July 22, 2025 • 38 mins
On this special episode, Jemele breaks down the notable moments from WNBA All-Star weekend, including the polarizing reaction to the players wearing t-shirts that read “Pay Us What You Owe Us” in pregame warm-ups. The shirts were in reference to the players ongoing collective bargaining negotiations with league owners and Jemele explains why the players are due a big raise, and how the owners are pulling a sleight of hand trick when it comes to the league's finances. Also, Jemele explains how Minnesota Lynx players Courtney Williams and Natasha Hiedeman emerged as the real winners of WNBA All-Star weekend.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hey, what's up, good people.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
This is Jamel Hill, host of Politics, and welcome to
a very special edition of Politics. I do these minipiles
ever so often just to give you, guys, sort of
my immediate reaction, my immediate thoughts to.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Some of the hottest topics across sports.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Now, for those of you who I'm sure paid attention,
this past weekend was the WNBA All Star Weekend, and
the WNBA All Star Weekend ten out of ten. No notes, well,
actually a couple notes, so maybe I couldn't give it
a full ten out of ten, but there were a
couple notes that were necessarily more or less related to
the game itself.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
But generally I thought it was an incredible.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Sort of an incredible showcase for the WNBA. It was Indianapolis,
and I know there was a lot of people who
wondered how would this all start weekend and go off,
particularly since Caitlin Clark was unable to participate due to
an injury, and people wonder where they still be able
to get the same viewership. As of this recording, I
don't know what that viewership is, but if we're just
(01:12):
going off vibes and energy, it looked like Indianapolis.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Was a hell of a time.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Scott Diggins had an incredible performance the Vista Collier.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
She wound up winning w NBA All Star MVP.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Now, as much as there was so much to talk about,
from what the ladies' fits were, from various social interactions,
which I'll get into later, the talk of the weekend
by far was the w NBA players wearing these shirts.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
These shirts that say pay us what you owe us.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
They wore these in their warm ups, hitting your warm
Ups before the WNBA All Star Game actually took place,
and this has caused quite a polarizing reaction across social media,
as you might as you might gather now to give
people a little bit of backstory, the WNBA Players Association
(02:07):
or the players, they decided to opt out of their
collective bargaining agreement which they agreed to in twenty twenty.
They decided to opt out. It made all the sense
of the world.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Of why they did. You should probably go back.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
I would encourage you all, if you can, to go
back and listen to a podcast that I did earlier
in this season of spot Attacks of Politics with the
executive director of the WNBA Players Association. That would be
Terry Jackson, who broke all this down and pretty much
foreshadowed a lot of this, not necessarily the T shirts,
but just in terms of what the players would be
(02:41):
asking for. So make sure that you go back and
check out check out that episode. So anyway, they decided
to wear these T shirts, and it created a humorous
reaction across social media. In fact, as of I'm recording
right now, it still is creating a reaction because when
I last checked X, the WNBA was the number one
(03:03):
trending topics and it was all about them deciding to.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Wear these T shirts. There's a few things that were
immediately noticeable about the reaction. So much of the reaction.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
I realize that social media is not a perfect age,
especially when we're talking about X, which seems to farm
and really heighten and promote the negativity.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
But what was immediately.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Obvious about this is that a lot of people were
giving that shut up and drible type of energy.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
And I may note this and my first comment on
social media when.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
I say, h huh, it's interesting how that protect women's
sports energy isn't there when you have women demanding more
equity in a league of which they are the source
of why that league exists are they are the reason
that the WNBA exists, and it's been able to thrive
and it's been able to dive for so many years.
(03:57):
So suddenly that whole protect women's sports thing, they ain't
got nothing to say about this, So I guess because
that I guess because trans athletes are not a part
of this, then they don't feel like these women who
are demanding something that a lot of women face, which
is pay equity, fair pay in the workplace.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
This is an issue related to all women.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
And yet again that protect women's sports crowd is not there.
So essentially the women understanding where the league is in
this moment. One of the reasons they opted out of
collective bargaining is so that they could go back to
the negotiation table at a time where the league is
undergoing a huge transformation. We've seen what the arrival of
(04:43):
Caitlin Clark has done to the league in terms of attendance,
in terms of interest. I mean, there is no one
else like her in sports at this moment.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
It reminds you of almost a Tiger Woods.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Like effect on the league in terms of the ability
to attract an audience.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
And so we know that that is happening. And even though.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
There are other factors you can point to where the
WNBA before Kaitlyn got there, they were clearly trending up.
A lot of people were bothered by this T shirt.
One of the words that people kept circling was the
word oh. But let me tell you why the word
oh is appropriate. I want you guys to understand where
(05:26):
the WNBA is right now, because a lot of people
were pointing to the fact that there was a report
I think it was in the New York Post and
the New York Times where they said in twenty twenty
four that even with the arrival of Kate L Clark
in twenty twenty four, the league was still set to
lose forty to fifty million dollars. We gonna get to
that number in a second. But here's what the players
recognize right now in this moment. The WNBA, because this
(05:50):
is what's not being talked.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
About enough on social media.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
The WNBA just signed a two point two billion dollars
meteor ites deal.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
That deal kicks into effect next year.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
They will the league will be able to the league
will be paid two hundred million dollars a year based
off what this last media negotiation was two point two
billion dollars. There are currently multiple teams that will get
WNBA teams Detroit, Cleveland, Philly. By twenty thirty, the WNBA
(06:24):
will have eighteen teams. They currently have thirteen teams. All right,
so let me just ask y'all this. A lot of
y'all have joined me again, this is a special episode
as politics. I'm also doing this live on YouTube at
the same time, simultane simultaneously, So let me ask you
all this. Okay, If the WNBA is not growing, if
(06:49):
it's not profitable, if it doesn't have the potential for profit,
why are so many investors lining up to buy teams?
Can anybody answer me that question? If the WNBA product
is as bad as the people say, who are throwing
this forty fifty million dollar profit or a forty fifty
(07:10):
million dollar loss figure out there constantly saying this is
why they don't deserve anything. If it is so bad,
If there is nothing to be gained financially from this league,
if it is the charity you guys keep saying that
it is, why are billionaires lining up to join this league?
Speaker 1 (07:30):
For example, the the Valkyries, right the Valkyries are the
newest franchise in the WNBA. There are an incredible story
the Golden State Valkyries. They're one of the best stories
across all the sports. This team looks like they're going
to make the playoffs as an expansion team.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
The Valkyries are already valued at five hundred million dollars.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Five hundred million.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
It's the highest valuation of any women's sports team in history.
The Valkyries currently right the New York Liberty their valuation is.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Four hundred and thirty million dollars.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Right now, the Indiana Fever their valuation is two hundred
and thirty two million dollars. There were investors lined up
to get WNBA teams, and in fact, there is a
rumor that the Connecticut Sale are the Connecticut Sun.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
They're up for sale, excuse me.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
And because of that, there are a number of investors
who want the team.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
They want the team, but they want to move the team.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
So there's a lot of conjecture there about what really
might happen.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
So I'm the smartest person in the world.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
But if this is a bad investment, like y'all say
it is, why do they keep attracting billionaires? And investors.
Let me tell you something. I know this is gonna
come as a shock to you. The reason why I
find that forty to fifty million dollar loss statement so interesting,
(09:10):
I need you all to put on your critical thinking caps.
In fact, I'm gonna use the NBA as an example
of why we need to have on our skepticism in
this moment. Let me remind you of what has happened
every single NBA lockout? All right, the NBA has been
(09:31):
I believe they've locked out four times in NBA history,
four times, all right? Every single time is a lockout.
What do the owners claim? The owners claim they are
losing money. I am old enough to remember in nineteen
ninety nine when there was a lockout and then we
had that fifty game season, the NBA owners claimed they
(09:51):
lost over a billion dollars. They were selling the narrative
that the NBA is a bad business. Didn't we just
see the Lakers just sell a piece of the Bus family.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Just sell a piece of the Lakers for ten billion dollars.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
So if the NBA was losing as much money as
the owner said in nineteen ninety nine, how did the
Lakers just get sold for ten billion how did the
Substics go for six billion before the Lakers did? So,
I'm just trying to figure out the math, y'all let
me know. Okay, let me give you another example of
how the NBA or I should say how owners in
(10:32):
professional sports often used the media to.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Create the narrative that the players are being ungrateful.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Let us go back to twenty eleven when there was
another NBA lockout that was that wound up being a
sixty six game season.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Adam Silver, who was the deputy commissioner of the NBA, then.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
He said that the league was operating at a three
hundred million dollar loss and twenty two teams lost money.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Twenty two teams, so class.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
What have we learned from this is that when it
comes to negotiations, when there's a collective bargaining, that a
negotiation that's on.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
The table, the owners will lie.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
About the financials to get you to believe that they
are losing money and that this is a bad business
deal for them. And yet if a team opens up tomorrow,
they are literally tearing their acls to buy one. But
it's supposed to be bad business, Okay, it is not
bad business to own a sports team let me tell
(11:39):
you why it's not bad business. You all know Steve Baumer,
owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. Pro Publica did this
report in twenty twenty or twenty twenty one, excuse me.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
In twenty twenty one, pro.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Publica took a look at why sports teams are such
an attractive business for billionaires.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
And for people with that kind of money.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
In twenty twenty one, guests who paid more taxes Lebron
James or Steve Barmber. Now, keep in mind, Steve Bamber
is worth one hundred and thirty billion dollars. Lebron James.
I don't know if he was worth a billion dollars then,
but I know what Steve Barmber was worth.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Okay, the answer is Steve Bomber.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Steve Bomber in twenty twenty one was able to show
that the Clippers lost seven hundred million dollars.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Steve Balmer strikes me as a pretty smart dude.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Do you actually think and I ain't trying to call
affais on nobody, I ain't trying to call an IRS,
do you actually think that Steve Bamber, who has been
able to amass a networth of one hundred and thirty
four billion dollars that he would just be a okay
with losing seven hundred million dollars.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Wonder what those books look like, because here's the thing about.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
The narratives that the owners spend.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
You can make the books look however you want.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Nobody has seen the WNBA finances. We don't know what's
actually in them, but we do see the deals that
are being cut. We do see the revenue that's being generated.
And the players see that too.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
And the players aren't stupid, all right.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
So the reason they are asking and saying you owe
us is because they know that these owners cannot be trusted.
They also realize the moment that they're in now where
they are getting increased attendance, increased visibility, They are becoming
(13:56):
increasingly increasingly high meati your presence. They understand the economics
of this thing. And what is sad to me is
to see so many of you all that are so
many of y'all glaze these billionaires, constantly glaze them.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Why are you signing with the billionaires? They got enough money?
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Why, let's say, the profet lost statement was exactly what
they said, So what.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
They're billionaires?
Speaker 2 (14:37):
And it seemed to me that you all took such
exception about the word oh, because what you were really
saying is these women don't deserve anything.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Oh. They need to just be happy they hear.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Look, just because on your job you got to put
up the Baptist finger when you walk around your boss.
Don't put that. Don't project that on these women. I mean,
I don't understand this. Whenever it is player versus owner,
players versus league, you know who y'all should be signing
with the.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Players, Okay, not the league.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
And so it is unbelievable to me to see how
easily this narrative against these women has shifted, because at
the end of the day, you just don't think they
deserve it.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
And I'd rather you just say that to sit up there.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
And act like you suddenly an accountant and that you
care about profit and law statements.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Because you don't.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
All right now, just so you all understand the full
finances of this, the NBA players, for example, they get
fifty percent of it's a fifty to fifty foot of
the league revenue.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
And by the way, in twenty eleven, the reason why the.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Owners kept showing how much money that they were losing
and trying what they were trying to.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Do is get the players to take less revenue.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
At that point it was fifty seven percent, but all
of a sudden because it was fifty seven percent.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
And again, these are businessmen who are a stoop.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
They get into this to make money, all right, They
get into this to make money. And so to them,
they weren't going to be invested in the league where
the players made more money than they did the very
idea of this, because realize, these are guys who have egos,
these are billionaires that they did not want any scenario
where the players were making were getting a larger cut
(16:29):
than they were, so.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
They were able to.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Make the books look how they needed them to look
in order to prove to the public that these players
are being ungrateful, that these players.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
That they are not deserving of this.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
And these narratives should all sound really familiar to you
because in America right now currently we have more smoke.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
For workers than we do for corporations.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
We're having this conversation right now about immigration and undocumented
workers and all of that. Notice how the undocumented workers
are the target, but not the businesses that hire them
and exploit them. Again, there's a theme here, and that
is because in our country, unfortunately, wealth is very aspirational,
(17:25):
and even though the people that are most driving the
inequality have the most money, is so much easier for
us to blame the people lower than us, the people
right at the same level level is us.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
So for the people who are.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Casual fans of the WNBA, they see these women wearing
these t shirts that say pay us what you owe us,
and then they suddenly get triggered by this as if again,
this is not something that all of you should be
able to relate to as people who work for somebody else, as.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Most people do. I know they are entrepreneurs, but most
people work for somebody else.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
You should be rooting for the people to make more
money instead of being a hater, because that's what it.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Sounds like for a lot of y'all, like y'all just
being haters.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
As I said, NBA players make about a fifty percent,
They make a fifty fifty percent split.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Excuse me.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
In WNBA players make less than ten percent of the revenue,
sharing less than ten percent. Now, I want you to understand,
WNBA players have never said that they want to make
as much money as NBA players. Often when they point
out the salaries of NBA players. They point this out
(18:38):
so that you can see how wide the disparity is.
They're not saying we should be worth as much as
Lebron should Lebron James. What they're saying is that the
distance between what I make and Lebron James should not
be nine trillion percent. It should be you know, we
should be able to make a living doing just this
(18:58):
in the WNBA. The whole reason Britney Grinder got caught
up in Russia is because she needed to go to
Russia to supplement their supplement her income.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Russia was paying her seven figures. So Russia.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
You all are aware that Russia has one of the
most terrible track records when it comes to human rights.
How is it that Russia can pay American women more
than we can? Help me figure that out. Russia was
playing Diana Tarassi and Brittany Grinder and a lot of
other women seven figure salaries, but we can't. Does that
(19:32):
make sense? So it kind of doesn't to be. It
doesn't make sense to me that the country who has
who when it comes to human rights and gender equity
and LGBTQ issues.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Far behind us, far less.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Progressive than us, but they can pay women's basketball players more.
That should make a lot of that shouldn't make sense
to any of you all. So what I'm saying is
that as we're having this conversation, don't fall for the
narratives because even based off what the media has reported,
none of them have seen the financials.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
And you see that throughout history. That's why I pointed
out the NBA.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Is that every time it's a lockout, there's always a
league source that tells a major news outlet that they're
losing money. Happens every single time, like clockwork. So why
are we falling for this again? A league source told
the New York Times and the New York Posts that
the WNBA is losing forty fifty million dollars. As a reporter,
(20:35):
you know what your first question should be, what a
book's at show me? Because when the WNBA was making
about one hundred million dollars generating about one hundred million
dollars in revenue, the NBA claimed that they were losing
ten million dollars a year. Last year, the WNBA generated
over two hundred million dollars in revenue. But now they're
(20:58):
losing forty to fifty million dollars a year. Does that
math math to you? You losing You're making more money
and losing more money at the same time.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
And then there came this other.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Report that the NBA owners were upset that the WNBA
wasn't turning a profit.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
So we have three narratives.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
That coincidentally got pushed out there before the w NBA
players announced that they were opting out of the collective
bargaining agreement.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Listen, all I've done is watch A Long Order a
few times.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
I ain't Olivia Benson, and I can't stable, but I
can connect them dots, can you all?
Speaker 1 (21:44):
And you know who else can connect these dots is
my man.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Applies pay these women and the w NBA peyty motherfucking women.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Man.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
I don't want to hear none of that shit.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
But the w NBA hadn't made any money.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
It loses money every year. The only reason is still
even a float is because of the NBA, the subsidience.
I don't want to have a motherfucking fish run. Have
a motherfucking fish running.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
That's what they should do.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
At my motherfucking grandma church.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Have a motherfucking fish run. I don't want to hear
none of that.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
How do you goddamn people, man, And how y'all feel
like women shouldn't even make no goddamn money unless they're
a motherfucking g spring. That's how the majority of y'all
shood the don't know why a woman should make some
goddamn money in this country is that if they got
a motherfucking g sprint. These are high qualified women, fatherfucking
(22:43):
knucker out there in Seattle. That's a motherfucking snap for degree.
That woman damn now Ironstinle who know how to play
goddamn basketball. Her teammates Kyle of Thigging, that's a notre
dame motherfucking degree, whether.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
You like it or not.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Katie's goddamn people, But I don't want to hear. Listen,
if Pope Ice was telling me right now, they ain't
making no money, and I'm looking over here to the right,
and it's three more motherfucking popeyes, just like it is
in the WNBA and motherfucking Cleveland and Philly in Detroit.
Ain't nobody signing up to lose no goddamn money. I
(23:24):
don't care how much money you got them to stand
your smallfuckers is the ones with the money. So I
don't care about fifteen twenty years ago, which I respect
the players from fifteen twenty years ago, who y'all wasn't
paying because the revenue wasn't never But it's just like
in the NBA, fifty percent, the NBA players get fifty percent.
(23:48):
They make fifty percent. Other revenue generated goes to the playoff.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
In the WNA dem again nine that shit.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
You ain't got to give him fifty percent again more
than not. Goddamn Big Alta for the liberty. Big alle
deserve a motherfucking mellion dollars by herself if you motherfucking I.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
And me Katie's goddamn people, man.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
They deserve I mean, I don't understand why it's hard
why that's a hard concept to grasp. The women are making,
as Plya said, he is correct, they're making about nine
percent of the revenue.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
What would happen if.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
They make twenty or twenty five or thirty that would
be fair.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Because here's the other thing.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
This is a critical moment for the WNBA in the
sense that now that they have the eyeballs, it's about
taking the lead to the next level.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
They have new teams that are coming.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
New investment, and what they want to do is protect
their investment, which is the players.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
You don't want the players having to play overseas.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
To some degree, you don't even want them to be
playing and unrivaled, So it would make sense if you
paid them enough money so that all of them could
sustain a living just playing in the WNBA. We saw
this happen a few years ago. I believe it was
Stewie suffered a major injury. I think it was Stewie.
If I'm wrong, please correct me. Suffered a major injury overseas.
(25:17):
Do you want that to be a reality. You probably don't,
So it makes more sense to invest in the players now.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
And for those who all of a sudden became profit hawks.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
And are like, well, they're not making they're not profiting,
so they shouldn't They shouldn't have to They shouldn't be
demanding anything. Do you realize that in whatever company you
work for, whether the company profits or not, they still have.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
To pay you.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
The other thing is, do you think in the NBA
that they waited until the NBA was profitable before they
started playing paying the players. The NBA wasn't profitable for
about forty years if we believe their books, they were
not profitable for forty years. And those forty years, did
the player salaries increase the.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Discreete or decrease?
Speaker 2 (26:07):
It increased, And just to give you idea of this
disparity in the early seventies where you could argue the
nineteen seventies were a really rough time for the NBA.
A lot of people thought the NBA was going to flow.
It was perceived as a league being two black, They
(26:28):
had rampant drug issues.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
TV ratings were terrible, you know.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
The seventies into basically that magic bird.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
They got the NBA off of life support.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
The NBA Finals was on tape delay before those two
showed up, So the league was.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
In a bad place.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Even still with the league being in you know, that
kind of volatility, experiencing that kind of volatility. Kareem Abdul
Jabbar was making three hundred seventy five thousand dollars a year.
That was in the early seventies, so imagine what the
equivalent of that is now. Bill Bradley and Walt Fraser
(27:10):
were each making over three hundred thousand dollars a year.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
In today.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
In the year of our Lord Beyonce the highest paid
player I believe in the WNBA might be Jackie Young.
Jackie Young is making less than what Kareeb Abdul Jabari
is making in the seventies. Does that sound right to you? Okay,
that's what they're fighting for. And by the way, if
(27:39):
you follow the financial trajectory of the NBA and the WBA,
the WVa.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Is actually ahead of where the NBA was. So how
is a player the highest.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Paid player today in the WBA making less than what
somebody made fifty years ago. It doesn't make sense, which
leads me to what this is really all about. A
lot of times, especially when it comes to women fighting
(28:15):
for pay, fighting for equity, people don't deny them pay
because they haven't earned it. They deny them pay and
equity simply because they can, because they can rely on
people out there telling women what they don't deserve. And
(28:37):
there's no better example of this in recent times than
what happened in the NCAA Women's Tournament a few years ago.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
This was twenty twenty.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
This was the year of COVID, when both the tournaments,
the men and women's tournaments, were being paid in a
bubble and Sedona Prince went to TikTok made note of
what their facilities, their exercise facilities looked like, where they
basically gave them a couple of yoga masks, some cheap
ass dumbbails that they might have got from Dollar General
(29:09):
and they called it a day. Meanwhile, the men's tournament,
those players they had a state of the art gyp
that they could work out in. The women were on
a four or five hundred million dollar television deal. So
you mean to tell me they couldn't afford some extra dumbbails.
(29:31):
So why did they do it? They did it because
they could. They did it because people are constantly in
this mentality that the women just need to be happy
and shut up and be grateful. There's that word again,
grateful that they even allowed to play sports at all.
So as long as you in this mentality that people
need to be grateful and they need to be subservient
(29:52):
to the people in charge, that's why those t shirts
are getting the reaction that they are because people caught
up on one word old.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
How dare these women use the word?
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Oh, that's what this is all about. So all these
people who are like uplift women's sports and protect women's sports.
Y'all quiet, huh, sorry, it's not a trans athlete in this,
so y'all can hate because I know that's the only
thing y'all really care about. Y'all don't actually care about
investment in women's sports and the things that undermine women's sports.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
You know what all underminds women's sports is when.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
People take off on players, women's players who dare to
speak out.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
And by the way, you know.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Y'all messing with the wrong group of players, right, And
by the wrong group, I.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Mean you got the right ones. And if you recall,
the last.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Time this league decided to wear some T shirts was
when they got a senator elected, and that would be
Reverend Rafayel Warnock, who was elected to the Georgia Senate.
Because the WNBA players decided to stand against one of
the NBA or one of the WNBA owners, Kelly Leffler
at the time of the Atlanta Dream, because the players
(31:09):
were vocal about black lives matter and standing out against
police andjustice.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
She made some.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Comments on Fox saying that the players were wrong, calling
them anti American, her own players in her own league,
and the WAA players said bet clockett. So they started
to research the candidates and the Senate race. They came
across Reverend Rafael Warnot. He was polling at nine percent,
(31:36):
He had zero chance of winning the Senate seat in Georgia.
And when he decided, when they decided, they met with him,
they heard his platform, and they decided that they were
going to get behind this man. So instead of expanding
their energy on Kelly Leffler, they decided to use their
platform to promote Reverend Wafael Warnock. And when they did that,
(32:01):
he won the race. They talked about his platform, they
wore support Warnock T shirts, and they changed the course
of history by getting him elected Senator in Georgia.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
And that's even especially more monumental.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Because Reverend Warrenhut was one of those who cast a
vote for Justice Kintanji Brown Jackson to become the first
black woman.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
To be appointed to the Supreme Court.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
So don't underestimate how much these women are willing to
fight for what they believe.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
They are old, all.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
Right, I want to move on before I get you
guys out of here and talk about more positive things
about the NBA All Star Weekend. Not that it was
a negative about the T shirts. I think they had
every right to do that, as I explained the many
reasons why, but by far, I think it's fair to say,
(33:05):
especially if you're on social media and following all the
activity happening in Indianapolis.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
Can y'all, for the love of God, kill.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
This narrative that Caitlyn Clark is unliked in the WNBA
because I don't know what y'all saw, but what I
saw is Kaitlyn Clark.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Having a blast with WNBA players black white. She was
having a ball.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Now, because the music rights, I ain't gonna play you
what she's singing, but I believe it's waka flaka.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
Kayln Clark was a hell of a.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Ambassador for the NBA WNBA All Star Weekend and even
though she wasn't able to participate, her presence was felt.
Kaitlyn was going up all the time, and you know
Indianapolis as a city, I had friends that were there.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
They put on a show.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
Now, I know the FISA Collier was the official MVP
of the WNBA All Star Game, but the real MVP
was stud Buds. They were the real MVP of WNBA
All Star Weekend.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
And in case you aren't familiar with Stub Buds.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
These are the Minnesota Leak's teammates, Courtney Williams natsiha Heidemann.
They are two of the most charismatic, funniest, hilarious personalities
in the WNBA.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
They did a seventy two.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
Hour live stream and they was wild the whole time.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
This is they was getting in.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
They was having crazy conversations. I mean, the phrase get
the strap was used quite a bit. They are they
had themselves a ball and it was infectious and they,
to me, dave the best advertisement for what this weekend
was about because they showed that authenticity.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
They showed you know, that camaraderie, that fun. Look.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
I've been to a few NBA All Star weekends and
I can tell you look that you don't see this
kind of authenticity often.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
I mean, you just don't. You know, that's not.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
A lot of NBA players. They're kind of too cool
for certain stuff. But those young ladies, they showed people
how to have a good time and.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Shout out to the stub buds.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
I hope you take advantage of the momentum and the
publicity that you were able to generate from this particular weekend.
I can only imagine the numbers that your Twitch stream did,
but you brought all the fun, the life, the thing
that makes the UNBA All Star Weekend special. You made
(36:04):
that very apparent for the people and those of us
who weren't there. I felt like I was there wh
y'all were at the club singing Keisha Cold with Paige Beckers.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
I felt like I was with y'all. So I want
to thank you.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
For bringing that sense of enjoyment to everybody who was
watching from home. So it is, and I listen if
i'm you know, I know they got the deal on
switch on Twitch.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
Excuse me.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
I'm not sure what their what their deal looks like,
but I think those two ladies earn themselves some money
this weekend, and there's no.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
Question about it.
Speaker 2 (36:40):
They deserve all the sponsorship, and really, you know, it's
too bad their planing. But like for really any event,
people need to think about an alternative broadcast with them.
I'm just throwing that out there. Don't want any credit,
don't want a piece of the path, but throwing it
out there and maybe some of y'all who have these
other events to think about hiring the stub buds to
(37:02):
bring some life to your event. For sure, well listen.
I want to thank all of you for joining me
for this quick mini episode of Politics that also simulcast
on YouTube live. So for some reason you you know
you want to see the video version of this.
Speaker 1 (37:21):
Make sure that you go to my YouTube page.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
It's Jamel Hill and you can check out that and
others politics content that I have available. Also, feel free
to reach out across social media. I'm Jamail Hill on
x Twitter, whatever you want to call it, Blue Sky
threads fan base, I'm on all of them.
Speaker 1 (37:42):
I'm not on.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
Twitch though, but stub Buzzs got me thinking I need
to be on twitch on Twitch, so make sure that
you check me out in any of these locations, drop
your comment, use the hashtags politics and you know, remember
what the matra is for politics, sports and politics.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Not only mix they matter.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
Y'all Take care and I see you on the next
episode of Politics, which drops every Thursday, available on iHeart,
Apple Podcasts.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
Or wherever you get your podcasts. Make sure that.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
You subscribe to Politics on iHeart and also subscribe to
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Speaker 1 (38:20):
While you're live.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
While we're live right now, just hit that subscribe button
while you're already here, so you make sure you don't
miss a lot of this amazing content. I'll check y'all
out soon. Thanks for hanging out with me. Be easy,
Hey, what's up, good people.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
This is Jamel Hill, host of Politics, and welcome to
a very special edition of Politics. I do these minipiles
ever so often just to give you, guys, sort of
my immediate reaction, my immediate thoughts to.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Some of the hottest topics across sports.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Now, for those of you who I'm sure paid attention,
this past weekend was the WNBA All Star Weekend, and
the WNBA All Star Weekend ten out of ten. No notes, well,
actually a couple notes, so maybe I couldn't give it
a full ten out of ten, but there were a
couple notes that were necessarily more or less related to
the game itself.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
But generally I thought it was an incredible.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Sort of an incredible showcase for the WNBA. It was Indianapolis,
and I know there was a lot of people who
wondered how would this all start weekend and go off,
particularly since Caitlin Clark was unable to participate due to
an injury, and people wonder where they still be able
to get the same viewership. As of this recording, I
don't know what that viewership is, but if we're just
(01:12):
going off vibes and energy, it looked like Indianapolis.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Was a hell of a time.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Scott Diggins had an incredible performance the Vista Collier.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
She wound up winning w NBA All Star MVP.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Now, as much as there was so much to talk about,
from what the ladies' fits were, from various social interactions,
which I'll get into later, the talk of the weekend
by far was the w NBA players wearing these shirts.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
These shirts that say pay us what you owe us.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
They wore these in their warm ups, hitting your warm
Ups before the WNBA All Star Game actually took place,
and this has caused quite a polarizing reaction across social media,
as you might as you might gather now to give
people a little bit of backstory, the WNBA Players Association
(02:07):
or the players, they decided to opt out of their
collective bargaining agreement which they agreed to in twenty twenty.
They decided to opt out. It made all the sense
of the world.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Of why they did. You should probably go back.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
I would encourage you all, if you can, to go
back and listen to a podcast that I did earlier
in this season of spot Attacks of Politics with the
executive director of the WNBA Players Association. That would be
Terry Jackson, who broke all this down and pretty much
foreshadowed a lot of this, not necessarily the T shirts,
but just in terms of what the players would be
(02:41):
asking for. So make sure that you go back and
check out check out that episode. So anyway, they decided
to wear these T shirts, and it created a humorous
reaction across social media. In fact, as of I'm recording
right now, it still is creating a reaction because when
I last checked X, the WNBA was the number one
(03:03):
trending topics and it was all about them deciding to.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Wear these T shirts. There's a few things that were
immediately noticeable about the reaction. So much of the reaction.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
I realize that social media is not a perfect age,
especially when we're talking about X, which seems to farm
and really heighten and promote the negativity.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
But what was immediately.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Obvious about this is that a lot of people were
giving that shut up and drible type of energy.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
And I may note this and my first comment on
social media when.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
I say, h huh, it's interesting how that protect women's
sports energy isn't there when you have women demanding more
equity in a league of which they are the source
of why that league exists are they are the reason
that the WNBA exists, and it's been able to thrive
and it's been able to dive for so many years.
(03:57):
So suddenly that whole protect women's sports thing, they ain't
got nothing to say about this, So I guess because
that I guess because trans athletes are not a part
of this, then they don't feel like these women who
are demanding something that a lot of women face, which
is pay equity, fair pay in the workplace.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
This is an issue related to all women.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
And yet again that protect women's sports crowd is not there.
So essentially the women understanding where the league is in
this moment. One of the reasons they opted out of
collective bargaining is so that they could go back to
the negotiation table at a time where the league is
undergoing a huge transformation. We've seen what the arrival of
(04:43):
Caitlin Clark has done to the league in terms of attendance,
in terms of interest. I mean, there is no one
else like her in sports at this moment.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
It reminds you of almost a Tiger Woods.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Like effect on the league in terms of the ability
to attract an audience.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
And so we know that that is happening. And even though.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
There are other factors you can point to where the
WNBA before Kaitlyn got there, they were clearly trending up.
A lot of people were bothered by this T shirt.
One of the words that people kept circling was the
word oh. But let me tell you why the word
oh is appropriate. I want you guys to understand where
(05:26):
the WNBA is right now, because a lot of people
were pointing to the fact that there was a report
I think it was in the New York Post and
the New York Times where they said in twenty twenty
four that even with the arrival of Kate L Clark
in twenty twenty four, the league was still set to
lose forty to fifty million dollars. We gonna get to
that number in a second. But here's what the players
recognize right now in this moment. The WNBA, because this
(05:50):
is what's not being talked.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
About enough on social media.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
The WNBA just signed a two point two billion dollars
meteor ites deal.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
That deal kicks into effect next year.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
They will the league will be able to the league
will be paid two hundred million dollars a year based
off what this last media negotiation was two point two
billion dollars. There are currently multiple teams that will get
WNBA teams Detroit, Cleveland, Philly. By twenty thirty, the WNBA
(06:24):
will have eighteen teams. They currently have thirteen teams. All right,
so let me just ask y'all this. A lot of
y'all have joined me again, this is a special episode
as politics. I'm also doing this live on YouTube at
the same time, simultane simultaneously, So let me ask you
all this. Okay, If the WNBA is not growing, if
(06:49):
it's not profitable, if it doesn't have the potential for profit,
why are so many investors lining up to buy teams?
Can anybody answer me that question? If the WNBA product
is as bad as the people say, who are throwing
this forty fifty million dollar profit or a forty fifty
(07:10):
million dollar loss figure out there constantly saying this is
why they don't deserve anything. If it is so bad,
If there is nothing to be gained financially from this league,
if it is the charity you guys keep saying that
it is, why are billionaires lining up to join this league?
Speaker 1 (07:30):
For example, the the Valkyries, right the Valkyries are the
newest franchise in the WNBA. There are an incredible story
the Golden State Valkyries. They're one of the best stories
across all the sports. This team looks like they're going
to make the playoffs as an expansion team.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
The Valkyries are already valued at five hundred million dollars.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Five hundred million.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
It's the highest valuation of any women's sports team in history.
The Valkyries currently right the New York Liberty their valuation is.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Four hundred and thirty million dollars.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Right now, the Indiana Fever their valuation is two hundred
and thirty two million dollars. There were investors lined up
to get WNBA teams, and in fact, there is a
rumor that the Connecticut Sale are the Connecticut Sun.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
They're up for sale, excuse me.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
And because of that, there are a number of investors
who want the team.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
They want the team, but they want to move the team.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
So there's a lot of conjecture there about what really
might happen.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
So I'm the smartest person in the world.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
But if this is a bad investment, like y'all say
it is, why do they keep attracting billionaires? And investors.
Let me tell you something. I know this is gonna
come as a shock to you. The reason why I
find that forty to fifty million dollar loss statement so interesting,
(09:10):
I need you all to put on your critical thinking caps.
In fact, I'm gonna use the NBA as an example
of why we need to have on our skepticism in
this moment. Let me remind you of what has happened
every single NBA lockout? All right, the NBA has been
(09:31):
I believe they've locked out four times in NBA history,
four times, all right? Every single time is a lockout.
What do the owners claim? The owners claim they are
losing money. I am old enough to remember in nineteen
ninety nine when there was a lockout and then we
had that fifty game season, the NBA owners claimed they
(09:51):
lost over a billion dollars. They were selling the narrative
that the NBA is a bad business. Didn't we just
see the Lakers just sell a piece of the Bus family.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Just sell a piece of the Lakers for ten billion dollars.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
So if the NBA was losing as much money as
the owner said in nineteen ninety nine, how did the
Lakers just get sold for ten billion how did the
Substics go for six billion before the Lakers did? So,
I'm just trying to figure out the math, y'all let
me know. Okay, let me give you another example of
how the NBA or I should say how owners in
(10:32):
professional sports often used the media to.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Create the narrative that the players are being ungrateful.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Let us go back to twenty eleven when there was
another NBA lockout that was that wound up being a
sixty six game season.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Adam Silver, who was the deputy commissioner of the NBA, then.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
He said that the league was operating at a three
hundred million dollar loss and twenty two teams lost money.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Twenty two teams, so class.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
What have we learned from this is that when it
comes to negotiations, when there's a collective bargaining, that a
negotiation that's on.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
The table, the owners will lie.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
About the financials to get you to believe that they
are losing money and that this is a bad business
deal for them. And yet if a team opens up tomorrow,
they are literally tearing their acls to buy one. But
it's supposed to be bad business, Okay, it is not
bad business to own a sports team let me tell
(11:39):
you why it's not bad business. You all know Steve Baumer,
owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. Pro Publica did this
report in twenty twenty or twenty twenty one, excuse me.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
In twenty twenty one, pro.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Publica took a look at why sports teams are such
an attractive business for billionaires.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
And for people with that kind of money.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
In twenty twenty one, guests who paid more taxes Lebron
James or Steve Barmber. Now, keep in mind, Steve Bamber
is worth one hundred and thirty billion dollars. Lebron James.
I don't know if he was worth a billion dollars then,
but I know what Steve Barmber was worth.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Okay, the answer is Steve Bomber.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Steve Bomber in twenty twenty one was able to show
that the Clippers lost seven hundred million dollars.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Steve Balmer strikes me as a pretty smart dude.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Do you actually think and I ain't trying to call
affais on nobody, I ain't trying to call an IRS,
do you actually think that Steve Bamber, who has been
able to amass a networth of one hundred and thirty
four billion dollars that he would just be a okay
with losing seven hundred million dollars.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Wonder what those books look like, because here's the thing about.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
The narratives that the owners spend.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
You can make the books look however you want.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Nobody has seen the WNBA finances. We don't know what's
actually in them, but we do see the deals that
are being cut. We do see the revenue that's being generated.
And the players see that too.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
And the players aren't stupid, all right.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
So the reason they are asking and saying you owe
us is because they know that these owners cannot be trusted.
They also realize the moment that they're in now where
they are getting increased attendance, increased visibility, They are becoming
(13:56):
increasingly increasingly high meati your presence. They understand the economics
of this thing. And what is sad to me is
to see so many of you all that are so
many of y'all glaze these billionaires, constantly glaze them.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Why are you signing with the billionaires? They got enough money?
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Why, let's say, the profet lost statement was exactly what
they said, So what.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
They're billionaires?
Speaker 2 (14:37):
And it seemed to me that you all took such
exception about the word oh, because what you were really
saying is these women don't deserve anything.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Oh. They need to just be happy they hear.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Look, just because on your job you got to put
up the Baptist finger when you walk around your boss.
Don't put that. Don't project that on these women. I mean,
I don't understand this. Whenever it is player versus owner,
players versus league, you know who y'all should be signing
with the.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Players, Okay, not the league.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
And so it is unbelievable to me to see how
easily this narrative against these women has shifted, because at
the end of the day, you just don't think they
deserve it.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
And I'd rather you just say that to sit up there.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
And act like you suddenly an accountant and that you
care about profit and law statements.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Because you don't.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
All right now, just so you all understand the full
finances of this, the NBA players, for example, they get
fifty percent of it's a fifty to fifty foot of
the league revenue.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
And by the way, in twenty eleven, the reason why the.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Owners kept showing how much money that they were losing
and trying what they were trying to.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Do is get the players to take less revenue.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
At that point it was fifty seven percent, but all
of a sudden because it was fifty seven percent.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
And again, these are businessmen who are a stoop.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
They get into this to make money, all right, They
get into this to make money. And so to them,
they weren't going to be invested in the league where
the players made more money than they did the very
idea of this, because realize, these are guys who have egos,
these are billionaires that they did not want any scenario
where the players were making were getting a larger cut
(16:29):
than they were, so.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
They were able to.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Make the books look how they needed them to look
in order to prove to the public that these players
are being ungrateful, that these players.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
That they are not deserving of this.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
And these narratives should all sound really familiar to you
because in America right now currently we have more smoke.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
For workers than we do for corporations.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
We're having this conversation right now about immigration and undocumented
workers and all of that. Notice how the undocumented workers
are the target, but not the businesses that hire them
and exploit them. Again, there's a theme here, and that
is because in our country, unfortunately, wealth is very aspirational,
(17:25):
and even though the people that are most driving the
inequality have the most money, is so much easier for
us to blame the people lower than us, the people
right at the same level level is us.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
So for the people who are.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Casual fans of the WNBA, they see these women wearing
these t shirts that say pay us what you owe us,
and then they suddenly get triggered by this as if again,
this is not something that all of you should be
able to relate to as people who work for somebody else, as.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Most people do. I know they are entrepreneurs, but most
people work for somebody else.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
You should be rooting for the people to make more
money instead of being a hater, because that's what it.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Sounds like for a lot of y'all, like y'all just
being haters.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
As I said, NBA players make about a fifty percent,
They make a fifty fifty percent split.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Excuse me.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
In WNBA players make less than ten percent of the revenue,
sharing less than ten percent. Now, I want you to understand,
WNBA players have never said that they want to make
as much money as NBA players. Often when they point
out the salaries of NBA players. They point this out
(18:38):
so that you can see how wide the disparity is.
They're not saying we should be worth as much as
Lebron should Lebron James. What they're saying is that the
distance between what I make and Lebron James should not
be nine trillion percent. It should be you know, we
should be able to make a living doing just this
(18:58):
in the WNBA. The whole reason Britney Grinder got caught
up in Russia is because she needed to go to
Russia to supplement their supplement her income.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Russia was paying her seven figures. So Russia.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
You all are aware that Russia has one of the
most terrible track records when it comes to human rights.
How is it that Russia can pay American women more
than we can? Help me figure that out. Russia was
playing Diana Tarassi and Brittany Grinder and a lot of
other women seven figure salaries, but we can't. Does that
(19:32):
make sense? So it kind of doesn't to be. It
doesn't make sense to me that the country who has
who when it comes to human rights and gender equity
and LGBTQ issues.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Far behind us, far less.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Progressive than us, but they can pay women's basketball players more.
That should make a lot of that shouldn't make sense
to any of you all. So what I'm saying is
that as we're having this conversation, don't fall for the
narratives because even based off what the media has reported,
none of them have seen the financials.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
And you see that throughout history. That's why I pointed
out the NBA.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Is that every time it's a lockout, there's always a
league source that tells a major news outlet that they're
losing money. Happens every single time, like clockwork. So why
are we falling for this again? A league source told
the New York Times and the New York Posts that
the WNBA is losing forty fifty million dollars. As a reporter,
(20:35):
you know what your first question should be, what a
book's at show me? Because when the WNBA was making
about one hundred million dollars generating about one hundred million
dollars in revenue, the NBA claimed that they were losing
ten million dollars a year. Last year, the WNBA generated
over two hundred million dollars in revenue. But now they're
(20:58):
losing forty to fifty million dollars a year. Does that
math math to you? You losing You're making more money
and losing more money at the same time.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
And then there came this other.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Report that the NBA owners were upset that the WNBA
wasn't turning a profit.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
So we have three narratives.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
That coincidentally got pushed out there before the w NBA
players announced that they were opting out of the collective
bargaining agreement.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Listen, all I've done is watch A Long Order a
few times.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
I ain't Olivia Benson, and I can't stable, but I
can connect them dots, can you all?
Speaker 1 (21:44):
And you know who else can connect these dots is
my man.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Applies pay these women and the w NBA peyty motherfucking women.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Man.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
I don't want to hear none of that shit.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
But the w NBA hadn't made any money.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
It loses money every year. The only reason is still
even a float is because of the NBA, the subsidience.
I don't want to have a motherfucking fish run. Have
a motherfucking fish running.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
That's what they should do.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
At my motherfucking grandma church.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Have a motherfucking fish run. I don't want to hear
none of that.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
How do you goddamn people, man, And how y'all feel
like women shouldn't even make no goddamn money unless they're
a motherfucking g spring. That's how the majority of y'all
shood the don't know why a woman should make some
goddamn money in this country is that if they got
a motherfucking g sprint. These are high qualified women, fatherfucking
(22:43):
knucker out there in Seattle. That's a motherfucking snap for degree.
That woman damn now Ironstinle who know how to play
goddamn basketball. Her teammates Kyle of Thigging, that's a notre
dame motherfucking degree, whether.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
You like it or not.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Katie's goddamn people, But I don't want to hear. Listen,
if Pope Ice was telling me right now, they ain't
making no money, and I'm looking over here to the right,
and it's three more motherfucking popeyes, just like it is
in the WNBA and motherfucking Cleveland and Philly in Detroit.
Ain't nobody signing up to lose no goddamn money. I
(23:24):
don't care how much money you got them to stand
your smallfuckers is the ones with the money. So I
don't care about fifteen twenty years ago, which I respect
the players from fifteen twenty years ago, who y'all wasn't
paying because the revenue wasn't never But it's just like
in the NBA, fifty percent, the NBA players get fifty percent.
(23:48):
They make fifty percent. Other revenue generated goes to the playoff.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
In the WNA dem again nine that shit.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
You ain't got to give him fifty percent again more
than not. Goddamn Big Alta for the liberty. Big alle
deserve a motherfucking mellion dollars by herself if you motherfucking I.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
And me Katie's goddamn people, man.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
They deserve I mean, I don't understand why it's hard
why that's a hard concept to grasp. The women are making,
as Plya said, he is correct, they're making about nine
percent of the revenue.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
What would happen if.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
They make twenty or twenty five or thirty that would
be fair.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Because here's the other thing.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
This is a critical moment for the WNBA in the
sense that now that they have the eyeballs, it's about
taking the lead to the next level.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
They have new teams that are coming.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
New investment, and what they want to do is protect
their investment, which is the players.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
You don't want the players having to play overseas.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
To some degree, you don't even want them to be
playing and unrivaled, So it would make sense if you
paid them enough money so that all of them could
sustain a living just playing in the WNBA. We saw
this happen a few years ago. I believe it was
Stewie suffered a major injury. I think it was Stewie.
If I'm wrong, please correct me. Suffered a major injury overseas.
(25:17):
Do you want that to be a reality. You probably don't,
So it makes more sense to invest in the players now.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
And for those who all of a sudden became profit hawks.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
And are like, well, they're not making they're not profiting,
so they shouldn't They shouldn't have to They shouldn't be
demanding anything. Do you realize that in whatever company you
work for, whether the company profits or not, they still have.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
To pay you.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
The other thing is, do you think in the NBA
that they waited until the NBA was profitable before they
started playing paying the players. The NBA wasn't profitable for
about forty years if we believe their books, they were
not profitable for forty years. And those forty years, did
the player salaries increase the.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Discreete or decrease?
Speaker 2 (26:07):
It increased, And just to give you idea of this
disparity in the early seventies where you could argue the
nineteen seventies were a really rough time for the NBA.
A lot of people thought the NBA was going to flow.
It was perceived as a league being two black, They
(26:28):
had rampant drug issues.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
TV ratings were terrible, you know.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
The seventies into basically that magic bird.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
They got the NBA off of life support.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
The NBA Finals was on tape delay before those two
showed up, So the league was.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
In a bad place.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Even still with the league being in you know, that
kind of volatility, experiencing that kind of volatility. Kareem Abdul
Jabbar was making three hundred seventy five thousand dollars a year.
That was in the early seventies, so imagine what the
equivalent of that is now. Bill Bradley and Walt Fraser
(27:10):
were each making over three hundred thousand dollars a year.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
In today.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
In the year of our Lord Beyonce the highest paid
player I believe in the WNBA might be Jackie Young.
Jackie Young is making less than what Kareeb Abdul Jabari
is making in the seventies. Does that sound right to you? Okay,
that's what they're fighting for. And by the way, if
(27:39):
you follow the financial trajectory of the NBA and the WBA,
the WVa.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Is actually ahead of where the NBA was. So how
is a player the highest.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Paid player today in the WBA making less than what
somebody made fifty years ago. It doesn't make sense, which
leads me to what this is really all about. A
lot of times, especially when it comes to women fighting
(28:15):
for pay, fighting for equity, people don't deny them pay
because they haven't earned it. They deny them pay and
equity simply because they can, because they can rely on
people out there telling women what they don't deserve. And
(28:37):
there's no better example of this in recent times than
what happened in the NCAA Women's Tournament a few years ago.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
This was twenty twenty.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
This was the year of COVID, when both the tournaments,
the men and women's tournaments, were being paid in a
bubble and Sedona Prince went to TikTok made note of
what their facilities, their exercise facilities looked like, where they
basically gave them a couple of yoga masks, some cheap
ass dumbbails that they might have got from Dollar General
(29:09):
and they called it a day. Meanwhile, the men's tournament,
those players they had a state of the art gyp
that they could work out in. The women were on
a four or five hundred million dollar television deal. So
you mean to tell me they couldn't afford some extra dumbbails.
(29:31):
So why did they do it? They did it because
they could. They did it because people are constantly in
this mentality that the women just need to be happy
and shut up and be grateful. There's that word again,
grateful that they even allowed to play sports at all.
So as long as you in this mentality that people
need to be grateful and they need to be subservient
(29:52):
to the people in charge, that's why those t shirts
are getting the reaction that they are because people caught
up on one word old.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
How dare these women use the word?
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Oh, that's what this is all about. So all these
people who are like uplift women's sports and protect women's sports.
Y'all quiet, huh, sorry, it's not a trans athlete in this,
so y'all can hate because I know that's the only
thing y'all really care about. Y'all don't actually care about
investment in women's sports and the things that undermine women's sports.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
You know what all underminds women's sports is when.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
People take off on players, women's players who dare to
speak out.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
And by the way, you know.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Y'all messing with the wrong group of players, right, And
by the wrong group, I.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Mean you got the right ones. And if you recall,
the last.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Time this league decided to wear some T shirts was
when they got a senator elected, and that would be
Reverend Rafayel Warnock, who was elected to the Georgia Senate.
Because the WNBA players decided to stand against one of
the NBA or one of the WNBA owners, Kelly Leffler
at the time of the Atlanta Dream, because the players
(31:09):
were vocal about black lives matter and standing out against
police andjustice.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
She made some.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Comments on Fox saying that the players were wrong, calling
them anti American, her own players in her own league,
and the WAA players said bet clockett. So they started
to research the candidates and the Senate race. They came
across Reverend Rafael Warnot. He was polling at nine percent,
(31:36):
He had zero chance of winning the Senate seat in Georgia.
And when he decided, when they decided, they met with him,
they heard his platform, and they decided that they were
going to get behind this man. So instead of expanding
their energy on Kelly Leffler, they decided to use their
platform to promote Reverend Wafael Warnock. And when they did that,
(32:01):
he won the race. They talked about his platform, they
wore support Warnock T shirts, and they changed the course
of history by getting him elected Senator in Georgia.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
And that's even especially more monumental.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Because Reverend Warrenhut was one of those who cast a
vote for Justice Kintanji Brown Jackson to become the first
black woman.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
To be appointed to the Supreme Court.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
So don't underestimate how much these women are willing to
fight for what they believe.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
They are old, all.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
Right, I want to move on before I get you
guys out of here and talk about more positive things
about the NBA All Star Weekend. Not that it was
a negative about the T shirts. I think they had
every right to do that, as I explained the many
reasons why, but by far, I think it's fair to say,
(33:05):
especially if you're on social media and following all the
activity happening in Indianapolis.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
Can y'all, for the love of God, kill.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
This narrative that Caitlyn Clark is unliked in the WNBA
because I don't know what y'all saw, but what I
saw is Kaitlyn Clark.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Having a blast with WNBA players black white. She was
having a ball.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Now, because the music rights, I ain't gonna play you
what she's singing, but I believe it's waka flaka.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
Kayln Clark was a hell of a.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Ambassador for the NBA WNBA All Star Weekend and even
though she wasn't able to participate, her presence was felt.
Kaitlyn was going up all the time, and you know
Indianapolis as a city, I had friends that were there.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
They put on a show.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
Now, I know the FISA Collier was the official MVP
of the WNBA All Star Game, but the real MVP
was stud Buds. They were the real MVP of WNBA
All Star Weekend.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
And in case you aren't familiar with Stub Buds.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
These are the Minnesota Leak's teammates, Courtney Williams natsiha Heidemann.
They are two of the most charismatic, funniest, hilarious personalities
in the WNBA.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
They did a seventy two.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
Hour live stream and they was wild the whole time.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
This is they was getting in.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
They was having crazy conversations. I mean, the phrase get
the strap was used quite a bit. They are they
had themselves a ball and it was infectious and they,
to me, dave the best advertisement for what this weekend
was about because they showed that authenticity.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
They showed you know, that camaraderie, that fun. Look.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
I've been to a few NBA All Star weekends and
I can tell you look that you don't see this
kind of authenticity often.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
I mean, you just don't. You know, that's not.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
A lot of NBA players. They're kind of too cool
for certain stuff. But those young ladies, they showed people
how to have a good time and.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Shout out to the stub buds.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
I hope you take advantage of the momentum and the
publicity that you were able to generate from this particular weekend.
I can only imagine the numbers that your Twitch stream did,
but you brought all the fun, the life, the thing
that makes the UNBA All Star Weekend special. You made
(36:04):
that very apparent for the people and those of us
who weren't there. I felt like I was there wh
y'all were at the club singing Keisha Cold with Paige Beckers.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
I felt like I was with y'all. So I want
to thank you.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
For bringing that sense of enjoyment to everybody who was
watching from home. So it is, and I listen if
i'm you know, I know they got the deal on
switch on Twitch.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
Excuse me.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
I'm not sure what their what their deal looks like,
but I think those two ladies earn themselves some money
this weekend, and there's no.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
Question about it.
Speaker 2 (36:40):
They deserve all the sponsorship, and really, you know, it's
too bad their planing. But like for really any event,
people need to think about an alternative broadcast with them.
I'm just throwing that out there. Don't want any credit,
don't want a piece of the path, but throwing it
out there and maybe some of y'all who have these
other events to think about hiring the stub buds to
(37:02):
bring some life to your event. For sure, well listen.
I want to thank all of you for joining me
for this quick mini episode of Politics that also simulcast
on YouTube live. So for some reason you you know
you want to see the video version of this.
Speaker 1 (37:21):
Make sure that you go to my YouTube page.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
It's Jamel Hill and you can check out that and
others politics content that I have available. Also, feel free
to reach out across social media. I'm Jamail Hill on
x Twitter, whatever you want to call it, Blue Sky
threads fan base, I'm on all of them.
Speaker 1 (37:42):
I'm not on.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
Twitch though, but stub Buzzs got me thinking I need
to be on twitch on Twitch, so make sure that
you check me out in any of these locations, drop
your comment, use the hashtags politics and you know, remember
what the matra is for politics, sports and politics.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Not only mix they matter.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
Y'all Take care and I see you on the next
episode of Politics, which drops every Thursday, available on iHeart,
Apple Podcasts.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
Or wherever you get your podcasts. Make sure that.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
You subscribe to Politics on iHeart and also subscribe to
my YouTube page.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
While you're live.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
While we're live right now, just hit that subscribe button
while you're already here, so you make sure you don't
miss a lot of this amazing content. I'll check y'all
out soon. Thanks for hanging out with me. Be easy,
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