← No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show
No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show
How Aces & Liberty Can Win Series + Surging Ticket Prices
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- [00:00]
Zena Keda
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- [00:22]
Sabrina Merchant
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Ben Pickman
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Sabrina Merchant
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Ben Pickman
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Sabrina Merchant
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Ben Pickman
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Sabrina Merchant
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Ben Pickman
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Zena Keda
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Ben Pickman
Really?
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Zena Keda
That's great news. High five everybody.
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Ben Pickman
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Zena Keda
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Sabrina Merchant
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Zena Keda
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Sabrina Merchant
Other restrictions apply.
- [01:23]
Zena Keda
Hello everyone and welcome to no off season presented by Amazon Business. I'm Zena Caida.
- [01:28]
Sabrina Merchant
I'm Sabrina Merchant.
- [01:29]
Ben Pickman
And I'm Ben Pickman.
- [01:31]
Zena Keda
And today on the show, evidence that the WNBA is more popular than ever is everywhere. You can see it in all ways. But many fans are having some issues with the one particular way that obviously hurts the most. Their pockets.
- [01:46]
Sabrina Merchant
Okay.
- [01:47]
Zena Keda
Especially when it comes to those surging ticket prices, unavailable arenas and a culture that feels like it's shifting right before our eyes. But first, you know, we gotta break down these games. It's the postseason and Sunday was a trip. It was four games back to back to back. Now I'm a. I'm gonna go ahead and give the WNBA their credit. We have been complaining about these games being stacked up on top of each other during the regular season. And they ensured that we could sit and watch them in succession. And I appreciate that. Back to back. Starting the game on the east coast at least, or I guess Central time noon with the Minnesota Links and the Valkyries. We're gonna go through all these games. But I wanna ask Ben, Sabrina, you guys cover this league, you write about it. What was your Sunday like?
- [02:33]
Sabrina Merchant
I could use a two and a half hour Window for the games. You know, a lot of these do not fit neatly into the two hours. Uh, especially, like, you know, going from Indiana Atlanta to New York Phoenix. Like, I didn't get to New York Phoenix until the second half, really, because of all of the extra. Extra stuff happening in that Dream Fever game. So, yeah, maybe. Maybe a two and a half hour window, but, like, watching all that, plus, you know, I was watching Germany Turkey in the Eurobasket Men's final, which is just a great time. So there was just a lot of basketball going on on my TV yesterday, I realized it was an NFL Sunday. I don't think I watched a single, but it was a lot of basketball coming through.
- [03:07]
Zena Keda
Absolutely. What about you, Ben?
- [03:09]
Ben Pickman
Yeah, I had a Bolognese sauce that I was making throughout the last two or three games of the night. So that was my distraction. Like, during commercial breaks, I would just, like, stir every now and then and check it and see how my sauce was going. You know, we were watching them all, all the games from home. I know we'll be traveling for some of the second rounds and also the finals, but especially on day one, it is kind of nice to sit on your couch and, you know, start to take notes and just consume all the games that are coming at and just get a big picture sense of the league. And that is exactly what we're going to talk about today. Zena.
- [03:39]
Zena Keda
There you go. Now I will say, Sabrina, to the point of Eurobasket, I didn't watch the game, but I did see clips of the celebration. NBA, wnba, America. Take notes. That was so fire. And of course, we see very similar setups in the ways in which, you know, international sporting competitions celebrate their trophy raisings. But, man, that. That little rocking of the trophy into the hooray. Ugh. It's chef's kiss. But shout out to Dennis Schroeder, who is, like, killing it when he plays overseas. It's awesome. Back to the wnba. Yes. Watching those games was a lot of fun. It was just like back to back to back. I took a break to go and support one of my nieces. She was in a dance recital. And then I came right back and I had to catch up on games. And of course, the game that I had to watch back was New York and Phoenix. And I was like, of course. Of course I didn't get to watch this live, but it was great to be able to watch it back in my own, like, privacy, because I was locked in. So let's dive into these games and our biggest takeaways and we Gotta start with that matchup. Okay. This was the only team to win on the road this past weekend. The New York Liberty defeat Phoenix Mercury in front of the X factor 7669 in overtime. It was 65, 65 in regulation. And Natasha Cloud, of all the people brought her a game with a game high 23 points. Now, interestingly enough, if you remember Natasha Cloud with the Phoenix Mercury against Minnesota last year in the first round, in the first game, she dropped 33. So, you know, showing up in that first game in the playoffs is nothing new for her, but it was huge overall for her performance. But bigger news, even out of this game, that was just over three minutes left in overtime. Brianna Stewart left the game with an apparent left knee injury. It was rough to watch her kind of writhing down on the floor and then being on the bench just looking completely like, ugh. And also it was really tough to watch her subbing herself out because we know Ben, she typically doesn't do that. She fights through it. So take us through how the Liberty survived in overtime and then any updates on Stewie?
- [05:49]
Ben Pickman
I mean, you mentioned it. Natasha Cloud was really central to the Liberty surviving in overtime and coming away with this 1o series lead. I mean, she was so, so impressive because of what she did on both ends of the floor. You mentioned the scoring, Xena. You know, she had 23 points that tied her season high. She made nine field goal attempts. That's the most she has made since she joined the New York Liberty this past offseason. Of course we should say she did this against the Mercury, the team that she played for last year, the team that traded her. Natasha Cloud has been open, like about feeling hurt by when she was traded. So maybe a little bit of extra motivation there. But she had six rebounds, five assists a game high, four steals. She guards Kalia Copper largely kept her, you know, Copper in front of her on the defensive end. And look like Nate Tibbets admitted it post game, that Tosh has big games in the playoffs like this is kind of what she has done. She's averaged in the last three regular seasons 12 and a half, 11 and a half and 10.1 points per game. But in the postseason, that number has jumped to 18 and a half and 18 and a half in each of the past two years, albeit in small samples. So Tosh Cloud like really does bring her aame in the postseasons, especially to start. And that is exactly what we saw. But to Brianna Stewart, because look, a lot went on Natasha Cloud shoulders and some of her teammates raw played A really, really good game. I think she had like 18 points and I want to say 6ish rebounds by the time of her injury. Yeah, 6 rebounds. But she goes out or she goes up for a layup with 3.01 to play in overtime. And it appears as she goes up, maybe she, you know, hurts herself in some form or fashion. We're going to call it appearing to injure her left leg because we don't even have, you know, a concrete diagnosis at all on the severity or extent of her injury. But she goes up for this layup, she gets fouled on the left side of the basket, she draws the contact, she makes the layup, and kind of right when she lands on the floor on the ground, we see her grimace, we see her hold her left knee. That is basically all we know. She stays in the game for another 54 seconds. And then Sandy Brondello, New York's coach, said that Stewie asked to come out. As of Monday afternoon when we're taping this, we don't know the extent or severity of the injury. I would say that Stewie's status is still uncertain. We should also be very clear here. This is a different potential leg injury than the leg injury that kept her out, you know, for about a month during the regular season. That was a bone bruise on her right knee. Again, she also had an offseason kind of knee scope surgery that was also on her right knee. So this is a different leg, potentially. Certainly a big question mark heading into game two. The good thing for New York, Game two of this series is on Wednesday.
- [08:20]
Zena Keda
Oh, I mean, possibly Sabrina not having Stewie could be the. A big difference maker. Because we must remind folks, Phoenix went 3 and 1 against New York during the regular season, but they had never seen the full strength of the New York Liberty. With Stewie, with Sabrina, with Jonquil Jones and Emma Miseman and Leonie Fibich and Kennedy Burke and Natasha Cloud, like they had not seen this team in full strength. So now, looking back at this game, let's put the Stewie news aside and assume she'll be still available to play in this next game. Phoenix has to go on the road and steal one. And that's tough, right? Two games in a row against the New York Liberty. And you think about the fact. Oh, I know, I know. Alyssa Thomas maybe. No, maybe not. Maybe just me is thinking about that last second layup, just the one with two seconds left on the clock. Or maybe she might be thinking about that kind of floater jump shot that kind of was Forced.
- [09:20]
Sabrina Merchant
Or the two missed free throws.
- [09:21]
Zena Keda
Or the two missed free throws. Right. Which she never does. So looking at this game, what were some of the big takeaways for you, particularly for Phoenix, that maybe gives you a little bit of hope when they go to New York, then potentially stealing one on the road.
- [09:36]
Sabrina Merchant
I don't have a ton of faith in Phoenix. Their offensive process was just terrible in this game. I was watching the game with a friend and sort of making a joke after Leo Fibic hit that three, that it was big day for German basketball players. And we're like, well, what about Satu Savile, who was just outright terrible in this game?
- [09:49]
Zena Keda
2 of 17.
- [09:50]
Sabrina Merchant
2 of 17. You know, more turnovers than assists. 1 of 10 from three point range. And just some of the shots she was taking, you know, like pulling up with early in the shot clock, like, you do that when you have a hot hand, not when you're trying to find your rhythm. There were so many possessions where, like, even in that minute where after Stewie got hurt and before she stepped herself out, they weren't attacking her. On defense, Like, I realized there is a certain level of, like, sympathy you extend, but also this is a playoff game that you were trying to win. You attack the mismatches on the other end. And I, I thought Nate Tibbetts just got out, coached by Sandy Brandello. Like, New York got to their stuff more often than Phoenix didn't, which was not that often, to be clear. Like, this was a poorly executed offensive game on both sides. But the Mercury, like, this is a game they had to have. It's on your home court. You limit the Liberty to 76 points in overtime. Right. Like your defense did its job. And you just think about all of the close calls on offense. Like, you listed all of those Alyssa Thomas situations. You know, talked about Satu Sable's stat line. They end up shooting, what is it, 32.5% from the field. And like, yeah, some of that you can credit to the Liberty's defense, but not all of it. A lot of it was just Phoenix not taking what was available to them on the offensive end. I think Nate could maybe go a little bit deeper into his bench. It was a lot of just the starters and Dewana Bonner. I think this could be more of a Sammy Wickham series. Just the spacing that she provides around, you know, Alyssa Thomas in the middle of the floor because, yeah, Alyssa Thomas got that open layup opportunity because Sammy Wickham was on the court. Right. Like spacing the floor away from the middle of the basket. So I think if you look at this like this is, this is a game Phoenix have to have and they're going to really, really regret letting this one go. You do get at least a couple days to just sort of cle out of your system. Game two is not until Wednesday, so you get a little bit more rest than some of the other series. But New York is a hard place to play. Phoenix did win a game there earlier this season, but we talked about how like, they had, you know, different rosters. New York was fielding for those games because they weren't completely healthy. And I hate to just like bury the Phoenix Mercury already, but, like, I think everything went according to plan for them defensively. And this is a team that hangs its hat on its defense. And if that isn't the game that you're going to win, then you're just expecting like an overwhelming three point shooting performance from your team to really make something happen against the Liberty. And that's more likely to happen for New York in Barclays center than it is for Phoenix.
- [12:07]
Zena Keda
Yeah, Ben, they finished 23% six of 26 from the three against New York. Sabrina mentioned going deeper into the bench. I mean, they needed some size. They got out, rebounded 48 to 31 and New York was on the offensive glass, got 10 offensive rebounds for nine points. Now New York, interestingly, 21 turnovers and you know, Phoenix got 12 steals out of that. New York's probably feeling really good going back obviously to Barclays center, getting a steal on the road. They've got this veteranship that isn't necessarily the same veteranship that is also present in Phoenix. Right. Let's not forget dejuana Bonner's won championships, Sammy Whitcomb's won championships. We've seen Alyssa Thomas in these situations many times. They have experience as well. But there's something about what New York has coming into their home court. Getting passed as a fifth seed, not having the quote unquote advantage. Well, they just gave themselves that advantage. How do you feel New York is feeling, Ben, even with those 21 turnovers?
- [13:05]
Ben Pickman
I mean, the best part of the playoffs is you can kind of spin things and spin information, especially on kind of an overreaction post game one day like we are doing in any which way you want. You can say it is a Monday morning quarterback, Ben. I mean, it is a great sign. You can argue that the New York Liberty pulled out this game on the road when they played far from their best game. As you mentioned, for all the reasons, you know. Or you can spin it and say, yeah, well, they had more, I want to say, turnovers in the second half than they did field goals made. And guess what? That is a sign of the struggles that we have seen out of the New York Liberty, the stagnation on offense, the lack of efficiency that we have seen, the kind of malaise, the days that they get in. Sometimes. Jonquil Jones, just seven shot attempts all game long. Like, this is an MVP caliber player who can be the best player on the court any given night. Like, yeah, she was 3 of 7. She has 12 rebounds. It's an okay game, but not, you know, a game that someone like J.J. needs to be putting up if New York wants to go far. And so, yeah, you can spin it. Good sign that they won. Or you can spin it like, sure, they might get past Phoenix, but Minnesota sitting there looking real, real pretty because it looks like they're going to blow out the Golden State Valkyries. They did in game one. And spoiler alert, I think they're going to do it in Game 2. And Minnesota looks far, far better than New York after one playoff game. And that is something to keep an eye out on as well going forward.
- [14:29]
Zena Keda
Yeah, I'm thinking the fact that New York did not truly tap into Jonquil Jones and Emma Miesiman, who went one of six from the floor, only had two points in the game, could be a sign of, like, ooh, there's more to be had. But also could be a sign of exactly what you're saying, Ben. Of, like, ooh, they still haven't figured out how to tap into this, all of this wealth of talent that they have.
- [14:52]
Ben Pickman
I mean, they tried. They tried to tap in Emma Musa and she was just minus 17 in 13 minutes. Like, if you're, you know, if that's your split, you gotta make a decision. So.
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Zena Keda
Absolutely.
- [15:01]
Sabrina Merchant
It is crazy how much talent is on the floor of this series. Like, there are six active WNBA Finals MVPs, and four of them are in this series. That's insane.
- [15:09]
Zena Keda
That's crazy. That's crazy. And we only get potentially two. Come on. Come on, Phoenix. Give us three. Give us three, Phoenix. That's what I'm asking for. All right, let's keep it moving to the game that Ben just referenced. Not too much, Ben, not too much. Okay? But yes, the Valkyries made history, okay? Becoming first expansion team to make it to the playoffs and play a playoff game. Going to Minnesota in a very loud, very raucous, very bought in Minnesota Lynx, target center. And yeah, it was really like that first strike. The first quarter ends up 28, 21 in favor of the Valkyries. And everyone's like, ooh, oh, let's find out what's going on with this expansion team. And then they go into the second quarter, and Minnesota remembers who Minnesota is, keeps them to just 12 points, scores 26 of their own. But they go into the half 47, 40, and you're like, this is going to be a game. They're going to be in the mud with the Valkyries, them being the Minnesota Links. But let's not forget this is the Minnesota Lynx that went to the finals last year and lost at the very last second. This is an unbelievable, capable team that has an embarrassment of riches. I mean, put the New York Liberty aside. No, no, no. It's Minnesota that just has all of the talent, capable, out on the floor and on their bench to come out on the floor, and they end up winning this game. 10172. And the thing about it is, it's like you hear that number and you think, for the Minnesota Links. Oh, you know, Collier had one of those games. Remember last year she had 38 in her first game against Phoenix. What'd she have the second game, Sabrina?
- [16:54]
Sabrina Merchant
I think it was 42, a pretty high number. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [16:58]
Zena Keda
I mean, it was insane. She had 74 in her first games in the first round. Okay, that's a lot of points. That Wasn't the case. 20 points for Nafisa Collier. Solid performance. Kayla McBride, 17 points. Natisha Heideman and Jessica shepherd were the problems for the Valkyries. But I'm gonna go to our experts here. Ben, I'm gonna start with you. I know you don't have much to say on this. That's why I kind of laid out what happened here. What did the Valkyries do wrong?
- [17:26]
Ben Pickman
I just like Xen. I'm going. I'm going to spin it back to you is when you were setting this question up and this topic of the game you kept referring to, like the. You thought it was going to be a close game that people watching, like, you thought it was going to be a game in the mud. Is that you referring to yourself and your internal dialogue personally? Because I know personally, I did not have that feeling at halftime. I thought, like, the Minnesota Links, you know, they shook off the rest of their first quarter and this was very much setting up like a blowout. So I will spin that at you.
- [17:53]
Zena Keda
Yeah, no, you're right.
- [17:54]
Sabrina Merchant
You're right.
- [17:55]
Zena Keda
I think I was a little. I was a Little bit excited at the fact that they were still within the crux of this game and there was still an opportunity there for them to come out in the second half and hopefully, you know, find a way to keep it tight. But let's just be real. The Minnesota Lynx have now beaten the Valkyries 5, 0 this season, and outside of one game, it's been close throughout the entire game.
- [18:17]
Ben Pickman
And Minnesota just has so many more options that they can turn to. Like I think really the player of the game, and you mentioned her and Cheryl we've talked about this post game was Natisha Heideman, who finishes with 18 points. I think it ties her career high with 18 and nine in each half. She plays an integral role in that second quarter getting downhill like reset afterwards, that Heideman's playing her best basketball of the season, that she's confident that her decision making in the pick and roll is strong, that she's freezing post players. And we really saw that throughout the game. And it's like, you know, Monday or Sunday rather was a Natisha Eidman game. And Tuesday night in game two could be a fee game or it could be a land game or it could be a Courtney Williams game who, you know, struggled on offense. So just the optionality that Minnesota has is what makes them so dangerous. You know, we saw the ball a lot in Veronica Burton's hands. Some success at times, some struggles at times, but I don't really know where Golden State turns. Whereas with Minnesota, like, I don't know where they turn either, but they have so many options they can turn to that in their system. You kind of know they're going to thrive.
- [19:19]
Zena Keda
Natisha Heideman, second best scorer versus the Valkyries this season. She averaged about 14 and a half points, right behind Collier. She had a. She had a 50, 40, 90 season if you only count the Valkyries, 55 from the floor, 56% from three, 90% from the free throw line. Uh, she has the highest plus minus against the Valkyries this season. And in the regular season she scored 58 against them, second behind Collier and 18, I'm guessing. Ben, when you said 18 was her career high, you meant like her playoff career high.
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Ben Pickman
Yeah.
- [19:50]
Zena Keda
Okay. Yeah. I don't know what it is about this matchup and Natisha Heideman, Sabrina, but she kills. She feasts against the Valkyries. And I feel like the Valkyries, if they want any chance of staying alive in this series, it requires them to handle the bench more than anything because we know what the starters are capable of. They can't have more to deal with when the bench comes in and subs in. What are your thoughts on that, Sabrina?
- [20:18]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, I mean the Minnesota Lynx offense has a lot of pace within the half court, but it's mostly like east west pace. Like they don't have a lot of people who are going to just attack you downhill. And Natisha Heideman has that pace to literally go off the dribble and get to the basket. That's a different element that she brings that nobody in the starters is really doing. And I think the Valkyries just had some trouble with that. But I think this is more of a defensive adjustment for Minnesota than anything like you saw in the first quarter. They just kept bringing so much help on those drives of Veronica Burton and she was easily spraying out to open shooters and, and the Links were just more disciplined after halftime, especially in terms of how they were containing the initial action so that they were able to recover more cleanly to those shooters. And that's why you didn't see the Valkyries make as many threes after the halftime. I just thought it was so interesting. Like they're interviewing Natalie Nakase at the start of the second quarter, right? Like the Golden State's up seven points and it's our favorite segment, right, the in quarter interview that everybody loves to watch. And like it's just Golden State's losing the lead in real time, right? Like she's like, oh, Illy just got a called for a foul on and over the back and like another foul on and over the back. And it's like we should stop this interview, let Natalena come to go back to her job. But you could just see things unraveling because yeah, I mean Golden State hit first, but this is the mark of a championship team in the Links, right? Like they recognize exactly what was going wrong. They made the adjustments defensively scheme wise and then they also just have a depth of players to bring it off the bench. And if you were to tell me like which bench is going to be more impactful, I'm stunned at how little Golden State went to its bench in this particular game, right? Like there was so little from repair. Maybe that was a foul trouble. We didn't get Carla Lay or Mobile Billings until the third quarter, right? Like I think there are a lot of options Golden State could have gone to that they didn't. If they're going to win game two, I think it's going to have to be because Tiffany Hayes is healthy because Kyla Charles, God bless her, it looks good Defensively for stretches, but I don't think offensively she's going to give them enough in this series.
- [21:57]
Zena Keda
So the turnovers have been a problem with Kyla Charles for sure. Sorry. Continue your thought.
- [22:02]
Sabrina Merchant
No, no, you're good. I think if we talk about what changes Golden State can make, I think a lot of it is just health. Right. Like if Hayes is available, that gives him another option offensively, you know, we talked about how are they going to be able to score with the Lynx. They couldn't score with the Lynx in Game 1, but Hayes is a proven playoff player. You know, she was just in these big games last year with Las Vegas. That adds a different element and just eases some of the burden off Veronica Burton to do everything that she was having to do in Game one.
- [22:25]
Zena Keda
Yeah, it was just a struggle offensively. The ball started sticking in that I would say in the second quarter really going into the third quarter and fatigue became a thing. And Sabrina, you hit the nail on the head when it comes to the pace that the Minnesota Blinks play with because they are so patient in that half court that they will just whip the ball around and before you know it on defense, you have done a full drill trying to guard Kayla McBride coming off of a double screen, going out for an easy shot on the wing and you're just exhausted when it's now your turn to score and you don't have the energy to go downhill and you don't have the same energy and drive, especially when you're playing the amount of minutes I think Veronica Burton played 34 minutes straight. And as she's coming and catching her breath, Natisha Heideman, who's also been in the playoffs before, is coming off the bench with a fresh, with fresh legs going downhill. Okay, Valkyries, figure it out when it comes to bench production and figure it out when it comes to being able to contain your bench. I would say that is all we can ask for. Ball Hollow will help you with the rest. All right, let's keep it moving now. We want to look at the Dream and the Fever. And the Dream took this game 80 to 68. They were led by 20 point performances out of Ryan Howard and Alicia Gray. Now on the Indiana side, Kelsey Mitchell did all she could, 27 points out of her and then her next highest teammates were just 10 points. Everyone else was below that. This is tough. This was a rough game, particularly because of the focal point. And Sabrina, you talked about this. You talked about the fact that Aaliyah Boston for the Indiana Fever was going to be a pivotal, the way that she controls that offense. Guys, if you didn't think, if you didn't know, watch that game, the second that Aaliyah Boston comes off the floor, they. They can't push it up the same way up the floor. They can't get their offense going. They can't reverse the ball as easily. I mean, it was tough to watch. Sabrina, what'd you see in that matchup between Indiana and Atlanta?
- [24:29]
Sabrina Merchant
I mean, you hit the nail on the head. Aaliyah Boston has to be better for them to win this series. You know, I thought she was very good defensively. You saw a lot of misses for Atlanta around the rim, and Boston's rim protection is a key. You know, you mentioned Kelsey Mitchell's 27 points. I think it's kind of overshadowing a lot of the times where Alicia Gray just did the business on her on the other end. You know, like Alicia Gray got to the line 10 times. As you mentioned, she scored 20 plus points in that game. Like, whatever Kelsey Mitchell was getting, she was giving up a lot on the other end. And I thought that was kind of like the opposite with Leah Boston. Like, she wasn't scoring a lot, but at least she wasn't giving up a lot on the other end. But they're going to need some scoring from her because, like, where is it going to come from? Right? Like, Lexi hall had a tough shooting night. Natasha Howard was completely lost in this matchup. Like Nas Hillman just, you know, and Odyssey Sims. Yeah, she gets you 10 points, but like, she cannot be your second leading scorer in a playoff game that you were trying to win on the road. You know, Bree Jones was working. I thought she just, she played the best game I've ever seen her play against Aaliyah Boston, frankly, like how hard she was playing in the paint just to seal her, to poke the ball away, to make everything a little bit difficult. I know Fever fans are going to point to some of the foul calls against Aaliyah Boston that sort of limited her effectiveness. She still played 34 minutes. Right. And in those 34 minutes, you just have to hit double digit points. So you get this series back to Indiana. Hopefully like a couple threes go in easier, you know, eases the pressure of the start of the game. But like the Fever have two all stars and you need both of them to play like all stars. And that just wasn't the case in game one.
- [25:49]
Zena Keda
Yeah, Ben, Aaliyah Boston finishing was just eight points, 12 rebounds in that 34 minutes. And that's a really good point, Sabrina, because yes, she was in foul trouble and yes, her fourth and fifth foul in at the top of the fourth quarter, in my opinion, unraveled Indiana, like right after she got those, that fourth and fifth foul. Steph White was had had it with.
- [26:10]
Sabrina Merchant
The refs and between creating that leather jacket, by the way.
- [26:14]
Zena Keda
Great, great jacket. Great jacket. I agree. 8:15 and 7:24 of the fourth quarter, less than a minute, Indiana got five fouls in a row. And before that, before Leah went out, they had gotten to within five points of Atlanta. After that, they never got it under 12. Ben, they kind of lost their composure towards the end of the game. How do they go into their game now? They're going to be at home, still going to be, you know, with the team that they have. Right. This is the health that they have. This is the situation they found themselves in. How do you, I don't know, find a way to compose yourself in this situation? Especially wanting more out of Aaliyah Boston and Natasha Howard, the other two in your big three.
- [26:57]
Ben Pickman
I mean, I think the good thing is you, you can just flush it that you fly home on Sunday evening and you get back home and you sleep in your own bed on Sunday night and you, you know, wake up on Monday in Indianapolis, a place that you are familiar with, you're comfortable with, and you get ready to play a game on Tuesday and, you know, to the front court. Sabrina talks a lot about, you know, the impact that Bree Jones had to me, the stat that was so pivotal entering the series that we highlighted a little bit is the rebounding margin and specifically the kind of notion of or the difference in defensive rebounding and second chance points. And we saw Atlanta win the second chance points battle 18 to 10 in game one. And that is surprising knowing that Indiana is your best second chance point scoring team in the league. Atlanta being the best defensive rebounding team in the league and Carl Smesco in the dream really did prioritize this. They prioritized defensive rebounding all season long. But to see it come to life in game one to stop Aaliyah Boston and Natasha Howard in particular from getting those second chance opportunities. If I'm Indiana, you know, you got to crash the glass hard and you got to convert offensive rebounds into second chance points because you need to create easy baskets. If they can do that and Kelsey Mitchell's able to replicate her success, they certainly give themselves a puncher's chance to win this game and push this back to game three. But, you know, if the Dream get the front court performance they get out of Jones. If Hillman plays the way she does and both Wings play the way they do, all of which I think is pretty reasonable, then I think this will also be a sweep. Cena.
- [28:19]
Zena Keda
Okay. And Sabrina Atlanta kept Indiana, the fourth best three point percentage team in the regular season to just 13.8% on top of the great three point defense that they played. What else can Atlanta do to try and steal one in Indiana?
- [28:35]
Sabrina Merchant
I think they can just be a lot more efficient in their finishing. You know, Alicia Gray, during her halftime and post game interviews was talking about how she was just leaving a bunch of points on the table by missing layups. Like that's something they can be better at. I thought they were a little bit careless with the ball at the start of the game. They can tighten that up a little bit. I think there's just like a lot of meat on the bone for Atlanta. Like they didn't play their best, but their defense was good enough I think to hold Indiana off. It's obviously a much tougher task when you get into gamebridge with that crowd, with everything that comes with that. So, you know, this is where we see like what, what sort of medal they have. I was really impressed with the dream in their post game. They said, we started the season with the goal of winning a championship. It's great that we won our first playoff game for the first, you know, for the first time since 2018. They all knew the stat, they knew the date that they had won their last playoff game, but that was not their goal was to win a playoff game like they believed themselves to be in the class of the links, the Liberty, the Aces, you know, teams that are contending for a title and you look at their numbers from the regular season, second best net rating in the league statistically. It's a team that should be contending and now you have to show it, right? So if you're a team that is trying to win a title, this is where you prove it, right? Like this is where you go on the road, close out a series. Like those are the games that you have to win if you're going to take yourself seriously and to that point of experience.
- [29:42]
Ben Pickman
And I talked to Carl Smesco about this on a story that actually just published on the site this morning on Tuesday morning. Experience, you know, they recognize as being important, but the way they also look at it is like if you win one game, if you win a series like that is immediate experience that you can hold on to and learn from. And yes, they don't have a lot of past experience to look back on someone like Brittney Griner does, but they look at it as they can stick together and gel together. They're going to gain experience kind of in the process. And, you know, they hope that hopefully that is enough in this postseason run to, to get them to where they want to go.
- [30:16]
Zena Keda
Well, Leja Clarendon said while we were doing the post game for the Valkyries game, way you get experience is by having experience. So hopefully that will, you know, inspire them to go into Indiana and take care of business so they can move on to the second round, at least for the Atlanta fans. But overall, first three games outside of that Lynx game, pretty competitive, pretty interesting. Of course, they close it out with that Las Vegas Seattle Storm game. And yeah, it was a blowout. And it was a blowout. So Ben, you said that you looked at that second quarter, went into the second half of the Blinks Valkyries game and you were like, this is setting up to be a blowout. Okay, fair. That's up to you. I thought it would still be competitive. I'm gonna tell you right now, within the first minutes of this Asus Storm game, I was like, ooh, this is not gonna be pretty for the Storm. This isn't gonna be pretty. When they went up 177 and it was just, it looked like Chelsea Gray had dipped not a toe, but her entire body into the fountain of youth. Mel Smith was everywhere. Asia was just making all the points. She wanted the moves. She wanted unorthodox moves too, like turning right and shooting left. I just, ugh, I. I can't get around her footwork. They looked like they've already won. It was scary to watch the Aces. Ben, I gotta start with you. What'd you think of the Aces 10277 win over the Seattle Storm?
- [31:46]
Ben Pickman
I think it's what we've kind of come to expect from the Las Vegas Aces when they play the Seattle Storm at this point. I mean, Sabrina, when was the last time the Storm beat the Aces in a playoff game?
- [31:55]
Sabrina Merchant
2022. They won game one of WNBA semifinals.
- [31:59]
Ben Pickman
And they've played a number of times since. And the result has been the same since then. And I looked at it. You threw out the halftime stats or you said you felt like this game was over. Xena in the early minutes at halftime, Skyler Digging and Brittany Sykes and Ezzy Magbavor had some of the most striking just box score lines that you're gonna see. You know, Sykes and Diggins who are great players, right? All star players. They combine for zero points, two assists, one rebound, and I think they took five total shots in the first half. Ezzy Magma Gore had one rebound and one shot in 14 first half minutes. Like, those are all All Stars. And it's just not enough. Like, it's just not enough for the Seattle Storm. It's not enough production. Dominique Malanga was doing a lot, sometimes successfully, oftentimes looking like a rookie who is thrown in her first playoff game and having a guard, Asia Wilson, you know, and try and score on her on the other end of the floor, like, right, the Seattle Storm, sure, they can flush it and they can go back home and hopefully reset. But like, again, there's no reason to suggest that anything is going to change here. There's not one thing that I can point to if I'm the Seattle Storm and say, like, you know, we really, really did this well, and let's hold on to this and build on this because, I mean, it was just a butt kicking. There's no other way to put it.
- [33:13]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, I felt really bad for Janaya Gumike having to do the halftime show while her sister was just getting her ass handed to her on national television. You could tell it was an uncomfortable position to be put in. But yeah, I think Ben has the right idea here. Like, there's nothing that you can build on. Right. I don't know what they did. Well, like we talked about this when the Sykes trade happened that, like, I wasn't sure that it really fixed their offensive issues. You know, Vegas was switching and they just had no way of getting through it. It was a lot of. I think Mark Jones was calling the game and he loves to break out the do it yourself kit. Like, it was a lot of Gabby Williams doing the do it yourself. That's really the only offense they could find, but not within the structure of the offense. No movement or anything like that. Yeah, I don't have a lot to say about this. Vegas looked incredible. Everything was going well for Vegas. I'm glad you mentioned Alyssa Smith. I thought her effort in the paint, whether that was rebounds or blocks, just her energy, her athleticism was so prevalent. And then Asia Wilson was just unbelievably good. I think there was like maybe two possessions at the start of the second quarter where Ezzy played decent defense on her. And Seattle cuts it to five and then Vegas gets the switch. So now Gabby Williams is guarding Asia Wilson. She tries to front Asia. Asia just flashes so she can get in front of the front, gets it scores and like Vegas never looks back. So Asia is so smart, she's so talented, she's so disciplined. Like it's, it was an impeccable performance. And like we talked about, like what a championship team is supposed to look like, this is what a championship team is supposed to look like.
- [34:35]
Zena Keda
Some quick shout outs in this game one on the Seattle side. Dominic Malanga, first teenager in WNBA history to get a double double in a playoff game because she is so young. But yes, congratulations to her. 12 points, 11 rebounds, at least that. I did not look up the lowest plus minus in WNBA history, but I know that Natisha Heideman earlier that day got the second highest plus minus with a plus 32. Neko Guimike had a minus 33. I don't know where that lands in the annals of WNBA history, but very opposite performances there. And of course that's that line with Asia Wilson. 29 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 10 of 18 from the floor. And also shout out Jewel Lloyds and Dana Evans coming off the bench. Go. Both of them going 50% from the floor. 3 of 6 of both of them. Unbelievable performance from them. It was a lot of fun watching the Vegas Aces. Okay, so Seattle getting a chance to go to climate pledge. Other than making sure that that arena is cold, which I apparently hear it is always cold, what else can they do to try and slow down the 17 win in a row? Las Vegas Aces. Sabrina, I'll start with you.
- [35:52]
Sabrina Merchant
I mean, I think it starts defensively. Like, I honestly don't know what they're supposed to do offensively to get past the Aces defense. Like they just don't have enough individual shot creation. And really what you're gonna have to do is just turn Vegas over and get going in transition. Like that's the only way I can see this going.
- [36:06]
Zena Keda
All right, guys, so we've got game twos happening on Tuesday and Wednesday night. Vegas and Seattle and Atlanta and Indiana will go into game two on Tuesday night. And Valkyries and Lynx will go on Wednesday as well as New York versus Phoenix. So Tuesday and Wednesday block your calendars, folks. All right, let's get into some money issues. Well, not everyone's having some money issues, but if you love the WNBA and you're a season ticket holder, apparently this has been an issue. How can you free your team from time consuming office tasks? Amazon Business empowers leaders to not only streamline purchasing, but better support their teams. Smart business buying tools enable buyers to find and purchase items fast so they can focus on strategy and growth. It's time to free up your teams and focus on your future. Learn more about the technology, insights and Support available@AmazonBusiness.com.
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Ben Pickman
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Sabrina Merchant
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Ben Pickman
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Zena Keda
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Zena Keda
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Sabrina Merchant
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- [37:54]
Zena Keda
Now, this won't come as a shock to our listeners, but the WNBA is hot. Everybody's watching. Everybody wants to go to the games. They have made history with the amount of tickets sold, the amount of people that have come through the games. They have made history with the amount of people watching at home. ESPN reports that this is regular season is the most watched ever for WNBA games, up 6% from last year. And in some ways, for many of us who have long followed the W, it's bittersweet. On one hand, we love the growth. It's wonderful. We know the product that it is now is getting the recognition that it deserves. But on the other hand, when you get more eyeballs on it, more hands want to get on it, more people want to be involved. And so what does that usually result in? It gets costly to be involved, surging ticket prices. And in my neck of the woods, one arena that is unavailable for the biggest game of the year. So we're going to talk a little bit about all of it. Ben, you've got a great article up on this topic. I learned a lot reading it. Tell me what prompted you to write this piece. What were you hearing about surging ticket prices?
- [38:58]
Ben Pickman
I mean, it was a mix of what I was hearing and what I was seeing. Because as people who listen to this podcast know, I am based out of New York. I go to all the Liberty games and it is something that I have certainly seen and heard from friends, from peers, from being around the arena and I saw at Fan Appreciation Day, which was their Final regular season game, just around a dozen fans seated around the court who were wearing bright orange T shirts in a sea of otherwise seafoam green and black and white shirts. And these orange shirts said, like, we've been priced out. Like, that is what it said with a frowning Lady Liberty face on it. And so really where I wanted to come from it, though, was let's try and get in this conundrum, this tension, this balance, this juggling act that teams have to weigh. Because as you said, Xena, like, this is a capitalistic society, and this is a growing business. And it is only kind of natural, as we see in other sectors of society, that supply stays the same. Demand goes up, prices go up. And as businesses change and, like, the money changes, the revenue that is being generated, it's going up. And that money has to come from somewhere. And one place is gates, right? Fans literally in seats. And so I just kind of wanted to explore the different tentacles that stem from this balancing act. Ideas about accessibility, inclusion, the family environments that teams have created. How is fan culture changing? How are fan bases changing? How do teams look at this tension? Because I think it is kind of this natural question that everyone asks, and I quote one researcher in the piece, Risa Sard, who says, like, I think every organization has to ask, what's the cost benefit of this choice that we're making? And to me, that is such a universal question that I think every team president around the league is probably weighing in some form or fashion.
- [40:41]
Zena Keda
You mentioned in the story Vivid seats saying that league's average secondary ticket price has increased 43% from 2024 to 2025. Now, Sabrina, of course, there's a fiscal aspect to this, right? We can see the dollars go up. That's very expensive for people, of course, but there's also a cultural aspect of it. When you think about what Ben's relating to the people who are being impacted by this, who is it pricing out? Who are the people that are no longer able to go to the games that maybe have been season ticket holders since 1997 when the Liberty first showed up on the scene, right? Or people that have growing families and they bought a ticket before this influx of growth, and they're thinking, oh, my family's gonna grow into these seats and this is gonna be a part of our. Our family experience that we can bond over. And now, oh, I can't afford that third or fourth seat. This is getting kind of crazy. Talk to me a little bit about, like, what you've seen and what you've heard or what you've observed yourself about the impact on the original. The OG fans of the W. Yeah.
- [41:42]
Sabrina Merchant
So we don't have like, demographic data on this season. You know, unfortunately, it just ended. But. But you just think about capitalism and the people in society who tend to have more disposable income than those who don't. And the fan base. Or you think about the player demographic of the wnba. Right. It is a largely black, queer league. And you've seen fan bases of the WNBA be people of color, people of the LGBTQ community. Right. Those are people who have tended to support the league for the longest, been the most strident supporters, and really invested themselves in making sure that the league continues to succeed. And. And again, capitalism, people who tend to get priced out tend to belong to some of those communities. So I will say in la, I haven't really seen a ton of change in the type of people who have come to games yet. This isn't a market that has necessarily experienced the same sort of rapid growth that other markets in the WNBA have. Whether that's because there's been a more consistent fan base or just because the team hasn't experienced the same success as other teams. Could be a variety of factors. But I will say that it's something that my friends around the country have talked to me about. You know, just like it feels different when you go to games, but I haven't personally experienced it in Los Angeles.
- [42:47]
Ben Pickman
And there's this push and pull that I think a lot of people are feeling both in arena and outside fans of the WNBA for, you know, 15, 20 years of how do we welcome new fans in versus, you know, maintain the kind of culture that we have built. And that is a far bigger question and a bigger topic than we're going to spend on this show. And this is just another example of that, because, you know, the league does want to welcome new fans in and the growth and the popularity is, in the end a good thing. But it does come with some of these changes. And so a lot of the fans that I talk to, some of the concerns related to, you know, fan bases becoming more corporate or having more corporations or businesses buy season tickets, buy courtside tickets specifically rather, or seats around the arena. And so much of the magic in the eyes of so many fans of what makes the WNBA environment been great and oftentimes better than their counterpart NBA team if they are in the same market, is you have all these fans who actively want to be there, who are fans. They're not just, you know, executives or business people who are parachuting in for something on a Tuesday night because they've flown into town, right? They are true supporters of the team. And the energy that you feel in arena stems from that reflects that these are supporters. And so that is another concern that as tickets get more expensive that, you know, kind of the real fan is going to get priced out. And I should say this too, because there is another refrain that, you know, we don't really get into in the piece, but I think it's an interesting one too about this idea that you can always move back. And that is true, right? You can always go from, you know, section A to a numbered section or go from section three to section 203. Like you can change sheets, but for so many people, as you said at the start when you introduced the conversation, Xena, you might have been in the seat three years, five years, 20 years, and you formed a community of people that you might only see during game nights or that you've created a group text with. And so you might not want to move to another section that might not solve the problem or make you feel like you have the same safety, comfort, experience and just joy because you're just no longer around your friends. And that is another pain point, another challenging part, a conundrum when thinking about this situation.
- [45:00]
Zena Keda
I feel it's always tough when you tell anyone that spends their hard earned money on something that they have to devalue their experience or decrease their experience in order to fit into the situation, as opposed to we'll find a way around this. And I know that the biggest thing that a lot of fans are talking about is that this number is increasing astronomically in terms of the cost of the tickets. But it's not as if they're getting and an astronomically better experience. It's still the same game. There's not necessarily always a special giveaway or special fan access moment that's being given behind the scenes. But I know some teams are trying to keep things affordable for fans or at least make the dollars match the experience from what we know, you know, Ben, Sabrina, give me some examples of how teams are trying to accommodate fans in terms of the price increase that they're paying.
- [45:52]
Ben Pickman
I think a lot of teams would say that they very much are trying to do that and they very much are trying to act with intentionality and with the fan base in mind. How successfully, you know, that's for a fan to determine. But the Phoenix Mercury, for instance, they have a two dollar value meal, right? A number of items Hot dog, popcorn and a bottle of water soda like Those all cost $2 at the concession stands in that arena. That's one way. Obviously, like you go to a game, tickets are expensive. Maybe your price of ticket has increased. Well, if the food has decreased, then you might not be spending. You might only be spending $25 on food versus $60 on food. And that can add up over a season. In New York, they've tried a number of things. Season ticket holders receive a discount at the team store. They have a separate entrance at games. Some of the premium season ticket holders got luggage from away, which is one of their sponsors. And some were even gifted a road trip in Phoenix. But yes, I think that is is the push and pull here too, Xena, that like a lot of fans feel that as their price has gone up, their experience has not, their perks have not. And that is a pain point. The other thing too is as their price has gone up, and this next phenomenon is a little bit unique to the wnba. People are saying, where is my money going? They want more transparency about where is, where are the extra dollars that I'm spending going? Because they're wondering, is it going to the players? And that brings in this whole other moral question, this values driven tension that people feel, I think unique. Unique in the WNBA compared to major men's sports where a lot of fans are like, I helped support the wnba, I helped grow the league. And so they feel this almost obligation or this pressure to continue to support it even if their ticket price has gone up. Like you live in the Bay, Xena. Have you ever heard a Golden State warriors fan or someone in the Bay be like, not going to pay my season ticket because it's gone so far up. And I wonder what that is going to do to Stephen Curry's salary. Like, no fan has ever been like, do I shell out the money? If I don't, Steph's not going to get paid. Whereas there are definitely fans who think about that question. If I don't pay for my ticket and there are enough people like me in the WNBA context, then what does that mean for the actual players that I am there to support? I think that is another part of this conversation unique to the WNBA space, or at least the women's sports space as well.
- [48:06]
Sabrina Merchant
Well, it's interesting that fans have that opinion because revenue is not even tied to player salaries. So if a team is making revenue, they're not obligated to give that to. So yeah, maybe they're supporting the team, but they could be supporting executives, or they could be supporting, you know, all sorts of expenses that don't actually go to the players, which is just another interesting way of thinking about this. But, yeah, I hate that fans think that they are responsible for, you know, the success here because there is so much more money coming in through media rights deals. There's so much more money coming in through sponsorships. Right? Like every other day, a team is announcing, like you said, a sponsorship with away. Think about all of the sponsors that the New York Liberty have and all of the random companies that are associated with these. These teams and all these brands. Like, there are other ways to bring in money that don't just come down to gate revenue. And this is one of the things where, like, I wonder if you could actually get access to the financials. Like, how much is this actually contributing to a team's bottom line? And could they afford to make cuts here if it, you know, supports a more inclusive fan base?
- [49:07]
Zena Keda
It kind of makes me think that a lot of folks are kind of operating from the same perspective of, if I don't tip this waiter at this restaurant, they're not gonna get paid. They're not gonna have a livable wage. And when you see those shirts of pay us what you owe us, you do feel kind of involved in that. You do feel like, oh, I gotta do my part so they can get paid what they're owed. And that's a very good point. And thank you, Sabrina, for clarifying. For folks, y', all, your ticket prices are not helping Asia Wilson get paid.
- [49:34]
Sabrina Merchant
Okay.
- [49:35]
Zena Keda
But it is great that you get to see them, the players play. I'll say this regarding one situation out in the Bay. You know, everyone has been pretty vocal about this situation, which the Golden State Valkyries do not get to play in their home arena in Chase center during their inaugural playoff game. Right. This is the first playoff game as an expansion team. I wouldn't say inaugural, because we don't know if they're gonna make it every year. But their first playoff game at Valhalla, which they have created an experience, a space that is so sacred to who they are as an identity, as a team, and. And they're not able to play there because of a conflict, a scheduling conflict with the Laver cup, which is a tennis tournament. Now, from a corporate partnerships perspective, I'll put that hat on. This deal was put into place and signed on a long time ago. I'm not exactly sure how many years, but it was years. This was even before the WNBA announced that they were giving a team to.
- [50:31]
Ben Pickman
Golden State 2023, I believe is when the Laver cup was made public. Cena.
- [50:35]
Zena Keda
Okay, exactly, was made public, but in the sense of made public versus when the conversation started and etceter further along back. So that's tough. Right? You can't plan around those type of things. There was thoughts of like what's going on with Oakland, the old arena that the warriors used to play in, formerly known as Oracle Arena. There was a conflict there. And these type of things in which it looks to fans as if the team is not being prioritized also impacts their way of reasoning. Does this make sense that I'm paying this much money for my tickets? The team that I want to support and pay this money towards is not being supported or seemingly is not being supported or prioritized in the way that I would like as a fan. So it's tough. I think the Bay has taken it very well. They know Valhalla is going to be wherever they show up and that's great. But we've seen other examples of this throughout the league and so fans want to make sure that their dollars feel as prioritized as they are prioritizing in their own personal budgets. I think there's something to be said to that. Ben. I want to close it out, this conversation with the comments that Kathy Engelberg mentioned about this particular issue on In Case youe Missed it with Christina Williams, another podcast on iHeartMusic Radio, talking about this, because it's very interestingly similar to comments that Adam Silver recently made about fans of the NBA feeling as if they're being priced out of following NBA content.
- [51:56]
Ben Pickman
Yeah, I mean, she basically said that when there's high demand, prices go up. And that is simple economics. And she said that she acknowledges that, that there is, you know, some issues with the system. Some issues in the system was her exact words. And she said she hopes that a lot of people, families especially, are not priced out. And I think that is a true sentiment across the league. I talked to multiple team presidents for this story. No one wants to or says they want to price fans out. And I think a lot of them very much weigh this tension that we've been talking about. How do you take advantage of this moment from a business standpoint, from a profitability standpoint, especially when for so long tickets were under market, when teams struggle to make money to generate revenue, especially in the way that they are now. And so now that they have this opportunity, like how do you do with it or what do you do with it? To me, I'll close with this. What Alicia Clark said. She called it a catch 22. Right. That it is a good problem in the sense that it means the WNBA is growing. But at the same time, she said that she hopes that all these decisions are made in a way that fans can continue to feel valued and continue to feel included.
- [52:57]
Zena Keda
And I'll say this, you know, hearing the larger context of everything in that article of what she said, I mean, I. I respect the fact that she said there are issues in the system that felt a little bit more reflective than the comments that Adam Silver made regarding the NBA being a highlight league. And there's a huge amount of content that people can consume for free through Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, you name it. It just felt like he was basically saying, I can't count how many games you're actually gonna watch. So there's a ton that you can watch on social media. I am happy that Kathleen Engelbert has not told these fans that are being priced out that they can just watch things on social media. But there seems to be something that needs to be addressed, and it's not going to get any better because the team and the leagues are only going to grow. So we'll keep an eye on this story. Thank you for that deep reporting, Ben, and for all the fans that contributed to the story. I thought it was really interesting to hear everyone's perspective.
- [53:56]
Sabrina Merchant
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What's in your wallet?
- [55:24]
Zena Keda
Term supply.
- [55:25]
Ben Pickman
See capital1.com for details.
- [55:26]
Sabrina Merchant
Hey, I'm Trisha Hershberger, gamer, streamer and Amazon Live host. I stream about tech, gaming and the stuff I actually buy right here with my community. And Amazon Live makes it easy. Streaming, gameplay, scouting, new gear, chatting and shopping all at the same time. That's my kind of multitasking. And it all happens on Amazon Live. Shop on Amazon Live by searching Amazon Live in the Amazon Shopping app. And follow your favorite creators today.
- [56:00]
Zena Keda
All right, guys, that's gonna do it for today's episode. We will be back on Friday to dish about all the games happening this week and to keep looking ahead towards the rest of this exciting postseason. So you know what I'm about to tell you. Wherever you're listening, please follow our show. Do your job, guys. This is your one. I just recently saw a post of Fee in Asia back when they had this podcast, their T podcast, and she was talking about a ref that said after calling out that the referees had made 25 fouls to zero in terms of foul count, the ref told her, well, that's not my job. And as Fee told her, it's your only job. This is what your only job is, guys. Go follow us, comment. Let us know what you're liking, what you're not liking. Well, you can keep that if you want and make sure you get that five star rating. Head on over to our partner, the Yahoo Sports Hub for more content@sportsstyleyahoo.com womens-sports on behalf of the Athletic Ben Pickman, Sabrina Merchant, I'm Zena Keda thanking you for listening and we will see you next time. No Off Season is hosted by Zena Kada with Chantelle Jennings, Sabrina Merchant and Ben Pickman. It's produced by Tanika Burrell. Our executive producers are Andrea B. Scott and Cassius Fleming. Our theme music is by Marcus Bagala. Monica Compton is our video editor. Shannon Ryan is managing editor of women's basketball at the Athletic. Jessie Burton is our head of audio and Tim McMaster is director of audio operations. How can you free your team from time consuming office tasks? Amazon Business empowers leaders to not only streamline purchasing, but better support their teams. Smart business buying tools enable buyers to find and purchase items fast so they can focus on strategy and growth. It's time to free up your teams and focus on your future. Learn more about the technology, insights and Support available at AmazonBusiness only.
- [58:03]
Sabrina Merchant
Boost mobile Boost Mobile will give you a free year of service.
- [58:06]
Ben Pickman
Free year when you buy a new 5G phone new 5G phone?
- [58:09]
Sabrina Merchant
Enough. But I'm your hype man.
- [58:11]
Ben Pickman
When you purchase an eligible device, you.
- [58:12]
Sabrina Merchant
Get $25 off every month for 12.
- [58:14]
Ben Pickman
Months, with credits totaling one year of free service.
- [58:16]
Sabrina Merchant
Taxes extra for the device and service plan online only. Ready to order? Yes. We're earning unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment with a Capital One Saver Card. So let's just get one of everything. Everything.
- [58:27]
Zena Keda
Fire everything. The Capital One Saver card is at.
- [58:30]
Ben Pickman
Table 27, and they're earning unlimited 3% cash back.
- [58:33]
Zena Keda
Yes, Chef.
- [58:34]
Sabrina Merchant
This is so nice.
- [58:36]
Ben Pickman
Had a feeling you'd want 3% cash back on dessert. Ooh, tiramisu. Earn unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment with the Capital One Saver card. Capital One what's in your wallet?
- [58:46]
Zena Keda
Terms apply.
- [58:47]
Ben Pickman
See capitalone.com for details.