Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up everybody?
It's your favorite show'sfavorite show, get a Bucket.
I'm your host, trey, and asusual, I hope you're all having
a wonderful, wonderful day.
Now, today we're going to talkabout the WNBA expansion because
a couple of y'all has beensaying a few things.
But before we get more intothat, please make sure to hit
that like and subscribe button.
Comment, tell anyone who'sanyone about the show, trying to
get the ratings up a little bit.
You, we're going to talk aboutthe WNBA expansion Now.
(00:22):
Some of y'all on my pages havebeen saying well, the expansion
is not really going to be asgood as I'm thinking, and
everybody else Right, and I, I,I hear you, I hear you.
Matter of fact, I get itbecause you might be thinking
(00:45):
well, based on what happened inthe past, history repeats itself
.
So I get it, I get.
Now y'all might be wonderingwell, what happened in the past?
Well, that's why we're here totalk about the history, right
quick, of the expansion.
So, as we can see on the screen, the WNBA was founded in 1997.
Now we had eight teams mySparks, the Houston Comets, the
Cleveland Rockers, the PhoenixMercury, the New York Liberty,
(01:07):
the Sacramento Monarchs, theCharlotte Sting and the Utah
Stars.
Those were the eight teams thatthat were at the beginning.
All right, they was at thebeginning.
Now, since that time, going upto 2000, we had about 16 total
teams and that's been the mostteams the WNBA has had.
And at one time all right, goodtimes, good times.
(01:30):
Anytime you need a payment,good times, like I promise you
those are good times.
We lost four teams from 2000 tolike what?
2009.
So I hear you guys when you'resaying the expansion is not
going to go as well as we thinkit might, because we've already
(01:53):
expanded.
We went from eight to 16, to 12.
I hear you, but let's factorinto what.
We've had some rebrands, allright, and some of these teams
might be making a U-turn.
Okay, they might be making acomeback.
So, because of that and youalso got to remember too we're
(02:14):
in a trend where WNBA istrending upwards.
Okay, like, this is a nicelittle situation that the WNBA
is in.
Because of that, as you can see, we're going from 12 teams to
18.
And keep in mind that that 12does not include the Golden
State Valkyries, who arecurrently in playoff contention.
(02:34):
Now we could talk about howthere are less teams, how people
talk about there are eightteams back in the day.
Oh, everybody could get toplayoffs.
All right, cool, you could tryto make that the case for the
Valkyries.
They still hooping, thoughthey're playing who's in front
of them.
So again, ladies and gentlemen,there's no real reason why we
(02:54):
can't expect these new teams tocome up and perform pretty well
Pretty quickly too, by the way,like some of these rebranded
teams in the NBA, they didpretty well pretty soon.
Remember OKC, their champs?
Now, right, they went fromSeattle to OKC and we're doing
pretty well with Kevin Durant,james Harden and Russell
(03:16):
Westbrook.
So again, new teams forming,expanding.
You get to see new talent,ladies and gentlemen.
That's what I'm looking forwardto.
So the expansion has not come,so let's talk about the future
impacts that the expansion mighthave Now for me, I do like the
fact that the expansion is goingto be bringing in new talent.
(03:40):
Like I said, 18 teams, ladiesand gentlemen.
We have, of course, the GoldenState Valkyries, which we're now
including, but that's not partof the five that this article is
talking about.
You got the Toronto Tem thisarticle is talking about.
You got the Toronto Tempo andthe Portland Fire.
They come in 2026.
You got the Connecticut Sunbecoming a team in Boston.
That's supposed to happen asearly as 2027.
(04:01):
Then we got the ClevelandRockers, probably making a
return in 2028.
The Detroit Shock probablymaking a return in 2029.
I'm saying probably because ofthe last names, the Rockers and
the Shock.
They probably going to bringback the names.
Then the Philadelphia Blitzes Idon't know, I'm basing this off
of the owners because that'swhat it seems to be like.
But either way, philly gettingto Team 2030.
(04:33):
Ladies and gentlemen, I get thatthere might be some CBA
concerns.
We're hearing lockouts, right?
Rest assured, the WNBA is goingto continue.
The women are going to get paidtheir worth, but it's not going
to be an obscene amount too.
We got to work towards thenumber that they probably
actually want.
That's just my personal opinion.
I'm not behind the scenes.
I don't know the exact numberthat they want, but I did.
That's just my personal opinion.
(04:53):
I'm not behind the scenes.
I don't know the exact numberthat they won't, but I did think
when they got the initial dealdone let's play for about three
seasons and show that the leagueis valued at what it is, and
you can then tax later on, right, all right, cool.
So this 60 additional rosterspots by 2030,.
Ladies and gentlemen, Igenuinely do like that.
Ok, because when I'm looking atthis, right here, again, we're
(05:18):
talking about 18 teams.
Later on, 13 teams.
Right here they cool.
But again, ladies and gentlemen,I'm talking about 60 additional
roster spots by 2030.
We're talking about newopportunities.
Imagine the trade deadline justpassed, right?
(05:39):
Well, what about some of theplayers that got waived?
Couldn't they be on teams now?
Like, don't we have newopportunities?
Aren't you excited to hearthese names called?
Don't we have new opportunities?
Aren't you excited to hearthese names called?
Because, again, let's think of,like a Kayla Thornton for an
example, right, like, I thinkyou all know Kayla Thornton
(05:59):
fairly decently, right, if youdon't, here she is.
Well, kayla Thornton was on theLiberty.
Okay, pete, actually, before wescroll down, all-star one time.
And a wmba champ 2024.
Let's go to her stats.
Right, fast, 2024 stats sixpoints, three, three rebounds,
(06:22):
one assist, one steal like thoseare solid numbers for the role
that she played.
But this next season, well,she's able to actually be more
of a star and well, she gave anall-star performance.
So again, ladies and gentlemen,some of these players just need
the opportunity to actuallyshowcase what their real worth
(06:45):
is and a lot of times on teamsyou don't.
Everybody has roles and unlessyou that, unless you that person
, or unless you get the righttiming, hey, you might just have
to be a role player champ.
You might have to be what KaylaThornton was 2024, that she
became a champion off of that2025, we look at Kayla Thornton
a little bit differently.
(07:05):
Hey, kayla, you might be ableto lead your team to a playoffs
because the Valkyries, in theirdebut season, they were about to
do that.
How about in a situation likethe Lynx had with Brandi Reid?
Okay, now, brandi Reid, if y'allpeep, is a one-time all-star.
Ladies and gentlemen, y'all seethat the picture's not there?
(07:26):
All right, cool, I get you, Iget you.
So, for those of y'all see thatthe picture's not there, all
right, cool, I get you, I getyou.
So, for those of y'all who'swondering who Brandi Reed is
this Brandi right here, that'sBrandi, that's Brandi.
So I hope y'all getting a goodglimpse, all right.
But Brandi Reed, I bring her up,ladies and gentlemen, because
this girl, she was part of the1999 expansion draft, okay, okay
(07:47):
, and then became an all-star.
I don't know if y'all peepingthese trends right now, the
expansion draft.
Then, shortly after all-starberth, like Kayla Thornton,
all-star berth 2025.
Right as the expansion drafthit, brandi Reid, she had the
(08:09):
expansion draft.
Then you got the all-star berthin 2000.
I'll be peeping a little trendMVP discussion even Like, ladies
and gentlemen, that's not y'allsee the MVP discussion right
here.
Y'all.
Come on now.
That's not bad.
That's not bad.
But more importantly, 19.6rebounds, three assists, two
(08:31):
steals and a block on 51-42-90splits.
Brandy Reed, you might bewondering why you ain't heard of
her too much.
That was because ofdisciplinary actions.
So I do hear you.
That has nothing to do with theexpansion draft, though, like
that has everything to do withBrandy Reed the player, because,
(08:54):
again, these players' mindsets,they have a chip on their
shoulder.
They're trying to showcasetheir actual value.
Now they have the opportunityto do so.
Again, brandi Reid yeah, fivepoints to then 16.
That's pure opportunity.
That's pure opportunity, ladiesand gentlemen.
(09:15):
Again Kayla Thornton, samething Five points to 14.
That's pure opportunity, that'spure opportunity.
So, mindset goes a long way, orwhat about this?
What about?
Let's look at some of thesecurrent teams, right?
(09:37):
What about some of the newteams, now that we, or the teams
, now that we admire the bigtrios, right, the big stars of
today's game.
What happens when they getolder?
What happens if the young gunsstart to usurp the league?
We already saw three rookiesstarting or being in the
(09:59):
All-Star game.
We got some young players inthe All-Star game already.
Every year, for the last three,four seasons, a rookie has been
at least entering the All-Stargame.
That's nothing to scoff at.
You may want to pay attentionOut with the old, in with the
new.
Well, these old guns are goingto have to go somewhere.
These new teams might be placesthat could what bolster a new
(10:22):
super team.
Imagine, imagine thePhiladelphia whatevers having a
new super team.
Imagine Boston changing fromConnecticut and becoming a new
super team or being able to forma new super team real quick
just because of the name.
Imagine that.
I'm just saying, ladies andgentlemen, you got to peep these
(10:44):
players' mindsets From theexpansion draft.
Maybe they want to revitalizetheir careers.
There's a bevy of reasons whynew teams can really work out.
But again, though, I understandwhy people, I hear why people
say the expansion draft isn't asgood Because, again, going back
(11:07):
to the history, we have lostsome people, we have lost some
teams along the way.
But, ladies and gentlemen, if wecan't make a gamble now,
especially with the WNBAtrending upwards, I don't know
when we can.
There's way too much talentcoming in.
(11:28):
There's about 30, no, no,there's 36 women that get
drafted every year.
Not a lot of them actually play.
So you mean to tell me we can'tmake more WNBA teams?
Come on now.
That's crazy Hell.
(11:49):
The roster spots are already 12right now.
Can we bump it up to 15?
That could be.
That would be nice, just sayingso again.
Ladies and gentlemen, I do hearyou on the expansion draft, on
the expansion maybe not going aswell as you think because of
the history.
Gotta be a little moreoptimistic about that.
But I mean, I hear it too,though.
(12:10):
So, ladies and gentlemen, thatdoes conclude the episode.
But I am curious what's yourtake on the WNBA expansion draft
?
I've talked positively, I'vetalked positively about it.
Next time I'll probably talkmore negatively just to balance
it out.
But I got to say, though, as asports fan y'all see the jersey,
(12:31):
y'all see the sweatshirt.
Hey, bro, I like it, Igenuinely do.
But I'm curious what y'allthoughts are about the expansion
overall.
But like I said, ladies andgentlemen, that's all the time
we have.
So please make sure to one,continue to support the WNBA.
We're going to need it becausewe're trying to get these
expansion teams popping right.
But two, also continue tosupport my page.
So please make sure you like,subscribe, comment, tell anyone
(12:55):
who's anyone about the show.
My name is Trey.
I'm the host of Get a Bucket.
Hope you all are having a goodone, take care.