April 6, 2026 • 45 mins
Live from Phoenix, it's Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, presented by Capital One! For a second straight year, Sarah sat down with the two legends for a live show ahead of Sunday’s championship game. Sue and Diana discuss the current players and coaches they’d like to team up with, their thoughts on the many offseason options for players, WNBA expansion, and whether Diana has any plans to make it out to Door County to see her retirement bench. Plus, Sarah shares her thoughts on Geno-Gate and UConn’s exit in the semifinal round.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're at
Mortgage Matchup Arena watching UCLA and Corey Close cut down
the nets after winning the program's first national championship in
the NCAA era.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
You always remember your first.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
I'm recording this just minutes after the final buzzer and
trophy presentation, and soon I'll be heading back from the
desert with a scratchy throat, tons of mems, and a
whole lot of women's basketball team. We've got a lot
to say about the national championship game, that incredible Bruins
blowout win, and Corey Close making us ask the question
is there also a no crying in the press box rule?
(00:37):
Plus all the weekend's festivities and parties all in tomorrow's show.
But for today's show, Monday, April sixth, my thoughts on
the Gino Oriema drama and the fallout from Yukon's lost
to South Carolina on Friday, Plus my live show with
Sue Bird and Diana Tarrassi from Saturday in Tourneytown, presented
by capitol I. I sat down with the two Goats
(00:58):
to discuss the current players and coaches they'd most like
to team up with their thoughts on the many offseason
options for players these days, WNBA expansion, and whether Diana
has any plans to make it out to Door County,
Wisconsin to see her bench. Ginogate and two Goats coming
up right after this all right, slices before my interview,
(01:26):
I need to take a minute to talk Geno Oriema
because our show is named after truly built upon the
idea of the postgame handshake line that Gino skipped on
Friday night after his team lost to South Carolina.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
So give me a minute or maybe a few.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
So the basics, Gino's crash out allegedly stems from a
missing handshake. But we all saw Gino and Dawn did
shake hands before the game.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Now there's a final four.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Tradition of shaking again after the public address.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Announcer introduces the teams.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
So maybe Gino did wait three minutes and start boiling
over as he waited for that second handshake. Maybe there
was a missing handshake before the game. There certainly was
a missing handshake after, So let's get to how we
got there that boiling To me, it feels like Ego, right,
How dare she slight me?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
How dare she make me wait.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
But instead of deciding the best way to get back
at her or the best way to spend his time
was to focus on coaching, to regulate himself and get
back to his team and decide to win the game.
Gino started out seeing red, and it appears he never
stopped right. His team gets off to a slow start.
He thinks there's a foul discrepancy. I went back and
watched the game start to finish, focusing on fouls and
(02:38):
focusing on Gino on the sideline. As I watched, I
saw a lot of body on Sarah Strong, particularly Raven Johnson,
a smaller player. I saw a lot of physicality down low.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Nothing that screamed.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Out of control, nothing that felt like something he should
be boiling over about. To me, it felt like you
could have called a lot of the off ball action
on Sarah's wrong download trying to get position, but nothing
too egregious.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Gino felt there was right.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
He's boiling from the beginning about the missing handshake. He's
boiling more because his team's off to a slow start,
because Don Staley's game Cocks have an incredible game plan
getting into the passing lanes, preventing his team from getting
into a rhythm, asy fun, stutch off, shooting poorly, Sarah
Strong can't get into the style of play that she wants,
and it starts to roll right.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
He is a rock rolling downhill. Then Sarah Strong's jersey.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
He doesn't find out until after the game at some
point that she ripped her own jersey, so he's convinced
in his head that they are so aggressive that they've
ripped her jersey. They get no free throws in the
third period, so he does that interview with Holly Rowe
accuses Dawn of ranting and raving. You know, is up
in his head, seeing red, seeing red, seeing red. Meantime,
(03:51):
he's sort of disconnected from his team. He's arms are
crossed the whole game, sort of dispassionate, seeming save for
a dropped head every once in a while when his
team misses a sh or makes a mistake.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
So he seems disconnected throughout. It feels like from.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
The beginning of the game he has gotten mad about
this thing, and he is incapable of talking himself out
of it and getting back to focusing on the game
at hand. And who knows what that energy might have
done to his team right that exchange of energy of
him being a little bit out of it from before
the game even began throughout, and how that might have
impacted now. Either way, South Carolina's game plan and their
(04:26):
defense was incredible. They were the better team out there,
and they had the better plan. But I wonder what
might have happened if Gino could have regulated himself instead
of experiencing this long form crash out and focused on
his team. I was out of breakfast on Saturday morning
and my friend Jess Claren said of the way that
Gino started to get mad and could never get himself
out of it, quote, it's giving he him, right, And
(04:48):
I said, well, it sounds like a lot of male
leadership these days.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Megan Rapino was with us.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
She said men should take an indefinite leave, which both
of those sayings I will be repeating and quoting a lot,
especially it's giving he him anyway. So Gino can't get
himself out of this crash out. He goes up to
Dawn Staley starts screaming at her. Maybe he thought the
game was over, doesn't matter. He is incapable of handling
himself in the proper way. At the end of the game,
(05:12):
and showing respect to her and her team. He leaves
before the game is over. His assistants are left to
clean up his mess. I compare this specifically to the
clips that we saw of Vic Schaeffer and Rory Harmon
from Texas, where he is holding her physically embracing her
and calming her down and hyping her up and telling
her he loved her and saying he's proud of her
(05:33):
in her final moments on an NCAA basketball court. She's
so sad about the loss and about her career ending,
and he is there for her. Where was Gino for
his players? He had left them alone to deal with
their disappointment. These young people, whose frontal lobes are still
developing are handling this loss better than this seventy two
year old man. So his assistants are cleaning up his mess.
(05:55):
His players are dealing with disappointment, left abandoned by him
out on the court. He gets the postgame presser at
this point, still seeing red. Now the postgame conversation is
about him, not South Carolina, not asy Fud's career. And
then the apology the next day, which at least was
better than nothing, did not include Don Staley's name. So
a full day later, he is still not willing to
(06:17):
acknowledge the disrespect that he had for her and is
unwilling to allow the statement to include specifically her. Instead
it just says South Carolina staff. So this is a
guy who's been winning for decades, has made Yukon the standard,
and in the past he's lost. He hasn't won every year,
but he's kept it together. And I wonder why he
couldn't handle this moment. And I have to look at
a pattern across his career of extremely successful and strong
(06:41):
women that he has not been able to have a
good working relationship with. Pat Summit, Muffett McGraw, Don Staley.
What is it about these powerful and successful women that
sets him off? Or why is it that all of
these women have had issues with Gino and GINO with them?
Something to think about. Now, let's look at Don. Don
(07:03):
had her moment. You know, I'm a Begino's ass. Then
she calmed down. She made it about her players, she
made it about the next game, the game, the game
of basketball. She kept bringing it back to it. I'm
going to focus on the task at hand. She had
back said quote, there are a lot of distractions that
are placed in your life, you are either going to
address them and let it overcome you, or you can
stick with the task at hand. I'm choosing to stick
to the task at hand. At some point everything is
(07:25):
going to be addressed.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Today. This weekend won't be one of them.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
And she said later, I feel like I owe basketball,
Like basketball has been incredible to me, to my family,
and I always feel like I have to repay it.
So there's don in the moment, self regulating, slowing things down,
getting herself out of the red after she says I
want to beat his ass and making it about her players,
making it about the moment, make it about the game,
making about focusing on what's next, and Gina was unable
(07:51):
to do that. I do not know if it was
specific to this game, this relationship, this rivalry. I do
not know if it's about South Carolina making the title
game four of the life last five years and him
feeling like Yukon's grasp on being the pre eminent program.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Is lost, that his time is starting to pass.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
I don't know if it's because at this point he
has achieved so much that that initial blow to his
ego of waiting three minutes for a handshake that never
came was too much to overcome. But either way, it's
something to consider for him and for Yukon going forward,
because I would hate for this moment and any future
moments that are like it, to tarnish his legacy and
(08:27):
what he's done for the sport for so long. There
is no excuse for him bailing on his team, there's
no excuse for his behavior, there's no excuse for him
not naming Don Staley in his apology. But he can
recover from this if moving forward he is able to
have the same respect for his opponents as they have
had for him for decades, or at least pretend to
(08:48):
when it comes down to the end of a game
and the handshake line and good game, good game, say
the few in your head.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
GINO.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
All right, let's get in my conversation with Subert and
Diana Trossians.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Let's get to today's guests joining me.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
One of the greatest supers of all time, a Natesmith
Hall of Fame or, four time WNBA champ, thirteen time
All Star, five time Olympic gold medalist, two time NCAA champion,
the only WNBA player to win titles in three different decades.
Host of a Touchmore and Birds Eye View, managing director
of the USA women's basketball team, a Seattle Storm co owner,
inaugural member of the NWSL Advisory Board, and she's been
(09:25):
memorialized in bronze.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
It's super bird.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
How good is Sue's statue too?
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Sue's like one of the only athletes to get a
killer statue.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
It looks like her.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
It's super sick joining her arguably the greatest of all time,
the leading scorer in WNBA history, the first basketball player
to win six Olympic Gold medals, a five time WNBA
scoring champion, fourteen time All WNBA selection, former League MVP,
led the Phoenix Mercury to three WNBA titles and led
(09:58):
the Yukon Huskies to straight national titles from two to four.
The courts at the Mercury practice facility bear her name
and likeness, and they took Aubrey Plaza's acl It's the
White Mama Dinah TROSSI, Well, I was gonna say, we'll
get loose with the little game, but Dinah's already loose
enough to be punking me up here, all right. The
(10:20):
game is called good good, or goodest It is very
similar to bench start cut. We definitely didn't steal that
game from Sue and Megan show.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Definitely not ours. We didn't steal it from everyone else exactly.
Ours is just a little friendlier. You don't have to
cut anyone.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Something is good, something is gooder, and something is goodest.
Speaker 5 (10:40):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Okay, So starting with you, Diana beating Tennessee, beating South Carolina,
beating Notre Dame.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
What was it? Good, gooder and goodest?
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (10:54):
So good beating South Carolina because that's really not a thing,
not lately not lea gooder beating Notre Dame, and the
goodest beating Tennessee.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
Sue, same question to you, I would say same, very generational, Okay, yes,
very generation Okay.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Sue, Seattle, New York City, stores, Connecticut.
Speaker 5 (11:22):
This one's pretty easy. We're gonna go good for the stores.
Connecticut gets a little harder here. I'm gonna go.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Gooder Seattle, goodest, New York. All right.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Diana beating Sue in basketball, beating Sue and bowling which
never happened, Beating Sue a number of Olympics played.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Oh, beating Sue in bowling? Good beating Sue basketball, gooder,
the most metal, the goodest.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
It's tough to the top two and anything really, so
it is She's always right.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
You got to lean into that one. Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
So I got to ask you about last night's games.
Those were wild and wildly low scoring.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Wildly low scoring.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
The game has really evolved.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Yeah, I'm so glad.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
There's so many like better players. The basketball is just
so much better now than it.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
The rims. Yeah, crack fifty one and it's like, give them,
give them the rims.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
A lot of people said the rims, they said the balls.
They were the practice.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
Trust me, just fine, Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
I don't want your excuses, but okay, So we got
UCLA beating Texas, we got South Carolina beating Yukon.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
What did you guys like, what were your takeaways.
Speaker 5 (12:50):
Coming into the funal four? I really thought this is
gonna be I really thought this.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Was Texas to lose. You're playing great. They seemed confident.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
It was like the defense they've always had that now
the offense is matched the defense. I really had that
feeling watching them, like, man, this is a team where
sometimes you're around a team it's like destiny, and that's
what that felt. Like, so I was really surprised to
see that second game play out the way it did.
And at the same time, the two teams that won
South Carolina Ucla like super I think resilient in both
(13:22):
the games, two teams that ended their seasons last year
in pretty like awful ways.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
They both got.
Speaker 5 (13:29):
Blown out in the final four, and I was wondering
if that was going to play a role, and I
think it did. I think they're just two teams that
are like, that's not happening again, and are willing to
do whatever it takes. So it was good to see
the games. They were a lot of scoring. But I'm
excited for the final.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Yeah, I think it's going.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
To be a great final. I think you probably at
the end of the day probably have the two best
teams in the finals. And it's for me being from
LA it's fun to see UCLA in a national championship
game when you think about when you think about the
history and Westwood obviously with John Wooden and and Myers,
and they've never been in a finals. It's kind of
incredible to think. And Sue said she thought Texas was
(14:07):
the team of destiny, and I think that's kind of
now shifted over to Ucla. Is it their year to
win it? And then, no matter what, South Carolina is
just always really hard to play against. They they know
who they are, they have an identity and they stick
with it. That's why they always seem so fine in
these really hard games. It's hard to bit against South
Carolina because they just know how to win those games.
And you know, Don does a great job when you
(14:29):
know things get tight, We know it very well. She
stays very loose, very calm, and you can tell that
with her teams where they never panic, they always know
what they're doing. So it's gonna be a great game.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Go Bruins, And certainly something to be said for like
the amount we visited.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
Them and now it's go break exactly. That was one
of your official visits, right it was.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
It was the school that I should have went to.
Speaker 5 (14:50):
Oh oh, I know, guys, I know, she said in
the nil Era. We had this whole conversation of their
day and the nil l Era, where are you going?
Speaker 4 (15:00):
I'm staying home? Why would I leave Ucla?
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Yukon loses once and she's like, I should have gone
to UCLA.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
Can't count on these kids anymore.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Yeah, But I mean, I do think those SEC battles
help you play tough teams all season. You get behind,
you fight back, you figure out how to behave That's
real tough every year for Yukon to not really face
fifty four straight wins and then get behind and get
real tight.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
And we watched that, which was hard.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Also South Carolina's defense, I underestimated dang from the beginning
of that game.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
I was like, Oh, they're in every single passing lane.
They're so long.
Speaker 5 (15:32):
They just have a lot of length they have, obviously,
starting with Raven, who's an exceptional defender, so even though
she doesn't have the same size, necessarily that's like the
head of the snake.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
And then everybody just has so much size, so much length.
You guys want to comment on Gino and the end
of the game.
Speaker 5 (15:46):
I had a touch more live today at five pm
at Orpheum Theater.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Sure do figures, figures. I can't scoop Sue's show. All right, fine,
I gotta ask.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
I can't make you answer. Let's talk about the players
in this final four.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
If you could pick any player from any of the
four teams, who would you most have liked to play with?
Speaker 5 (16:08):
I mean, I think it's Sarah strong like for me
as a point guard, a two man game with a
versatile post player like that who can kind of score
in all kinds of ways. Honestly, her defense this year
really impressed me. I feel like she took a step
in the direction, in the right direction. So I have
to go Sarah.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
I'll probably say Medisine Booker to play with someone on
the perimeter like her, so versatile, can get her shot
off at anytime her length. She's just so impressed with
the watch play. And obviously she didn't have the game
she wanted last night. But you know, some people have
tough final fours and come back even stronger, and I
think that's what Madison's gonna do. So I would have
(16:46):
loved to share the court with her. Yeah, I know who.
Speaker 5 (16:48):
I don't want to play against Rory Harmon as a
point guard.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
I'm like, oh my god, looks like a nightmare.
Speaker 5 (16:54):
Exhaust just never going away, Yeah, just constantly there.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
My favorite line from the tournament was Rory Harmon doesn't
pick you up, but the baseline she picks you up
at the airport.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
True, very true.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Like teams like just couldn't even inbound. Yeah, Okay, you
both played for Gino. What current women's college troops coach
from any other team would you like to play for?
Speaker 4 (17:14):
These are good questions today. Did you have someone write these? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Yeah, I always need a little bit of help. I'm
just getting started. Thanks for helping me make my name
if you like.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
I think I'd like to play for Jeff Walls.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
I played kind of sort of for him in a
USA Basketball practice once. I really enjoyed that experience, and
I kind of want to experience. Kim Milky, I'm like,
what's going on?
Speaker 4 (17:34):
I was just gonna say, kid, I kind of want to.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Just like, what, like, what's it really like at practice?
Speaker 4 (17:40):
That was not the answer.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
I was expecting. What do you expect? I don't know,
not Kim Moulky. I was gonna say, Kim Ulky like,
I'm kind of curious.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
I would love because, you know, we see her from
the outside and it seems like a lot, but her
players love her exactly. They play hard for, they back
everything for, which is such an interesting dynamic. So there
must be some things behind the scenes that she just
connects with her players on a different level, and it'd
be you know, it'd be fun to you know, your
wardrobe for a whole year.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Yeah, for curiosity's sake, for sure, to really get why
she has that relationship with her players, because they are
die hard for her. Most of them, It's accurate, most
of them. Okay, so many great Yukon teams, just some
of them.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Have been able to go undefeated.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
What is the difference between a great team and one
that can go undefeated for a whole season?
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Never have a bad day?
Speaker 4 (18:29):
Well, no, you have a bad day and you still win.
That's the difference day. You know, the year we went
undefeated into those two we played average in your ten
tech and we were down the whole game. That's a
really hard place to play at and you know, and
there was we'll wear you down like six seven with
a minute and a half, six seven may And that's
the difference. When you are having a bad night collectively
(18:50):
as a group, can you pull yourself out of that hole?
And you know, I think that's the difference.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
Best Yukon team of all time?
Speaker 4 (18:57):
Oh two oh two?
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Okay, that was the we're gonna pick anyone else?
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Oh too?
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Okay, who do you think?
Speaker 4 (19:05):
I mean?
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Obviously I'm not gonna say anything different with you two
sitting right in front of me too.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
We're not doing this next year?
Speaker 5 (19:10):
Yeah, I know, I feel like I feel like Stuwie Morgan,
Mariah Jefferson would have something to say about it.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
We're like eight first round picks.
Speaker 5 (19:18):
Maybe May and Tina Renee Montgomery might have something to
say about it, but we're going two over here.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
What's your favorite memory from a Final four suit? Off
the court, A team dinner, a celebration, band guy.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Fan guy. That's all you need to know, No, we
need to know more on that's all.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
That means nothing to us.
Speaker 5 (19:38):
Actually, one of my favorite memories was on the way
to the Final four my senior year d sophomore year.
We play in Milwaukee is our regional and ray Allen
was still on the Bucks and so obviously ray Allen's
are you congrad And so after one of the games
or one of the in between days, he took us
all out to dinner, like close down a restaurant. You know,
you know, I'm like twenty one, your nineteen or so,
(20:01):
and so that was like a special experience to hang
out with ray Allen. He gave all of us a
sign jersey, So it's definitely one of my favorite memories.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Yeah, that was great.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
What about the van guy?
Speaker 4 (20:10):
D Oh, that's two's story. I don't want to steal
it for tonight.
Speaker 5 (20:13):
Let's hear it too. We just yukon women's basketball loves
a ban guy. That's all you need to know, all right.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
We got Toronto and Portland entering the chat this season.
We now have Houston coming back next year from Connecticut,
and we've got three more in the coming years in Cleveland, Philly,
and Detroit. Outside of those teams, what city would you
pick for the next expansion team if you got to choose,
Probably Nashville.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
I would love to see a Boston team. I think
Boston obviously, with the Connecticut connection and just the way
the East Coast loves basketball. It's a whole different level
of love for the game. And you know, it'd be
kind of cool to see that Boston LA rivalry in
the WNBA.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Yeah, And I think with Connecticut leaving that leaves a
hole there that that market.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
What do you make of that?
Speaker 1 (21:03):
I'm so excited to reinvigorate conversation about the comets, about
players that in part I think don't get their full
due because we don't.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Have them back on the court before games.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
We don't have events around the Comets where they can
flash back to their championship dynasty. So we'll have that again,
but it's coming at the expense of a whole franchise's history.
This happened in the NBA, right, Sue, You know it
all too well with Seattle. So how are you processing
this news?
Speaker 5 (21:33):
Yeah, I think you're nailing it. It's a little bit
of sadness. You know, the Connecticut Son came into the
league my second season and they essentially, for lack of
a better saved the Orlando miracle. This is a team
that was going out. Connecticut came in, Mohegan Sun came
in and save that franchise and it went on. I mean,
poor Connecticut's Son, but they got to the finals, like
(21:55):
almost immediately. By year two they're in the finals and
then obviously reached the finals. Above bunch of times had
a ton of success for us. Every time we went back,
you know, it was going home in a sense. So
there's there's sadness there, there's history. There's sadness that's going
to be lost. But to your point, again, Houston's back
and the comments are back, and it's going to be
amazing to walk into that arena and see their banners. Right,
(22:18):
this is this is a franchise that needs to be celebrated.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
So it's just one of those things where it's a
both and and the Nashville answer.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Did y'all hear about the bid for the team that
was going to be the Summit as in Pat Summit.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
That's such that branding alone needs to happen.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
That's cool.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Yeah, Okay, NWSL the National Women's Soccer League, the other
major pro women's league. There's a bunch of them up
and coming, but WNB and NWSL are the two big ones.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
They abolished the draft. Team happens different.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Okay, well, just let me finish the question soon before
you answer it. Jeez, they abolished the draft, DIANAUS. So
every team now has to fight for each player they sign.
They have to prove that their culture, their facilities, they're housing,
they're coaching, everything is something that a player would want
to select and choose.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
Do you think that the w should look into that?
Speaker 4 (23:10):
No?
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Why not? I have a take, So this is my take.
Speaker 5 (23:14):
I actually think it's the arms race is a nice
little aspect, and I do think that exists in the
WNBA all beat a little bit later in a player's career,
but it does exist in free agency. I think we're
going to start seeing teams lean into that even more.
Even on the NBA side that has the billions. The
teams separate themselves by all those extra things. So I
think that part is great. I'm not talking about that part.
(23:36):
I think the game of basketball, because there's only five
on the court compared to eleven on a soccer field,
it's too fragile to have any top like Asia Wilson
coming out of college and just gets to pick what
team she goes to. I just don't know that the
game of basketball itself can support having the best players
get to decide right out the gate and form maybe
(23:57):
super teams.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Especially because it's just the five players on a court,
it's a lot easier to do.
Speaker 5 (24:02):
One impacts five more than one impacts eleven in soccer,
and just the game itself.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
So that's where I actually like the draft.
Speaker 5 (24:09):
I think it's an event that you can sell and
it's exciting, so I want to keep it for that
reason also, and then I'll pass it over here.
Speaker 4 (24:16):
I mean, I do like the survival of the fittest
of European Soccer. In football, I think there is something
about that. There is something about the best teams having
the most money, and it's a model that's worked for
years and years and years, so I think for soccer
to go to it, it's actually a great idea, you know.
I think the cream always rises to the top, and
(24:38):
then there's the upward mobility of when you are younger
and you are older, you can actually keep going up
and down the ladder of teams, which I think soccer
does pretty well. And I do like that, Sue, I
do like it.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
I think just parodies easier in soccer. Yes, I agree, I.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
Mean the only other thing off, Yes, because Chelsea doesn't
win it every year.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Yeah, women are men men, Yeah, and women now the
women this year are lac and talent anyway. One thing
I do want to point out that I think is
interesting in the current times that I think the NWSL
now no longer has to deal with is there are
very different rights across the country for women, and as
a woman, I think there is an added level of
(25:18):
being drafted to a state where you do not have
bodily autonomy and what that means for your personal decision making.
Even you know, by accident, or you go in to
find out if something's going on and you find out
you're pregnant or otherwise, and that, to me, it's a
different level in women's sports that has to be accounted for,
and leagues have to be really on top of how
(25:40):
they're preparing and taking care of players. If they're getting
drafted to places where they don't feel safe, that.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
Is a give it a clap. That's a great point.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
That's so true.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
We got to take a break more with Sue and
Diana right after this, all right, So another thing that's
very different from when y'all played is the off season options.
We talked about this a little last year, and now
there's even more. We've got unrivaled AU Pro Basketball, Project
(26:12):
B and then all the overseas options. Sue, you and
Megan had a great conversation about this on your podcast,
and one of the things I think you've very wisely
pointed out is that, yes, you can make a lot
of money on something like a Project B, but how
does that impact your legacy in America, your sponsorships and
brands in America. As they've continued to roll out more
(26:32):
information about that, have you felt any differently about that
as an option or how do you see the landscape now?
Speaker 5 (26:38):
I don't think I have any new information. I think
we're all kind of waiting to see what Project B
is going to be like. But I think the best
part about having options, and I've always felt this way
now there's just more options, is you kind of get
to curate the career you want, You get to build
what you want, and that's the beauty of it. And
let's be honest, having all these options has allowed all
(27:00):
these players to.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Have a ton of leverage, and that's what's different.
Speaker 5 (27:03):
I mean, you look at the WNBACBA negotiation that is
so different from any men's league we've ever had or
ever experienced. In their negotiations, they had the ability to
use leverage from other leagues. So the beauty of it
is it's just going to keep growing, get better. But no,
I don't have much different to say. I do still
think like, if I'm choosing, I'm definitely thinking about my
(27:23):
legacy in the US.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
What about you DT, Yeah, I mean, the more options
that play, the better. Right when we grew up, when
we were in in the WNBA was just WBA or overseas,
we didn't have the options or the opportunities that they
have now. And it's really amazing to watch how we've
come so far in such little time. Really, and I
mean you just mentioned three other leagues that were formed
(27:46):
in the last two three years. That's incredible. And that's
the appetite of you guys as fans wanting to see
us year round here in the US too, which is
always the goal. You want to be home, you want
to be with your family, you want to be around
the fans here in the US. You want to be
able to make you know your mark on and off
the court here in the US. And the more opportunity
we have, the better for everyone. And you see that
(28:07):
all across the board.
Speaker 5 (28:08):
Okay, you're getting offered the same amount of money from
Project be and Unrivaled.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Which one are you choosing?
Speaker 4 (28:13):
Unrivaled? I'm not an idiot.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
I was just curious.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Well, yeah, I mean I think also y'all have some
fascinating stories about playing abroad, both in positive ways and
really scary and upsetting and deeply you know, long lasting
impacts of your time in Russia. And I wonder what
some of the top players who are now agreeing to
play in Project BE where a lot of the places
(28:37):
haven't yet been named and established, if you have any
advice for them, because I think, especially in this particularly
volatile time, it's a bit riskier to go play in
China and other places, Dubai and otherwise.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
Yeah, I mean, we.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
Live in an ever changing world and things of that caliber.
Those events can just shift the way your career happens
really quickly, and you know soon. I played in r
for a long time and at the beginning things seem
to be pretty normal for the most part, and the
longer we stayed there, you can see the political landscape
shift and change, and the attitude towards us being foreigners.
(29:15):
It wasn't overt but you can feel it. And that's
why I say, if there's more opportunity to play here,
players will take advantage of that, where they don't have
to go to Russia, they don't have to go to China,
Project B wherever the hell they're going to be, which
I mean all over all over, of course. And yeah,
there is also the safety of you and your family.
(29:36):
You want to feel safe, and that's what all these
opportunities are giving us.
Speaker 5 (29:39):
You talk about getting drafted to a state that doesn't
support women's rights. There's some countries obviously that's where it's
even worse. Save to going overseas is so interesting because
I'm so thankful for it. I feel like it's shaped
me as a person, like totally out of your comfort zone.
And then also player right now. If I was a
player right now, no, I'd rather stay home.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
And America is in a different position globally than before
as well, which does impact your decision making.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
Diana was just remembering watching your documentary.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
You had a deeply scary incident abroad as a child,
and then you're out in Russia and the owner of
your team gets murdered. I mean, you've really been through
a lot in terms of like safety and wanting to
be somewhere where you feel safe.
Speaker 4 (30:19):
Well, I think you go through those moments when you
feel like you have no other choice. And you know
at the time, if it wasn't going overseas, well, you
didn't play basketball for eight months and you didn't get
paid either. And you know, we all know what the
WNBA salaries were at the beginning of our careers. That
wasn't sustainable in so many ways. If you wanted to
be the best player in the world. If you wanted
to be, you know, an elite athlete, you just didn't
(30:39):
have the funds, you know, to not only get a trainer,
food wise, all these things, nutrition, strength and conditioning. So
that was really our only option, and we were willing
to put our lives, you know, in the middle of that,
to play basketball and pursue our careers.
Speaker 5 (30:55):
Can you believe Diana made her poor sister leave Argentina?
Speaker 3 (31:00):
Wasn't that just so sad? Did you not feel for Jessica?
Speaker 4 (31:03):
Just love?
Speaker 5 (31:04):
I don't mean to steal your show. We don't have
the BTS show this year. I'm trying to get my
I appreciate here like my co host. You're like, Dana,
what about this?
Speaker 4 (31:11):
Yeah? I heard they replaced it with a better show, though.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
No comment, Sue. You're so busy. I mentioned like half
of your many jobs in your intro. How is it that?
Speaker 4 (31:23):
So many jobs?
Speaker 3 (31:24):
So many jobs? Meanwhile, Dan over here, I'm like, what
are you up to?
Speaker 4 (31:28):
We'll get to that, but.
Speaker 5 (31:31):
So many jobs molding the minds of two young ones?
Speaker 3 (31:34):
Yes, well that's a that's a big job. She's killing it.
How do you balance owner?
Speaker 1 (31:41):
Former player media member, advisor president of basketball.
Speaker 5 (31:47):
Yes, I'm not the president bad Managing director of Duty.
Lindsay Whalen calls me Director Bird. It's like my favorite
thing ever. Every time she sees me, Director Bird, I love.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
To see you.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Lindsay Whalen told me yesterday that for whatever reason, whatever
she talks about Sarah Strong, she accidentally says Sarah Spain.
So she's like, we're in all of our scouting meanings.
I'm like, Sarah Spain's killing it, and everyone's like, what,
I like it.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
Yeah, I came first first. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (32:13):
No, Yeah, it's definitely a balance. You definitely have to.
You know, when you're focused on one thing, keep it there.
When you focus on another, keep it there. But I
think that's what has me uniquely positioned, or I should
say I think my playing career and who I was
as a player, what I experience as a player, what
I expose myself to, it does have me uniquely positioned
to be able to fulfill these roles. And I think
(32:33):
what's interesting is I think some people think some of
those rules I'm I'm like, as as far as ownership
goes with a storm, I'm very much a silent owner.
I'm not in the coaches meetings. I'm not in the
free agency meetings, so it's not quite as much as
you might think. But at the same time, I do
think my playing career gave me a unique perspective that
I'm able to apply to all these jobs. And there
(32:54):
might be more jobs coming, guys. I can't promise more job.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
That's a tease that dry yet on whatever those new
jobs are. The ink dry on the contracts.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
Perhaps to do a touch more later today to find
out what the hell she's talking about. Great, great, great,
I want to talk to us, say really quick, because
what a cool and fascinating time. Everyone is paying attention
to that roster more than in a long time, because
it was so tight at the last Olympics, and because
(33:27):
you've got this new young talent that everyone's so fired
up to see the young Terre, the young internt as
they call themselves.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
And also there's so much enthusiasm.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
We're watching these like FEBA games on national television when
they've already qualified. They're meaningless, but we want to see
Page and Caitlin and everyone and Angel playing together.
Speaker 3 (33:44):
How tough is your job right now?
Speaker 1 (33:46):
You're gonna have to whittle down this roster and turn
away some exceedingly talented people.
Speaker 3 (33:51):
Yeah, it's not easy. It's not easy.
Speaker 5 (33:53):
I think the best part is just the excitement, the
willingness that all the players. We've had a couple of
camps at a couple of different times. You mentioned we
went to Puerto Rico for a qualifying tournament, and you know,
sometimes some players can't come because of prior commitments. Sadly,
sometimes there's injuries. But every single player that has showed up,
no matter who they are, what their experience level is,
(34:15):
has been so excited to be there. And to me, yes,
there's going to come a day where I have to
make tough decisions, but as long as that is still
the culture of USA basketball, we can live with it
because it means we're going to take twelve people who
want to represent their country, who want to continue a legacy.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
It's a big job for you too, to sort of
dispel the long held rumors that there's bias in selection.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
And that's a tough one because of your background.
Speaker 5 (34:37):
Yes and no, I mean I really where I land
with this is the way I played the game had
zero bias in it. I'm like, oh, you're shooting well
here you go, or you're playing well, here you go.
It's how I approach things, and I think given my
USA basketball experience especially or specifically, I know what makes
teams work in that environment, and that's really going.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
To be my only bias.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Do you have a deadline for when you have to
actually set that final roster like ish, you know, we leave.
Speaker 3 (35:06):
I don't know the exact date.
Speaker 5 (35:07):
Let's call it September first, loosely, because that's when the
tournament starts, is early September, and you want to give
players like a little bit.
Speaker 3 (35:13):
Of a heads up.
Speaker 5 (35:13):
You don't want to tell them the day before. So
we're still figuring that out.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
This is FEBA World Cup in Germany and September.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
It's going to be very interesting for the WNBA to
continue figuring out its footprint while players are trying to play.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
In all changing the footprints changing Yeah for FOBA, Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
Yeah, Diana, I want to share a couple of photos
with you.
Speaker 4 (35:32):
Last year.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
We talked about how we were introducing the Diana Tarassi
bench in Door County, Wisconsin, and Diana said why Door County,
and I reminded her of the time she allegedly broke
a door when the Phoenix Mercury lost to the Chicago
Sky and the WNBA Finals. The Sky ended up bringing
that door on stage at their Grand Park Championship zerialwag
(35:57):
So in honor of Diana's retirement. The bench for d Tassi,
who always hated doors. Allegedly, it's in a beautiful spot.
There's a goat named Nacho. Are you activating? Get a
little hip action?
Speaker 4 (36:12):
Is that?
Speaker 1 (36:13):
Does look like I've got you doing a little bit
of pet ahead of the bench getting a That goat
was named Nacho because we felt it was necessary for
there to be a goat there. Thank you, by the
way for signing that jersey the goat the goat worn jersey.
Someone sent it to you to sign for me, so
I appreciate that. Do you have any plans to get
to Whitefish Dunes State Park in Wisconsin anytime soon?
Speaker 4 (36:35):
Actually for spring break next year? Yeah, there's uh from Phoenix.
I think there's a five way city to get there. Yeah,
what a great gesture, thinks sir. Yeah, I've had I've
you know, Sue gave me a lot of gifts last
year during the show.
Speaker 3 (36:51):
Do you still have those?
Speaker 4 (36:52):
I still thank you? Put them?
Speaker 3 (36:54):
What was your favorite gift.
Speaker 4 (36:57):
The crown was nice, The coffee mug was dope, you know,
because I love coffee, so that was a nice gesture.
But this, this just blows my mind.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
The coffee bunks say like, not my problem.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
And my favorite thing is how confused people are that
work there, because first we announced it and then I'm like,
all right, so this will be up soon, and they're like, no,
we have one guy who makes the benches and this
one calls it. So it takes a while to whittle.
And then I to schedule when I could get up
there and be there for the you know, and then
(37:26):
they had to bolt it in because they were worried
it would get stolen. So people, I've been seeing these
dispatches from the internet where people stop by and ask
about it and the people inside are like, we're not
really sure it's we're a basketball player. I think she
once said that she like didn't believe in obstacles like doors,
and I'm like, the legend grows. I think I might
(37:47):
need to send him like a one sheet, like a
little plaque.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
This is why this is a little black a little
I should a.
Speaker 4 (37:52):
Little bronze plaque. Do it? Okay?
Speaker 3 (37:55):
Yes, I'll be following up with your people. Hand delivered. Yes,
you know, she hits a broad station. You get a
little black black.
Speaker 4 (38:04):
You can't have it all in life. I always say,
you can't have it right. That's right, you can't have
it all.
Speaker 3 (38:09):
How has retirement been since we spoke last year.
Speaker 4 (38:11):
It's been wonderful. You know, we were talking about being busy.
I thought once you retired, you know, I just wake
up at nine thirty and have a cup of coffee.
But when you have two little kids, that's just not
the case. So it's been wonderful to spend a lot
of time with Penny and the kids and just do
a lot of the everyday things that I was so
absent for for a long time because it was travel
(38:33):
or just obsessed with working out and being on the court.
So you know how that goes. The last couple of years.
You just try to do everything you can to be
on the court in the best shape as possible, and
that takes up a lot of your not only your
physical physical time, but your mental time too. And I
have not missed that mental stress that I had about
trying to win games, trying to get everyone on the
(38:53):
same page. So It's been really nice to be outside
of that basketball bubble in a lot of ways. And
there are things that I missed right this week and
really makes me appreciate not only my w NBA years NCAA,
but being around the basketball culture which is so tight
and you know, we really root each other on so much.
So it's been nice to see a lot of people
I haven't seen a long time.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
I got a chance on Thursday night. I think it
was who knows what data is to go to an
event at the performance Center to be on the court
that bears your name and likeness.
Speaker 3 (39:26):
Are you wanting to get involved with the Mercury or
with basketball here in your hometown?
Speaker 4 (39:31):
Yeah, I have some jobs lined up myself.
Speaker 3 (39:36):
Is the ink dry on the contracts?
Speaker 4 (39:39):
I don't even think it's written up yet, but yeah,
I have some things in the works.
Speaker 3 (39:45):
You do, okay, you got a better idea? You didn't
really past year.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
You were like, I just want to let life come
to me and figure out what I want.
Speaker 4 (39:51):
Yeah. I think once you take a little time off,
you understand the things you don't want to do. And
that's advice you gave me, and which was, you know,
probably the best advice you ever gave me is when
you take time way you understand the things that you
don't want to do, and you know, those things become
very clear that you want to be involved with. So
there's some things that, like Su said, those twenty years
of playing basketball have made me really appreciate. So we'll
(40:13):
see where he goes.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
I do think that it's very hard to be over
committed for your whole life and really get an idea
of what you like and you take a break and
you're suddenly like, oh wow, I really miss that and
I do not miss that at all, and that really helps.
Speaker 4 (40:27):
Like, yeah, I mean, you have to relearn yourself in
so many ways because basketball it just was our identity
and everything we did. So but you know what I've
learned is when you step away from the game and
you've taken every opportunity and you really really really throw
yourself into it, when you step away, you have no regrets,
no regrets. That's why you got that tattoo on your
(40:48):
lower back.
Speaker 3 (40:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
Okay, last fun question because I saw Sue out in
Milan and I didn't see you personally, but I saw
you on some on some skates.
Speaker 3 (40:59):
Oh that wasn't in Milan, Oh okay, but I was
on some skates. Wherever you were, you were on some
figure skates. You were pulling it off. Yeah, thanks, not bad, right.
I want to know.
Speaker 1 (41:08):
If you were to pursue an Olympic sport other than
basketball winter winter, what would you have the best shot
at medaling and in your prime?
Speaker 3 (41:18):
Not now, everyone has to say curling now, because.
Speaker 5 (41:23):
Yeah, I mean, I think you would have to be hockey.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
Well, something I didn't realize. I didn't know.
Speaker 5 (41:33):
There's only like less than a handful of team sports
at the Olympics. Even yeah, I went through Olympics and
even some of the team sports. It's kind of like
how track is a team sport in a sense, like
there's the individual of it, but then as a team,
your score gets put together, YadA, YadA. So in terms
of like being on a team, being with others, there's
only like two sports, and hockey's one of them.
Speaker 3 (41:53):
And I feel like I'm a team sport person. I'm
not an individual sport person. I know this through and
through yeared out. So hockey i'd like to see. I'd
like to see that. Are you go on skates? You
looked pretty good. I'm actually pretty good.
Speaker 5 (42:06):
Yeah, you know, I had to play the part a
little bit, although figure skating way harder than that. And
then hot topicks. Oh top it's a different topick got me.
I got loose with it one time.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Yeah, out the cutting edge for the old seer.
Speaker 4 (42:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (42:19):
My elbow is still mushy. You know when you get
a bushy ebo. Yeah, still mushy. Shout out Terra Lepinski,
though she's a great teacher.
Speaker 4 (42:25):
Yeah, dt, I've never thought about it. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (42:29):
Long distance skiing, sure, cross country skiing.
Speaker 4 (42:33):
Yeah, oh, is that what it's called.
Speaker 1 (42:34):
Yeah, clearly you've never thought about it or watched it.
Speaker 4 (42:39):
That one.
Speaker 3 (42:41):
That one's that's like distance running.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
Like that's like your lungs are burning for half of
the time you're out there and you're gutting through it.
Speaker 4 (42:49):
Let me rethink this. Yeah, curling, Okay, we're back to curling.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (42:56):
These two are the absolute best.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
Huge round of applause for them, And if you want
Sue to put anything on the record, go check out
a touch more later today.
Speaker 4 (43:07):
Thank you so much, Thanks Sarah, Thank you, Sarah.
Speaker 1 (43:12):
Thanks again to Sue and Dinah for taking the time,
especially amid such a busy tournament weekend they had so
many different obligations. Also, thanks to Capital One for giving
me another opportunity to sit down with two of the best.
We have to take another break when we return. A
Grandpa almost made me cry.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
Welcome back, Slices.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
We always love to hear from you, so hit us
up on email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or
leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two four
fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review.
It's easy watch meeting Slices rating ten out of ten
Ear to ear grins review. One of my favorite things
about hitting the road for big women's sporting events is
(43:57):
getting to meet Slices and talking to fellow in sports fans.
I loved all the folks who came out to the
live show on Saturday and came to the meet and
greet after the people who stopped me on the streets.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
In it the game to talk about this show.
Speaker 1 (44:09):
You know, this show is what it is because of
all of you, this great community that we've somehow managed
to build in less than two years, and we're so
grateful that you care so much about it. We love
the feedback that you give us. We love hearing that
you listen to it every day and start your day
with it. I was in the meet and greet and
this grandpa introduced me to his little granddaughter and he said,
one day, I hope she grows up to be just
(44:30):
like you. This man almost made me cry all and
I had to take a bunch more pictures and meet people.
Speaker 2 (44:35):
So I was like, no crying, no crying, no crying, but.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
Just it's really meaningful to get to meet all of you,
and we really do appreciate you all so much.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
So thanks.
Speaker 1 (44:44):
Now it's your turn, great and review. Thanks for listening.
See you tomorrow. Good Game, UCLA, Good Games, Sue and Diana,
you desert air. My throat feels like I swallowed a cactus.
Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
(45:05):
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzi and Bianca Hillier.
Speaker 2 (45:14):
Our executive producers.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
Are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Emily Rutter, Lucy Jones, Britney Martinez and
Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from Avery LOFTUS and I'm Your
Host Sarah Spain
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're at
Mortgage Matchup Arena watching UCLA and Corey Close cut down
the nets after winning the program's first national championship in
the NCAA era.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
You always remember your first.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
I'm recording this just minutes after the final buzzer and
trophy presentation, and soon I'll be heading back from the
desert with a scratchy throat, tons of mems, and a
whole lot of women's basketball team. We've got a lot
to say about the national championship game, that incredible Bruins
blowout win, and Corey Close making us ask the question
is there also a no crying in the press box rule?
(00:37):
Plus all the weekend's festivities and parties all in tomorrow's show.
But for today's show, Monday, April sixth, my thoughts on
the Gino Oriema drama and the fallout from Yukon's lost
to South Carolina on Friday, Plus my live show with
Sue Bird and Diana Tarrassi from Saturday in Tourneytown, presented
by capitol I. I sat down with the two Goats
(00:58):
to discuss the current players and coaches they'd most like
to team up with their thoughts on the many offseason
options for players these days, WNBA expansion, and whether Diana
has any plans to make it out to Door County,
Wisconsin to see her bench. Ginogate and two Goats coming
up right after this all right, slices before my interview,
(01:26):
I need to take a minute to talk Geno Oriema
because our show is named after truly built upon the
idea of the postgame handshake line that Gino skipped on
Friday night after his team lost to South Carolina.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
So give me a minute or maybe a few.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
So the basics, Gino's crash out allegedly stems from a
missing handshake. But we all saw Gino and Dawn did
shake hands before the game.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Now there's a final four.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Tradition of shaking again after the public address.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Announcer introduces the teams.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
So maybe Gino did wait three minutes and start boiling
over as he waited for that second handshake. Maybe there
was a missing handshake before the game. There certainly was
a missing handshake after, So let's get to how we
got there that boiling To me, it feels like Ego, right,
How dare she slight me?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
How dare she make me wait.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
But instead of deciding the best way to get back
at her or the best way to spend his time
was to focus on coaching, to regulate himself and get
back to his team and decide to win the game.
Gino started out seeing red, and it appears he never
stopped right. His team gets off to a slow start.
He thinks there's a foul discrepancy. I went back and
watched the game start to finish, focusing on fouls and
(02:38):
focusing on Gino on the sideline. As I watched, I
saw a lot of body on Sarah Strong, particularly Raven Johnson,
a smaller player. I saw a lot of physicality down low.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Nothing that screamed.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Out of control, nothing that felt like something he should
be boiling over about. To me, it felt like you
could have called a lot of the off ball action
on Sarah's wrong download trying to get position, but nothing
too egregious.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Gino felt there was right.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
He's boiling from the beginning about the missing handshake. He's
boiling more because his team's off to a slow start,
because Don Staley's game Cocks have an incredible game plan
getting into the passing lanes, preventing his team from getting
into a rhythm, asy fun, stutch off, shooting poorly, Sarah
Strong can't get into the style of play that she wants,
and it starts to roll right.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
He is a rock rolling downhill. Then Sarah Strong's jersey.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
He doesn't find out until after the game at some
point that she ripped her own jersey, so he's convinced
in his head that they are so aggressive that they've
ripped her jersey. They get no free throws in the
third period, so he does that interview with Holly Rowe
accuses Dawn of ranting and raving. You know, is up
in his head, seeing red, seeing red, seeing red. Meantime,
(03:51):
he's sort of disconnected from his team. He's arms are
crossed the whole game, sort of dispassionate, seeming save for
a dropped head every once in a while when his
team misses a sh or makes a mistake.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
So he seems disconnected throughout. It feels like from.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
The beginning of the game he has gotten mad about
this thing, and he is incapable of talking himself out
of it and getting back to focusing on the game
at hand. And who knows what that energy might have
done to his team right that exchange of energy of
him being a little bit out of it from before
the game even began throughout, and how that might have
impacted now. Either way, South Carolina's game plan and their
(04:26):
defense was incredible. They were the better team out there,
and they had the better plan. But I wonder what
might have happened if Gino could have regulated himself instead
of experiencing this long form crash out and focused on
his team. I was out of breakfast on Saturday morning
and my friend Jess Claren said of the way that
Gino started to get mad and could never get himself
out of it, quote, it's giving he him, right, And
(04:48):
I said, well, it sounds like a lot of male
leadership these days.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Megan Rapino was with us.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
She said men should take an indefinite leave, which both
of those sayings I will be repeating and quoting a lot,
especially it's giving he him anyway. So Gino can't get
himself out of this crash out. He goes up to
Dawn Staley starts screaming at her. Maybe he thought the
game was over, doesn't matter. He is incapable of handling
himself in the proper way. At the end of the game,
(05:12):
and showing respect to her and her team. He leaves
before the game is over. His assistants are left to
clean up his mess. I compare this specifically to the
clips that we saw of Vic Schaeffer and Rory Harmon
from Texas, where he is holding her physically embracing her
and calming her down and hyping her up and telling
her he loved her and saying he's proud of her
(05:33):
in her final moments on an NCAA basketball court. She's
so sad about the loss and about her career ending,
and he is there for her. Where was Gino for
his players? He had left them alone to deal with
their disappointment. These young people, whose frontal lobes are still
developing are handling this loss better than this seventy two
year old man. So his assistants are cleaning up his mess.
(05:55):
His players are dealing with disappointment, left abandoned by him
out on the court. He gets the postgame presser at
this point, still seeing red. Now the postgame conversation is
about him, not South Carolina, not asy Fud's career. And
then the apology the next day, which at least was
better than nothing, did not include Don Staley's name. So
a full day later, he is still not willing to
(06:17):
acknowledge the disrespect that he had for her and is
unwilling to allow the statement to include specifically her. Instead
it just says South Carolina staff. So this is a
guy who's been winning for decades, has made Yukon the standard,
and in the past he's lost. He hasn't won every year,
but he's kept it together. And I wonder why he
couldn't handle this moment. And I have to look at
a pattern across his career of extremely successful and strong
(06:41):
women that he has not been able to have a
good working relationship with. Pat Summit, Muffett McGraw, Don Staley.
What is it about these powerful and successful women that
sets him off? Or why is it that all of
these women have had issues with Gino and GINO with them?
Something to think about. Now, let's look at Don. Don
(07:03):
had her moment. You know, I'm a Begino's ass. Then
she calmed down. She made it about her players, she
made it about the next game, the game, the game
of basketball. She kept bringing it back to it. I'm
going to focus on the task at hand. She had
back said quote, there are a lot of distractions that
are placed in your life, you are either going to
address them and let it overcome you, or you can
stick with the task at hand. I'm choosing to stick
to the task at hand. At some point everything is
(07:25):
going to be addressed.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Today. This weekend won't be one of them.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
And she said later, I feel like I owe basketball,
Like basketball has been incredible to me, to my family,
and I always feel like I have to repay it.
So there's don in the moment, self regulating, slowing things down,
getting herself out of the red after she says I
want to beat his ass and making it about her players,
making it about the moment, make it about the game,
making about focusing on what's next, and Gina was unable
(07:51):
to do that. I do not know if it was
specific to this game, this relationship, this rivalry. I do
not know if it's about South Carolina making the title
game four of the life last five years and him
feeling like Yukon's grasp on being the pre eminent program.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Is lost, that his time is starting to pass.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
I don't know if it's because at this point he
has achieved so much that that initial blow to his
ego of waiting three minutes for a handshake that never
came was too much to overcome. But either way, it's
something to consider for him and for Yukon going forward,
because I would hate for this moment and any future
moments that are like it, to tarnish his legacy and
(08:27):
what he's done for the sport for so long. There
is no excuse for him bailing on his team, there's
no excuse for his behavior, there's no excuse for him
not naming Don Staley in his apology. But he can
recover from this if moving forward he is able to
have the same respect for his opponents as they have
had for him for decades, or at least pretend to
(08:48):
when it comes down to the end of a game
and the handshake line and good game, good game, say
the few in your head.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
GINO.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
All right, let's get in my conversation with Subert and
Diana Trossians.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Let's get to today's guests joining me.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
One of the greatest supers of all time, a Natesmith
Hall of Fame or, four time WNBA champ, thirteen time
All Star, five time Olympic gold medalist, two time NCAA champion,
the only WNBA player to win titles in three different decades.
Host of a Touchmore and Birds Eye View, managing director
of the USA women's basketball team, a Seattle Storm co owner,
inaugural member of the NWSL Advisory Board, and she's been
(09:25):
memorialized in bronze.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
It's super bird.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
How good is Sue's statue too?
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Sue's like one of the only athletes to get a
killer statue.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
It looks like her.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
It's super sick joining her arguably the greatest of all time,
the leading scorer in WNBA history, the first basketball player
to win six Olympic Gold medals, a five time WNBA
scoring champion, fourteen time All WNBA selection, former League MVP,
led the Phoenix Mercury to three WNBA titles and led
(09:58):
the Yukon Huskies to straight national titles from two to four.
The courts at the Mercury practice facility bear her name
and likeness, and they took Aubrey Plaza's acl It's the
White Mama Dinah TROSSI, Well, I was gonna say, we'll
get loose with the little game, but Dinah's already loose
enough to be punking me up here, all right. The
(10:20):
game is called good good, or goodest It is very
similar to bench start cut. We definitely didn't steal that
game from Sue and Megan show.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Definitely not ours. We didn't steal it from everyone else exactly.
Ours is just a little friendlier. You don't have to
cut anyone.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Something is good, something is gooder, and something is goodest.
Speaker 5 (10:40):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Okay, So starting with you, Diana beating Tennessee, beating South Carolina,
beating Notre Dame.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
What was it? Good, gooder and goodest?
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (10:54):
So good beating South Carolina because that's really not a thing,
not lately not lea gooder beating Notre Dame, and the
goodest beating Tennessee.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
Sue, same question to you, I would say same, very generational, Okay, yes,
very generation Okay.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Sue, Seattle, New York City, stores, Connecticut.
Speaker 5 (11:22):
This one's pretty easy. We're gonna go good for the stores.
Connecticut gets a little harder here. I'm gonna go.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Gooder Seattle, goodest, New York. All right.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Diana beating Sue in basketball, beating Sue and bowling which
never happened, Beating Sue a number of Olympics played.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Oh, beating Sue in bowling? Good beating Sue basketball, gooder,
the most metal, the goodest.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
It's tough to the top two and anything really, so
it is She's always right.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
You got to lean into that one. Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
So I got to ask you about last night's games.
Those were wild and wildly low scoring.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Wildly low scoring.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
The game has really evolved.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Yeah, I'm so glad.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
There's so many like better players. The basketball is just
so much better now than it.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
The rims. Yeah, crack fifty one and it's like, give them,
give them the rims.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
A lot of people said the rims, they said the balls.
They were the practice.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
Trust me, just fine, Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
I don't want your excuses, but okay, So we got
UCLA beating Texas, we got South Carolina beating Yukon.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
What did you guys like, what were your takeaways.
Speaker 5 (12:50):
Coming into the funal four? I really thought this is
gonna be I really thought this.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Was Texas to lose. You're playing great. They seemed confident.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
It was like the defense they've always had that now
the offense is matched the defense. I really had that
feeling watching them, like, man, this is a team where
sometimes you're around a team it's like destiny, and that's
what that felt. Like, so I was really surprised to
see that second game play out the way it did.
And at the same time, the two teams that won
South Carolina Ucla like super I think resilient in both
(13:22):
the games, two teams that ended their seasons last year
in pretty like awful ways.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
They both got.
Speaker 5 (13:29):
Blown out in the final four, and I was wondering
if that was going to play a role, and I
think it did. I think they're just two teams that
are like, that's not happening again, and are willing to
do whatever it takes. So it was good to see
the games. They were a lot of scoring. But I'm
excited for the final.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Yeah, I think it's going.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
To be a great final. I think you probably at
the end of the day probably have the two best
teams in the finals. And it's for me being from
LA it's fun to see UCLA in a national championship
game when you think about when you think about the
history and Westwood obviously with John Wooden and and Myers,
and they've never been in a finals. It's kind of
incredible to think. And Sue said she thought Texas was
(14:07):
the team of destiny, and I think that's kind of
now shifted over to Ucla. Is it their year to
win it? And then, no matter what, South Carolina is
just always really hard to play against. They they know
who they are, they have an identity and they stick
with it. That's why they always seem so fine in
these really hard games. It's hard to bit against South
Carolina because they just know how to win those games.
And you know, Don does a great job when you
(14:29):
know things get tight, We know it very well. She
stays very loose, very calm, and you can tell that
with her teams where they never panic, they always know
what they're doing. So it's gonna be a great game.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Go Bruins, And certainly something to be said for like
the amount we visited.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
Them and now it's go break exactly. That was one
of your official visits, right it was.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
It was the school that I should have went to.
Speaker 5 (14:50):
Oh oh, I know, guys, I know, she said in
the nil Era. We had this whole conversation of their
day and the nil l Era, where are you going?
Speaker 4 (15:00):
I'm staying home? Why would I leave Ucla?
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Yukon loses once and she's like, I should have gone
to UCLA.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
Can't count on these kids anymore.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Yeah, But I mean, I do think those SEC battles
help you play tough teams all season. You get behind,
you fight back, you figure out how to behave That's
real tough every year for Yukon to not really face
fifty four straight wins and then get behind and get
real tight.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
And we watched that, which was hard.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Also South Carolina's defense, I underestimated dang from the beginning
of that game.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
I was like, Oh, they're in every single passing lane.
They're so long.
Speaker 5 (15:32):
They just have a lot of length they have, obviously,
starting with Raven, who's an exceptional defender, so even though
she doesn't have the same size, necessarily that's like the
head of the snake.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
And then everybody just has so much size, so much length.
You guys want to comment on Gino and the end
of the game.
Speaker 5 (15:46):
I had a touch more live today at five pm
at Orpheum Theater.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Sure do figures, figures. I can't scoop Sue's show. All right, fine,
I gotta ask.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
I can't make you answer. Let's talk about the players
in this final four.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
If you could pick any player from any of the
four teams, who would you most have liked to play with?
Speaker 5 (16:08):
I mean, I think it's Sarah strong like for me
as a point guard, a two man game with a
versatile post player like that who can kind of score
in all kinds of ways. Honestly, her defense this year
really impressed me. I feel like she took a step
in the direction, in the right direction. So I have
to go Sarah.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
I'll probably say Medisine Booker to play with someone on
the perimeter like her, so versatile, can get her shot
off at anytime her length. She's just so impressed with
the watch play. And obviously she didn't have the game
she wanted last night. But you know, some people have
tough final fours and come back even stronger, and I
think that's what Madison's gonna do. So I would have
(16:46):
loved to share the court with her. Yeah, I know who.
Speaker 5 (16:48):
I don't want to play against Rory Harmon as a
point guard.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
I'm like, oh my god, looks like a nightmare.
Speaker 5 (16:54):
Exhaust just never going away, Yeah, just constantly there.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
My favorite line from the tournament was Rory Harmon doesn't
pick you up, but the baseline she picks you up
at the airport.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
True, very true.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Like teams like just couldn't even inbound. Yeah, Okay, you
both played for Gino. What current women's college troops coach
from any other team would you like to play for?
Speaker 4 (17:14):
These are good questions today. Did you have someone write these? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Yeah, I always need a little bit of help. I'm
just getting started. Thanks for helping me make my name
if you like.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
I think I'd like to play for Jeff Walls.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
I played kind of sort of for him in a
USA Basketball practice once. I really enjoyed that experience, and
I kind of want to experience. Kim Milky, I'm like,
what's going on?
Speaker 4 (17:34):
I was just gonna say, kid, I kind of want to.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Just like, what, like, what's it really like at practice?
Speaker 4 (17:40):
That was not the answer.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
I was expecting. What do you expect? I don't know,
not Kim Moulky. I was gonna say, Kim Ulky like,
I'm kind of curious.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
I would love because, you know, we see her from
the outside and it seems like a lot, but her
players love her exactly. They play hard for, they back
everything for, which is such an interesting dynamic. So there
must be some things behind the scenes that she just
connects with her players on a different level, and it'd
be you know, it'd be fun to you know, your
wardrobe for a whole year.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Yeah, for curiosity's sake, for sure, to really get why
she has that relationship with her players, because they are
die hard for her. Most of them, It's accurate, most
of them. Okay, so many great Yukon teams, just some
of them.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Have been able to go undefeated.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
What is the difference between a great team and one
that can go undefeated for a whole season?
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Never have a bad day?
Speaker 4 (18:29):
Well, no, you have a bad day and you still win.
That's the difference day. You know, the year we went
undefeated into those two we played average in your ten
tech and we were down the whole game. That's a
really hard place to play at and you know, and
there was we'll wear you down like six seven with
a minute and a half, six seven may And that's
the difference. When you are having a bad night collectively
(18:50):
as a group, can you pull yourself out of that hole?
And you know, I think that's the difference.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
Best Yukon team of all time?
Speaker 4 (18:57):
Oh two oh two?
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Okay, that was the we're gonna pick anyone else?
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Oh too?
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Okay, who do you think?
Speaker 4 (19:05):
I mean?
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Obviously I'm not gonna say anything different with you two
sitting right in front of me too.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
We're not doing this next year?
Speaker 5 (19:10):
Yeah, I know, I feel like I feel like Stuwie Morgan,
Mariah Jefferson would have something to say about it.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
We're like eight first round picks.
Speaker 5 (19:18):
Maybe May and Tina Renee Montgomery might have something to
say about it, but we're going two over here.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
What's your favorite memory from a Final four suit? Off
the court, A team dinner, a celebration, band guy.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Fan guy. That's all you need to know, No, we
need to know more on that's all.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
That means nothing to us.
Speaker 5 (19:38):
Actually, one of my favorite memories was on the way
to the Final four my senior year d sophomore year.
We play in Milwaukee is our regional and ray Allen
was still on the Bucks and so obviously ray Allen's
are you congrad And so after one of the games
or one of the in between days, he took us
all out to dinner, like close down a restaurant. You know,
you know, I'm like twenty one, your nineteen or so,
(20:01):
and so that was like a special experience to hang
out with ray Allen. He gave all of us a
sign jersey, So it's definitely one of my favorite memories.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Yeah, that was great.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
What about the van guy?
Speaker 4 (20:10):
D Oh, that's two's story. I don't want to steal
it for tonight.
Speaker 5 (20:13):
Let's hear it too. We just yukon women's basketball loves
a ban guy. That's all you need to know, all right.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
We got Toronto and Portland entering the chat this season.
We now have Houston coming back next year from Connecticut,
and we've got three more in the coming years in Cleveland, Philly,
and Detroit. Outside of those teams, what city would you
pick for the next expansion team if you got to choose,
Probably Nashville.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
I would love to see a Boston team. I think
Boston obviously, with the Connecticut connection and just the way
the East Coast loves basketball. It's a whole different level
of love for the game. And you know, it'd be
kind of cool to see that Boston LA rivalry in
the WNBA.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Yeah, And I think with Connecticut leaving that leaves a
hole there that that market.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
What do you make of that?
Speaker 1 (21:03):
I'm so excited to reinvigorate conversation about the comets, about
players that in part I think don't get their full
due because we don't.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Have them back on the court before games.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
We don't have events around the Comets where they can
flash back to their championship dynasty. So we'll have that again,
but it's coming at the expense of a whole franchise's history.
This happened in the NBA, right, Sue, You know it
all too well with Seattle. So how are you processing
this news?
Speaker 5 (21:33):
Yeah, I think you're nailing it. It's a little bit
of sadness. You know, the Connecticut Son came into the
league my second season and they essentially, for lack of
a better saved the Orlando miracle. This is a team
that was going out. Connecticut came in, Mohegan Sun came
in and save that franchise and it went on. I mean,
poor Connecticut's Son, but they got to the finals, like
(21:55):
almost immediately. By year two they're in the finals and
then obviously reached the finals. Above bunch of times had
a ton of success for us. Every time we went back,
you know, it was going home in a sense. So
there's there's sadness there, there's history. There's sadness that's going
to be lost. But to your point, again, Houston's back
and the comments are back, and it's going to be
amazing to walk into that arena and see their banners. Right,
(22:18):
this is this is a franchise that needs to be celebrated.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
So it's just one of those things where it's a
both and and the Nashville answer.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Did y'all hear about the bid for the team that
was going to be the Summit as in Pat Summit.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
That's such that branding alone needs to happen.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
That's cool.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Yeah, Okay, NWSL the National Women's Soccer League, the other
major pro women's league. There's a bunch of them up
and coming, but WNB and NWSL are the two big ones.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
They abolished the draft. Team happens different.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Okay, well, just let me finish the question soon before
you answer it. Jeez, they abolished the draft, DIANAUS. So
every team now has to fight for each player they sign.
They have to prove that their culture, their facilities, they're housing,
they're coaching, everything is something that a player would want
to select and choose.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
Do you think that the w should look into that?
Speaker 4 (23:10):
No?
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Why not? I have a take, So this is my take.
Speaker 5 (23:14):
I actually think it's the arms race is a nice
little aspect, and I do think that exists in the
WNBA all beat a little bit later in a player's career,
but it does exist in free agency. I think we're
going to start seeing teams lean into that even more.
Even on the NBA side that has the billions. The
teams separate themselves by all those extra things. So I
think that part is great. I'm not talking about that part.
(23:36):
I think the game of basketball, because there's only five
on the court compared to eleven on a soccer field,
it's too fragile to have any top like Asia Wilson
coming out of college and just gets to pick what
team she goes to. I just don't know that the
game of basketball itself can support having the best players
get to decide right out the gate and form maybe
(23:57):
super teams.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Especially because it's just the five players on a court,
it's a lot easier to do.
Speaker 5 (24:02):
One impacts five more than one impacts eleven in soccer,
and just the game itself.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
So that's where I actually like the draft.
Speaker 5 (24:09):
I think it's an event that you can sell and
it's exciting, so I want to keep it for that
reason also, and then I'll pass it over here.
Speaker 4 (24:16):
I mean, I do like the survival of the fittest
of European Soccer. In football, I think there is something
about that. There is something about the best teams having
the most money, and it's a model that's worked for
years and years and years, so I think for soccer
to go to it, it's actually a great idea, you know.
I think the cream always rises to the top, and
(24:38):
then there's the upward mobility of when you are younger
and you are older, you can actually keep going up
and down the ladder of teams, which I think soccer
does pretty well. And I do like that, Sue, I
do like it.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
I think just parodies easier in soccer. Yes, I agree, I.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
Mean the only other thing off, Yes, because Chelsea doesn't
win it every year.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Yeah, women are men men, Yeah, and women now the
women this year are lac and talent anyway. One thing
I do want to point out that I think is
interesting in the current times that I think the NWSL
now no longer has to deal with is there are
very different rights across the country for women, and as
a woman, I think there is an added level of
(25:18):
being drafted to a state where you do not have
bodily autonomy and what that means for your personal decision making.
Even you know, by accident, or you go in to
find out if something's going on and you find out
you're pregnant or otherwise, and that, to me, it's a
different level in women's sports that has to be accounted for,
and leagues have to be really on top of how
(25:40):
they're preparing and taking care of players. If they're getting
drafted to places where they don't feel safe, that.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
Is a give it a clap. That's a great point.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
That's so true.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
We got to take a break more with Sue and
Diana right after this, all right, So another thing that's
very different from when y'all played is the off season options.
We talked about this a little last year, and now
there's even more. We've got unrivaled AU Pro Basketball, Project
(26:12):
B and then all the overseas options. Sue, you and
Megan had a great conversation about this on your podcast,
and one of the things I think you've very wisely
pointed out is that, yes, you can make a lot
of money on something like a Project B, but how
does that impact your legacy in America, your sponsorships and
brands in America. As they've continued to roll out more
(26:32):
information about that, have you felt any differently about that
as an option or how do you see the landscape now?
Speaker 5 (26:38):
I don't think I have any new information. I think
we're all kind of waiting to see what Project B
is going to be like. But I think the best
part about having options, and I've always felt this way
now there's just more options, is you kind of get
to curate the career you want, You get to build
what you want, and that's the beauty of it. And
let's be honest, having all these options has allowed all
(27:00):
these players to.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Have a ton of leverage, and that's what's different.
Speaker 5 (27:03):
I mean, you look at the WNBACBA negotiation that is
so different from any men's league we've ever had or
ever experienced. In their negotiations, they had the ability to
use leverage from other leagues. So the beauty of it
is it's just going to keep growing, get better. But no,
I don't have much different to say. I do still
think like, if I'm choosing, I'm definitely thinking about my
(27:23):
legacy in the US.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
What about you DT, Yeah, I mean, the more options
that play, the better. Right when we grew up, when
we were in in the WNBA was just WBA or overseas,
we didn't have the options or the opportunities that they
have now. And it's really amazing to watch how we've
come so far in such little time. Really, and I
mean you just mentioned three other leagues that were formed
(27:46):
in the last two three years. That's incredible. And that's
the appetite of you guys as fans wanting to see
us year round here in the US too, which is
always the goal. You want to be home, you want
to be with your family, you want to be around
the fans here in the US. You want to be
able to make you know your mark on and off
the court here in the US. And the more opportunity
we have, the better for everyone. And you see that
(28:07):
all across the board.
Speaker 5 (28:08):
Okay, you're getting offered the same amount of money from
Project be and Unrivaled.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Which one are you choosing?
Speaker 4 (28:13):
Unrivaled? I'm not an idiot.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
I was just curious.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Well, yeah, I mean I think also y'all have some
fascinating stories about playing abroad, both in positive ways and
really scary and upsetting and deeply you know, long lasting
impacts of your time in Russia. And I wonder what
some of the top players who are now agreeing to
play in Project BE where a lot of the places
(28:37):
haven't yet been named and established, if you have any
advice for them, because I think, especially in this particularly
volatile time, it's a bit riskier to go play in
China and other places, Dubai and otherwise.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
Yeah, I mean, we.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
Live in an ever changing world and things of that caliber.
Those events can just shift the way your career happens
really quickly, and you know soon. I played in r
for a long time and at the beginning things seem
to be pretty normal for the most part, and the
longer we stayed there, you can see the political landscape
shift and change, and the attitude towards us being foreigners.
(29:15):
It wasn't overt but you can feel it. And that's
why I say, if there's more opportunity to play here,
players will take advantage of that, where they don't have
to go to Russia, they don't have to go to China,
Project B wherever the hell they're going to be, which
I mean all over all over, of course. And yeah,
there is also the safety of you and your family.
(29:36):
You want to feel safe, and that's what all these
opportunities are giving us.
Speaker 5 (29:39):
You talk about getting drafted to a state that doesn't
support women's rights. There's some countries obviously that's where it's
even worse. Save to going overseas is so interesting because
I'm so thankful for it. I feel like it's shaped
me as a person, like totally out of your comfort zone.
And then also player right now. If I was a
player right now, no, I'd rather stay home.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
And America is in a different position globally than before
as well, which does impact your decision making.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
Diana was just remembering watching your documentary.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
You had a deeply scary incident abroad as a child,
and then you're out in Russia and the owner of
your team gets murdered. I mean, you've really been through
a lot in terms of like safety and wanting to
be somewhere where you feel safe.
Speaker 4 (30:19):
Well, I think you go through those moments when you
feel like you have no other choice. And you know
at the time, if it wasn't going overseas, well, you
didn't play basketball for eight months and you didn't get
paid either. And you know, we all know what the
WNBA salaries were at the beginning of our careers. That
wasn't sustainable in so many ways. If you wanted to
be the best player in the world. If you wanted
to be, you know, an elite athlete, you just didn't
(30:39):
have the funds, you know, to not only get a trainer,
food wise, all these things, nutrition, strength and conditioning. So
that was really our only option, and we were willing
to put our lives, you know, in the middle of that,
to play basketball and pursue our careers.
Speaker 5 (30:55):
Can you believe Diana made her poor sister leave Argentina?
Speaker 3 (31:00):
Wasn't that just so sad? Did you not feel for Jessica?
Speaker 4 (31:03):
Just love?
Speaker 5 (31:04):
I don't mean to steal your show. We don't have
the BTS show this year. I'm trying to get my
I appreciate here like my co host. You're like, Dana,
what about this?
Speaker 4 (31:11):
Yeah? I heard they replaced it with a better show, though.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
No comment, Sue. You're so busy. I mentioned like half
of your many jobs in your intro. How is it that?
Speaker 4 (31:23):
So many jobs?
Speaker 3 (31:24):
So many jobs? Meanwhile, Dan over here, I'm like, what
are you up to?
Speaker 4 (31:28):
We'll get to that, but.
Speaker 5 (31:31):
So many jobs molding the minds of two young ones?
Speaker 3 (31:34):
Yes, well that's a that's a big job. She's killing it.
How do you balance owner?
Speaker 1 (31:41):
Former player media member, advisor president of basketball.
Speaker 5 (31:47):
Yes, I'm not the president bad Managing director of Duty.
Lindsay Whalen calls me Director Bird. It's like my favorite
thing ever. Every time she sees me, Director Bird, I love.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
To see you.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Lindsay Whalen told me yesterday that for whatever reason, whatever
she talks about Sarah Strong, she accidentally says Sarah Spain.
So she's like, we're in all of our scouting meanings.
I'm like, Sarah Spain's killing it, and everyone's like, what,
I like it.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
Yeah, I came first first. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (32:13):
No, Yeah, it's definitely a balance. You definitely have to.
You know, when you're focused on one thing, keep it there.
When you focus on another, keep it there. But I
think that's what has me uniquely positioned, or I should
say I think my playing career and who I was
as a player, what I experience as a player, what
I expose myself to, it does have me uniquely positioned
to be able to fulfill these roles. And I think
(32:33):
what's interesting is I think some people think some of
those rules I'm I'm like, as as far as ownership
goes with a storm, I'm very much a silent owner.
I'm not in the coaches meetings. I'm not in the
free agency meetings, so it's not quite as much as
you might think. But at the same time, I do
think my playing career gave me a unique perspective that
I'm able to apply to all these jobs. And there
(32:54):
might be more jobs coming, guys. I can't promise more job.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
That's a tease that dry yet on whatever those new
jobs are. The ink dry on the contracts.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
Perhaps to do a touch more later today to find
out what the hell she's talking about. Great, great, great,
I want to talk to us, say really quick, because
what a cool and fascinating time. Everyone is paying attention
to that roster more than in a long time, because
it was so tight at the last Olympics, and because
(33:27):
you've got this new young talent that everyone's so fired
up to see the young Terre, the young internt as
they call themselves.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
And also there's so much enthusiasm.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
We're watching these like FEBA games on national television when
they've already qualified. They're meaningless, but we want to see
Page and Caitlin and everyone and Angel playing together.
Speaker 3 (33:44):
How tough is your job right now?
Speaker 1 (33:46):
You're gonna have to whittle down this roster and turn
away some exceedingly talented people.
Speaker 3 (33:51):
Yeah, it's not easy. It's not easy.
Speaker 5 (33:53):
I think the best part is just the excitement, the
willingness that all the players. We've had a couple of
camps at a couple of different times. You mentioned we
went to Puerto Rico for a qualifying tournament, and you know,
sometimes some players can't come because of prior commitments. Sadly,
sometimes there's injuries. But every single player that has showed up,
no matter who they are, what their experience level is,
(34:15):
has been so excited to be there. And to me, yes,
there's going to come a day where I have to
make tough decisions, but as long as that is still
the culture of USA basketball, we can live with it
because it means we're going to take twelve people who
want to represent their country, who want to continue a legacy.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
It's a big job for you too, to sort of
dispel the long held rumors that there's bias in selection.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
And that's a tough one because of your background.
Speaker 5 (34:37):
Yes and no, I mean I really where I land
with this is the way I played the game had
zero bias in it. I'm like, oh, you're shooting well
here you go, or you're playing well, here you go.
It's how I approach things, and I think given my
USA basketball experience especially or specifically, I know what makes
teams work in that environment, and that's really going.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
To be my only bias.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Do you have a deadline for when you have to
actually set that final roster like ish, you know, we leave.
Speaker 3 (35:06):
I don't know the exact date.
Speaker 5 (35:07):
Let's call it September first, loosely, because that's when the
tournament starts, is early September, and you want to give
players like a little bit.
Speaker 3 (35:13):
Of a heads up.
Speaker 5 (35:13):
You don't want to tell them the day before. So
we're still figuring that out.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
This is FEBA World Cup in Germany and September.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
It's going to be very interesting for the WNBA to
continue figuring out its footprint while players are trying to play.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
In all changing the footprints changing Yeah for FOBA, Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
Yeah, Diana, I want to share a couple of photos
with you.
Speaker 4 (35:32):
Last year.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
We talked about how we were introducing the Diana Tarassi
bench in Door County, Wisconsin, and Diana said why Door County,
and I reminded her of the time she allegedly broke
a door when the Phoenix Mercury lost to the Chicago
Sky and the WNBA Finals. The Sky ended up bringing
that door on stage at their Grand Park Championship zerialwag
(35:57):
So in honor of Diana's retirement. The bench for d Tassi,
who always hated doors. Allegedly, it's in a beautiful spot.
There's a goat named Nacho. Are you activating? Get a
little hip action?
Speaker 4 (36:12):
Is that?
Speaker 1 (36:13):
Does look like I've got you doing a little bit
of pet ahead of the bench getting a That goat
was named Nacho because we felt it was necessary for
there to be a goat there. Thank you, by the
way for signing that jersey the goat the goat worn jersey.
Someone sent it to you to sign for me, so
I appreciate that. Do you have any plans to get
to Whitefish Dunes State Park in Wisconsin anytime soon?
Speaker 4 (36:35):
Actually for spring break next year? Yeah, there's uh from Phoenix.
I think there's a five way city to get there. Yeah,
what a great gesture, thinks sir. Yeah, I've had I've
you know, Sue gave me a lot of gifts last
year during the show.
Speaker 3 (36:51):
Do you still have those?
Speaker 4 (36:52):
I still thank you? Put them?
Speaker 3 (36:54):
What was your favorite gift.
Speaker 4 (36:57):
The crown was nice, The coffee mug was dope, you know,
because I love coffee, so that was a nice gesture.
But this, this just blows my mind.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
The coffee bunks say like, not my problem.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
And my favorite thing is how confused people are that
work there, because first we announced it and then I'm like,
all right, so this will be up soon, and they're like, no,
we have one guy who makes the benches and this
one calls it. So it takes a while to whittle.
And then I to schedule when I could get up
there and be there for the you know, and then
(37:26):
they had to bolt it in because they were worried
it would get stolen. So people, I've been seeing these
dispatches from the internet where people stop by and ask
about it and the people inside are like, we're not
really sure it's we're a basketball player. I think she
once said that she like didn't believe in obstacles like doors,
and I'm like, the legend grows. I think I might
(37:47):
need to send him like a one sheet, like a
little plaque.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
This is why this is a little black a little
I should a.
Speaker 4 (37:52):
Little bronze plaque. Do it? Okay?
Speaker 3 (37:55):
Yes, I'll be following up with your people. Hand delivered. Yes,
you know, she hits a broad station. You get a
little black black.
Speaker 4 (38:04):
You can't have it all in life. I always say,
you can't have it right. That's right, you can't have
it all.
Speaker 3 (38:09):
How has retirement been since we spoke last year.
Speaker 4 (38:11):
It's been wonderful. You know, we were talking about being busy.
I thought once you retired, you know, I just wake
up at nine thirty and have a cup of coffee.
But when you have two little kids, that's just not
the case. So it's been wonderful to spend a lot
of time with Penny and the kids and just do
a lot of the everyday things that I was so
absent for for a long time because it was travel
(38:33):
or just obsessed with working out and being on the court.
So you know how that goes. The last couple of years.
You just try to do everything you can to be
on the court in the best shape as possible, and
that takes up a lot of your not only your
physical physical time, but your mental time too. And I
have not missed that mental stress that I had about
trying to win games, trying to get everyone on the
(38:53):
same page. So It's been really nice to be outside
of that basketball bubble in a lot of ways. And
there are things that I missed right this week and
really makes me appreciate not only my w NBA years NCAA,
but being around the basketball culture which is so tight
and you know, we really root each other on so much.
So it's been nice to see a lot of people
I haven't seen a long time.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
I got a chance on Thursday night. I think it
was who knows what data is to go to an
event at the performance Center to be on the court
that bears your name and likeness.
Speaker 3 (39:26):
Are you wanting to get involved with the Mercury or
with basketball here in your hometown?
Speaker 4 (39:31):
Yeah, I have some jobs lined up myself.
Speaker 3 (39:36):
Is the ink dry on the contracts?
Speaker 4 (39:39):
I don't even think it's written up yet, but yeah,
I have some things in the works.
Speaker 3 (39:45):
You do, okay, you got a better idea? You didn't
really past year.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
You were like, I just want to let life come
to me and figure out what I want.
Speaker 4 (39:51):
Yeah. I think once you take a little time off,
you understand the things you don't want to do. And
that's advice you gave me, and which was, you know,
probably the best advice you ever gave me is when
you take time way you understand the things that you
don't want to do, and you know, those things become
very clear that you want to be involved with. So
there's some things that, like Su said, those twenty years
of playing basketball have made me really appreciate. So we'll
(40:13):
see where he goes.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
I do think that it's very hard to be over
committed for your whole life and really get an idea
of what you like and you take a break and
you're suddenly like, oh wow, I really miss that and
I do not miss that at all, and that really helps.
Speaker 4 (40:27):
Like, yeah, I mean, you have to relearn yourself in
so many ways because basketball it just was our identity
and everything we did. So but you know what I've
learned is when you step away from the game and
you've taken every opportunity and you really really really throw
yourself into it, when you step away, you have no regrets,
no regrets. That's why you got that tattoo on your
(40:48):
lower back.
Speaker 3 (40:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
Okay, last fun question because I saw Sue out in
Milan and I didn't see you personally, but I saw
you on some on some skates.
Speaker 3 (40:59):
Oh that wasn't in Milan, Oh okay, but I was
on some skates. Wherever you were, you were on some
figure skates. You were pulling it off. Yeah, thanks, not bad, right.
I want to know.
Speaker 1 (41:08):
If you were to pursue an Olympic sport other than
basketball winter winter, what would you have the best shot
at medaling and in your prime?
Speaker 3 (41:18):
Not now, everyone has to say curling now, because.
Speaker 5 (41:23):
Yeah, I mean, I think you would have to be hockey.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
Well, something I didn't realize. I didn't know.
Speaker 5 (41:33):
There's only like less than a handful of team sports
at the Olympics. Even yeah, I went through Olympics and
even some of the team sports. It's kind of like
how track is a team sport in a sense, like
there's the individual of it, but then as a team,
your score gets put together, YadA, YadA. So in terms
of like being on a team, being with others, there's
only like two sports, and hockey's one of them.
Speaker 3 (41:53):
And I feel like I'm a team sport person. I'm
not an individual sport person. I know this through and
through yeared out. So hockey i'd like to see. I'd
like to see that. Are you go on skates? You
looked pretty good. I'm actually pretty good.
Speaker 5 (42:06):
Yeah, you know, I had to play the part a
little bit, although figure skating way harder than that. And
then hot topicks. Oh top it's a different topick got me.
I got loose with it one time.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Yeah, out the cutting edge for the old seer.
Speaker 4 (42:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (42:19):
My elbow is still mushy. You know when you get
a bushy ebo. Yeah, still mushy. Shout out Terra Lepinski,
though she's a great teacher.
Speaker 4 (42:25):
Yeah, dt, I've never thought about it. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (42:29):
Long distance skiing, sure, cross country skiing.
Speaker 4 (42:33):
Yeah, oh, is that what it's called.
Speaker 1 (42:34):
Yeah, clearly you've never thought about it or watched it.
Speaker 4 (42:39):
That one.
Speaker 3 (42:41):
That one's that's like distance running.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
Like that's like your lungs are burning for half of
the time you're out there and you're gutting through it.
Speaker 4 (42:49):
Let me rethink this. Yeah, curling, Okay, we're back to curling.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (42:56):
These two are the absolute best.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
Huge round of applause for them, And if you want
Sue to put anything on the record, go check out
a touch more later today.
Speaker 4 (43:07):
Thank you so much, Thanks Sarah, Thank you, Sarah.
Speaker 1 (43:12):
Thanks again to Sue and Dinah for taking the time,
especially amid such a busy tournament weekend they had so
many different obligations. Also, thanks to Capital One for giving
me another opportunity to sit down with two of the best.
We have to take another break when we return. A
Grandpa almost made me cry.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
Welcome back, Slices.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
We always love to hear from you, so hit us
up on email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or
leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two four
fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review.
It's easy watch meeting Slices rating ten out of ten
Ear to ear grins review. One of my favorite things
about hitting the road for big women's sporting events is
(43:57):
getting to meet Slices and talking to fellow in sports fans.
I loved all the folks who came out to the
live show on Saturday and came to the meet and
greet after the people who stopped me on the streets.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
In it the game to talk about this show.
Speaker 1 (44:09):
You know, this show is what it is because of
all of you, this great community that we've somehow managed
to build in less than two years, and we're so
grateful that you care so much about it. We love
the feedback that you give us. We love hearing that
you listen to it every day and start your day
with it. I was in the meet and greet and
this grandpa introduced me to his little granddaughter and he said,
one day, I hope she grows up to be just
(44:30):
like you. This man almost made me cry all and
I had to take a bunch more pictures and meet people.
Speaker 2 (44:35):
So I was like, no crying, no crying, no crying, but.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
Just it's really meaningful to get to meet all of you,
and we really do appreciate you all so much.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
So thanks.
Speaker 1 (44:44):
Now it's your turn, great and review. Thanks for listening.
See you tomorrow. Good Game, UCLA, Good Games, Sue and Diana,
you desert air. My throat feels like I swallowed a cactus.
Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
(45:05):
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzi and Bianca Hillier.
Speaker 2 (45:14):
Our executive producers.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
Are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Emily Rutter, Lucy Jones, Britney Martinez and
Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from Avery LOFTUS and I'm Your
Host Sarah Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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