter flights. Kathy kind of was just like here,
charter flights. So that's something that we also have to
renegotiate in our CBA.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
Is are we going to keep the charter flights?
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Yes, we are, Like I'm not I'm not going back
to the airports, but I don't care what anybody says,
Like when you find something beautiful and nice and fun
and you're like, oh this, we were in the airports,
like I couldn't believe it, like Maya More and Diana Tarassi,
we're in.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
The airports, are you kidding me?
Speaker 2 (25:23):
So the fact that we have the charter flights now
is amazing, but it was something that was not negotiated.
So that's something that we also have to negotiate are
I don't know if you guys, any of you guys
followed WNBA closely, but we had a lot of injuries
this year. So another thing that we've been fighting for
is expanded roster spots, because having ten eleven players any
given night is not enough players for the amount of talent,
(25:45):
the amount of games, the amount of traveling that we do.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
I mean, can I just say ten players on a
WNBA team, y'all?
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Do you know that means that they can scrimmage and
practice with no sobs, no subs.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
That is insane.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
They're saying that we do not scrimmage practice for that
exact reason because we need to keep everybody healthy. But yeah,
ten players, I mean the max is twelve, but typically
almost every team carries ten or eleven because almost every
team unfortunately has someone.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
Dealing with like a major injury like our team.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
For example, one of my teammates, Katie lu Samuelson, tore
her knee in training camp, So instead of cutting her
or waiving her, because that would be a horrible.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
Thing to do, we kept her on the roster.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
But that was a spot that was taken up that
we didn't have available.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
But I mean, I'm glad that we were able to do.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
That for her because before the last CBA she would
have had to go home figure out figured out yourself, girl.
So I'm just really grateful that, you know, we do
have the spots that we have, but there's a lot
of talent. I mean, I know, if anybody's watching the playoffs,
the Fever were basically playing with nobody that they started
their season with, almost got to the WNBA finals with
(26:50):
players that they signed throughout the season because they kept
having injuries going down and we just don't want that
to continue to happen.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
To happen A sensitive subtract.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
I was sitting at the Atlanta Dream game watching the
Fevers bench and new players beat up on us and
knock us out of the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
It was it was car breaking.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Let's roll back to travel for a second. I want
to reiterate the fact that you guys asking for these things.
It might sound to the casual fan like it's just
being bougie, Like we don't want to be in the airport.
Remember when it wasn't the Chicago Sky that their flight
was delayed.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
I was on two teams or that has happened where
we have.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Your professional basketball game because your flight is delayed.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
I gave you all a fun story time.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
So when I was playing for the Sparks, I think
it was I was playing for the Sparks. Neka Gumaka
is the president of our player Association, Madam President.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
She's the best.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
I've been so grateful to be in her presence on
two teams.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
Now. We got stuck in the DC.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Airport one night, and they gave us the choice. Y'all
can stay in the hotel. Are y'all stay in the
airport overnight, or we'll uber you guys to a hotel and.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
You guys can sleep at the hotel. You know what
I mean. I said, I'm going to a hotel. Okay, goodbye.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Mecca and Cheney, her sister, who was also our team
at the time, stayed in the airport basically to like
prove a point to Kathy and be like, look where
y'all got us sleeping tonight? Like I was like, wait
to take one for the team, Meka, So glad we
have you.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
I'll see you in the morning. Bed. But and that's
why she's the president. I'm not.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
But like she literally stayed overnight in the airport, like
so she could document it and be like, this is ridiculous.
We are a professional team, we have a game in
forty eight hours and we are sleeping on the floor
at the DC airport and it's that's unacceptable. So just
that's just like one of the tiny things that Nika
does day in and day out, just to continue to
(28:54):
promote our league and show how valuable we are as women,
as athletes, as mothers, as sisters, as dog like, just
all of the things. So I said, you know what,
nocause that's why I love you. But I'm going to
go to the hotel sleep in a bit. But I
mean I remember it went crazy on Twitter, like blew
up on Twitter.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Oh yeah, I remember this. Yeh, I remember this. I
love when you guys do that. Also, like take oh,
I have social media. You think nobody said know about this?
Watch this, I'm on live, I'm in the air.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
I mean that's basically the turning point of women's sports
I think was the NCAA Women's tournament on the DONA
prints showed the weightlifting room, not even the room.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
The space.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Yeah, the weightlifting area that they provided to the women's
teams versus the entire weight room that was dedicated to
the men's teams playing in the tournament. And she took
a huge risk doing that. She really did. And you know,
she has whatever she has going on. I don't know.
You guys don't follow Sadona prints. She's a little a
little bit of trouble. But what she did at that
(29:54):
moment would change the trajectory of women's sports.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
I feel like, oh, it was monumental.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
Yeah, it was monumental because women's athletes are just as
important to their sport as male athletes are. That's why
the percentage thing is important, because it's like, you, guys
do everything that they do.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
You wake up, you go to.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
Practice, you do it. Not more because I mean, they
pay people to run their social media Lexi's over here.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
I gotta get my picture stuff, I gotta do my
own content.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
I'm on calls with brands, creative calls, like everything. But
it's something I'm passionate about. I really enjoy doing it.
But again, like I said, not everybody has time to
do that, wants to do that, and they shouldn't have to.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
You don't have time, your professional athlete, My full time
job is doing that. Editing and stuff, but you still
sometow find a way to be a professional athlete LEXI
outside of travel and all of those things. Is there
anything else that has come up in CBA negotiations that
people may not know about.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
Two things.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
First thing is taking care of retired players. So right now,
there's no pensions, you don't at any healthcare, you don't
get anything like when you're done with the WNBA.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Like you're done, Like you're done.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
So we're really trying hard to find a way to
take care of retired players, whether that's like with the
NBA ten plus years, any type of you know, structure
that we can at least start putting in place to
take care of retired players. It's something that we've been
talking about a lot because I feel like in the
last few years a lot of former players have showed
up for us in big ways that we haven't.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
Really seen in the past.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
So, you know, finding a way to pay them back
for you know them continue to show up every single day,
flying the commercial flights, playing in the you know, not
really that full arenas, practicing at rec centers next to
the adult zoomba class.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
That happened to me, guys that was.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
In me and Connecticut it was practice adult Zoom but
right next door.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
It was like that was way too specific to me.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
That was the first whole story of the divider in
the gym. You have Zoomba and then our w WBA
practice right next door, but continue to show up every day.
You know, there's a way that we have to be
able to take care of them long term. And then
a personal thing for me is just the health benefits.
I was diagnosed with crone disease two years ago, so
you know, having access to the best healthcare professionals, having
(32:12):
really good health insurance has something that you know, has
always been important to me.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Health insurance.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
You know, you're on your parents till what you're twenty six,
so you're like, okay, I'm just a baby. Yeah you're
coming up, is coming girl. But you know, you don't
really worry about things like that, and then you get
hit with like a really hard thing and a chronic illness,
and you're like, oh my gosh, Like what would I
have done if I didn't have health insurance? So that's
something that I've really prioritized personally, But again, I don't
I'm not going to put my own things above the collective.
(32:39):
But when they ask us like, oh, what are important?
What are things that important to you guys? Health care,
you know, long term retired players, that's something that has also.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Really been important.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
You are so humble talking about I'm not going to
put my thing over, it's health care. Like see, that
ain't a small things, right right. My favorite thing that
has come out of the positive and the negative of
this whole era of women's or it's growing and the
CBA negotiations and y'all demanding what you deserve is the
sisterhood of it all. I think there's this false narrative.
I think I know there's this false narrative that, oh,
(33:10):
they hate the new girls, they hate them, they're such haters,
they're so jealous, blah blah blah blah blah. And to
see the players standing up for those girls, I mean
to see y'all saying, hey, I mean you do realize
that Page and Angel and Caitlin aren't getting paid what
they deserve either. And the way that you guys all
come together, even despite the media literally trying to pay
(33:33):
you against each other for a storyline. Could you just
speak a little bit to that sisterhood that's happening behind
the scenes, because I do want to mention that you
guys do all have to agree, like if there is
going to be a lockout or something. There are people
that are like, hold on, I'm sacrificing my salary too.
I don't know if I'm feeling this.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
How is that it's easy?
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Like I, like you said, like there was just this
really crazy narrative painted that we were just so jealous
of this young group. They got all this money in
college and they got all of this, like yes they did,
Oh well, like we walk so they can run, and
now they're running, so this next group can sprint and
fly and do whatever they want. So it's like you
pay it forward. They're not getting paid what they deserve,
(34:14):
We're not getting paid with what we deserve. Them coming
in has benefited all of us. Like literally the definition
of everybody eats is going on right now, like them
bringing in all these new fans, Like it's not an
individual sport. So someone's coming in to watch page, someone's
coming in to watch a Juju, someone's coming to watch
an angel A Caitlin. There are nine other women on
the court that they are also watching as well.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
And if you do your job.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
If you show up, you gonna find yourself with some
new fans. You're gonna have a lot of eyeballs on you.
And a lot of people have felt away about the
Indiana Fever getting all of those TV games, But the
way that that Fever season turned out, a lot of
players that needed an opportunity got an enormous one this year,
and they showed up, and they showed out, and they
probably will be on a WNBA roster for you years
(35:00):
to come. When they were some of them were at
home wondering if they would ever get a chance to
win the WNBA again. So I'm not gonna say that
was directly linked to Caitlyn Clark being on the Indiana Fever,
but it helped, even.
Speaker 3 (35:14):
On the bench help. It was good everybody.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
Everybody get an airtime, everybody and whether they're hurt, whether
they're on the court, whether they're new, that though, all
those eyeballs just benefited that team in so many ways. Yes,
there was some negative sides, dark weird things going on
as well, but we choose to focus on the positive
here on full Circle.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
That's so funny.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
You said that right before I was about to say,
but you know what I hate. No, seriously, I can't
stand the fact that that two things can't be drue
once what you just said to me, right, yeah, we
love them, like that's my girl. You call Paige nec
all the time. But at the same time, when I
get on that court, I am going at her right
like that that it's sports, it's competition.
Speaker 3 (35:54):
You're supposed to.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
Do the way the NBA players treated like the new
rookies coming in like a Michael Jordan. You know those
stories where they'll be like, oh yeah, like I was
trying to bust his lip on the court.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
But it's sports.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
That's literally created rules because they were fouling him too much,
Like can we please be serious?
Speaker 1 (36:11):
It's like nice, but it's supposed to be that way.
That's what makes sports interesting, you think. Because y'all are women,
you're supposed to be like, hey, girl, like let me
braide your hair on the court.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
Like no, no, it's funny you say that. Okay.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
So when I was in Nashville, we had some of
the newer players with us as well, and Ja C. Sheldon,
who's a rookie in Connecticut now with DC.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
We were at.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
Dinner and we were all sharing stories and blah blah blah,
and she said, I remember the first game I played,
and all of you guys were like hugging each other
at half court before it's tip. But she was like,
why are they hugging? Like what, Like y'all are all friends,
and we were like, girl, we've been in the trenches together.
This is not what you're in right now. Is not
the trenches. You are in a beautiful, wonderful place. You
(36:54):
don't know what it was like before y'all got here,
And y'all you should be so thankful that you don't
have to deal with some of the stuff that we
had to deal with here and overseas as well. Like
we were just sharing all of our overseas horror stories
and like the young ones were just like mortified and
like just so happy, Like we're so happy when we
have athletes on limited we don't have to go overseas.
Like it's a great character building guys, Like you should.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
Go over there.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
Maybe for a year you will learn a lot about yourselves.
Like maybe you should just dabble for a few months
and just see if you really love basketball for real,
because that's what overseas does.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
It tests you I mean this whole era.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
I was talking to Tosh Cloud about this and like, so,
no shade, but if you have to go through this,
why are you doing this?
Speaker 3 (37:35):
Like at the end of the day, it's like, why
are you dealing that? This is hard to work?
Speaker 1 (37:39):
And she was like, Oh, I'm sick.
Speaker 3 (37:41):
Like I love.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
Basketball, I'm addicted to basketball. But it's beautiful that you
guys feel that way about this war, you know.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
I mean, we have to or else we wouldn't be here.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
So I'm just really grateful and like having a platform
like this like amazing. I never thought I would have
my own show with an amazing co host and Mariah
being able to.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
Spread the gospel women's basketball. This is like my dream
of true. Thanks for listening to Full Circle.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
We'll be back next week with more basketball for the girls,
by the girls. We want to hear from you. Leave
us a review on Apple Podcasts and tell us what
you want us to talk about. Full Circle is hosted
by Lexi Brown and Mariah Rose. Our executive producer is
Jesse Katz. Our supervising producer is Grace Fused. Our producer
is Zoe Danklab. Listen to Full Circle on America's number
(38:24):
one podcast network, iHeart, open your free iHeart app and
search Full Circle with Lexi Brown and Mariah Rose and
start listening.
Hosts And Creators
Lexie Brown
Mariah Rose
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