August 26, 2025 • 29 mins
The gang’s all here! Big Citrus gathers to discuss the WNBA MVP race, including how voting works, whether “valuable” is the same as “best,” and how statistics, availability and vibes all play a role in which stars are considered MVP-caliber. Plus, a Canadian golfer wins on home soil, two former foes become forever friends, and how did we forget the Sky is falling?
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Read The Athletic’s interview with Morgan Gautrat here
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Read Lou Orlando's story for SI about how Napheesa Collier has to fend off A'ja Wilson here
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Read Shane Jackson's story for WNBA.com about the MVP odds here
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Leave us a voicemail at 872-204-5070 or send us a note at goodgame@wondermedianetwork.com
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Follow Sarah on social! Bluesky: @sarahspain.com Instagram: @Spain2323
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we just
know all the young hoopers out there are practicing a
spin in fades so they can pull off a buzzer
beater like neco Ogumakay. It's Tuesday, August twenty sixth. Then
on today's show, Big Citrus is jumping on to discuss
the state of the WNBA MVP race, the behind the
scenes of how the voting process works, and how the
term MVP is even defined. Plus winning on your Home
(00:24):
green a thirty point return. How could we have forgotten
that the sky is falling? It's all coming up right
after this welcome back slicays, here's what you need to
know today. Let's start with the WNBA and that aforementioned
buzzer beater. Neko ogum Makay led the Seattle Storm to
(00:46):
an eighty four eighty two win over the Washington Mystic
Sunday Night, scoring thirty points, including a career high six
three pointers and that last second clutch jumper to seal
the win. French phenom Dominique Malonga also had a stellar night,
coming off the bench to put up her fourth double
double of the season. The win was Seattle's fourth in
its last five games, a nice bounce back after they'd
(01:06):
suffered a six game skid. Continuing this hot streak could
be crucial for the seventh place Storm heading into the
final stretch of the regular season. Meantime, the Mystics are
sitting in tenth after losing four straight and seven of
their last ten. More WNBA Sunday night also saw the
highly anticipated return of the Minnesota Lynx's defeast A Collier,
who had been out since August second, missing seven games
(01:28):
with an ankle injury. Collier wasted no time in her
return to the court, picking up her MVP campaign season
with an eleven of sixteen shooting night for thirty two
points plus nine rebounds to lead the Links to a
ninety seven to eighty four winner for the Indiana Fever.
We'll have plenty more to say on her return and
the other WNBA MVP contenders later in the show. One
(01:49):
final w highlight, this one involving the newest member of
the Good Game Hall of Fame, Page Beckers, and perhaps
that honor we gave Beckers Jinxter because she saw one
of her streaks and shortly after we recorded yesterday's episode,
during the Dallas Wings ninety to eighty one loss to
the Golden State Valkyrie. Sunday, Becker scored just nine points,
marking the first game of her pro career that she
(02:09):
didn't score in double digits. Up until now, Beckers had
recorded at least ten or more points in her first
thirty games as a pro, including, of course, last week's
rookie record forty four point contest. Still, becker streak ranks
pretty high in WNBA history. Her thirty straight games marked
the fourth longest stretch of double digit points to start
a WNBA career, behind only Candae Parker with thirty two straight,
(02:32):
Asia Wilson with thirty seven, and Cynthia Cooper with ninety two. Yes,
Cynthia Cooper recorded double digit points for ninety two straight games,
a streak that lasted from her WNBA debut in nineteen
ninety seven until two thousand now. As we mentioned yesterday's show,
Cooper already had a lot of pro basketball experience by
the time she made her WNBA debut in the league's
(02:54):
inaugural season, but those ninety two games still marked the
longest double digit streak of all WNBA Pais players.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Regardless of years of experience. The great.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Simone Augustus is number two on that version of the list,
having recorded eighty eight straight double digit games with the
Minnesota Lynx from six to eight. So while Becker's maybe
back to zero with the start of a career streak,
we do have a feeling she'll start a new streak
very soon.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
To golf.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
The LPGA's Canadian Women's Open wrapped up on Sunday in Ontario,
with Canadian player Brooke Henderson winning her first victory on
tour in more than two and a half years. Henderson
took the win by defeating Minji Lee by one stroke.
Henderson has won fourteen times in her LPGA career, but
her last win came back in January of twenty twenty three.
She said after the tournament, quote, this year has not
(03:38):
gone very well up to this point, and it just
feels like this was meant to be. She added, Honestly,
I'm surprised I'm not crying right now because it just
means so much.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
End quote. There's nothing like winning at home to hockey.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
The pwatails Minnesota Frost has announced the hiring of Brienna
Decker as an assistant coach to ken Clee. Decker a
three time Olympic medalist for Team USA, officially retired in
twenty twenty three following a devastating leg injury at the
twenty twenty two Beijing Winter Games. Earlier this summer, she
was named the Hockey Hall of Fame's Class of twenty
twenty five and will be officially.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Inducted in November.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
She spent the last few years as an assistant coach
with both Team USA's U eighteen team and at famed
hockey prep school shatt At Saint Mary's. In a statement,
Decker said, quote, it's inspiring to be part of a
league that sets the standard for women's hockey and a
team that has been at the top of the league
two years in a row. I'm excited for what's ahead
and proud to contribute to a culture of excellence.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Finally, some NWSL news, Sophia Fuerta is now the all
time assists leader in the NWSL, moving into first with
her thirty second career assist, a dish to Jordan Heidema
in the Seattle Rains won one draw with the Houston
Dash on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
And some more soccer.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
The Orlando Pride announced Monday that the team is loaning
two time World Cup winner Morgan Gatraw to Newcastle United
through the end of twenty twenty five. As part of
the same release, Gatraw, a key member of the Pride
Shield and Championship wins last season, announced her retirement from
the NWSL. In an interview with The Athletic, which we'll
link to in the show notes, Gatra said she's excited
for the challenge that will come with joining a new
(05:06):
team as Newcastle looks to get promoted from the second
tier of the Women's Super League.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
I've always loved joining places that I could help make
better and where I could leave a lasting impact, and
this is going to be no different hopefully end quote.
All right, Selica's it's time to introduce a new segment called.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
God, Damn It, freaking Shit Mother for Blind.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
You may recall that in yesterday's episode, I started daydreaming
about how easy Fud might end up with the Dallas
Wings given their brutal record this year, or maybe the
Wings might select Lauren Betts, leaving Asy available for my
Chicago Sky, also not doing great this year.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Well.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Shout out to Slice Alexa for bringing me back down
to earth hard. She wrote, quote, I regret to inform
you that the Links own Chicago's twenty twenty six first
round pick. I know it's absolutely ridiculous, but with an
absolutely stacked draft class, I'm sure there will be plenty
of depth in the first round. But no way Aisy
is dropping that big fan of the show so quick.
(06:01):
Thank you for all you do and for the great
lengths you go to ensuring the values of the show.
A favorite episode of mine is the Marina Maybrey interview. Sincerely,
a longtime Dallas Wings fan who is hoping for Lauren
Betts over Asy because our front court situation is dire.
I am loyal till death to our current shooting guard.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
All up to.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Paisy, but not being an a Rique fan is homophobic,
and we all know love stories are better with a
little tension and angst.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Imagine a Paisy in the finals on different teams. End quote.
You know what, Alexa, I swear.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
I am preventing my brain from acknowledging the truth about
that draft pick.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
If y'all are blocking it out or never knew about it,
here's a refresher.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Last season, the Sky made a deal with the Links
to acquire the number seven overall pick in the twenty
twenty four draft in exchange for the number eight overall pick,
a second round pick in twenty twenty five, and a
first round pick swap in twenty twenty six. Then this
year they made a trade to acquire the number eleven
pick in the twenty twenty five draft, ceding the rights
to that twenty twenty six pickswap instead giving Minnesota outright
(06:59):
ownership of their first rounder next year. This guy used
all those moves to grab Angel Rees at seven in
twenty twenty four and Hailey Benlitth at eleven in twenty
twenty five. Good moves, but despite talent on the roster,
they're still near the bottom of the standings, and now
the links are poised to benefit. No matter how many
times I reminded of this, I still let myself daydream
(07:19):
about this shitburger of a season paying off in the
form of an exciting young star joining my team at
fixing everything.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Instead the rich get richer. Damn, damn, damn. We got
to take a quick break. When we come back, it's
time for Big.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Citrus Welcome back slices.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
It's time to reconvene. Big Citrus, get in here.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Alex and meish, what's up, Hey, y Let's talk some
WNBA MVP, and let's start with what the hell even
is at MVP?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Because I feel like this is.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
The problem that we have in every sport anytime an
MVP conversation comes up. Is it the best player on
the best team. Is it the player that means the
most to their team? Is it the best player on
the best team who also wasn't recently named the MVP
because we like to switch the rules around and tell
you that you can't win it over and over to
even if you deserve it, Like, what the hell is
even an MVP?
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Mache Oh well, that's t okay, Clockett. That's t For
me personally, I've gravitated towards a combination of, like what
you just said, a player that a team would absolutely
fall apart without and a player who's just got the
most unbelievable stats. I think if you try to do
it one way, you're always going to run into an
(08:36):
issue where two people are well qualified because of the
same things.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
So for me, it's helpful to have two tiers.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Yeah, I mean, think about the name of the award
most valuable player, literally the most valuable player to any
particular team, and the more stat heavy people. I'm not
one of those people, but they can do the stats
on what makes a player valuable, like plus minus and
offensive rating and defensive rating and all that, and that
stuff matters. But I hear a lot of like the
best player on the best team approach, and I hear
(09:05):
a lot of the person who would be most valuable
to any team you place them on, and those are
hard for me. Those are hard for me. I don't
know if those agree with my logic. And at the
same time, it's really difficult because I feel like no
matter what approach you take, there's always going to be
some disagreement in discussion, Like we just have to concede
that point at the beginning.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Alex, do you use a different tier or set of
tiers to decide? Well.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
It's so funny because as I was preparing for this conversation,
I was reminiscing back on high school and my field
hockey coach didn't believe in MVP awards, and so every year,
at like the annual False School Sports Assembly, when they
would award all the MVP trophies, it would go to
the field hockey team like literally just the team as
a whole, and so like in the school auditorium there
(09:50):
were just all these plaques where a year after year
the field hockey MVP was just the team and.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
As a multi time field hockey MVP, that would have
pissed me the.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Hell off exactly because if you did the work, if
you did the work, you beout to give me my ward,
give me my war.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
Was the most valuable as somebody that was never close
to being named MVPs like this seems right.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Yeah, I mean me, I agree with what you said.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
I do think for me, m VP has lost its
semantical meaning.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Semantical a word.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
It's a weird thing to ask, I know, semantics, but
semantical anyway, it has lost its meaning to me in
the sense of like nitpicking word by word. I think
what it has come to mean across pretty much all
sports is the best player. That's how we seem to
talk about it, not who is the most valuable, because
(10:44):
we've seen players on teams who have other great players
who probably would step up, but they're still the best player.
Asia Wilson last season was probably one of the least debated.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Us of the m v P s in the w
n B a of late.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Because she just dominated and it was of course valuable
for her team, and also just the best player, who
had the best season, who scored the most points, who
did the best things. So yes, I think the tears
can help in moments where it feels real head to head,
where it's hard to decide.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
But ultimately, to me, it's sort of a little bit
of vibes. I mean a thousand percent.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Yeah, Vib's definitely factor in there.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
Yeah, And I think that's how I kind of want
it to be, too, Like when we look back at
a previous season, so often we're not talking with the
same in the moment context, and so I kind of
want to know, Hey, whoever got MVP in twenty fifteen,
they were the best player that year. Yes, I don't
want to have to kind of take into account, oh
well but their team did this and that. Like, I
just want to know who was considered the best player
(11:44):
that year. So I appreciate that definition of it.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
And I think it's possible to win MVP on a
bad team, but you have to be so frickin' good.
I don't know why, but my brain goes to, like
Ernie Banks, with the Cubs, who was like an MVP
on a team that didn't even make the playoffs. Easier
in baseball, because your stats are so isolated and independent
of all the other things that are going on in basketball,
(12:06):
it's almost impossible.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Like Paige Beckers mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Yeah, is most valuable on her team because like Ari
k has been in and out, that team blows and
she's still doing amazing things every night. But she's not
the best player in the league. And it wouldn't tell
the story of this season for Page Beckers to be
the MVP.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
And that's that's what makes it so hard for me.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
I'm not I'm not advocating.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
For Paige to win MVP. Let me be clear.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Okay, she's having a she's having a great season, great
rookie season. I don't think she's the MVP. But I
think what you're pointing out here is why this is
so difficult for me, because I love to make space
for those quote unquote underdog MVPs because there will be
every once in a blue moon, somebody who statistically blows
it out of the water and who frankly, like Alex,
(12:48):
like you're saying, when you look back on the season,
they are the best player, even though their team might
have gone five and twenty five or whatever the case
may be. And so I guess my point in saying
that is whatever tier, whatever calculus people use, I just
want to make sure that we're doing due diligence for
folks who aren't on the Minnesota leagues or aren't on
you know what I mean, top two teams in the league.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
It was interesting.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
I was trying to look back at some of the
coverage of Candice Parker's MVP season in two thousand and eight,
when she was named both Rookie of the Year and
MVP in her first year in the league, because I
really wanted to figure out, like, were people just saying like,
she's a really good rookie who's like good enough that
she deserves MVP. It speaks to maybe something of the
media coverage that I wasn't able to come across too
(13:29):
much that I don't want nuance and insight. So if
any slices out there have anything that you think could
shine a light on this for somebody that didn't pay
too much attention to the WNBA back in the day,
I'd love to see it, because, yeah, it was one
of those things where I was like, Okay, what would
Page have to do to be in the MVP conversation?
And part of me is like, I don't know how
much of it comes down to her and how much
(13:49):
of it just comes down to not having gotten drafted
to that team.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yeah, somebody who fell in love with the WNBA around
that time, range CP three was different. If anybody's got
any issues, come hit my DMS we could talk about it.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Please, Well, let's talk about who's a little different this year,
because we are finally and belatedly really introducing Alyssa Thomas
into this conversation, and I'll fully admit that we're we're late.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Part of it is her style of play.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
It is insanely efficient and she puts up crazy numbers,
but it's not really flashy in the same way or
maybe as graceful as some of the players that we
tend to lean towards when we're talking MVP. And also
new team, we took most of our time just being
surprised that the Mercury were playing so well after the
retirement of Ben Tarassi the departure of Britney Grinery, were like, wait.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
What's happening?
Speaker 1 (14:42):
And then to be frank, we were also just really
focused on her relationship status and her being separated from
Dewana Bonner and then reunited. And meanwhile she was like, Okay,
I'll just be over here just putting up crazy stats
every night. You let me know when you come around
to the basketball side of things, and sorry, Alyssa, but
we're here now.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
So really, what it.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Feels like to me is Asia Wilson, Nafisa Kyllier, and
Alyssa Thomas. Is there anybody else that you think, within
the last stretch of the season can make a true
bid for this?
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Oh truly no, But I do think there are some people.
There's always there's always benefits of being in that conversation, right,
whether it's talks for your next contract, whether you know
all that stuff, your own personal legacy.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
I think that's important.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
I do. Once again, you want to make space, yeah,
people in the converse, and I get that. I get that,
And you're right though, it is necessary to shout out
the people who are on the perimeter, because to your point,
if we don't sometimes put them in these articles, have
them in these conversations, people really miss I think Kelsey
Mitchell is a great example of that someone who is
not really in these conversations and always should be even
(15:42):
if she's not gonna win.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Yeah, yeah, I definitely have Kelsey Mitchell in that bucket.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Also have Kelsey Plumb in that bucket. Both of them
are among the.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
League's top five scorers, both leading their team in scoring.
Both have carried their teams on their backs at different
points during this season. And again, why I don't think
this necessarily win. We got to give credit where credit
is due, man, because otherwise, what are folks on other teams?
I mean, you're obviously playing to win, but individually, in
terms of your legacy, what else are you fighting for?
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Then? Ali Shagray, you could maybe argue Sabrina and Nascue
with a team that's had John Quell out now Brianna
out and keeping them in the mix.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
But I do think it's it's a three women race
right now.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Yeah, for sure, And honestly, this is going to ruffle
some feathers following my logic, I got Asia and Alyssa
ahead of fee fian A, Lissa our neck and neck,
their neck and neck.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Okay, walk me through that.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
But if we're talking about what Asia Wilson has done again.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
This season, the.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
Las Vegas Aces were bad. Okay, we don't need to
sugarcoat that they were bad until two weeks ago. Pretty much,
Asia Wilson has been doing her damn thing the whole time, regardless.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Of what anybody else has done.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
If we talk again about my approach of a player
that a team would actually fall apart without, imagine the
Aces without Asia Wilson this season. Yeah, they're bottom five
in the league to me. And then for Alyssa the
reason why this is what you were alluding to earlier.
It's not flashy because she doesn't score a lot of points,
because she's not putting up twenty points to night. And
(17:15):
I've never been up a person or a player, frankly
who has been point centric. Because I love to pass
the ball, I love to rebound the ball, I love
to do all other shit, every defense everything. Okay, I
took charges, all right, I took charges and I talked
a lot on Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Because you were too lazy to get out of the way,
and that counts for something. You didn't want to move
your feet on defense, either to get in position or
out of it.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
That's my key, okay, and it is what it is.
But I put Alissa a little bit ahead of Fee
because and this is this is also probably controversial. Fij
just missed however many games, right, and Minnesota did perfectly
fine without her. They secured a number one spot in
the playoffs. Imagine again the Phoenix Murky without Alyssa Thomas
(17:59):
ooh a.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Right, And this is where the conversation comes down to
is it the best player or is it the most valuable?
Because to your point, so when Asia Wilson was not
putting her foot on the gas like she has been,
She's got eighteen straight games in double figures right now,
and she's hit at least thirty points eight times in
that stretch. She is going off and during that time
(18:20):
the team has gotten significantly better. Back on July tenth,
they were out of a playoff spot, sitting at nine
and eleven. We were all asking how you could have
that much talent on one team and not win. And
then Asia sort of was like, all right, fine, let
me throw you all my back again. And now fifteen
and three run ten game win streak, they would be
the three seed if the season ended right now, right
(18:40):
So she has basically figured out that she needs to
do more for them to win. Now, you could also
make an argument that she was on a team, she
was playing and they weren't good, and we're gonna take
away credit for Nafisa Kalier being on a team and
then being good, Like we're gonna get her credit for
(19:01):
her not doing enough early and then turning it on later.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
Now, that's not what I'm saying. I'm not saying he
hasn't had an MVP caliber season. I'm saying she's just missed,
however many games. And I think there's also something to
be said stat wise for somebody who shows up every night,
every night, every night. Again, not a disrespect to Fee,
it's just been the situation.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
But also in the game that Fee got injured, there
were questions about whether Cheryl Reefs should have even kept
her in the game because that was what end of
the third It was like a fourth carter and they
were winning guy a lot.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
I remember.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
I think it was a couple of years ago when
Asia didn't win MVP and Becky Hammond got mad being like, well,
I'm not keeping her in the game all the time,
Like I'm not patting her stats. If I was keeping
her in the game, then her stats would have been higher,
and so I think it leads to one of those conversations,
like the sport of basketball is at such a stats
heavy conversation right now that sometimes folks aren't watching the game,
(19:50):
you know, Like that's why you'll never hear me be
like this is who deserves MVP. Like, I just don't
watch the game that way. I don't watch enough of
the teams that way to be so confident in who
I I'm gonna pick. And so I think though means
to your point, like, we see both sides of that, right,
if she hadn't been playing those final minutes to maybe
get those additional points, then who knows that she would
have even gotten injured.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
And that's tough because that's one of those things that
is not in her control or any player's control ever, right, Like,
there are certain elements to the MVP conversation.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Well, I was gonna say, injuries in general, that's not
in their control. And yes, of course, if somebody is
out for the majority of a season, but it's seven games.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
It's seven games, But it matters to me. It does
matter to me, And like you said earlier, there's also
a matter of vibes. I don't know what it is.
I just feel like AG's got a leg up. Okay now,
but again, there are still, however many games left in
this season. We're coming towards the end a couple of
weeks now, But I don't know.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Let me just give you some stats to counter the vibes, okay.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Nafisa Collier's leading the league in scoring twenty three and
a half points per game. She second in steals, fourth
and block seven and field goal percentage night than rebounding.
She's shooting almost thirty seven percent from beyond the arc
and making about four or three pointers a game, so
she is deadly from anywhere on the court. She is
a tremendous defensive player. She is insanely efficient. If she
(21:16):
is able to finish the season, which she'll have to
up her three points, but if she can finish the
season with fifty forty ninety, it would be unbelievable. There's
only three players in WNBA history to average at least
twenty points while shooting at least fifty percent from the
field and at least thirty five percent from three with
at least one attempt per game, and she would be
the fourth behind just Cheryl Swoopslow and Jackson and Brienna Stewart,
and each of those players won the MVB Trophy in
(21:38):
the season that.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
They did that.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Again, it's a stat heavy argument because of the injury
stretch that makes it vibe bliss. Right now, she's one
game back in, but she was thirty plus points, nine
rebounds in her first game back, and get the feeling
she might go on a little tear here to try
to get the vibes back on her side.
Speaker 4 (21:56):
I want to talk for a minute about how this
award is even determined. So for folks who don't know,
there are basically a panel of sixty voters that are
selected from both regional and national media outlets that includes
writers and broadcasters. They rank five players, and then those
players are assigned values. And in the same way that
(22:17):
I think folks should be having conversations about elections in
their hometowns, about jerrymandering, about how all of those things
are happening, whether they're using mail in ballots or go
into the polls, I want to have more of a
conversation about that in the WNBA. And I'm going to
point to the year twenty twenty three, and that was
a year that it was a super tight race between
Brianna Stewart, Elisa Thomas, and Asia Wilson, and Stewie ended
(22:41):
up winning it because she got the most total points,
but she didn't get the most first place votes.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
That was At.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
She didn't even get the most second place votes, that
was Asia. She didn't get the most third place votes again,
that was At. But she just accumulated the largest total
number of points. In the way that the WNBA awards
these points is first place gets ten points, second place
gets seven, third place gets five, fourth place gets third,
fifth place gets one. To me, I want to know
how they came up with those, Like those values are
(23:09):
kind of arbitrary and back in twenty twenty three, I
actually ended up crunching the numbers to see, like if
you were to award different points to those five ranks,
would it alter the results? And I was shocked that
it didn't alter them more. But if you did award
first place more points, there did come a time where
At would have won it over Stewie that year. So
I don't know necessarily, like what's the cracked option here?
(23:30):
I'd also be curious to see it with Like I
don't know a ranked choice option, like see how that
weighs out, so if somebody can get a super majority.
Because it just seems weird to me that Stewie could
win in a year when she still wasn't necessarily getting
the most of any of those three categories, but not
saying she wasn't deserving. I just thought it was an
interesting little caveat on that win.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
I think a lot of elections could use some choice moving. Yeah,
I mean, I agree, Alex.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
I'm sure that they have a pretty in depth system
for figuring out how to a lot each you know.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Are we sure? I know? Are we? Are we assuming there?
You know what? I do?
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Assume the best far too often. It's it's useful for life,
not always useful for business or otherwise. But yeah, I mean,
I do think it helps revenge voting and bias voting
and things like that, and helps make it so that
someone who is consistently considered among the best by everyone
is more likely to win, as opposed to like a
(24:29):
bunch of people think someone and then a bunch of
people don't have them anywhere on the list. It's complicated.
I think you're right, Alex. Maybe we should reach out
to a representative for the WNBA and ask exactly how
they came up with the point system.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
But yeah, I mean, I think.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
We're in for a really, really fun final stretch of
the season where we're going to see these players who
are battling it out for MVP, and also see a
bunch of teams battling it out for the playoff spots.
And how will coaches factor in how long to play
their stars and blowout games if there's someone who might
be in the mix for MVP, or will they prioritize
(25:06):
being healthy for the playoffs and sit them And will
there be some tension between those top players and their
coaches about playing time when it comes to that. So
always worth keeping an eye and you'll always hear the
players afterwards say the most important thing to me is
the title. You could keep your MVP. But deep down,
I think we all know they want to be in there,
(25:26):
they want to be getting those stats up, So it'll
be fun to watch. If you want to read more
about the MVP Racelu Orlando wrote a good piece for
SI dot Com about and if you Saka, you're needing
to fend off Asia in the tight race and had
some really good stats in there, and Shane Jackson wrote
one for WNBA dot com that also has a bunch
of the statistics around the players that are contending and odds.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
If any of y'all.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Want to dabble or become a degenerate and put your
entire life savings on the WNBA MVP, we wouldn't recommend it,
but go for it, all right. We got to take
another break, but we come back when a few turns
into a good game in real life.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Welcome back slices.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too. So here's our
good game play of the day. You heard our MVP picks,
well at least betion mine. Now we want to hear yours.
If you had to say which player would you vote for?
Hit us up 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, y'all.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
It's easy.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Watch Serena Williams inducting Maria Sharpova into the International Tennis
Hall of Fame, rating ten out of ten Feel Good
Moments review Maria Sharpova's tennis career was sort of always
linked to Serena Williams. In fact, Cheripova's first of five
Grand Slam victories was a Wimbledon win over Serena. But
she didn't enjoy being on the winging side of that
(26:57):
rivalry for very long, because Serena came out on top
in their last eighteen meetings and twenty of twenty two
meetings overall. They were pitted against each other for Shripova's
entire career, So it was sort of a shock and
a surprise to see Serena do the honors at the
International Tennis Hall of Fame ceremony in Newport, Rhode Island
on Saturday, said Serena.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
A few months ago, Maria texted me that she needed
to talk. When I called her, she asked if I
would introduce her into the Hall of Fame. Before she
could even finish her question, I said yes loud, immediately,
with my whole chest, because of course it's Maria.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
End quote. Serena continued quote.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Marie and I were once the fiercest of rivals. We
had our differences to the world. We looked miles and
miles apart, but the truth is we weren't. We wanted
the exact same thing at the exact same time, to
be the very best. That's what made our rivalry so
electric and so iconic.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
On her Instagram on Sunday, alongside photos of the two
former rivals embracing, Serena wrote quote, I'm probably the last
person you expected to see standing here tonight. Honestly, a
few years ago I would have said the same thing,
But years after getting to know her better, we now
call each other friends, and when a friend calls, you answer.
This is women supporting each other and respecting each other's greatness.
(28:09):
Congratulations Maria Sharapova. It is my honor, as her former rival,
her forever fan, and now her forever friend, to welcome
Maria Sharapova into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
End quote. Beautiful. We love that.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Now it's your turn, y'all Rate and review, scroll down,
click five stars, tell us you love us, Thanks for listening.
See you tomorrow. Good game, Maria and Serena. Good game,
Mekka and the FISA you Semantakole?
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Are you a word? Talvey?
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network.
Our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rutterer.
(29:01):
Our editors are Emily Rutter, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch and
Gianna Palmer.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Our associate producer is Lucy Jones.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Production assistance from Avery Loftus and I'm Your Host Sarah
Spain
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we just
know all the young hoopers out there are practicing a
spin in fades so they can pull off a buzzer
beater like neco Ogumakay. It's Tuesday, August twenty sixth. Then
on today's show, Big Citrus is jumping on to discuss
the state of the WNBA MVP race, the behind the
scenes of how the voting process works, and how the
term MVP is even defined. Plus winning on your Home
(00:24):
green a thirty point return. How could we have forgotten
that the sky is falling? It's all coming up right
after this welcome back slicays, here's what you need to
know today. Let's start with the WNBA and that aforementioned
buzzer beater. Neko ogum Makay led the Seattle Storm to
(00:46):
an eighty four eighty two win over the Washington Mystic
Sunday Night, scoring thirty points, including a career high six
three pointers and that last second clutch jumper to seal
the win. French phenom Dominique Malonga also had a stellar night,
coming off the bench to put up her fourth double
double of the season. The win was Seattle's fourth in
its last five games, a nice bounce back after they'd
(01:06):
suffered a six game skid. Continuing this hot streak could
be crucial for the seventh place Storm heading into the
final stretch of the regular season. Meantime, the Mystics are
sitting in tenth after losing four straight and seven of
their last ten. More WNBA Sunday night also saw the
highly anticipated return of the Minnesota Lynx's defeast A Collier,
who had been out since August second, missing seven games
(01:28):
with an ankle injury. Collier wasted no time in her
return to the court, picking up her MVP campaign season
with an eleven of sixteen shooting night for thirty two
points plus nine rebounds to lead the Links to a
ninety seven to eighty four winner for the Indiana Fever.
We'll have plenty more to say on her return and
the other WNBA MVP contenders later in the show. One
(01:49):
final w highlight, this one involving the newest member of
the Good Game Hall of Fame, Page Beckers, and perhaps
that honor we gave Beckers Jinxter because she saw one
of her streaks and shortly after we recorded yesterday's episode,
during the Dallas Wings ninety to eighty one loss to
the Golden State Valkyrie. Sunday, Becker scored just nine points,
marking the first game of her pro career that she
(02:09):
didn't score in double digits. Up until now, Beckers had
recorded at least ten or more points in her first
thirty games as a pro, including, of course, last week's
rookie record forty four point contest. Still, becker streak ranks
pretty high in WNBA history. Her thirty straight games marked
the fourth longest stretch of double digit points to start
a WNBA career, behind only Candae Parker with thirty two straight,
(02:32):
Asia Wilson with thirty seven, and Cynthia Cooper with ninety two. Yes,
Cynthia Cooper recorded double digit points for ninety two straight games,
a streak that lasted from her WNBA debut in nineteen
ninety seven until two thousand now. As we mentioned yesterday's show,
Cooper already had a lot of pro basketball experience by
the time she made her WNBA debut in the league's
(02:54):
inaugural season, but those ninety two games still marked the
longest double digit streak of all WNBA Pais players.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Regardless of years of experience. The great.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Simone Augustus is number two on that version of the list,
having recorded eighty eight straight double digit games with the
Minnesota Lynx from six to eight. So while Becker's maybe
back to zero with the start of a career streak,
we do have a feeling she'll start a new streak
very soon.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
To golf.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
The LPGA's Canadian Women's Open wrapped up on Sunday in Ontario,
with Canadian player Brooke Henderson winning her first victory on
tour in more than two and a half years. Henderson
took the win by defeating Minji Lee by one stroke.
Henderson has won fourteen times in her LPGA career, but
her last win came back in January of twenty twenty three.
She said after the tournament, quote, this year has not
(03:38):
gone very well up to this point, and it just
feels like this was meant to be. She added, Honestly,
I'm surprised I'm not crying right now because it just
means so much.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
End quote. There's nothing like winning at home to hockey.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
The pwatails Minnesota Frost has announced the hiring of Brienna
Decker as an assistant coach to ken Clee. Decker a
three time Olympic medalist for Team USA, officially retired in
twenty twenty three following a devastating leg injury at the
twenty twenty two Beijing Winter Games. Earlier this summer, she
was named the Hockey Hall of Fame's Class of twenty
twenty five and will be officially.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Inducted in November.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
She spent the last few years as an assistant coach
with both Team USA's U eighteen team and at famed
hockey prep school shatt At Saint Mary's. In a statement,
Decker said, quote, it's inspiring to be part of a
league that sets the standard for women's hockey and a
team that has been at the top of the league
two years in a row. I'm excited for what's ahead
and proud to contribute to a culture of excellence.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Finally, some NWSL news, Sophia Fuerta is now the all
time assists leader in the NWSL, moving into first with
her thirty second career assist, a dish to Jordan Heidema
in the Seattle Rains won one draw with the Houston
Dash on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
And some more soccer.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
The Orlando Pride announced Monday that the team is loaning
two time World Cup winner Morgan Gatraw to Newcastle United
through the end of twenty twenty five. As part of
the same release, Gatraw, a key member of the Pride
Shield and Championship wins last season, announced her retirement from
the NWSL. In an interview with The Athletic, which we'll
link to in the show notes, Gatra said she's excited
for the challenge that will come with joining a new
(05:06):
team as Newcastle looks to get promoted from the second
tier of the Women's Super League.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
I've always loved joining places that I could help make
better and where I could leave a lasting impact, and
this is going to be no different hopefully end quote.
All right, Selica's it's time to introduce a new segment called.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
God, Damn It, freaking Shit Mother for Blind.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
You may recall that in yesterday's episode, I started daydreaming
about how easy Fud might end up with the Dallas
Wings given their brutal record this year, or maybe the
Wings might select Lauren Betts, leaving Asy available for my
Chicago Sky, also not doing great this year.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Well.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Shout out to Slice Alexa for bringing me back down
to earth hard. She wrote, quote, I regret to inform
you that the Links own Chicago's twenty twenty six first
round pick. I know it's absolutely ridiculous, but with an
absolutely stacked draft class, I'm sure there will be plenty
of depth in the first round. But no way Aisy
is dropping that big fan of the show so quick.
(06:01):
Thank you for all you do and for the great
lengths you go to ensuring the values of the show.
A favorite episode of mine is the Marina Maybrey interview. Sincerely,
a longtime Dallas Wings fan who is hoping for Lauren
Betts over Asy because our front court situation is dire.
I am loyal till death to our current shooting guard.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
All up to.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Paisy, but not being an a Rique fan is homophobic,
and we all know love stories are better with a
little tension and angst.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Imagine a Paisy in the finals on different teams. End quote.
You know what, Alexa, I swear.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
I am preventing my brain from acknowledging the truth about
that draft pick.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
If y'all are blocking it out or never knew about it,
here's a refresher.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Last season, the Sky made a deal with the Links
to acquire the number seven overall pick in the twenty
twenty four draft in exchange for the number eight overall pick,
a second round pick in twenty twenty five, and a
first round pick swap in twenty twenty six. Then this
year they made a trade to acquire the number eleven
pick in the twenty twenty five draft, ceding the rights
to that twenty twenty six pickswap instead giving Minnesota outright
(06:59):
ownership of their first rounder next year. This guy used
all those moves to grab Angel Rees at seven in
twenty twenty four and Hailey Benlitth at eleven in twenty
twenty five. Good moves, but despite talent on the roster,
they're still near the bottom of the standings, and now
the links are poised to benefit. No matter how many
times I reminded of this, I still let myself daydream
(07:19):
about this shitburger of a season paying off in the
form of an exciting young star joining my team at
fixing everything.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Instead the rich get richer. Damn, damn, damn. We got
to take a quick break. When we come back, it's
time for Big.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Citrus Welcome back slices.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
It's time to reconvene. Big Citrus, get in here.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Alex and meish, what's up, Hey, y Let's talk some
WNBA MVP, and let's start with what the hell even
is at MVP?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Because I feel like this is.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
The problem that we have in every sport anytime an
MVP conversation comes up. Is it the best player on
the best team. Is it the player that means the
most to their team? Is it the best player on
the best team who also wasn't recently named the MVP
because we like to switch the rules around and tell
you that you can't win it over and over to
even if you deserve it, Like, what the hell is
even an MVP?
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Mache Oh well, that's t okay, Clockett. That's t For
me personally, I've gravitated towards a combination of, like what
you just said, a player that a team would absolutely
fall apart without and a player who's just got the
most unbelievable stats. I think if you try to do
it one way, you're always going to run into an
(08:36):
issue where two people are well qualified because of the
same things.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
So for me, it's helpful to have two tiers.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Yeah, I mean, think about the name of the award
most valuable player, literally the most valuable player to any
particular team, and the more stat heavy people. I'm not
one of those people, but they can do the stats
on what makes a player valuable, like plus minus and
offensive rating and defensive rating and all that, and that
stuff matters. But I hear a lot of like the
best player on the best team approach, and I hear
(09:05):
a lot of the person who would be most valuable
to any team you place them on, and those are
hard for me. Those are hard for me. I don't
know if those agree with my logic. And at the
same time, it's really difficult because I feel like no
matter what approach you take, there's always going to be
some disagreement in discussion, Like we just have to concede
that point at the beginning.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Alex, do you use a different tier or set of
tiers to decide? Well.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
It's so funny because as I was preparing for this conversation,
I was reminiscing back on high school and my field
hockey coach didn't believe in MVP awards, and so every year,
at like the annual False School Sports Assembly, when they
would award all the MVP trophies, it would go to
the field hockey team like literally just the team as
a whole, and so like in the school auditorium there
(09:50):
were just all these plaques where a year after year
the field hockey MVP was just the team and.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
As a multi time field hockey MVP, that would have
pissed me the.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Hell off exactly because if you did the work, if
you did the work, you beout to give me my ward,
give me my war.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
Was the most valuable as somebody that was never close
to being named MVPs like this seems right.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Yeah, I mean me, I agree with what you said.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
I do think for me, m VP has lost its
semantical meaning.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Semantical a word.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
It's a weird thing to ask, I know, semantics, but
semantical anyway, it has lost its meaning to me in
the sense of like nitpicking word by word. I think
what it has come to mean across pretty much all
sports is the best player. That's how we seem to
talk about it, not who is the most valuable, because
(10:44):
we've seen players on teams who have other great players
who probably would step up, but they're still the best player.
Asia Wilson last season was probably one of the least debated.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Us of the m v P s in the w
n B a of late.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Because she just dominated and it was of course valuable
for her team, and also just the best player, who
had the best season, who scored the most points, who
did the best things. So yes, I think the tears
can help in moments where it feels real head to head,
where it's hard to decide.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
But ultimately, to me, it's sort of a little bit
of vibes. I mean a thousand percent.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Yeah, Vib's definitely factor in there.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
Yeah, And I think that's how I kind of want
it to be, too, Like when we look back at
a previous season, so often we're not talking with the
same in the moment context, and so I kind of
want to know, Hey, whoever got MVP in twenty fifteen,
they were the best player that year. Yes, I don't
want to have to kind of take into account, oh
well but their team did this and that. Like, I
just want to know who was considered the best player
(11:44):
that year. So I appreciate that definition of it.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
And I think it's possible to win MVP on a
bad team, but you have to be so frickin' good.
I don't know why, but my brain goes to, like
Ernie Banks, with the Cubs, who was like an MVP
on a team that didn't even make the playoffs. Easier
in baseball, because your stats are so isolated and independent
of all the other things that are going on in basketball,
(12:06):
it's almost impossible.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Like Paige Beckers mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Yeah, is most valuable on her team because like Ari
k has been in and out, that team blows and
she's still doing amazing things every night. But she's not
the best player in the league. And it wouldn't tell
the story of this season for Page Beckers to be
the MVP.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
And that's that's what makes it so hard for me.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
I'm not I'm not advocating.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
For Paige to win MVP. Let me be clear.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Okay, she's having a she's having a great season, great
rookie season. I don't think she's the MVP. But I
think what you're pointing out here is why this is
so difficult for me, because I love to make space
for those quote unquote underdog MVPs because there will be
every once in a blue moon, somebody who statistically blows
it out of the water and who frankly, like Alex,
(12:48):
like you're saying, when you look back on the season,
they are the best player, even though their team might
have gone five and twenty five or whatever the case
may be. And so I guess my point in saying
that is whatever tier, whatever calculus people use, I just
want to make sure that we're doing due diligence for
folks who aren't on the Minnesota leagues or aren't on
you know what I mean, top two teams in the league.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
It was interesting.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
I was trying to look back at some of the
coverage of Candice Parker's MVP season in two thousand and eight,
when she was named both Rookie of the Year and
MVP in her first year in the league, because I
really wanted to figure out, like, were people just saying like,
she's a really good rookie who's like good enough that
she deserves MVP. It speaks to maybe something of the
media coverage that I wasn't able to come across too
(13:29):
much that I don't want nuance and insight. So if
any slices out there have anything that you think could
shine a light on this for somebody that didn't pay
too much attention to the WNBA back in the day,
I'd love to see it, because, yeah, it was one
of those things where I was like, Okay, what would
Page have to do to be in the MVP conversation?
And part of me is like, I don't know how
much of it comes down to her and how much
(13:49):
of it just comes down to not having gotten drafted
to that team.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yeah, somebody who fell in love with the WNBA around
that time, range CP three was different. If anybody's got
any issues, come hit my DMS we could talk about it.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Please, Well, let's talk about who's a little different this year,
because we are finally and belatedly really introducing Alyssa Thomas
into this conversation, and I'll fully admit that we're we're late.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Part of it is her style of play.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
It is insanely efficient and she puts up crazy numbers,
but it's not really flashy in the same way or
maybe as graceful as some of the players that we
tend to lean towards when we're talking MVP. And also
new team, we took most of our time just being
surprised that the Mercury were playing so well after the
retirement of Ben Tarassi the departure of Britney Grinery, were like, wait.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
What's happening?
Speaker 1 (14:42):
And then to be frank, we were also just really
focused on her relationship status and her being separated from
Dewana Bonner and then reunited. And meanwhile she was like, Okay,
I'll just be over here just putting up crazy stats
every night. You let me know when you come around
to the basketball side of things, and sorry, Alyssa, but
we're here now.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
So really, what it.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Feels like to me is Asia Wilson, Nafisa Kyllier, and
Alyssa Thomas. Is there anybody else that you think, within
the last stretch of the season can make a true
bid for this?
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Oh truly no, But I do think there are some people.
There's always there's always benefits of being in that conversation, right,
whether it's talks for your next contract, whether you know
all that stuff, your own personal legacy.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
I think that's important.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
I do. Once again, you want to make space, yeah,
people in the converse, and I get that. I get that,
And you're right though, it is necessary to shout out
the people who are on the perimeter, because to your point,
if we don't sometimes put them in these articles, have
them in these conversations, people really miss I think Kelsey
Mitchell is a great example of that someone who is
not really in these conversations and always should be even
(15:42):
if she's not gonna win.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Yeah, yeah, I definitely have Kelsey Mitchell in that bucket.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Also have Kelsey Plumb in that bucket. Both of them
are among the.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
League's top five scorers, both leading their team in scoring.
Both have carried their teams on their backs at different
points during this season. And again, why I don't think
this necessarily win. We got to give credit where credit
is due, man, because otherwise, what are folks on other teams?
I mean, you're obviously playing to win, but individually, in
terms of your legacy, what else are you fighting for?
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Then? Ali Shagray, you could maybe argue Sabrina and Nascue
with a team that's had John Quell out now Brianna
out and keeping them in the mix.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
But I do think it's it's a three women race
right now.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Yeah, for sure, And honestly, this is going to ruffle
some feathers following my logic, I got Asia and Alyssa
ahead of fee fian A, Lissa our neck and neck,
their neck and neck.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Okay, walk me through that.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
But if we're talking about what Asia Wilson has done again.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
This season, the.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
Las Vegas Aces were bad. Okay, we don't need to
sugarcoat that they were bad until two weeks ago. Pretty much,
Asia Wilson has been doing her damn thing the whole time, regardless.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Of what anybody else has done.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
If we talk again about my approach of a player
that a team would actually fall apart without, imagine the
Aces without Asia Wilson this season. Yeah, they're bottom five
in the league to me. And then for Alyssa the
reason why this is what you were alluding to earlier.
It's not flashy because she doesn't score a lot of points,
because she's not putting up twenty points to night. And
(17:15):
I've never been up a person or a player, frankly
who has been point centric. Because I love to pass
the ball, I love to rebound the ball, I love
to do all other shit, every defense everything. Okay, I
took charges, all right, I took charges and I talked
a lot on Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Because you were too lazy to get out of the way,
and that counts for something. You didn't want to move
your feet on defense, either to get in position or
out of it.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
That's my key, okay, and it is what it is.
But I put Alissa a little bit ahead of Fee
because and this is this is also probably controversial. Fij
just missed however many games, right, and Minnesota did perfectly
fine without her. They secured a number one spot in
the playoffs. Imagine again the Phoenix Murky without Alyssa Thomas
(17:59):
ooh a.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Right, And this is where the conversation comes down to
is it the best player or is it the most valuable?
Because to your point, so when Asia Wilson was not
putting her foot on the gas like she has been,
She's got eighteen straight games in double figures right now,
and she's hit at least thirty points eight times in
that stretch. She is going off and during that time
(18:20):
the team has gotten significantly better. Back on July tenth,
they were out of a playoff spot, sitting at nine
and eleven. We were all asking how you could have
that much talent on one team and not win. And
then Asia sort of was like, all right, fine, let
me throw you all my back again. And now fifteen
and three run ten game win streak, they would be
the three seed if the season ended right now, right
(18:40):
So she has basically figured out that she needs to
do more for them to win. Now, you could also
make an argument that she was on a team, she
was playing and they weren't good, and we're gonna take
away credit for Nafisa Kalier being on a team and
then being good, Like we're gonna get her credit for
(19:01):
her not doing enough early and then turning it on later.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
Now, that's not what I'm saying. I'm not saying he
hasn't had an MVP caliber season. I'm saying she's just missed,
however many games. And I think there's also something to
be said stat wise for somebody who shows up every night,
every night, every night. Again, not a disrespect to Fee,
it's just been the situation.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
But also in the game that Fee got injured, there
were questions about whether Cheryl Reefs should have even kept
her in the game because that was what end of
the third It was like a fourth carter and they
were winning guy a lot.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
I remember.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
I think it was a couple of years ago when
Asia didn't win MVP and Becky Hammond got mad being like, well,
I'm not keeping her in the game all the time,
Like I'm not patting her stats. If I was keeping
her in the game, then her stats would have been higher,
and so I think it leads to one of those conversations,
like the sport of basketball is at such a stats
heavy conversation right now that sometimes folks aren't watching the game,
(19:50):
you know, Like that's why you'll never hear me be
like this is who deserves MVP. Like, I just don't
watch the game that way. I don't watch enough of
the teams that way to be so confident in who
I I'm gonna pick. And so I think though means
to your point, like, we see both sides of that, right,
if she hadn't been playing those final minutes to maybe
get those additional points, then who knows that she would
have even gotten injured.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
And that's tough because that's one of those things that
is not in her control or any player's control ever, right, Like,
there are certain elements to the MVP conversation.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Well, I was gonna say, injuries in general, that's not
in their control. And yes, of course, if somebody is
out for the majority of a season, but it's seven games.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
It's seven games, But it matters to me. It does
matter to me, And like you said earlier, there's also
a matter of vibes. I don't know what it is.
I just feel like AG's got a leg up. Okay now,
but again, there are still, however many games left in
this season. We're coming towards the end a couple of
weeks now, But I don't know.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Let me just give you some stats to counter the vibes, okay.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Nafisa Collier's leading the league in scoring twenty three and
a half points per game. She second in steals, fourth
and block seven and field goal percentage night than rebounding.
She's shooting almost thirty seven percent from beyond the arc
and making about four or three pointers a game, so
she is deadly from anywhere on the court. She is
a tremendous defensive player. She is insanely efficient. If she
(21:16):
is able to finish the season, which she'll have to
up her three points, but if she can finish the
season with fifty forty ninety, it would be unbelievable. There's
only three players in WNBA history to average at least
twenty points while shooting at least fifty percent from the
field and at least thirty five percent from three with
at least one attempt per game, and she would be
the fourth behind just Cheryl Swoopslow and Jackson and Brienna Stewart,
and each of those players won the MVB Trophy in
(21:38):
the season that.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
They did that.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Again, it's a stat heavy argument because of the injury
stretch that makes it vibe bliss. Right now, she's one
game back in, but she was thirty plus points, nine
rebounds in her first game back, and get the feeling
she might go on a little tear here to try
to get the vibes back on her side.
Speaker 4 (21:56):
I want to talk for a minute about how this
award is even determined. So for folks who don't know,
there are basically a panel of sixty voters that are
selected from both regional and national media outlets that includes
writers and broadcasters. They rank five players, and then those
players are assigned values. And in the same way that
(22:17):
I think folks should be having conversations about elections in
their hometowns, about jerrymandering, about how all of those things
are happening, whether they're using mail in ballots or go
into the polls, I want to have more of a
conversation about that in the WNBA. And I'm going to
point to the year twenty twenty three, and that was
a year that it was a super tight race between
Brianna Stewart, Elisa Thomas, and Asia Wilson, and Stewie ended
(22:41):
up winning it because she got the most total points,
but she didn't get the most first place votes.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
That was At.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
She didn't even get the most second place votes, that
was Asia. She didn't get the most third place votes again,
that was At. But she just accumulated the largest total
number of points. In the way that the WNBA awards
these points is first place gets ten points, second place
gets seven, third place gets five, fourth place gets third,
fifth place gets one. To me, I want to know
how they came up with those, Like those values are
(23:09):
kind of arbitrary and back in twenty twenty three, I
actually ended up crunching the numbers to see, like if
you were to award different points to those five ranks,
would it alter the results? And I was shocked that
it didn't alter them more. But if you did award
first place more points, there did come a time where
At would have won it over Stewie that year. So
I don't know necessarily, like what's the cracked option here?
(23:30):
I'd also be curious to see it with Like I
don't know a ranked choice option, like see how that
weighs out, so if somebody can get a super majority.
Because it just seems weird to me that Stewie could
win in a year when she still wasn't necessarily getting
the most of any of those three categories, but not
saying she wasn't deserving. I just thought it was an
interesting little caveat on that win.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
I think a lot of elections could use some choice moving. Yeah,
I mean, I agree, Alex.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
I'm sure that they have a pretty in depth system
for figuring out how to a lot each you know.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Are we sure? I know? Are we? Are we assuming there?
You know what? I do?
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Assume the best far too often. It's it's useful for life,
not always useful for business or otherwise. But yeah, I mean,
I do think it helps revenge voting and bias voting
and things like that, and helps make it so that
someone who is consistently considered among the best by everyone
is more likely to win, as opposed to like a
(24:29):
bunch of people think someone and then a bunch of
people don't have them anywhere on the list. It's complicated.
I think you're right, Alex. Maybe we should reach out
to a representative for the WNBA and ask exactly how
they came up with the point system.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
But yeah, I mean, I think.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
We're in for a really, really fun final stretch of
the season where we're going to see these players who
are battling it out for MVP, and also see a
bunch of teams battling it out for the playoff spots.
And how will coaches factor in how long to play
their stars and blowout games if there's someone who might
be in the mix for MVP, or will they prioritize
(25:06):
being healthy for the playoffs and sit them And will
there be some tension between those top players and their
coaches about playing time when it comes to that. So
always worth keeping an eye and you'll always hear the
players afterwards say the most important thing to me is
the title. You could keep your MVP. But deep down,
I think we all know they want to be in there,
(25:26):
they want to be getting those stats up, So it'll
be fun to watch. If you want to read more
about the MVP Racelu Orlando wrote a good piece for
SI dot Com about and if you Saka, you're needing
to fend off Asia in the tight race and had
some really good stats in there, and Shane Jackson wrote
one for WNBA dot com that also has a bunch
of the statistics around the players that are contending and odds.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
If any of y'all.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Want to dabble or become a degenerate and put your
entire life savings on the WNBA MVP, we wouldn't recommend it,
but go for it, all right. We got to take
another break, but we come back when a few turns
into a good game in real life.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Welcome back slices.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too. So here's our
good game play of the day. You heard our MVP picks,
well at least betion mine. Now we want to hear yours.
If you had to say which player would you vote for?
Hit us up 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, y'all.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
It's easy.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Watch Serena Williams inducting Maria Sharpova into the International Tennis
Hall of Fame, rating ten out of ten Feel Good
Moments review Maria Sharpova's tennis career was sort of always
linked to Serena Williams. In fact, Cheripova's first of five
Grand Slam victories was a Wimbledon win over Serena. But
she didn't enjoy being on the winging side of that
(26:57):
rivalry for very long, because Serena came out on top
in their last eighteen meetings and twenty of twenty two
meetings overall. They were pitted against each other for Shripova's
entire career, So it was sort of a shock and
a surprise to see Serena do the honors at the
International Tennis Hall of Fame ceremony in Newport, Rhode Island
on Saturday, said Serena.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
A few months ago, Maria texted me that she needed
to talk. When I called her, she asked if I
would introduce her into the Hall of Fame. Before she
could even finish her question, I said yes loud, immediately,
with my whole chest, because of course it's Maria.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
End quote. Serena continued quote.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Marie and I were once the fiercest of rivals. We
had our differences to the world. We looked miles and
miles apart, but the truth is we weren't. We wanted
the exact same thing at the exact same time, to
be the very best. That's what made our rivalry so
electric and so iconic.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
On her Instagram on Sunday, alongside photos of the two
former rivals embracing, Serena wrote quote, I'm probably the last
person you expected to see standing here tonight. Honestly, a
few years ago I would have said the same thing,
But years after getting to know her better, we now
call each other friends, and when a friend calls, you answer.
This is women supporting each other and respecting each other's greatness.
(28:09):
Congratulations Maria Sharapova. It is my honor, as her former rival,
her forever fan, and now her forever friend, to welcome
Maria Sharapova into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
End quote. Beautiful. We love that.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Now it's your turn, y'all Rate and review, scroll down,
click five stars, tell us you love us, Thanks for listening.
See you tomorrow. Good game, Maria and Serena. Good game,
Mekka and the FISA you Semantakole?
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Are you a word? Talvey?
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network.
Our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rutterer.
(29:01):
Our editors are Emily Rutter, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch and
Gianna Palmer.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Our associate producer is Lucy Jones.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Production assistance from Avery Loftus and I'm Your Host Sarah
Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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