A Deep Dive into the Commissioner’s Cup final + the Cameron Brink injury

Summary

Summary of "A Deep Dive into the Commissioner’s Cup Final + the Cameron Brink Injury"

Podcast Information:

• Title: No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show
• Host/Author: The Athletic
• Description: No Offseason is The Athletic’s show dedicated to all aspects of women’s basketball. Hosts Zena Keita, Chantel Jennings, Sabrina Merchant, and Ben Pickman provide in-depth stories, insider information, and exclusive interviews with prominent figures in the sport, spanning the NCAA to the WNBA and beyond. New episodes are released every Tuesday and Friday.
• Episode: A Deep Dive into the Commissioner’s Cup Final + the Cameron Brink Injury
• Release Date: June 25, 2024

---

1. Commissioner’s Cup Final Relocation

Overview: The episode begins with an in-depth discussion about the unexpected relocation of the Commissioner’s Cup Final from Barclays Center in Brooklyn to UBS Arena in Elmont, New York. This change was necessitated by a scheduling conflict with the NBA Draft, which also took place at Barclays Center.

Key Points:

• Scheduling Conflict: The NBA Draft is a multi-day event requiring significant logistics, making Barclays Center unavailable for the Commissioner’s Cup Final on June 25th.
  • Ben Pickman explains, “If you are listening to this podcast, the day it comes out, Tip off is set for 8pm Eastern” ([07:31]).
  • Zena Keita expresses frustration, “They've known since December 2023? Wow. That’s unfortunate” ([10:07]).
• Alternative Venues Considered: The league explored various options, including rescheduling or selecting a neutral site, but ultimately settled on UBS Arena.
• Impact on Fans: The relocation poses challenges for Liberty fans, requiring travel to Elmont, which is inconvenient compared to the original Brooklyn location.
  • Ben Pickman notes, “the league has had to look for an alternative venue to play this game” ([10:30]).
  • Efforts to sell tickets in New York were intensified, as seen through increased buy ticket ads and promotional pushes.

Discussion: The hosts debate the WNBA’s scheduling flexibility and the impact of sharing arenas with the NBA. They suggest that adopting a neutral site strategy similar to the NBA’s in-season tournaments could provide more stability and better planning for future events.

---

2. Anticipated Matchup: Minnesota Lynx vs. New York Liberty

Overview: The relocation sets the stage for a highly anticipated matchup between the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty, both top-performing teams in the league.

Key Points:

• Team Performance:
  • The Liberty have an intense schedule, having played four games in the past week.
  • The Lynx have maintained a lighter schedule with only two games, both at home.
  • Sabrina Merchant states, “New York has played four games. Over that span, Minnesota has played just two” ([12:47]).
• Player Availability:
  • Concerns about key players such as Benija Vandersloot and Laney Hamilton being available for the final.
  • Ben Pickman mentions, “Any update on whether Benija, Laney Hamilton or Courtney Vandersloot will be able to play in this game on Tuesday?” ([23:00]).
• Team Depth:
  • The Lynx’s deep roster and strong bench are seen as significant advantages.
  • Ben Pickman praises Minnesota’s roster depth, stating, “I just kind of think I trust Minnesota's depth over New York's overall excellent starting five” ([24:41]).

Discussion: The hosts analyze the strengths and weaknesses of both teams, emphasizing Minnesota’s home advantage and roster depth versus New York’s challenging schedule and reliance on bench players.

---

3. Cameron Brink’s Injury and Its Impact

Overview: A major focus of the episode is the severe ACL injury suffered by Cameron Brink, a key player for the LA Sparks, and its ramifications for both her career and the team’s dynamics.

Key Points:

• Injury Details: Brink tore her ACL during a game against the Connecticut Sun after attempting to drive to the basket.
  • Sabrina Merchant describes the incident, “Cameron Brink tries to drive to the basket… gets carried to the locker room” ([29:48]).
• Immediate Consequences: Brink will miss the remainder of the regular season and is out of contention for the Team USA 3x3 squad for the Paris Olympics.
  • Sabrina Merchant highlights, “This means Brink done for the rest of the regular season, probably going to be limited to start the next regular season” ([29:48]).
• Team Dynamics:
  • The Sparks face adjustments in their lineup, with Rekia Jackson potentially moving to guard positions.
  • Sabrina Merchant notes, “she will be playing more in the big spots” ([33:43]).
• Athlete Mental Health: Brink’s resilience and mental strength are discussed, emphasizing the emotional and psychological toll of the injury.
  • Ben Pickman reflects, “It’s a hard, like, mental hurdle to overcome” ([32:43]).
• Positive Spin: Dericka Hamby steps up as Brink’s replacement for the Olympics, offering a silver lining for the Sparks.
  • Sabrina Merchant mentions, “Dericka Hamby on Monday afternoon was named officially as the replacement for Brink on that 3x3 team” ([37:26]).

Discussion: The hosts explore the broader implications of Brink’s injury, including team performance, roster adjustments, and her personal journey. They also celebrate Hamby’s opportunity to represent Team USA, framing it as an unintended positive outcome.

---

4. WNBA All-Star Game and Voting Process

Overview: The episode shifts focus to the upcoming WNBA All-Star Weekend, highlighting the unique format introduced during Olympic years and detailing the voting process.

Key Points:

• All-Star Format: This year’s All-Star Game features Team USA vs. Team WNBA, differing from the traditional East vs. West or team draft formats.
  • Chantel Jennings explains, “it's an exhibition where the members of Team USA play an All Star team of the remaining WNBA players” ([41:46]).
• Voting Mechanics:
  • Fans, players, and media vote for the top 10 players who will represent their respective teams.
  • There’s uncertainty about how many voted players will actually start, depending on their participation in Team USA.
  • Ben Pickman details, “the feasibility is that if you vote for a player who's already representing Team USA, they will be on Team USA. If you vote for a player who is not on Team USA, they'll be on Team WNBA” ([42:44]).
• Fan Engagement: Significant growth in fan voting compared to previous years, with early returns showing doubled votes.
  • Sabrina Merchant highlights, “fan voting from year over year… it is exhibit A in this conversation” ([48:54]).
• Notable Omissions: Despite the influx of votes, some veteran stars like Diana Taurasi were unexpectedly low in the voting rankings.
  • Ben Pickman observes, “Diana Taurasi is not in the top 30 overall of the fan vote” ([50:18]).

Discussion: The hosts discuss the transformative impact of fan engagement on the All-Star voting process, recognizing both the excitement and the challenges it presents. They emphasize the importance of evolving the format to maintain relevance and interest, especially during Olympic years.

---

5. Celebrity Status and Stardom in the WNBA

Overview: In an off-script segment, Zena Keita explores the distinction between stardom and celebrity within the WNBA, advocating for greater visibility and recognition of players beyond their athletic prowess.

Key Points:

• Stardom vs. Celebrity:
  • Zena Keita differentiates between being a star due to talent and being a celebrity through broader fame, stating, “you can be a women’s basketball player who is also really, really talented” ([50:18]).
• Increased Visibility:
  • Leveraging celebrity status can enhance the WNBA’s reach and sustainability by attracting a broader audience.
  • Zena Keita argues, “Visibility from fans gets visibility from the media rights deals, gets visibility from the advertisers… It’s a virtuous cycle” ([50:18]).
• Balancing Athletics and Personal Branding:
  • Importance of maintaining athletic focus while embracing personal identities and interests.
  • Zena Keita encourages, “these women can afford to lean into all of the ways that they are amazing women, not just basketball players” ([50:18]).
• Community and Inclusivity:
  • Emphasizes the WNBA’s commitment to inclusivity and social justice, suggesting that increased celebrity status aligns with these values.
  • Zena Keita states, “a league that is focused on inclusivity, on social justice, on equity…” ([50:18]).

Discussion: The conversation delves into the potential benefits of WNBA players gaining celebrity status, including enhanced marketability, broader media coverage, and increased fan engagement. The hosts address concerns about maintaining the league’s integrity and focus while embracing personal branding opportunities for players.

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Ben Pickman: “This is a pretty inconvenient change for a lot of Liberty fans and people who are trying to go see the Commissioner’s Cup Final” ([08:33]).
• Zena Keita: “They've known since December 2023? Wow. That’s unfortunate” ([10:07]).
• Sabrina Merchant: “New York has played four games. Over that span, Minnesota has played just two” ([12:47]).
• Ben Pickman: “It's a hard, like, mental hurdle to overcome” ([32:43]).
• Zena Keita: “These women are starting to show you the full nuance of their characters, their personalities, their identities” ([50:18]).

---

Conclusion

The episode provides a comprehensive analysis of current events affecting the WNBA, from the logistical challenges of event scheduling and player injuries to the evolving dynamics of fan engagement and player celebrity. The hosts offer insightful perspectives on how these factors interplay to shape the future of women’s basketball, emphasizing the importance of adaptability, community support, and strategic growth initiatives.

Listeners are encouraged to engage with the WNBA through voting, attending games, and supporting the players both on and off the court. The discussion on celebrity status underscores the potential for broader recognition and sustainability of the league, highlighting the multifaceted talents of WNBA players beyond their athletic achievements.

Final Quote: Zena Keita wraps up with an inspiring message: “Keep listening, keep watching, keep learning and keep loving the game because that's the only way we're going to keep growing it” ([53:00]).

---

This summary captures the essence of the episode, highlighting the major discussions, insights, and notable quotes, structured to provide clear and engaging information for both dedicated fans and those new to the WNBA.

Transcript

[Zena Keda]

When I started podcasting, it felt like I had to figure everything out myself. Booking guests, figuring out rundowns, editing the show and publishing it. It seemed like the list of to do's got bigger and bigger and when you're starting off with something new, it seems like that just happens. Finding the right tool that not only helps you out, but simplifies everything can be such a game changer. And for millions of businesses, that tool is Shopify. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e commerce in the US from household name like Mattel and Gymshark to brands just getting started. Get started with your own design studio. With hundreds of ready to use templates, Shopify helps you build a beautiful online store to match your brand style, accelerate your content creation. Shopify is packed with helpful AI tools that write product descriptions, page headlines and even enhance your product photography. Get the word out like you have a marketing team behind you. Easily create email and social media campaigns wherever your customers are scrolling or strolling. And best yet, Shopify is your commerce expert with world class expertise in everything from managing inventory to international shipping to processing returns and beyond. If you're ready to sell, you're ready for Shopify. Turn your big business idea into a With Shopify on your side, sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com TheAthletic go to shopify.com TheAThletic shopify.com TheAthLetic.

[Ben Pickman]

Love looks different for everyone, especially when it comes to all the ways you treat and celebrate yourself. I'm a big hammock head. Sunshine a hammock, A paperback western. That's my kind of everyday indulgence. And you can gift yourself the everyday indulgence of extraordinary hydration with Liquid IV powered by Liv Hydro Science. Visit LiquidIV.com to fall in love with flavors like the zesty new hydration multiplier Sugar free Raspberry Lemonade and use code no dunks to save 20% off your first order. Liquid IV is easy and convenient. You just tear, pour and enjoy. It's my go to when I'm getting a pump in or handing out buckets, but it's great for staying hydrated during long days, enjoying the outdoors or any other time you need some hydration in your body. Liquid IV offers so many true to fruit flavors, whether they be hydration multipliers like acai berry, lemon, lime and pina colada or sugar free like Raspberry lemonade, White, peach and rainbow. Sherbet the flavors are always true to fruit. Break the mold and your own ritual. Just one stick and 16 ounces of water hydrates better than water alone because Liquid IV is is powered by LIV hydroscience, an optimized ratio of electrolytes, essential vitamins and clinically tested nutrients that turn ordinary water into extraordinary hydration. You're getting three times the electrolytes of the leading sports drink, plus eight essential vitamins and nutrients. And Liquid IV is always non gmo, vegan, gluten free, dairy free and soy free. So treat yourself to extraordinary hydration from Liquid IV. Get 20% off your first order at Liquid IV when you go to liquidib.com and use code no dunks at checkout. That's 20% off your first order with code [e-mail] Summer is almost here and.

[Sabrina Merchant]

There'S no better place to go for outside furniture than Wayfair. Wayfair's huge selection of outdoor essentials will help you make your outdoor space more comfortable, functional and most importantly, more you. Get your outdoor space rated today so you can enjoy it all season long. When you have kids, they love to be outside, so you gotta be out.

[E]

There to watch them.

[Sabrina Merchant]

From Wayfair, you can have outdoor sofas, maybe a set of chairs, a gazebo, some umbrellas because it's really hot down here in the South. No matter the need, Wayfair's huge selection of home items makes it easy to find exactly what's right for you. There's something for every style and every home, no matter your space or budget. Wayfair makes it easy to tackle your summer home goals with endless inspiration for every space and budget, including the outdoors. Free and easy delivery even on the big stuff. No more huge delivery fees for patio furniture. Get big stuff like patio sets, gazebos, hot tubs, outdoor dining sets and more shipped free. Find all your outdoor must haves from seating to pool lounges to trampolines, all in one convenient place. Shop a huge selection of outdoor furniture online this summer. Get outside with wayfair. Head to wayfair.com right now. That's W A Y F A I R.com wayfair every style every home.

[F]

For.

[E]

The Athletic I'm Zena Keda and this is the Athletic Women's Basketball Show. Oh oh oh oh oh. Welcome to the Athletic Women's Basketball show where we are here to talk all things women's hoops. Whether you're a die hard fan that eats, sleeps and breathes the game or you're a casual fan trying to figure out why all these WNBA players are at Meg thee Stallion concerts. Don't worry, you're in the right place. Make sure to subscribe to this pod, wherever you get your pods to stay up to date with us. Also, subscribe to the Athletics so you don't miss out on year round in depth coverage of the game you love. I'm joined today as always by athletic women's basketball writers Sabrina Merchant and Ben Pickman. And again, let's go through our scout what we're going to cover today. First up, Cee C is not only for Caitlin Clark, folks, it's the Commissioner's Cup. Okay? It's coming up and we want to talk about what that game's going to look like as well as what is the WNBA doing moving the game. Ben talked about it a little bit on the site, but we're going to get his thoughts on it here on the show. Then some tough news out on the West Coast. I know Sabrina particularly is feeling this one Cameron Brink, ACL tear. We're going to talk about what that impact is not only for Cameron, but also of course, the LA Sparks. Then All Star. Have you guys heard there's an All Star game that's coming in July and I don't know if you guys have been putting in your votes, but we're going to talk about that first round of votes that came back in and see who's in the list, who's on the list and you know, shout out to those Iowa fans because Kate Martin being number 12, I love it. I love the energy, folks. And I'm going to go off the script before we get out of here because I've not done that in a little bit. And after seeing some of the great things that were happening all last week on the socials of all the places that the WNBA girlies were, we gotta talk a little bit about the celebrity dumb of the wnba. All right, let's get going with the Commissioner's Cup. Ben, when is that taking place?

[G]

It is taking place later Today on Tuesday, June 25th. If you are listening to this podcast, the day it comes out, Tip off is set for 8pm Eastern.

[E]

Now I understand that Tip off is going to be in a location that's a little bit different than it was originally planned. And I actually looked this up, Ben, because I wanted to see like how far is it really? It was supposed to take place at Barclays center where the New York Liberty play and the New York Liberty were both the hosts. They've been, they killed it during the Commissioner's cup games ended up 5, 0 undefeated and they were going to host it in Barclays, which is in Brooklyn. They're now playing in Elmont, which you mentioned Ben, in your article. That's about an hour away, but it's actually an hour and 46 minutes on the train folks. And you know, in New York that's usually how you get places. So that's not a convenient thing to do to move this game. Why do they move this game?

[G]

Yeah, this is a pretty inconvenient change for a lot of Liberty fans and people who are trying to go see the Commissioners Cup Final out of the New York market. Basically you used the word supposed to a few times in and I guess I would broaden it to say you would think it would be scheduled at Barclays center and history would say it would be at the host arena of the higher seated team in this Commissioner's Cup Final, but it is not this year. Basically the situation goes as followed on Wednesday and Thursday of this week are the NBA draft or is the NBA draft a two day event that year after year now, seemingly almost every year for the last decade has been at Barclays Center. It's a multi day load in which means, you know, tons of preparation, trucks, equipment, kind of overhauling. The lower arena and bowl of Barclays centers gets changed because of the NBA draft. And so that made it difficult to play this Commissioners Cup Final game on Tuesday night. The New York Liberty played on Saturday, they played on Sunday, they wouldn't play on Monday. That was also a possibility. But they couldn't make that work three days in a row. And so they basically have had to look for an alternative where the league has had to look for an alternative venue to play this game in. So the conflict has kind of been looming since, you know, I guess December, which according to my sources is when the Liberty first alerted the league to this possible schedule conflict that Barclays center would be unavailable on June 25 the night.

[E]

Wait, they've known since December 2023?

[G]

Yes, since December is when the Liberty, a source told me alerted the league to this schedule.

[E]

Wow. Wow, that's. That's unfortunate. So then they've known this forever. This has been looming over their heads. And only eight days away from the game they decide to change location. You gotta break that down. Cause I. That doesn't make any sense.

[G]

Yeah, I mean eight days before the event. So last Monday was, is when the WNBA officially announced that the game would be moved out to UBS arena, which is an Elmont New York out on Long Island. That's the home arena of the New York Islanders. A great arena from all intents and purposes, but very inconvenient for people to get to, relatively speaking, and not the home arena, most importantly, of the New York Liberty. And so there were some other alternatives that were kind of raised throughout this process. In short, the New York Liberty actually play the Minnesota Links again next week. So then the Liberty actually offered to schedule or change their July 2 game against the Lynx to be the Commissioners Cup Championship. That was kind of proposed. The Liberty declined that option, a source told me, and basically, as a result, they're now playing this game at a more neutral site. And look, you can't blame the Lynx for saying, no, no, no. Why would we want July 2nd to be the more meaningful game at Barclays center versus June 25th? Because, look, they're making the trip in, they're flying out. It probably alters where they stay hotel wise. But like, who's. Who do they like? Why do they care? Why would they want to play in front of a better crowd, potentially, or more Liberty fans than the other way around? So that was one alternative that was proposed. I believe. The Lynx also were kind of given. The Liberty were kind of said, are you okay if the Lynx host? And they shut that idea down because New York went 50 in the Commissioners cup qualifying games and had earned the right to host the championship game. And so obviously they didn't want to make an extra trip out to Minnesota and play the game on the road. And so here kind of we are. And I guess all roads in this case have led to Elmont, New York, or all train routes have led to Elmont, New York. The Liberty are bussing some fans or trying to bust fans out to Elmont for this game all weekend. I was at both of New York's home games against the LA Sparks on Thursday night and on Saturday afternoon. There were tons of pushes to try and sell tickets to get fans out there. My whole Instagram feed is just cluttered with buy ticket ads. I think maybe that's because they know I'm in the WNBA media or they're tracking my traffic or whatever, but they're trying to sell me tickets every time I log on to my own personal channel. So, yeah, it's a little bit of a mess of a situation, but that's the outcome that we're at.

[E]

I'm really happy you broke that down because I think many people assumed that this was the NBA kind of swinging their power over the WNBA and saying we are going to prioritize the draft. You have to move your game as opposed to. This was the original plan and the league should have been prepared to either schedule this on a date that didn't conflict or already create an alternative venue. I want to ask you about the other options you talked about in your article, which I really like. The idea of is having another neutral site, not one like Elmont, New York, but like what the NBA did with their in season tournament, having it in Vegas and you know, talking about potentially doing it at one of the new sites as well that might be coming in Portland or Golden State or anything like that. Why was that not an option?

[F]

So I can take this part. The first iteration of the Commissioners Cup Final, which was in 2021, was actually scheduled out of neutral site. When the league came back from the Olympics, it ended up being Seattle versus Connecticut. But the league had decided to host it in Phoenix ahead of time. And it was going to be like this big, you know, we have this new tournament, this new event, buy your tickets ahead of time. And because it was in 2021, you can imagine that the fan support was fairly diminished because this was a year that not a lot of people were going to live sporting events. And I think the atmosphere that was created at that event because it was new, you know, people didn't really know what they were getting into. Not a lot of people are going to WNB games in person at the time. It just, I don't know, it didn't really look like anything. I think the biggest takeaway from the Commissioners cup final in 2021 were these like weird animations that Amazon was doing of like live humans. I don't know if you remember this, Ben, but it was super strange on the broadcast anyway, the last two, the WNBA has just hosted the Commissioners cup at the site of the team with the better record during qualifying games. So you had it in Chicago during 2022 and Vegas in 2023. And you know, coming into this season, obviously, as Ben alluded to, there was a possibility that at least one of the 12 teams would not be able to host on the day that the Commissioners Cup Final was scheduled for. And lo and behold, that's the team that ended up earning the right to host. But you know, the suggestion that Ben made, like you said about Las Vegas being the site of the in season tournament for the NBA is why don't they just make this a neutral site like All Star every year? Because then you're not worried about, oh, who's going to earn the right to host maybe two weeks before the game starts. Right? Like, you are allowed to plan well in advance. You can say at the beginning of the season, when the schedule is released in December even, hey, you know, this year the Commissioner's cup is going to be in City X. Buy your tickets. You're guaranteed to see two excellent teams, regardless of who you happen to root for. And it doesn't necessarily have to be a team that is already playing in the WNBA or a city that already exists in the WNBA schedule. It could be like, well, we're bringing Golden State into the league in 2025. Why don't we give Golden State the Commissioner's cup in 2024 as an opportunity to sort of welcome them to the league. Like, hey, this is what the atmosphere is going to look like in the Bay Area when you, you know, eventually have the opportunity to see the Valkyries play in 2025. And then, you know, based on that pattern, the 2025 Commissioners cup could be held in Toronto and so on and so forth. You know, as expansion comes around and just as the WNBA uses the preseason to test these sites, you know, for WNBA markets, they could do the same thing with Commissioners cup and just build out this big event, you know, rather than even in best case scenario, like the Commissioners cup qualifying games ended about two weeks before the actual final. So that's the most leeway you're going to get in terms of, you know, scheduling and selling tickets and building this great fan atmosphere. So I kind of like the idea of a neutral site just so you can set things up well in advance. Like it's the same reason we do that for an All Star game. Like, you want to know ahead of time, you want to be able to plan things and you want to be able to create a crowd. And whether this game was going to be held at Barclays or not. Like, I just think a neutral side is an interesting opportunity. And maybe the WNBA was afraid of not having enough fan support three years ago when this tournament originally started, but I don't think that should be the case anymore.

[E]

That is a really good point on the fear of, well, we need the supporting fans to be there as opposed to people will travel, people will plan, people will accommodate these games. This, you know, in this space. Ben, I love in your article, you basically, you know, one. Let me back up. First of all, Ben, shout out to you, okay? Because I appreciate you calling out what was a very easily avoidable situation for the league and also calling out the fact that, you know, this isn't the first time that this has happened. I think that in the past a lot of WNBA coverage has been very lenient on some of these blunders because there's a fear of they can't afford bad press, right? They can't afford to be called out because it's just going to turn people against them. I absolutely think that the league has evolved in a place where, you know, their fans are not so fair, whether that if they make a mistake they're just going to, to turn around and you know, leave and not support. But they do need to be called out on things that are inconvenient for the players, the, the, the fans, anyone wanting to engage with this league and make it grow. The fact that they share offices with the NBA feels like this could have been avoided. And I know you mentioned the same thing, like what happened there?

[G]

What was the Ms. Yeah, I mean look, NBA spokesperson Mike Bass said in a statement provided to the athletic and other media outlets that the NBA draft in his words quote an unavoidable conflict for Yusuf Barclays Center. But I wrote in my column on the situation that you know, an NBA WNBA arena scheduling conflict feels as self inflicted of a conflict and initially unavoidable as you can possibly get. Like you are both kind of creating the schedule here. You know, to your question a few minutes goes, you know, like the NBA has basically always in this week in June holds the NBA draft and this year of course it's also a two night event for the first time. So you know, it's an even bigger production involved or at least it's lasting, you know, more than it did in the past. And so that's also like plays into this scheduling conflict. But I think you're right and as I wrote in this column, like you know, the NBA's showcase event did take priority here over the WNBAs. I think that's kind of of not really up for debate here. The NBA draft is taking place in Barclays center and the Commissioners cup final is being played at UBS Arena. And I think it is hard to view the this Commissioner's cup is like truly a premier event on the schedule or you know, this big event that it is that the WNBA wants it to be when you're moving it eight days before the actual game itself, right? Like name another sporting event in another sport that you know, barring an emergency or a natural disaster or something like that that you know, a showcase game that gets moved on such short notice. And I do think like it's gonna be really interesting on Tuesday night to see what, how many fans are there, what the environment is like, because, you know, there are more logistics involved for fans. You can no longer just conveniently take the train or walk to the arena if you're a Brooklyn resident or a season ticket holder. Like, it will be a different energy in the arena. And as I said, they're trying really hard to, to sell tickets for it. So, you know, I guess we'll see. But you're right, like the game. And we can talk about the game if we want to transition into that too. Like, the game should still be a great game. And you have two really good teams who are playing really well. And there's a ton of money, you know, at stake here. There's like a $40,000 payout almost per player for, you know, winning the Commissioners cup and just around $11,000 if you win the WNBA final. So there's like real money in stakes at play. And so it will feel big and the players are going to give it their all and it should be an exciting game. But like, I, you know, I do think this definitely is a, you know, is a shortcoming or is a little bit of a miss or a fumble, you know, a turnover. If we're going to use a basketball tournament, not a football one, like, that felt so self inflicted. And I say that knowing it's an Olympic year, right, that the schedule is condensed and there aren't that many dates. And that's something at play here too. But like, the WNBA controls the schedule here, and I just have a hard time believing that there was not another way to make this work so that the host team, the New York Liberty, you know, who won 5 and 0 in qualifying, could actually host this game.

[E]

I agree with you. I agree with you. And again, that context is so important of, you know, it is a Olympic year and that does make things a little bit tighter. But it doesn't mean that just because it's an Olympic year that you no longer have a calendar in front of you, right? Like, that doesn't go away just because of that. Let's actually talk about who's going to be in this game for a little bit because this is a very exciting matchup. This is a potential finals matchup or. No, actually, no, it can't be. Right?

[F]

It can be. Yeah.

[E]

Could it be? Oh, yeah, it could be. Yeah, absolutely. That's right. The Lynx and the Liberty potentially meeting up in the finals. Like, this is a, this is a big time showdown of two teams, one looking for that, like revenge, right? They already won the Commissioner's cup, so they're kind of like, all right, this is the New York Liberty I'm talking about. They've won the Commissioner's cup before. They're feeling good. They're in stride right now and their, their focus is really the Finals. Whereas you've got the Minnesota Lynx, who have are tasting a little bit of what I think the New York Liberty tasted last year of finally getting the right players in place and really having their All Star go off in the fisa Collier and there's just a lot of good chemistry and things going with the Minnesota Links right now. I want to know what do you all expect out of this matchup? Will there be an added tension because it's Commissioners cup or is this just going to be good competition regardless because these two teams are incredibly talented?

[F]

Well, I think first things first, like these are the two best teams in the wnba. They may not be literally by record. I know Connecticut is right up there, but Connecticut had a couple losses this weekend. So I think standings wise, you know, these are right up there. They've played one time during the regular season and it was a fairly convincing win by Minnesota actually. But that was a win that occurred at the Target center, which is obviously has been explained in great depth, is not where they will be playing this Commissioners Cup Final regardless where the game happens to be played. But you know, you've got multiple MVP candidates in Nafisa Collier and Brianna Stewart and Jonquil Jones. And I mean, frankly, like go up and down the Liberty roster, there's a lot of players who are putting themselves in all WNBA consideration with the start they're having to the season just first thing. And like I actually want to ask Ben about this, having been around the Liberty for the last four days. Any update on whether Benija, Laney Hamilton or Courtney Vanderstot will be able to play in this game on Tuesday?

[G]

No, there is no official update there. I do think there's a, you know, a decent chance on on Vandersloot. You know, they had kind of ruled her out for the weekend on return to play conditioning. Her mother recently died and so she had been away from the team for a few weeks and had just worked her way back. She was working out on court ahead of Thursday's game against the Sparks, or rather, excuse me, she was on court working out ahead of Saturday's game against the Sparks and I believe made the trip down to Atlanta. And so it wouldn't be shocking in my opinion, to see her play on Tuesday night Laney, I think they're, you know, mostly being cautious more than anything else, knowing the kind of workload. And this is a crazy stretch of games for New York. And so they've been cautious. And I guess we'll have to learn more on Tuesday after shooter end, so we'll keep people posted there.

[F]

Yeah, and that's just so interesting because the Lynx have just had one of the deepest rosters and most productive rosters in the WNBA this season. Like you look at their starting five, they lose Diamond Miller, plug in Bridget Carlton, basically don't miss a step, which is very similar to what New York's doing with, you know, Vander Slewd out, and you plug Kayla Thornton in and then Laney Hamilton out and you plug in Leonie Fibich. But even off the bench, you've got Natisha Heideman, who's started first, you know, teams that have made title runs before or at least runs to the WNBA Finals, and Dorka Juhas, who is an all rookie candidate last year, Chechi Zandala, Ceni, like Olivia Pupa. There've just been a lot of really productive players off of the bench for Minnesota. And if it gets to the point where, like Ben said, this is a very condensed schedule, that Liberty just played three games in four days. This is going to be their fourth and six. If it gets to the point where, you know, we're relying on deeper bench to, you know, figure this out, I just kind of think I trust Minnesota's depth over New York's Overall Excellent starting 5 just because of the point of the season we're in, which is incidentally very similar to last year when Alicia Clark had to miss the last game before the Commissioners cup and kind of they had to rush her back in because it was like, oh, well, hey, there's, there's some money on the line here. We need her to play tonight.

[E]

There's some money on the line is real. I'll still remember when Sue Bird won that, the first Commissioner's cup, and that was like the, in a post game interview, she was talking about like, yeah, we got some money. We got paid. Like, like that is. Let's just be real. They're competitors, but that money is very real. Yeah, thinking about this, the last time the, the these two teams matched up was May. All right. I think this is literally, quite literally a month from that. 84, 67AMinnesota Links win. The thing that stood out to me in that that could help New York in this situation. We don't know the situation with bet Nigelaney Hamilton. But Jonquill Jones had four points in that game, only four points. She struggled from the floor in that game and we know in the last few games she has done the complete opposite of that. So I feel as if, you know, if Jonquil Jones shows up and they'll have a lot more of a difficult time being able to guard inside and, and figure out what they want to do in terms of trying to shut that down and also keep up with Briana Stewart and Sabrina Unescu. I'm going off tangent here, folks. It's going to be a good game. That's the point.

[G]

I just want to stress even more the schedule point that Sabrina made because I do think, you know, it is really significant here. So in since last Tuesday, New York has played four games. Over that span, Minnesota has played just two and Minnesota over overall, they've been at home, I believe, since June 11th was their last road game and that was against the Las Vegas Aces. So their last four games have all come at home. So not only have they had a lighter stretch of games compared to New York entering this one, they've also been at home for them. New York has had some travel sprinkled in. They just got back. They played in Atlanta on, on Sunday. So, you know, that's not to say that, you know, if Newark loses, just chalk this one up to the schedule. But, but it certainly has been top of mind with Sandy Brandello, other people with the New York Liberty that, like, how are they playing rotations knowing that this is, you know, a particularly condensed stretch in their schedule. So, you know, Sandy Brandella tried to lean on the bench a little bit more on Thursday. She played the bench more on Saturday against the Los Angeles Sparks and a little bit more on Sunday. And so it will be really important for New York to get some consistent bench production, especially if some of those starters, those usual starters for New York are unavailable. It could be another great showcase, too, for Kayla McBride who, you know, is having an All Star level season. She might be an All Star and I know we're going to get to that conversation some of the voting later. And so, you know, especially if New York is down Laney Hamilton or, you know, if Vandersloot doesn't play like this could be another good opportunity for her. And also Smith on the inside, another player for Minnesota who, you know, an All Star level season has been so important for them. The frontcourt matchup is really the place to watch. And Minnesota, frankly, like, matches up pretty well with New York and kind of Having versatile bigs who can move and stretch out on the perimeter. So as you said, Xena, it's going to be a great game and we'll see how many people are there in the arena to watch it.

[E]

Well, I'm just like excited to see all this matchup again because I do think that the last time they matched up wasn't true. Truly a reflection of what New York can offer. But Nigel Laney had four points. John Cole Jones had four points. I mean, five was like the girl, right? Like, it was, it was, it was, it was the person off the bench coming on to help the New York Liberty. But we shall see. All right, let's keep it moving guys. We got a lot more to talk about right now. Let's talk about the LA Sparks. Big, big loss. Not only physically, but you know, metaphorically as well with Cameron Brink going down with an ACL tear. Sabrina, walk us through what happened and kind of the scene afterwards when Cameron Brink was injured.

[F]

Yeah, I mean it's just been a huge letdown and bummer and all of the negative nouns you want to use to describe the situation for the Los Angeles Sparks and for Brink in particular. I mean, they're on this road trip, a six game road trip, which is already going to be just a huge difficulty for a team as young as the Sparks and one who's near the bottom of the standings. And the one bright spots have been Cameron Brink and Rekia Jackson. Having great games against Minnesota. Start off the trip showing the improvement that they've had throughout their rookie years. They're both in the starting lineup. The future of LA is very bright. And then like three minutes into their game against Connecticut, Cameron Brink tries to drive to the basket. They call the foul on Brew Jones. There's not really any contact on Brew Jones. And anytime you have a player fall and there's a non contact injury, alarm bells go off. And just the reaction from Brink, who really hasn't suffered any major injuries throughout her high school or college career, has been pretty durable over that stretch of time, which has included stints for USA Basketball like in a lot of pain, manages to walk off the court, but then gets carried to the locker room and doesn't show up back on the bench for the remainder of the game. They announce the next day that it's a torn ac. Like there's no obfuscating here, like it was a terrible injury. They knew it was terrible pretty much at the moment and revealed as such. So that means Brink done for the rest of the regular season, probably going to be limited to start the next regular season. This also means, most importantly for Brink, that she will not be a part of the Team USA 3x3 team for the Paris Olympics starting next month. I can't even imagine what a devastating blow that is. Like, she was the World Cup MVP back in 2023 for the 3x3 team. So this is something that she's been working towards for some time. And just to have that opportunity taken away from you about a month before the thing starts is just so brutal. It's just bad all around. I mean, like, Team USA is obviously announcing its replacement for, you know, who's going to take Brink's place. I don't think they're going to be as productive as Cameron Brink was in that World cup stint. Like, she was just an absolute monster in terms of her defensive presence. And like, you could see even as a rookie in the wnba, she's been an elite defender already. And, you know, like, it's. It's just. It's a hard, like, mental hurdle to overcome. You know, Cam has talked about just the, the real mental strength it takes to be a professional athlete and like, even to be a high level college athlete and to have to add this to your burden of, like, being a face of the league and being part of this dynamic rookie class. And now you have to deal with rehab and like, not being able to play for 12 months. And this means no overseas or no unrivaled or whatever Cam plan to do during the off season. You know, it just takes the wind out of, like, what has been a really exciting start to the year for Cameron. And I mean, the sparks, like, let's face it, they weren't going to make the playoffs. They aren't going to make the playoffs now. But it does limit the amount of, like, learning they can do this year. Because the whole point was we need to see what we have with Cam and Ria. We need to see if Eri MacDonald fits into that or Leah Rue fits into that. And you just get less information with this new situation. And it's. It just sucks. It really sucks.

[E]

I still remember, you know, the video of her seeing her Olympic jersey and how emotional she was to see that. And it breaks my heart to think that that's going to be delayed. But as her WNBA teammate, not team teammate, but WNBA teammate Asia Wilson, said, what's delayed is not denied. So hopefully, you know, she'll get that opportunity in four years to be able to represent her country. But, gosh, it is a huge loss and I'M happy you also talked about the loss to the Sparks because it's an interesting front court duo because Rekia Jackson could be in the back court a little bit, right with her ball handling skills, but particularly Cameron Brink at that center, Rekia Jackson at the power forward. Trying to figure out what guard play can happen around them is now essentially gone. And then also thinking about with Jerrika Hamby being in the midst of that and moving Rekia Jackson to more wing position, she's going to now be forced to the power forward. No. Is that a proper assessment to make?

[F]

Well, it kind of depends on how they use Steph Talbot and Ray Burrell, but she will be playing more in the big spots. Just that's what Kurt Miller ended up saying, that she'll have to play some backup power forward, which is the way she started the regular season. And I mean that's just harder for a rookie two to have to learn two positions because she's still starting on the wing for the Sparks.

[G]

Right.

[F]

And that's just another, another element to this. I know, like the analogy Kurt used, it's like you try to plug one hole and then a bunch of other things like burst open. So. And they don't have any practice time. Well, thankfully the Sparks are off until Friday of this week so they have some time to at least like breathe after this nine game and 18 day stretch. But yeah, it's just been a lot of, a lot of devastating injuries throughout the WNBA this season and unfortunately now Cameron Brink is on that list.

[E]

What is the outlook for the LA Sparks in terms of the draft next year?

[F]

So WNBA draft order is determined by a lottery and the lottery odds are given to teams based on their two year record. So Sparks had a, you know, not a great record last year. They finished 17 and 23 and will probably be among the bottom four teams this year. So they will be in the lottery. And I would imagine the Mystics are probably right in there, you know, in terms of who's going to have the number one odds. So they'll be like, you know, around a 30% chance, maybe more of getting that number one pick, which, you know, you mentioned the front court duo and what kind of cards would fit around Cameron Brink and Ricky Jackson? The kind of guard who fits around Cameron Brink and Ricky Jackson is Paige Beckers. Like that's the optimal goal.

[E]

He's the kind of guard that fits around everyone. Just let's get that out there.

[F]

So if it all ends up in that, then, you know, there you go.

[E]

Okay, there it is and they have.

[F]

Their pick, they own their own pick, correct? Yes.

[E]

Okay. Well, we definitely wish Cameron Brink a quick but safe recovery, of course, letting her take her time to get back on the court. But definitely a lot of people thinking about her, her mental health, just all of the things that come with not only being able to not finish your rookie season or and play in that, but also of course the impact on the Team USA appearance in that vein, who will be able to take her position and fill that role?

[G]

Yeah, so Kurt Miller, the Sparks coach, kind of all week and weekend long he kind of used the phrase unintended consequences. It's just the kind of reality of Kimbrink's injury. So he talked about it in the context of Liyue Rue, their kind of their center playing a bigger role in moving into the starting lineup or Kia Jackson, Jackson going from the three to playing a lot more for with Cameron Brink going out. The other kind of unintended consequence that now affects both Team USA and the Los Angeles Sparks is that Dericka Hamby on Monday afternoon was named officially as the replacement for brink on that 3x3 team. So she will kind of be the forward who is slotting into Brink's role now. Hamby has 3 on 3 experience in the past before she actually won the America, I guess tournament MVP back in December in 3x3, the 3x3America event. And she most recently played in the 3x3 Women's Series debut at the Springfield Stop, which was just a few weeks before the start of the season. And she of course too. She not only has these FIBA eligibility requirements, but she's in the midst of a career year herself. Again, another potential, if not likely, All Star down the road. She's averaging almost 18 points per game, which is top 15 in the W10 and a half rebounds per game, which is third most overall, shooting over 50% from the field. So you know the Sparks will still have some representation on this 3x3 Olympic team. You can look at it that way. And the unintended consequence of Cam Brink going out with the ACL injury provides an opportunity for Hamby to play in the Olympics and travel to Paris this summer. So that is at least one slimmer of a bright spot for fans of the LA Sparks and obviously Derick Hamby and those around her.

[E]

That is exactly the right way to put it, a sliver of a bright spot. Congratulations to Deorika Hamby. I'm sure that's definitely not the way she intended or would have dreamed to be able to do that. But I know that she'll be very happy to represent not only her country, represent her teammate, and, you know, put on for the LA Sparks on behalf of Cameron Brink. Wow, look at that. Unintended consequences. Absolutely. Okay. Speaking of Derickah Hamby, she's having an MVP level year. She's having an All Star level year. And we got to talk about All Star right now, because if you guys don't know, All Star voting is open. All Star Game, All Star weekend taking place July 19th and the 20th. And one thing that I will say, when I first started, like, getting into the wnba, I did not understand that All Star Game format to save my life. Okay? I didn't know what was happening. I was so confused. I actually. And I went to an All Star Game and did not know I was at an All Star Game. When I was in college, it was at Connecticut sun and Mohegan sun arena and the home of the Connecticut Sun. And I just thought it was an exhibition game between Team USA and wnba. Like All Stars. I didn't know this was what it was. So for all of those listening that may be in the same boat as I, Ben, Sabrina, whoever wants to do it, please break down what happens in the All Star Game and why is it so different than what you would expect in other All Star Games in other leagues?

[F]

So the majority of the time, the All Star game in the WNBA is exactly what you'd expect. It's just east versus West or, you know, a collection of 22 All Stars and they draft, you know, teams for each side. The last couple years have been like Team Asia versus Team Stewie and they play against each other in an exhibition and it's just like an NBA All Star Game or, you know, whatever other sport you happen to, I guess, like hockey and baseball are the ones that most often come to mind. But during Olympic years, because, you know, they take the break during the middle of the season and Team usa, the number one priority is obviously not to play in an All Star Game. It is to. To compete for a gold medal at the Olympics. They turn it, or for the last couple cycles, they've turned it into an exhibition where the members of Team USA play an All Star team of the remaining WNBA players. And so that's the way that they create this exhibition. And it's good practice for the WNBA because let's face it, Team USA getting to play this group of All Stars is probably as good of competition as you're going to face anywhere else in the world. So it's Just a good way of creating some excitement, allowing the WNBA players who did not make Team USA a little bit of revenge, so to speak. And you know, good fun for everybody all around. I think the one you're talking about is actually like a 2010 All Star Game in Connecticut where for some reason it was not an Olympic year and they still had this exhibition, which I have not been able to figure out why.

[E]

Guys, I actually looked it up. It was not an All Star game. It was called the Stars at the sun game. And it was a like thing where they hosted this mid season showcase. And it felt like an All Star game because it was so packed and I always thought it was an All Star game.

[F]

No, it actually was the All Star game that year. Like in lieu of a traditional All Star game. That's what they held in 2010.

[E]

Yeah, guys, we're learning all these things together here on this podcast right now. So I was at this, I just.

[F]

Talked about this with Ben yesterday about how I didn't understand why to that which is not an Olympic year. They still had the USA exhibition. But here we go. Xena was there.

[E]

Okay, yeah, this was like me enter. I'm about to age myself. But this is me entering college, like being like, huh? I've never, because I'm from North Carolina, I'd never been to a WNBA game or any WNBA event. It wasn't close to us. And I was like, I had gone to school in Connecticut, so I was like, oh, we want to go to a WNBA event. And I was so confused as to how I walked into this place and got to see all of the best players in the world, just like had a random game. And I was just like, this is crazy. So I was there. Yes. There you go. Anyways, let's continue. So now we've got this game going on. All Star Game. We got this because it's an Olympic year. They've got this particular format. Is the voting the same as what it would typically be? Fan voting and coaches being able to play?

[G]

Yeah.

[F]

So just like every year the starters are determined by or I guess not the starters. It's a little bit different. So most years the fans, media and players vote on the starters for the All Star Game. This year it's just vote for your still 10 players, which, you know, kind of starters. But because of the USAW NBA format, it's not entirely clear if all these 10 players will actually be starting. Because the real wrinkle this year is that you can vote for anybody you want to in the All Star Game. It's just that if you vote for a player who's already representing Team usa, they will be on Team usa. And if you vote for a player who is not on Team usa, they'll be on team wnba. But there's no limit to how many players you can vote for in either pool. So theoretically, the fans could vote for 10 players who all already happen to be on Team USA. They could vote for 10 players who none of whom are on Team USA. So we don't know of these 10 that the fans, players and media vote for, how many of them are actually going to be represented on either squad. It's a, It's a little complicated.

[E]

I wish I could see my face right now.

[F]

The point is, the point is, is that this block, you know, 50% fans, 25% players, 25% media will select 10 players to be represented at this mid season showcase in Phoenix. The remainder of the roster will be filled out by the coaches who just pick from however many players they need to fill in.

[E]

Got it? Okay. Okay. And I've read that it's the, it's whoever had the top 36 vote getters after the top 10, that's who the coaches will choose from.

[F]

Correct?

[E]

Okay. That's about the only part that I got, y'all. But listen, it's gonna be a great game because obviously it's gonna be everyone's favorites and some really, really talented players. Anything else that's gonna be happening at All Star Game this or All Star Weekend this year that is special or unique or cool to look out for?

[G]

What's special in Phoenix this year again will be the Skills contest and the three Point Shootout. So that occurs on the Friday of All Star Weekend. You know, it is another sign of growth and growing interest in the WNBA that the TV time slot for this year's event is I think in my opinion, significantly better than it has been in past years. It's set to take place at 6pm local time in Phoenix, which is a much better time slot than it has been in the past. In some past years, it's like thrown into the middle of the afternoon. Fan attendance has kind of been inconsistent in past years. So I think the hope is that the event as a whole, able to draw both in person and on TV like it hasn't before. That's the other kind of headliner event of the weekend. And it really is a tune up for Team USA in a way that like they're going to be playing some of the best players in the world and we'll see what the competition level is like because you do have some added juice. And if you remember the last time this took place, it was a big showcase for Rike, who I believe she won All Star Game MVP in the 2021 All Star Game as Team WNBA. You know, a team of, in theory, snubs, if you want to use that word. Or at least players, some of whom did not make the U.S. olympic team, actually beat the U.S. olympic team. And so that was kind of a. A statement in that All Star Game leading into the Olympics, which of course Team USA won.

[E]

That is the best practice to go into international competition by going up against the other best players in the wnba. Okay, well, this is fun. I'm excited to finally understand what this concept is of what the Team USA versus the Team WNBA is. And it is something that is unique to the WNBA because the NBA would never have this conflict in terms of the timing wise of when their All Star Game is so. Okay, this is exciting. I'm very, very, very excited to see the Games. Are you guys going to be in Phoenix?

[F]

Yeah, we're both going to be in Phoenix.

[E]

Okay. All right. I'm still trying to figure out if I'll be able to make my way down there. I feel like it's going to be a big, big media event, more so than in past years. Are you anticipating a lot more credentials being passed out?

[F]

Well, like Ben said, you know, the main entry, I think, comes from players who were snubbed from Team USA who get to play as a member of Team WNBA. Not only was Arike Agumbale part of that in 2021, but Candace Parker, you know, was very pointed about how she had been snapped from teamSC, not specifically that year, but in a previous cycle. And she was playing not only for herself, but for Neko Gumike, who was snubbed that year from the Olympic team. And so there is a certain level of extra intensity. And if you think about the Olympic roster this year, not only will Enrique Gumbaly probably be in attendance, as you know, whether she took herself out of the USA pool or not, like the politics obviously have made Enrique Goale have certain feelings towards Team usa and then let's not forget the big headliner, the number two player in overall fan vote thus far, Caitlin Clark, who is not gonna be playing for Team usa, but based on the fan vote, probably has a good chance of playing for Team wnba.

[G]

It is one of the other examples of growth that I think we should highlight too, before this team comes out. Is like compare the fan voting from this year to last year and it is one of the starkest, just like head to head comparisons of where the WNBA is at right now versus where it was at a year ago. So for context, last year the fan vote, Asia Wilson was the top voter. She received just over 95,000 overall votes. This year with the early returns in that were announced last week she had received 217,000 or almost 218,000. So already there that's more than double what she had overall. That 95,000 number from last year already on the early returns this year, 10 players, or rather 11 players had already crossed the 95,000 plateau. Cameron Brink had 9,572 eight when the early returns were published. So if you just want to think about just like how crazy or how much more rabid these fan bases have been this year in supporting their favorite players, like just look at the head to head numbers there. Last year again, only two players, Stewie and Asia Wilson received more than 75,000 votes already this year 16 players had done that right? And so like you have players who you know will not make the all star team this year and you know our role players and somewhat on their respective teams getting more than some of more votes already than some of the biggest names in the league last year. Temifag Benle, who has been a very good reserve player for the Indiana Fever this year but has played in only eight games because of injury, she received nearly 40000 votes this year. That's number 27 overall in the early returns. By comparison she had more early return votes than Sabrina Unescu received last year in the fan vote. Like that's pretty crazy when you just go head to head like and compare those two players. So we'll see. I believe this weekend on Saturday was like double your vote day. If you're fans and they'll be continuing to vote it, it goes on for a few more days. This week. I think it closes. What?

[F]

Yeah, I think the 27th is another double your vote day.

[G]

So we'll, we'll see what the final returns are. But talk about growth, just look at fan voting from year over year. It is exhibit A in this conversation.

[E]

I'm happy you brought up some of the names that like stand out to you. First and foremost Indiana Fever game fans. Y'all are doing yalls job. Okay? You wake up in the morning and you go vote. You wake up in the morning, you tell your mailman to go vote. You are clearly doing what you need to do to get your Players in this conversation, of course, Caitlin Clark being number two in the midst of after first round of voting. And then Aaliyah Boston right behind her at number three. Kelsey Mitchell being up there at number 18. I mean, this is very impressive work here in Deanna. Please tell the rest of the world how to, you know, do this job here. But I know there was some that really stood out to me. I mean, Kate Martin being number 12 ahead of NECA Gurumike, ahead of Dewana Bonner, ahead of Jonquil Jones. I mean, this is like, it was like, have yourself a day. Kate Martin. People love you, girl. People love you. It's been really cool to see also how many rookies are in the top 20. I mean, Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Cameron Brink, Camila Cardoso. Like four rookies of this class are in the top 20. That's really impressive.

[G]

Yeah.

[F]

And even in the top 30, you also have Rekia Jackson and Aaliyah Edwards. So rookies equal the number of Indiana Fever in the top 30, right?

[E]

There you go. What were some of the names that stood out to you that maybe weren't in the top 10?

[G]

I mean, I'll go and we talk about the rookies. How about you go to the other end of the league? How about Diana Taurasi? Uh, she is not in the top 30 overall of the fan vote. So Phoenix Mercury fans, I hope you take advantage of the double days. Of course Diana will be at the All Star game as an Olympian, but that was certainly one that stood out to me. When you have so much young talent, who is making up this top 30 fan vote? And no Diana Taurasi, also Atlanta Dream fans. You know, there is not a lot of Atlanta Dream, if any actually Atlanta Dream representation on this top 30 list. So Ryan Howard, Alicia Gray, Cheyenne Parker, they were all all stars last year. They didn't make up this top 30 in the fanboat this year. That's not to say that any of them won't be all stars again, but that is another omission or group of omissions that stood out to me.

[E]

That's a really good one. What about you, Sabrina?

[F]

I think the Terrazzi one is probably the number one thing. Just like I didn't even realize it when I was, you know, writing up who, who was higher or lower than I expected. But, you know, I would say just in general, you know, like you look at some of these, not big city markets like Minnesota, Connecticut, Alyssa Thomas, Dewana Bon are a lot lower than you might expect. Caleb McBride only coming in 30 when like if the season ended today, I might vote her first team. All wnba. You know, it's a fan vote. I get it. Like, we're going to have more New York, more Vegas, more Los Angeles. But, you know, hey, like, there's. There's some good players in the. The lesser media market, so good thing that Alyssa Thomas no longer has to rely on the fan vote for her All Star consideration because she will be a member of Team usa. But, yeah, it's. It's just hard for me to parcel through, like, who, you know, really got a deserving number of votes because, like, it's great that Asia Wilson's the number one fan vote, best player in the world, but, like, she'll be there anyway. So if you're a fan and decided, I don't want to use my vote on Asia Wilson because it doesn't matter. Like, I get that too. So, you know, it's just. We'll see how this ends up shaking out. Like, how many of the votes end up being determined by fans versus the coaches?

[E]

Not y'all. Not respecting your elders. Diana Taurasi is a legend, folks. I mean, she's got to be. She's 42 years old. Guys, come on. Some votes. Phoenix, come on. Do right by your. By your elders here. All jokes. All jokes. She's also a legend in the game, but okay. Alrighty. I haven't put my votes in yet. I'm not gonna lie. I'm so sorry. I'm gonna take advantage of the double vote game, but as a member of the media, I don't know if I should be voting. Do y'all vote?

[F]

I mean, you say, like, as a fan vote or do I vote overall?

[E]

Do you vote as a fan?

[F]

Oh, no, I don't vote as a fan.

[E]

Yeah, yeah, right. Because you have the media vote.

[F]

Exactly. Yeah.

[E]

Well, see, I'm not that cool yet. So once I get the media, I think if you don't have a media.

[F]

Ballot, you absolutely should vote as a fan.

[E]

There you go. I am part of that crew. There we are. There we are. All right, well, Sabrina, Ben, I appreciate you guys, as always, stopping by, giving us all the context, all the deets, all the insights, and all the opinions on what's going on in the world of the wnba. Before we get out of here, I gotta go off the script for today's off the script. I want to talk a little bit about celebrity dom when it comes to the wnba. First, let's start with some definitions. For me, celebrity dom and stardom are two different things. You can be a star in the wnba. There's absolutely stardom in the wnba. There are exceptional players who are unique talents and are supremely gifted at their ability to play basketball. And they're stars and have earned that right to be regarded as such. They're legends. They're going to be in the hall of Fame. Their peers admire them and respect their craft. But usually for many stars in the wnba, that stardom doesn't extend past the realm of the W, doesn't really expend then past the realm of basketball, period. That's where celebrity dom starts in. Because to be a celebrity, you don't necessarily need to be a star at anything. You don't necessarily have to have a talent. You just have to be famous. People just need to know your name, and for the reason that they know your name, want to follow you and support you, interest you, bash you, whatever it is. But they end up remaining attentive to whatever it is you do. And celebrity dom is a whole different level that I think if the WNBA taps into, that is really what's going to help grow this league and also sustain this league. Now, don't get me wrong, I understand why some people are like, no, Cena, we don't want this for the W. It's going to tarnish what it stands for. It's going to tarnish what the W is known for. And I get it. Because when you think about celebrity gossip and you think about these sites that really cites magazines that really make their money on trying to expose these people and these celebrities and share too much information for these celebrities, and I get it. I get that that's not what the WNBA stands for, and that's not what you want and you really want to protect a lot of these players who are some of the most vulnerable classes of people in the United States, Women, black women, members of the LGBTQIA community. I completely understand it. But I feel as if we're not giving enough credit to the women of the WNBA and what they're able to withstand, particularly this new generation of players from the era of nil on the college level. When you think about celebrity dom, I think about the word inaccessible. Celebrities are often set apart, made special, because they are typically inaccessible. They're exclusive. They go to exclusive parties. They wear exclusive clothing. They have exclusive access to certain things that the average person doesn't have. And that inaccessibility drives within others a desire to get closer to them. They want to know more about them. They want to dress like them, they want to be like Them, they want to eat like them, they want to do everything like them to make it seem as if they are part of them. That word, inaccessibility, exclusivity, not a word that really, really has tied to the WNBA for a very long time. And it's because it couldn't. The WNBA hasn't been able to afford being exclusive, being inaccessible. They've needed to cultivate a community within which they are incredibly tapped in and incredibly personable and relatable and accessible because that's the support they've needed. But now, with all of this newfound visibility onto the league, they can absolutely afford to be a little bit more exclusive. And these players can afford to lean into all of the ways that they are amazing women, not just basketball players. They don't need to be good basketball players and good role models, period, in order to become household names. That usually was the old blueprint. You know, sprinkle in a little bit of need to be a certain race, need to be a certain aesthetic, physically need to present more feminine ways. Yeah, that used to be the blueprint, but nowadays it's starting to get blown up. The celebrity dom around the wnba, where players are starting to become famous for more than their ability to be basketball players, is starting to help shatter some of the stereotypes of what it means to be a female athlete, particularly a women's basketball player. You can be a women's basketball player who's incredibly well dressed, and not only well dressed in a feminine capacity, but also in a masculine capacity. You can be a women's basketball player who is also really, really talented. And not just at basketball, but at singing, at writing, at rapping, whatever, you name it. These women are starting to show you the full nuance of their characters, their personalities, their identities. Something that before only the WNBA community got to see, but now people that don't even follow the wnba, people that don't even follow basketball are starting to see it too. And I think that is a good thing for the W, because of course, it's something that everyone has said time and time again when it comes to the wnba, visibility and acknowledgement is the number one way that they're going to grow. Visibility from fans gets visibility from the media rights deals, gets visibility from the advertisers, the sponsors. That brings revenue. Revenue brings higher salaries, better facilities, better ways to nurture and retain talent within the wnba. It's a virtuous cycle. If these women become famous for more than just their ability to play basketball, you're now going to get people interested in them. Beyond just the basketball. And that adds another layer to the fandom of the wnba, which adds another layer to the support of its sustainability. Overall, I understand why some of these people commenting under the game day fit content and the tweets about who's dating whom and who's hanging out with who and what they're doing on the weekends. All these people commenting under these things and saying, we don't care. That's not the point. Keep the main thing the main thing. You guys need to focus on their basketball. I completely get it. I get why you're saying that. Because it's true. You don't want to make it seem as if these players are distracted from their ultimate goal of being great basketball players and winning a championship. You also don't want players coming into the league, younger players, thinking that that's the main point of getting to the wnba, not actually winning a championship, but rather worrying about what shoes you're going to wear as you walk into the game. I get that. But I encourage those that see it as such to give a little bit more flexibility to these female athletes and trust them a little bit more to be capable of doing it all. I mean, they're women. At the end of the day, you know, women can do it all, but these women can absolutely have the flexibility in their personalities, their characters, their interests, their. Their. Their friends, their entourage, their personal endeavors just as much as they can put the ball in a hoop. They're capable of balancing it all. And when they do that, there will be more people interested in who they are and what they do and will ultimately eventually get back to the basketball where they will shine the brightest. It is a good thing for the WNBA players to become celebrities because they're not becoming famous just for fame's sake. They're becoming famous and they're going to use their platforms to continue being who they've always been. A league that is focused on inclusivity, on social justice, on equity, on good, great, hard competition and their community, and tapping in with the people who have always supported them from the start. That's my little rant for today. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. I appreciate you all tuning in again. Hit that subscribe button on our show. Leave us comments if you have any topics that you want to talk about. You want us to talk about questions for our writers? We are open to it all for now. I'm Zena Kada, grateful for another show and thanking you for your ear and most importantly, encouraging you to keep listening, keep watching, keep learning and keep loving the game because that's the only way we're going to keep growing it. Until next time.

[Zena Keda]

As we head into the playoffs, it's safe to assume there will be a few calls made by the refs that will be hard to accept. But you know what? What isn't hard to accept? Discover. Believe it or not, Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. You heard that right, 99%. So make a good call for your wallet and get Discover. Based on the February 2024 Nielsen report. Learn more at discover.com creditcard this podcast.

[G]

Is brought to you by Aura. Imagine waking up to find your bank account drained, bills for loans you never took out, a warrant for your arrest. All because someone stole your identity. Hackers aren't waiting. Why are you? That's why we're thrilled to partner with Aura. Your personal data is a goldmine for hackers, and Aura helps lock it down. Aura monitors the dark Web, blocks data brokers from selling your information. Includes a VPN for private browsing and a password manager to secure your accounts before criminals break in. For a limited time, Aura is offering our listeners a 14 day free trial plus a dark web scan to check if your personal information has been leaked. All for [e-mail] safety that's aura.com safety to sign up and start protecting Protecting yourself and your loved ones. That's a u r a.com safety terms apply. Check the site for details.

[E]

ACAST powers the world's best podcasts.

[F]

Here's a show that we recommend.

[E]

Remember blowing into a video game cartridge.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Or taping songs off the radio?

[E]

How about Saturday morning cartoons?

[Sabrina Merchant]

Hey, AOL chat room.

[F]

Did we just age ourselves?

[Ben Pickman]

Yep, we're Mike Fenoya and Charles McBee.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Two comedians getting nostalgic and asking that nagging question.

[E]

Are we old?

[Ben Pickman]

Relive the laughs, the cringes and the nostalgia.

[E]

Are we old?

[Sabrina Merchant]

Podcast right here on Acast.

[F]

Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acest. Com.