← No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show
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- [00:00]
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- [04:57]
Zena Kaeda
For the Athletic I'm Zena Kaeda and this is the Athletic Women's Basketball show presented by Michelob Ultra. Welcome back to the Athletic Women's Basketball show presented by Michelob Ultra. At the time that we are recording this, it's Monday, which means there's only one thing on the mind of the Aces fans, that parade. And apparently how much alcohol they should be consuming in order to be prepared for said parade. I have Sabrina Merchant who is here. I wasn't able to chat with her last week as she was traveling back from the clinched game as the Aces won their second championship in two years, but we got her here Today I want to talk to her as we close out this season, obviously get prepared for the parade. All the above. Want to get her thoughts. Um, so, yeah, it's going to be a huge day of celebration for the Aces. Um, they've got their in arena hosts CJ Simpson and Bill Brown. They're going to be out there. The high rollers are going to be out there. The full Tilt dance crew Raiderettes are gonna be in attendance. I love this, like, cohesion between Mark Davis's teams coming to life to celebrate and support each other. And according to Asia Wilson, she told people last year, you need to come four shots deep. This year she's doubling it up. She's proposing eight shots. Okay, Sybrina, are you mentally prepared for what's about to happen at this parade?
- [06:43]
Sabrina Merchant
You know, you think about the Las Vegas Aces parade last year and it was, you know, right after they'd won the title, but also they're about to head on this flight to go to Australia for the World Cup. Asia Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plummer about to go to Australia and to have that level of energy right before you're competing for a gold medal, which obviously they won. And Asia Wilson was named MVP of that tournament.
- [07:05]
Zena Kaeda
Insane, right? I completely forgot about that.
- [07:08]
Sabrina Merchant
Oh, my gosh. And then, you know, the Tyler Marsh's child was born that day, the assistant coach for the Aces, and they've called him champ all season. Like, Asia Wilson legitimately does not even know his real name. He's just been champ all year because he was born the day of the parade. Now he's two time champ. Like, that was such a high level of energy to create in that moment. And then when, you know, Asia Wilson had the opportunity to invite Usher this year.
- [07:33]
Zena Kaeda
Shot that shot. I respect it. She shot that shot smoothly. He's in town. Why not?
- [07:39]
Sabrina Merchant
He has a residency in Vegas. You know, he's going to be back at various points this year. He's doing the super bowl halftime show. He's basically a Vegas guy at this point. Might as well hop on down. This is what the Aces are like. This, the joy, the celebration. This is the encapsulation of who they are at the best. And you know, you saw that shirt that Asia Wilson wore last year, right? The, the one finals trophy, the two MVPs. I forget what the three was within the four shots. I'm curious to see what merch they, you know, hop onto this year. I have a feeling there might be some Kelsey Plum, like, hurt sued, arrested camps stuff happening. Right, Right. We'll see. I mean this obviously is going to air after the parade, so feel free to check any of these productions afterwards.
- [08:22]
Zena Kaeda
Brax. Right. Exactly. I know there's probably also going to be something about the back to back. There might be some reference to the Finals mvp, but not regular season mvp. There might be. I mean there's, there's been a lot of spiciness since this season ended and you can tell what Las Vegas Aces were like. Let's focus. As Asia Wilson has said in multiple interviews, the main thing, let's keep the main thing, the main thing, they focus on the season, they focus on getting to the end and boom, here they are. And now slowly but surely it's all coming out. They're making sure people know, oh, we kept receipts throughout the season. We know exactly who said what and we will be coming back to ensure we get our refunds and we get our explanat for said comments. So it's been a lot of fun just hearing them celebrate this year. They don't have a World cup to prepare for. There is a Olympics to prepare for. But that's gonna be a long time.
- [09:20]
Sabrina Merchant
Away, long ways away.
- [09:21]
Zena Kaeda
Yeah, they got time, they got time to celebrate, get some rest and get back to it. But let's take a look back at this year because, you know, as I talked to Ben, it was kind of, it was almost kind of like perfect that I talked to Ben after, on Wednesday night and being able to talk to him, having him having followed mostly closely the New York Liberty throughout the season, of course covering the entire wnba but really following that team closely and then you having followed the Aces really closely throughout the season. First thing I want to talk about is this super team thing because we've talked about it, everyone's talked about it. It was, we called them the super squads. Some people were like, well the Aces aren't super team because you know, they didn't get their people through free agency and you know, like the New York Liberty did with, with Breanna Stewart and John Cole Jones and Courtney Vandersloot, like they didn't get these, you know, big time free agents. But some people are like, well, yeah, you didn't get big time free agents but you got three number one draft picks. That's pretty good. It's pretty good, right?
- [10:28]
Sabrina Merchant
Super. If you ask me, pretty super.
- [10:31]
Zena Kaeda
Exactly. So there's a lot of questions about, you know, this formation of this and then everything that led up to this and then the one super big free agent that they landed, not even getting to play really in, in the moments when it counted, right. To Candace Parker not being able to play in these playoffs, which in. In which they only lost one game and ended up winning the whole thing. So you can debate like how important was Candace Parker in this super team formation for their, for their ability? I mean, she was incredibly important. Let me not determine or take anything away from that. But in the sense of the concept of a super team winning the finals, she was on the bench, so. Right. So I want to talk to you a little bit about this, like talk about their season. I mean, from the very start, starting with that cloud over the team. Becky Hammond not being with the team for two games around Jericho Hamby's discrimination suit and or complaint that now has elevated to a federal lawsuit, then the Raquana Williams arrest, then Candace Parker getting hurt, and then, I mean, throughout the season. What was it like for you seeing these continuous back to back incidences stack up against the Aces?
- [11:52]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, you know, it was interesting. At the start of the year, the big question is how do you Repeat in the WMPA? Because no one had done it in 21 years. And there's a lot of reasons that the players and the coaches throughout as to why that's the case. It's a smaller league. The consolidation of talent is like, it's so high. Like there's just so much talent on every individual team because there's only 12 teams that it's hard to really differentiate yourself, separate yourself. And there's so many good players around the league who can just make things happen. Any given year. If you play in the postseason, your season is longer, you end up going overseas, you get a little bit more exhausted, just that little bit of extra fatigue ends up adding up, you know, as these seasons mount up. And then just like there's this level of complacency that comes about right when you've already won. How do you motivate yourself to get up and do it again? And the Aces sort of had this Aces versus Aces mantra all year where it doesn't matter what is being put in front of us. The biggest competition we're going to face is from ourselves. And you get this from Asia Wilson who's like, you know, I'm greedy, right? I want all of the accolades possible. And Kelsey Plumb basically flipping the question on me at one point, like, I mean, don't you want to just keep getting better and better? Like we were picked to finish fifth last year and like now, you know, I've seen the Houston Comets, they went 27 and three, one season, like, that's something that I'm chasing, too. And Becky Hammond, obviously coming from the San Antonio spurs lineage, where Gregg Popovich never managed to repeat. And this is something that's haunted that staff for years. And so that's the energy she's bringing into this season. And they just had this mentality the whole year of, like, nobody believed in us last year. We know that we're being picked to be great this year, but it's this internal competition, like, we need to be playing Aces basketball. We need to be better than the Aces. Yesterday, like, they had this BDBA acronym, like, be the Best Ace. But, like, with. Not with the. Like, duh. Be the Best Ace.
- [13:45]
Zena Kaeda
Right?
- [13:46]
Sabrina Merchant
And that's just what they were trying to be all year. And so you felt that coming in. And then, you know, sometimes great athletes have to manufacture these chips on their shoulders. Like, it's not necessarily that. Like, this year, obviously, the Aces were projected to be the best team in the league. You know, maybe it was. They would get to the finals and lose to the Liberty, but it's not like they were projected to be bad or, like, fifth. Like, they were in 2022 when they ended up winning the title. So it wasn't like the outside noise was saying, oh, this isn't a good team. Like, they brought in Alicia Clark. They brought in Candace Parker. They had everybody from last year. They were expected to be successful. So you kind of have to just, like, manufacture these slights and figure out, you know, like, this is a little thing that's gonna bother me that I'm gonna pick at. And, you know, I was talking to their coaches. They readily admit to that. Like, Becky Hammond says, like, her players are so good that she has to just find little things to motivate them, because what else are you gonna get? Like, on a normal night in July when they beat a team by 25. But you want to keep pushing them to get better. But then, like, the actual sites started coming, right? And it was the complaint from Deorica Hamby that Becky Hammond had belittled her and humiliated her and not treated her with respect during her pregnancy. And, you know, like, obviously, the WNBA ends up suspending Becky Hammond for the first two games of the season. It's little things like the schedule where they're the defending champs and they don't open the season at home, you know, on their own reign night to see their own banner, which ended up working out in their favor, because then Becky Hammond returned for the first home game when they had their banner night, which.
- [15:13]
Zena Kaeda
Some people didn't realize was not set up that way like people thought. People thought that it was because Becky Hammond wasn't coaching, that they were moving the ring night. And I was like, no, no, no. That's what it was.
- [15:27]
Sabrina Merchant
They were already not at home. Yeah.
- [15:28]
Zena Kaeda
They were already not at home. Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah.
- [15:31]
Sabrina Merchant
And then obviously, like, Candace Parker goes down and that's. That was sort of the big thing. Right. Because they had been playing so well through the first part of the season. 16 and 2 to start the year.
- [15:40]
Zena Kaeda
Scary.
- [15:41]
Sabrina Merchant
Like, we can debate the terminology of super team all you want. They had four number one picks in that starting lineup. And not just like average draft number one picks. These are all star, all WNBA type talent number one picks. Oh, plus Chelsea Gray, who just happens to be maybe the best point guard alive.
- [15:58]
Zena Kaeda
Casually, casually.
- [15:59]
Sabrina Merchant
This is. This is a super team in the truest sense of the word. And for them to lose Candace Parker was. Was a big blow. Right. Because she was, I think, the one that elevated them to that next tier. And they just managed, you know, to keep chugging away. Chugging away. But you could see, like, people getting a little tired. The schedule's catching up to them again. You know, they go through this five games and nine day stretch where Asia Wilson has. I keep bringing this up because it's again, just the funniest thing that's ever happened. This press conference where she just can't believe that they've played their fourth game in seven days and the Sparks have been off for seven days and just like losing her mind at what it must look like to play with rest. And, you know, they just kept handling things. They just kept handling things, handling things, handling things. And so when you're talking to the team on Tuesday before Game 4 of the WNBA Finals, and they know Chelsea's not gonna play and they know Kia's not gonna play. Poor Kia, like, is trying to play even though she's in a boot, comes back the next day with crutches. And Becky's like, yeah, I had to rule her out. She still wanted to try to play this game.
- [17:00]
Zena Kaeda
Literally giving Klay Thompson vibes like, yeah, trying to still shoot after tearing her acl.
- [17:05]
Sabrina Merchant
Becky Hammond's just like, you, we just go play. This is what we do. This is our team. And if they were trying to say that their team was not super, the fact that they were able to do all of that without Chelsea Gray and Keya Stokes in the final game is really not a good argument because it's.
- [17:20]
Zena Kaeda
Just not everybody on the team makes it work. Exactly. That's my point. Like, I'm not trying to say that Candace Parker is not important by any means, but I'm just saying that you had three. Three of your scary starters that made the first part of this season, like, is this going to be competitive? I don't know, sitting on the bench and you still did what you did. I'm just saying. And the thing is, I actually don't feel like it's the Aces necessarily saying that they're not a super team, but.
- [17:46]
Sabrina Merchant
Oh, they said it.
- [17:47]
Zena Kaeda
Oh, they did. Ooh. Okay, well. Okay, well, I can't even defend y'all, but I would say the fan base is like, well, they're not a super team. Like, people thought they were fifth place and blah, blah, blah. I'm like, okay, stop it, people. Let's. Let's just, like, actually look at the facts of who's on your roster. It doesn't matter if you build through the draft. It's a super team. Okay, It's a super team. But anyways, let's move on. So my question to you, because you do really bring up a great point about this is the context, right? This is the context going into the season. And now here you are, you've gone into the season, and you deal with that adversity, particularly of one of your teammates being arrested, Right? And even though Raquana Williams wasn't a key portion of this team and their success on this team, I mean, we.
- [18:37]
Sabrina Merchant
Say that you watch Game 4 of the 2022 WNBA Finals, and she's the winning ingredient in that final quarter.
- [18:44]
Zena Kaeda
Right, right, right. Exactly. And I think that that's missed in this story because she wasn't key during the 2023 run, but it's absolutely true that she was a key ingredient on this team. Especially when you think about, we brought everybody back and then added Clark and Parker. Raquana Williams was a part of that. Right, Right. And then you deal with this injury and you deal with all of this. You just deal with a lot of everything around you, and then you go and do what you did, and you have not only Asia Wilson, just as I said before, Asia Wilson ing. Cause it's a verb, okay? Just doing her thing. And then you've got the rest of this core four throughout the entire finals doing their thing. And Jackie and Chelsea before she's hurt. Plum before she's hurt. And then you've got Alicia Clark that has the two. The last. I would say the last two games. Just the games of her career and being able to. Not necessarily by stats, but just like impact on the game. And you think about what you're bringing back next year. Four of those players, Wilson, Gray, Plum, Young signed, and then you've got Clark signed till 2024, bringing that back. Then I want you to break this down because you wrote about this in a piece that's live on the Athletic. Go read it now. But you wrote about this. Oh, it's scary. They got money. I mean, let's just be real. The wnba, the numbers are different than the NBA. We know that, but they got money to spend. They've got money to give to Parker if she wants to come back. They've got money to spend on a second round pick and they've got two next year. They've got money to spend on other people that they could bring back. Akia Stokes could get a raise. I mean, I want you to break this down because it is important to see. It's really cool to see how it breaks down. Very few people ever know the really the dollars element to it. So exactly what happened? One, to allow them to have cap space and then two, how does that cap space break down?
- [20:57]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, so the Aces have done a really good job over the last couple years of extending all of their stars on below max deals. So instead of having Asia, Kelsey, Chelsea, Jackie hit free agency, they've all signed extensions before hitting the open market. So one, that means that they don't have to worry about free agency at all. Right. And they can just focus on external free agents during that part of the year. Also, they just save so much money because instead of Asia Wilson making her max of like 240,000, she's making 200k. And you add that up over four different players who are all making below their max, that's enough money to, you know, sign Candace Barker and Alicia Clark during the off season. Right. You look at a team like, let's say Connecticut before this season where Alyssa Thomas was making a max and Jonquil Jones is making a max. And it was so hard for them to fit everybody in around them because you've got, you know, plus dejuana Bonner making a max. Like the numbers start to add up and in Vegas they've decided, well, it's, it's better for us if we all take about a 20% pay cut and maybe a 25% pay cut. But then that means, you know, we can bring in a Kayla George, we can bring in an Alicia Clark, and what they have the opportunity to do this off season is not only do they have those five players in, they can keep Sidney Coulson, they can keep Candace Barker, and they can be like, yo, Jonquil Jones, you've lost three times in the finals twice to us. Maybe you tried playing on the winning side.
- [22:26]
Zena Kaeda
It's a legitimate thought. It's a legitimate thought, sis.
- [22:29]
Sabrina Merchant
It's not. Jj, you could bring in Neko Gumake. You could bring in, you know, one last ride for Elena Deladon. Like, does Brittney Griner get tired of everything that's happening in Phoenix? I doubt that's going to happen. But basically everybody in the league is an option for you with the money that Las Vegas has. And you'll still be able to retain a lot of the bench step that, you know, helped you win a title this time around. It's not like they're. It's not like they're useless pieces, right? Like, we saw what Sidney Coulson was able to do in the finals. We saw what Kayla George was able two in the finals. So there's a lot of options for them. And you look at a team like Vegas where, yeah, it's a 25% pay cut. That's not nothing. But you're also going to play in a city where you have a facility that you can practice at. Like WNBA players pay for gym memberships during the off seasons in some markets. Like, that's. That's insane to me. But they have to do that because they don't have a facility to go to.
- [23:21]
Zena Kaeda
Oh, oh, the disrespect.
- [23:23]
Sabrina Merchant
That's something, you know, you have the strength and performance staff in Las Vegas. That's probably going to help you play better. We know that you command more endorsements when you're on a winning team, when you're in a big market. Cough, cough. Las Vegas has also been accused of giving players impermissible benefits. So maybe that's on the table for you, too. Or under the table, I should say. And you know that you're playing with the best players in the league, the best coach in the league, you know, the best, probably organization in the league. There's a reason why you would take that pay cut.
- [23:57]
Zena Kaeda
Oh, my goodness. There's so many reasons. I mean, you think about the ways you could make that money up. Number one, if you're having an amazing season and you're having a team that you gel with so well, they didn't win this year, but Commissioner's Cup a way to make some money back, Right? Obviously, you mentioned about the endorsements winning championships, that gives you a little bit more money. Right? Like, Right.
- [24:19]
Sabrina Merchant
We didn't even mention, like, those playoff bonuses, Right?
- [24:21]
Zena Kaeda
That's those playoff bonuses, right?
- [24:23]
Sabrina Merchant
You just make it all back.
- [24:24]
Zena Kaeda
Yeah, exactly. So you make that money back knowing, like, well, we got a good team. And that's like the trust you put in, Right. That's almost like equity you're building. When you decide to pick that pay cut, it's like, all right, we like, who's in our locker room. We won't have issues with who's our locker room. And whoever we bring in, we know will be in addition to our locker room, as opposed to a sucker, an energy suck or energy drainage just for the purpose of trying to get wins. You don't need that. Right. I think Alicia Clarke was the most unreal addition. I mean, obviously, Candace Parker is always going to be amazing to whomever she chooses to play for. Right? But I just. The way that Alicia Clarke was like a puzzle piece that just fit perfectly in with that team is, like, insane. So knowing that they're, like, chilling, right? And I mean, like, it's like, to the T, right?
- [25:12]
Sabrina Merchant
Chilling.
- [25:12]
Zena Kaeda
They're going to be drinking on buses. They might get Usher. Who knows? They're going to be chilling. There's a long time until May. There is an NCAA season to happen. Of course there's going to be a draft to happen, but we don't know where all that's going to land. We do know what's going on right now in the W, and we know that some people got. They have some. Some decisions to make. Some people are coming back from injury. There's some free agents that got some decisions to make. I mean, I think Brianna, like Jonathan Call, GM at New York Liberty, already said they're gonna core Brianna Stewart, so we'll see where that lands. But there's some other big free agents that you just mentioned. Elena Deldon, John Kwel Jones, et cetera. You never know where they're gonna end up. Point being, there's some teams that want to come for the crown and they want to chill, too. Who do you think has the best chance of doing that?
- [26:09]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, I think we should start with New York because they were the team that came the closest to defeating Las Vegas. You know, while the Aces books are just pristinely set up over the coming years, New York kind of has the opposite problem coming up because, you know, while Asia Wilson inexplicably, why she agreed to this, but we went over the reasons already. She'll be paid less in 2024 than she was in 2023. Brianna Stewart gonna be getting a raise. Sabrina UNESCO, going from a rookie contract to, you know, a near max contract. Jonquil Jones. We'll see what she asked for in free agency. They have some tough decisions coming up and they've already, you know, extended Benajulaney, already extended Kayla Thornton. So that's taken care of. But they can't really afford to keep everybody who was on this team last year, like Marine Johannes has already said she's probably not coming back because of her French commitments next year. Stephanie Dolson probably gone. You know, and there's just. There's some decisions, some pieces that are going to have to be reshuffled in New York. I still think that when you have the core that they have with the Liberty, you give yourself a fighting chance any given day. But we saw, like, they're not on the level of the Aces yet. Maybe all they need is a year of continuity to get there. But there is another jump that has to be taken in New York. But I still think they're the closest, just based on the fact that they got to the finals. They beat the Liberty three times during the regular season, plus the Commissioners Cup. Like, there's something to work with there. The next team, I would say, is whoever drafts Caitlin Clark.
- [27:38]
Zena Kaeda
Ma'am. Okay. Sabrina, I was referencing the NCAA season because, of course, that's who we're all thinking about, right? But, yeah, like, yeah, it's true, it's true. We'll see what happens with the lottery. But, yeah, who do you think she could go to?
- [27:56]
Sabrina Merchant
Okay. I mean, obviously the teams that are going to have a chance to draft her are all teams that didn't make the playoffs last year. So not the highest starting point, but, like, you put her in Indiana next to Aaliyah, Boston, that's as good of a one, two, I think, as you're going to see outside of Las Vegas. Right? That's pretty damn good. They have some money. They could bring in some free agents if you want to play with those two incredible young talents. Maybe she goes to Seattle. Then you put her next to Jewel Lloyd, and that seems like a very attractive destination to want to go to. We know that Seattle is supporting its team. They're building their own practice facility. That's an organization that has always given a lot of support to its athletes. So maybe that's, you know, another candidate.
- [28:35]
Zena Kaeda
Given a lot of support, too.
- [28:37]
Sabrina Merchant
If she comes to la, then you've got her. Neko Gumake comes back like, this was a Team that was making a charge when they were healthy at the end of the year, perhaps that works out in their favor. I just think like the off season could shift the balance of power in so many different ways. And I don't mean like at the very top. Obviously the Aces are at the very top. That's not changing. I don't think there is going to be a consolidation of talent that will rival the Aces during the offseason. We'll see how the pieces come together on the court, but I do think this is boring. But I think whatever happens between now and May, the Aces are going to enter next season as the heavy favorites to win a third title. Now, obviously it's very difficult to win a third title. We don't know what Chelsea Gray's health status is right now. We don't know what Kia Stokes status is right now. Like, Chelsea Gray said something to the effect of popped. Right? Like, what does that mean? What is her availability, you know, to.
- [29:25]
Zena Kaeda
And they haven't actually explained.
- [29:26]
Sabrina Merchant
They have not explained anything. Yeah. Like, the Aces posted this lovely picture of them going to play bingo with wigs on and like celebrating their victory and Asia Wilson's left wrist in a cast. When did that happen?
- [29:39]
Zena Kaeda
That is. I mean, that. That was the topic on Twitter. Like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Did she do what she did during these finals with a hurt wrist? Oh, you better.
- [29:49]
Sabrina Merchant
By the way, her left hand.
- [29:50]
Zena Kaeda
Yes, that's her left hand. That's the shot. We know the shot. We all saw the shot that got them to 70 points with a cast. Oh, the Liberty. You better hope there's not an injury because that just makes it even more painful that she did what she did with the hurt wrist. Anyways. Continue. I'm sorry.
- [30:08]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah. All that to say is that I still believe that no matter what pieces move around during the off season. Like, if Phoenix gets a big star to pair with Britton Griner and Dana Taurasi, if LA gets another star to pair with Neko Gumuke and Jordan Canada. Like, there are things that can happen to shift the balance of power in terms of seeds two through four, but the Aces are number one with a bullet. And I'm not saying that they're a guarantee to win the title next year because we never know what's going to happen. Right. Like all of the things that we just laid out. Yes, the Aces managed to persevere through all of them, but I don't think that's something we should expect to just happen over and over again.
- [30:44]
Zena Kaeda
Right, right, right, right. Well, it will be a very interesting off season because the Aces have a target on their back and you can tell that whatever moves that teams are going to be making, that players are going to be making, it's going to be to either join them, find a way to join them, or to take the zone.
- [31:03]
Sabrina Merchant
People do it. They join them and people do it.
- [31:05]
Zena Kaeda
Right, exactly. People do it. So where it's going to be to take them down. And that makes it so much more, like, enticing. Right. It just makes it so much more exciting to see what people do or what people. What moves people make. But.
- [31:19]
Sabrina Merchant
And they seem to like playing the villain a little bit.
- [31:22]
Zena Kaeda
Yeah, exactly. And I'm. But there's some other people that have their own villain stories brewing because of awards, because of accolades, because of other things. So there's going to be. There's just going to be a lot of storylines. And we know, especially when it comes to the W, but in women's basketball in general, we know that storylines are the thing that really gets you. It's not even just women's basketball, it's sports. Right. That's what makes things so sticky. And the un. I don't know how to say this, but, like, yes, I do think there's a sense of manufactured chips on the shoulders of these players. Right. But I do think it's also this villainesque taint that has been put on the Aces. Like, they're not mean people. Right. They're not out here when they're beating teams by 25 or whatever. They're not making fun of teams or, you know, or doing anything unsportsmanlike. But there's been this, like, villain, like, painting of them of, like, oh, you're this super team. That's not a super team. And, like, you know, here you are.
- [32:24]
Sabrina Merchant
And in fairness, depending on the results of this D'Erica Hamby investigation, part of that villain narrative could be justified.
- [32:33]
Zena Kaeda
That's very true. That's very true. In terms of. I guess I'm thinking mostly the players, but you're asking the basketball product.
- [32:39]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, I would agree with that.
- [32:40]
Zena Kaeda
Yeah, that's exactly right. And that is another thing to be mindful of, too, is how Dericka Hamby's case plays out. And I really do hope that she gets the justice that she's looking for. There is something there. The W would not have suspended Becky Hammond without finding something. So we'll see what happens in that. In that court case as well. But W will be very interesting, very exciting to. To pay attention to More than anything, I just want no injuries in this off season. None. No injuries. Everyone that's playing in China, everyone playing in.
- [33:18]
Sabrina Merchant
Everybody's playing in China.
- [33:20]
Zena Kaeda
My goodness, everybody's playing in China. Alyssa Thomas is like a triple double right now in China. Like, it's insane. Yeah, I want no injuries. I want everybody coming full force. Because that is what makes this interesting, is when everybody's back and everybody's like, oh, we got it. We're going to be the ones to take them down. It makes the big threes or the super teams and all these things a lot more interesting and a lot more fun to watch. So. Okay. Well, I appreciate you letting us know what your experience was. Just seeing this team come to a rise and then also what you're seeing for next year, to put a bow on it, what from you was your absolute favorite moment outside of that Asia Wilson press conference, talking about not being able to rest between games? Favorite moment from this season that kind of really embodied for you or encapsulated their greatness.
- [34:13]
Sabrina Merchant
It would be hard to top their post game celebration. Just the enormity of everybody getting a moment. Like you have Sidney Coulson, you know, who felt a certain way about things that were reportedly said to her, you know, and did a certain player celebration in response to that and was on Instagram live, I think, still since last Wednesday.
- [34:36]
Zena Kaeda
Yes. We have been very, very closely involved in the personal life of Sidney Colson since last Wednesday. Yes.
- [34:43]
Sabrina Merchant
You know, you obviously have the Kelsey Plum comments which were like, I think the sweetest part of it for me was her being able to share this with her husband because he plays for a New York football team. I always forget if it's the Giants or the Jets. I think it's the Giants. But he was there in person for game four and like, you know, in their relationship. He was an Aces fan before they even started dating. And so he's been following this team. Now he gets to watch them win with his wife on the team. And that was very sweet to see them celebrate together. And then just Asia, like, I realize that her finishing third in MVP is not. If you just step back and you're like, oh, third place finish for Asia Wilson. It doesn't make sense. But like, I don't think that the vote was messed up. I didn't mean it's fourth place vote. Yeah, that's stupid. But like, her finishing third, I understand that it meant something to her, but I didn't think that it was like a disgrace based on the way the regular season Played out. But her being able to move past that, like, you know, Alicia Clark said something, you know, she said like for her to continuously show up, she showed up, she was vulnerable with us, she talked with us, she cried with us and then was like, listen, I'm putting my armor back on and we're going to work. And that is exactly what Asia Wilson did over the last month of the season after that award came out. And for her to have that moment of that little elbow fade away to put them up 70, 64, it's a championship worthy moment. She is the very best player in the world. She got to shine on the biggest stage in the world and showcase that. And I just thought that was a fitting way to wrap up the season.
- [36:19]
Zena Kaeda
Wow. How beautiful. Sabrina, I know why you do your job. That was beautiful storytelling. Thank you. You just put me right back in it. I was just like listening to you. How to have a moment like, yeah, you're right. Those were beautiful moments. Those were special. Well, thank you. And I am very curious, what are you going to be doing in this off season with the W?
- [36:38]
Sabrina Merchant
Well, college season, like you said, starts in two weeks. You got to figure out who's going to join this league next year.
- [36:43]
Zena Kaeda
There you go. We have one idea of who might be joining and also bringing some parity to the league a little bit. Just a little bit. But I'm very excited to get that going as well because again, there's a lot of new names also old names that are rising to new occasions. Right. With people that graduated, they have to fill in the holes. We'll be talking about all of that on the Athletic Women's Basketball show presented by Michelob Ultra. Make sure to join in for that. I'm very grateful for you, Sabrina, because this whole season, all of your coverage on the Aces and throughout the W have been super helpful. And I just appreciate the breakdown particularly of like the CBA things. Right. And being able to understand roster moves and all the like, all of these very technical elements of the, of the sport as opposed to more so the storylines. But you've been able to cover both of them really well and I'm grateful. So thank you. So now it's time to go off the script. I'm going off the script today to just highlight something that we're talking about. Right. The league needs parody and NCAA season's around the corner. But NCAA isn't the only way that these new stars in the game of basketball, women's basketball, can get their shine. And Ben Pickman just wrote an Article about how beginning next summer there will be a new competition available for young female basketball players that want to get their shine. And they've already gotten some really, really top talent to commit. So Overtime, a sports media company, if you haven't heard of them, Overtime Elite, they have more than 85 million followers across all their social media platforms. They cover high school sports a lot mostly and high level gameplay across men's basketball, also women's basketball. But they have a league for men's basketball players from high school. They did not have one for women until now, so they're still finalizing the dates. But over time select, this is what it's being called instead of Overtime Elite, which is for the men's side. Overtime select will feature eight teams and they'll play over a four week span. And they said that they have only already got the top two hoop girls players in the Class of 2025, Aaliyah Chavez and Jasmine Davidson, as well as the number one player in the class of 2026, Jersey Robinson, has they've already committed to participating. So this is going to be high level basketball from a high school perspective and they've seen the success that they had in 2021 when they launched the Overtime Elite brand. They have players that played within that men's tournament that have now gone on and gotten deals in the NBA. And you can see that this is a product that rivals against IMG Academy, that rivals against the G League Ignite product. And so it's going to be really, really interesting to see what they're able to do for these women's players. What I love the most about all of this and what Overtime is doing is that they're ensuring that this isn't just an on court competition. Ben writes about how there's going to be mentorship throughout the league. You've got to go read who's going to be involved in this. It's current players, it's former players. These are WNBA stars that are going to be involved in this. There's also NCAA stars that are going to be involved in this and agents as well. Really well known sports business executives and agents that are also going to be involved. So these women, these young, are not only going to be able to showcase their talent, but they'll also be able to learn the business which you know, especially in this world of understanding your personal brand, understanding how to elevate yourself beyond just your basketball skills, this is imperative to your survival in this business. And so super, super exciting to see that there is going to be now another channel for women's basketball players to be able to showcase their talent, learn about the business and also develop their own brands. So go read that article Ben Pickman just wrote about it. Definitely support it next summer Overtime select and they also have the men's side Overtime elite and we'll see where this goes. I'm excited to see where it's going. There's a lot going on in the world of women's basketball and anytime there's an opportunity to just give women another platform or another channel to grow and showcase themselves, we at the Athletic over here, we happy. Okay. So anywho, that is all for today. Thanks again to Sabrina for joining me. Wrapping that up. Congratulations again to the Las Vegas Aces. I hope, I hope Usher shows up for them. I just, I just feel like it's on brand for him. He's got to, he's got to show up. But I hope they have a great time celebrating and just enjoying the fans in Las Vegas. So celebrate them and everything that they've done. We are going to be talking about NCAA action really soon, but before we do that, we are going to do a WNBA wrap up. So stay tuned for that as well. But until then, I'm Zena Keda for the Athletic. Encourage you to continue listening, learning and loving the game because that's the only way we're going to keep growing it until next time.
- [42:07]
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Zena Kaeda
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Holderness Family
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We love getting to talk to experts. We love having meaningful conversations just the two of us. And we also love hearing from you.
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Sabrina Merchant
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