April 14, 2026 • 32 mins
In honor of the WNBA Draft we’re throwing our usual show format out the window so Sarah can provide her on-the-spot draft reactions. From the streets of New York City (literally), with a man peeing nearby (no joke), Sarah dishes on the 'fits, the picks, the family reactions that made her a lil emo, and her run-in with Cathy Engelbert. Plus, everything else you need to know today, a rant about the state of WNBA media, and, no, Kelsey Plum can NOT lend you a dollar.
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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 are
screaming outside a bar for friend of the Show and
Iheartwomen's Sports hosts number one overall pick Asy Fud. But
we are screaming even louder for Gabrielle Hakaz to the sky.
We are not going to win every game, folks, but
we are going to win every fight. It's Tuesday, April fourteenth,
and on today's show, I'm coming to you from the
(00:23):
iHeart Women's Sports Draft party at Wilka's in Manhattan. Actually
the street outside Wilka's in Manhattan, and no fewer than
five people have already walked by as I'm screaming.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
About the WNBA draft.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
But I'm just too excited about everything that happened to.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Make you wait.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
So we're throwing our usual show format out the window
to give you my instant draft reactions, then everything else
you need to know today, and I'm gonna need you
to give me a minute to talk about the WNBA
reporter discourse that's going on over at the Bad Place.
Twitter plus Live, Laugh, Love Volleyball. She's a mad woman,
(01:00):
and no Kelsey Plumb cannot lend you a dolla. It's
all coming up right after this welcome back slices. I
am recording this late Monday night from the street just
outside of the Iheartwomen's Sports party at Wilcos in Manhattan.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Super fun crowd.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
It included so many hosts from Iheartwomen's Sports, including the
Goat herself, Cheryl Swoops. Very fun to be trading thoughts
about the picks before they were made, about the fits
that we saw. Speaking of the fits, before the draft
even got underway, I was already losing my frickin' mind
over Flaje Johnson. Y'all, we already know she is not
(01:44):
new to this, she is true to this. The WNBA
draft is not her moment to show off.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
She had been.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Showing off on red carpets, on award shows, in music
videos like this woman is already such a star, and man,
she somehow outdid herself. Even the velvet the cutouts just unbelievable.
She looked so gorgeous. Lauren Betts was killing it. Gabriella
Hawks with the slit. Asy's first dress was already beautiful enough,
(02:11):
but the second one, I mean, I was not expecting
the wardrobe change. I guess maybe I should have, because
we saw Page absolutely nailed the wardrobe change last year.
Maybe she gave her that hint, you know, get get yourself.
Two fits for people to be talking about the next day.
Cody McMahon, Oh my god, Cody McMahon given Toronto Tempo
Times DOCI. That was beautiful. It was almost a shame
she didn't go to the Tempo. She would have been
(02:33):
ready day one. Speaking of fits, I have to admit
Kathy Engelbert, who, by the way, I ran into on
the street this morning. I was heading to our iHeart
Women's sports photo shoot with all the different hosts from
our podcasts, and I'm just like two blocks away from
the iHeart headquarters and I hear Sarah, Oh Sarah, and
I turned around Katy Engelbert on the street.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
She had a couple other folks from the WNBA were
headed to the parents brunch.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
That was happening just you know, a couple hours before
all the draft stuff got underway, but only in New York.
Running into the Commission on the street anyway, I have
to admit Kathy looked fantastic in her dress. I loved
the sparkle, but a little bit of me was like,
I don't know if I'm going grinch green after the negotiations,
I know things turned out great. I know maybe it's
money green because she's handing out buckets of it now
(03:17):
with the new CBA.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
I just I would be a little worried about being.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
On the opposing side of those negotiations rocking that grinch green.
But she looked great. Okay, let's talk about the picks.
I'm going fast reaction, immediate reaction. We'll have so much
time to talk about the basketball fit for these and
to be honest, I'm recording this before some of the
second round stuff and before even some of the free
agency stuff has really been finalized, So we're gonna go
lots of fit talk and a lot of just enthusiasm
(03:41):
and excitement about where these different players are landing before
we can even get to basketball fit. Okay, first of all,
our girl Asy fud friend at the show, host of
a show right here on Iheartwomen's Sports. When I tell you,
the bar erupted, we had friends of hers, we had produced,
we had just a whole room of people that were
(04:02):
so so excited and happy for her. So it's really
fun to be in this bar where everyone was really
really excited for Easy to go number one seventh Husky
going number one in the draft.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Pretty impressive.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Also that wardrobe change that Bob Mackie share nineteen seventies
perfection that looked like that desert sand art where it
all you know, filters by color, the hair, the body,
the makeup, absolutely just ethereal just perfection. I was dying
for Easy. I'm so excited for that team. This is
(04:35):
a Dallas Wings fan base that has been so so
hungry just to have something to cheer for, besides a
star that can't quite get them to the finish line.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
You have a lot of great players that come through there,
but you want to get those wins.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
It's been hard for Arik.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
By the way, someone today told me it's Arik, and
I'm like, okay, but I've been told ari K and
until we get her on the.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Show, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Anyway, I'm sorry, I'm getting a dispatch right now that
the All Creeds have traded Flage already. I haven't even
gotten to the point where I'm telling you about that pick,
and it's coming fast and furious. Okay, we're going to
get to that and we'll we'll address that. Okay, Back
to Asy and the Wings. Like I said, what we
saw tonight from her and Paige leaves a lot of
questions to be asked, and we'll leave those to those
(05:19):
young people, right, That's not our business. But I certainly
hope that if they told the team, both Page and Asy,
that they will be able to play and they're still
friends and they'll get along and they'll make it work.
That that's what happens, and they're professionals now, and I
hope that's the case. That's a lot easier to say
in advance of the season than it is when your
former lady is bringing a new lady to the games
(05:40):
to sit courtside and cheer you on. Again, this is
not my business. I'm just reading the tea leaves, y'all.
And honestly, they're also very young kids and.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
They are bff.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
So maybe they'll just get back together and this will
be heated rivalry basketball style.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Because I'm gonna tell you back to back.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Number one picks who are dating and then go to
the same team.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
That's a movie, it's not real life. But it happened.
It happened, So.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
I'm rooting for those two no matter what their relationship
to each other looks like okay, Olivia Miles to the Lynx,
the stitching in her jacket for her family, the emotions
from her family.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
I loved that.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
I wasn't sure about the fit. Bottom half looked great
to me. Top half kind of looked like you showed
up to a country club. They have a policy that
you need a blazer, so they go dig it in
the back room and find you on It looked like
it was maybe trying for the Japanese city boy look,
but it was too tight in the shoulder for that
and too big in box.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
It needed to be more proportioned.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
But happy for her links get a baller, Cheryl Reeve's
going to make her play some nasty d We are
going to see some beautiful basketball out of her, and
I'm just I'm really fired out.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
For her, all right. Number three, we got.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Awa fam to Seattle and her brothers with the matching
bedazzled hats and those giant grins on their faces. Absolutely
stop right now. I don't know if they were handed
those hats. I don't know if they made them for
each team and then picked them out of a bag
in front of them, but that was an absolute delight.
I have to admit I thought that Awa would not
go to seat. To me, it feels like a redundancy
(07:01):
with Dominique Malonga.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
But what the hell do I know.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
If you want to make a team out of absolute
freaks that can't even drink yet, go for it.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
I will be there to watch, and I'm excited to
see what happens.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
A lot of movement up there, and going for a
young player that's been playing professionally for a number of
years and.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Has a huge upside is always a good choice. Number four,
we got Lauren Betts to the Washington Mystics.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Like I said, absolutely gorgeous, just stunning, just confident, just
so happy for someone who's been through so much and
has brought so much to UCLA to have this moment.
And I realized as I was looking up, and it's
like the millionth time that I've thought about Lauren Betts
being six to seven. But in my mind, I was
still like, oh my god, six seven, like not just
(07:44):
a score, not just something you happen upon, but every
single time you get shown anywhere on a scoreboard in
a program.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
It says six seven, six seven. I feel for her.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
I bet she'd been dealing with that a lot. I
loved seeing her brother crying. That was super super special.
But yeah, just mystics for bets with Kiki Eriefen Dang.
Don't even try to go inside. Don't even try to
get inside the paint.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
It's not gonna happen for you.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Okay, let's get to number five, and it is a
second straight UCLA player to my Chicago sky It is
none other than Gabriella hawk Is, y'all.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
My team will claw your team's eyes out.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
My team will fight you in the parking lot before.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
The game begins. My team is so spicy.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
My team is Rikia Jackson, who punched her own team
and in the face Skyler Diggins, who will fight all of
y'all and her teammates too. Djna Carrington, extra spice, Gabriella Hawkes,
are you kidding me? The scream I scramped in that bar, y'all.
I was so freaking excited. And you know, a lot
of people thought that Keiki Rice would go before Gabriella,
(08:50):
And it's toss up for me to see who's going
to be better in the pros. But when I think about
hustle plays, intangibles, fighting for loose balls, hitting shots, just
cold and vibe and the vibe that's gonna fit with
these players. I am so pumped and I feel like Gabriella.
I'm pumped for her. Remember I said I wanted to
see whoever got drafted to the Sky the sort of
(09:10):
camera zoom in on them and see what their face
would be like, like a sort of curb your own
enthusiasm or like the office gym.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Look, it's not like that anymore. It's not like that.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
And I'm not saying that they fix everything at the
highest levels, but you're excited to go to a team
like the Sky right now. That is a fun roster,
That is a spicy roster. I'm so so freaking pumped
about that. By the way, I ran around the bar
given high fibes, couldn't find a single other Chicago Sky
fan here in New York.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
But it didn't matter. I just high fived a bunch.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Of random people at the party, many of whom I know,
and I'm for sure were not excited.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Or care at all about the Chicago Sky. But it
was exciting for me. Okay, So then we go to a.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Third straight UCLA Keiky Rice to Toronto, Honestly, whenever someone
gets taken by like the one Canadian team, everyone's like,
I don't know how they'll feel about going to another
country this year.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
It's like, please, someone draft me to Canada. Give me
a reason, take me with you, Kiki Rice. I'm happy
for her. I'm happy for Toronto. That's to be fun
to watch. Okay, here's where things get wild.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
I'm was gonna tell you about Flage and how her
LSU purple eyeshadow was the perfect thing to be wearing
to a draft where she went to the Violet valks.
Her mom's wearing violet again. It could be a nod
to LSU, but it felt destined. It felt like it
was meant to be. But here we are, Flasee not
going to Golden State. Still the first draft pick ever
(10:29):
from Savannah. Still had the cutest little boys clapping for her.
Still got me emotional when Aiden had the little wave
in the salute and then they called him up and
he strutted on up there.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
I mean, that kid's already a star.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Still made me think, Damn, Flage, you walked on the stage,
you get drafted with your own new single playing stop It?
Why are you so cool? And she got traded, which
is crazy. We're gonna have to unpack this way more later.
I'm gonna speed through a couple more of these. Friend
of the Show Angela Dugalleaic goes to the mystics. Honestly,
all I was thinking in my head.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Was you see La, You see La? You see La? Fight, Fight, fight.
This is incredible.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
All of these Bruins players go in Friend of the Show,
Corey close, hell of a night recruiting.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Corey hell of a night recruiting.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Anybody watching is like, oh, I want to get drafted.
I go to UCLA. Just unbelievable to see them. Okay,
where are we now? Okay, we're at number ten. Raven
Johnson to the Fever. I love that they put up
her winning record Westlake High School one hundred and twelve
and four South Carolina one.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Hundred and forty five and nine. She is a winner.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Don Staley said, of all the players she's ever coached,
this is the one she will miss the most. That
is really impressive. That is saying something, and I'm very
interested to see Raven.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Go to the Fever.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Facilitate set up Caitlin, get gritty, make a difference. There
also I want to respect everybody's sartorial choices, but I
was getting regime from living single. If you get that reference,
it's time to get a colonoscopy. Okay, speaking of fits,
Cody McMahon in that dough chy tempo fit. She went
to the mystics, not the tempo, but I mean that
(12:03):
was among my best dress. She was absolutely pulling that
look off, which was wild too, because it was the
same exact print as Medina Ocott two picks later.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
So I think it must be like a coach print.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
And they were shopping it out and they were like,
don't worry, it's gonna look completely different, and unfortunately it
did not look completely different. It just looked like the
same exact print made it too. A blazer and pants
for Medina and a blazer dress for Cody, but sick
all the same. All Right, we're gonna have to talk
so much more about the rest of these picks. I'll
just close this by saying that Jianna Neepkins ends up
being the final pick in the first round, which gives
(12:35):
you SILA a record five first rounders. Sobbing dat alert.
I mean, absolutely, just like so emotional watching him get
so emotional seeing her go to the sun.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Hopefully the tears were pride and.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Not Okay, who the hell is on the sun right now?
But also that's a place you might play. You might
get some serious minutes right away from the Connecticut sun
because they are that Will Smith meme looking around the
empty living room thing. Oh, one last thing, So friend
of the show, James Rode Rodriguez, the actor who wrangled
me into his WNBA fantasy draft and is just like
the biggest WNBA stand who has been texting me multiple
(13:10):
times a day throughout all of free agency with his
take on everything. Actually went to the draft, bought himself
a ticket, went solo, and was sending me dispatches throughout.
Continues to send them as I'm recording this. A couple
of things he mentioned. He said a lot of politeness
around Kathy. He thought she might get the Roger Goodell treatment,
the NFL commissioner who always gets booed at the draft,
but said, it's a very polite crowd. Everyone was kind
(13:31):
so interesting to get that in house feel for how
everyone was reacting to Kathy. He said, a ton of
kids there, very family friendly, so no booze being sold,
probably because of the family friendly thing, but still really
good vibes and really fun to be there. He also
mentioned that you know, there's a lot of cheers in
the room and a lot of enthusiasm for a lot
of picks. And then you get to Nell Angolma of
(13:51):
the Connecticut son from France, and he said it was
a very nice, polite golf clap.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
All right, I'm gonna wrap this up, y'all.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
There is literally a guyping on a car feet away
from me that is not made.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
That is New York.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
But before I go, I do want to say that
this year's WNBA.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Draft and that pack.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Of Bruins that we saw get drafted has inspired the
return of a segment that we have not done in
quite some time.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Yes, and.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Okay, so five UCLA players who entered the draft, Lauren Betts,
Gabriella Hakez, Kiki Rice, Angela duglic and Gianna Neiepkins all
heard their names called in the first round Monday night,
setting a new record as the first collegiate program to
have five players selected in the first round of the draft.
The record before was five players in one draft. That's
(14:39):
all the rounds, though, But we did want to ask
which schools had that previous record of five players in
one draft.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Well, just a couple of years ago, twenty.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Twenty three South Carolina team accounted for five players across
all thirty six picks in three rounds, including the number
one pick Aliah Boston twenty nineteen saw five notre name
players hear their names called, including number one pick Jack
Young and Ari Gaegobowalle at number five, and then the
legendary Tennessee Bowls they had five players drafted back in
two thousand and eight.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
That was when forty three players were.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Selected, including overall number one Kandice Parker, who is still
the only WNBA player to win Rookie of the Year.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
At MVP in the same season. And I'm sure you're like, wait,
what about Yukon.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Well, Yukon hasn't seen five players drafted in the same year,
but they are the only school that could boast having
had four players picked in the first round. So back
in two thousand and two, suberd went number one, Swin
Cash number two, Asia Jones number four, and Tamika Williams
number six.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Impressive.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
So I guess what I want to say is yes,
UCLA and South Carolina, Notre Dame, Tennessee, and Yukon.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Oh And one final note related to the history books.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Did you all know that Monday night's draft wasn't the
largest of all time despite the expansion teams.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
So back in the early years of the league from
two thousand to two thousand and two, there were sixty
four selections each year, and even then no single program
had more than four players selected in one draft class.
So bravo, Corey Close and UCLA. Oh shit, y'all, I
just saw a friend of the show, Charlie's Ledger walker
(16:12):
to the Connecticut Sun, another UCLA player.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Y'all, this is crazy.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Okay, okay, I got to get back to the party
and we got to take a break. When we come back,
we'll hop in the time machine and Studio Sarah from earlier.
We'll tell you all the other news you need to know,
plenty more on the second and third rounds of the
draft and the fit of all these players in a
later show stick around Welcome back slices. Thanks so much
(16:43):
to Party Sarah for the post draft update.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Here's what else you need to know today.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Starting with volleyball, the Love playoffs got underway over the
weekend in Louisville, taking the remaining teams from four to
just two. On Friday, Love Austin swept Love Atlanta three nothing,
and Love Houston, the regular season champs, beat Love salt
Lake three to two, but remember it was a best
of two semi and on Saturday, Atlanta beat Austin.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Leaving the duo tied one to one.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
That led to a golden set to fifteen points to
determine the winner, with Friend of the Show Molly McCage
and Austin ultimately coming out on top and earning a
ticket to the Championships. On Sunday, it was another nail bier.
League leading Houston was largely expected to just win the
match and move on, but salt Lake had other plans,
winning in straight sets, so Houston and salt Lake also
(17:32):
needed a tie breaking golden set, and Friend of the
Show Jordan Poulter and salt Lake won that two, securing
their chance to play for the title. Salt Lake at
Austin will play in the Championship Series later this week
in Long Beach, California, and you can watch it home
on the USA Network. The first match is Thursday night
at eight Eastern and the second Saturday at eight Eastern.
Just like the semis, if the team split it one
(17:53):
to one, the champion will be determined by a single
golden set to fifteen points.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Let's get back to the WNA.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Because agents are still staying busy put in pen to paper.
The Phoenix Mercury announced on Monday that Kalia Copper and
Dwana Bonner are staying with the team. Per friend the
Show Richard Cohen, Copper's deal is for two years and
worth one point two million in season one. Meantime, Cohen
reports that Bonner's deal is for one year, unprotected and
worth five hundred thousand dollars. Other reported signings include Kia
(18:21):
Stokes signing with Golden State for two years, Melissa Smith
and Dana Evans resigning with Las Vegas, Rebecca Allen signing
with The Liberty, and Kayla McBride's stay and put in Minnesota.
And that's just as of this recording on Monday afternoon. Also,
we mentioned in yesterday show that Kelsey Plum is staying
with her La Sparks, but we now have a little
more context on that deal. So Plum reportedly signed a
(18:42):
one year deal worth nine hundred ninety nine thousand, nine
hundred ninety nine dollars. Yeah, exactly one dollar short of
a million. Now, nine hundred ninety nine and ninety nine
dollars is a lot. It's more than quadruple what Plum
reportedly made last season, but some were quick to point
out that they expected her to make even more under
the new CBA, and according to reports, Plum could have
(19:03):
signed a supermax contract worth one point four million, but
per ESPN sources, she decided to give the Sparks financial
flexibility as they build their roster for twenty twenty.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Six, Kelsey Plum Wants a title.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
On Sunday, Plum posted a photo to Social of her
and her dogs sitting next to what looked like a
fan holding a one dollar bill. She wrote quote, I
guess I found that extra dollar. Now, if this man
really stopped her on her dog walk to give her
that missing dollar, he's a real one.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
More basketball.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
In February, MNBA star Jani Sante Tocompo made headlines when
he announced his investment in controversial prediction market platform Calshi. Now,
this is a site where you can wager on everything
from will it rain in New York City Today? To
will Timothy Shalame and Kylie Jenner get engaged this year
to when will traffic at the Strait of horor Moves
return to normal. Well, it turns out that Yannis is
(19:53):
not the only athlete involved in Calshi. Other investors include current,
former and future WNBA players, including Branda Stewart, Neka Ugumaka,
Diana Tarasi, and UCLA senior Gabriella Hakez Per reporting from
Front Office Sports.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
The athletes join.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Investment of four point seven million dollars in the December
series E round came via Factory Holdings, which bills itself
as a quote family office platform built for athletes, entertainers
and next generation wealth creators end quote. We'll link to
the full story in the show notes. Who can see
the other athletes that are involved in that joint venture.
But it's just worth keeping an eye on this potential
(20:28):
conflict of interests because folks have used Calshi to gamble
on things like whether an athlete will re sign with
the team.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Seems like this could get complicated to the pool.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Russian and Belarussian swimmers are being allowed back to competition
without restrictions and with their national flag and anthem World Aquatics,
the sport's global governing body, announced the news on Monday,
reversing previous rules which required those athletes to be vetted
and to compete under neutral status. Russian and Belarussians had
been banned from international events following Russia's invasion of Ukraine
(21:00):
February of twenty twenty two. In a statement on Monday,
World Aquatics President Hussein al Mussalam wrote, in part, quote,
we are determined to ensure that pools and open water
remain places where athletes from all nations can come together
in peaceful competition.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Now this decision applies only to events that World Aquatics
puts on itself, like the World Championships, not the Olympics,
which is run by the International Olympic Committee. But it
is worth keeping track of these reversals ahead of the
twenty twenty eight Games. If different sports start allowing Russians
and Bela Russians back into competitions, the IOC would be
more likely to reverse course. To to figure skating, where
(21:35):
Alyssa lou Is back performing to the Icelandic artist Lave,
but this time she's off the ice, the Olympic champion
who performed to Lave's song Promise at the Games Now
stars as herself in a music video for LaVey's new
single mad Woman. In the video, released on Monday, Lou
Donza's seventy style look with knee high boots, a cute
little orange mini dress and a patterned silk head band,
(21:57):
and of course her signature striped hair and her friend
Lim piercing. The video also starts heated rivalries Hudson Williams,
Cat's Eyes, Megan skin Deal and actress Lola Toungue.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
We'll put a link in the show notes.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Fun little watch and we love to see Lou getting
fun opportunities like this.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
All right, we got to take another break.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
When we return, we are begging for a women's basketball
model culture.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Welcome back Slices.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
And while we're still having this conversation about WNBA free agency,
the WNBA Draft and all the reporting that's coming fast
and furious, I'm going to need you to give me
a minute to talk about the larger basketball reporting landscape.
So I saw some curious comments on my WNBA related
post the last couple days on Instagram, so just did
a quick scroll through x slash Twitter to.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Try to catch up. On the WNBA social chatter.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
I've left Twitter behind him only on Blue Sky, but
there isn't the same sort of engagement over there, so
I wanted to see what everyone was y happening to
out and Wow, the Twitter WNBA reporting landscape kind of
reminded me of that scene an Anchorman where Brick kills
a guy like. I didn't see a trident, but I
did see a whole lot of drama. There was some
(23:12):
reporter on reporter crime, and there were a lot of
fans talking out of their damn asses, So it kind
of felt like something I needed to address because there
were people writing gossip like it was fact. There were
posts with intentionally unflattering, sometimes racially coded images of coaches
or athletes, along with alleged quote unquote reporting that very
(23:32):
clearly wasn't reporting. There were some unprofessional guest opinion pieces
that were being linked out at fairly reputable places that
sounded like the place had brought on a biased fan
and not a journalist to write about the latest WNBA
goings on. There were personal grudges being aired, completely uninformed takes,
and just general bullshittery. And I think this is where
(23:54):
it's important to mention that, yes, there are plenty of
different jobs in the general women's basketball eCos. There's a
reporter who's breaking news, vetting sources, making sure everything is
completely accurate before they put it on any social media
or send it to their editors. There's hosts, there's opinionists,
there's influencers. There's people who put WNBA insider in their bio,
(24:18):
have one hundred and fifty followers, don't know what they're
talking about and write as if they do, which leaves
a lot of fans wondering who they should listen to,
who they should trust. It's really created some very blurry lines.
I have a really friendly relationship with a lot of players,
but I'm a podcast host who tries to offer a
journalistic lens when it's necessary and also provides an entertaining,
(24:41):
large scope look at all the different sports. I am
not a beat reporter and I'm not really a newsbreaker,
although if anyone wants to come on our show and
break news, we are always happy to have you. There
are expectations of each of these different roles, and I
don't think a lot of fans know that, and I
think when you have and this is what I was
seeing on the Twitter landscape folks using others of not
doing their jobs, even just barely a day or two
(25:04):
into free agency beginning in the WNBA with an extremely
quick timeline with no signings actually having taken place, with
no signings being allowed to.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
Take place until Saturday.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
When you're accusing folks of not doing their job because
some other quote unquote influencer or person is breaking news,
are you following up to see if that news is accurate?
Like there was one man who was claiming that a
balloon company broke news and showed up reporters who should
have known or broken it. Well, first of all, it
wasn't news. Neck ogui k did not go to the link.
(25:36):
So the balloon company accidentally.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Leaking shit they weren't supposed to in their.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Instagram stories, wasn't them beating reporters to a story. It
was them posting something that they weren't supposed to that
turned out to just be about a visit.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
It wasn't even about a signing. So when there.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Aren't enough paid experienced journalists out there that y'all know,
to listen to folks who have a platform on a
major network, a proven digital show, a byeline in an
established outlet when there aren't enough of those, when the
space has been blurry for so long, a lot of
y'all will listen to fans or people who put quote
WNBA insider in their bio, believing it to be fact,
(26:14):
and guess what, you will not go back and check
and see if that person was ever held accountable for
the things they quote unquote reported that didn't come true.
On the men's side, you just don't really trust people
if you haven't seen them on TV, radio, major digital platforms,
because there are enough legitimate reporters that you've been told
to trust and invest in that you don't need to
go looking for that breaking news elsewhere, or if you
(26:35):
see it, you're suspicious about it. But you've got people
out there writing that the SKYGM is now signing good
players just to get back at Angel Reese and make
her seem like she was the problem here, not because
it's his job, not because it makes the team better
out of spite for a player he traded away with
a straight faced people are quote unquote reporting that. And
(26:58):
this is the problem with not having a basketball or
a women's sports monoculture. It's something I've mentioned on the
show before. If we don't know that we can go
to Sports Center and if it's not there, it didn't happen.
If we don't know that, we can't go to a
specific senior reporter of X to find out whether someone
said something, did something, traded someone fought someone, then y'all
will be led astray by so many folks who are
(27:21):
misusing their platform, if it is a platform with any
amount of followers, or who are leading you to believe
that they have a platform. And I just want to say,
for the billionth time, I'm not going to be up
in your reddit threads.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
I'm not going to be on your message boards.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
I'm not going to be caring water for one reporter
while trying to get back at another reporter while trying
to fight a front office.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
I'm going to say how I.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Feel and you're going to know it, and I'm going
to tell you when something is being reported and when
something is my opinion. And I feel sorry for a
lot of true fans of the WNBA that they don't
know where to go all the time to get the
facts and they don't know who they can trust with information.
But those of you who are berating real reporters for
not breaking something that is done yet, or for not
(28:02):
having information that somebody else allegedly has.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
It's bullshit, And just want.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
To point out, for the millionth time for those who
haven't heard me say this yet, Sham Sharania's quote unquote
reporting on the WNBACBA was all stuff we had already
learned from the reporters on the ground that were covering
it every day. The fact that he went on a major,
high profile ESPN show and read off his phone, I
have some breaking news and proceeded to tell us information
(28:27):
those of us in the know and following along every
day already knew is a choice for him and the
show that he was on in ESPN. It does not
take away from the work that was being done by
the women's basketball dedicated reporters who had already let us
know all of that information via reporting in the days
leading up to the deal getting done. So holding him
out there as an example of someone who outscooped them
(28:48):
or did the work they couldn't do is just revealing
that you were not following along and didn't know that
that information was already out there. Holding the fact that
Taylor Rooks broke Angel Reese's dream news ahead of some
other reports is not an indication that those reporters aren't
doing their job. It's a relationship that Taylor Brooks and
Angel reesays, and that's going to happen sometimes.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Same with Cheney breaking her sisters news. I think we
all expected that to happen. Now.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
I'm not trying to carry water for people who are
lazy or who aren't doing their work or are doing
a bad job. I'm saying that there are some really
excellent reporters in this space, and because you don't know,
the difference between what they're doing and the bullshit that
you're seeing online is a U problem, not of them problem.
And I hope as we continue to actually fund this space,
give people platforms, put more of this news on major
(29:34):
ESPN shows and major radio stations and major digital platforms,
we will have less of this. But in the meantime,
please be nice to your WNBA reporters, and please figure
out how to vet whether the people that you're listening
to and reading know what they're talking about or not,
because this shit is looking exhausting, all right. We always
love that your listing excises, but we wanted to get
(29:55):
in the game every day too, So here's our good
game play of the day. Now that many of your
favorite players have a new home for the season, go
grab that merch. We're seeing a bunch of new players
team jerseys pop up on the WNBA site, like a
fire Engine, Red Angel Reese Atlanta Dreamkit, a Natisha Heidem
and Seattle Storm jersey. We've got those classic Chicago black
pinstripe jerseys for Skyler Diggins and the rest of the
(30:17):
Sky's new editions.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
We'll put a link to the shop in the show notes.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
And 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
o four fifty seventy.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
I said it the other day.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
Send us in a voicemail about how your team did
in the draft in free agency. We want to hear
what you think about all the latest moves. And don't
forget to subscribe, rate and review. It's easy watch game
cocks don't fly rating one of fifteen hoopers that's scared
of heights review. It's a tradition for WNBA draft prospects
(30:51):
to go to the top of the Empire State Building
on the day of the draft. Now this year's class
followed suit on Monday, and Raven Johnson was forced to
put on a brave face.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
This North Carolina guard kept her back.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
To the wall and stayed as far away from the
edge as possible, saying, y'all, we are too high. Honestly,
shouts to Johnson for speaking the truth. They were way
up there and.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
There's a railing, but no nets or anything.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
And if you know anything about Cox and I sure do,
they can only fly for short distances and at low heights.
So smart of Raven to keep her distance from the edge.
Now it's your turn, slices, rate and review. Thanks for listening,
See you tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
Good game.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
New WNBA draftees and the social media teams posting at
minimum once per hour every hour for the past week.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Good game, Love Salt Lake and love Austin. We'll see
you in the ship. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Knowing that not everyone whose name was called on Monday night,
we'll get to actually log minutes in a WNBA game.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Oh the cuts are always so brutal.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iheartwomen'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.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Production by Wonder Media Network. Our producers are alex Azzi
and Bianca Hillier.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
Our executive producers 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 are
screaming outside a bar for friend of the Show and
Iheartwomen's Sports hosts number one overall pick Asy Fud. But
we are screaming even louder for Gabrielle Hakaz to the sky.
We are not going to win every game, folks, but
we are going to win every fight. It's Tuesday, April fourteenth,
and on today's show, I'm coming to you from the
(00:23):
iHeart Women's Sports Draft party at Wilka's in Manhattan. Actually
the street outside Wilka's in Manhattan, and no fewer than
five people have already walked by as I'm screaming.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
About the WNBA draft.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
But I'm just too excited about everything that happened to.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Make you wait.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
So we're throwing our usual show format out the window
to give you my instant draft reactions, then everything else
you need to know today, and I'm gonna need you
to give me a minute to talk about the WNBA
reporter discourse that's going on over at the Bad Place.
Twitter plus Live, Laugh, Love Volleyball. She's a mad woman,
(01:00):
and no Kelsey Plumb cannot lend you a dolla. It's
all coming up right after this welcome back slices. I
am recording this late Monday night from the street just
outside of the Iheartwomen's Sports party at Wilcos in Manhattan.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Super fun crowd.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
It included so many hosts from Iheartwomen's Sports, including the
Goat herself, Cheryl Swoops. Very fun to be trading thoughts
about the picks before they were made, about the fits
that we saw. Speaking of the fits, before the draft
even got underway, I was already losing my frickin' mind
over Flaje Johnson. Y'all, we already know she is not
(01:44):
new to this, she is true to this. The WNBA
draft is not her moment to show off.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
She had been.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Showing off on red carpets, on award shows, in music
videos like this woman is already such a star, and man,
she somehow outdid herself. Even the velvet the cutouts just unbelievable.
She looked so gorgeous. Lauren Betts was killing it. Gabriella
Hawks with the slit. Asy's first dress was already beautiful enough,
(02:11):
but the second one, I mean, I was not expecting
the wardrobe change. I guess maybe I should have, because
we saw Page absolutely nailed the wardrobe change last year.
Maybe she gave her that hint, you know, get get yourself.
Two fits for people to be talking about the next day.
Cody McMahon, Oh my god, Cody McMahon given Toronto Tempo
Times DOCI. That was beautiful. It was almost a shame
she didn't go to the Tempo. She would have been
(02:33):
ready day one. Speaking of fits, I have to admit
Kathy Engelbert, who, by the way, I ran into on
the street this morning. I was heading to our iHeart
Women's sports photo shoot with all the different hosts from
our podcasts, and I'm just like two blocks away from
the iHeart headquarters and I hear Sarah, Oh Sarah, and
I turned around Katy Engelbert on the street.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
She had a couple other folks from the WNBA were
headed to the parents brunch.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
That was happening just you know, a couple hours before
all the draft stuff got underway, but only in New York.
Running into the Commission on the street anyway, I have
to admit Kathy looked fantastic in her dress. I loved
the sparkle, but a little bit of me was like,
I don't know if I'm going grinch green after the negotiations,
I know things turned out great. I know maybe it's
money green because she's handing out buckets of it now
(03:17):
with the new CBA.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
I just I would be a little worried about being.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
On the opposing side of those negotiations rocking that grinch green.
But she looked great. Okay, let's talk about the picks.
I'm going fast reaction, immediate reaction. We'll have so much
time to talk about the basketball fit for these and
to be honest, I'm recording this before some of the
second round stuff and before even some of the free
agency stuff has really been finalized, So we're gonna go
lots of fit talk and a lot of just enthusiasm
(03:41):
and excitement about where these different players are landing before
we can even get to basketball fit. Okay, first of all,
our girl Asy fud friend at the show, host of
a show right here on Iheartwomen's Sports. When I tell you,
the bar erupted, we had friends of hers, we had produced,
we had just a whole room of people that were
(04:02):
so so excited and happy for her. So it's really
fun to be in this bar where everyone was really
really excited for Easy to go number one seventh Husky
going number one in the draft.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Pretty impressive.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Also that wardrobe change that Bob Mackie share nineteen seventies
perfection that looked like that desert sand art where it
all you know, filters by color, the hair, the body,
the makeup, absolutely just ethereal just perfection. I was dying
for Easy. I'm so excited for that team. This is
(04:35):
a Dallas Wings fan base that has been so so
hungry just to have something to cheer for, besides a
star that can't quite get them to the finish line.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
You have a lot of great players that come through there,
but you want to get those wins.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
It's been hard for Arik.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
By the way, someone today told me it's Arik, and
I'm like, okay, but I've been told ari K and
until we get her on the.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Show, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Anyway, I'm sorry, I'm getting a dispatch right now that
the All Creeds have traded Flage already. I haven't even
gotten to the point where I'm telling you about that pick,
and it's coming fast and furious. Okay, we're going to
get to that and we'll we'll address that. Okay, Back
to Asy and the Wings. Like I said, what we
saw tonight from her and Paige leaves a lot of
questions to be asked, and we'll leave those to those
(05:19):
young people, right, That's not our business. But I certainly
hope that if they told the team, both Page and Asy,
that they will be able to play and they're still
friends and they'll get along and they'll make it work.
That that's what happens, and they're professionals now, and I
hope that's the case. That's a lot easier to say
in advance of the season than it is when your
former lady is bringing a new lady to the games
(05:40):
to sit courtside and cheer you on. Again, this is
not my business. I'm just reading the tea leaves, y'all.
And honestly, they're also very young kids and.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
They are bff.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
So maybe they'll just get back together and this will
be heated rivalry basketball style.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Because I'm gonna tell you back to back.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Number one picks who are dating and then go to
the same team.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
That's a movie, it's not real life. But it happened.
It happened, So.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
I'm rooting for those two no matter what their relationship
to each other looks like okay, Olivia Miles to the Lynx,
the stitching in her jacket for her family, the emotions
from her family.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
I loved that.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
I wasn't sure about the fit. Bottom half looked great
to me. Top half kind of looked like you showed
up to a country club. They have a policy that
you need a blazer, so they go dig it in
the back room and find you on It looked like
it was maybe trying for the Japanese city boy look,
but it was too tight in the shoulder for that
and too big in box.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
It needed to be more proportioned.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
But happy for her links get a baller, Cheryl Reeve's
going to make her play some nasty d We are
going to see some beautiful basketball out of her, and
I'm just I'm really fired out.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
For her, all right. Number three, we got.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Awa fam to Seattle and her brothers with the matching
bedazzled hats and those giant grins on their faces. Absolutely
stop right now. I don't know if they were handed
those hats. I don't know if they made them for
each team and then picked them out of a bag
in front of them, but that was an absolute delight.
I have to admit I thought that Awa would not
go to seat. To me, it feels like a redundancy
(07:01):
with Dominique Malonga.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
But what the hell do I know.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
If you want to make a team out of absolute
freaks that can't even drink yet, go for it.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
I will be there to watch, and I'm excited to
see what happens.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
A lot of movement up there, and going for a
young player that's been playing professionally for a number of
years and.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Has a huge upside is always a good choice. Number four,
we got Lauren Betts to the Washington Mystics.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Like I said, absolutely gorgeous, just stunning, just confident, just
so happy for someone who's been through so much and
has brought so much to UCLA to have this moment.
And I realized as I was looking up, and it's
like the millionth time that I've thought about Lauren Betts
being six to seven. But in my mind, I was
still like, oh my god, six seven, like not just
(07:44):
a score, not just something you happen upon, but every
single time you get shown anywhere on a scoreboard in
a program.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
It says six seven, six seven. I feel for her.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
I bet she'd been dealing with that a lot. I
loved seeing her brother crying. That was super super special.
But yeah, just mystics for bets with Kiki Eriefen Dang.
Don't even try to go inside. Don't even try to
get inside the paint.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
It's not gonna happen for you.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Okay, let's get to number five, and it is a
second straight UCLA player to my Chicago sky It is
none other than Gabriella hawk Is, y'all.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
My team will claw your team's eyes out.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
My team will fight you in the parking lot before.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
The game begins. My team is so spicy.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
My team is Rikia Jackson, who punched her own team
and in the face Skyler Diggins, who will fight all of
y'all and her teammates too. Djna Carrington, extra spice, Gabriella Hawkes,
are you kidding me? The scream I scramped in that bar, y'all.
I was so freaking excited. And you know, a lot
of people thought that Keiki Rice would go before Gabriella,
(08:50):
And it's toss up for me to see who's going
to be better in the pros. But when I think about
hustle plays, intangibles, fighting for loose balls, hitting shots, just
cold and vibe and the vibe that's gonna fit with
these players. I am so pumped and I feel like Gabriella.
I'm pumped for her. Remember I said I wanted to
see whoever got drafted to the Sky the sort of
(09:10):
camera zoom in on them and see what their face
would be like, like a sort of curb your own
enthusiasm or like the office gym.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Look, it's not like that anymore. It's not like that.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
And I'm not saying that they fix everything at the
highest levels, but you're excited to go to a team
like the Sky right now. That is a fun roster,
That is a spicy roster. I'm so so freaking pumped
about that. By the way, I ran around the bar
given high fibes, couldn't find a single other Chicago Sky
fan here in New York.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
But it didn't matter. I just high fived a bunch.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Of random people at the party, many of whom I know,
and I'm for sure were not excited.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Or care at all about the Chicago Sky. But it
was exciting for me. Okay, So then we go to a.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Third straight UCLA Keiky Rice to Toronto, Honestly, whenever someone
gets taken by like the one Canadian team, everyone's like,
I don't know how they'll feel about going to another
country this year.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
It's like, please, someone draft me to Canada. Give me
a reason, take me with you, Kiki Rice. I'm happy
for her. I'm happy for Toronto. That's to be fun
to watch. Okay, here's where things get wild.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
I'm was gonna tell you about Flage and how her
LSU purple eyeshadow was the perfect thing to be wearing
to a draft where she went to the Violet valks.
Her mom's wearing violet again. It could be a nod
to LSU, but it felt destined. It felt like it
was meant to be. But here we are, Flasee not
going to Golden State. Still the first draft pick ever
(10:29):
from Savannah. Still had the cutest little boys clapping for her.
Still got me emotional when Aiden had the little wave
in the salute and then they called him up and
he strutted on up there.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
I mean, that kid's already a star.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Still made me think, Damn, Flage, you walked on the stage,
you get drafted with your own new single playing stop It?
Why are you so cool? And she got traded, which
is crazy. We're gonna have to unpack this way more later.
I'm gonna speed through a couple more of these. Friend
of the Show Angela Dugalleaic goes to the mystics. Honestly,
all I was thinking in my head.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Was you see La, You see La? You see La? Fight, Fight, fight.
This is incredible.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
All of these Bruins players go in Friend of the Show,
Corey close, hell of a night recruiting.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Corey hell of a night recruiting.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Anybody watching is like, oh, I want to get drafted.
I go to UCLA. Just unbelievable to see them. Okay,
where are we now? Okay, we're at number ten. Raven
Johnson to the Fever. I love that they put up
her winning record Westlake High School one hundred and twelve
and four South Carolina one.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Hundred and forty five and nine. She is a winner.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Don Staley said, of all the players she's ever coached,
this is the one she will miss the most. That
is really impressive. That is saying something, and I'm very
interested to see Raven.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Go to the Fever.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Facilitate set up Caitlin, get gritty, make a difference. There
also I want to respect everybody's sartorial choices, but I
was getting regime from living single. If you get that reference,
it's time to get a colonoscopy. Okay, speaking of fits,
Cody McMahon in that dough chy tempo fit. She went
to the mystics, not the tempo, but I mean that
(12:03):
was among my best dress. She was absolutely pulling that
look off, which was wild too, because it was the
same exact print as Medina Ocott two picks later.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
So I think it must be like a coach print.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
And they were shopping it out and they were like,
don't worry, it's gonna look completely different, and unfortunately it
did not look completely different. It just looked like the
same exact print made it too. A blazer and pants
for Medina and a blazer dress for Cody, but sick
all the same. All Right, we're gonna have to talk
so much more about the rest of these picks. I'll
just close this by saying that Jianna Neepkins ends up
being the final pick in the first round, which gives
(12:35):
you SILA a record five first rounders. Sobbing dat alert.
I mean, absolutely, just like so emotional watching him get
so emotional seeing her go to the sun.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Hopefully the tears were pride and.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Not Okay, who the hell is on the sun right now?
But also that's a place you might play. You might
get some serious minutes right away from the Connecticut sun
because they are that Will Smith meme looking around the
empty living room thing. Oh, one last thing, So friend
of the show, James Rode Rodriguez, the actor who wrangled
me into his WNBA fantasy draft and is just like
the biggest WNBA stand who has been texting me multiple
(13:10):
times a day throughout all of free agency with his
take on everything. Actually went to the draft, bought himself
a ticket, went solo, and was sending me dispatches throughout.
Continues to send them as I'm recording this. A couple
of things he mentioned. He said a lot of politeness
around Kathy. He thought she might get the Roger Goodell treatment,
the NFL commissioner who always gets booed at the draft,
but said, it's a very polite crowd. Everyone was kind
(13:31):
so interesting to get that in house feel for how
everyone was reacting to Kathy. He said, a ton of
kids there, very family friendly, so no booze being sold,
probably because of the family friendly thing, but still really
good vibes and really fun to be there. He also
mentioned that you know, there's a lot of cheers in
the room and a lot of enthusiasm for a lot
of picks. And then you get to Nell Angolma of
(13:51):
the Connecticut son from France, and he said it was
a very nice, polite golf clap.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
All right, I'm gonna wrap this up, y'all.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
There is literally a guyping on a car feet away
from me that is not made.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
That is New York.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
But before I go, I do want to say that
this year's WNBA.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Draft and that pack.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Of Bruins that we saw get drafted has inspired the
return of a segment that we have not done in
quite some time.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Yes, and.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Okay, so five UCLA players who entered the draft, Lauren Betts,
Gabriella Hakez, Kiki Rice, Angela duglic and Gianna Neiepkins all
heard their names called in the first round Monday night,
setting a new record as the first collegiate program to
have five players selected in the first round of the draft.
The record before was five players in one draft. That's
(14:39):
all the rounds, though, But we did want to ask
which schools had that previous record of five players in
one draft.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Well, just a couple of years ago, twenty.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Twenty three South Carolina team accounted for five players across
all thirty six picks in three rounds, including the number
one pick Aliah Boston twenty nineteen saw five notre name
players hear their names called, including number one pick Jack
Young and Ari Gaegobowalle at number five, and then the
legendary Tennessee Bowls they had five players drafted back in
two thousand and eight.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
That was when forty three players were.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Selected, including overall number one Kandice Parker, who is still
the only WNBA player to win Rookie of the Year.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
At MVP in the same season. And I'm sure you're like, wait,
what about Yukon.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Well, Yukon hasn't seen five players drafted in the same year,
but they are the only school that could boast having
had four players picked in the first round. So back
in two thousand and two, suberd went number one, Swin
Cash number two, Asia Jones number four, and Tamika Williams
number six.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Impressive.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
So I guess what I want to say is yes,
UCLA and South Carolina, Notre Dame, Tennessee, and Yukon.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Oh And one final note related to the history books.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Did you all know that Monday night's draft wasn't the
largest of all time despite the expansion teams.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
So back in the early years of the league from
two thousand to two thousand and two, there were sixty
four selections each year, and even then no single program
had more than four players selected in one draft class.
So bravo, Corey Close and UCLA. Oh shit, y'all, I
just saw a friend of the show, Charlie's Ledger walker
(16:12):
to the Connecticut Sun, another UCLA player.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Y'all, this is crazy.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Okay, okay, I got to get back to the party
and we got to take a break. When we come back,
we'll hop in the time machine and Studio Sarah from earlier.
We'll tell you all the other news you need to know,
plenty more on the second and third rounds of the
draft and the fit of all these players in a
later show stick around Welcome back slices. Thanks so much
(16:43):
to Party Sarah for the post draft update.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Here's what else you need to know today.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Starting with volleyball, the Love playoffs got underway over the
weekend in Louisville, taking the remaining teams from four to
just two. On Friday, Love Austin swept Love Atlanta three nothing,
and Love Houston, the regular season champs, beat Love salt
Lake three to two, but remember it was a best
of two semi and on Saturday, Atlanta beat Austin.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Leaving the duo tied one to one.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
That led to a golden set to fifteen points to
determine the winner, with Friend of the Show Molly McCage
and Austin ultimately coming out on top and earning a
ticket to the Championships. On Sunday, it was another nail bier.
League leading Houston was largely expected to just win the
match and move on, but salt Lake had other plans,
winning in straight sets, so Houston and salt Lake also
(17:32):
needed a tie breaking golden set, and Friend of the
Show Jordan Poulter and salt Lake won that two, securing
their chance to play for the title. Salt Lake at
Austin will play in the Championship Series later this week
in Long Beach, California, and you can watch it home
on the USA Network. The first match is Thursday night
at eight Eastern and the second Saturday at eight Eastern.
Just like the semis, if the team split it one
(17:53):
to one, the champion will be determined by a single
golden set to fifteen points.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Let's get back to the WNA.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Because agents are still staying busy put in pen to paper.
The Phoenix Mercury announced on Monday that Kalia Copper and
Dwana Bonner are staying with the team. Per friend the
Show Richard Cohen, Copper's deal is for two years and
worth one point two million in season one. Meantime, Cohen
reports that Bonner's deal is for one year, unprotected and
worth five hundred thousand dollars. Other reported signings include Kia
(18:21):
Stokes signing with Golden State for two years, Melissa Smith
and Dana Evans resigning with Las Vegas, Rebecca Allen signing
with The Liberty, and Kayla McBride's stay and put in Minnesota.
And that's just as of this recording on Monday afternoon. Also,
we mentioned in yesterday show that Kelsey Plum is staying
with her La Sparks, but we now have a little
more context on that deal. So Plum reportedly signed a
(18:42):
one year deal worth nine hundred ninety nine thousand, nine
hundred ninety nine dollars. Yeah, exactly one dollar short of
a million. Now, nine hundred ninety nine and ninety nine
dollars is a lot. It's more than quadruple what Plum
reportedly made last season, but some were quick to point
out that they expected her to make even more under
the new CBA, and according to reports, Plum could have
(19:03):
signed a supermax contract worth one point four million, but
per ESPN sources, she decided to give the Sparks financial
flexibility as they build their roster for twenty twenty.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Six, Kelsey Plum Wants a title.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
On Sunday, Plum posted a photo to Social of her
and her dogs sitting next to what looked like a
fan holding a one dollar bill. She wrote quote, I
guess I found that extra dollar. Now, if this man
really stopped her on her dog walk to give her
that missing dollar, he's a real one.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
More basketball.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
In February, MNBA star Jani Sante Tocompo made headlines when
he announced his investment in controversial prediction market platform Calshi. Now,
this is a site where you can wager on everything
from will it rain in New York City Today? To
will Timothy Shalame and Kylie Jenner get engaged this year
to when will traffic at the Strait of horor Moves
return to normal. Well, it turns out that Yannis is
(19:53):
not the only athlete involved in Calshi. Other investors include current,
former and future WNBA players, including Branda Stewart, Neka Ugumaka,
Diana Tarasi, and UCLA senior Gabriella Hakez Per reporting from
Front Office Sports.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
The athletes join.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Investment of four point seven million dollars in the December
series E round came via Factory Holdings, which bills itself
as a quote family office platform built for athletes, entertainers
and next generation wealth creators end quote. We'll link to
the full story in the show notes. Who can see
the other athletes that are involved in that joint venture.
But it's just worth keeping an eye on this potential
(20:28):
conflict of interests because folks have used Calshi to gamble
on things like whether an athlete will re sign with
the team.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Seems like this could get complicated to the pool.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Russian and Belarussian swimmers are being allowed back to competition
without restrictions and with their national flag and anthem World Aquatics,
the sport's global governing body, announced the news on Monday,
reversing previous rules which required those athletes to be vetted
and to compete under neutral status. Russian and Belarussians had
been banned from international events following Russia's invasion of Ukraine
(21:00):
February of twenty twenty two. In a statement on Monday,
World Aquatics President Hussein al Mussalam wrote, in part, quote,
we are determined to ensure that pools and open water
remain places where athletes from all nations can come together
in peaceful competition.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Now this decision applies only to events that World Aquatics
puts on itself, like the World Championships, not the Olympics,
which is run by the International Olympic Committee. But it
is worth keeping track of these reversals ahead of the
twenty twenty eight Games. If different sports start allowing Russians
and Bela Russians back into competitions, the IOC would be
more likely to reverse course. To to figure skating, where
(21:35):
Alyssa lou Is back performing to the Icelandic artist Lave,
but this time she's off the ice, the Olympic champion
who performed to Lave's song Promise at the Games Now
stars as herself in a music video for LaVey's new
single mad Woman. In the video, released on Monday, Lou
Donza's seventy style look with knee high boots, a cute
little orange mini dress and a patterned silk head band,
(21:57):
and of course her signature striped hair and her friend
Lim piercing. The video also starts heated rivalries Hudson Williams,
Cat's Eyes, Megan skin Deal and actress Lola Toungue.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
We'll put a link in the show notes.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Fun little watch and we love to see Lou getting
fun opportunities like this.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
All right, we got to take another break.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
When we return, we are begging for a women's basketball
model culture.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Welcome back Slices.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
And while we're still having this conversation about WNBA free agency,
the WNBA Draft and all the reporting that's coming fast
and furious, I'm going to need you to give me
a minute to talk about the larger basketball reporting landscape.
So I saw some curious comments on my WNBA related
post the last couple days on Instagram, so just did
a quick scroll through x slash Twitter to.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Try to catch up. On the WNBA social chatter.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
I've left Twitter behind him only on Blue Sky, but
there isn't the same sort of engagement over there, so
I wanted to see what everyone was y happening to
out and Wow, the Twitter WNBA reporting landscape kind of
reminded me of that scene an Anchorman where Brick kills
a guy like. I didn't see a trident, but I
did see a whole lot of drama. There was some
(23:12):
reporter on reporter crime, and there were a lot of
fans talking out of their damn asses, So it kind
of felt like something I needed to address because there
were people writing gossip like it was fact. There were
posts with intentionally unflattering, sometimes racially coded images of coaches
or athletes, along with alleged quote unquote reporting that very
(23:32):
clearly wasn't reporting. There were some unprofessional guest opinion pieces
that were being linked out at fairly reputable places that
sounded like the place had brought on a biased fan
and not a journalist to write about the latest WNBA
goings on. There were personal grudges being aired, completely uninformed takes,
and just general bullshittery. And I think this is where
(23:54):
it's important to mention that, yes, there are plenty of
different jobs in the general women's basketball eCos. There's a
reporter who's breaking news, vetting sources, making sure everything is
completely accurate before they put it on any social media
or send it to their editors. There's hosts, there's opinionists,
there's influencers. There's people who put WNBA insider in their bio,
(24:18):
have one hundred and fifty followers, don't know what they're
talking about and write as if they do, which leaves
a lot of fans wondering who they should listen to,
who they should trust. It's really created some very blurry lines.
I have a really friendly relationship with a lot of players,
but I'm a podcast host who tries to offer a
journalistic lens when it's necessary and also provides an entertaining,
(24:41):
large scope look at all the different sports. I am
not a beat reporter and I'm not really a newsbreaker,
although if anyone wants to come on our show and
break news, we are always happy to have you. There
are expectations of each of these different roles, and I
don't think a lot of fans know that, and I
think when you have and this is what I was
seeing on the Twitter landscape folks using others of not
doing their jobs, even just barely a day or two
(25:04):
into free agency beginning in the WNBA with an extremely
quick timeline with no signings actually having taken place, with
no signings being allowed to.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
Take place until Saturday.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
When you're accusing folks of not doing their job because
some other quote unquote influencer or person is breaking news,
are you following up to see if that news is accurate?
Like there was one man who was claiming that a
balloon company broke news and showed up reporters who should
have known or broken it. Well, first of all, it
wasn't news. Neck ogui k did not go to the link.
(25:36):
So the balloon company accidentally.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Leaking shit they weren't supposed to in their.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Instagram stories, wasn't them beating reporters to a story. It
was them posting something that they weren't supposed to that
turned out to just be about a visit.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
It wasn't even about a signing. So when there.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Aren't enough paid experienced journalists out there that y'all know,
to listen to folks who have a platform on a
major network, a proven digital show, a byeline in an
established outlet when there aren't enough of those, when the
space has been blurry for so long, a lot of
y'all will listen to fans or people who put quote
WNBA insider in their bio, believing it to be fact,
(26:14):
and guess what, you will not go back and check
and see if that person was ever held accountable for
the things they quote unquote reported that didn't come true.
On the men's side, you just don't really trust people
if you haven't seen them on TV, radio, major digital platforms,
because there are enough legitimate reporters that you've been told
to trust and invest in that you don't need to
go looking for that breaking news elsewhere, or if you
(26:35):
see it, you're suspicious about it. But you've got people
out there writing that the SKYGM is now signing good
players just to get back at Angel Reese and make
her seem like she was the problem here, not because
it's his job, not because it makes the team better
out of spite for a player he traded away with
a straight faced people are quote unquote reporting that. And
(26:58):
this is the problem with not having a basketball or
a women's sports monoculture. It's something I've mentioned on the
show before. If we don't know that we can go
to Sports Center and if it's not there, it didn't happen.
If we don't know that, we can't go to a
specific senior reporter of X to find out whether someone
said something, did something, traded someone fought someone, then y'all
will be led astray by so many folks who are
(27:21):
misusing their platform, if it is a platform with any
amount of followers, or who are leading you to believe
that they have a platform. And I just want to say,
for the billionth time, I'm not going to be up
in your reddit threads.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
I'm not going to be on your message boards.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
I'm not going to be caring water for one reporter
while trying to get back at another reporter while trying
to fight a front office.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
I'm going to say how I.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Feel and you're going to know it, and I'm going
to tell you when something is being reported and when
something is my opinion. And I feel sorry for a
lot of true fans of the WNBA that they don't
know where to go all the time to get the
facts and they don't know who they can trust with information.
But those of you who are berating real reporters for
not breaking something that is done yet, or for not
(28:02):
having information that somebody else allegedly has.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
It's bullshit, And just want.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
To point out, for the millionth time for those who
haven't heard me say this yet, Sham Sharania's quote unquote
reporting on the WNBACBA was all stuff we had already
learned from the reporters on the ground that were covering
it every day. The fact that he went on a major,
high profile ESPN show and read off his phone, I
have some breaking news and proceeded to tell us information
(28:27):
those of us in the know and following along every
day already knew is a choice for him and the
show that he was on in ESPN. It does not
take away from the work that was being done by
the women's basketball dedicated reporters who had already let us
know all of that information via reporting in the days
leading up to the deal getting done. So holding him
out there as an example of someone who outscooped them
(28:48):
or did the work they couldn't do is just revealing
that you were not following along and didn't know that
that information was already out there. Holding the fact that
Taylor Rooks broke Angel Reese's dream news ahead of some
other reports is not an indication that those reporters aren't
doing their job. It's a relationship that Taylor Brooks and
Angel reesays, and that's going to happen sometimes.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Same with Cheney breaking her sisters news. I think we
all expected that to happen. Now.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
I'm not trying to carry water for people who are
lazy or who aren't doing their work or are doing
a bad job. I'm saying that there are some really
excellent reporters in this space, and because you don't know,
the difference between what they're doing and the bullshit that
you're seeing online is a U problem, not of them problem.
And I hope as we continue to actually fund this space,
give people platforms, put more of this news on major
(29:34):
ESPN shows and major radio stations and major digital platforms,
we will have less of this. But in the meantime,
please be nice to your WNBA reporters, and please figure
out how to vet whether the people that you're listening
to and reading know what they're talking about or not,
because this shit is looking exhausting, all right. We always
love that your listing excises, but we wanted to get
(29:55):
in the game every day too, So here's our good
game play of the day. Now that many of your
favorite players have a new home for the season, go
grab that merch. We're seeing a bunch of new players
team jerseys pop up on the WNBA site, like a
fire Engine, Red Angel Reese Atlanta Dreamkit, a Natisha Heidem
and Seattle Storm jersey. We've got those classic Chicago black
pinstripe jerseys for Skyler Diggins and the rest of the
(30:17):
Sky's new editions.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
We'll put a link to the shop in the show notes.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
And 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
o four fifty seventy.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
I said it the other day.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
Send us in a voicemail about how your team did
in the draft in free agency. We want to hear
what you think about all the latest moves. And don't
forget to subscribe, rate and review. It's easy watch game
cocks don't fly rating one of fifteen hoopers that's scared
of heights review. It's a tradition for WNBA draft prospects
(30:51):
to go to the top of the Empire State Building
on the day of the draft. Now this year's class
followed suit on Monday, and Raven Johnson was forced to
put on a brave face.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
This North Carolina guard kept her back.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
To the wall and stayed as far away from the
edge as possible, saying, y'all, we are too high. Honestly,
shouts to Johnson for speaking the truth. They were way
up there and.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
There's a railing, but no nets or anything.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
And if you know anything about Cox and I sure do,
they can only fly for short distances and at low heights.
So smart of Raven to keep her distance from the edge.
Now it's your turn, slices, rate and review. Thanks for listening,
See you tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
Good game.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
New WNBA draftees and the social media teams posting at
minimum once per hour every hour for the past week.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Good game, Love Salt Lake and love Austin. We'll see
you in the ship. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Knowing that not everyone whose name was called on Monday night,
we'll get to actually log minutes in a WNBA game.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Oh the cuts are always so brutal.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iheartwomen'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.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Production by Wonder Media Network. Our producers are alex Azzi
and Bianca Hillier.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
Our executive producers 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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