Today on The Breakfast Club, Dawn Staley Talks 'Uncommon Favor,' WNBA; MiLaysia Fulwiley, Caitlin Clark Vs. Angel Reese. Listen For More!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wake that ass up in the morning. Breakfast Club Morning,
Everybody's d J n V.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Just Hilarius Charlamagne the guy. We are the Breakfast Club.
We got a special guest.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
In the building, the icon living Dawn Stanley. Welcome back.
Speaker 3 (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.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Talking about you.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
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 1 (00:35):
How are you feeling.
Speaker 3 (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.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yeah he did.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
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.
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
(01:08):
you know that's that's what I'm attracted to most. It's
like somebody that actually is it persistent yet 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 4 (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 learn 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 3 (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
liked what didn't go right in the book, and then
we have yet to get to that point. And I
(02:03):
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.
Some of it is just I'm able to just get
(02:26):
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
therapeutic at all to do it. No, it was just natural.
(02:47):
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 pump 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 4 (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 3 (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 now 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 a 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 2 (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 about 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 3 (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 and never had trash in it, like it was.
It was captain in a way that would would compete
with any suburban lawn like or neighborhood. So it was
(06:59):
it was all those 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 2 (07:30):
I can imagine, because you know, being a player, I'm
sure you gotta scream that crazy.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
But if you dare talk to your girls like that.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
You can. 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 or 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 disciplined.
(08:00):
Not I am. I am, but all of our rules
are are just good character themes, 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
(08:21):
you want. Like yeah, like 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 were you weren't very good at at the beginning, Like,
but you you want to be where you are today.
(08:42):
You just kept at it and kept at it and
kept at it. 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. 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 4 (09:23):
I love how you embrace your in a child That's
what I love this picture on the past. What's the
moment from your childhood that still shapes how you like
handle pressure today?
Speaker 3 (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. Like that hurt me, Like it really hurt me.
And I remembered it so vividly 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 out of state? Like
(10:19):
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 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 a book, it is I need conflict.
(10:41):
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.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
I don't have a critic yet.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
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 happens
(11:24):
to me, critics, 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 1 (11:46):
I love them.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
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 3 (11:55):
Yeah, I mean, the most growth takes place when you're uncomfortable,
the most 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, and
(12:17):
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. It's
(12:39):
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 4 (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 3 (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
(13:51):
had coaching friends, the only thing they talked about where
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,
(14:12):
like it's I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing.
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.
(14:32):
But for me, it's I'm overjoyed when they graduate. I'm
overjoyed on draft night. I'm overjoyed when they're able to
see their hard work produce what they want, like like
what they wanted, Like even if they don't make it
to the league, they're equipped, they're equipped with with being
(14:52):
successful with anything. Like seriously, that is that that does
something to my heart when when young people are able
to get what they're supposed to get.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
And how do you block out the noise? Or do
you like the noise because you said.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
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 3 (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 you dive into it. No, I mean I
look at it again and then I sometimes I'm like, okay,
ten nine eight seven, I got 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
drives me for sure.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
You know, you talked about your players.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
You got a lot of success stories from your time
coaching at the University of South Carolina, But.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
In the book, you make it no secret that Asia
Oshan is your favorite. M M.
Speaker 3 (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 didn't. 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):
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 Essa's like she got all the accolades coming off
the bench. And when someone believed, like when someone as
(18:08):
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 same synergy, right,
(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 was a private school,
and so she needed to be roughened up a little
bit to get her ready for what she faces. Like
(18:51):
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 see her
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
(19:11):
an inspirational 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 or 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
(19:34):
someone when she 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
(19:56):
they think you're going to judge them. I don't judge.
Like there's 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 4 (20:16):
What's something about your relationship with Asia that the fans
and media don't see what it means the most to you.
Speaker 3 (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, Yes, 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
(20:45):
I 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 play in
the world, like come championship time, come go medal time,
like I'm used to giving them, I'm used to pumping
(21:09):
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.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
It, 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. 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.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
It wasn't a company. My mom was a one woman
show these jobs.
Speaker 5 (21:41):
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 that journey from there to there?
Speaker 3 (21:51):
How it like?
Speaker 5 (21:53):
How did you get there doing that you didn't even
want to do?
Speaker 3 (21:56):
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 got
an older brother who's like eight years older my my
deceased next oldest brother seven years My sister's six years
(22:19):
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 doing those times. And
then you grow, like you really grow. When I went
to college, I was still the same way, Like I
(22:40):
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 and seeing
things and that's you know it. It's so cool that,
(23:02):
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
it looks sounds or feels off, I mean off, I'm
addressing if it looks, sounds and feels good, I'm encouraging
(23:24):
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 1 (23:35):
What accolade meant the most to you.
Speaker 3 (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 national
college graduate. Do you know what that means to the family,
(24:06):
Like 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 of that.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
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 3 (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 a 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
(25:56):
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 to 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 4 (27:30):
And I guess we learned how to get you to
do things, be persistent, a challenge, right.
Speaker 3 (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 guy, he pressed me for one for
a whole year when I was at South Carolina. He
would come and just visit, just check in, and then
you know, finally I gave all my money to him,
(27:58):
like seventeen years where he's still with me. And it's
it's the coolest thing to have someone just because you know,
like 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
(28:19):
a book. But then when when we won last year
in an undefeated way, like I'm like, this is this
is my my cup running through this is uncommon favor.
And we we tried to we tried to come up
with different titles for the book, and it always came
back to this because this really explains my entire life,
(28:41):
Like if I had to describe my my, my life,
my career, my it is uncommon favor. Like to the
m degree.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Have you ever question whether you were too hard or
not hard enough on a play?
Speaker 3 (28:54):
Yeah? Yeah, yeah there was.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
There was.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
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 I want, so all of our coaching
(29:17):
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 you gotta protect your locker room because
(29:39):
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. And then at the end of
(29:59):
the season, 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 it during the season, I would have I
would have backed off. But she was just like I
(30:21):
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 ask our players
to talk to me more like I could be I
(30:43):
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, more inclusive
with how we handle problems that come up on the team,
(31:04):
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 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 still on that when a
(31:27):
two minute conversation could resolve it all.
Speaker 2 (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 that 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, but not father.
Speaker 3 (32:08):
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
reflect on it, now that you can see because I
held that, and I you know, if you can hear that,
(32:29):
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.
I heard that player, like it drives me to not
hurt other players, right, And I wasn't mature enough or
(32:52):
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,
I didn't talk about things I held that 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
(33:16):
think he really knew how much that hurt me, but
also use that to navigate the nose, like I handle
those a lot better because of that. Because of that,
it wasn't like my mom. I was the baby girl,
the baby girl, so the baby girl holds a special place,
(33:38):
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
I was younger until adulthood. And he really had a
(34:00):
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
conversations about prime ministers and presidency and politics. Like I
(34:24):
wish he was alive today to hear his perspective on
what's happening in our world today, because he was super
up with everything.
Speaker 4 (34:35):
I love to respect the power of habits 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
that 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
love from Malaysia. What was your initial reaction when she
decided to enter the portal?
Speaker 1 (35:04):
And was it surprising you?
Speaker 3 (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 Malisia, 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.
And I told her, don't look back. I know it's
probably gonna be hard to not look back to see
(35:50):
you know, 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
(36:13):
us 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 gotta 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 1 (36:37):
Like.
Speaker 3 (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 4 (37:05):
What do you feel like the transfer portal era forces
coaches to.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Evolve faster when it comes to like player relationship.
Speaker 3 (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 does it create more opportunity for them to be wealthier. Yes,
(38:24):
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.
But I don't want people to lose sight of what
(38:47):
team is.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
Like.
Speaker 3 (38:48):
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 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
(39:09):
it because it's the very thing that's been attracting and
magnetic to the fans.
Speaker 2 (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 WNBA 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 3 (39:49):
You don't think it was a flagrant foul.
Speaker 1 (39:51):
I think it was just a foul.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
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.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
I don't don't know if it's a flair. So just
asking your thought.
Speaker 3 (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.
(40:45):
I'm 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, 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 Caitlin 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 Wakas.
(41:49):
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, 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 for forward to
(42:11):
the next time they play, too. I'm gonna be gluten
just like everybody else.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Yes, the wrong call in that scenario and getting called
for a text.
Speaker 3 (42:19):
Exactly, she didn't even know until after the game. But
do you feel like she's tight with her Money's like
she she wants somebody to pay her fine.
Speaker 2 (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 3 (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 or whether
it's policing, we know when they escalate. We gotta we
got to learn how to de escalate and then allowed
to play to do what they do. The game, The
(43:02):
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. Like coaches are like on your
(43:22):
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 2 (43:43):
Last question about that's the replay feature?
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Like it? I hate it?
Speaker 3 (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, that's excellent.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (44:23):
Well what about the ten percent 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 C double a seating,
(44:44):
right 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 of the
dynamics of the game. That again is conversation, and it's
(45:05):
we should 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 1 (45:20):
I got a few more questions.
Speaker 4 (45:21):
I want to go back to that that that chapter
respect the power of habits right.
Speaker 1 (45:26):
Because when you talk about Malaysia, it is with such reference.
Speaker 4 (45:29):
How do you balance disappointment as a coach, which support
for somebody like her who just wanted to make a
decision for.
Speaker 3 (45:35):
Usself, 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
(46:00):
of her decision making. 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?
(46:21):
What makes you think this isn't a place for you?
Speaker 1 (46:25):
What?
Speaker 3 (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 at her next stop.
Speaker 1 (47:18):
Did she know you felt that way about her? She's
gonna read the book and be like, damn.
Speaker 3 (47:22):
You know. 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.
(47:43):
I know 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 of 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 1 (48:27):
So I'm sure she would have started this year her junior.
Speaker 3 (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 able to do that, you know, in
(48:52):
her her junior year.
Speaker 1 (48:53):
So what's the relationship with coaches?
Speaker 4 (48:55):
If coach Kim Lsu calls you and asked for some
tips on how to coach Relasia for a while, you.
Speaker 3 (49:00):
An you on your own? Yeah, like it ain't. I
ain't gonna help you help her beat us. Nah. The
thing about your book is like that, your stories and your.
Speaker 5 (49:16):
Experiences, baby, this basketball texture.
Speaker 3 (49:20):
What was that conversation like that?
Speaker 1 (49:22):
What was it?
Speaker 5 (49:23):
Because I know this was you wanted to do this,
But did they say did they give you push back
on it?
Speaker 3 (49:28):
Like no, we're not able to We don't know or
just see just you 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.
I'm like, this would be cool if it could feel
like a basketball, like I mean the color, like like
(49:50):
this would be really cool. Now, 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 whoa, oh wow, yes, yes, like
(50:11):
I didn't want that, I got this is so created.
Speaker 4 (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?
Speaker 1 (50:27):
Because I know they come and they be like, damn,
Asia got one. What can I do to get that?
Speaker 3 (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 to 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 of
(51:13):
like 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.
Speaker 4 (51:42):
Pop'll go win more championships.
Speaker 3 (51:46):
So we we? Yeah, I willing yes.
Speaker 4 (51:50):
Final question Charlotte's sting, why can't we bring them back
to the Carolina? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (51:55):
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 with 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 1 (53:11):
We can put together the right investment group.
Speaker 3 (53:13):
I think so too. I'm down because people want me
to coach in the w A.
Speaker 1 (53:17):
I don't.
Speaker 3 (53:17):
I don't want to coach in I want to own.
I want I want ownership.
Speaker 1 (53:23):
There you have it. I would invest.
Speaker 4 (53:25):
I got a little dollars, I've got a couple of dollars.
Speaker 1 (53:30):
Well, thank you. Don.
Speaker 4 (53:31):
New book Uncommon Favor of Basketball in North Philly, My
Mother and 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.
Speaker 1 (53:42):
We appreciate your presence on this earth. We thank God
for you.
Speaker 3 (53:45):
Thank you, thank you, and listen.
Speaker 4 (53:47):
I want everybody to remember that today Don Staley will
be at the Barns and Noble Fifth Avenue in New
York City.
Speaker 1 (53:52):
If you're in New York City, you can.
Speaker 4 (53:54):
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.
Speaker 1 (54:04):
Thank you again. It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning, Wake
that ass up in the morning. The Breakfast Club
Wake that ass up in the morning. Breakfast Club Morning,
Everybody's d J n V.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Just Hilarius Charlamagne the guy. We are the Breakfast Club.
We got a special guest.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
In the building, the icon living Dawn Stanley. Welcome back.
Speaker 3 (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.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Talking about you.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
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 1 (00:35):
How are you feeling.
Speaker 3 (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.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yeah he did.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
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.
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
(01:08):
you know that's that's what I'm attracted to most. It's
like somebody that actually is it persistent yet 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 4 (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 learn 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 3 (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
liked what didn't go right in the book, and then
we have yet to get to that point. And I
(02:03):
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.
Some of it is just I'm able to just get
(02:26):
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
therapeutic at all to do it. No, it was just natural.
(02:47):
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 pump 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 4 (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 3 (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 now 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 a 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 2 (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 about 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 3 (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 and never had trash in it, like it was.
It was captain in a way that would would compete
with any suburban lawn like or neighborhood. So it was
(06:59):
it was all those 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 2 (07:30):
I can imagine, because you know, being a player, I'm
sure you gotta scream that crazy.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
But if you dare talk to your girls like that.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
You can. 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 or 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 disciplined.
(08:00):
Not I am. I am, but all of our rules
are are just good character themes, 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
(08:21):
you want. Like yeah, like 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 were you weren't very good at at the beginning, Like,
but you you want to be where you are today.
(08:42):
You just kept at it and kept at it and
kept at it. 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. 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 4 (09:23):
I love how you embrace your in a child That's
what I love this picture on the past. What's the
moment from your childhood that still shapes how you like
handle pressure today?
Speaker 3 (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. Like that hurt me, Like it really hurt me.
And I remembered it so vividly 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 out of state? Like
(10:19):
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 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 a book, it is I need conflict.
(10:41):
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.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
I don't have a critic yet.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
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 happens
(11:24):
to me, critics, 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 1 (11:46):
I love them.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
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 3 (11:55):
Yeah, I mean, the most growth takes place when you're uncomfortable,
the most 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, and
(12:17):
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. It's
(12:39):
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 4 (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 3 (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
(13:51):
had coaching friends, the only thing they talked about where
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,
(14:12):
like it's I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing.
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.
(14:32):
But for me, it's I'm overjoyed when they graduate. I'm
overjoyed on draft night. I'm overjoyed when they're able to
see their hard work produce what they want, like like
what they wanted, Like even if they don't make it
to the league, they're equipped, they're equipped with with being
(14:52):
successful with anything. Like seriously, that is that that does
something to my heart when when young people are able
to get what they're supposed to get.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
And how do you block out the noise? Or do
you like the noise because you said.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
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 3 (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 you dive into it. No, I mean I
look at it again and then I sometimes I'm like, okay,
ten nine eight seven, I got 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
drives me for sure.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
You know, you talked about your players.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
You got a lot of success stories from your time
coaching at the University of South Carolina, But.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
In the book, you make it no secret that Asia
Oshan is your favorite. M M.
Speaker 3 (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 didn't. 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):
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 Essa's like she got all the accolades coming off
the bench. And when someone believed, like when someone as
(18:08):
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 same synergy, right,
(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 was a private school,
and so she needed to be roughened up a little
bit to get her ready for what she faces. Like
(18:51):
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 see her
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
(19:11):
an inspirational 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 or 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
(19:34):
someone when she 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
(19:56):
they think you're going to judge them. I don't judge.
Like there's 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 4 (20:16):
What's something about your relationship with Asia that the fans
and media don't see what it means the most to you.
Speaker 3 (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, Yes, 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
(20:45):
I 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 play in
the world, like come championship time, come go medal time,
like I'm used to giving them, I'm used to pumping
(21:09):
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.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
It, 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. 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.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
It wasn't a company. My mom was a one woman
show these jobs.
Speaker 5 (21:41):
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 that journey from there to there?
Speaker 3 (21:51):
How it like?
Speaker 5 (21:53):
How did you get there doing that you didn't even
want to do?
Speaker 3 (21:56):
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 got
an older brother who's like eight years older my my
deceased next oldest brother seven years My sister's six years
(22:19):
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 doing those times. And
then you grow, like you really grow. When I went
to college, I was still the same way, Like I
(22:40):
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 and seeing
things and that's you know it. It's so cool that,
(23:02):
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
it looks sounds or feels off, I mean off, I'm
addressing if it looks, sounds and feels good, I'm encouraging
(23:24):
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 1 (23:35):
What accolade meant the most to you.
Speaker 3 (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 national
college graduate. Do you know what that means to the family,
(24:06):
Like 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 of that.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
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 3 (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 a 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
(25:56):
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 to 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 4 (27:30):
And I guess we learned how to get you to
do things, be persistent, a challenge, right.
Speaker 3 (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 guy, he pressed me for one for
a whole year when I was at South Carolina. He
would come and just visit, just check in, and then
you know, finally I gave all my money to him,
(27:58):
like seventeen years where he's still with me. And it's
it's the coolest thing to have someone just because you know,
like 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
(28:19):
a book. But then when when we won last year
in an undefeated way, like I'm like, this is this
is my my cup running through this is uncommon favor.
And we we tried to we tried to come up
with different titles for the book, and it always came
back to this because this really explains my entire life,
(28:41):
Like if I had to describe my my, my life,
my career, my it is uncommon favor. Like to the
m degree.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Have you ever question whether you were too hard or
not hard enough on a play?
Speaker 3 (28:54):
Yeah? Yeah, yeah there was.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
There was.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
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 I want, so all of our coaching
(29:17):
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 you gotta protect your locker room because
(29:39):
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. And then at the end of
(29:59):
the season, 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 it during the season, I would have I
would have backed off. But she was just like I
(30:21):
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 ask our players
to talk to me more like I could be I
(30:43):
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, more inclusive
with how we handle problems that come up on the team,
(31:04):
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 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 still on that when a
(31:27):
two minute conversation could resolve it all.
Speaker 2 (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 that 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, but not father.
Speaker 3 (32:08):
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
reflect on it, now that you can see because I
held that, and I you know, if you can hear that,
(32:29):
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.
I heard that player, like it drives me to not
hurt other players, right, And I wasn't mature enough or
(32:52):
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,
I didn't talk about things I held that 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
(33:16):
think he really knew how much that hurt me, but
also use that to navigate the nose, like I handle
those a lot better because of that. Because of that,
it wasn't like my mom. I was the baby girl,
the baby girl, so the baby girl holds a special place,
(33:38):
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
I was younger until adulthood. And he really had a
(34:00):
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
conversations about prime ministers and presidency and politics. Like I
(34:24):
wish he was alive today to hear his perspective on
what's happening in our world today, because he was super
up with everything.
Speaker 4 (34:35):
I love to respect the power of habits 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
that 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
love from Malaysia. What was your initial reaction when she
decided to enter the portal?
Speaker 1 (35:04):
And was it surprising you?
Speaker 3 (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 Malisia, 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.
And I told her, don't look back. I know it's
probably gonna be hard to not look back to see
(35:50):
you know, 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
(36:13):
us 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 gotta 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 1 (36:37):
Like.
Speaker 3 (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 4 (37:05):
What do you feel like the transfer portal era forces
coaches to.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Evolve faster when it comes to like player relationship.
Speaker 3 (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 does it create more opportunity for them to be wealthier. Yes,
(38:24):
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.
But I don't want people to lose sight of what
(38:47):
team is.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
Like.
Speaker 3 (38:48):
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 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
(39:09):
it because it's the very thing that's been attracting and
magnetic to the fans.
Speaker 2 (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 WNBA 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 3 (39:49):
You don't think it was a flagrant foul.
Speaker 1 (39:51):
I think it was just a foul.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
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.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
I don't don't know if it's a flair. So just
asking your thought.
Speaker 3 (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.
(40:45):
I'm 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, 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 Caitlin 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 Wakas.
(41:49):
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, 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 for forward to
(42:11):
the next time they play, too. I'm gonna be gluten
just like everybody else.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Yes, the wrong call in that scenario and getting called
for a text.
Speaker 3 (42:19):
Exactly, she didn't even know until after the game. But
do you feel like she's tight with her Money's like
she she wants somebody to pay her fine.
Speaker 2 (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 3 (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 or whether
it's policing, we know when they escalate. We gotta we
got to learn how to de escalate and then allowed
to play to do what they do. The game, The
(43:02):
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. Like coaches are like on your
(43:22):
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 2 (43:43):
Last question about that's the replay feature?
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Like it? I hate it?
Speaker 3 (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, that's excellent.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (44:23):
Well what about the ten percent 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 C double a seating,
(44:44):
right 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 of the
dynamics of the game. That again is conversation, and it's
(45:05):
we should 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 1 (45:20):
I got a few more questions.
Speaker 4 (45:21):
I want to go back to that that that chapter
respect the power of habits right.
Speaker 1 (45:26):
Because when you talk about Malaysia, it is with such reference.
Speaker 4 (45:29):
How do you balance disappointment as a coach, which support
for somebody like her who just wanted to make a
decision for.
Speaker 3 (45:35):
Usself, 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
(46:00):
of her decision making. 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?
(46:21):
What makes you think this isn't a place for you?
Speaker 1 (46:25):
What?
Speaker 3 (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 at her next stop.
Speaker 1 (47:18):
Did she know you felt that way about her? She's
gonna read the book and be like, damn.
Speaker 3 (47:22):
You know. 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.
(47:43):
I know 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 of 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 1 (48:27):
So I'm sure she would have started this year her junior.
Speaker 3 (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 able to do that, you know, in
(48:52):
her her junior year.
Speaker 1 (48:53):
So what's the relationship with coaches?
Speaker 4 (48:55):
If coach Kim Lsu calls you and asked for some
tips on how to coach Relasia for a while, you.
Speaker 3 (49:00):
An you on your own? Yeah, like it ain't. I
ain't gonna help you help her beat us. Nah. The
thing about your book is like that, your stories and your.
Speaker 5 (49:16):
Experiences, baby, this basketball texture.
Speaker 3 (49:20):
What was that conversation like that?
Speaker 1 (49:22):
What was it?
Speaker 5 (49:23):
Because I know this was you wanted to do this,
But did they say did they give you push back
on it?
Speaker 3 (49:28):
Like no, we're not able to We don't know or
just see just you 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.
I'm like, this would be cool if it could feel
like a basketball, like I mean the color, like like
(49:50):
this would be really cool. Now, 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 whoa, oh wow, yes, yes, like
(50:11):
I didn't want that, I got this is so created.
Speaker 4 (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?
Speaker 1 (50:27):
Because I know they come and they be like, damn,
Asia got one. What can I do to get that?
Speaker 3 (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 to 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 of
(51:13):
like 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.
Speaker 4 (51:42):
Pop'll go win more championships.
Speaker 3 (51:46):
So we we? Yeah, I willing yes.
Speaker 4 (51:50):
Final question Charlotte's sting, why can't we bring them back
to the Carolina? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (51:55):
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 with 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 1 (53:11):
We can put together the right investment group.
Speaker 3 (53:13):
I think so too. I'm down because people want me
to coach in the w A.
Speaker 1 (53:17):
I don't.
Speaker 3 (53:17):
I don't want to coach in I want to own.
I want I want ownership.
Speaker 1 (53:23):
There you have it. I would invest.
Speaker 4 (53:25):
I got a little dollars, I've got a couple of dollars.
Speaker 1 (53:30):
Well, thank you. Don.
Speaker 4 (53:31):
New book Uncommon Favor of Basketball in North Philly, My
Mother and 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.
Speaker 1 (53:42):
We appreciate your presence on this earth. We thank God
for you.
Speaker 3 (53:45):
Thank you, thank you, and listen.
Speaker 4 (53:47):
I want everybody to remember that today Don Staley will
be at the Barns and Noble Fifth Avenue in New
York City.
Speaker 1 (53:52):
If you're in New York City, you can.
Speaker 4 (53:54):
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.
Speaker 1 (54:04):
Thank you again. It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning, Wake
that ass up in the morning. The Breakfast Club
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DJ Envy
Jess Hilarious
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