03-19-25 - WNBAs Cameron Brink Taking Heat Over Saying Practicing w/Male Players Could Be Weird And Sexual

Summary

Holmberg's Morning Sickness - Arizona Episode Summary: March 19, 2025 Episode Title: WNBA's Cameron Brink Taking Heat Over Saying Practicing w/Male Players Could Be Weird And Sexual

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Introduction

In the March 19, 2025, episode of Holmberg's Morning Sickness - Arizona, hosts John Holmberg, Brady Bogen, Bret Vesely, and Dick Toledo dive into a heated discussion surrounding WNBA player Cameron Brink. Brink has recently come under scrutiny for comments made on a WNBA-focused podcast, where she suggested that practicing with male players could feel "weird" and "sexual." The hosts explore the implications of Brink's statements, the broader context within the WNBA, and the reactions from both fans and the league.

Main Discussion: Cameron Brink's Controversial Comments

The episode kicks off with Brady Bogen referencing Cameron Brink's remarks about male training partners in the LA Sparks team. Brink, alongside Kelsey Plum from the Las Vegas Aces, discussed the challenges and discomforts associated with practicing alongside male basketball players.

Brady Bogen expresses skepticism and mockery towards Brink's concerns:

"Then they went on their podcast... I was like, geeze, this is a little... this could get a little creepy. A little ick."
[06:26]

Dick Toledo clarifies the situation:

"I thought they were striking."
[04:49]

Brady further criticizes the idea, suggesting that the fears expressed by Brink are unfounded:

"You think... all eyes. I hope they can control their boners. Said Cameron Brink."
[07:54]

The hosts collectively mock the notion that male practice partners would be a distraction or lead to inappropriate behavior, often using crude humor to emphasize their dismissal of Brink's concerns.

Host Reactions and Opinions

Brady Bogen leads the conversation with a combative tone, questioning the validity of Brink's statements and the WNBA's promotional strategies:

"They put an ad out there saying we're looking for male training... you're safe."
[06:23]

Kirby adds to the skepticism, questioning the actual concerns raised by Brink:

"But these strangers are dragging off the street to practice against and by the way, proof it's a viable sport."
[06:48]

The hosts argue that Brink's comments may stem from exaggerations or personal biases rather than genuine issues within the league. They express confidence that integrating male practice partners would not disrupt the professionalism or dynamics of the WNBA.

Broader Context: WNBA's Current Landscape

The discussion transitions into the current state of the WNBA, touching upon:

• Potential Shutdowns: The hosts debate whether the league is facing a shutdown or strike, with Dick Toledo initially mistaking the situation as a strike before Brady corrects him.

• Player Promotions and Salaries: Brady highlights Angel Reese's bonus for winning a three-on-three tournament, critiquing the compensation structures within the league:

  "50k bonus for winning the three on three world championship, which nobody's watched two games of."
  [10:44]

• Three-on-Three League Dynamics: The hosts discuss the viability and differences of the three-on-three format compared to the traditional five-on-five:

  "It's a much better idea. But boys that girls basketball bad anyway."
  [10:58]

Dick Toledo and Kirby briefly touch upon the efforts of other teams, such as the Mercury, to attract male practice partners, questioning the necessity and potential backlash of such moves.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Brady Bogen:
  "You think... all eyes. I hope they can control their boners. Said Cameron Brink."
  [07:54]

• Dick Toledo:
  "I thought they were striking."
  [04:49]

• Brady Bogen:
  "They put an ad out there saying we're looking for male training... you're safe."
  [06:23]

Analysis and Insights

The hosts' reactions reflect a blend of humor, skepticism, and dismissiveness towards Brink's comments. They question the validity of concerns raised about male practice partners, suggesting that such fears are overblown or unfounded. The discussion also sheds light on internal issues within the WNBA, such as player salaries and the league's promotional tactics, indicating possible underlying tensions that may not be immediately apparent to the public.

Concluding Thoughts

The episode concludes with the hosts maintaining their stance that the WNBA's efforts to integrate male practice partners are unnecessary and based on exaggerated fears. They emphasize the professionalism of WNBA players and the robustness of the league, downplaying the potential for any significant issues arising from such initiatives. Despite the light-hearted and often irreverent tone, the discussion highlights ongoing conversations about gender dynamics, league strategies, and player welfare within professional basketball.

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Note: This summary captures the essence of the episode based on the provided transcript. Listeners are encouraged to tune in to Holmberg's Morning Sickness on 98 KUPD for the full experience and additional context.

Transcript

[Dick Toledo]

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[Brady]

You're listening to the HMS Podcast, brought to you by mmpguns.com your most trusted online marketplace for firearms, ammunition and accessories. You've been deceived by an agent of Satan himself. He's evil sitting right here. Come on. No, no, he's not. He's not evil. He's just a bit rude. Brady's whole family and dog are here out of the blue. The dog is. The dog is adorable. That's the first time we're meeting the new one, right? Yep. That's cute.

[Kirby]

That's Ollie.

[Brady]

Hi, Ollie. Ollie's pretty solid. Well, Ollie's good. We like Ollie. Oliver is the name. He just calls him Ollie because he. Nicknames even. And you do, too, because you're. You've been trained by the nickname king to never say anyone's name. I got it. Are you still high? From Tyler the creator. Kirby not. It wore off. Okay, good. Did your dad ruin the show? Would you rather have gone without him? She lies in front of her parents. Yep. Dad was first choice to Tyler the creator. I'm sure of it. Anyway, I'm positive somebody remembered some. Remember when we. I saw. I remember seeing. I think, Brett, you were here for this. I remember seeing Brady's like, realization the day I told you. Do you know how many boogers you ate as a kid, being the entitled little prick wandering around Ohio? How many people fed you boogers and spits?

[Kirby]

Oh, because of my special order.

[Brady]

Because of the grilled chicken. People remember. I remember him going, I didn't. That. And I'm like, yeah, you did. And then he realized, oh, my God, I was that kid. Scott Haynes remembered that. And he got. He said that he goes, this cheese talk with Brady is gonna piss McDonald's off. Cause now his special order grilled cheese demands of real cheese will have to be met. Just hilarious. But, yeah, Brady used to go to McDonald's.

[Pablo]

How you doing there, boss?

[Brady]

Little seven year old kid.

[Pablo]

Mom's dental hygienist. You might know, her name's Bunny. Dad's torp. We're pretty big around here. Why don't you go ahead and get back there and fire up a grilled cheese for me?

[Brady]

What do you think this is like a picnic or a barbecue? It just makes special orders.

[Kirby]

No problem.

[Brady]

There's a menu.

[Pablo]

All right, why don't you give me a Big Mac? But instead of the bread, you use couple of pieces of toasted bread. Kill all that stuff in the middle and just use some cheese.

[Brady]

Why don't you go home and make a grilled cheese sandwich?

[Pablo]

Why would I do that when you're standing right there?

[Brady]

Pablo, you ate so much, you made so many boogers now. So any 7 year old comes in, starts demanding off the menu, stuff is eating feasts.

[Kirby]

They told me sesame seeds.

[Brady]

Oh, those. Yeah, but it's probably the least of what he ate on those things. They wipe their ass with that bread every time you're. You got taint in there. Walking there with his culottes or his onesie shorts on.

[Pablo]

Had a rough day over at the club.

[Kirby]

My later hose could use a grilled cheese.

[Brady]

See what this behind me is?

[Pablo]

Yeah. All the words.

[Brady]

Yeah. That's a menu. Do you see grilled cheese on it? Sure.

[Pablo]

Don't special order for just me. Boss man Brady.

[Brady]

They remember Brady. They reminded me, the people. I remember that day we were told that didn't happen. They were fine with it. Like no McDonald's employee in the history of McDonald's employees is fine with an 8 year old going special order for just me.

[Pablo]

Make it happen.

[Brady]

I would have done it. And I wouldn't have pooped on your food, but I'd have come back and I'd have said, okay, here's your special order. Grilled cheese.

[Pablo]

Thanks a lot.

[Brady]

$150, please.

[Pablo]

You're out of your mind.

[Brady]

I'm like, no, no, no, no. You made this your own personal kitchen. Guess what? You're paying some rent too.

[Kirby]

I didn't have to worry about the price.

[Brady]

I know. You did.

[Dick Toledo]

Ask for me every time. Bogan.

[Brady]

Yeah. Oh. I reached across and grabbed you where your neck should be and said, why don't you go home and make a grilled cheese sandwich? You know there's go to a grilled cheese restaurant. There aren't any. Exactly.

[Pablo]

My mom says I can go.

[Brady]

So why do you think we're different?

[Pablo]

You got the cheese, you got the butter, you Got the bread. Get to work. Boss.

[Brady]

Chief. And now. Oh, man, I'd have punched that little guy. I'd have gone to jail. Standing there in McDonald's outfit in 1974 just looking at your ass. I'm going to kill him. Another thing that's hilarious, that isn't entitlement is that WNBA is starting to rev its engines a little bit.

[Dick Toledo]

I thought they were striking.

[Brady]

John, we're talking about a shutdown. I'm praying for that hilarious shutdown. Second, now, the La Sparks, they got a little bit to worry about here. The La Sparks have Cameron Brink. Now, nobody knows who these people are but me because I hate. Watch it. Cameron Brink is a blonde that plays for the LA Sparks. They all. They also brought over a girl from the Aces in Las Vegas named Kelsey Plum. Both of them attractive only because they're WNBA players. In everyday life, you would look at them and say, she's not bad. But again, because I said it was wnba, if I showed you a picture of her and said, check out this hot chick, you'd be like, not so great. But she's in those New Balance commercials and whatever. So she just did a podcast that no one listens to. WNBA based podcast. Yeah, they dress her up. She's okay. Not bad. But just because she's a female basketball player, it's way above standard for that, right?

[Kirby]

Yeah.

[Brady]

I mean, if that. She looks like an avatar in that one. Like if she showed up. If she just showed up, Amazon and like just a normal setting, you'd be like, who's the other one? Tall chick, Kelsey Plum. Same exact thing. Body. They dress her up well, but, you know, deep down, not so great. But either way, the LA Sparks. Yeah, she's got like kind of the strange face, but she's. Yeah, she's got a great body.

[Dick Toledo]

That's the rough one.

[Brady]

She's got part on the left side of her head. Yeah. I don't know what she's doing with her hair. We're not getting into this. You boys are being worse than the ladies. Either way, they started this thing where they put an ad in the paper because that's what professional athletes do. They put an ad out there and said, we're looking for male training. Like, we want some male practice partners. Right.

[Kirby]

Did they do it or the team did?

[Brady]

Well, they. The team did.

[Kirby]

Yeah.

[Brady]

They play for the team. So they did it. So they're putting it out there. And then they went on later and they're like, ugh, yeah, on their podcast. Yeah. Then their podcast. I'm like, geez, this is a little. This could get a little creepy. A little ick. That's what Cameron Brink called it. Ick. She's this get a little ick. I hope they're all gay. I'm like, you're worried about dudes rolling in wanting to bang WNBA players. You're safe.

[Pablo]

Don't worry about it.

[Brady]

You're safe. The only thing you need to worry about in the WNBA that's ick or sexually charged is your opponent. More of the girls on the floor want to bang them than the boys.

[Kirby]

And I wasn't sure which one of them said that. I'm not posting that person up. I won't post.

[Brady]

Right? They won't. Yeah, they're not going to lean up against a man. He'll get an erection. Well, who's full of themselves now? And then in another breath, they'll start saying, someday women will play in the NBA. Oh, you're not worried about it then? When? Those dudes aren't going to get hard for you. Nope. But these strangers are dragging off the street to practice against and by the way, proof it's a viable sport. Can we get some YMCA guys to come practice against us? That should even up. And then they get all upset about it. This thing needs to end immediately. I'm worried they're gonna find us all hot. Don't worry about it. You're sick. It's a false concern. That's like me wandering around going, jeez, probably gonna get raped by a bunch of hot chicks today. No, I'm not. There's absolutely nothing I need to worry about ever in my life. I sure hope these girls don't grope me for hours. Not a concern.

[Dick Toledo]

You've been buying into too much of.

[Brady]

Your hype that you've been getting. You really think. Oh, my God, all eyes. I hope they can control their boners. Said Cameron Brink. Hey, Kirby. It's good to see you again. Thanks for coming in. That's. You showed up for the boner conversation.

[Kirby]

That's a softball stuff compared to Tyler.

[Brady]

Yeah, that's true. You let her listen to Tyler, the creator? She's basically a racist drug addict now.

[Dick Toledo]

I thought you were saying you put her in softball.

[Brady]

Kirby, do you say the n words you do in your car when it's playing? You skip over them. You listen to all. Are you offended by it? Then why don't you say it? Because you can't.

[Dick Toledo]

You can't.

[Brady]

Brady does.

[Dick Toledo]

Do you listen to the clean versions?

[Brady]

You listen to the unedited? You Say it. Why? Because the clean version in the car by yourself. You're not just shouting the words. Every word. You edit yourself and yet you still listen. What's the difference between liking it and saying it?

[Kirby]

Liking the song.

[Brady]

She's high right now.

[Kirby]

I got a little race.

[Brady]

She's so high right now. She looked at me and she said, look, talking dragon. I don't know why I don't say it. Anyway, so wnba, you can shut down and no one's going to care at all. But I really like that. You know what I do think though? That the Mercury has never once said, can we get a bunch of dudes to practice again? And then had the nerve afterwards to say, oh, we're probably too sexy for this. Yeah. Can you imagine Brittney Griner saying, can you imagine being a dude who got hard posting up with Brittney Griner? You'd have to question yourself. What is going on? I think I might like dudes, but you go in a podcast the day after and start talking. I'm just too sexy to have a guy play. How did you learn to play basketball? Was it always with women?

[Kirby]

I thought they said. They mentioned they had. They scrimmage every now and again. Say, get some of the guys from the USC basketball team come over.

[Brady]

Those guys don't get hard. It's just us, Randy. Yeah. There's not some icky weirdo that volunteers.

[Kirby]

Farming it out now because you.

[Brady]

Why isn't USC practicing against them? Well, it's too sexually charged. We can't do it anymore. The boys are coming back all weak legged. Yeah, I'm sure that's an issue. It's not a problem.

[Dick Toledo]

Is it just the work environment or they can't go out anywhere without it being.

[Brady]

I don't know. It's a tough life. Yeah. Cameron Brink can't walk around with like dudes. Just the ick factor. And then she. Then they have the nerve to say, hope they're all gay. You're gonna practice against a bunch of gay basketball players. You guys are coming in last.

[Kirby]

You're not gonna get tough.

[Brady]

That's not gonna toughen you up. I like contact. Yuck. Girls. It's stupid. Anyway, WNBA action begins pretty darn soon.

[Kirby]

Maybe that, you know, the fact that the holdout might not happen because Angel Reese got 50k bonus.

[Brady]

Yeah, she's got a little bonus for her three on three tournament that she won the championship in. The three on three women's league isn't that much better.

[Dick Toledo]

Her whole salary. 50k?

[Brady]

Oh yeah. 81 yeah, she missed by 30. But this was her bonus for winning the three on three world championship, which nobody's. I've watched two games and the thing about the three on three, it's a much better product because they shortened up the court. It's like size of volleyball court. Yes. Oh, it's. But no, somehow they still managed to whip it out of bounds. They still need five people to, you know, not just turn it over constantly. So having three out there at all times, sometimes it bounces off a defender and stays in bounds. But it's rare. But they only have to take like four or five steps going back forth. I'm like, this is a better. This is a better idea. But boys that girls basketball bad anyway. And the other thing is the truth of the matter is they don't really want to do to. I imagine that a bunch of YMCA guys that come in and go, don't worry about it. We're not going to get hard. And then they just knock them all over the court and beat them. They'd hate it. There'd be documentaries about it and stuff. Wow.

[Kirby]

I could see if they're like concerned about maybe getting injured or something. I don't know.

[Brady]

But then don't.

[Kirby]

That's too. If you weren't getting that, you're too strong practice.

[Brady]

The USC men's team was crushing them, by the way. They probably had a no dunking rule and no scoring after 40.

[Kirby]

Work on technique.

[Brady]

You're playing defense. Only defense. We're going to have a rock wars coming up in just a little bit. It's 98 KUPD.

[Dick Toledo]

Hey, it's not weird.

[Kirby]

It's pretty cool, actually. No membership fee.

[Brady]

I have heard enough of this.