Breaking down the WNBA’s Playoff Positioning, MVP Race, and CBA deadline with Terrika Foster-Brasby

As the WNBA season winds down, friend of the show, Terrika Foster-Brasby, joins Khristina to discuss this week’s headlines. They cover playoff positioning, the close MVP race, and their concerns about back-to-back games. Plus, they address the CBA negotiations’ October 31st deadline, which may include a possible lockout and Candace Parker's historic jersey retirement.

 

Want more women’s basketball scoop? Follow the show on Instagram @ICYMIwithKW and X @ICYMIwithKW and for more on Khristina, follow her on Instagram @khristinawilliams 

 

Let us know what you think of the show by leaving a rating and a review! 

 

CREDITS

Executive Producers:

Nikki Ettore 

Jessie Katz

Tyler Klang

Jonathan Strickland

Producer:

Buffy Gorrilla

Producer & Editor:

Tari Harrison

Host:

Khristina Williams

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
In Case You Missed It with Christina Williams is an
iHeart Women's Sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports
and Entertainment. Welcome to another episode of In Case You
Missed It with Christina Williams.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Here on iHeart.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Oman Sports Network, and y'all it's Wednesday, so you know
we got to talk about the latest headlines around the
w and joining me. I mean, she's famed to the show.
She's no stranger to you all, one of my really
really good friends. She's a journalist, she's an analyst, a
sideline reporter, she's one of my favorite party buddies of

(00:39):
We're Hot Town, one of the biggest personalities, and she
damn sure well knows sports.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Please welcome to the show, my girl, Tarika Foster Rasby.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
I had to give you a little extra little ooh.

Speaker 3 (00:59):
I know, I need to introduce me everywhere we go, girl, Hey,
what's going on to I feel like you've.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
Been traveling all over the world. You had a birthday
this month, the celebrations of the non stop I know
I told you how to dip it on every platform,
but since you're here, happy birthday again, because it's.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Still all thankuable and you did.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
It's still August, and I'm a truly Oh I celebrate
until I can't celebrate no more. So you got me
until September first, and then I'll let the virgos have it.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
Truly the life of the party. And I'm loving this
red hair era, this red red hair era.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
Are you keeping that for the fall?

Speaker 3 (01:38):
Are you trying to decide? I think I'm gonna do
braids for the fall, but they might be red braids
like im, I'm really using my Jessica Rabbit alias and
I kind of like it and people kind of dig it,
and so it reminds me of my girl Casey Casey,
our friend Casey out in Seattle.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
Green.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
Yes, the green is like her signature, Like you see
the green and you instantly know that it's her. And
I'm starting to feel like the red is becoming my signature,
like people are starting to notice, like, oh, that's Tarrika
with the red hair, so kind of like it.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
Maybe I need to switch it up. Get me like
orange or ginger or no, I'll be too scared.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Get you a little, get you a little orange, girl.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
You'll yea a signature color because that black is boring.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
A little bit. But see you know, we start every
show with our guest sharing their win of the week.
So what was a win for you today? Miss Week's sis.
So my win this week it's actually sorority related.

Speaker 3 (02:41):
I went to a leadership retreat this past weekend and
it was a great experience, and not to get too
deep in the weeds, but it was just one of
those things that just reaffirms and reassures your commitment to something.
If you ever commit yourself to something and you start
to feel a little tired, a little burnt out, and
you'd be like ugh, and then you go to something

(03:01):
that just rejuvenates you.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
That was me. It was in Baltimore, Maryland.

Speaker 3 (03:06):
I was there with eighty other women and it just
felt really good to be in a place of people
of positivity, positive energy and have people pour into you.

Speaker 2 (03:15):
So that was my win of the week.

Speaker 3 (03:16):
I'm very excited about this year and now I'm ready
to give to people because somebody took a weekend to
give to me and poortant to me.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
So yeah, that's where I am.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Yeah. I always say you can't pour from an empty cup,
and I feel like that's been my entire theme this summer.
I'm fake to book a flight, reseeck recharge because you
need that balance.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
So I'm so happy that you were able to get
poured into. So I would have to say that a
win for me this week was just the New York weather.
So I was in Dallas and it was hot. It
was like one hundred degrees. It was sticky, but I
was at the pool almost every day, so I didn't care.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
When I got back to New York, I was like, oh,
I got to put on a sweater.

Speaker 2 (03:55):
It's chilly outside.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
It felt like fall, like you know how you get
that fall fall before the summer ends. It's been like
that for the for the last few days here in
New York. I mean today in particular, it's kind of hot,
but like I was, I was loving it because I'm
a full winter girl.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
I love me a denim jean jacket.

Speaker 1 (04:12):
Hello millennials, you know in the winter out quick to
put on a fur coat.

Speaker 2 (04:16):
Since I high, so I was ready transition in Uh,
I'm ready. I guess that's my signature. People know we
buy my boots at my.

Speaker 3 (04:27):
Fur coat that since will absolutely put on some fur
coats and some boots to match at a football game
that I went.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
Ever, fi. I was just about to say that I'm
at I'm at the sports game with a fur coat. Period.

Speaker 1 (04:41):
Oh but I want to jump into the headlines this week.

Speaker 2 (04:46):
As the season.

Speaker 1 (04:47):
Continues to wind down, teams are now really fighting for
playoff positioning and it's getting really exciting out there with
playoffs approaching and seeing where teams will sort of end
up in seating. The New York Liberty, they had fell
in the standings down from number two. Atlanta currently holds
that spot as of today. So let's talk about the

(05:10):
playoff positioning and the standings. Let's talk about the champs first,
the New York Liberty. They've struggled in this last few
stretch of games due to injury, and I think that's
been the tell tale of this team all season. They're
true starting five have played less than ten games together
throughout the season, and there's been a lot of roster

(05:32):
changes and Mamie's made a lot of lineup changes. But
what have you been saying from this New York Liberty
team as they fight for a good position for playoffs.

Speaker 2 (05:40):
Yeah, honestly, I think you kind of nailed it.

Speaker 3 (05:42):
Where you know, we always say in sports the best
ability is availability, and that's the thing that this team
has not had is just availability. Players have been injured
at different times, and it's been key players that have
been injured at different times, and you can even say
at critical times. I think this last week was probably
a critical time as it relates to playoff positioning. And

(06:04):
you know, yeah, Brionna Stewart was able to come back
this week, but for a moment, there was no Stuie.
There was no Sabrina, there was no Natasha Cloud, there
was no Kennedy Burg, still no ni Arasabily. All those
things matter as you're trying to use this stretch to
get better, get in playoff format, start to get that chemistry,
start to get that jail. And when you lose a

(06:25):
player like Sabrina Uness who who had been the catalyst
for your team while going through other injuries of other players,
you kind of have to not only physically get yourself
in it, but mentally get yourself in it as well.
But I think having Stuwie back on the court against
Connecticut was very important. Not only is it giving her
an opportunity to kind of find her rhythm, but again
that mental aspect of like we're getting healthy we're getting better,

(06:48):
we're getting back, we're securing our interior presence.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
I think that was important, and granted.

Speaker 3 (06:53):
There's still some way to go because that particular matchup
was a very close game, much closer than I think
people may have INTI paid it. So there is still
some work that needs to be done as it relates
to just getting people back into their groove coming back
from an injury. But I think this is probably the
most critical time as it relates to moving up and
standing because.

Speaker 2 (07:11):
Vegas is eaten and Atlanta is eaten.

Speaker 3 (07:13):
So if you want to be able to secure a
top three spot in this league, you've got to surpass Phoenix.
You've got to go on a streak here and really
close out these last eight games.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yeah, I know.

Speaker 1 (07:24):
It absolutely was a nail bier watching that Connecticut sign
game because iveryone didn't expect it to be so close.
And credit to Connecticut because this is a team who obviously,
when you're in the bottom of the standings, you really
I'm not going to say you have nothing to play for.
Every game is a game to play for, but you
can really impact those teams that are trying to get

(07:44):
positioning and seating, and you want to do that as
a place spoiler the teams competing. You want to spoil
the especially the defendant champs. You want to spoil their
chances of getting that best playoff positioning as possible. But
to your point you talked about availability being the best
type of availability the end.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
This is something that's haunted this.

Speaker 1 (08:01):
Team the entire season, and having stuwiet Dack, who this
Liberty team has been struggling when it comes to rebounding
interior defense as well. Chicago came in and scored fifty
two points in the paint at home and it was
just very uncharacteristic. I think to see the Liberty in
these last few stretch of games struggle with things like

(08:23):
rebounding with inchinior defense on science and I'm like, is
this just lack of effort or is it lack of execution?
Like what is not clocking or these New York Liberty
players right.

Speaker 3 (08:37):
Now feels like a bit of both, you know, like
you never want to necessarily say they aren't given one
hundred percent of the effort.

Speaker 2 (08:43):
The players will say that, but that's for them to say.

Speaker 3 (08:45):
However, it feels like a little bit of both, Like
when you are missing key pieces, specifically in your interior
post players. You do feel the you feel the execution
of that would be a bit more difficult than usual.
And the other thing is you can't expect players who
haven't played five on five, full blown, full out basketball

(09:06):
to immediately come in unless your name is Nefisa Collier,
then duh. You can come in and drop thirty two
points after missing two weeks, but just to that point, like,
the one thing that has always plagued this team in
my opinion, is the time that it takes to get
to the point where you need to be. When this
team first was constructed, yeah they got to the finals,

(09:26):
but for a good two months we were like, yo,
what is going on with New York? And that's because
it takes time to get there. Even last season. There
was a moment last season where this team kind of
had an up and down like July and we were
like here they go again, and New York just needed time.
And it's not always a market that allows you the
time that you need. New Yorkers want you to do

(09:47):
it and do it now, and they want you to
get it right right now, and there is no moment
that you have to figure it out and that's unfortunately
what this team is gonna need. Again, it's the fact
that you don't have a lot of time time to
kind of get that defensive rating higher than it needs
to be. You don't have a lot of time to
kind of figure out how you can post out, box out,

(10:08):
get into those positions that you need to be. You
don't have a lot of time because the regular season
ends on September tenth, so you literally got two weeks
to figure it out, and other teams are continuing to
get stronger and get better, so hoping to rely a
little bit more on the chemistry that they previously had
to help that execution. But I think it's more that
than it is effort. This is not an inexperienced young

(10:30):
team that doesn't understand the gravity of where they are,
So I don't think it's the effort, but it's definitely
the lack of execution. And to me, that is simply
because they have not been on the court together enough
this season to kind of build the chemistry necessary.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
No, that's a great point that you make in terms
of the effort versus execution question, But one would argue
is like it's enough talent on the floor. But we
know how important chemistry brought this team in their first championship.
So that's another great point that you make in terms
of the chemistry and not being able to see they're
starting five on the floor for the majority of the
season due to injury and due to so many different

(11:07):
rotations in and out, in and out, and not really
having the time to develop that chemistry.

Speaker 2 (11:11):
But they do have some final MVPs on her team. So,
as you said, markers are innatients. Impatience is a virtue
in New York.

Speaker 1 (11:19):
Fans want to see this team win, but hopefully they
can get it together. Now on the flip side, you
bring up the Aces, and you talked about how this
is a team that's coming for everyone, and this is
a team that all of us was very uncertain about
in the first half of the season, given the talent
on the roster, given the level and execution of Asia Wilson.

(11:42):
But they've turned it around this season and as of
August twenty, the Aces are an eleven game win streak. Currently,
they've clinched a playoff spot, and we talked about how
important it is in these last couple weeks of the
regular season for teams to start positioning themselves to be
in the p and they've been able to do something
that was unthinkable. We didn't I didn't think that it

(12:04):
was gonna make the Blayoffs. So the first half of
the season not gonna lie. But to your point, time
reveals all outside of Asia Wilson, we've seen Chelsea Grace
start to become some of her own Juloy Kirston Bell.

Speaker 2 (12:20):
Like, it's started to make a little sense.

Speaker 1 (12:22):
And I see fans online a like Nicky Vargas, she
knew what she was doing, and it's kind of like
everyone's eating their words.

Speaker 2 (12:30):
But what have you seen from this acist squad that's
impressing you?

Speaker 3 (12:33):
Gosh, For one, their defensive effort has improved tremendously. That
was the biggest issue outside of I would say that
and not having enough scoring outside of Asia, like people
just were not in your groove right.

Speaker 2 (12:47):
You would even have moments where we would.

Speaker 3 (12:49):
See, you know, Jewel Lloyd, who is this perennial All
Star who is an Olympian, a champion, And there were
moments where we were, like Jule says, where you at
what you're doing?

Speaker 2 (13:01):
Where'd you go right?

Speaker 3 (13:02):
And I think that now I don't know. I don't
know if White t Asia showed up. I don't know
what happened, but somebody showed up in that locker room
and was like, we have set a standard of excellence
in this league, and we have not been displaying this
level of excellence that we have set. And over these
last eleven twelve games you have seen not only has

(13:23):
Asia elevated herself, but she's elevated those around her offensively
and defensively, and that is where it was needed most.
I love the way Melissa Smith has started to kind
of figure out where she fits into this offense. I
thought that it was a good move honestly when they
traded for her back in July. She's someone who also
can add another additional layer of offensive for assistance down

(13:43):
low in the plane. The high low action can work
well with her. But again, what we just said about
New York right taking time to kind of figure out,
taking time to understand the schematics, Well now you're starting
to see that she does, and you're starting to see
the difference in her being.

Speaker 2 (13:58):
On the court.

Speaker 3 (13:59):
And I think that you add that you add that
to as you mentioned Chelsea Gray being the point god
that she is understanding the level of play that's necessary
from her in order to help this team propel Ford.
You've got to have a solid guard. You've got to
have a guard playing like a guard. And now you
start to see the pieces fit together. Jackie Young again

(14:20):
one of the best guards, one of the wing players.

Speaker 2 (14:24):
She's doing it.

Speaker 3 (14:25):
Like when there are moments where Asia is getting caught
down low and not able to produce, Jackie Young's been
her go to. And so I feel like this team
is finally coming together again, another team that has the chemistry,
that has won the championships, that knows what it takes.
And there were a lot of questions outside of just
what happened on the floor. We were questioning, well, dang,
how important was Tyler and Natalie to this squad in

(14:46):
the beginning because they're missing and.

Speaker 2 (14:48):
So seems to be the offense in the development of
the players. Like, we had a lot of questions.

Speaker 3 (14:53):
And I don't think I ever said personally that I
didn't think the Aces would make the playoffs. I think
I said I they figured to me would end up
being like a seven or eight seed, like a barely
getting in because of how they started this season. But
I have to also understand that as much as we
criticize having a forty four game season, it really plays

(15:14):
to the strengths of a team like a Las Vegas
Aces team.

Speaker 2 (15:18):
It plays to their strengths.

Speaker 3 (15:19):
Because it gives them the additional necessary time and it
gives them the additional necessary reps to kind of right
the things that they know are wrong. You don't need
Becky Hammond to tell them that they know what they
need to do and how to fix it.

Speaker 2 (15:32):
And now you're seeing a.

Speaker 3 (15:34):
Team that was literally sitting ninth, sitting third in the standings,
having been the second team to clinch their spot in
the WNBA postseason. So I think this is probably one
of those examples where having a longer season gave them
an opportunity to figure out a lot quicker than some
other teams with maybe a little less experienced players would
have been able to do.

Speaker 1 (15:55):
And not to mention, they still have Syenne Parker Tyas
who is repping up for a return, hopefully in the postseason,
which will add a little bit more weapons to their
squad as they look to possibly contend for a championship title.
But to your point, when it comes to the forty
four game season. In the seeding, I feel like there's

(16:15):
Minnesota and then there's a huge gap between in the
standings between two, eight, even two and thirteen, there's a huge,
a huge drop off between the number one seed and
everyone else. And so to your point, this is something
that works to an advantage like a squad like the
Las Vegas Aces or teams trying to figure it out.
But it's just really interesting to see how the Minnesota

(16:38):
Links have been able to separate themselves.

Speaker 2 (16:40):
The entire season, even when they didn't have their start
and the feast of Collier.

Speaker 1 (16:44):
But when you look at the seeding and all that's
happening with teams trying to kind of make that final push,
What are some teams? What are some teams that you're
looking at in the bottom of the standings, I guess
six through eight. Who do you think will kind.

Speaker 2 (17:02):
Of clinch in that spot?

Speaker 3 (17:04):
Yeah, when I look at the bottom of the standing,
so I see the sparks are not well, I'm gonna
go this far. Sparks are nine, not mathematically out of it,
Washington not technically mathematic mathematically out of its city. At ten,
we can safely say Connecticut, Chicago, and Dallas are out
of it. But I think the team who needs to
worry the most is Indiana because the Sparks and the

(17:26):
Mystics are the two teams that won. They only have
a one game lead, excuse me, a two game lead
over the Sparks, a three game lead over Washington.

Speaker 2 (17:34):
Washington is a team with Sonya and Kiki.

Speaker 3 (17:38):
The way that they have really tried to come into
and dominate Shakira Austin has done a great job over
the last couple of weeks. They are a team that
can win. They can beat playoff opponents.

Speaker 2 (17:50):
They can do that.

Speaker 3 (17:51):
They've done it already, so they're not a team that
you can discount and look over. I look at the
Sparks and for a while a couple of weeks ago
they them Salves were on a and they are a
team that can come and have already won the season
series against Indiana. So if they in this thing in
a tie, the Los Angeles Sparks have the tiebreaker. So

(18:11):
I say that to say they, to me, are the
most vulnerable. I feel Golden State is in a good position.
They're playing with house money. They have literally nothing to lose.
Nobody expected and excuse me, an expansion team to be
in the position where they're sitting seven, where they're feeling comfortable.
You know, Veronica Burton is my front runner for MIP.
I think that they are just playing with house money, right,

(18:32):
So the Fever to me are the team that is
the most vulnerable. They still don't have Caitlin Clark. Unfortunately,
she's not only still nursing that groin injury, but was
recently reported as having a mile bone bruise. I've had
a bone bruise before and it wasn't mild and it
took a while to heal. So they're saying that it
won't necessarily affect her timeline, but who knows. It's an

(18:56):
injury that literally just kept Stewie's sidelined for almost a month,
So it's something serious.

Speaker 2 (19:02):
Right.

Speaker 3 (19:02):
You're already working so hard to have Kelsey Mitchell keep
this team afloat. She has literally been the person carrying
this team for so long and she's done a great
job of it. But how long can it last? At
some point You've got to have other players out. They've
added into aerial powers, they've lost Sophie Cunningham. At this point,
you still don't have Sidney Colson is out. Erry McDonald

(19:26):
is out, Like there is just that team I think.
I think between the Fever New York at Times Chicago,
there's one that I'm missing. There's one that I but
was in Seattle. Maybe no, I'm missing one. I'm missing

(19:47):
one that it could be Dallas. But there's another team
that I've just been like, injuries upon injuries, like y'all
can't take no more, Like nobody else can afford to
be out at this point, injuries upon injuries. And so
I just say all that to say to me, of
all the teams in the bottom of the standing, Indiana
seems to be the most vulnerable. Not saying that they
won't continue to hold on, but I am saying that

(20:08):
the two teams coming behind them have the capability to
supersede them if they aren't able to find themselves out
of this funk that they're in and pull together some
wins here late in the season.

Speaker 2 (20:19):
All right, that's a good point.

Speaker 1 (20:32):
I want to bring up the MVP race because you know,
our good girl Nat she posted a tweet and it
was so funny because the day after she did that
and the visa came back.

Speaker 2 (20:41):
But this MVP race is.

Speaker 1 (20:44):
Definitely closing in, and we briefly mentioned the return of
players like Nafisa Collier, who was the front runner in
the first half of the season. But now we see
that gap closing in, especially with this eleven game win
streak that the Aces have been on at the with
Asia Wilson at the helm of it. So in your opinion,
t now, let me let me preface this with saying

(21:07):
that we're both media voters, and as it stands right now,
there's currently no rule in the w N Bay ruble
that says that players have to play a minimum require
games in order to be eligible for regular season awards.

Speaker 2 (21:24):
There's no rule, but as voters, that's.

Speaker 1 (21:27):
Something that we often take into consideration when we talk
about the impact, right, and so that brought up something
very interesting prior to the Feast's return. Is like, she
played seventy seven percent of the games, Asia Wilson is
closing the gap. Elsa Thomas is having a historical season.
Alisha Gray is also having a great standout season. Is

(21:49):
she still the front runner when she's missed? I mean,
she's only played seventy seven percent of the games. Historically,
in the past, those who have won MVP has only
missed five games or fewer. So how do you evaluate
the MVP race as of today?

Speaker 2 (22:08):
Considering that a lot of the players who are.

Speaker 1 (22:13):
Candidates for MVP, they've missed a few games, maybe not
as many as the FISA, But how do you measure
that up when we think about the race and where
it stands today.

Speaker 2 (22:22):
Well, that's exactly what I was just getting ready to say.
And should there be a rule? Should there be a rule? Like?

Speaker 3 (22:27):
Yeah, So I was literally I was literally just getting
ready to say something similar, like I could see that
being a primary argument.

Speaker 2 (22:35):
If none of the other.

Speaker 3 (22:40):
Contenders for the award had not missed any games, then
I could see that as a true argument, Like I
don't know how I can consider a player A if
they've missed six games and player B and C haven't
missed any But considering that all of the players who
are considered to be front runners or considered to be
up for this award have missed games in some way.

(23:03):
There was Alisa. I believe she was out.

Speaker 2 (23:05):
With a back injury at some point.

Speaker 3 (23:07):
We know Asia missed a couple of games due to
a concussion, and the FISA also miss games due.

Speaker 2 (23:12):
To a back injury.

Speaker 3 (23:13):
And if you want to throw in Sabrina who could
be considered I believe in some people's top five she
missed some games.

Speaker 2 (23:18):
You want to throw in Alisha Gray. I don't know.

Speaker 3 (23:21):
I can't remember the top of my head if Alisha
Gray has missed games or not. She missed a few
as well, And so the point that I'm making is
I gotta throw that argument out.

Speaker 2 (23:31):
The question, though, is whether or.

Speaker 3 (23:33):
Not it should matter, and I think at some point
it does and it should. I do think that there
may be and listen, the WNBA is sometimes reactive versus
being proactive, right, and so there are moments where things
come up in conversation later and then the league says, hey, well,
let's maybe we should consider this or reconsider this whatever,

(23:55):
after it's already been a topic of conversation. I could
see this being that now that people are talking about
it and discussing it, now, people are concerned about whether
or not you should have to play a certain amount
of games, and so it may come up. While I
do think that you should have to play a certain
amount of games in order to be considered for MVP,

(24:19):
I don't think that the number of games missed by
Nofisa or any other contender for the award this year
makes a difference, if that makes any sense. Like, I
don't think the fact that she missed a couple like
she missed the games and only played seventy seven percent,
I don't think it changes a thing about her value

(24:42):
to the links about her value to the league, and
I don't think it changes her performances over the times
that she played.

Speaker 2 (24:53):
So on the one hand, yes.

Speaker 3 (24:55):
I do think that at some point the league should
implement a standard in how many games you must be
available or how many games are allowed to miss in
order to be considered. But I don't think even if
they did that that would or should hinder the FSIS chances,
specifically because I think the way that she has played
and performed over this year, regardless of what, she should
still be considered a front runner for the award. So

(25:16):
that's just kind of where I fall on the fence
of it.

Speaker 1 (25:19):
And it's not like the NBA where players are taking
advantage of load advantagement a right. These are serious injuries
that have had these athletes out for a certain period
of time, So it's not like, oh, let's rush her
back because you need to play x amount.

Speaker 2 (25:34):
So I agree with you that doesn't determine her impact.

Speaker 1 (25:38):
And maybe when the league expands and more games are added,
because there's only forty four games and such a condensed schedule,
and you've got to prepare for things like injuries, right,
And so I feel like, right now, at this point
and where the WNBA is, I don't think that there
should be a minimum requirement for to be eligible for
awards like MVP, right because we've seen teams sort of

(26:01):
use the rest designation a little bit early on in
the first half of the season for preventative measures because
you know players are getting injured and the data proves that, well,
I would send a data chart from a league source
and say, prove that it proved that as of in

(26:23):
twenty twenty five, injuries are almost identical.

Speaker 2 (26:29):
To that of twenty twenty four.

Speaker 1 (26:31):
And so we'll talk about the back to back things
a little bit later in the show, but it's sort
of identical.

Speaker 2 (26:37):
But I think because the league is growing and just where.

Speaker 1 (26:41):
The league is at right now, more eyes are on everything,
so everything is going to be blown up right to
a certain extent, And so yeah, I feel like, as
you said, what Fee has done in the first half
of the season is not going to take away from
her chances at getting votes for MVP. But also with Asia, well,
we can also acknowledge it the same time that Asia
Wilson is having a historical season, especially with this eleven

(27:03):
game win streak, and also Elisa Thomas is doing things
that are out of this world. And so I think
that when fans see media us talking about certain things,
it's like, oh, if you say this, then you must
hate bether Can And it's like, no, we can talk
about multiple things at once.

Speaker 2 (27:20):
Like you ad you are breathing my mind.

Speaker 3 (27:26):
Because I was like, someone asked me on Twitter, do
I think that do I think that Asia will win
the MVP Award or something along like that question. It
was very it was very specific to whether or not
I think someone will win, and I did not and
will not answer, because I was like, Hey, I'm a voter.
I like to remain objective until the end of the season.

(27:47):
So let's just get to the end of the season
and we'll see. And one of the reasons that I
say that to anyone who asks is because I am
never going to be a victim of recency bias. Right,
what's most current in people minds is what has been
seen and shown in showcased over the last two weeks,
and so you forget that this season started May sixteenth.

(28:10):
As a voter, I can't forget that the season started
May sixteenth, So I don't just completely erase everything that
has happened leading up to right before it's time for
us to cast our votes. I have to consider everything,
and many of these players have played phenomenally throughout the
course of this year. So when we're thinking about MVP,

(28:31):
I'm thinking about more than just how many games you played.
I'm also thinking about how impactful you were to your team.
I'm also thinking about are you doing things that historically
no other player is doing before. I'm also thinking about
how consistent were you throughout the course of this season.
Asia Wilson, for example, since been balling like this all

(28:51):
year long, but because the Aces played a bit abysmal
to start the season, they didn't do her no favors
in the MVP aegory because you typically aren't considering someone
for MVP and your team isn't in the top three.

Speaker 2 (29:05):
You give know what I mean. So it's not like
this just happened.

Speaker 3 (29:08):
Asia ben ballin all year you're just not paying attention
because the Aces are winning.

Speaker 2 (29:14):
Same thing with.

Speaker 3 (29:14):
At At been hitting triple doubles back to back, like
it's what she does. It's like she is that girl.
It's what she does. But you're only paying attention when
Fee isn't playing. Like, we can't do that. We have
to pay attention on regardless who's on the court, regardless
who playing, and we've got to do it consistently throughout

(29:35):
the year. So it's not so easy to answer a
question like that when people are saying, Hey, who do
you think is gonna win? Like, we have to really
evaluate the entirety of the season. So I can't say
who I think is gonna win when it's still eight
more games left.

Speaker 2 (29:49):
I need to wait until this thing finishes out.

Speaker 3 (29:51):
You get what I'm meaning, Like, I gotta let the
whole season play out.

Speaker 2 (29:55):
Yeah, And I.

Speaker 1 (29:55):
Definitely think that in the first half of the season
it was Fee at the front end.

Speaker 2 (30:00):
There was a huge gap. But in the second half
of the season, we.

Speaker 1 (30:04):
Know that teams turn it around after All Star break,
And to your point, I mean, it's a much closer
race than it was in the first half of the season,
given how these players have been performing, and you have
to mention Alicha Gray in the conversation, although she's been
a little streaky. You have to mention it because the
Atlanta's dream is sitting at number two. Their foot is
on everyone's next right now. Kind of a dark horse

(30:26):
when it comes to playoff positioning and how far they
can go in terms of title contention. But there's a
lot that goes into voting for these regular season awards.
I don't just look at the stacks, right, You got
to have the eye test. And I said, you know,
data is very helpful.

Speaker 2 (30:44):
When it comes to fill out the ballot.

Speaker 1 (30:47):
But as he said, there is two weeks, about two
and a half more weeks of basketball to be played.
So at this point we can't tell you who we
vote for for MVP, especially when Fieka came back. I mean,
now we have something else to work with it the
second half of the season.

Speaker 2 (31:03):
It things are dogs order. So when you guys.

Speaker 1 (31:07):
On Twitter like, oh, the media, the media, the media,
the media, we see it.

Speaker 2 (31:12):
We're listening.

Speaker 1 (31:13):
Yeah, we'll take it what you guys say into consider it,
but it's not going to impact how we vote and
how our process works.

Speaker 2 (31:20):
I'm as submitted a ballot today. I have to wait
until the end of the season, and I'm waiting until
the last thirty minutes.

Speaker 3 (31:27):
Before I'm telling you when I tell you that ballot
is going in right before the deadline, because I need
all my time. I need every bit of my time
about even be Okay, I got like the game, and
I'm telling you. I text people like I text other
voters who I know. I don't know all the voters.

(31:49):
But you know this because you and I we talk
and we always have the same ballot.

Speaker 2 (31:54):
Like.

Speaker 3 (31:54):
There are many times where you and I are like Nasis,
I'm gonna go in this direction you're going at.

Speaker 2 (31:59):
But it feels good to talk.

Speaker 3 (32:00):
To other people who understand the gravity of what we're
trying to do and can bounce these kinds of questions
and these ideas in these.

Speaker 2 (32:08):
In these thought processes. Awesome. But me and you can
talk about what we do.

Speaker 3 (32:13):
You and I look at these things in this perspective
and go that way.

Speaker 2 (32:17):
We can't speak for all voters.

Speaker 3 (32:19):
We don't know how some other voters process and their ballot.

Speaker 2 (32:24):
Play of the Year.

Speaker 3 (32:25):
I didn't fourth, and I also didn't put Courtney and
defensive hair of the year. How I mean, I'm just
I'm just making it clear that you and I have
a different process. You and I actually believe in voter transparency.

Speaker 2 (32:42):
We share our ballots.

Speaker 1 (32:43):
At the end, we start now shot, we started the
trends and what we have doone hiding behind their votes.

Speaker 3 (32:52):
I'll always keep it about always, and you and I
have also communicated to league sources like we think think
you guys should do voter transparency. We feel like you
should let everybody know who voted. So we don't talk
about it. We are about it, But I just wanted
to throw that out there, like it's where so your
listeners know, everyone listening knows this is us. We ain't

(33:13):
talking about everybody, and we are not.

Speaker 1 (33:16):
Conspiring with each other to all of these different theories
that I see happen. We I take this very very seriously.
I've been covering this league in seven years. I've been
a voter for maybe five six years, I don't I
don't remember, but I did a vote for a very
well time.

Speaker 2 (33:31):
I take it very very serious.

Speaker 1 (33:34):
I watch the games, I'm at the games, I cover
the games.

Speaker 2 (33:39):
I'm just not one of those voters who is not.

Speaker 4 (33:43):
In it.

Speaker 2 (33:44):
You know what I mean.

Speaker 1 (33:46):
I'm very hands on and like t he said, we
have a very trusted group where we kind of compare like, okay,
you got this person for and then we explain it
in our chat, like why you.

Speaker 2 (33:56):
Got to stand on your business right, stand on what
you say right? We is it not clocking?

Speaker 1 (34:02):
Like we we we hold each other accountable, right, And
so I hope that players hear this and see it
as well.

Speaker 2 (34:11):
I know a couple of years ago, Courtney was like,
I think it was all stars. She was, she made
that sweet, She's like, why do this is a media
get to vote on this? It should be players. And
then she was like, we don't even watch film. We
were like, wait what players don't watch film?

Speaker 4 (34:25):
Film?

Speaker 2 (34:26):
Like why are we doing? I remember that we gotta
you know, we watched the game. We see Now.

Speaker 1 (34:31):
I can't speak for the rest of my media appears
and the craziness that I see when the results come out.
I can only speak for me myself, and I'm not
conspiring against anyone.

Speaker 2 (34:43):
I'm not against anyone. I'm very unbiased when it comes
to my voting. It's pure basketball.

Speaker 1 (34:50):
You consider the data, but also use their eye test
impact things.

Speaker 2 (34:55):
Like that.

Speaker 5 (35:06):
So moving right along, let's talk about the back to
back games, because players, I feel like this year of
all years, have been speaking more publicly and criticizing the
league more publicly about having back to backs.

Speaker 2 (35:20):
Satusa beli she.

Speaker 1 (35:22):
Didn't mince her words on the WNBA scheduling after back
to back games. I think she said that they had
around five games and nine days, and she talked about
how it was taking a toll on her, and so
let's talk about her complaint.

Speaker 2 (35:36):
Do you think she has a point?

Speaker 1 (35:37):
We know that this year the league went up to
a total of forty four games, and back in twenty
twenty two there was only thirty six games.

Speaker 2 (35:44):
But that's according to the.

Speaker 1 (35:45):
Current CBA, right, So going into twenty twenty, players knew
that the league could maximize that forty four and as
the league continues to grow and the mi minium continues
to grow around the league, they want to maximize it.
And so we know how important rest of recovery is
to the product that we see on the court.

Speaker 2 (36:04):
So do you think Sato has a point?

Speaker 3 (36:07):
I do think satu has a point as of how
it might feel as an athlete.

Speaker 2 (36:11):
But I was sent some information from a.

Speaker 3 (36:15):
League source about the actual numbers from back to bags,
and it's hard to make an argument against what the
numerical data says versus how players feel. Right, One thing
that I thought was interesting is that in the information
that was sent over it was that the number there's

(36:36):
a total of twenty nine backs to backs this year,
with ten of them being home home matchups with no travel,
And to me, that's very important, right because the traveling
aspect really was something that stood out to me. I
remember it was it was I cover Connecticut, and I
remember that we had a back to back last year
where it was either I think it was either La

(36:58):
to Seattle, and it was like you literally had to
get on a plane to go from La to Seattle.
And like, granted it might not be like a long flight,
but nevertheless, like that travel time weighs on you. Right
this year, specifically, I remember our previous back to back
was home and home. And yes, it's still a back

(37:21):
to back, but home and home makes it so much different.
Like there's no travel, you can get the full facilities
or excuse me, you can utilize the postgame facilities that
they have for them to like do their recovery methods.
And all that good stuff, And I think that that's
important for a team that they're doing home and homes.

Speaker 2 (37:40):
And so you look at the injuries.

Speaker 3 (37:43):
It feels because of the significance of the players and
the injuries that they are having so many acls that
we've seen this year in leg and lower body injuries,
that I can understand how it feels and how it appears.

Speaker 2 (37:58):
But fairness, it's fairness, right.

Speaker 3 (38:01):
The feeling is not necessarily equating to what the numerical
data is saying.

Speaker 2 (38:06):
And I think that's kind of.

Speaker 3 (38:07):
Where we that's kind of where it gets a little
tricky for the league to say, well, we're actually doing
less back to backs than previous years. We're actually trying
to schedule differently and because of the charter flights that
we have. Now that's the only reason why you know,
it has gone up from you know, two last season
to two point four this season as relates to implementing

(38:30):
how many back to backs you have in a season.
But I say all that to say, I don't think
that diminishes anything that's Atoutabai is saying. She's a player,
she's feeling it, her body feels it, her teammates feel it,
and we can see the injuries that are happening. Whether
or not they're down from twenty twenty four, it still
feels dramatic to the players that are on the court.
So I think that it's fair for her to have

(38:51):
the criticism that she has, But I also think that
the league again has the numerical data to say, well,
this is why we are going to scale schedule the
way that we schedule, and this is.

Speaker 2 (39:01):
Why we're doing things the way that we're doing.

Speaker 3 (39:03):
It seems to me like this is something that is
probably going to have to be settled in the CBA.

Speaker 1 (39:10):
No.

Speaker 2 (39:10):
I agree.

Speaker 1 (39:11):
I think that this is definitely a situation where while
you're at the negotiation table this needs to be a priority,
especially when you said, like you know, players field, but
the numerical data that's presented shows something different, and especially
in a season where in twenty twenty five, teams can
experience zero to three back to backs this year, and

(39:32):
to to one extent, I'm like, okay, zero to three
in a season, there's teams who don't necessarily have as
many back to backs as other teams, and so in fairness,
how is that helping or taken away from the competitive
field advantage when it comes to these teams competing and
players being available and contributing to the injuries. But as

(39:55):
stated earlier when we talked about injuries, injuries are comparable
this year to last season. Well, so it'll be an
interesting thing. You know, nothing to take away from Sattoo Sabili,
but we mentioned the current CBA negotiations and October thirty
first is that deadline date.

Speaker 2 (40:12):
And as it stands right now.

Speaker 1 (40:14):
The players the players association in the league are still
in a thick up negotiations. Speaking of Sattoo saably, you know,
I follow her on TikTok and and one of her
captions she talked or she's or she wrote that the
league doesn't want the players to play in leagues like
Unrivaled in the offseason. And it wasn't there wasn't like
an explanation in the video about why she wrote that

(40:37):
in the caption, but it had something to do with
the back to backs in terms of like the content
that she was posting that was like in another thing, they.

Speaker 2 (40:43):
Also don't want us to play in these you know
what I mean.

Speaker 1 (40:46):
So I can only assume that maybe that's one thing
that the players are like not backing down from because
they make more playing in those leagues currently, but to
that point and the next CVA, they're also asking or more,
and so a lot of internet trolls were like, oh,
you can't complain about back to back if you want
more money, and it's like.

Speaker 2 (41:05):
Yeah, you can. We can be a healthy.

Speaker 1 (41:08):
Conversation surrounding a proper scheduling, rest and recovery.

Speaker 2 (41:12):
You are also wanting more and what you deserve.

Speaker 1 (41:17):
So there's an evolving story from Front Office Sports about
the PA reportedly having for a possible lockout should they
not come.

Speaker 2 (41:27):
To an agreement by October thirty first.

Speaker 1 (41:29):
Now be there's also other options, like a possible extension
of the current CUBA. And we know how important this
time of the year is, especially when you have two
new expansion teams coming, which requires two expansion drafts. You
have the twenty twenty six free agency, which will be
the biggest in league history, I think. So let's talk
about the last negotiation because in twenty nineteen something similar

(41:53):
happened where they didn't reach an agreement by October thirty first,
and Kathy Ingelbersberg spoke about this at w Allston. Are
what happened was the that CBA was extended and they
reached the deal by January of twenty twenty, and it
was transformational in the league's words. So the word that
keeps getting thrown around by the league is we want

(42:14):
to transformational CBA.

Speaker 2 (42:17):
What do you think that's going to actually mean? Transformation?

Speaker 3 (42:22):
Trans Oh my god, because the players I spoke to
that aarchy.

Speaker 2 (42:26):
The players told me.

Speaker 1 (42:27):
I spoke to Sky, I spoke to Neka, I spoke
to Asia Page.

Speaker 2 (42:32):
Watched the clip on YouTube in case you missed it,
but they said they felt.

Speaker 1 (42:36):
Disrespected at you know, the first offer I was given.
So this transformational word keeps getting thrown out. Kathy addressed
us at All Star and said that she's optimistic that
they will reach a deal that is beneficial to not
only the players but to the owners as well. But
what do you think this is going to be moving forward?

Speaker 2 (42:57):
Yeah? I laughed, because the word.

Speaker 3 (43:01):
Transformational can mean so many different things to so many
different people, and really it just depends on what side
or what the priority.

Speaker 2 (43:10):
Is for you individually.

Speaker 3 (43:11):
I bring I say that specifically thinking about the instance
in twenty twenty when they were playing in the bubble
and there were some people Courtney Williams's one who comes
to mind, who was like, there was a conversation regarding
whether or not they should sit out a game to
protest a shooting of a black man in Wisconsin, and

(43:32):
the NBA players had decided to not play a game,
and the WNBA players were deciding whether or not they should,
and Courtney Williams was one that was vocal that was like,
this don't really have anything to do with standing up
for this gentleman, because I agree that violence and all
of that is great, But at the same time, I
got a family to feed, right, I cannot afford to
not play games.

Speaker 2 (43:52):
I can't afford to not have checks.

Speaker 3 (43:54):
And that didn't make her wrong, But her priority may
be very different from a different player who may maybe
doesn't have that worry or doesn't have that concern. So
when I hear the word transformational, it can just mean
so many different things to depending on who you are
and what's important to you. If you're a mom, you know,
maternal benefits, that's something that's going to be important to you.

(44:17):
Not worrying about whether or not I'm going to get
traded or get cut because I got pregnant that's something
that's going to be important to you, and that could
be the thing that makes the CBA transformational for you.

Speaker 2 (44:27):
All of these players want more money.

Speaker 3 (44:29):
So obviously, with the media deals and the media rights
that are increasing heavily financially for this league, that is
certainly going to be what makes this most transformational in
my opinion, the increase and pay and how that can
skyrocket and change the lives of these players. So that
to me, the increase and the possible revenue sharing, that
can be transformational. But then I also laugh when I hear,

(44:53):
and not in a good way laugh, but one of
those like snickers, like you don't want me. How important
will be other leagues? Because for years, the other league
was Europe. For years, the other league was Asia, the
other league was South America, the other league was Africa,
depending on where you decide. For years, the other league
was somewhere overseas. How does now the concern for that

(45:17):
change because the other leagues are now in the United States,
And so to me, that makes.

Speaker 2 (45:23):
Absolutely no sense.

Speaker 3 (45:24):
If you were okay with me going to Russia, and
you were okay with me going to Czechoslovakia, and you
were okay with me playing over in pret Why now
does it change because it's Miami or because it's Nashville, right,
and so that could be something that makes it transformational.
There are so many different options and priorities that these

(45:45):
women are looking to address with this particular CBA that
it feels like the entirety of it is going to
be transformational.

Speaker 2 (45:54):
Nothing about this CBA is going to resemble, or at.

Speaker 3 (45:57):
Least that is the hope, and the goal is that
it doesn't resumb well the last one, and at the
time the last one was transformational.

Speaker 2 (46:04):
Retired players are looking for benefits.

Speaker 3 (46:07):
All of these players that are currently in the league
now at some point are gonna have to hang up
their shoes, and once they're done, they're gonna want to
be taken care of like any other person that is
employed and decides to retire. You get a five O
one C three, you get a pension, you get something right,
Excuse me, I mean a four oh one KS set,
A five O one C three, a four oh one
k A pension of something like. That's something that is

(46:29):
important to these players and something that retired players and
a WNBA Alum currently are consistently speaking about. So again,
a long long winded say, to answer your question, what
will make this transformational will honestly depend on what the
top priority is for this league and for these individual people.

(46:51):
But overall, I think the overall benefit of what it
is collectively that they're trying to do, from the pay equity,
to the benefits, to the overseas commitments, to the prioritization rules,
all of those things being addressed will into two. Officially
putting in charter flights. Let's not forget that a charter

(47:13):
flight situation is still not officially in the CBA.

Speaker 2 (47:17):
It is fires next year, it it's fires next year, yup, yup,
it is not officially in the CBA.

Speaker 3 (47:24):
So there are so many little things that folks may
take for granted and say these women are being selfish
or they're just wanting too much.

Speaker 2 (47:31):
No they're not.

Speaker 3 (47:32):
They're actually looking for their worth and what they deserve,
and it probably still doesn't.

Speaker 2 (47:35):
Scratch the surface.

Speaker 3 (47:37):
But I will add this one last thing before I
give it back to you, though, Christina, and that's I'm
not surprised that the first offer was trash because I've
negotiated enough contracts to know I ain't never got a
first offer that has been like, Yeah, I'm gonna go
ahead and say every single time I'm at the negotiating table,
I'll be like, I know they didn't send this, going
and send that back, Like just going and send that back.

(47:59):
So there's a difference between disrespectful and the starting platform
of what the negotiation should look like.

Speaker 2 (48:08):
And I truly hope that the.

Speaker 3 (48:10):
WNBA understands and respects that level in a net line
and does not and did not cross that line. But
from the reaction of players, it feels that they that
they from their perspective, that they did cross that line
from starting points to disrespectful. So I could see hopefully
this going into an extension of the current CBA. I

(48:30):
don't expect this deal to get done until maybe February
or March of twenty twenty six. I don't think this
is something that's going to be relatively close. I do
think that the free agency period is going to open
before CBA negotiations are actually complete, so I expect this
to be along a long, long process. I ain't surprised
at what Front Office Sports reported yesterday. I ain't surprised

(48:54):
one Yeah.

Speaker 1 (48:54):
No, And to me, I feel like this, I mean,
I feel like There wasn't really a lot of new
information on that report because coming into All Star we
knew what the alternatives were going to be should they
not reach a deal in the next sixty days on
October thirty, first, it's going to go one of two ways.
It's going to get an extension of the current CBA,
and that would probably be the best possible outcome. Given

(49:17):
that there are two expansion teams waiting to have their
expansion drafts last year the expansion draft of the Valkrus
Health in December.

Speaker 2 (49:24):
The league has yet to make rules or available or
specify how they are going to approach a two team
the expansion draft this year, especially given that almost eighty
percent of the league be free agents in twenty twenty six.

Speaker 1 (49:39):
There's a lot of great area, I guess when it
comes to this topic, because how do you, as a
free agent put your trust in the team if you
don't even know what the next CBA is.

Speaker 2 (49:49):
Going to look like, you know what I mean.

Speaker 1 (49:51):
So it feels like Connecticut may benefit because they have
a lot of rookies on that rookie scale contract, you
know what I mean. Those are teams that the little
benefit from continuing to build off the foundation that they have,
but I think that there are certainly a lot of
question marks. And I remember even when the last CBA
was negotiated, I was able to speak to some players

(50:12):
who were in the room and they said to me,
you know, they felt like they had to compromise a lot,
and that a lot of them were actually not as
excited about how the last CBA turned out. But the
difference between twenty nineteen, twenty twenty and twenty twenty five.

Speaker 2 (50:26):
Is the players have more leverage.

Speaker 1 (50:29):
And I spoke to the source that was closed to
the situation in terms of how the negotiations are going
this time around, and they said, the players, I've been
standing on business since day one. I know that Mekka.
You guys can go back to my All Star episode
with Nekka. She talked about how their approaching is from
a business perspective. They know and understand how important this
moment is and they're gonna leave no stone those stone

(50:51):
left unturned. So we're gonna keep our eyes, you know,
close to this situation. The off season is certainly gonna
be busy for Tarika and I. As we're on CBA,
watched an expansion draft, watch and all those things. This
is gonna be super super important, especially at the inflection
of where the league is right now. This is gonna

(51:12):
be transformational for us too and the work that we do.

Speaker 3 (51:15):
Yes for real, for real, and listen while y'all out
there negotiating not to you know, I'm just saying, if
you want to throw out there some additional income for
your media broadcasters, we appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (51:25):
Guys, can we get some of the media deal money
to please and thank you? Listen if you don't.

Speaker 1 (51:34):
If you know, closed mouse, don't get fantee, closed mouse,
don't get don't get fat.

Speaker 2 (51:38):
I'm just saying, as he as he said.

Speaker 1 (51:40):
You know, October thirty first is deadline, and I recommend
all people watching this episode listening to go back to
our episode last November with Terry Carmichael Jackson, who's the
executive director of w NBPA.

Speaker 2 (51:52):
We also have an episode around that time.

Speaker 1 (51:54):
With Nekagoma Kay as well, where we talked heavy into
the CBA as they had planned to opt out. So
go back and listen to that episode. I think it's
super important to understand where we are now almost a
year later, as they approached the October thirty first deadline.
You know how to plug our past episode so you
guys can understand where we're how far we've come. Let's

(52:28):
get back onto more topics surrounding the league. This week,
Cannas Parker had her jersey retired, and she's the first
player in WNBA history to have her jersey retired on
two different franchises. Parker was instrumental in helping bring the
first championship to the Chicago Sky in twenty twenty one.

(52:49):
I was in the building for that, like literally up
close and personal. I have a funny story. So once
Chicago won and we're all on the floor getting our content.
Skyler Diggins because they played the Phoenix Mercury in the finals.
So Skylar Diggins was trying to get through the give
Slewton Candade. They're hug and it was a lot of
people blocking. So I was kind of like her bodyguard,

(53:10):
like move out.

Speaker 2 (53:10):
The way, Skylar Strata. I have the fag.

Speaker 1 (53:13):
I'm like Scotland's trying to get through, and I got
her through so she could hug CP and Slutie.

Speaker 2 (53:19):
But yeah, no, no, that that championship game was lit. I
mean we had a time in Chicago.

Speaker 3 (53:26):
And that that whole that game was lit, that that
after party was definitely lit.

Speaker 2 (53:35):
I remember that well. I was on the court as well.

Speaker 3 (53:37):
At the time, I was actually working for ESPN Social
and a colleague of mine.

Speaker 2 (53:44):
They only so, here's the thing, here's the here's a here's.

Speaker 3 (53:47):
A little insight behind the scenes of insight for your listeners.
So you have your credential, and your credential will indicate whether.

Speaker 2 (53:55):
Or not you can be on the floor and all
this other stuff.

Speaker 3 (53:58):
But for a championship game, you also may need a
vest and a wristband to ensure that you can get
behind the ropes. So just because you're on the floor
doesn't necessarily mean that you can be behind the ropes.
And so they were only giving us one vest, and
we were like, who is gonna wear this vest? There

(54:18):
were three of us there from ESPN Social. We're like,
who's gonna wear this vest? And so I gave my
vest to the other colleague because luckily for me, knowing
who I know around the league, nobody is typically ever
telling me to leave the floor anyway. So I was like,
I'm gonna take a chance on my reputation and I'm
gonna give my homegirl the vest. Well, she gets the vest,

(54:40):
she gets positioned right next to Layla, and she gets
the video that went viral of Candace Parker calling Lailah
yeah yeah, gets the video of Candace calling Laila to
come over and gives her the biggest, most embracing hug,
and she gets the entire footage from the front. I

(55:00):
get the footage from the back, and the whole video
messed together to go viral, and I was just like,
that's my moment of the twenty twenty one WNBA Finals, Like,
that's my moment. I helped everybody see the emotional connection
between Canadas and Leila, and so.

Speaker 2 (55:18):
That's my crown and glory. I'm going I'm going to
die on that heel that I brought. That I brought
that piece to the world with.

Speaker 1 (55:25):
So many behind to see stories from that championship game.
I remember meeting Kathi in the suite in the top
Shop suite.

Speaker 2 (55:31):
She came up to our suite at the time.

Speaker 1 (55:33):
We're in an activation where we got a chance to
meet some of the fans.

Speaker 2 (55:37):
So that was that was really interesting.

Speaker 1 (55:39):
I mean Mike as well, good time twenty twenty one
was a good time.

Speaker 2 (55:43):
But let's just talk about Candy's Parker's greatness.

Speaker 1 (55:46):
I mean, I mentioned she's the first play in WA
history to have her jersey retired on two different franchises
in the same summer. But I think that this is
something that was long overdue. Obviously they put Ali quickly
up in the rafter a little bit earlier in the season.

Speaker 2 (56:01):
But uh, step, I mean hometown hero.

Speaker 3 (56:05):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, listen, there aren't too many people
who you can look back at their career and literally
say that they revolutionized the game of basketball. And Candace
Nicole Parker is one hundred one of those people revolutionize
the game of basketball. When I talk about the point
forward position, you know, two people come to mind.

Speaker 2 (56:28):
Three people come to mind, actually, Kandas Parker, Grant Hill, and.

Speaker 4 (56:31):
The Don James no basketball basketball general, because across the
game of basketball, they are the three people.

Speaker 3 (56:44):
To me, Candas Parker was the first w player to
meet to really revolutionize the point forward position. First player
that I ever remember seeing it was Grand Hill. But
don't but I'm a Detroit I'm a Detroit Pistons fan.
So with Detroit in the background, y'all within these trade
and background, right, But to me, like they like sheol

(57:05):
revolutionized it to me in the WNBA, and then no
one has ever been able to say that they have
been Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season.
I don't think anyone ever will because the way this
game continues to evolve and the players are getting stronger, faster,
the game is faster, the pace is different, the way
that we're playing the game. The three point shot is

(57:27):
so different now, the characteristics that you have to have
now is so different than two thousand and eight. But again,
revolutionize this game, and I just can't see anyone taken
away from the things that Candice Parker did on and
off the court. Now being a boss at ADIDA, it's
just respect, like just complete respect. Just and that's really

(57:52):
all I can say to some of ELP because we
could be here all day talking about Candace, but.

Speaker 1 (57:55):
Just mentioned every stat is like since Candace Parker, since
can it feels like every step. But one of the
things I felt I was interesting when you talk about
revolutionizing the game was she talked about how she laid
the foundation for players like Asia Wilson and how she
hopes that Asia Wilson is doing the same for players
like ancient Reese and how the power forward position is

(58:16):
single handedly the most important position in women's basketball.

Speaker 2 (58:21):
We look at the last MVPs.

Speaker 1 (58:24):
Just how important that position is in terms of they're
involvement on offense and on defense.

Speaker 2 (58:29):
They're in every scheme. So Kennith Parker walked, so everyone
else could pretty much run run.

Speaker 1 (58:37):
Yeah, and she's and she's won on every single team
that she's been on. You re questioned the Vegas championship,
but in that first half of the season, Kennis Parker
was the reason why they were still in it, and
she was coaching on them sidelines, Like I saw her
coaching them up on that sidelines during that run. And
so I was back there when she was willing, willing

(59:00):
home back to.

Speaker 2 (59:02):
Take them team photos. So no shout out to Kansas Parker.

Speaker 1 (59:08):
Thank you for all that you've done for the game
of women's basketball.

Speaker 2 (59:12):
And congrats.

Speaker 1 (59:14):
So t that's gonna wrap up this episode of In
case he missed it. Thank you for always hanging out
with me talking hoops. I hope nothing that we say
it's gonna get us in trouble. Okay, we be We'll
be kind up together.

Speaker 2 (59:28):
Girl. I stay ready for the smoke.

Speaker 1 (59:30):
You know me, well, don't forget to catch tease podcasts,
she co host with Cheryl.

Speaker 2 (59:38):
Swoops levels to this. I'm gonna need that Sweatshirtsys, send
me a sweatshirt. I'm out one.

Speaker 3 (59:45):
This is this is the old woe when we weren't
sure what we was gonna do. So this is the
old one. But I'm got to get you a new
one with the with the real with the real uh,
with the real info on it though. So I got
you period.

Speaker 2 (59:56):
I'm gonna hold you to it.

Speaker 1 (59:58):
That's gonna do it for this week's episode. Make sure
you follow my good sister Rika across all of our
social platforms at she knows sports because she definitely knows
what she's talking about, not only women's basketball, but all sports.

Speaker 2 (01:00:10):
That's gonna do it for this week's episode. Don't forget
to subscribe, rate and review this episode, and we'll see
you guys next time.

Speaker 1 (01:00:20):
In case you missed it, with Christina Williams is an
iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports
and Entertainment.

Speaker 2 (01:00:26):
You can find us on

Speaker 1 (01:00:27):
The iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.