November 19, 2025 • 42 mins
Four-time WNBA champion Chelsea Gray joins Sarah to discuss how the Las Vegas Aces turned their season around and secured dynasty status, why Becky Hammon is the best coach she’s ever had, and how becoming a mom has helped her master the art of letting go. Plus, dishing the dirt on the NWSL, sending coastal elites to the middle of America, and… do you smell cupcakes?
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Read ESPN’s NWSL GM survey here
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Read Annie Costabile’s story on the WPBL here
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Check out highlights from DT’s “The Link” episode with Paige Bueckers here
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Watch the trailer for “Breathe Through It with Monique Billings” here
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Pick up an “Underdog My A**” t-shirt here
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're launching
a GoFundMe to keep Trinity Rodman in the NWSL. A
coaffa bag full of cash doesn't count against the salary cap,
right Wait, let me ask borders our Tom Holman. Okay,
we're good. It's Wednesday, November nineteenth, and on today show
we'll be chatting with four time WNBA champion Chelsea Gray
about how the Las Vegas Aces turned their season around
(00:21):
and secured dynasty status, why Becky Hammond is the best
coach she's ever had, and how being a mom has
helped her master the art of letting go. Plus dish
the dirt on the NWSL, sending the coastal elite to
the middle of America, and do I smell cupcakes? It's
all coming up right after this welcome back slices. Here's
(00:43):
what you need to know today. Let's start with the
NWSL ahead of Saturday's championship game between the Washington Spirit
and Got Them FC in San Jose, California. ESPN released
its second annual GM survey. Reporter and friend of the show,
Jeff Casoof interviewed fifteen general managers, or the highest ranking
soccer executive from the league sixteen teams to get their
(01:04):
opinions and insights on a variety of topics before compiling
and then anonymizing the results. And let's just say that
takeaways are fascinating. For example, eighty five percent of respondents
said they believe the NWSL salary cap is holding the
league back and making it harder to keep top talent stateside.
Ten of the gms named it as the first rule
they would change if they were able. When it comes
(01:26):
to the team elevating the league the most, Kansas City
was the easy pick, earning twelve votes from gms. As
for the team holding the league back the most, that
honor goes to the Chicago Color Neutral Stars, six gms
named that franchise as the league's worst. Gms also shared
their opinions on Commissioner Jessica Berman, rule breaking expansion, and
(01:47):
whether the NWSL should launch a second division league. The
full survey is definitely worth your time, so we'll link
to it in the show notes. A little more NWSL
as championship weekend nears, you might remember hearing Gotham FC
star Jaden Shaw drop in the line of the season
post Kansas City current upset underdog's my ass, she said.
And now after eight seed Gotham continued its reign of
(02:09):
terror by taking out last year's champs, the Orlando Pride.
Jadenshaw slogan has made its way to T shirts made
and sold by the underdogs themselves, Got Them FC, or
as the Internet is calling them, Shotham FC. We'll link
to the site if you want to buy one. To baseball,
you might recall that the new Women's Professional Baseball League
that WPBL announced a few weeks ago that its four
(02:30):
inaugural teams would represent four cities New York, Boston, Los Angeles,
and San Francisco, but wouldn't play in those cities for
year one, while on Monday, the league told any costable
of Front Office Sports that all of its games in
year one will be played at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois,
which holds about fifty two hundred fans. And you're probably
now asking yourself, why does friend at the Show and
(02:52):
Good Morning America co anchor Robin Roberts have a baseball
stadium named after her?
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Well, she doesn't, at least not yet.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
This Robert Stadium is named after MLB Hall of Famer
Robin Roberts, who played from nineteen forty eight to nineteen
sixty six. As for why Illinois, I mean, first, why
not best state in my book? In the middle of everything,
as one of our strange tourism campaigns says, which I
guess is what WPBL co founder Keith Stein was thinking
(03:19):
when in his conversation with Annie, he said, quote, our
sport is for everybody. It's for Middle America, everybody.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
We thought our.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Teams are on these two coasts, it would be good
to be in the middle of the country.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
It's kind of given thirty Rock Season two vibes when
Jack is based in New York and his secret Democratic
congresswoman and girlfriend is based in Vermont, so they meet
at the halfway point, a Pennsylvania coal mining town.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
I mean halfway point might.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Make sense for long distance fictional relationships. But in Upstart
Baseball League, why name the teams after four cities and
then play the games in a fifth unrelated city and
Springfield at that not even Chicago or Minneapolis or Cleveland.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
We have quiet, and so do Super Slice.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Aless Obradovich, who asked us via email, quote, are the
powers that be tanking the league.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
On purpose all of the producers moving on.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Annie's story also includes some new details on the league,
including the fact that each team will have a salary
cap of ninety five thousand dollars that averages out to
about six three hundred and thirty dollars per player for
a roster of fifteen players, assuming they're all paid equally,
which we don't know yet, and the league said it
will cover players' living costs for the six week season.
You could check out the show notes to read Annie's
(04:30):
full story. The league is holding its inaugural draft this Thursday,
and you can watch on the wpbl's instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
We've got a lot more info on the league coming
your way in early December two.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
That's a tease, y'all. You'll have to wait to volleyball.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
If you listen to our episode with NCAA volleyball reporter Michelichester,
you know we've got a lot of questions about the
pro vibes landscape, and even more so today after hearing
the news that Major League Volleyball has just added a
Minnesota franchise majority owned and operated by minnesot to Sports
and Entertainment, which owns, among other things, the NHLs Minnesota Wild.
The team is set to begin competition in twenty twenty seven,
(05:07):
same year as the recently announced Love Minnesota franchise is
set to debut, so not just competing leagues, but now
with Minnesota joining Atlanta and Omaha, three cities with both
MLV and Love teams. Huh to College Hoops Number five.
LSU is on a hot streak, having put up one
hundred plus points in five straight games to open the season.
(05:30):
That ties the previous SEC women's soup record for consecutive
one hundred point games they set back in the twenty
twenty two to twenty three season, in which they also
went on to win the national title. It's worth noting, though,
that Kim Maulk in company aren't known for their strength
of schedule, especially at the beginning of the season. The
five teams the Tigers have beaten to open the year
were all ranked between one hundred and fourteenth to two
(05:50):
hundred and eighty seventh in the country by the folks
at her Hoopstats, So we still need a few more
data points to get a real sense of this team's
offensive power, and those data points probably won't come on
Thursday when LSU takes on another Cupcake number three hundred
and forty eight Alcorn, or even next week when they
play the two hundred twenty sixth thranked Marist. But the
(06:11):
contest against Duke on December fourth, that's one to circle.
Let's hope three and two Duke finds its way before
then so we get a good game. This week, the
Blue Devils drop from number seven in the AP Top
twenty five to not in the top.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Twenty five at all. Some more hoops, this.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Time involving WNBA legend Diana Tarassi, who has just announced
a new show called The Link, produced and distributed through
Dezone and its Social First publishing division. The Whistle Dinah
will chat with guests while on the golf course, hitting
drives and competing in various challenges. First up, Page Beckers,
whose appearance includes sharing the time someone approached her very
(06:49):
excited to meet Sophie cutting him. We'll link to DT's
announcement and some of the clips with Page in the
show notes, and another player led show to announce Golden
State Valkyrie player Billings is getting a show titled Breathe
Through It. The show promises to combine billings passion for
yoga with in depth interviews. Episode one debut is this Saturday,
November twenty second, at ten am Eastern on Players TV.
(07:11):
We'll link to the trailer in the show notes. By
the way, I looked up Players TV for more info
and it's quote the first media network and content provider
owned by athletes and their fans end quote, with partners
including Chaneogomakay, Natasha Cloud, Aj Andrews, Chris Paul, Travis Kelcey,
Dwayne Wade, and Moore.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
You can watch it.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
On DirecTV, YouTube TV, Fubo, Amazon, fireTV, and Filo Filo
don't know what that is. You can also check out
content at playerstv dot com. Other shows include Aerial View
with the Indiana Fevers, Aerial Powers, and The Cheney Show,
hosted by WNBA player turned analyst Cheneogoomakay.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
All right, sliceas wanted to.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Do a very quick give me a minute, and this
will really be a minute. A lot of you have
responded to the interview with Elena Beard about Project B
and I just want to say that I share a
lot lot of your questions. It kind of felt less
like an excited rollout of a new league and more
like a politician or someone very wary about what they
were saying and what information they were giving out, which
was kind of surprising and sort of disappointing. There's a
(08:12):
lot of questions about the league, How's it going to
make money, How's it going to support two million dollar
plus salaries that are reported. There was just so much
more that I wanted out of Elena, and I'm not
blaming her for not giving it to us, but it
does leave us still with a lot of questions about
what exactly this league will be, who their partners are,
where they're getting their money, and how they planned to
(08:33):
make money. And I think my biggest concern is just
the potential for women's basketball and women athletes, whether it's
the players or the people in the front office, being
used as a prop for a couple middle aged white
tech bros to accomplish whatever. I'm not sure what yet,
but yeah, there were a lot of follow ups I had,
and some of them felt useful and I did ask them,
(08:55):
and other times it felt like it would have just
been beaten a dead horse to keep asking questions that
weren't receive answers. So I hear you, and I look
forward to and hope that we can get a lot
more information about that league in due time. All Right,
we got to take a quick break when we come back.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
It's the point. God. Chelsea Gray joining us now.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
She's a two time Olympic gold medalist, four time WNBA Champion,
WNBA Finals MVP, six time WNBA All Star, an Unrivaled
Champion and Unrivaled Finals MVP. A California native, she played
her college hoops at Duke and her pro ball with
the Connecticut Sun and La Sparks before landing with the
Las Vegas Aces plus off season ball in Israel, Spain
and Turkey. Mom to Lennox, she's a woman with a wife,
(09:38):
but she can get her hands on some balls.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
It's the point, God, Chelsea Gray.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
Hi, Chelsea Hi, how are you?
Speaker 1 (09:45):
I'm good That Asia Wilson quote is never gonna die,
never gets old, ah man, And it feels like she's
always got jokes.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
It's all her fault, like the press conferences, the media.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
I always like, hold my breast sometimes like she'd be
coming with some gin and knock gonna But like there's
these moments where it's like funny moments but that's just her.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
I have fun with it, so it's cool.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
I like it.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I mean, if you're Asian Wilson, you could pretty much
get away with anything, so you might as well have
a little fun.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
With everybody exactly. It's always fun.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Yeah, Well, congrats on a great season. How have the
last couple of weeks been? We last spotted you parading
around Vegas? So what have you been doing since? More
celebrating or more resting and recovering?
Speaker 4 (10:22):
More resting and recovering. It took me a minute to
even get back to working out. I was just chilling,
relaxing at home. Not having a schedule was great, spending
some time with my wife and son family. It's been
really cool to just wake up and just be like, hey,
what do you want to do that day? And nothing's
really planned out, so it's been it's been nice.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
I mean, you're always gonna have a fire to come
back and win again, but when you're coming off another championship,
you really do feel like I've earned this to just
sit around for sure.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
Like last year we were talking like we had exit meetings,
and the exit meetings, which is like brutal. It was
like we are not we haven't been used to this,
like our usual plans right after the sea and like,
oh yeah, we might come in, but we just like
talk about the last game, We talk about our journey.
We eventually get some business done, but like this time
it was like more familiar and like how we talked
to each other after season.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
I want to go back to the turning point for
the Aces season. I'm sure you've had to talk about
it a lot, but the fifty three point loss on
August second to the Links, after which your team reeled
off seventeen straight wins. What was said or decided or
decreed in the postgame meeting? What do you remember about
that night that feels like maybe it helped make that shift.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Yeah, I mean I had an individual conversation with Asia,
had an individual conversation with Jackie and Jewel, and I
just like we weren't.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
It just didn't feel good at all. We felt embarrassed.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
And obviously everybody has seen Asia's comment and what she
said in our group chat, and everybody understood the assignment
like luckily for us, like and it was on a
back to back and so we kind of had to
like turn the page super quick, like we couldn't dive
super deep into that game, and it actually really like helped.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Us like get out of it. Just like like we
felt sorry for the Valkyries.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
We were like we got embarrassed, like we're gonna come
out like come out on fire, and so like it
was just conversations in our chat. I knew I wasn't
doing my job to the best of my ability, and
everybody kind of went to the mirror and looked at
themselves and like, all right, it can't it can't be
somebody else, Like at some point, it's got to be
me individually, and we kind of had that mindset collectively,
(12:34):
and then we went on this crazy run.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Yeah, you told Espans Katie Barnes that Asia told you
there's no way I should ever have more assists than you.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
That had a big impact on you. Huh.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
I think that was before the fifty three point loss, though,
Like I think that was I can't remember. It was
in a film session and she looked back at it,
because we sit next to each other and film. She
looked and she was like, there's nothing and I was like,
you know, you're right, but like I ain't really want
to hear it.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
At that time at the time.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
So yeah, that's the type of relationship that we've had,
Like we just it's super like honest and raw but
didn't know it's coming from a good place and just
wanted to win and be the best.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Did you ever lose confidence in yourself for your team
during the first half of the season.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
Myself a little bit. It wasn't really confidence. It was
just like frustration not living up to like not what
everybody else, but like me individually, like I wasn't playing
like myself.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
We would win games and I would come home and.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
Be like, like watching it was just a different feeling
versus like a win and a loss. It was like
it felt like you were going home with a loss,
but it was a dub. So I was just like
it didn't feel good for me personally, and so in turn,
I wasn't giving my best self to the team. So
I didn't like some of our wins. We had good,
some good wins, like thankfully we pulled out some of them,
(13:49):
but some of them are just like it didn't feel
like we were playing well and so we got lucky,
and I don't like the feeling of feeling like we
got lucky.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Yeah, you don't want to rely on like a call
that goes your way or a mistake by the other team.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
You want to feel like you're in control of it.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
And in sports, I think sometimes it's so hard the
little tiny nuances and changes that can affect how the
whole team operates, and especially when you have a team
like yours that we know has the talent to win
and has one. There were certainly some changes in the
off season. It was slightly different looking team, but you
had enough pieces. What was Becky Hammond telling you, guys
during the tough times when things weren't clicking.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Where do we even start? I feel like we need
we need a few hours for this.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
They were like we had uncomfortable conversations as a team.
I had an uncomfortable conversation with Becky. Everybody's probably had
an individual meeting with her up until that point. And
I always say, like uncomfortable situations, like you got to
get comfortable with that, Like you got to get used
to that, and that's where like you figure out like
who's great, who's good, who's average, and so Right then
(14:50):
and there we had a turning point right as a team.
But Becky always just harped on, like, don't let this
moment kind of pass you by. There's some people that's
like more close to the end, there's some people that's
closer to the beginning, and there's some people that's like
right in the middle. And so those times and moments together,
like she was just like, you're kind of squandering a
(15:12):
moment a way to do something super special. And she
was just she was on our asses like all the time,
and in film, in these meeting and after a game
when we were win, she was like, we won, but
it don't feel good, Like it just it just didn't Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
What kind of motivator is she?
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Does it feel like she tries to emotionally get to
the core of the issue or does she get back
to fundamentals basketball when things strugg Like where does she
go if she feels things going off the rails?
Speaker 4 (15:42):
Well, first of all, Beggy's the best coach I've ever had.
Two She does a really, really good job. What makes
her so great is her ability to understand and be
human and be a player first and have a personal
relationship with her players but also hold them accountable. She
(16:02):
has a standard and she's able to find that chemistry
with each individual player, or how can she bring out
the best of that player, because that's her job, right,
but it's the way she does it, and so her
ability to do that with a group of women, and
it was it was a different group, not just like
on the court and our team, but we had basically
(16:25):
almost a whole new staff too, like everybody is kind
of understanding players and players in the league and some
coaches coming from NBA side, some coaches coming from this angle,
and so everything was kind of brand new. And I
knew it was going to take his time, and I
always say, like I was really really steady throughout it
all and just saying the same things like listen, you know,
(16:47):
we got to stick with it. It works, the system works,
and it just man. I always say, you wanted to
be playing your best in September October.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Yeah, and you did.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
And obviously helps to have proof of concept a couple
of years in the past. Word did work out to
say like we can get back to that. You know,
you're talking about her saying, don't waste this moment, and
it is so true. And in sports in particular, one
of the most heartbreaking things at the end of every
season is you look around and you go, it's never
going to be this again. We could bring back most
of these people, but some people will be gone. We
could bring back most of these coaches, but some of
(17:16):
them will be gone. And for me being an athlete,
like back in the day, I remember I used to
put too much pressure on and like now that there's
so much more stuff out there about like mental health
and how to be in the present, but not like
stress yourself out. I wouldn't do the like, it's just
another game. You've been here before, you know how to
do it. I would do the like, oh my god,
this is your only chance, and I would get so
tense and I would like completely psig myself out. I
(17:37):
wonder how you handle that messaging of don't take this
for granted, know that this is this moment for.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Each of you in a different place.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
How do you process that and then have it be
something that motivates you but doesn't give you so much
stress that you're tense in those moments and clinging to
something instead of letting the basketball just happen.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
That's so good.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
I think athletes now actually have to have the ability
of compartmentalizing because there's so much going on throughout a season,
there's asked to do this interview, there's asked to do that.
Then you have family, let alone, if you have kids,
you know, you have a partner, you have a husband
and wife, and then you're also trying to be great,
(18:17):
like you know everybody. I always say that everybody doesn't
want to be great, which is fine, Like that's that's
that's that's cul So how do you like something like
somebody or something has to kind of give when when
you want to be great at something. And so for me,
it was always the constant communication with my wife like
I will come home and like there will be moments
(18:37):
where I was I was almost in tears, like I'm frustrated,
I'm this and she went home accountable like hey, you're
not playing up to par.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
This is and this like what do you think about this?
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Like she was just there was moments where mighty she
would be like thozing off, falling asleep, but I just
need to get it out and she just listening.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
And then also my son, like he has he don't care.
Speaker 4 (18:56):
If you lost by twenty points, so you went by
twenty points, Like he's ready to play with his blocks
and his legos and his cars and so it gave
me a moment of not even thinking about basketball, right,
So them two in particular, like it gave me time
away from the game. So when I came back to it,
I came back with the fresh eyes. I was walking
in a film like, Oh, it's gonna be a long one,
but still like I still had those moments and pockets
(19:19):
and having my family travel there and being Vegas with me,
and also teammates, like we did stuff that was fun,
escape rooms and concerts and trying to find time to
spend with each other outside of that damn phil room
in court to kind of have fun with each other
and enjoy the moment.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Yeah, as you started to string wins together in August,
you clearly didn't know three or four or five in
even that you would win seventeen in a row. So
what point did the mood change or the approach change
in the locker room or practice where you're like, oh, okay,
we got this figured out now, you know.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
I can't remember the exact dates, but we had it
strung like some wins together, right, And then we had
a home game versus New York, and I was like
another test of like, Okay, this is the top three team, like,
you know who we're playing, what's going on? Even if
they weren't like super healthy, they're still like they're the
defending champs. And then we beat them, and then we
(20:17):
had Atlanta at home, and so we beat them. We
were just like, okay, we cooking with some we cook
them with some heat now, like we took them with
some grease. And then we went on the road and
got road winds. That was huge, Like at Atlanta was
a huge game of seeding purposes. We had that game,
and then we came home and we had a big
game against mins, Like we started beating teams that were
above us and climbing climbing, climbing, and so it was
(20:40):
just like we really had the mentality of one game
at a time, and so when you start to string
together those games that are like okay, now you're playing
like playoff teams is going to be in the semi
finals finals, right, that's when we were like, okay, the
tide like we're seeing we're seeing glimpses of the team
of a championship team.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
And you play a huge not just because you're the
point guard, because you've been there, because you have this
outsized veteran role, but you even sort of take on
almost a.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Player coach role. You wield the whiteboard during timeouts.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
I want to know when that started, how you felt
confident enough that you weren't gonna have that whiteboard rip.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Right out of your end and be like, what are
you backing him?
Speaker 4 (21:18):
And man, she allowed me to just be me, Like
she trusts me our conversations. She understands that, like my
mind and my IQ is my greatest weapon, right, how
do I bring the best out of each other, get
the best out of just one possession of stilling one
possession can change the nature of a game. And she
understands that as a player and a coach, And so
there will be so many times throughout like earlier in
the year I would ask for her white board, but
(21:40):
she's in because our team, I understood. We started understanding
that our team was very like like visual learners vigual learners. Yeah,
there were visual learners. You had to like see it,
they had to see it on the board and then
go through it. And so I would bring the board
over just to show them like, Okay, when we cut here,
this is what's happening. This is the play that's open
after the first action, and eventually I guess she got
(22:03):
to know it on me's taking her board because she
would try to withdraw a player say something in her hudel,
but I had her board and then I would try
to do it quick and give it back to her.
So they brought another board. You know, people say that
it was my board. I guess I'm the only one
that used it. But I didn't like request a board,
and she was probably like, we need another one because
she's taking mind the whole time. But it was necessary
(22:23):
for sure, because everybody became a lot more visual even
the direction we were going. We needed to change the
board and stuff.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
So it makes sense. It's made sense.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, how important and how meaningful is
it to have someone like Becky that you know, played,
has been out there and isn't that far removed from
being the other end of that huddle speech, Because it
feels like that is why she has so much faith
in y'all, because she's been in your seat before.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
In people's careers, right, it could be a detriment or
a great influence in people, like not even just coaches
or like situations, everybody's like situation in the team, in
the environment they're in really close av AIA like who
you are, who you're gonna be as an asset as
a player, especially.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
Growing up in the league.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
And so each like moment in my career there's been
like something or someone or like an event or like
a couple of years that's really changed the trajectory of
my career. Becky has been one of those people, right,
She's allowed me to kind of play like she knew
I would have these conversations. She'd be like, why don't
you just say it? Or why don't you just like
do it? Or just okay, yeah, go do that overalled,
(23:26):
let's just go do that. That makes sense, like you're
in You're in the game, Like I'm not in there.
I know what probably works during like experience and watching hours.
They watched so much film, and so she gave me
the confidence to do it, like just with have a
conversations than the reads that I would do in the
middle of the game. She'd be like, now that makes sense,
Like yeah, that's something I would do. And so her
(23:48):
confidence that way has changed, like how I kind of
direct and see the game and it's and it's made
me accountable to It's made me better to like, when
I'm watching film, this is what I'm looking for now
in a different way.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Sounds like you want to be a coach after you're done.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
I don't know, you know, people say that, Peop will
say that, so we'll see.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
You got time. You got time.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
So you go on to win it all, just like
everyone drew it up and some of your.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Some of your parade fits kind of pointed to the
fact that people had their doubts.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Asia had her regression year tea, you all had the
tea with the broom for the final sweep. You had
your T shirt it was picks of you in all
your title years and said washed more like.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Wax that ass.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Okay, I need to hear about the petty side of
this team. The doubts and the questions clearly were heard
by y'all. You shut them up, and instead of shutting
them up and taking the w you were like, and also,
we're bringing a little petty to this parade. Yeah, I'm
always here for a little petty.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Tell me about that.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
You know, during the season, like it was rough, like
we were just like it was get spooky, get.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
A little scared.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
Are y'all like, let's not do that again, Like let's
not that's kind of care. We saw, like you know,
we're human, like we hear the noise, we see this stuff,
like we see some of So there were signs where
we would take social media breaks, and there were so
many times I was like off Twitter, like all these
different things, and so like there was little moments and
(25:15):
little times like even in an interview like oh your numbers,
like they'll start off by rattling off something. I'll be
like okay and answer the question anyways, or I just
don't And so there was things like okay is Asian
and aggression, You're absolutely not MVP. And then there was
a lot of speculation like when Juel came to the
team and all this different stuff her situation she had
(25:38):
on her coming here and like our start and so
that makes sense. And then mine was like, oh no,
Chelsea Gray is kind of done wash all over there, and.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
I was like sorry, but I'm not. I'm not. I
got a lot more to go.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
And so everybody kind of had like something or a
little bit of like what it playstell of like their
personality and but also like silencing the noise because it champions,
shut up.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
That's it, That's right, the best way to shut everyone up.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
I want to ask just it made me think of something,
and I've been thinking about this over the last couple
of years. As the WNBA increases in popularity, there's a
lot more media coverage, there's a lot more people talking,
a lot of them don't know a.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Thing about what they're talking about.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
But how do you find that balance between understanding that
the more media you get, the more popular you are,
the more professionalized the league is, the more coverage that
will be even when you're playing badly, and that some
of that coverage is fair even if it's not positive.
So separating the shit talk or the trash or the
harassment or the bullshit that happens versus reporters reporting on
(26:38):
a losing streak or a rough patch and being able
to be professional and handle that and respond to that,
because I think that's where I think the women's game
the next step will be a little bit less requiring
of cheerleading from the media that does show up.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
That was necessary for a long time because.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
I think the well was so poisoned, and now I
feel like there needs to be the ability to be critical,
because that's what's while being fair and respectful.
Speaker 4 (27:02):
Yeah, I think there's I think the best reporters are
able to have that balance. I think that the type
of questions that are asking, the way they're worded is different.
And I would be curious to see some of the
articles or some of the things that are said on
social media or in articles.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Would you ever say them in person? Right?
Speaker 4 (27:26):
Would you ever like walk up to that person and
say that, or would you be more careful about your words?
And there's some moments also where media or outlets state
things or write about things and state them as their
facts and not opinion. And I think that sometimes gets
(27:47):
in the way too, because everybody like the better you.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
Get, the greater you get.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
There's a lot more eyes than you and scrutiny, you know,
it comes with the territory when you're winning, or when
you're doing well, or when you're in the limelight.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
And so that's also part of helping our game grow.
Speaker 4 (28:02):
I realize that I have a problem with the way
in which things are worded totally ams and showcasing them
as facts instead of opinions, and getting some things wrong,
Like a lot of people do read a lot of
things that believe things that they read, and so when
you get things all the way wrong, that's when I
have an issue totally as well.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Yeah, I mean, I think part of the investment in
women's sports is going to be investing in the kind
of reporting and talent on the media side that lives
up to the talent that we're seeing on the court,
and also an investment in making sure that there's real,
true voices that people can trust, because when there's bullshit
on the men's side, like NBA Sentil, people know where
to go and be like that never happened, no one
said that, none of the big people are covering it.
(28:45):
And on the women's side, there just hasn't been as
much money in the media game and as much coverage
so that people know exactly where to go and say,
if this person or this outlet doesn't have it, it's not true.
And that allows so much of the garbage to be
spread on the like aggregate sites and the sites that
aren't doing real reporting, and that's super frustrating both for
the players who are having bullshits spread about them and
for the media like me that are trying to do
(29:07):
it in a real journalistic way.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
So I think I'm hoping that with all the.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Investment and attention just continued to be more investment in,
like the media coverage of the women's game, so that
the same respect goes both ways.
Speaker 4 (29:19):
Yeah, I agree with that, and I don't think everybody
deserves I don't know, a credential. I don't think that
like sometimes credential are just handed out without actually doing
a background of like Okay, who is this ala, who's
this person speaking to this athlete? And the protection there
I think can be a lot better as well.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
I one thousand percent agree. I'm a Chicago girl.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Feels like bad news for my Chicago Sky the more
I see other teams getting invested in, because it seems
like it's happening for my squad quite the same way.
And we know that Ace's owner Mark Davis has not
been shy about how much he's willing to put into
the Aces team, from the dedicated playing facility to Beckyhamond's
salary to going out and getting the bus players. It's
a really strong case study for investing in a team
(30:04):
and seeing the results on the court follow From the
player side, how much impact do you think it has
on not just the aces, But any team that can
get the kind of facilities, the kind of talent, the
kind of staff, the kind of trainers and resources, how
much do you think that shows up on the actual
basketball side.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
It's a lot of it.
Speaker 4 (30:23):
I'm a firm believer that a practice facility in your
own place, your own things, extends the longevity players' career.
I think if more people had it earlier in their careers,
they would still be playing. I think access allows for
(30:44):
people to get better, for them not to like, I
don't know, not level out, but like there's access, and
there's times, and now you're not paying for gym time
because you have access right there in your market. And
so Mark and the front office invest in us as
as women has been huge, not just as players, Like
(31:05):
want to know what we're interested in so we can
go do community events. It's more than just on the
court stuff. Like there's so many community events that happen
at our headquarters and at our facility because we want
to welcome people in, Like it's just it's a home
in a place for this organization. And so that was
the vision when I spoke with Mike Davis years ago,
and it's continued to be that since I've been a
(31:26):
part of it, and.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
It's really really cool to see.
Speaker 4 (31:28):
And when you're signing up to be part of our franchise,
you're signing up for all of that, the access, the ability,
and so there's a standard on and off the court,
and there's no secret that's what creates an environment and
cultivates a culture for people that people want to be
a part of.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Yeah, you also got the Usher clause in the contract
where you're automatically guaranteed one on one with Usher whenever
he's doing live shows.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Right, they feel like that's part of the team.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
You know, he's been around a lot.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
I love he's been at games and stuff.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
It's a good place to have off days.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
You're the primary player rep for the aces for the
Players Association.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
How'd you decide that that was a position you wanted?
What do you do for that?
Speaker 3 (32:11):
I wanted to just be a part of it.
Speaker 4 (32:13):
I know it's the negotiations this year, but I've been
a part of it for years now, and I wanted
to be on those phone calls to see a league
that you know that I'm playing in that hopefully I'm
being a part of like some change for future players.
I just wanted to know what's going on and have
a voice in this league for not just myself, but
for my teammates other players. Because I've been around I'm
(32:37):
kind of like this middle child kind of thing, like
I've been with older players and I'm also with the
younger ones. So it's like it's been pretty cool to
see the evolution and the conversations kind of change. But
I just I wanted to be a part of it,
especially this negotiation thing and and relay messages to my
teammates and everything.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
Yeah, how has this off season been different for you
as you sort of work through the CBA negotiation to
understand that the timeline's a little muddier than the average
off season.
Speaker 4 (33:03):
It's been pretty cool to like be on falls and
hear like people's perspective. Obviously, I don't get everything because
I'm not on the executive committee and so those like
there's like hierarchy and times and stuff. But they've done
the WNBPA, They've done a great job of welcoming everybody
and not just player reps, and so like everybody's informed
(33:25):
and understand like where this is heading, where this is
going what's the timeline if there's not a timeline, And
so it's been constant conversation throughout the season.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
It's a really weird thing to have almost the entire
league of veteran players not on contracts with a team. Yeah,
it could get real spicy. A lot of text message,
a lot of group chats, a lot of recruiting, a
lot of going yeah, it's not happening yet though.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Are people waiting you think until the deal's done?
Speaker 4 (33:51):
Yeah, I mean there's nothing really to kind of converse about,
like like we don't understand budget.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Right, but you could be just messaging your besties that
play for somewhere else, just checking in more regularly, sending
more Yeah, you also have Unrivaled coming up this calendar year.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
You also won an.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
Unrivaled Championship with roseby CS, so not too bad. Unrivaled Championship,
Unrivaled Finals, MVP W NBA Championship.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
You know, pretty good year for you.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
And also the first year that you've won titles being
a mom with your son Lennox, So how does that
change your attitude towards like competing and winning knowing that
you got this little boy looking up to you.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
It's been. It's been really cool. You know.
Speaker 4 (34:34):
Obviously my wife has been there for all of them,
for everything, and so like the pictures now like are
changing and the moments are changing. Obviously the schedule and
being everywhere is changing. But at the Unrivaled Championship, he
was he was too young. Uh, he understands. And then
I brought a trophy home and he was like hitting
it and stuff, but he had no idea. Even to
(34:55):
this day, like the WBA Championship, he barely understands.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
Was there. And so it was.
Speaker 4 (35:02):
Cool, like we came home like mommy won, Mommy won
a championship, and like I just wanted to share with
him and he and it's just for me, it's for us,
like it has He has no idea, he's just like, great,
where is my basketball? And then like the WNBA Championship,
it was just so cool to see like them in
the stands and her coming down to me and like
holding him, Like those are moments you you dream of.
(35:24):
Like he might not understand that, but there's gonna be
photos ten years on the line and it's gonna be like, wow,
my mom was really cool, Like this is cool that
I was a part of it. And then my wife
got to experience it with me but also holding him
and just like see man, see Lenox. This is what
you know, this is what our family go about. So
it's it's cool. We get an opportunity to travel, he
(35:45):
gets the opportunity to be around my teammates and legendary players.
He's had so many experiences, like it's just super cool
for him. And you know, this is the this is
a life that like you dream of as a kid,
and so I just love him being able to be
around this.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
That's so sweet.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
Your wife described you post baby as someone who has
finally learned the art of letting go.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
I want to hear about that. What does that mean?
Speaker 4 (36:10):
And I have to I mean I said it earlier, compartmentalized,
and I have to let it go because like like
I said, he doesn't he doesn't care that I had
a bad game. He's just like he's up and I'm
ready to have some milk, or he's he's awakening, like okay,
let's go outside on our bike. Like it's allowed me
to let go a little bit faster, and it allows
(36:33):
me to kind of come with it, to come back
to it with fresh eyes, which I really really appreciate
because you ever do like a puzzle and you go
away and do something coming to it like that's the
piece I was looking for. That's you know, that's that's
the freedom that he's allowed me to have. And it's
been different. Like with my wife, she's would sometimes do that,
but like we're able to talk the game so much
that it's not like I really get a break sometimes
(36:55):
because I was like, wait, another thing hit. But with him,
I can't be like wait another thing. Like He's just
like no, we're going to legos, we're going to cars,
we're going to jump in. So it is I had
to had to be able to do that, be present
for him, but also present for her because when I'm
out doing mycraft, she's responsible for making sure that our
(37:15):
life is great and she does it. She does everything
for us and our family. So it allows some freedom
for us as a couple, but her as individual as well.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
There's a lot of science behind that shutting your brain
off and then coming back to the thing and having
a function differently, a baby is a bold choice. You
could just choose meditation, but you went with a whole
lot of baby.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
But that's cool. It's working for you.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
So that's good, something something different.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
I guess a couple more. Who have you looked to
for advice on balancing baby and basketball? When you were
talking about him traveling everywhere?
Speaker 1 (37:45):
Is just remembering always talking to Candas Parker about like
what a crazy lifestyle Layla had coming up, just going
everywhere all the time. Like who have you looked to
that knows the very specific situation you're in.
Speaker 4 (37:56):
Candice and Elena Beard, they both have been through it.
I know me and Lena were teammates when she had
had her had her son, and her first road trip away.
She was just like, oh, I can't believe, like I'm leaving,
but it's the nature of our job, Like we have
to get used. We always are after you used to
leaving family, leaving friends, leaving our home because we're always
(38:18):
on the move, And so I would there are moments
where I would call them like I's just I'm going
through it, like being away. Those ten days road trips
were tough, especially when he was first born and her
by herself, Like to this day, it's still like I
have like the nature of my job, I have to
leave and I hate I hate doing it. So conversations
(38:38):
with them all the time. We're always key. There's I
remember last year I came in and I was having
a tough time and Tyler Marsh, actually, you're in Chicago's
guy coach. I just cried to him because I was like,
I'm I'm having a hard time. Becky has even had
even seen that. Teammates, you know, it's just there's there's moments,
and there's conversations and they understand it, but you don't
(39:01):
fully understand unless you, like you go through it, and
so Canice and Atlanta. Leading in on actual experience and
other people is more so like just a sounding board
and latting my eye emotions just kind of take over.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
Yeah, you've established this incredible support system in Vegas. You've
established a team that keeps winning. Who knows where everyone's
going to land in the offseason. Is it your hope
that you bring back as many of the players that
have been there, no matter what happens with the CBA.
Speaker 3 (39:29):
Oh, for sure. You know what I'm saying, I'm trying
to do some special things in Vegas.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Yeah, you haven't already done enough special things. Got some
more on your plate.
Speaker 3 (39:38):
As long as I'm playing, there's still more to do.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
That was my last question for you. Four titles finals, MVP.
Speaker 1 (39:43):
You've played in more finals games than any other player.
You've won more titles than any other active player. If
you're putting a list together, you're writing it down to
manifest it for the upcoming seasons.
Speaker 2 (39:54):
What's still on there?
Speaker 4 (39:55):
Another championship, personally, all star appearance. I want to try
to average a double double. I haven't done that yet.
So those are just like little things. I mean, the
championship takes care takes care of everything, of course.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
Yeah, just little things, just little things like another championship,
bhy not making five one for every finger. Chelsea, thanks
so much for the time. I know you're enjoying this
offseason and some chill time, but it was so great to.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
Talk to you.
Speaker 3 (40:20):
Thank you, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
Thanks again to Chelsea for hanging out with us.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
We got to take another break. When we come back.
Just press abab up.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Arrow down arrow to get more women in the game.
Welcome back, Slices.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
So here's our good game play of the day. If
you're headed to San Jose for NWSL.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
Championship Week. Please say hi if you spot me or
producer Alex.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
Unfortunately, our live show on Friday morning isn't open to
the public, and neither is Thursday's NWSL Radio Row event,
so we'll just have to let fate lead us to
each other. Here's hoping for some little citrus slice connects
and we always love to hear from you, so hit
us up on email good game at Wondermedia network dot
com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two
two four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe a
(41:10):
rate and review, y'all. It's super easy watch using a
video game to create a new pathway to coaching, rating
ten out of ten leaderboard points review. A new initiative
from US women's national team head coach Emma Hayes, in
partnership with Xbox Football Manager and Sky Sports, is aiming
to increase the number of women in coaching roles. The
(41:30):
latest edition of Football Manager, a British video game series,
will include women's footy for the first time, and players
who complete a qualification series within the game will receive
a scholarship to earn their YUEFA coaching license.
Speaker 2 (41:42):
Love this now We're not experts on.
Speaker 1 (41:45):
British video games or the UEFA coaching licensing system, but
we are all for thinking outside the box the xbox,
of course.
Speaker 2 (41:53):
Now it's your turn rate and review. Thanks for listening.
See you tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (41:57):
Good Game, Chelsea, Good Game, DT, Monique you Mario Kart
Rainbow Wait?
Speaker 2 (42:03):
Why are we being Mario Kart Rainbow Road.
Speaker 4 (42:05):
Because at the age of fifteen, we were convinced that
we were a bad driver because as soon as we
tried to turn on Rainbow Road with our little video
game console, we fell off.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
Okay, fair enough.
Speaker 1 (42:20):
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.
Speaker 2 (42:28):
Or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (42:30):
Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzie
Grace Lynch, Taylor Williamson and Lucy Jones. Our executive producers
are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez and Gianna Palmer.
Production assistants from Avery Loftus and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain,
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're launching
a GoFundMe to keep Trinity Rodman in the NWSL. A
coaffa bag full of cash doesn't count against the salary cap,
right Wait, let me ask borders our Tom Holman. Okay,
we're good. It's Wednesday, November nineteenth, and on today show
we'll be chatting with four time WNBA champion Chelsea Gray
about how the Las Vegas Aces turned their season around
(00:21):
and secured dynasty status, why Becky Hammond is the best
coach she's ever had, and how being a mom has
helped her master the art of letting go. Plus dish
the dirt on the NWSL, sending the coastal elite to
the middle of America, and do I smell cupcakes? It's
all coming up right after this welcome back slices. Here's
(00:43):
what you need to know today. Let's start with the
NWSL ahead of Saturday's championship game between the Washington Spirit
and Got Them FC in San Jose, California. ESPN released
its second annual GM survey. Reporter and friend of the show,
Jeff Casoof interviewed fifteen general managers, or the highest ranking
soccer executive from the league sixteen teams to get their
(01:04):
opinions and insights on a variety of topics before compiling
and then anonymizing the results. And let's just say that
takeaways are fascinating. For example, eighty five percent of respondents
said they believe the NWSL salary cap is holding the
league back and making it harder to keep top talent stateside.
Ten of the gms named it as the first rule
they would change if they were able. When it comes
(01:26):
to the team elevating the league the most, Kansas City
was the easy pick, earning twelve votes from gms. As
for the team holding the league back the most, that
honor goes to the Chicago Color Neutral Stars, six gms
named that franchise as the league's worst. Gms also shared
their opinions on Commissioner Jessica Berman, rule breaking expansion, and
(01:47):
whether the NWSL should launch a second division league. The
full survey is definitely worth your time, so we'll link
to it in the show notes. A little more NWSL
as championship weekend nears, you might remember hearing Gotham FC
star Jaden Shaw drop in the line of the season
post Kansas City current upset underdog's my ass, she said.
And now after eight seed Gotham continued its reign of
(02:09):
terror by taking out last year's champs, the Orlando Pride.
Jadenshaw slogan has made its way to T shirts made
and sold by the underdogs themselves, Got Them FC, or
as the Internet is calling them, Shotham FC. We'll link
to the site if you want to buy one. To baseball,
you might recall that the new Women's Professional Baseball League
that WPBL announced a few weeks ago that its four
(02:30):
inaugural teams would represent four cities New York, Boston, Los Angeles,
and San Francisco, but wouldn't play in those cities for
year one, while on Monday, the league told any costable
of Front Office Sports that all of its games in
year one will be played at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois,
which holds about fifty two hundred fans. And you're probably
now asking yourself, why does friend at the Show and
(02:52):
Good Morning America co anchor Robin Roberts have a baseball
stadium named after her?
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Well, she doesn't, at least not yet.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
This Robert Stadium is named after MLB Hall of Famer
Robin Roberts, who played from nineteen forty eight to nineteen
sixty six. As for why Illinois, I mean, first, why
not best state in my book? In the middle of everything,
as one of our strange tourism campaigns says, which I
guess is what WPBL co founder Keith Stein was thinking
(03:19):
when in his conversation with Annie, he said, quote, our
sport is for everybody. It's for Middle America, everybody.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
We thought our.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Teams are on these two coasts, it would be good
to be in the middle of the country.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
It's kind of given thirty Rock Season two vibes when
Jack is based in New York and his secret Democratic
congresswoman and girlfriend is based in Vermont, so they meet
at the halfway point, a Pennsylvania coal mining town.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
I mean halfway point might.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Make sense for long distance fictional relationships. But in Upstart
Baseball League, why name the teams after four cities and
then play the games in a fifth unrelated city and
Springfield at that not even Chicago or Minneapolis or Cleveland.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
We have quiet, and so do Super Slice.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Aless Obradovich, who asked us via email, quote, are the
powers that be tanking the league.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
On purpose all of the producers moving on.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Annie's story also includes some new details on the league,
including the fact that each team will have a salary
cap of ninety five thousand dollars that averages out to
about six three hundred and thirty dollars per player for
a roster of fifteen players, assuming they're all paid equally,
which we don't know yet, and the league said it
will cover players' living costs for the six week season.
You could check out the show notes to read Annie's
(04:30):
full story. The league is holding its inaugural draft this Thursday,
and you can watch on the wpbl's instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
We've got a lot more info on the league coming
your way in early December two.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
That's a tease, y'all. You'll have to wait to volleyball.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
If you listen to our episode with NCAA volleyball reporter Michelichester,
you know we've got a lot of questions about the
pro vibes landscape, and even more so today after hearing
the news that Major League Volleyball has just added a
Minnesota franchise majority owned and operated by minnesot to Sports
and Entertainment, which owns, among other things, the NHLs Minnesota Wild.
The team is set to begin competition in twenty twenty seven,
(05:07):
same year as the recently announced Love Minnesota franchise is
set to debut, so not just competing leagues, but now
with Minnesota joining Atlanta and Omaha, three cities with both
MLV and Love teams. Huh to College Hoops Number five.
LSU is on a hot streak, having put up one
hundred plus points in five straight games to open the season.
(05:30):
That ties the previous SEC women's soup record for consecutive
one hundred point games they set back in the twenty
twenty two to twenty three season, in which they also
went on to win the national title. It's worth noting, though,
that Kim Maulk in company aren't known for their strength
of schedule, especially at the beginning of the season. The
five teams the Tigers have beaten to open the year
were all ranked between one hundred and fourteenth to two
(05:50):
hundred and eighty seventh in the country by the folks
at her Hoopstats, So we still need a few more
data points to get a real sense of this team's
offensive power, and those data points probably won't come on
Thursday when LSU takes on another Cupcake number three hundred
and forty eight Alcorn, or even next week when they
play the two hundred twenty sixth thranked Marist. But the
(06:11):
contest against Duke on December fourth, that's one to circle.
Let's hope three and two Duke finds its way before
then so we get a good game. This week, the
Blue Devils drop from number seven in the AP Top
twenty five to not in the top.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Twenty five at all. Some more hoops, this.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Time involving WNBA legend Diana Tarassi, who has just announced
a new show called The Link, produced and distributed through
Dezone and its Social First publishing division. The Whistle Dinah
will chat with guests while on the golf course, hitting
drives and competing in various challenges. First up, Page Beckers,
whose appearance includes sharing the time someone approached her very
(06:49):
excited to meet Sophie cutting him. We'll link to DT's
announcement and some of the clips with Page in the
show notes, and another player led show to announce Golden
State Valkyrie player Billings is getting a show titled Breathe
Through It. The show promises to combine billings passion for
yoga with in depth interviews. Episode one debut is this Saturday,
November twenty second, at ten am Eastern on Players TV.
(07:11):
We'll link to the trailer in the show notes. By
the way, I looked up Players TV for more info
and it's quote the first media network and content provider
owned by athletes and their fans end quote, with partners
including Chaneogomakay, Natasha Cloud, Aj Andrews, Chris Paul, Travis Kelcey,
Dwayne Wade, and Moore.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
You can watch it.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
On DirecTV, YouTube TV, Fubo, Amazon, fireTV, and Filo Filo
don't know what that is. You can also check out
content at playerstv dot com. Other shows include Aerial View
with the Indiana Fevers, Aerial Powers, and The Cheney Show,
hosted by WNBA player turned analyst Cheneogoomakay.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
All right, sliceas wanted to.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Do a very quick give me a minute, and this
will really be a minute. A lot of you have
responded to the interview with Elena Beard about Project B
and I just want to say that I share a
lot lot of your questions. It kind of felt less
like an excited rollout of a new league and more
like a politician or someone very wary about what they
were saying and what information they were giving out, which
was kind of surprising and sort of disappointing. There's a
(08:12):
lot of questions about the league, How's it going to
make money, How's it going to support two million dollar
plus salaries that are reported. There was just so much
more that I wanted out of Elena, and I'm not
blaming her for not giving it to us, but it
does leave us still with a lot of questions about
what exactly this league will be, who their partners are,
where they're getting their money, and how they planned to
(08:33):
make money. And I think my biggest concern is just
the potential for women's basketball and women athletes, whether it's
the players or the people in the front office, being
used as a prop for a couple middle aged white
tech bros to accomplish whatever. I'm not sure what yet,
but yeah, there were a lot of follow ups I had,
and some of them felt useful and I did ask them,
(08:55):
and other times it felt like it would have just
been beaten a dead horse to keep asking questions that
weren't receive answers. So I hear you, and I look
forward to and hope that we can get a lot
more information about that league in due time. All Right,
we got to take a quick break when we come back.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
It's the point. God. Chelsea Gray joining us now.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
She's a two time Olympic gold medalist, four time WNBA Champion,
WNBA Finals MVP, six time WNBA All Star, an Unrivaled
Champion and Unrivaled Finals MVP. A California native, she played
her college hoops at Duke and her pro ball with
the Connecticut Sun and La Sparks before landing with the
Las Vegas Aces plus off season ball in Israel, Spain
and Turkey. Mom to Lennox, she's a woman with a wife,
(09:38):
but she can get her hands on some balls.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
It's the point, God, Chelsea Gray.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
Hi, Chelsea Hi, how are you?
Speaker 1 (09:45):
I'm good That Asia Wilson quote is never gonna die,
never gets old, ah man, And it feels like she's
always got jokes.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
It's all her fault, like the press conferences, the media.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
I always like, hold my breast sometimes like she'd be
coming with some gin and knock gonna But like there's
these moments where it's like funny moments but that's just her.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
I have fun with it, so it's cool.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
I like it.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I mean, if you're Asian Wilson, you could pretty much
get away with anything, so you might as well have
a little fun.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
With everybody exactly. It's always fun.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Yeah, Well, congrats on a great season. How have the
last couple of weeks been? We last spotted you parading
around Vegas? So what have you been doing since? More
celebrating or more resting and recovering?
Speaker 4 (10:22):
More resting and recovering. It took me a minute to
even get back to working out. I was just chilling,
relaxing at home. Not having a schedule was great, spending
some time with my wife and son family. It's been
really cool to just wake up and just be like, hey,
what do you want to do that day? And nothing's
really planned out, so it's been it's been nice.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
I mean, you're always gonna have a fire to come
back and win again, but when you're coming off another championship,
you really do feel like I've earned this to just
sit around for sure.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
Like last year we were talking like we had exit meetings,
and the exit meetings, which is like brutal. It was
like we are not we haven't been used to this,
like our usual plans right after the sea and like,
oh yeah, we might come in, but we just like
talk about the last game, We talk about our journey.
We eventually get some business done, but like this time
it was like more familiar and like how we talked
to each other after season.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
I want to go back to the turning point for
the Aces season. I'm sure you've had to talk about
it a lot, but the fifty three point loss on
August second to the Links, after which your team reeled
off seventeen straight wins. What was said or decided or
decreed in the postgame meeting? What do you remember about
that night that feels like maybe it helped make that shift.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Yeah, I mean I had an individual conversation with Asia,
had an individual conversation with Jackie and Jewel, and I
just like we weren't.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
It just didn't feel good at all. We felt embarrassed.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
And obviously everybody has seen Asia's comment and what she
said in our group chat, and everybody understood the assignment
like luckily for us, like and it was on a
back to back and so we kind of had to
like turn the page super quick, like we couldn't dive
super deep into that game, and it actually really like helped.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Us like get out of it. Just like like we
felt sorry for the Valkyries.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
We were like we got embarrassed, like we're gonna come
out like come out on fire, and so like it
was just conversations in our chat. I knew I wasn't
doing my job to the best of my ability, and
everybody kind of went to the mirror and looked at
themselves and like, all right, it can't it can't be
somebody else, Like at some point, it's got to be
me individually, and we kind of had that mindset collectively,
(12:34):
and then we went on this crazy run.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Yeah, you told Espans Katie Barnes that Asia told you
there's no way I should ever have more assists than you.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
That had a big impact on you. Huh.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
I think that was before the fifty three point loss, though,
Like I think that was I can't remember. It was
in a film session and she looked back at it,
because we sit next to each other and film. She
looked and she was like, there's nothing and I was like,
you know, you're right, but like I ain't really want
to hear it.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
At that time at the time.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
So yeah, that's the type of relationship that we've had,
Like we just it's super like honest and raw but
didn't know it's coming from a good place and just
wanted to win and be the best.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Did you ever lose confidence in yourself for your team
during the first half of the season.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
Myself a little bit. It wasn't really confidence. It was
just like frustration not living up to like not what
everybody else, but like me individually, like I wasn't playing
like myself.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
We would win games and I would come home and.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
Be like, like watching it was just a different feeling
versus like a win and a loss. It was like
it felt like you were going home with a loss,
but it was a dub. So I was just like
it didn't feel good for me personally, and so in turn,
I wasn't giving my best self to the team. So
I didn't like some of our wins. We had good,
some good wins, like thankfully we pulled out some of them,
(13:49):
but some of them are just like it didn't feel
like we were playing well and so we got lucky,
and I don't like the feeling of feeling like we
got lucky.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Yeah, you don't want to rely on like a call
that goes your way or a mistake by the other team.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
You want to feel like you're in control of it.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
And in sports, I think sometimes it's so hard the
little tiny nuances and changes that can affect how the
whole team operates, and especially when you have a team
like yours that we know has the talent to win
and has one. There were certainly some changes in the
off season. It was slightly different looking team, but you
had enough pieces. What was Becky Hammond telling you, guys
during the tough times when things weren't clicking.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Where do we even start? I feel like we need
we need a few hours for this.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
They were like we had uncomfortable conversations as a team.
I had an uncomfortable conversation with Becky. Everybody's probably had
an individual meeting with her up until that point. And
I always say, like uncomfortable situations, like you got to
get comfortable with that, Like you got to get used
to that, and that's where like you figure out like
who's great, who's good, who's average, and so Right then
(14:50):
and there we had a turning point right as a team.
But Becky always just harped on, like, don't let this
moment kind of pass you by. There's some people that's
like more close to the end, there's some people that's
closer to the beginning, and there's some people that's like
right in the middle. And so those times and moments together,
like she was just like, you're kind of squandering a
(15:12):
moment a way to do something super special. And she
was just she was on our asses like all the time,
and in film, in these meeting and after a game
when we were win, she was like, we won, but
it don't feel good, Like it just it just didn't Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
What kind of motivator is she?
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Does it feel like she tries to emotionally get to
the core of the issue or does she get back
to fundamentals basketball when things strugg Like where does she
go if she feels things going off the rails?
Speaker 4 (15:42):
Well, first of all, Beggy's the best coach I've ever had.
Two She does a really, really good job. What makes
her so great is her ability to understand and be
human and be a player first and have a personal
relationship with her players but also hold them accountable. She
(16:02):
has a standard and she's able to find that chemistry
with each individual player, or how can she bring out
the best of that player, because that's her job, right,
but it's the way she does it, and so her
ability to do that with a group of women, and
it was it was a different group, not just like
on the court and our team, but we had basically
(16:25):
almost a whole new staff too, like everybody is kind
of understanding players and players in the league and some
coaches coming from NBA side, some coaches coming from this angle,
and so everything was kind of brand new. And I
knew it was going to take his time, and I
always say, like I was really really steady throughout it
all and just saying the same things like listen, you know,
(16:47):
we got to stick with it. It works, the system works,
and it just man. I always say, you wanted to
be playing your best in September October.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Yeah, and you did.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
And obviously helps to have proof of concept a couple
of years in the past. Word did work out to
say like we can get back to that. You know,
you're talking about her saying, don't waste this moment, and
it is so true. And in sports in particular, one
of the most heartbreaking things at the end of every
season is you look around and you go, it's never
going to be this again. We could bring back most
of these people, but some people will be gone. We
could bring back most of these coaches, but some of
(17:16):
them will be gone. And for me being an athlete,
like back in the day, I remember I used to
put too much pressure on and like now that there's
so much more stuff out there about like mental health
and how to be in the present, but not like
stress yourself out. I wouldn't do the like, it's just
another game. You've been here before, you know how to
do it. I would do the like, oh my god,
this is your only chance, and I would get so
tense and I would like completely psig myself out. I
(17:37):
wonder how you handle that messaging of don't take this
for granted, know that this is this moment for.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Each of you in a different place.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
How do you process that and then have it be
something that motivates you but doesn't give you so much
stress that you're tense in those moments and clinging to
something instead of letting the basketball just happen.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
That's so good.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
I think athletes now actually have to have the ability
of compartmentalizing because there's so much going on throughout a season,
there's asked to do this interview, there's asked to do that.
Then you have family, let alone, if you have kids,
you know, you have a partner, you have a husband
and wife, and then you're also trying to be great,
(18:17):
like you know everybody. I always say that everybody doesn't
want to be great, which is fine, Like that's that's
that's that's cul So how do you like something like
somebody or something has to kind of give when when
you want to be great at something. And so for me,
it was always the constant communication with my wife like
I will come home and like there will be moments
(18:37):
where I was I was almost in tears, like I'm frustrated,
I'm this and she went home accountable like hey, you're
not playing up to par.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
This is and this like what do you think about this?
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Like she was just there was moments where mighty she
would be like thozing off, falling asleep, but I just
need to get it out and she just listening.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
And then also my son, like he has he don't care.
Speaker 4 (18:56):
If you lost by twenty points, so you went by
twenty points, Like he's ready to play with his blocks
and his legos and his cars and so it gave
me a moment of not even thinking about basketball, right,
So them two in particular, like it gave me time
away from the game. So when I came back to it,
I came back with the fresh eyes. I was walking
in a film like, Oh, it's gonna be a long one,
but still like I still had those moments and pockets
(19:19):
and having my family travel there and being Vegas with me,
and also teammates, like we did stuff that was fun,
escape rooms and concerts and trying to find time to
spend with each other outside of that damn phil room
in court to kind of have fun with each other
and enjoy the moment.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Yeah, as you started to string wins together in August,
you clearly didn't know three or four or five in
even that you would win seventeen in a row. So
what point did the mood change or the approach change
in the locker room or practice where you're like, oh, okay,
we got this figured out now, you know.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
I can't remember the exact dates, but we had it
strung like some wins together, right, And then we had
a home game versus New York, and I was like
another test of like, Okay, this is the top three team, like,
you know who we're playing, what's going on? Even if
they weren't like super healthy, they're still like they're the
defending champs. And then we beat them, and then we
(20:17):
had Atlanta at home, and so we beat them. We
were just like, okay, we cooking with some we cook
them with some heat now, like we took them with
some grease. And then we went on the road and
got road winds. That was huge, Like at Atlanta was
a huge game of seeding purposes. We had that game,
and then we came home and we had a big
game against mins, Like we started beating teams that were
above us and climbing climbing, climbing, and so it was
(20:40):
just like we really had the mentality of one game
at a time, and so when you start to string
together those games that are like okay, now you're playing
like playoff teams is going to be in the semi
finals finals, right, that's when we were like, okay, the
tide like we're seeing we're seeing glimpses of the team
of a championship team.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
And you play a huge not just because you're the
point guard, because you've been there, because you have this
outsized veteran role, but you even sort of take on
almost a.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Player coach role. You wield the whiteboard during timeouts.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
I want to know when that started, how you felt
confident enough that you weren't gonna have that whiteboard rip.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Right out of your end and be like, what are
you backing him?
Speaker 4 (21:18):
And man, she allowed me to just be me, Like
she trusts me our conversations. She understands that, like my
mind and my IQ is my greatest weapon, right, how
do I bring the best out of each other, get
the best out of just one possession of stilling one
possession can change the nature of a game. And she
understands that as a player and a coach, And so
there will be so many times throughout like earlier in
the year I would ask for her white board, but
(21:40):
she's in because our team, I understood. We started understanding
that our team was very like like visual learners vigual learners. Yeah,
there were visual learners. You had to like see it,
they had to see it on the board and then
go through it. And so I would bring the board
over just to show them like, Okay, when we cut here,
this is what's happening. This is the play that's open
after the first action, and eventually I guess she got
(22:03):
to know it on me's taking her board because she
would try to withdraw a player say something in her hudel,
but I had her board and then I would try
to do it quick and give it back to her.
So they brought another board. You know, people say that
it was my board. I guess I'm the only one
that used it. But I didn't like request a board,
and she was probably like, we need another one because
she's taking mind the whole time. But it was necessary
(22:23):
for sure, because everybody became a lot more visual even
the direction we were going. We needed to change the
board and stuff.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
So it makes sense. It's made sense.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, how important and how meaningful is
it to have someone like Becky that you know, played,
has been out there and isn't that far removed from
being the other end of that huddle speech, Because it
feels like that is why she has so much faith
in y'all, because she's been in your seat before.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
In people's careers, right, it could be a detriment or
a great influence in people, like not even just coaches
or like situations, everybody's like situation in the team, in
the environment they're in really close av AIA like who
you are, who you're gonna be as an asset as
a player, especially.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
Growing up in the league.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
And so each like moment in my career there's been
like something or someone or like an event or like
a couple of years that's really changed the trajectory of
my career. Becky has been one of those people, right,
She's allowed me to kind of play like she knew
I would have these conversations. She'd be like, why don't
you just say it? Or why don't you just like
do it? Or just okay, yeah, go do that overalled,
(23:26):
let's just go do that. That makes sense, like you're
in You're in the game, Like I'm not in there.
I know what probably works during like experience and watching hours.
They watched so much film, and so she gave me
the confidence to do it, like just with have a
conversations than the reads that I would do in the
middle of the game. She'd be like, now that makes sense,
Like yeah, that's something I would do. And so her
(23:48):
confidence that way has changed, like how I kind of
direct and see the game and it's and it's made
me accountable to It's made me better to like, when
I'm watching film, this is what I'm looking for now
in a different way.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Sounds like you want to be a coach after you're done.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
I don't know, you know, people say that, Peop will
say that, so we'll see.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
You got time. You got time.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
So you go on to win it all, just like
everyone drew it up and some of your.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Some of your parade fits kind of pointed to the
fact that people had their doubts.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Asia had her regression year tea, you all had the
tea with the broom for the final sweep. You had
your T shirt it was picks of you in all
your title years and said washed more like.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Wax that ass.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Okay, I need to hear about the petty side of
this team. The doubts and the questions clearly were heard
by y'all. You shut them up, and instead of shutting
them up and taking the w you were like, and also,
we're bringing a little petty to this parade. Yeah, I'm
always here for a little petty.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Tell me about that.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
You know, during the season, like it was rough, like
we were just like it was get spooky, get.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
A little scared.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
Are y'all like, let's not do that again, Like let's
not that's kind of care. We saw, like you know,
we're human, like we hear the noise, we see this stuff,
like we see some of So there were signs where
we would take social media breaks, and there were so
many times I was like off Twitter, like all these
different things, and so like there was little moments and
(25:15):
little times like even in an interview like oh your numbers,
like they'll start off by rattling off something. I'll be
like okay and answer the question anyways, or I just
don't And so there was things like okay is Asian
and aggression, You're absolutely not MVP. And then there was
a lot of speculation like when Juel came to the
team and all this different stuff her situation she had
(25:38):
on her coming here and like our start and so
that makes sense. And then mine was like, oh no,
Chelsea Gray is kind of done wash all over there, and.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
I was like sorry, but I'm not. I'm not. I
got a lot more to go.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
And so everybody kind of had like something or a
little bit of like what it playstell of like their
personality and but also like silencing the noise because it champions,
shut up.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
That's it, That's right, the best way to shut everyone up.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
I want to ask just it made me think of something,
and I've been thinking about this over the last couple
of years. As the WNBA increases in popularity, there's a
lot more media coverage, there's a lot more people talking,
a lot of them don't know a.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Thing about what they're talking about.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
But how do you find that balance between understanding that
the more media you get, the more popular you are,
the more professionalized the league is, the more coverage that
will be even when you're playing badly, and that some
of that coverage is fair even if it's not positive.
So separating the shit talk or the trash or the
harassment or the bullshit that happens versus reporters reporting on
(26:38):
a losing streak or a rough patch and being able
to be professional and handle that and respond to that,
because I think that's where I think the women's game
the next step will be a little bit less requiring
of cheerleading from the media that does show up.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
That was necessary for a long time because.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
I think the well was so poisoned, and now I
feel like there needs to be the ability to be critical,
because that's what's while being fair and respectful.
Speaker 4 (27:02):
Yeah, I think there's I think the best reporters are
able to have that balance. I think that the type
of questions that are asking, the way they're worded is different.
And I would be curious to see some of the
articles or some of the things that are said on
social media or in articles.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Would you ever say them in person? Right?
Speaker 4 (27:26):
Would you ever like walk up to that person and
say that, or would you be more careful about your words?
And there's some moments also where media or outlets state
things or write about things and state them as their
facts and not opinion. And I think that sometimes gets
(27:47):
in the way too, because everybody like the better you.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
Get, the greater you get.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
There's a lot more eyes than you and scrutiny, you know,
it comes with the territory when you're winning, or when
you're doing well, or when you're in the limelight.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
And so that's also part of helping our game grow.
Speaker 4 (28:02):
I realize that I have a problem with the way
in which things are worded totally ams and showcasing them
as facts instead of opinions, and getting some things wrong,
Like a lot of people do read a lot of
things that believe things that they read, and so when
you get things all the way wrong, that's when I
have an issue totally as well.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Yeah, I mean, I think part of the investment in
women's sports is going to be investing in the kind
of reporting and talent on the media side that lives
up to the talent that we're seeing on the court,
and also an investment in making sure that there's real,
true voices that people can trust, because when there's bullshit
on the men's side, like NBA Sentil, people know where
to go and be like that never happened, no one
said that, none of the big people are covering it.
(28:45):
And on the women's side, there just hasn't been as
much money in the media game and as much coverage
so that people know exactly where to go and say,
if this person or this outlet doesn't have it, it's not true.
And that allows so much of the garbage to be
spread on the like aggregate sites and the sites that
aren't doing real reporting, and that's super frustrating both for
the players who are having bullshits spread about them and
for the media like me that are trying to do
(29:07):
it in a real journalistic way.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
So I think I'm hoping that with all the.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Investment and attention just continued to be more investment in,
like the media coverage of the women's game, so that
the same respect goes both ways.
Speaker 4 (29:19):
Yeah, I agree with that, and I don't think everybody
deserves I don't know, a credential. I don't think that
like sometimes credential are just handed out without actually doing
a background of like Okay, who is this ala, who's
this person speaking to this athlete? And the protection there
I think can be a lot better as well.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
I one thousand percent agree. I'm a Chicago girl.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Feels like bad news for my Chicago Sky the more
I see other teams getting invested in, because it seems
like it's happening for my squad quite the same way.
And we know that Ace's owner Mark Davis has not
been shy about how much he's willing to put into
the Aces team, from the dedicated playing facility to Beckyhamond's
salary to going out and getting the bus players. It's
a really strong case study for investing in a team
(30:04):
and seeing the results on the court follow From the
player side, how much impact do you think it has
on not just the aces, But any team that can
get the kind of facilities, the kind of talent, the
kind of staff, the kind of trainers and resources, how
much do you think that shows up on the actual
basketball side.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
It's a lot of it.
Speaker 4 (30:23):
I'm a firm believer that a practice facility in your
own place, your own things, extends the longevity players' career.
I think if more people had it earlier in their careers,
they would still be playing. I think access allows for
(30:44):
people to get better, for them not to like, I
don't know, not level out, but like there's access, and
there's times, and now you're not paying for gym time
because you have access right there in your market. And
so Mark and the front office invest in us as
as women has been huge, not just as players, Like
(31:05):
want to know what we're interested in so we can
go do community events. It's more than just on the
court stuff. Like there's so many community events that happen
at our headquarters and at our facility because we want
to welcome people in, Like it's just it's a home
in a place for this organization. And so that was
the vision when I spoke with Mike Davis years ago,
and it's continued to be that since I've been a
(31:26):
part of it, and.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
It's really really cool to see.
Speaker 4 (31:28):
And when you're signing up to be part of our franchise,
you're signing up for all of that, the access, the ability,
and so there's a standard on and off the court,
and there's no secret that's what creates an environment and
cultivates a culture for people that people want to be
a part of.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Yeah, you also got the Usher clause in the contract
where you're automatically guaranteed one on one with Usher whenever
he's doing live shows.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Right, they feel like that's part of the team.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
You know, he's been around a lot.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
I love he's been at games and stuff.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
It's a good place to have off days.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
You're the primary player rep for the aces for the
Players Association.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
How'd you decide that that was a position you wanted?
What do you do for that?
Speaker 3 (32:11):
I wanted to just be a part of it.
Speaker 4 (32:13):
I know it's the negotiations this year, but I've been
a part of it for years now, and I wanted
to be on those phone calls to see a league
that you know that I'm playing in that hopefully I'm
being a part of like some change for future players.
I just wanted to know what's going on and have
a voice in this league for not just myself, but
for my teammates other players. Because I've been around I'm
(32:37):
kind of like this middle child kind of thing, like
I've been with older players and I'm also with the
younger ones. So it's like it's been pretty cool to
see the evolution and the conversations kind of change. But
I just I wanted to be a part of it,
especially this negotiation thing and and relay messages to my
teammates and everything.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
Yeah, how has this off season been different for you
as you sort of work through the CBA negotiation to
understand that the timeline's a little muddier than the average
off season.
Speaker 4 (33:03):
It's been pretty cool to like be on falls and
hear like people's perspective. Obviously, I don't get everything because
I'm not on the executive committee and so those like
there's like hierarchy and times and stuff. But they've done
the WNBPA, They've done a great job of welcoming everybody
and not just player reps, and so like everybody's informed
(33:25):
and understand like where this is heading, where this is
going what's the timeline if there's not a timeline, And
so it's been constant conversation throughout the season.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
It's a really weird thing to have almost the entire
league of veteran players not on contracts with a team. Yeah,
it could get real spicy. A lot of text message,
a lot of group chats, a lot of recruiting, a
lot of going yeah, it's not happening yet though.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Are people waiting you think until the deal's done?
Speaker 4 (33:51):
Yeah, I mean there's nothing really to kind of converse about,
like like we don't understand budget.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Right, but you could be just messaging your besties that
play for somewhere else, just checking in more regularly, sending
more Yeah, you also have Unrivaled coming up this calendar year.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
You also won an.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
Unrivaled Championship with roseby CS, so not too bad. Unrivaled Championship,
Unrivaled Finals, MVP W NBA Championship.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
You know, pretty good year for you.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
And also the first year that you've won titles being
a mom with your son Lennox, So how does that
change your attitude towards like competing and winning knowing that
you got this little boy looking up to you.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
It's been. It's been really cool. You know.
Speaker 4 (34:34):
Obviously my wife has been there for all of them,
for everything, and so like the pictures now like are
changing and the moments are changing. Obviously the schedule and
being everywhere is changing. But at the Unrivaled Championship, he
was he was too young. Uh, he understands. And then
I brought a trophy home and he was like hitting
it and stuff, but he had no idea. Even to
(34:55):
this day, like the WBA Championship, he barely understands.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
Was there. And so it was.
Speaker 4 (35:02):
Cool, like we came home like mommy won, Mommy won
a championship, and like I just wanted to share with
him and he and it's just for me, it's for us,
like it has He has no idea, he's just like, great,
where is my basketball? And then like the WNBA Championship,
it was just so cool to see like them in
the stands and her coming down to me and like
holding him, Like those are moments you you dream of.
(35:24):
Like he might not understand that, but there's gonna be
photos ten years on the line and it's gonna be like, wow,
my mom was really cool, Like this is cool that
I was a part of it. And then my wife
got to experience it with me but also holding him
and just like see man, see Lenox. This is what
you know, this is what our family go about. So
it's it's cool. We get an opportunity to travel, he
(35:45):
gets the opportunity to be around my teammates and legendary players.
He's had so many experiences, like it's just super cool
for him. And you know, this is the this is
a life that like you dream of as a kid,
and so I just love him being able to be
around this.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
That's so sweet.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
Your wife described you post baby as someone who has
finally learned the art of letting go.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
I want to hear about that. What does that mean?
Speaker 4 (36:10):
And I have to I mean I said it earlier, compartmentalized,
and I have to let it go because like like
I said, he doesn't he doesn't care that I had
a bad game. He's just like he's up and I'm
ready to have some milk, or he's he's awakening, like okay,
let's go outside on our bike. Like it's allowed me
to let go a little bit faster, and it allows
(36:33):
me to kind of come with it, to come back
to it with fresh eyes, which I really really appreciate
because you ever do like a puzzle and you go
away and do something coming to it like that's the
piece I was looking for. That's you know, that's that's
the freedom that he's allowed me to have. And it's
been different. Like with my wife, she's would sometimes do that,
but like we're able to talk the game so much
that it's not like I really get a break sometimes
(36:55):
because I was like, wait, another thing hit. But with him,
I can't be like wait another thing. Like He's just
like no, we're going to legos, we're going to cars,
we're going to jump in. So it is I had
to had to be able to do that, be present
for him, but also present for her because when I'm
out doing mycraft, she's responsible for making sure that our
(37:15):
life is great and she does it. She does everything
for us and our family. So it allows some freedom
for us as a couple, but her as individual as well.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
There's a lot of science behind that shutting your brain
off and then coming back to the thing and having
a function differently, a baby is a bold choice. You
could just choose meditation, but you went with a whole
lot of baby.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
But that's cool. It's working for you.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
So that's good, something something different.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
I guess a couple more. Who have you looked to
for advice on balancing baby and basketball? When you were
talking about him traveling everywhere?
Speaker 1 (37:45):
Is just remembering always talking to Candas Parker about like
what a crazy lifestyle Layla had coming up, just going
everywhere all the time. Like who have you looked to
that knows the very specific situation you're in.
Speaker 4 (37:56):
Candice and Elena Beard, they both have been through it.
I know me and Lena were teammates when she had
had her had her son, and her first road trip away.
She was just like, oh, I can't believe, like I'm leaving,
but it's the nature of our job, Like we have
to get used. We always are after you used to
leaving family, leaving friends, leaving our home because we're always
(38:18):
on the move, And so I would there are moments
where I would call them like I's just I'm going
through it, like being away. Those ten days road trips
were tough, especially when he was first born and her
by herself, Like to this day, it's still like I
have like the nature of my job, I have to
leave and I hate I hate doing it. So conversations
(38:38):
with them all the time. We're always key. There's I
remember last year I came in and I was having
a tough time and Tyler Marsh, actually, you're in Chicago's
guy coach. I just cried to him because I was like,
I'm I'm having a hard time. Becky has even had
even seen that. Teammates, you know, it's just there's there's moments,
and there's conversations and they understand it, but you don't
(39:01):
fully understand unless you, like you go through it, and
so Canice and Atlanta. Leading in on actual experience and
other people is more so like just a sounding board
and latting my eye emotions just kind of take over.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
Yeah, you've established this incredible support system in Vegas. You've
established a team that keeps winning. Who knows where everyone's
going to land in the offseason. Is it your hope
that you bring back as many of the players that
have been there, no matter what happens with the CBA.
Speaker 3 (39:29):
Oh, for sure. You know what I'm saying, I'm trying
to do some special things in Vegas.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Yeah, you haven't already done enough special things. Got some
more on your plate.
Speaker 3 (39:38):
As long as I'm playing, there's still more to do.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
That was my last question for you. Four titles finals, MVP.
Speaker 1 (39:43):
You've played in more finals games than any other player.
You've won more titles than any other active player. If
you're putting a list together, you're writing it down to
manifest it for the upcoming seasons.
Speaker 2 (39:54):
What's still on there?
Speaker 4 (39:55):
Another championship, personally, all star appearance. I want to try
to average a double double. I haven't done that yet.
So those are just like little things. I mean, the
championship takes care takes care of everything, of course.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
Yeah, just little things, just little things like another championship,
bhy not making five one for every finger. Chelsea, thanks
so much for the time. I know you're enjoying this
offseason and some chill time, but it was so great to.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
Talk to you.
Speaker 3 (40:20):
Thank you, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
Thanks again to Chelsea for hanging out with us.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
We got to take another break. When we come back.
Just press abab up.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Arrow down arrow to get more women in the game.
Welcome back, Slices.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
So here's our good game play of the day. If
you're headed to San Jose for NWSL.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
Championship Week. Please say hi if you spot me or
producer Alex.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
Unfortunately, our live show on Friday morning isn't open to
the public, and neither is Thursday's NWSL Radio Row event,
so we'll just have to let fate lead us to
each other. Here's hoping for some little citrus slice connects
and we always love to hear from you, so hit
us up on email good game at Wondermedia network dot
com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two
two four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe a
(41:10):
rate and review, y'all. It's super easy watch using a
video game to create a new pathway to coaching, rating
ten out of ten leaderboard points review. A new initiative
from US women's national team head coach Emma Hayes, in
partnership with Xbox Football Manager and Sky Sports, is aiming
to increase the number of women in coaching roles. The
(41:30):
latest edition of Football Manager, a British video game series,
will include women's footy for the first time, and players
who complete a qualification series within the game will receive
a scholarship to earn their YUEFA coaching license.
Speaker 2 (41:42):
Love this now We're not experts on.
Speaker 1 (41:45):
British video games or the UEFA coaching licensing system, but
we are all for thinking outside the box the xbox,
of course.
Speaker 2 (41:53):
Now it's your turn rate and review. Thanks for listening.
See you tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (41:57):
Good Game, Chelsea, Good Game, DT, Monique you Mario Kart
Rainbow Wait?
Speaker 2 (42:03):
Why are we being Mario Kart Rainbow Road.
Speaker 4 (42:05):
Because at the age of fifteen, we were convinced that
we were a bad driver because as soon as we
tried to turn on Rainbow Road with our little video
game console, we fell off.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
Okay, fair enough.
Speaker 1 (42:20):
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.
Speaker 2 (42:28):
Or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (42:30):
Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzie
Grace Lynch, Taylor Williamson and Lucy Jones. Our executive producers
are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez and Gianna Palmer.
Production assistants from Avery Loftus and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain,
Host
Sarah Spain
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