August 20, 2025 • 13 mins
The Golden State Valkyries just cracked open a surprise — literally. Outside Chase Center, a giant violet egg hatched their brand-new mascot: Violet the Raven. Host Kaari Peterson breaks down Violet's egg-cellent debut and the Norse mythology behind “Ballhalla.”
Next up, it’s tech time: The WNBA’s partnership with Second Spectrum is bringing full-court optical tracking and mind-bending analytics to the league. From sharper coaching to smarter storytelling, Kaari dives into how data is reshaping the game.
And we can't forget — this week’s awards:
🏆 Buzzer Beater: Sue Bird gets immortalized in bronze
❌ Airball: An all-male officiating crew in a WNBA game (seriously?)
🚫 Flagrant Foul: The bizarre wave of sex-toy tossing on W courts
Hit play, and let’s talk mascots, mythology and motion capture.
—
🔗 Follow me on IG: @hergamehervoice
💌 Send a question for a future episode: hergamehervoice@gmail.com
🎧 Rate & review to help more fans find the show!
#WNBA #HerGameHerVoice #GSValkyries #WomensBasketball #Ballhalla
“Big stories, little episodes—amplifying the voices shaping the game on and off the court." - Her Game Her Voice Podcast by Kaari Peterson
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kaari (00:00):
Hey hoop heads welcome to another episode of Her Game Her
Voice.
The podcast with big storiesand little episodes all about
women's basketball.
I'm your host Kaari Peterson.
In today's episode we'll startwith the Golden State Valkyries
check-in, I'll answer a questionabout Valhalla, and talk about
(00:22):
how the W is using technology tofurther the game.
And of course, I'll wrap it upwith the awards.
Let's tip it off!The Golden State Valkyries just
pulled off one of the mostmysterious and entertaining
mascot reveals we've seen.
First, a giant violet egg withgold speckles showed up outside
(00:45):
Chase Center.
The team referred to it as an"unidentified bird species."
After the egg was outside for awhile, it was tucked into a
giant nest inside Chase Center.
Fast forward to a game againstthe Connecticut Sun.
The egg cracked open, and athalftime we were introduced to,
drumroll please, Violet, or Vi,the Valkyrie's brand new mascot.
(01:10):
Vi is a lavender-featheredraven in custom Valkyrie's gear.
She's got a dress, a bow,violet sneakers, even
gold-rimmed glasses becauseapparently she's nearsighted.
But why a raven?
In Norse mythology, ravens werethe Valkyrie's clever
companions.
So, yeah, it makes sense.
Welcome to the Bay Area,Violet.
(01:33):
Your entrance was egg-cellent.
This week's listener questioncomes from Ellen in Denver,
Colorado.
She wrote...
What's the deal with the GoldenState Valkyries and Balhalla,
or is it Valhalla with a V?
Great question, Ellen.
And to answer it, we need tostep back into some Norse
(01:54):
mythology.
According to Norse legends,Valhalla, with a V, was the Hall
of the Slain, a place of honorand glory where fallen heroes
were welcomed.
Translation, basically it washeaven for warriors.
Oh, okay.
The Valkyries, also according toNorse mythology, were fierce
(02:15):
female figures, say that threetimes fast, who chose which
warriors would die in battle,and then after the battle,
escorted them to Valhalla, whichseems like the least they could
do after deciding that thesewere the soldiers that were
going to die.
So the Golden State Valkyriesare extending their Norse
mythology to Chase Center in SanFrancisco, where they play
(02:39):
their home games.
During those games, ChaseCenter transforms into
Ballhalla, with a B, likebasketball.
It's a playful twist mixingbasketball with Norse mythology.
It gives the team's home courtits own identity.
So just remember, Valhalla isfor warriors, and Ballhalla is
for hoopers.
Same vibe, just with moresneakers and fewer swords.
(03:02):
Thanks for your question, Ellen.
Do you have a question for me?
please write to me athergamehervoice at gmail.com.
All right, hoop heads, it istime to nerd out with some of
the technological history of theWNBA.
Stay with me now.
This is pretty fascinatingstuff.
(03:24):
One of the coolest things I'velearned about the W this year
came straight from my basketballclass with the legendary coach
Tara Vanderveer.
We had a special guest join usfor a class.
Her name, Bethany Donovan.
If you don't know Bethany, letme share a few details.
She played for Stanford Women'sBasketball from 1998 to 2001.
(03:44):
Then she went on to playbasketball overseas as well as
for the New York Liberty.
And these days, she's theWNBA's head of league
operations.
She is a total boss.
With Bethany's on-courtexperience and an MBA from
Wharton, she described herleadership role as a bridge or
translation layer between WNBAplayers, and WNBA executives,
(04:09):
kind of at the intersection ofbusiness and basketball.
During Bethany's visit, she gaveus a sneak peek into how the W
is using technology to level upthe game.
She talked about the league'sdeal with Second Spectrum.
It was announced back in March,2024.
The deal made the WNBA thefirst women's pro league in the
US to incorporate league-wideoptical tracking.
(04:31):
So let's talk more about theWNBA's data revolution.
Hey, I warned you that we weregoing to be nerding out today.
You've probably seen it on aWNBA broadcast.
Those half-court graphics withred and green dots showing where
a player has taken shots andwhether they hit or missed.
Well, that's not just TV magic.
(04:51):
It is powered by a datatracking system called Second
Spectrum.
And here's how Second Spectrumworks.
And I kind of simplified it alittle bit.
So...
First of all, multiple cameras.
They have 12 high resolutioncameras placed around each
arena, usually high up in thecatwalks, and they capture the
court from multiple angles.
(05:13):
These cameras record the actionat 25 frames per second.
So what happens with all of thisvideo footage?
So the video from all of thosecameras feeds into a powerful
system that uses advancedcomputer vision and machine
learning algorithms to churn outthe data.
There's even part of the processcalled pose estimation.
(05:35):
This is where it gets wild.
The system tracks 29 specificpoints on each player's body to
reconstruct their movements in3D.
We're talking elbows, knees,hands, feet, everything.
The system crunches all thatdata to extract specific player
and ball positions, speed,acceleration, you name it.
This info is then turned intoadvanced statistics, 3D
(05:58):
visualizations, and liveinsights for coaches,
broadcasters, and fans.
Some of you may be thinking,well, didn't we already have
stats in the W?
Yes, and the previous systemwas called Synergy, and it
worked more like a video reviewsystem where humans had to tag
and log plays manually.
It's still useful, but think ofSecond Spectrum as Synergy
(06:20):
after three cans of Red Bull.
Bethany told us that coaches andplayers love second spectrum
because it isn't just about moredata, it's about better data.
Second Spectrum lets teams dothings like analyze points per
chance, like how often a goodlook at a basket results in
points.
They break down defensivematchup, like who's getting open
and who's contesting, and theytrack individual movement and
(06:44):
effort to tailor conditioningplans for players.
Here's a second spectrum datareal world example.
Often when players get back onthe court after being sidelined
with an injury, you'll hearannouncers like Rebecca Lobo say
something like, so-and-so isback but playing, quote,
"limited minutes." SecondSpectrum data helps coaching
(07:04):
staffs calculate how manyminutes a returning player can
safely play in a game withoutrisking re-injury.
Second Spectrum data allowsteams to get really into the
weeds with this stuff, but it'sa good thing.
So, like, blocks and steals areflashy, but they don't tell the
whole story.
Second Spectrum lets teamsquantify things like help
(07:26):
defense and rotation speed.
So when Asia Wilson slides overto force a bad shot, that shows
up in the data.
But of course, Second Spectrumis big for offense, too.
With Synergy, the old system,you can say, Sabrina Ionescu is
hitting pull-up threes.
With Second Spectrum data, youcan add how far away the
defender was when Sabrina shotthe ball, how quickly Sabrina
(07:48):
came off the screen, and whoelse was involved in the play.
Second Spectrum data gives us abetter experience as fans, too.
As Bethany Donovan put it, itisn't just about wins and losses
now, it's about storytelling.
We no longer have to settle forvague takes from announcers
like, she's a gritty defender.
Now we have the data to proveit.
The bottom line?
(08:10):
Second Spectrum is anextraordinary tool for WNBA
teams.
They can use it for everythingfrom advanced scouting to injury
prevention strategies, and it'sall powered by real data.
And now you know about the WNBAData Revolution.
Viva la revolución! I think Ineed to take a break.
(08:34):
And now it's time for the awardssection of our show.
First, the Buzzer Beater Award.
This week's buzzer beater awardgoes to retired Seattle Storm
WNBA legend Sue Bird.
The city of Seattle installedan 8-foot, 650-pound bronze
statue of the iconic guardoutside Climate Pledge Arena.
(08:57):
This made Bird the first everWNBA player immortalized by her
former team.
Bird spent her entire 21-yearcareer with the Storm and she
led the franchise to four WNBAchampionships before retiring in
2022.
The statue depicts Birdmid-layup.
(09:17):
It's a nod to her first andlast made shots for the Storm.
At the statue's unveilingceremony, Bird said, The truth
is I never set out to be firstat anything.
But if being the first meansthat I won't be the last, if
this statue means that 20 yearsfrom now there will be statues
of other WNBA greats, then I'mproud to be the first.
(09:40):
Sue Bird, congratulations onyour bronze statue and your
buzzer beater award.
And now it's time for theairball award.
This week's airball award goesto the guy in charge of
scheduling officials for theWNBA.
His name is Monty McCutchen.
(10:01):
Now let me tell you about whyMonty gets this prestigious
award.
On Sunday, August 17th, theGolden State Valkyries hosted
the Atlanta Dream at Ballhalla.
Before tip-off, the Jumbotronflashed the names and numbers of
the referees.
Yes, referees have jerseynumbers, too.
So the next time you yell at aref, be sure to note their
(10:23):
jersey number.
"Hey, ref number 38, are youwatching the same game I'm
watching?
I don't think so."Now, before the ref roster
appeared on screen...
I was watching the officialswarm up.
They were kind of wandering,stretching, chatting, nothing
very interesting.
I thought, "hmm, looks likethree men out there," but I
(10:45):
figured maybe I just can't seeclearly from where I'm sitting.
Then the screen confirmed it.
All three refs were men, andthat really stinks.
Having an all-male crewofficiating a professional
women's basketball game is notacceptable.
You would never in a millionyears see an all-female crew
(11:07):
calling an NBA game.
In fact, spotting even onefemale official in a men's game
is about as rare as a Starbucksbarista spelling my name
correctly.
Not having at least one woman onthe officiating crew for a WNBA
game is a missed opportunity.
And that's why Monty McCutchenearns this week's Airball Award.
(11:31):
And finally, the Flagrant FoulAward.
Warning, this segment includesreferences to SEX toys.
If you're listening to thispodcast in a place where young
children can hear, you mightwant to put on your earbuds or
headphones.
This week's flagrant foul awardgoes to the geniuses who threw
sex toys onto WNBA courts.
(11:53):
It happened six times during sixdifferent games.
What?
Seriously.
And I admit it, I laughed thefirst time.
It was Valkyries vs.
Atlanta, July 30th.
Because nothing saysprofessional basketball like a
flying neon green, let's call ita Jolly Green Giant.
The announcer says, "we'll seeif the camera can zoom in so we
(12:15):
can see what that is." Camerazooms in.
"Oh, yes, we know what thatis." Camera pans away quickly.
I laughed.
It was hilarious.
Then it happened again andagain.
Dangerous?
Absolutely.
Funny?
Uh-uh.
Sexual harassment in theworkplace?
Uh, yeah, you bet.
(12:38):
Some people shrugged it offlike, boys will be boys.
No.
These women were mocked whiledoing their jobs.
And if they call it out, they'rejust angry women who hate men.
The bottom line?
It was childish behavior and itwas wrong.
And that's why this week'sflagrant foul award goes to the
idiots who threw sex toys ontoWNBA courts.
(13:01):
Seriously, dudes grow up.
I'm Kari Peterson, and you'vebeen listening to Her Game Her
Voice.
Want more?
Hit follow or subscribe onApple Podcasts, Spotify, or
wherever you get your podcasts.
And if you do that, you won'tmiss an episode.
(13:22):
While you're on the show page,please drop a rating or review
or share an episode with afriend.
You can also find Her Game, HerVoice on Substack, YouTube,
Instagram, and Facebook.
Thanks for listening and happyhooping.
Hey hoop heads welcome to another episode of Her Game Her
Voice.
The podcast with big storiesand little episodes all about
women's basketball.
I'm your host Kaari Peterson.
In today's episode we'll startwith the Golden State Valkyries
check-in, I'll answer a questionabout Valhalla, and talk about
(00:22):
how the W is using technology tofurther the game.
And of course, I'll wrap it upwith the awards.
Let's tip it off!The Golden State Valkyries just
pulled off one of the mostmysterious and entertaining
mascot reveals we've seen.
First, a giant violet egg withgold speckles showed up outside
(00:45):
Chase Center.
The team referred to it as an"unidentified bird species."
After the egg was outside for awhile, it was tucked into a
giant nest inside Chase Center.
Fast forward to a game againstthe Connecticut Sun.
The egg cracked open, and athalftime we were introduced to,
drumroll please, Violet, or Vi,the Valkyrie's brand new mascot.
(01:10):
Vi is a lavender-featheredraven in custom Valkyrie's gear.
She's got a dress, a bow,violet sneakers, even
gold-rimmed glasses becauseapparently she's nearsighted.
But why a raven?
In Norse mythology, ravens werethe Valkyrie's clever
companions.
So, yeah, it makes sense.
Welcome to the Bay Area,Violet.
(01:33):
Your entrance was egg-cellent.
This week's listener questioncomes from Ellen in Denver,
Colorado.
She wrote...
What's the deal with the GoldenState Valkyries and Balhalla,
or is it Valhalla with a V?
Great question, Ellen.
And to answer it, we need tostep back into some Norse
(01:54):
mythology.
According to Norse legends,Valhalla, with a V, was the Hall
of the Slain, a place of honorand glory where fallen heroes
were welcomed.
Translation, basically it washeaven for warriors.
Oh, okay.
The Valkyries, also according toNorse mythology, were fierce
(02:15):
female figures, say that threetimes fast, who chose which
warriors would die in battle,and then after the battle,
escorted them to Valhalla, whichseems like the least they could
do after deciding that thesewere the soldiers that were
going to die.
So the Golden State Valkyriesare extending their Norse
mythology to Chase Center in SanFrancisco, where they play
(02:39):
their home games.
During those games, ChaseCenter transforms into
Ballhalla, with a B, likebasketball.
It's a playful twist mixingbasketball with Norse mythology.
It gives the team's home courtits own identity.
So just remember, Valhalla isfor warriors, and Ballhalla is
for hoopers.
Same vibe, just with moresneakers and fewer swords.
(03:02):
Thanks for your question, Ellen.
Do you have a question for me?
please write to me athergamehervoice at gmail.com.
All right, hoop heads, it istime to nerd out with some of
the technological history of theWNBA.
Stay with me now.
This is pretty fascinatingstuff.
(03:24):
One of the coolest things I'velearned about the W this year
came straight from my basketballclass with the legendary coach
Tara Vanderveer.
We had a special guest join usfor a class.
Her name, Bethany Donovan.
If you don't know Bethany, letme share a few details.
She played for Stanford Women'sBasketball from 1998 to 2001.
(03:44):
Then she went on to playbasketball overseas as well as
for the New York Liberty.
And these days, she's theWNBA's head of league
operations.
She is a total boss.
With Bethany's on-courtexperience and an MBA from
Wharton, she described herleadership role as a bridge or
translation layer between WNBAplayers, and WNBA executives,
(04:09):
kind of at the intersection ofbusiness and basketball.
During Bethany's visit, she gaveus a sneak peek into how the W
is using technology to level upthe game.
She talked about the league'sdeal with Second Spectrum.
It was announced back in March,2024.
The deal made the WNBA thefirst women's pro league in the
US to incorporate league-wideoptical tracking.
(04:31):
So let's talk more about theWNBA's data revolution.
Hey, I warned you that we weregoing to be nerding out today.
You've probably seen it on aWNBA broadcast.
Those half-court graphics withred and green dots showing where
a player has taken shots andwhether they hit or missed.
Well, that's not just TV magic.
(04:51):
It is powered by a datatracking system called Second
Spectrum.
And here's how Second Spectrumworks.
And I kind of simplified it alittle bit.
So...
First of all, multiple cameras.
They have 12 high resolutioncameras placed around each
arena, usually high up in thecatwalks, and they capture the
court from multiple angles.
(05:13):
These cameras record the actionat 25 frames per second.
So what happens with all of thisvideo footage?
So the video from all of thosecameras feeds into a powerful
system that uses advancedcomputer vision and machine
learning algorithms to churn outthe data.
There's even part of the processcalled pose estimation.
(05:35):
This is where it gets wild.
The system tracks 29 specificpoints on each player's body to
reconstruct their movements in3D.
We're talking elbows, knees,hands, feet, everything.
The system crunches all thatdata to extract specific player
and ball positions, speed,acceleration, you name it.
This info is then turned intoadvanced statistics, 3D
(05:58):
visualizations, and liveinsights for coaches,
broadcasters, and fans.
Some of you may be thinking,well, didn't we already have
stats in the W?
Yes, and the previous systemwas called Synergy, and it
worked more like a video reviewsystem where humans had to tag
and log plays manually.
It's still useful, but think ofSecond Spectrum as Synergy
(06:20):
after three cans of Red Bull.
Bethany told us that coaches andplayers love second spectrum
because it isn't just about moredata, it's about better data.
Second Spectrum lets teams dothings like analyze points per
chance, like how often a goodlook at a basket results in
points.
They break down defensivematchup, like who's getting open
and who's contesting, and theytrack individual movement and
(06:44):
effort to tailor conditioningplans for players.
Here's a second spectrum datareal world example.
Often when players get back onthe court after being sidelined
with an injury, you'll hearannouncers like Rebecca Lobo say
something like, so-and-so isback but playing, quote,
"limited minutes." SecondSpectrum data helps coaching
(07:04):
staffs calculate how manyminutes a returning player can
safely play in a game withoutrisking re-injury.
Second Spectrum data allowsteams to get really into the
weeds with this stuff, but it'sa good thing.
So, like, blocks and steals areflashy, but they don't tell the
whole story.
Second Spectrum lets teamsquantify things like help
(07:26):
defense and rotation speed.
So when Asia Wilson slides overto force a bad shot, that shows
up in the data.
But of course, Second Spectrumis big for offense, too.
With Synergy, the old system,you can say, Sabrina Ionescu is
hitting pull-up threes.
With Second Spectrum data, youcan add how far away the
defender was when Sabrina shotthe ball, how quickly Sabrina
(07:48):
came off the screen, and whoelse was involved in the play.
Second Spectrum data gives us abetter experience as fans, too.
As Bethany Donovan put it, itisn't just about wins and losses
now, it's about storytelling.
We no longer have to settle forvague takes from announcers
like, she's a gritty defender.
Now we have the data to proveit.
The bottom line?
(08:10):
Second Spectrum is anextraordinary tool for WNBA
teams.
They can use it for everythingfrom advanced scouting to injury
prevention strategies, and it'sall powered by real data.
And now you know about the WNBAData Revolution.
Viva la revolución! I think Ineed to take a break.
(08:34):
And now it's time for the awardssection of our show.
First, the Buzzer Beater Award.
This week's buzzer beater awardgoes to retired Seattle Storm
WNBA legend Sue Bird.
The city of Seattle installedan 8-foot, 650-pound bronze
statue of the iconic guardoutside Climate Pledge Arena.
(08:57):
This made Bird the first everWNBA player immortalized by her
former team.
Bird spent her entire 21-yearcareer with the Storm and she
led the franchise to four WNBAchampionships before retiring in
2022.
The statue depicts Birdmid-layup.
(09:17):
It's a nod to her first andlast made shots for the Storm.
At the statue's unveilingceremony, Bird said, The truth
is I never set out to be firstat anything.
But if being the first meansthat I won't be the last, if
this statue means that 20 yearsfrom now there will be statues
of other WNBA greats, then I'mproud to be the first.
(09:40):
Sue Bird, congratulations onyour bronze statue and your
buzzer beater award.
And now it's time for theairball award.
This week's airball award goesto the guy in charge of
scheduling officials for theWNBA.
His name is Monty McCutchen.
(10:01):
Now let me tell you about whyMonty gets this prestigious
award.
On Sunday, August 17th, theGolden State Valkyries hosted
the Atlanta Dream at Ballhalla.
Before tip-off, the Jumbotronflashed the names and numbers of
the referees.
Yes, referees have jerseynumbers, too.
So the next time you yell at aref, be sure to note their
(10:23):
jersey number.
"Hey, ref number 38, are youwatching the same game I'm
watching?
I don't think so."Now, before the ref roster
appeared on screen...
I was watching the officialswarm up.
They were kind of wandering,stretching, chatting, nothing
very interesting.
I thought, "hmm, looks likethree men out there," but I
(10:45):
figured maybe I just can't seeclearly from where I'm sitting.
Then the screen confirmed it.
All three refs were men, andthat really stinks.
Having an all-male crewofficiating a professional
women's basketball game is notacceptable.
You would never in a millionyears see an all-female crew
(11:07):
calling an NBA game.
In fact, spotting even onefemale official in a men's game
is about as rare as a Starbucksbarista spelling my name
correctly.
Not having at least one woman onthe officiating crew for a WNBA
game is a missed opportunity.
And that's why Monty McCutchenearns this week's Airball Award.
(11:31):
And finally, the Flagrant FoulAward.
Warning, this segment includesreferences to SEX toys.
If you're listening to thispodcast in a place where young
children can hear, you mightwant to put on your earbuds or
headphones.
This week's flagrant foul awardgoes to the geniuses who threw
sex toys onto WNBA courts.
(11:53):
It happened six times during sixdifferent games.
What?
Seriously.
And I admit it, I laughed thefirst time.
It was Valkyries vs.
Atlanta, July 30th.
Because nothing saysprofessional basketball like a
flying neon green, let's call ita Jolly Green Giant.
The announcer says, "we'll seeif the camera can zoom in so we
(12:15):
can see what that is." Camerazooms in.
"Oh, yes, we know what thatis." Camera pans away quickly.
I laughed.
It was hilarious.
Then it happened again andagain.
Dangerous?
Absolutely.
Funny?
Uh-uh.
Sexual harassment in theworkplace?
Uh, yeah, you bet.
(12:38):
Some people shrugged it offlike, boys will be boys.
No.
These women were mocked whiledoing their jobs.
And if they call it out, they'rejust angry women who hate men.
The bottom line?
It was childish behavior and itwas wrong.
And that's why this week'sflagrant foul award goes to the
idiots who threw sex toys ontoWNBA courts.
(13:01):
Seriously, dudes grow up.
I'm Kari Peterson, and you'vebeen listening to Her Game Her
Voice.
Want more?
Hit follow or subscribe onApple Podcasts, Spotify, or
wherever you get your podcasts.
And if you do that, you won'tmiss an episode.
(13:22):
While you're on the show page,please drop a rating or review
or share an episode with afriend.
You can also find Her Game, HerVoice on Substack, YouTube,
Instagram, and Facebook.
Thanks for listening and happyhooping.
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