Best of 2025- Best Sellers of 2025 - Dawn Staley Talks 'Uncommon Favor,' WNBA; MiLaysia Fulwiley, Caitlin Clark Vs. Angel Reese. Recorded 2025.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wake that ass up in the morning.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Breakfast Club, Morning everybody, It's the j n V.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Just hilarious, Charlamagne the gud We are the Breakfast Club.
We got a special guest in the building, the Icon
living Dawn Stanley.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome back.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
How you feel? Thank you, thank you. Thank y'all usually
come back and I'm invited when we win the championship.
We lost this year. So thank y'all for you talking
about you.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Don't you start that You're always invited. Uncommon favorite is
out right now. Basketball in North Philly, My Mother and
the life lessons I learned from all three is out
right now.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
How are you feeling.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
I'm feeling great, Like I mean, my my friends have
received their books and they have nothing but like great
things like I am my cup running over. Yeah he did.
I gotta I gotta give you a shout out. And
you you sparked the conversation. So many people have asked
me to write a book, and I'm like yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
like yeah right, but it came from so many different people.
(00:59):
And then when I came on the show in twenty
twenty two, we talked about it, and you just you
kept the conversation going. You're real persistent with it, and
you know that's That's what I'm attracted to most, is
like somebody.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
That actually is it persistent yet.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Persistent and know the process, Like you knew the process.
I don't know if you knew my story, so to speak,
but you knew enough to know that you know this,
this book will be received well. And I appreciate that well.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
People like you don't come around too often. Don Like
you're a once in a generational just person, you know,
and you really learned that when you read the book,
not even just as a coach but as a basketball player,
but more so as a child of Philadelphia.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Man, I mean, it's it's I mean I had fun,
Like the process was fun. It's liberating. It is you know,
you don't really know how you're going to be received,
but every person like I'm actually waiting for a critic,
like somebody say what didn't go right in the book,
and then we have yet to get to that point.
(02:02):
And I just my one of my friends was, you know, listening,
had a long road trip, listened to the entire book
yesterday and she was like, I'm in tears. I'm laughing.
I get it. Like the leadership part of it, Like
I mean, the emotions that are in the book, and
it's it's me. So some of it is emotional me.
(02:23):
Some of it is just I'm able to just get
it out because I remembered most of it and I
had to call on my my siblings and kind of
fill in the gaps. But it's it's me, like it's
it's so me, it's so relatable, it's so just. It
was an easy process, so it was there was the
(02:44):
therapeutic at all to do it. No, it was just natural.
It wasn't like it was natural. And I think sharing
my story is just relatable to people. It's not like,
you know, I don't think it's a you know, like
in we don't overdo it with the accolades. It's like
the accolades are intertwined and everybody's accolades won't be like
(03:07):
Olympian and actual champions, but on on a certain level,
like if you if you graduate high school, it's relatable,
if you graduate college is relatable. If you if you
can pull yourself out of the projects of any city,
it's it's relatable. And and there's no there's no wrong path,
like there's no like you can get off tilted, but
(03:29):
then you got to come back by like habits come
back by. You know. The the lessons in the book
are just just it relates to every single thing that
you would want to accomplish in life. And I'm not
just saying that the pumped the book, but it really
is like I'm only giving what other people are giving me,
the feedback they're giving me, and it's cool to hear
(03:52):
people just relate to the book.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
The beautiful thing about Uncommon Favor is you get to
tell your own story. So when you're when you're writing
the book, what part of your story that you want
to tell because you think people misunderstood it are overlook it.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Well. One is when I when I when I speak
on things that are controversial, you know, racial things, like
it's it's it's my perspective. Like a lot of times
people can't see what you see because it's not their experience.
Their experience is only hearing you and commenting on how
(04:29):
you feel about certain things. When anybody can feel strongly
about certain things. I feel strongly about everything in this
book because it happened to me. Like it's personal and
it's my perspective, but it's it's not harmful, like allow
people to tell their stories without hurting your feelings. It's
it's it's personal to me. Now, you could be a
(04:52):
critic of the book, or you can enjoy the book,
and you can do all those things. But everything in
this book is is my story is a part of
who I him. It's allowed me to grow and learn
and and succeed and fail and and all those things
that happened to everybody you know sitting around this table,
and everybody that will we'll read it or not read it.
It's going to happen to you no matter what. So
(05:14):
I think you know some of the stuff. You know,
like you know the you know when when when I
sue the a d in Missouri, you got to get
the whole backstory, because if you only hear one side
of it, you only hear snippets of it, you'll think, oh, well,
why does she do that? Like or equal pay? You know,
why why would you you already make it a lot
(05:34):
of money, why would you want equal pay? Well, Well,
because I know my worth, like like, it's not it's
not hard to see. I think this book is very simple,
like very simple lessons that I'm hoping that people can
can take and utilize in their their daily lives.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
I love it because you know, people know you from
different things, right, Some people know you as a player,
some people know you as a coach. But with this book,
it starts from where you came from, which is North Philly, right.
And you talk around housing projects, and you talk about
you know, you said growing up in the projects was
the best decision your parents made. Explain that a little
bit and how that formed to the woman that you
(06:12):
are today.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
It just imagine the people that that don't grow up
in the projects. What you think happens in the projects.
You you think probably only one thing, crime like bad
things like And for me, it was the foundation of
of giving me the scars I needed, the chinks and
the armor I needed to succeed. Like there was unity
(06:37):
in the projects. There was discipline in the projects. There
there was there was manicure lawns. There was my block
I grew up, never had trash in it, like it was.
It was captain in a way that would would compete
with any suburban lawn like on neighborhood. So it was
(06:59):
it was all those things things that help build you up.
Like I'm unbothered and unafraid to tackle on the most
challenging things in life because that's nothing compared to what
that's nothing like. So I think it gave me the
foundation I needed to just be able to, you know,
(07:19):
coach every day, like coach young people, like generations are
changing coaching, coaching talent and individuals and young people nowadays,
it's very, very challenging.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
And I can imagine because you know, being a player,
I'm sure you gotta scream that crazy. But if you
dare talk to your girls like that, you can't.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
You gotta office exactly. So if you're not able to pivot,
if you're not able to handle different challenges that you're
faced with, like I feel bad for coaches who are
who aren't like like I'm I'm a traditional coach, will
I like order? I like? You know, people call them rules.
People think I'm very strict and discipline. I am, I am,
(08:02):
But all of our rules are are just good character
things like good it's a good character. It's not like
be on time. That's that's not a rule. That's that's
a character trait. That's not that's not hard to do.
If there's something that you want to do, one of
the lessons. You have to do what you don't want
to do to get what you want. Like yeah, like
(08:24):
like you know, I mean you're you're a renowned comedian,
right like you know how many stand up shows you
have to do that? Maybe you you were you weren't
very good at at the beginning, like but you you
want to be where you are today. You just kept
at it and kept at it and kept at it.
(08:45):
It's no, it's no different than you know, a child
that that wants to grow up and be in the
w n b A or the NBA. I mean, how
much competitions out there. So you gotta work when nobody's working.
You gotta do. You gotta get up and work out
and sacrifice. I mean I sacrifice proms, I sacrifice all
(09:05):
these things, family reunions because I wanted to be the
best in my in my profession. And that's all. It's okay.
You're gonna have to choose. You definitely gonna have to
choose certain things over over other things in order for
you to really be the best at it.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
I love how you embrace your in a child, That's
what I love. This picture on the ask what's the
moment from your childhood that still shapes how you like
handle pressure today.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
You know, there's a there's a story that I that
I share in the book about my father, who I mean,
I'm I'm over fifty now, right, but when he I
don't know if I was twelve fourteen, maybe I got
a chance to I got invited to play on this
team and this competition outside of Philly, like it was
(09:56):
a road trip, and my father was like, no, you
can't go. Oh Like that hurt me, Like it really
hurt me. And I remembered it so vividly that that
for him to deny me that because it was one
of the first times. But I'm thirteen, fourteen years old,
whose parents gonna let them somebody else take their child
(10:17):
out of state? Like I wasn't thinking about that. I
was solely thinking about basketball. But it was one of
the one of the experiences that drove me, like didn't
I didn't like my father for that, Like I didn't
like him for the decision parental decision that he made.
But as I'm older now and reflecting on and writing
(10:38):
a book, it is I need conflict. I know that
about myself that I need conflict, Like everything can't be comfortable,
Like if I have you know, ten people supporting me,
you know here, I need about ten to twelve people
that hated like I need it. I mean, it helps me.
It drives me, Like it drives me that I don't
(11:00):
have a critic yet. I'm waiting for the book right now, right,
So it's that is the ability. Like, you know, we
lost the Yukon this year, Like you know, the critics
are saying I can't coach like that, that's what they say.
But I'm like, okay, well but but but again, everything
that I've needed in my life, you know, failure success
(11:24):
happens to me. It's uncommon. Like, but I know I
know our loss this year will somehow help us. It will.
It's just you know, I'm not just I'm not just
relying on it helping us. I'm gonna put put action
to it. So so it means something.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I love them. You said that in a post game conference.
You was like, I hope that they're crying. I hope
that my players are crying. I hope that it hurts.
That'll make them be better.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Yeah, I mean, the most growth takes place when you're
uncomfortable the moment. If you're comfortable all the time. And
I've said this as well, like parents really don't want
their kids to feel what they felt like pain, and
I'm like, I want them to feel a little pain.
I want them to hurt. I want them to be uncomfortable,
(12:17):
and I love them enough to allow them to sit
in that space because not for long, but they need
to fight their way out of it, because nothing's going
to be given to me. I don't like that place.
I don't like to feel that, So I fight like
hell to try to not feel that, by reppering, by
doing everything I need to do to not feel that.
(12:39):
It's almost like when you grow up in the projects
and you grow up in poverty, you don't want that anymore.
Like you don't want that once you've lived and you've
you know you've earned a certain keep. You want to
keep that because you want to change generations in your
in your family, and I hope I'm able to do that.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Like, You've always been a natural born leader, like throughout
your whole life, even when you were the child. So
it made me wonder if coaching never entered your life,
where do you think your leadership would have shown up?
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Oh? Man, that's a hard question, like I'm I'm competitive.
I probably would have been a losing gambler, but trying,
like like trying, like I don't know. I mean I do.
I love kids, so my work would have been with kids.
(13:31):
And I'm glad that coaching found me. Like I'm glad
somebody saw something in me that I didn't see in myself.
I didn't see coaching. I didn't want to coach at all,
and and I don't know why, because I had great coaches.
I had great people in my life that that challenged me,
that were good at it. But when I when I
had coaching friends, the only thing they talked about where
(13:54):
they're you know, were their teams in basketball. And I'm like, yeah,
this is what I do every day. I do this
every day. Why would I want to talk about it
every day? Why would I want my life consume with it?
And here I am, twenty five years later, like loving it,
like it's I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing.
(14:14):
Then when you when you're able to live out your passion,
it's the most beautiful, liberating and an incredible experience. Like
I know my players really get something out of our relationship.
They do, they get they build character, they navigate life.
But for me, it's I'm overjoyed when they graduate. I'm
(14:36):
overjoyed on draft night. I'm overjoyed when they're able to
see their hard work produce what they want, like like
what they want to like even if they don't make
it to the league. They're equipped, they're equipped with with
being successful with anything. Like seriously, that is that that
(15:00):
that does something to my heart when when young people
are able to get what they're supposed to get.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
And how do you block out the noise? Or do
you like the noise? Because you said you like the haters,
you like the people that's doubting you, But do you
need to block that out when you're coaching, when you're
teaching your girls or teaching your women, Like how do
you deal with that?
Speaker 1 (15:17):
I mean that that hate usually comes from like social media,
Like yeah, I read it, I see it all, you know,
and sometimes I dive into it. No, I mean I
look at it again and then I sometimes I'm like, okay,
ten nine eight seven, I gotta i gotta take a
ten count. Some people go like this and delete like
(15:38):
they right, and they delete. I'm like, I'll give them that, Like,
but my life is living proof that you're What you're
saying doesn't impact me in the way that it was
dealt out. It impacts me in a way of proving
you wrong. Like I'm an odds beater, like I beat
(15:58):
the odds, so the odds say I've already won. Okay,
this is really just icing on the cake. So it
it drives me for sure.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
You know you talked about your players. You got a
lot of success stories from your time coaching at the
University of South Carolina, But in the book, you make
it no secret that Asia Wish is your favorite. Hmm.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Well, I mean, I mean, here's why, here's why, And
I don't I've coached a lot of great players, like
Asia was the very first player that was the number
one play in the country to decide she wanted to
come play for us, and I know it's in her backyard,
but she had and we didn't. We didn't look like
(16:39):
a national championship team, Like we never won a national
we had never been to the final four. So for
her to trust us with that part of her career
meant that she believed in us. She trusted us, She
knew that we were going to get her to where
she needed to go as far as still being the
(17:02):
number one draft pick like four years later, like when
someone and it wasn't just her, it was her entire
family believed in it. And it took it took some
you know, it took us at times them thinking did
we make the right decision? Because she did. She started
(17:24):
her first game and then she was terrible, like scrub
like right, scrub like scrub like. So I was like,
I gotta, I gotta take you out of start lineup.
But I ain't even taught her that. I told her
parents first, and her mom even was like, you're sure,
(17:47):
like you're gonna have to trust me on this one,
Like You're just gonna have to trust me, And she
was like all right. But at the end of her
freshman year, she was National Rookie of the Year, she
was first team All SEC, she was Rookie of the
Year in the ESSs, Like she got all the accolades
coming off the bench. And when someone believed, like when
(18:07):
someone as a coach and leader and mentor young people,
young people believe in you like they really do, when
that's reciprocated. Because I believed that I knew that she
was going to be the one that takes us to
that next level when when you're able to have the
(18:27):
same synergy.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Right.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
And you know, Asia was hell to deal with, right
because she's young, Like she with the private school for
like twelve years. All of her school he was a
private school, and so she needed to be roughened up
a little bit to get her ready for what she faces.
(18:51):
Like she faces the critics right now, but I know,
I know she can handle them because we took her
through all of that. Like she had this leg right
throughout her college career. And I'm like, okay, you're going
to read in front of the team every time we
have a game because we have a like a you know,
you know, we have a scripture reading and an inspirational
(19:13):
reading before every pregame meal and there's somebody that has
to read it. So I was like, you're gonna read.
It took her her senior year. Couldn't do it the
first second, the third her senior year, she read out loud,
and she had fun with it. She had y'all, this
is alone, y'all gonna have to bear with me. Like
it was that kind of liberation some when when she
(19:36):
gave her entire self to me, the good, the bad,
the ugly entire And you know that's why I just
have a really strong like relationship with her, Like she
could tell me anything, like I'm non judgmental, Like young
people won't want to tell you everything because they think
you're gonna judge them, don't. I don't judge. Like there's
(19:58):
nothing that any one of my current former future players
can tell me that that's gonna rock me that I
haven't seen, like everybody's been through. Like there's no new problems,
it's the same old, recycled problems. So just give it
here so you're not dealing with it longer than you
need to.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
What what's something about your relationship with Asia that the
fans and media don't see what it means the most
to you.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
She gives me her darkest moments. Wow, like her darkest
Like you see a an incredibly like gift. I think
she's the best player in the world, right, she's the
best player in the world. I mean she she has
doubts at times, like whether she's going to perform at
this level, and she she gives me that, and I
(20:45):
you know, I'm like, yeah, there's a lot of pressure,
so you know, I've had experience with it because I
played with the best player in the world during my day,
Lisa Leslie. Same conversations I had with Lisa, like Okay,
it's time for you to be the best playing the world,
Like come championship time, come gold medal time, like I'm
(21:07):
used to giving them, I'm used to pumping them up.
And at the end of the conversation, thank you, coach.
I mean, and it's not much, it's just boom, be
done with it, biest even in less than four right
when you say you have to do what you don't
want to do to get what you want, you weren't
even good with people at first. You said you could not.
(21:28):
You had a job that you had got through your
mom's cleaning. She would get your jobs through her cleaning company,
and you didn't even it wasn't a company. My mom
was a one woman show these jobs. And you did
not do good with greeting people because that means you
had to talk to people. That's not even what you
wanted to do. And then look at you now, like
(21:49):
that journey from there to there? How it like? How
did you get there doing that you didn't even want
to do? Communicate with people. Well, when when you're when
you're the youngest of five, you don't really get to say,
I grew up in the household. I'm the youngest, Like
nobody gave me any credit. I couldn't speak, Like I
(22:10):
got an older brother who's like eight years older, my
my deceased next oldest brother seven years my sister's six
years older than me, and I got another brother that's
two years older than me. Like, you're not getting to
say in our household. So I was quiet, observant, listen,
really form discernment, you know, doing those during those times,
(22:34):
and then you grow, like you really grow. When I
went to college, I was still the same way, Like
I never talked, I was shy and then and then
you know, things start happening to you, and you're like,
if I don't say anything, they're gonna start taking advantage
of me. So now you know, I think growing up
(22:57):
and seeing things and that's you know it, It's so
cool that you know how I explain myself in this book.
It lends itself to another lesson, which is look, sound feel.
If something looks, sounds or feels off, oh I'm addressing it.
I can't like it's in me to address it. If
(23:18):
it looks sounds or feels off, I mean off, I'm addressing.
If it looks sounds it feels good, I'm encouraging it.
Like it is. It is. It is that That's where
I found my voice when something just didn't seem right,
or something that really seemed right, that that I wanted
more of.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
What accolade meant the most to you.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
I would say, I'm so far from my plan days
that I don't even really count that. Probably when when
my players graduate, that's that's that's the best feeling, because
because we sit in the living rooms and we say
your child will graduate, and sometimes it's the first generational
college graduate. Do you know what that means to the family, Like,
(24:06):
it's not it just doesn't impact that my player in
impacts everybody that comes after her or everybody in her
current family that that desires to get a higher education.
They'll they'll go out and do it because it's not
tangible in some homes, it's not it's not something that
(24:26):
someone has ever done in their household, and for that
to happen, their their generations will change from that. So
it's just the impact.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Of that, you know, it's interesting record. I was watching
you yesterday. You did Good Morning in America to view
Kobe all of that stuff like that. So you was working,
but I still know you're still the coach at the
University of South Carolina. But I was like, oh, you
know what, she'll be fine because she used to play
ball and coach at the same time, which I found
out about in the book.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
That was insane six years. That's crazy six years. I
mean when I when I got into coaching, I was
like in my prime, so you know the ad at
the time. He kept asking me like he was persistent,
like I'm like, no, no, I'm not interested. I'm playing
in the WNBA and this is and then he just
(25:14):
kept asking. And then then I ended up having to
go meet with him because the final four was in Philly.
I'm from Philly. He knew I was going to be there.
So I went and sat down with him and he
asked me two questions. He was like, can you lead?
Did you do your research? Like did you like And
I was like yeah, I basically was the captain on
(25:35):
every team that I played on, right, And then he
was like, can you turn Temple women's basketball program around?
And I was like, oh, is that a challenge? Like
is that really a challenge? Because I'm drawing the challenges
and I and I never looked at it that way,
and I never answered the question. I don't even think
I answered the question. He was like, Hey, can you
(25:57):
just come down the hall and meet some people? So
I was like, okay, I'm here, and he took me
in this conference room, sat me at the head of
the table and they were like ten or twelve people
sitting around this table and they're asking me questions like
what do you see yourself in five years? I'm like
playing in the WNBA. And they were like, do you
haven't seen yourself coaching? And I'm like no, Like y'all
(26:21):
they were interviewing me. I was on a job interview
and I didn't know it because all my job interviews
were tryouts like basketball like physical tryouts. And needless to say,
I took the job two weeks later and they just
agreed to allow me to continue to play and coach.
(26:41):
So I was in like basketball utopia because I was
coaching and I'm actually still able to express myself on
the court because I wasn't ready to hang up my shoes.
I was still very much a player, and I think
that allowed me to play a little bit longer than
I wanted to, and that allowed me to keep staying
(27:04):
fresh with what was up with teaching young people because
they were more enthralled with me playing because that's what
they wanted, Like I was living their dream right before
their very eyes. And I think it just helped me
be a better coach, be a more understanding coach, because
I was a player receiving information from a coach, and
(27:26):
then I just helped the dynamics of what I was doing.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
And I guess we learned how to get you to
do things, be persistent, get a challenge, right.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Like as I think about it all and this is
not in the book, but everybody that I have in
my you know, you know, in my circle, Like I
got a financial guide. He pressed me for one for
a whole year when I was at South Carolina. He
would come and just visit, just checking, and then you know,
finally I gave all my money to him, like seventeen
(27:59):
years later, where he's still with me, and it's it's
the coolest thing to have someone just because you know,
like it pour in like I mean, you pour it
into me. With this book, like you you understood it,
Like I didn't want to write a book, like I don't.
I don't know why, but I didn't want to write
a book. But then when when we won last year
(28:22):
in an undefeated way, like I'm like, this is this
is my my cut running through. This is uncommon favor,
and we we tried to we tried to come up
with different titles with the book, and it always came
back to this because this really explains my entire life,
Like if I had to describe my my, my life,
(28:45):
my career, my it's uncommon favor.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Like to the m degree, have you ever a question
whether you were too hard or not hard enough on
a play?
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Yeah? Yeah, yeah there was there was. I mean, it's
all teaching moments where I I wanted a freshman to
beat out a senior. When I kind of first my
first couple of years at South Carolina, we you know,
we recruited this young lady because I thought she would
be the best. I was like, this is the one
(29:16):
I want, so all of our coaching staff we zeroed
in on her. She committed, she came, and then I
was I was really hard on her, like like you
gotta do I tried to pour everything in because I
wanted her to beat the senior out. I couldn't just
give her. I couldn't just give her. I just I'm
not in it. You gotta earn it because you gotta
(29:37):
you gotta protect your locker room, because if you're just
giving out something and you lose trust. So I wanted
so I poured into her. I was hard on her,
and she cried at different times of the season, and
then I would talk to her like I thought everything
was good. You know, we were working towards it. Sometimes
they cried. Sometimes you know, they can they can take it.
(29:58):
And then at the end of the sea, like I
always do, I meet, I have our postseason meeting and
she says something I just didn't It didn't dawn on
me during the year, Like she was like, I wasn't ready.
And I never thought she wasn't ready. If she would
have said that to me like during the during the season,
(30:18):
I would have I would have backed off. But she
was just like I wasn't ready, and I'm like, I'm sorry.
So I do think that it strained our relationship. I
think she understands it now because she's a coach now,
so she kind of understands it. But I had to
change how I operated in that space because and I
(30:39):
ask our players to talk to me more like I
could be. I could be a better coach when you
talk to me. If not, I'm assuming that everything I'm
saying you're good with. So now it's like, how you
feel about this, how you want to play this, how
you want to do this, what do y'all think? I'm
more of a listener and I involved and more inclusive
with game planning, inclusive with how we handle problems that
(31:03):
come up on the team, between teammates, all of that.
I'm just like, we talk it out. Like we talk
it out, I expect like it's not a rhetorical question,
it is an inclusive question. Hey, let's let's talk about this,
because I find that if you don't address it, it grows,
and then you're halfway through the season, and like y'all
(31:25):
still on that when a two minute conversation could resolve
it all.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
I wanted to ask about your father, right. You mentioned
your father earlier in an interview and you said your
relationship wasn't that great, but you said it got better
over the years. Do you understand some of the things
that your father was trying to implementing you as a
young girl, because they said that your father looked at
women's basketball and felt there wasn't too many opportunities and
didn't know if you could sustain at that time. And
(31:53):
do you wish that you kind of put yourself in
his mentality back then as a child, because even with
the name of the book, it says basketball in North Philly,
my mother.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
But you know, I think I think even the one
like family members that are that are closest to you, yes,
I thought, I, yes, I should have had a much
more mature outlook on that relationship now that you can
(32:24):
reflect on it now that you can see because I
held that and I you know, if you can hear that,
I still hold that instance. But when you when you're
coaching right and you come up, you know, with you
come into a situation where you hurt a player like
you heard that player that was like probably twelve years ago.
(32:44):
I heard that player, like, it drives me to not
hurt other players, right, And I wasn't mature enough or
savvy enough to handle that at twelve or thirteen. So
I do think it's helped me be a better coach.
It helps me be a better person to really like again,
(33:06):
I didn't talk about things I held that for my
father probably didn't, probably doesn't. He's been he's been dead
and gone since two thousand and one. Like I don't
even think he really knew how much that hurt me.
But also use that to navigate the nose, Like I
handle nose a lot better because of that. Because of that,
(33:31):
it wasn't like my mom. I was the baby girl,
the baby girl, so the baby girl holds a special place,
and you know with your mother. My father was a
tremendously like not high education like he didn't he but
he was worldly like he knew he was a carpenter,
he was a mechanic, he knew everything worldly from when
(33:55):
I was younger until adulthood. And he really had a
stronger relationship with my other siblings because they were older
too that they could have a conversation with him about anything.
And I still used to sit back, even as an adult,
sit back and kind of listen to them have these
(34:15):
conversations about prime ministers and presidency and politics. Like I
wish he was alive today to hear his perspective on
what what's happening in our world today, because he was
super up with everything.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
I love to respect the power of habit chapter. And
in that chapter, you speak extremely highly of South Carolina's
own Malaysia for a while, and you even refer to
her as a younger, savvier version of you. You say,
and this is a quote I heard from so many
adults who gave their own parents hell, only to see
their teenagers return to favor. Now it's my turn in
(34:56):
the battle. So when I see you had when I
read that, and I was like, she had so much
from Malaysia. What was your initial reaction when she decided
to enter the portal? And was surprising you?
Speaker 1 (35:06):
So surprising? No, I think, you know, being in this space,
you you you, you become you know, to expect the unexpected, right.
I still have much love for Mylisia, like much love,
Like I want her happy. She came in, said she
and a mom came in. She said, I think I'm
(35:29):
going to get into the transfer portals. I'm like, okay,
well you think or you know, And she said I know,
And I said, well, I said, I only want you happy,
like I really do. Only want our players happy, whether
that's that's with us or somewhere else. Just be happy.
I told her, don't look back. I know it's probably
gonna be hard to not look back to see you know,
(35:51):
you leaving your hometown and all that. I said, don't
look back, like you know you made this decision. Just
go forward with it and don't look back. Uh, You're
always gonna be a game cock. You're always gonna be
welcomed here. I wish her the best. And when I
say that, people probably think, oh, but I do, like
I really do, like, cause I am. What's for us
(36:13):
is for us. What's not it was not Let's keep moving.
I don't stay in I don't stay in despair. I
don't stay in those spaces for very long. I'm like, Okay,
we got we gotta get we gotta get recruiting. We
gotta get back into this portal to see who we
can get, you know, to to help us. I think
she's gonna have a promising career. I do think she's
(36:35):
a generational talent that will never leave.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Like.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
She does things on the basketball court that I've never
seen a woman do, and she's she'll continue to do
that and will continue to be happy for her. Except
the one or two times that we have to play
them like it's on, like it's this, She's gonna be
super competitive against us. We're gonna we're gonna want to win,
and it's gonna be a pride thing that comes with
(36:59):
just being, you know, a competitor. And we got much
love for her in the family.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
What do you feel like the transfer portal era forces
coaches to evolve faster when it comes to like player relationship.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
Yeah, well for me, I need that, like I need
to have a relationship with you. I need I need that,
like I'm not good and you know, one off, so
I'm not good at at you know, transactional relationships, like
I'm not good. You know, I don't want to turn
my heart off, you know, like my heart is the
(37:34):
is the thing that leads me and I need that
type of connection and I'm never gonna I'm never gonna
go there with the transfer portal transactional mindset, it's it's
helped and it's hurt. Like I do think that I
do think that something needs to happen regarding how many
(37:55):
times you can transfer, like how many? Like how many
is how many? Like one I think is great, Like
you pick the wrong school, you find the right school transfer. Now,
I think when you're able to transfer two three, you
can be at four different schools in four years. And
(38:17):
does it create more opportunity for them to be wealthier? Yes,
it does. And I think us women are trying to
get all of that back because I think our game
has been held down for so long that now that
this space is open to us and we're thriving in it.
We're thriving in the name, image and likeness space. We're thriving.
(38:42):
But I don't want people to lose sight of what
team is. Like. My whole life is built around team.
My personal life. I got a team of people, team
of friends that come, hell of how water, We're gonna
stick together. Whether we agree or disagree, we're gonna do
(39:03):
it agreeably. And I just I want that for our game.
I don't want I don't want our game to lose
that part of it because it's the very thing that's
been attracting and magnetic to the fans.
Speaker 3 (39:16):
Now this this has nothing to do with the boat,
but I wanted to ask this. Were talking about players.
You know, the w NBA has has taken a huge
jump in the last couple of years, and I love it.
My daughters love it, my sons love it. What do
you think what's going on in the WNBA with it?
It seems like they're pitting, you know, Caitlin Clark against
Angel Reese, right, kind of what they did in the
NBA back in the day. But it was more teams, right,
(39:36):
I guess not maybe not teams. It was Magic Bird.
This one is that one, But this one, it just
seems like it seems very personable. So what are your thoughts,
like even the other day with that foul and they
called it a flagrant foul. I don't necessarily agree, but
what are your thoughts on it?
Speaker 1 (39:49):
You don't think it was a flagrant foul.
Speaker 3 (39:51):
I think it was just a foul from what I've
seen me playing basketball and me watching basketball. I think
if it would have been anybody else, it might have
just been a foul. I don't don't know if it's
a flairre So just asking your thought.
Speaker 1 (40:00):
Well, I think the officiating has a has a hard job.
That's one the decipher whether or not that's a flavored
one or not. Hard job, hard job, And I do
think they understand the dynamics of Angel and Caitlin. I
do I think it's great for our game because it's like, yeah,
like it's a sport. Treat us like a sport. Don't
(40:23):
treat us anything other than being a sport. It happens
in every sport, Soccer, basketball, football, it happens in every sport.
So let it be. I'm gonna I'm gonna take the
lead of Angel and Caitlin, and that lead is they
said it was a it was a file. The officials
got it right. We're moving on. That's what I'm saying. I'
(40:45):
gonna take their lead. Okay, I think it's I think
it's it. It pulls people in, people in. I do
think there are new fans that haven't watched our game
and they really don't know, so they only they're only
singlely focused on Kate one, right, right, So when you're
(41:06):
that and that's that's that's that's their idol, that's who
attracts them. But I just hope that they'll open their
eyes to the rest of the talent that that is there.
Like the product. The product is incredible, like and it's
in high demand. We played Caitlyn in the National Championship
(41:29):
last year, right twenty twenty million A topped off at
whatever it topped off at the most right. I know,
I know they saw us like I know they saw us.
I know they saw us have an undefeated season. I
know they saw Camilla Cardozo. I know they saw Ashland Waxase.
(41:50):
I know they saw Tessa Johnson have an incredible care
career or day. I know they saw my Lasier do
some incredible things like so, so open your eyes up
to seeing you know, out outside of Caitlin, well not
even outside included because she's a part of a part
of it all. So you know, I'm looking forward to
(42:11):
the next time they play too, I'm gonna be glueden
just like everybody else.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
Yes, the wrong call in that scenario, Waston getting called
for a text.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Exactly she didn't even know until after the game. But
do you feel like she tight with her Money's like
she she wants somebody to pay her fine.
Speaker 3 (42:30):
You feel like they let the players play because I
know it's not just w n b A but NBA too.
It just seems like they're taking too much control and
not letting the players play.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
Again. Officiating hard hard because you want them to just play,
But you also know that they can escalate and and
we know when things escalate, whether it's basketball, whether it's policing.
We know when they escalate. We gotta we got to
learn how to de escalate and then allowed the players
(43:00):
to do what they do. The game, The game itself
is going to lend itself to whatever, whether it's really physical,
whether it's you know, free flowing, it's gonna it's gonna
lend itself to whatever it is. I just think that
officiating is a tough, tough job, not even not even that,
(43:20):
Like coaches are like on your on your butt all
the time, like I'm include in me, like like it's
it's it's it's they get I mean they get paid
a whole lot of money too to take that. But
they're they're the they're the best in our game. Like
they're the best. If there were better people to officiate
the games, they would already be in the game.
Speaker 3 (43:43):
Last question about that's the replay feature.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Like it?
Speaker 2 (43:46):
I hate it?
Speaker 1 (43:48):
I like it. I like it because officials make mistakes, right,
I mean, it allows you, it allows them to be
directed because because they're they're wrong. Like I would say this,
we we have officiating conversations every year when we go
(44:11):
to our spring meetings. Then it's it's if they have
a like a ninety correct call rate.
Speaker 3 (44:20):
That's excellent, that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (44:23):
Well what about the ten percent? Does the games really exactly?
What about the ten percent? Like what what's done to
them for being for calling something incorrectly ten percent of
the time? That has implications up for US N Cuba seating, right,
(44:45):
like for you know, for the NBA. You know, like
like every game matters, right, So, I mean, you're they're
never going to get that part right. But it's part
of the game. Is it's part of the dynamics of
the game. That again is conversation, and it's we should
(45:05):
have conversation. Like I don't think the officials want us
to have conversation about this, but you're a part of it.
You know, you don't get you know, if I'm gonna
get criticized for losing, you should get criticized, but not
making a correct call.
Speaker 2 (45:20):
I got a few more questions. I want to go
back to that that that chapter respect the power of
habits right, because when you talk about Malaysia, it is
with such reference. How do you balance disappointment as a coach,
which support for somebody like her who just wanted to
make a decision for usself.
Speaker 1 (45:37):
Like like if if a young person is going to
speak on what what what they deem is good for them? Uh,
that's that's half the battle. Like half the battle is
to be able to speak up. And you know how
hard it was for her to do that, like really hard,
really hard. So I understand that dynamics of her decision making.
(46:02):
And then it's like, okay, well what do you do
with it? Like if she was my player and you know,
there was there was a chance for her to want
to come back, or if she decided that this is
that that's not what she wanted to do. I was
going to talk to her about why why did it?
Why did it come to that? What makes you think
(46:22):
this isn't a place for you?
Speaker 2 (46:25):
What?
Speaker 1 (46:27):
And for whatever she said, we would we would go
from there. I thought Malaysia, Malaysia was was getting better,
Like I really I saw a whole lot of growth
on and off the court to where like unless she
was gonna get the best of her now, like we
went through the you know, we went through the hard
(46:48):
part of just kind of smoothing some rough edges and
getting her to create good habits, Like like I do
think habits are the thing that that allows you to elevate, right,
I do you know? So? I think I think what
we've given her and what she's given us will will
(47:11):
allow her to to have much better days, much more
consistent days than she had with us.
Speaker 2 (47:17):
At her next stop, did she know you felt that
way about her? She's gonna read the book and be like, damn,
you know.
Speaker 1 (47:22):
And I want to clarify the book was written already
before she made a decision. The book was written, you know,
months ago. I'm sure I share my feelings like I don't.
I don't have I don't. I don't hide anything. I
wear my heart on my shoulder. I do think my
Lasier really knows how I felt about her. I know
(47:43):
her mother knows. I know, you know, regardless of why
she came to that conclusion of of wanting to leave,
I know she she knows she felt our love. Now,
you know, the playing time, the whatever, the you know,
for us, maybe taking her out of the game when
she felt like she wanted to just kind of keep
(48:03):
playing through some things. Now she probably questions that part
of it, And I'm okay with that. A lot of
a lot of players leave because here playing time, a
lot of people leave. It's not for it's not for
all the other stuff, because we treat them like royalty,
like royalty, like we're probably enablers when it comes to
(48:24):
the treatment that we give our players.
Speaker 2 (48:27):
So I'm sure she would have started this year her junior.
Speaker 1 (48:30):
Right, I mean who else was gonna hold her down? Like? So, yeah,
I mean it wasn't. I don't think it was. I
don't think it came down to starting, I really don't.
I think it came down to her wanting to play
free and do you know what what she wanted to
do in and who's to say she wouldn't have been
(48:51):
able to do that, you know, in her her junior year.
Speaker 2 (48:53):
So what's the relationship with coaches? If coach Kim Lsu
calls you and ask for some tips on how to
coach relaysia for a while, you give.
Speaker 1 (49:00):
Any on your own? Wrong? Yeah, like it ain't. I
ain't gonna help you help her beat us? Nah. The
thing about your book like that, your stories and your experiences, baby,
this basketball texture? What was that conversation like that? What
(49:23):
was it? Because I know this you wanted to do this,
But did they say did they give you push? Back
on it, like no, we're not able to we don't
know or just see just you see a woman sees
all that that that is that's a strategic part of Yeah.
They we got the cover back right, and it was
just a smooth surface like that, like the front of it.
(49:43):
I'm like, this would be cool if it could feel
like a basketball, like I mean the color, like like
this would be really cool.
Speaker 2 (49:51):
Now.
Speaker 1 (49:52):
This was really late in the process, like really late.
They were like, oh, I don't we don't think. We
don't think we could do that. And when and I
didn't know they were working on I didn't I didn't
know that they were actually got it done until I
got my first copy and I was like whoat, Oh wow, yes, yes,
like I didn't want that, liket, this is so created.
Speaker 2 (50:15):
Yes, congratulations on your statue in Columbia, South Carolina. You
and Asia Wilson got statues in Columbia. What would it
take for a player to get a statue at the
University of South Carolina? Because I know they coming they
be like, damn, Asia got one, what can I do
to get that?
Speaker 1 (50:31):
I mean Boston Ali Boston had a incredible career, Like
she did some things that Asia didn't do like she
she really did did some things that Asia didn't do.
I think when it when it comes in her impact,
like I think Asia the total person of proximity to
(50:52):
South Carolina really helped her calls, you know. But Alia
from a basketball perspective, from a community like she is
all about community and what she stands for. Like she's
a young lady. That's really I mean if she was
from South Carolina, there will already be a statue like
(51:13):
already and you know the trajectory of her career, her
impact that she'll have in the w n B A
I do think she's an Olympian. I I I'll start
the campaign of getting Aliyah. I mean Asia's and my
statue are like two blocks from each other. You know,
(51:36):
why not go two more blocks and you can hear
all the statues for Aaliyah, all the statues in in
one pot.
Speaker 2 (51:43):
But'll win more championships.
Speaker 1 (51:46):
So we we we? Yeah? I willing yes.
Speaker 2 (51:50):
Final question, Charlotte Sting, why can't we bring them back
to the Carolina.
Speaker 1 (51:55):
Yeah, I get I get this question, and I get
this question about Philly too, because Philly, Philly wants to
wants a w NBA team. I do think the Hornets
and the Sixers got to do better. They gotta do better.
They gotta do better, you know, Like it's I think
it's great when when the NBA team is doing great,
(52:18):
it helps with the whole conroderie. But I do think
I will say this, Sorry Philly, Sorry Philly, but I
do think Charlotte's more ready for w NBA team just
from a fan perspective, like we draw like we are.
We we draw were the highest attended games in the
(52:39):
country at South Carolina like for the for the past
ten years. Like no one's outdrawing us over the past
ten years. So I do think I do think we're
ready from that perspective. But it's it's more than fan support,
you know, it's a business. It's resources. Who's going to
pour in to the team. If the team doesn't do
well in the first year or two, which is highly likely,
(53:04):
will there be enough you know, resources pour poured into
a team.
Speaker 2 (53:11):
We can put together the right investment group.
Speaker 1 (53:13):
I think so too. I'm down because people want me
to coach in the w I don't. I don't want
to coach in I want to own. I want I
want ownership there.
Speaker 2 (53:23):
You have it. I would invest. I got a little dollars.
I got a couple of dollars. Well, thank you, Don.
New book Uncommon Favor of Basketball in North Philly, my
mother in the life Lessons I learned from all three
is available everywhere you buy books. Now go get it.
You are guaranteed to learn something. You are a living Don.
We appreciate your presence on this earth. We thank God
(53:44):
for you.
Speaker 1 (53:45):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (53:46):
And listen. I want everybody to remember that today Don
Staley will be at the Barnes and Noble Fifth Avenue
in New York City. If you're in New York City,
you can go see Don Staley at Barns and Noble
one pm today, five five five Fifth Avenue in New York.
Go get a copy of Uncommon Favor, signed Don. Thank
you again. It's the Breakfast Club.
Speaker 1 (54:06):
Good morning, Wake that ass up in the morning.
Speaker 2 (54:09):
The Breakfast Club
Wake that ass up in the morning.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Breakfast Club, Morning everybody, It's the j n V.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Just hilarious, Charlamagne the gud We are the Breakfast Club.
We got a special guest in the building, the Icon
living Dawn Stanley.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome back.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
How you feel? Thank you, thank you. Thank y'all usually
come back and I'm invited when we win the championship.
We lost this year. So thank y'all for you talking
about you.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Don't you start that You're always invited. Uncommon favorite is
out right now. Basketball in North Philly, My Mother and
the life lessons I learned from all three is out
right now.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
How are you feeling.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
I'm feeling great, Like I mean, my my friends have
received their books and they have nothing but like great
things like I am my cup running over. Yeah he did.
I gotta I gotta give you a shout out. And
you you sparked the conversation. So many people have asked
me to write a book, and I'm like yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
like yeah right, but it came from so many different people.
(00:59):
And then when I came on the show in twenty
twenty two, we talked about it, and you just you
kept the conversation going. You're real persistent with it, and
you know that's That's what I'm attracted to most, is
like somebody.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
That actually is it persistent yet.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Persistent and know the process, Like you knew the process.
I don't know if you knew my story, so to speak,
but you knew enough to know that you know this,
this book will be received well. And I appreciate that well.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
People like you don't come around too often. Don Like
you're a once in a generational just person, you know,
and you really learned that when you read the book,
not even just as a coach but as a basketball player,
but more so as a child of Philadelphia.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Man, I mean, it's it's I mean I had fun,
Like the process was fun. It's liberating. It is you know,
you don't really know how you're going to be received,
but every person like I'm actually waiting for a critic,
like somebody say what didn't go right in the book,
and then we have yet to get to that point.
(02:02):
And I just my one of my friends was, you know, listening,
had a long road trip, listened to the entire book
yesterday and she was like, I'm in tears. I'm laughing.
I get it. Like the leadership part of it, Like
I mean, the emotions that are in the book, and
it's it's me. So some of it is emotional me.
(02:23):
Some of it is just I'm able to just get
it out because I remembered most of it and I
had to call on my my siblings and kind of
fill in the gaps. But it's it's me, like it's
it's so me, it's so relatable, it's so just. It
was an easy process, so it was there was the
(02:44):
therapeutic at all to do it. No, it was just natural.
It wasn't like it was natural. And I think sharing
my story is just relatable to people. It's not like,
you know, I don't think it's a you know, like
in we don't overdo it with the accolades. It's like
the accolades are intertwined and everybody's accolades won't be like
(03:07):
Olympian and actual champions, but on on a certain level,
like if you if you graduate high school, it's relatable,
if you graduate college is relatable. If you if you
can pull yourself out of the projects of any city,
it's it's relatable. And and there's no there's no wrong path,
like there's no like you can get off tilted, but
(03:29):
then you got to come back by like habits come
back by. You know. The the lessons in the book
are just just it relates to every single thing that
you would want to accomplish in life. And I'm not
just saying that the pumped the book, but it really
is like I'm only giving what other people are giving me,
the feedback they're giving me, and it's cool to hear
(03:52):
people just relate to the book.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
The beautiful thing about Uncommon Favor is you get to
tell your own story. So when you're when you're writing
the book, what part of your story that you want
to tell because you think people misunderstood it are overlook it.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Well. One is when I when I when I speak
on things that are controversial, you know, racial things, like
it's it's it's my perspective. Like a lot of times
people can't see what you see because it's not their experience.
Their experience is only hearing you and commenting on how
(04:29):
you feel about certain things. When anybody can feel strongly
about certain things. I feel strongly about everything in this
book because it happened to me. Like it's personal and
it's my perspective, but it's it's not harmful, like allow
people to tell their stories without hurting your feelings. It's
it's it's personal to me. Now, you could be a
(04:52):
critic of the book, or you can enjoy the book,
and you can do all those things. But everything in
this book is is my story is a part of
who I him. It's allowed me to grow and learn
and and succeed and fail and and all those things
that happened to everybody you know sitting around this table,
and everybody that will we'll read it or not read it.
It's going to happen to you no matter what. So
(05:14):
I think you know some of the stuff. You know,
like you know the you know when when when I
sue the a d in Missouri, you got to get
the whole backstory, because if you only hear one side
of it, you only hear snippets of it, you'll think, oh, well,
why does she do that? Like or equal pay? You know,
why why would you you already make it a lot
(05:34):
of money, why would you want equal pay? Well, Well,
because I know my worth, like like, it's not it's
not hard to see. I think this book is very simple,
like very simple lessons that I'm hoping that people can
can take and utilize in their their daily lives.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
I love it because you know, people know you from
different things, right, Some people know you as a player,
some people know you as a coach. But with this book,
it starts from where you came from, which is North Philly, right.
And you talk around housing projects, and you talk about
you know, you said growing up in the projects was
the best decision your parents made. Explain that a little
bit and how that formed to the woman that you
(06:12):
are today.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
It just imagine the people that that don't grow up
in the projects. What you think happens in the projects.
You you think probably only one thing, crime like bad
things like And for me, it was the foundation of
of giving me the scars I needed, the chinks and
the armor I needed to succeed. Like there was unity
(06:37):
in the projects. There was discipline in the projects. There
there was there was manicure lawns. There was my block
I grew up, never had trash in it, like it was.
It was captain in a way that would would compete
with any suburban lawn like on neighborhood. So it was
(06:59):
it was all those things things that help build you up.
Like I'm unbothered and unafraid to tackle on the most
challenging things in life because that's nothing compared to what
that's nothing like. So I think it gave me the
foundation I needed to just be able to, you know,
(07:19):
coach every day, like coach young people, like generations are
changing coaching, coaching talent and individuals and young people nowadays,
it's very, very challenging.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
And I can imagine because you know, being a player,
I'm sure you gotta scream that crazy. But if you
dare talk to your girls like that, you can't.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
You gotta office exactly. So if you're not able to pivot,
if you're not able to handle different challenges that you're
faced with, like I feel bad for coaches who are
who aren't like like I'm I'm a traditional coach, will
I like order? I like? You know, people call them rules.
People think I'm very strict and discipline. I am, I am,
(08:02):
But all of our rules are are just good character
things like good it's a good character. It's not like
be on time. That's that's not a rule. That's that's
a character trait. That's not that's not hard to do.
If there's something that you want to do, one of
the lessons. You have to do what you don't want
to do to get what you want. Like yeah, like
(08:24):
like you know, I mean you're you're a renowned comedian,
right like you know how many stand up shows you
have to do that? Maybe you you were you weren't
very good at at the beginning, like but you you
want to be where you are today. You just kept
at it and kept at it and kept at it.
(08:45):
It's no, it's no different than you know, a child
that that wants to grow up and be in the
w n b A or the NBA. I mean, how
much competitions out there. So you gotta work when nobody's working.
You gotta do. You gotta get up and work out
and sacrifice. I mean I sacrifice proms, I sacrifice all
(09:05):
these things, family reunions because I wanted to be the
best in my in my profession. And that's all. It's okay.
You're gonna have to choose. You definitely gonna have to
choose certain things over over other things in order for
you to really be the best at it.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
I love how you embrace your in a child, That's
what I love. This picture on the ask what's the
moment from your childhood that still shapes how you like
handle pressure today.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
You know, there's a there's a story that I that
I share in the book about my father, who I mean,
I'm I'm over fifty now, right, but when he I
don't know if I was twelve fourteen, maybe I got
a chance to I got invited to play on this
team and this competition outside of Philly, like it was
(09:56):
a road trip, and my father was like, no, you
can't go. Oh Like that hurt me, Like it really
hurt me. And I remembered it so vividly that that
for him to deny me that because it was one
of the first times. But I'm thirteen, fourteen years old,
whose parents gonna let them somebody else take their child
(10:17):
out of state? Like I wasn't thinking about that. I
was solely thinking about basketball. But it was one of
the one of the experiences that drove me, like didn't
I didn't like my father for that, Like I didn't
like him for the decision parental decision that he made.
But as I'm older now and reflecting on and writing
(10:38):
a book, it is I need conflict. I know that
about myself that I need conflict, Like everything can't be comfortable,
Like if I have you know, ten people supporting me,
you know here, I need about ten to twelve people
that hated like I need it. I mean, it helps me.
It drives me, Like it drives me that I don't
(11:00):
have a critic yet. I'm waiting for the book right now, right,
So it's that is the ability. Like, you know, we
lost the Yukon this year, Like you know, the critics
are saying I can't coach like that, that's what they say.
But I'm like, okay, well but but but again, everything
that I've needed in my life, you know, failure success
(11:24):
happens to me. It's uncommon. Like, but I know I
know our loss this year will somehow help us. It will.
It's just you know, I'm not just I'm not just
relying on it helping us. I'm gonna put put action
to it. So so it means something.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I love them. You said that in a post game conference.
You was like, I hope that they're crying. I hope
that my players are crying. I hope that it hurts.
That'll make them be better.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Yeah, I mean, the most growth takes place when you're
uncomfortable the moment. If you're comfortable all the time. And
I've said this as well, like parents really don't want
their kids to feel what they felt like pain, and
I'm like, I want them to feel a little pain.
I want them to hurt. I want them to be uncomfortable,
(12:17):
and I love them enough to allow them to sit
in that space because not for long, but they need
to fight their way out of it, because nothing's going
to be given to me. I don't like that place.
I don't like to feel that, So I fight like
hell to try to not feel that, by reppering, by
doing everything I need to do to not feel that.
(12:39):
It's almost like when you grow up in the projects
and you grow up in poverty, you don't want that anymore.
Like you don't want that once you've lived and you've
you know you've earned a certain keep. You want to
keep that because you want to change generations in your
in your family, and I hope I'm able to do that.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Like, You've always been a natural born leader, like throughout
your whole life, even when you were the child. So
it made me wonder if coaching never entered your life,
where do you think your leadership would have shown up?
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Oh? Man, that's a hard question, like I'm I'm competitive.
I probably would have been a losing gambler, but trying,
like like trying, like I don't know. I mean I do.
I love kids, so my work would have been with kids.
(13:31):
And I'm glad that coaching found me. Like I'm glad
somebody saw something in me that I didn't see in myself.
I didn't see coaching. I didn't want to coach at all,
and and I don't know why, because I had great coaches.
I had great people in my life that that challenged me,
that were good at it. But when I when I
had coaching friends, the only thing they talked about where
(13:54):
they're you know, were their teams in basketball. And I'm like, yeah,
this is what I do every day. I do this
every day. Why would I want to talk about it
every day? Why would I want my life consume with it?
And here I am, twenty five years later, like loving it,
like it's I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing.
(14:14):
Then when you when you're able to live out your passion,
it's the most beautiful, liberating and an incredible experience. Like
I know my players really get something out of our relationship.
They do, they get they build character, they navigate life.
But for me, it's I'm overjoyed when they graduate. I'm
(14:36):
overjoyed on draft night. I'm overjoyed when they're able to
see their hard work produce what they want, like like
what they want to like even if they don't make
it to the league. They're equipped, they're equipped with with
being successful with anything. Like seriously, that is that that
(15:00):
that does something to my heart when when young people
are able to get what they're supposed to get.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
And how do you block out the noise? Or do
you like the noise? Because you said you like the haters,
you like the people that's doubting you, But do you
need to block that out when you're coaching, when you're
teaching your girls or teaching your women, Like how do
you deal with that?
Speaker 1 (15:17):
I mean that that hate usually comes from like social media,
Like yeah, I read it, I see it all, you know,
and sometimes I dive into it. No, I mean I
look at it again and then I sometimes I'm like, okay,
ten nine eight seven, I gotta i gotta take a
ten count. Some people go like this and delete like
(15:38):
they right, and they delete. I'm like, I'll give them that, Like,
but my life is living proof that you're What you're
saying doesn't impact me in the way that it was
dealt out. It impacts me in a way of proving
you wrong. Like I'm an odds beater, like I beat
(15:58):
the odds, so the odds say I've already won. Okay,
this is really just icing on the cake. So it
it drives me for sure.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
You know you talked about your players. You got a
lot of success stories from your time coaching at the
University of South Carolina, But in the book, you make
it no secret that Asia Wish is your favorite. Hmm.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Well, I mean, I mean, here's why, here's why, And
I don't I've coached a lot of great players, like
Asia was the very first player that was the number
one play in the country to decide she wanted to
come play for us, and I know it's in her backyard,
but she had and we didn't. We didn't look like
(16:39):
a national championship team, Like we never won a national
we had never been to the final four. So for
her to trust us with that part of her career
meant that she believed in us. She trusted us, She
knew that we were going to get her to where
she needed to go as far as still being the
(17:02):
number one draft pick like four years later, like when
someone and it wasn't just her, it was her entire
family believed in it. And it took it took some
you know, it took us at times them thinking did
we make the right decision? Because she did. She started
(17:24):
her first game and then she was terrible, like scrub
like right, scrub like scrub like. So I was like,
I gotta, I gotta take you out of start lineup.
But I ain't even taught her that. I told her
parents first, and her mom even was like, you're sure,
(17:47):
like you're gonna have to trust me on this one,
Like You're just gonna have to trust me, And she
was like all right. But at the end of her
freshman year, she was National Rookie of the Year, she
was first team All SEC, she was Rookie of the
Year in the ESSs, Like she got all the accolades
coming off the bench. And when someone believed, like when
(18:07):
someone as a coach and leader and mentor young people,
young people believe in you like they really do, when
that's reciprocated. Because I believed that I knew that she
was going to be the one that takes us to
that next level when when you're able to have the
(18:27):
same synergy.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Right.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
And you know, Asia was hell to deal with, right
because she's young, Like she with the private school for
like twelve years. All of her school he was a
private school, and so she needed to be roughened up
a little bit to get her ready for what she faces.
(18:51):
Like she faces the critics right now, but I know,
I know she can handle them because we took her
through all of that. Like she had this leg right
throughout her college career. And I'm like, okay, you're going
to read in front of the team every time we
have a game because we have a like a you know,
you know, we have a scripture reading and an inspirational
(19:13):
reading before every pregame meal and there's somebody that has
to read it. So I was like, you're gonna read.
It took her her senior year. Couldn't do it the
first second, the third her senior year, she read out loud,
and she had fun with it. She had y'all, this
is alone, y'all gonna have to bear with me. Like
it was that kind of liberation some when when she
(19:36):
gave her entire self to me, the good, the bad,
the ugly entire And you know that's why I just
have a really strong like relationship with her, Like she
could tell me anything, like I'm non judgmental, Like young
people won't want to tell you everything because they think
you're gonna judge them, don't. I don't judge. Like there's
(19:58):
nothing that any one of my current former future players
can tell me that that's gonna rock me that I
haven't seen, like everybody's been through. Like there's no new problems,
it's the same old, recycled problems. So just give it
here so you're not dealing with it longer than you
need to.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
What what's something about your relationship with Asia that the
fans and media don't see what it means the most
to you.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
She gives me her darkest moments. Wow, like her darkest
Like you see a an incredibly like gift. I think
she's the best player in the world, right, she's the
best player in the world. I mean she she has
doubts at times, like whether she's going to perform at
this level, and she she gives me that, and I
(20:45):
you know, I'm like, yeah, there's a lot of pressure,
so you know, I've had experience with it because I
played with the best player in the world during my day,
Lisa Leslie. Same conversations I had with Lisa, like Okay,
it's time for you to be the best playing the world,
Like come championship time, come gold medal time, like I'm
(21:07):
used to giving them, I'm used to pumping them up.
And at the end of the conversation, thank you, coach.
I mean, and it's not much, it's just boom, be
done with it, biest even in less than four right
when you say you have to do what you don't
want to do to get what you want, you weren't
even good with people at first. You said you could not.
(21:28):
You had a job that you had got through your
mom's cleaning. She would get your jobs through her cleaning company,
and you didn't even it wasn't a company. My mom
was a one woman show these jobs. And you did
not do good with greeting people because that means you
had to talk to people. That's not even what you
wanted to do. And then look at you now, like
(21:49):
that journey from there to there? How it like? How
did you get there doing that you didn't even want
to do? Communicate with people. Well, when when you're when
you're the youngest of five, you don't really get to say,
I grew up in the household. I'm the youngest, Like
nobody gave me any credit. I couldn't speak, Like I
(22:10):
got an older brother who's like eight years older, my
my deceased next oldest brother seven years my sister's six
years older than me, and I got another brother that's
two years older than me. Like, you're not getting to
say in our household. So I was quiet, observant, listen,
really form discernment, you know, doing those during those times,
(22:34):
and then you grow, like you really grow. When I
went to college, I was still the same way, Like
I never talked, I was shy and then and then
you know, things start happening to you, and you're like,
if I don't say anything, they're gonna start taking advantage
of me. So now you know, I think growing up
(22:57):
and seeing things and that's you know it, It's so
cool that you know how I explain myself in this book.
It lends itself to another lesson, which is look, sound feel.
If something looks, sounds or feels off, oh I'm addressing it.
I can't like it's in me to address it. If
(23:18):
it looks sounds or feels off, I mean off, I'm addressing.
If it looks sounds it feels good, I'm encouraging it.
Like it is. It is. It is that That's where
I found my voice when something just didn't seem right,
or something that really seemed right, that that I wanted
more of.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
What accolade meant the most to you.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
I would say, I'm so far from my plan days
that I don't even really count that. Probably when when
my players graduate, that's that's that's the best feeling, because
because we sit in the living rooms and we say
your child will graduate, and sometimes it's the first generational
college graduate. Do you know what that means to the family, Like,
(24:06):
it's not it just doesn't impact that my player in
impacts everybody that comes after her or everybody in her
current family that that desires to get a higher education.
They'll they'll go out and do it because it's not
tangible in some homes, it's not it's not something that
(24:26):
someone has ever done in their household, and for that
to happen, their their generations will change from that. So
it's just the impact.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Of that, you know, it's interesting record. I was watching
you yesterday. You did Good Morning in America to view
Kobe all of that stuff like that. So you was working,
but I still know you're still the coach at the
University of South Carolina. But I was like, oh, you
know what, she'll be fine because she used to play
ball and coach at the same time, which I found
out about in the book.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
That was insane six years. That's crazy six years. I
mean when I when I got into coaching, I was
like in my prime, so you know the ad at
the time. He kept asking me like he was persistent,
like I'm like, no, no, I'm not interested. I'm playing
in the WNBA and this is and then he just
(25:14):
kept asking. And then then I ended up having to
go meet with him because the final four was in Philly.
I'm from Philly. He knew I was going to be there.
So I went and sat down with him and he
asked me two questions. He was like, can you lead?
Did you do your research? Like did you like And
I was like yeah, I basically was the captain on
(25:35):
every team that I played on, right, And then he
was like, can you turn Temple women's basketball program around?
And I was like, oh, is that a challenge? Like
is that really a challenge? Because I'm drawing the challenges
and I and I never looked at it that way,
and I never answered the question. I don't even think
I answered the question. He was like, Hey, can you
(25:57):
just come down the hall and meet some people? So
I was like, okay, I'm here, and he took me
in this conference room, sat me at the head of
the table and they were like ten or twelve people
sitting around this table and they're asking me questions like
what do you see yourself in five years? I'm like
playing in the WNBA. And they were like, do you
haven't seen yourself coaching? And I'm like no, Like y'all
(26:21):
they were interviewing me. I was on a job interview
and I didn't know it because all my job interviews
were tryouts like basketball like physical tryouts. And needless to say,
I took the job two weeks later and they just
agreed to allow me to continue to play and coach.
(26:41):
So I was in like basketball utopia because I was
coaching and I'm actually still able to express myself on
the court because I wasn't ready to hang up my shoes.
I was still very much a player, and I think
that allowed me to play a little bit longer than
I wanted to, and that allowed me to keep staying
(27:04):
fresh with what was up with teaching young people because
they were more enthralled with me playing because that's what
they wanted, Like I was living their dream right before
their very eyes. And I think it just helped me
be a better coach, be a more understanding coach, because
I was a player receiving information from a coach, and
(27:26):
then I just helped the dynamics of what I was doing.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
And I guess we learned how to get you to
do things, be persistent, get a challenge, right.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Like as I think about it all and this is
not in the book, but everybody that I have in
my you know, you know, in my circle, Like I
got a financial guide. He pressed me for one for
a whole year when I was at South Carolina. He
would come and just visit, just checking, and then you know,
finally I gave all my money to him, like seventeen
(27:59):
years later, where he's still with me, and it's it's
the coolest thing to have someone just because you know,
like it pour in like I mean, you pour it
into me. With this book, like you you understood it,
Like I didn't want to write a book, like I don't.
I don't know why, but I didn't want to write
a book. But then when when we won last year
(28:22):
in an undefeated way, like I'm like, this is this
is my my cut running through. This is uncommon favor,
and we we tried to we tried to come up
with different titles with the book, and it always came
back to this because this really explains my entire life,
Like if I had to describe my my, my life,
(28:45):
my career, my it's uncommon favor.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Like to the m degree, have you ever a question
whether you were too hard or not hard enough on
a play?
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Yeah? Yeah, yeah there was there was. I mean, it's
all teaching moments where I I wanted a freshman to
beat out a senior. When I kind of first my
first couple of years at South Carolina, we you know,
we recruited this young lady because I thought she would
be the best. I was like, this is the one
(29:16):
I want, so all of our coaching staff we zeroed
in on her. She committed, she came, and then I
was I was really hard on her, like like you
gotta do I tried to pour everything in because I
wanted her to beat the senior out. I couldn't just
give her. I couldn't just give her. I just I'm
not in it. You gotta earn it because you gotta
(29:37):
you gotta protect your locker room, because if you're just
giving out something and you lose trust. So I wanted
so I poured into her. I was hard on her,
and she cried at different times of the season, and
then I would talk to her like I thought everything
was good. You know, we were working towards it. Sometimes
they cried. Sometimes you know, they can they can take it.
(29:58):
And then at the end of the sea, like I
always do, I meet, I have our postseason meeting and
she says something I just didn't It didn't dawn on
me during the year, Like she was like, I wasn't ready.
And I never thought she wasn't ready. If she would
have said that to me like during the during the season,
(30:18):
I would have I would have backed off. But she
was just like I wasn't ready, and I'm like, I'm sorry.
So I do think that it strained our relationship. I
think she understands it now because she's a coach now,
so she kind of understands it. But I had to
change how I operated in that space because and I
(30:39):
ask our players to talk to me more like I
could be. I could be a better coach when you
talk to me. If not, I'm assuming that everything I'm
saying you're good with. So now it's like, how you
feel about this, how you want to play this, how
you want to do this, what do y'all think? I'm
more of a listener and I involved and more inclusive
with game planning, inclusive with how we handle problems that
(31:03):
come up on the team, between teammates, all of that.
I'm just like, we talk it out. Like we talk
it out, I expect like it's not a rhetorical question,
it is an inclusive question. Hey, let's let's talk about this,
because I find that if you don't address it, it grows,
and then you're halfway through the season, and like y'all
(31:25):
still on that when a two minute conversation could resolve
it all.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
I wanted to ask about your father, right. You mentioned
your father earlier in an interview and you said your
relationship wasn't that great, but you said it got better
over the years. Do you understand some of the things
that your father was trying to implementing you as a
young girl, because they said that your father looked at
women's basketball and felt there wasn't too many opportunities and
didn't know if you could sustain at that time. And
(31:53):
do you wish that you kind of put yourself in
his mentality back then as a child, because even with
the name of the book, it says basketball in North Philly,
my mother.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
But you know, I think I think even the one
like family members that are that are closest to you, yes,
I thought, I, yes, I should have had a much
more mature outlook on that relationship now that you can
(32:24):
reflect on it now that you can see because I
held that and I you know, if you can hear that,
I still hold that instance. But when you when you're
coaching right and you come up, you know, with you
come into a situation where you hurt a player like
you heard that player that was like probably twelve years ago.
(32:44):
I heard that player, like, it drives me to not
hurt other players, right, And I wasn't mature enough or
savvy enough to handle that at twelve or thirteen. So
I do think it's helped me be a better coach.
It helps me be a better person to really like again,
(33:06):
I didn't talk about things I held that for my
father probably didn't, probably doesn't. He's been he's been dead
and gone since two thousand and one. Like I don't
even think he really knew how much that hurt me.
But also use that to navigate the nose, Like I
handle nose a lot better because of that. Because of that,
(33:31):
it wasn't like my mom. I was the baby girl,
the baby girl, so the baby girl holds a special place,
and you know with your mother. My father was a
tremendously like not high education like he didn't he but
he was worldly like he knew he was a carpenter,
he was a mechanic, he knew everything worldly from when
(33:55):
I was younger until adulthood. And he really had a
stronger relationship with my other siblings because they were older
too that they could have a conversation with him about anything.
And I still used to sit back, even as an adult,
sit back and kind of listen to them have these
(34:15):
conversations about prime ministers and presidency and politics. Like I
wish he was alive today to hear his perspective on
what what's happening in our world today, because he was
super up with everything.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
I love to respect the power of habit chapter. And
in that chapter, you speak extremely highly of South Carolina's
own Malaysia for a while, and you even refer to
her as a younger, savvier version of you. You say,
and this is a quote I heard from so many
adults who gave their own parents hell, only to see
their teenagers return to favor. Now it's my turn in
(34:56):
the battle. So when I see you had when I
read that, and I was like, she had so much
from Malaysia. What was your initial reaction when she decided
to enter the portal? And was surprising you?
Speaker 1 (35:06):
So surprising? No, I think, you know, being in this space,
you you you, you become you know, to expect the unexpected, right.
I still have much love for Mylisia, like much love,
Like I want her happy. She came in, said she
and a mom came in. She said, I think I'm
(35:29):
going to get into the transfer portals. I'm like, okay,
well you think or you know, And she said I know,
And I said, well, I said, I only want you happy,
like I really do. Only want our players happy, whether
that's that's with us or somewhere else. Just be happy.
I told her, don't look back. I know it's probably
gonna be hard to not look back to see you know,
(35:51):
you leaving your hometown and all that. I said, don't
look back, like you know you made this decision. Just
go forward with it and don't look back. Uh, You're
always gonna be a game cock. You're always gonna be
welcomed here. I wish her the best. And when I
say that, people probably think, oh, but I do, like
I really do, like, cause I am. What's for us
(36:13):
is for us. What's not it was not Let's keep moving.
I don't stay in I don't stay in despair. I
don't stay in those spaces for very long. I'm like, Okay,
we got we gotta get we gotta get recruiting. We
gotta get back into this portal to see who we
can get, you know, to to help us. I think
she's gonna have a promising career. I do think she's
(36:35):
a generational talent that will never leave.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Like.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
She does things on the basketball court that I've never
seen a woman do, and she's she'll continue to do
that and will continue to be happy for her. Except
the one or two times that we have to play
them like it's on, like it's this, She's gonna be
super competitive against us. We're gonna we're gonna want to win,
and it's gonna be a pride thing that comes with
(36:59):
just being, you know, a competitor. And we got much
love for her in the family.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
What do you feel like the transfer portal era forces
coaches to evolve faster when it comes to like player relationship.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
Yeah, well for me, I need that, like I need
to have a relationship with you. I need I need that,
like I'm not good and you know, one off, so
I'm not good at at you know, transactional relationships, like
I'm not good. You know, I don't want to turn
my heart off, you know, like my heart is the
(37:34):
is the thing that leads me and I need that
type of connection and I'm never gonna I'm never gonna
go there with the transfer portal transactional mindset, it's it's
helped and it's hurt. Like I do think that I
do think that something needs to happen regarding how many
(37:55):
times you can transfer, like how many? Like how many
is how many? Like one I think is great, Like
you pick the wrong school, you find the right school transfer. Now,
I think when you're able to transfer two three, you
can be at four different schools in four years. And
(38:17):
does it create more opportunity for them to be wealthier? Yes,
it does. And I think us women are trying to
get all of that back because I think our game
has been held down for so long that now that
this space is open to us and we're thriving in it.
We're thriving in the name, image and likeness space. We're thriving.
(38:42):
But I don't want people to lose sight of what
team is. Like. My whole life is built around team.
My personal life. I got a team of people, team
of friends that come, hell of how water, We're gonna
stick together. Whether we agree or disagree, we're gonna do
(39:03):
it agreeably. And I just I want that for our game.
I don't want I don't want our game to lose
that part of it because it's the very thing that's
been attracting and magnetic to the fans.
Speaker 3 (39:16):
Now this this has nothing to do with the boat,
but I wanted to ask this. Were talking about players.
You know, the w NBA has has taken a huge
jump in the last couple of years, and I love it.
My daughters love it, my sons love it. What do
you think what's going on in the WNBA with it?
It seems like they're pitting, you know, Caitlin Clark against
Angel Reese, right, kind of what they did in the
NBA back in the day. But it was more teams, right,
(39:36):
I guess not maybe not teams. It was Magic Bird.
This one is that one, But this one, it just
seems like it seems very personable. So what are your thoughts,
like even the other day with that foul and they
called it a flagrant foul. I don't necessarily agree, but
what are your thoughts on it?
Speaker 1 (39:49):
You don't think it was a flagrant foul.
Speaker 3 (39:51):
I think it was just a foul from what I've
seen me playing basketball and me watching basketball. I think
if it would have been anybody else, it might have
just been a foul. I don't don't know if it's
a flairre So just asking your thought.
Speaker 1 (40:00):
Well, I think the officiating has a has a hard job.
That's one the decipher whether or not that's a flavored
one or not. Hard job, hard job, And I do
think they understand the dynamics of Angel and Caitlin. I
do I think it's great for our game because it's like, yeah,
like it's a sport. Treat us like a sport. Don't
(40:23):
treat us anything other than being a sport. It happens
in every sport, Soccer, basketball, football, it happens in every sport.
So let it be. I'm gonna I'm gonna take the
lead of Angel and Caitlin, and that lead is they
said it was a it was a file. The officials
got it right. We're moving on. That's what I'm saying. I'
(40:45):
gonna take their lead. Okay, I think it's I think
it's it. It pulls people in, people in. I do
think there are new fans that haven't watched our game
and they really don't know, so they only they're only
singlely focused on Kate one, right, right, So when you're
(41:06):
that and that's that's that's that's their idol, that's who
attracts them. But I just hope that they'll open their
eyes to the rest of the talent that that is there.
Like the product. The product is incredible, like and it's
in high demand. We played Caitlyn in the National Championship
(41:29):
last year, right twenty twenty million A topped off at
whatever it topped off at the most right. I know,
I know they saw us like I know they saw us.
I know they saw us have an undefeated season. I
know they saw Camilla Cardozo. I know they saw Ashland Waxase.
(41:50):
I know they saw Tessa Johnson have an incredible care
career or day. I know they saw my Lasier do
some incredible things like so, so open your eyes up
to seeing you know, out outside of Caitlin, well not
even outside included because she's a part of a part
of it all. So you know, I'm looking forward to
(42:11):
the next time they play too, I'm gonna be glueden
just like everybody else.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
Yes, the wrong call in that scenario, Waston getting called
for a text.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Exactly she didn't even know until after the game. But
do you feel like she tight with her Money's like
she she wants somebody to pay her fine.
Speaker 3 (42:30):
You feel like they let the players play because I
know it's not just w n b A but NBA too.
It just seems like they're taking too much control and
not letting the players play.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
Again. Officiating hard hard because you want them to just play,
But you also know that they can escalate and and
we know when things escalate, whether it's basketball, whether it's policing.
We know when they escalate. We gotta we got to
learn how to de escalate and then allowed the players
(43:00):
to do what they do. The game, The game itself
is going to lend itself to whatever, whether it's really physical,
whether it's you know, free flowing, it's gonna it's gonna
lend itself to whatever it is. I just think that
officiating is a tough, tough job, not even not even that,
(43:20):
Like coaches are like on your on your butt all
the time, like I'm include in me, like like it's
it's it's it's they get I mean they get paid
a whole lot of money too to take that. But
they're they're the they're the best in our game. Like
they're the best. If there were better people to officiate
the games, they would already be in the game.
Speaker 3 (43:43):
Last question about that's the replay feature.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Like it?
Speaker 2 (43:46):
I hate it?
Speaker 1 (43:48):
I like it. I like it because officials make mistakes, right,
I mean, it allows you, it allows them to be
directed because because they're they're wrong. Like I would say this,
we we have officiating conversations every year when we go
(44:11):
to our spring meetings. Then it's it's if they have
a like a ninety correct call rate.
Speaker 3 (44:20):
That's excellent, that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (44:23):
Well what about the ten percent? Does the games really exactly?
What about the ten percent? Like what what's done to
them for being for calling something incorrectly ten percent of
the time? That has implications up for US N Cuba seating, right,
(44:45):
like for you know, for the NBA. You know, like
like every game matters, right, So, I mean, you're they're
never going to get that part right. But it's part
of the game. Is it's part of the dynamics of
the game. That again is conversation, and it's we should
(45:05):
have conversation. Like I don't think the officials want us
to have conversation about this, but you're a part of it.
You know, you don't get you know, if I'm gonna
get criticized for losing, you should get criticized, but not
making a correct call.
Speaker 2 (45:20):
I got a few more questions. I want to go
back to that that that chapter respect the power of
habits right, because when you talk about Malaysia, it is
with such reference. How do you balance disappointment as a coach,
which support for somebody like her who just wanted to
make a decision for usself.
Speaker 1 (45:37):
Like like if if a young person is going to
speak on what what what they deem is good for them? Uh,
that's that's half the battle. Like half the battle is
to be able to speak up. And you know how
hard it was for her to do that, like really hard,
really hard. So I understand that dynamics of her decision making.
(46:02):
And then it's like, okay, well what do you do
with it? Like if she was my player and you know,
there was there was a chance for her to want
to come back, or if she decided that this is
that that's not what she wanted to do. I was
going to talk to her about why why did it?
Why did it come to that? What makes you think
(46:22):
this isn't a place for you?
Speaker 2 (46:25):
What?
Speaker 1 (46:27):
And for whatever she said, we would we would go
from there. I thought Malaysia, Malaysia was was getting better,
Like I really I saw a whole lot of growth
on and off the court to where like unless she
was gonna get the best of her now, like we
went through the you know, we went through the hard
(46:48):
part of just kind of smoothing some rough edges and
getting her to create good habits, Like like I do
think habits are the thing that that allows you to elevate, right,
I do you know? So? I think I think what
we've given her and what she's given us will will
(47:11):
allow her to to have much better days, much more
consistent days than she had with us.
Speaker 2 (47:17):
At her next stop, did she know you felt that
way about her? She's gonna read the book and be like, damn,
you know.
Speaker 1 (47:22):
And I want to clarify the book was written already
before she made a decision. The book was written, you know,
months ago. I'm sure I share my feelings like I don't.
I don't have I don't. I don't hide anything. I
wear my heart on my shoulder. I do think my
Lasier really knows how I felt about her. I know
(47:43):
her mother knows. I know, you know, regardless of why
she came to that conclusion of of wanting to leave,
I know she she knows she felt our love. Now,
you know, the playing time, the whatever, the you know,
for us, maybe taking her out of the game when
she felt like she wanted to just kind of keep
(48:03):
playing through some things. Now she probably questions that part
of it, And I'm okay with that. A lot of
a lot of players leave because here playing time, a
lot of people leave. It's not for it's not for
all the other stuff, because we treat them like royalty,
like royalty, like we're probably enablers when it comes to
(48:24):
the treatment that we give our players.
Speaker 2 (48:27):
So I'm sure she would have started this year her junior.
Speaker 1 (48:30):
Right, I mean who else was gonna hold her down? Like? So, yeah,
I mean it wasn't. I don't think it was. I
don't think it came down to starting, I really don't.
I think it came down to her wanting to play
free and do you know what what she wanted to
do in and who's to say she wouldn't have been
(48:51):
able to do that, you know, in her her junior year.
Speaker 2 (48:53):
So what's the relationship with coaches? If coach Kim Lsu
calls you and ask for some tips on how to
coach relaysia for a while, you give.
Speaker 1 (49:00):
Any on your own? Wrong? Yeah, like it ain't. I
ain't gonna help you help her beat us? Nah. The
thing about your book like that, your stories and your experiences, baby,
this basketball texture? What was that conversation like that? What
(49:23):
was it? Because I know this you wanted to do this,
But did they say did they give you push? Back
on it, like no, we're not able to we don't
know or just see just you see a woman sees
all that that that is that's a strategic part of Yeah.
They we got the cover back right, and it was
just a smooth surface like that, like the front of it.
(49:43):
I'm like, this would be cool if it could feel
like a basketball, like I mean the color, like like
this would be really cool.
Speaker 2 (49:51):
Now.
Speaker 1 (49:52):
This was really late in the process, like really late.
They were like, oh, I don't we don't think. We
don't think we could do that. And when and I
didn't know they were working on I didn't I didn't
know that they were actually got it done until I
got my first copy and I was like whoat, Oh wow, yes, yes,
like I didn't want that, liket, this is so created.
Speaker 2 (50:15):
Yes, congratulations on your statue in Columbia, South Carolina. You
and Asia Wilson got statues in Columbia. What would it
take for a player to get a statue at the
University of South Carolina? Because I know they coming they
be like, damn, Asia got one, what can I do
to get that?
Speaker 1 (50:31):
I mean Boston Ali Boston had a incredible career, Like
she did some things that Asia didn't do like she
she really did did some things that Asia didn't do.
I think when it when it comes in her impact,
like I think Asia the total person of proximity to
(50:52):
South Carolina really helped her calls, you know. But Alia
from a basketball perspective, from a community like she is
all about community and what she stands for. Like she's
a young lady. That's really I mean if she was
from South Carolina, there will already be a statue like
(51:13):
already and you know the trajectory of her career, her
impact that she'll have in the w n B A
I do think she's an Olympian. I I I'll start
the campaign of getting Aliyah. I mean Asia's and my
statue are like two blocks from each other. You know,
(51:36):
why not go two more blocks and you can hear
all the statues for Aaliyah, all the statues in in
one pot.
Speaker 2 (51:43):
But'll win more championships.
Speaker 1 (51:46):
So we we we? Yeah? I willing yes.
Speaker 2 (51:50):
Final question, Charlotte Sting, why can't we bring them back
to the Carolina.
Speaker 1 (51:55):
Yeah, I get I get this question, and I get
this question about Philly too, because Philly, Philly wants to
wants a w NBA team. I do think the Hornets
and the Sixers got to do better. They gotta do better.
They gotta do better, you know, Like it's I think
it's great when when the NBA team is doing great,
(52:18):
it helps with the whole conroderie. But I do think
I will say this, Sorry Philly, Sorry Philly, but I
do think Charlotte's more ready for w NBA team just
from a fan perspective, like we draw like we are.
We we draw were the highest attended games in the
(52:39):
country at South Carolina like for the for the past
ten years. Like no one's outdrawing us over the past
ten years. So I do think I do think we're
ready from that perspective. But it's it's more than fan support,
you know, it's a business. It's resources. Who's going to
pour in to the team. If the team doesn't do
well in the first year or two, which is highly likely,
(53:04):
will there be enough you know, resources pour poured into
a team.
Speaker 2 (53:11):
We can put together the right investment group.
Speaker 1 (53:13):
I think so too. I'm down because people want me
to coach in the w I don't. I don't want
to coach in I want to own. I want I
want ownership there.
Speaker 2 (53:23):
You have it. I would invest. I got a little dollars.
I got a couple of dollars. Well, thank you, Don.
New book Uncommon Favor of Basketball in North Philly, my
mother in the life Lessons I learned from all three
is available everywhere you buy books. Now go get it.
You are guaranteed to learn something. You are a living Don.
We appreciate your presence on this earth. We thank God
(53:44):
for you.
Speaker 1 (53:45):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (53:46):
And listen. I want everybody to remember that today Don
Staley will be at the Barnes and Noble Fifth Avenue
in New York City. If you're in New York City,
you can go see Don Staley at Barns and Noble
one pm today, five five five Fifth Avenue in New York.
Go get a copy of Uncommon Favor, signed Don. Thank
you again. It's the Breakfast Club.
Speaker 1 (54:06):
Good morning, Wake that ass up in the morning.
Speaker 2 (54:09):
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