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- [00:01]
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- [01:18]
Ben
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- [01:44]
Sabrina
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- [01:44]
Ben
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- [02:52]
Diana
Love.
- [02:52]
Erykah
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- [04:57]
Sabrina
We'Re 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. The drama in the WNBA continued as Game 2 of the WNBA semifinals continued on Tuesday night happened to be the same night as the most hotly Contested MVP award battle was finally resolved with the announcement of Briana Stewart being announced as this league's 2023 MVP. We will talk about that topic a little bit later in the show, but for now I've got Sabrina Merchant and Ben Pickman here to talk about the outcomes of game two. So in game two for the Las Vegas Aces and the Wings, they beat the wings 91, 84. I don't think that score actually tells the true story of the game. It was very close. We'll touch on that. But the first game of the night was the New York Liberty against the Connecticut Sun. And the New York Liberty tied it up 1:1 on a very big night for New York. All the stars were out for New York. Alicia Keys, Common, just a few that I saw on social media. I mean, it was, it was definitely another hot, rocking night at Barclays Center. But New York Liberty took down Connecticut sun, 84 to 77. Now there was, I felt from my own little living room some tension going into this game. Obviously Briana Stewart winning mvp. On the opposite side of the ball was Alyssa Thomas and her team looking to prove that their team was the better team for the second night in the semifinals matchup. But it wasn't enough. Ultimately, Alyssa Thomas, Dewana Bonner, they did their thing as expected. But it was Tiffany Hayes that stepped up. 30 point game. You can't guard me. She can't guard me. She made sure that the crowd could tell her that. That was in reference to, of course, Sabrina Unescu who poured in 21 of her own. But yes, let Tiffany Hayes get 30 points. Ultimately, with what a crazy amazing game Tiffany Hayes had, it wasn't enough for the Connecticut Sun. New York Liberty took game two. Ben, I'm going to start with you knowing going into that game, knowing that there was a lot of energy going into that game. Sometimes people can rise to the occasion, sometimes people can fall to the occasion. But the Liberty came out collected, poised. I feel like they played their game. What did you make of their performance for game two?
- [07:42]
Diana
I mean, their backs were certainly against the wall. They needed a win as you mapped out and they did just enough. I mean, I think it wasn't necessarily a great performance by New York, but I certainly think, you know, credit to Sandy Brondello, Olaf Laying, you know, her top assistant, her husband as well, for making a major strategic adjustment. Right. Them playing two, three zone. And Sabrina wrote about this on the site. So I recommend everyone checking it out. I mean, they switched to a 2, 3 zone. I think it was in the second quarter, really, they brought it out for the first time and they really wrote it for much of the rest of the game. They came out in a zone right after halftime. They played it throughout the second half as well, and it really did seem to make a difference. And so, you know, in a playoff situation in. In a series in which it's three out of five, you know, the margins are very small. Getting a win just by changing up your defense and playing 2, 3 zone, having that be so important like that is significant. Now, I certainly would expect Connecticut to be much better prepared heading into game three, heading into game four of this series for New York to throw out the zone. I wouldn't be surprised to see New York play it very little in game three and game four, knowing that Connecticut is preparing for it. But, you know, they needed a win and they got a win. And so, you know, success, you know, that is a success in game two.
- [08:57]
Sabrina
Calling out that zone is incredibly important because when you look at who found success against a zone in general, right? How do you beat a zone? You have to dribble, penetrate. You've got to get into the gaps, you got to get into the holes. And who did that the best on the Connecticut Sun, Tiffany Hayes. She continued to penetrate and keep going against her defender. Sabrina, you mentioned last pod that you don't actually need Alyssa Thomas going off offensively, right. You need to let her cook as she should inside, getting inside, using her body, this and that. But it's really about keeping her teammates from doing that. And unfortunately, they could not do that against Tiffany Hayes because she devoured that zone. And she had a great time going up against Sabrina Ionescu and going into the paint getting her points. What did you make of Hayes game and how the Liberty reacted to her?
- [09:47]
Zena
I mean, she's the reason that the Liberty played his own, right? It was entirely because they could not guard Tiffany Hayes. They could not keep her out of the lane. Sandy Rondello basically admitted as much during her post game press conference. Like, it's a difficult team to guard with her movement. Tiffany Hayes is having a hell of a game. So the zone, right? So when you outright admit that it was one player who forced your defense to make this dramatic adjustment, I think that's quite high praise for Tiffany Hayes, what she was able to accomplish. I think we sometimes forget how long Tiffany Hayes has been in the WNBA. I mean, she was on an Atlanta Dream team seven years ago when she scored 30 points in a playoff game for them. And frankly, I could not remember for the Life of me, what Tiffany Hayes game looked like seven years ago. But she's a veteran. She's been in these situations before. And for her to come to play in this type of environment shouldn't come as a surprise. Just based on her history in the league, the fact that she played all these big games at UConn, you know, she's been around for a really long time. And when you looked at Connecticut last year, you know, just their inability to get any sort of offense out of their perimeter players other than, you know, some random Natisha Heideman scoring explosions here and there, like, for them to get consistent production. First Rebecca Allen in Game 2, then Tiffany Hayes here in game. Sorry. Rebecca Allen in game one, then Tiffany Hayes in game two. It just speaks volumes to the way they are able to construct their roster, even with all of the departures this offseason. I do kind of feel like my Alyssa Thomas point was proved incorrect in game two because she didn't go off and they needed more offense from her. I don't necessarily feel that way. I kind of think it was more just, you know, you need more from Bonner. And then their guards were kind of just unavailable, like three of them for most of the game. You know, Natisha Heideman had an illness. She threw up in the second quarter, didn't really play much of the game, was limited to 15 minutes. Dijonay Carrington, she's been dealing with this foot injury since the end of the regular season, doesn't even play in game two. And then Becca Allen, limited, limited to 18 minutes because of her foul trouble over the course of the game. So that guard rotation, that wonderfully deep guard rotation, actually just gets, you know, dumbed down to two players. It's just Tiffany Hayes, just Ty Harris. And I think they just needed more bodies, frankly, because when the Liberty were playing that zone, you kind of need shooters to test the zone, right? And when you have to play Livia Nelson else in the Dota all those minutes, you only really have one spacer on the court who's threatening the Liberty at all. It allows them to suck in a little bit more. It allows them to congest the paint and make things difficult on Thomas and all of those drives. So I think, you know, just one of those guards pops off. Like, I. Again, it sounds silly to say because Tiffany Hayes scored 30 points, but, like, there just wasn't anything else from anybody else because of that foul trouble, because of the illness and injury. So I think the depth kind of caught up with Connecticut yesterday, which I Mean, we should have seen coming like this is the Connecticut sun after all. But it came up in a way that I wouldn't have predicted in Game two.
- [12:24]
Sabrina
Yeah, yeah. I also think, you know, I do like Nelson Adota on defense. I absolutely love how long and aggressive she is. She is a monster on traps. Like she is a very scary being coming off those traps. But you're right, it does take away an opportunity from them. From an offensive perspective, even against that zone, trying to see her duck in, she wasn't really a factor. The attention was all on the guards, which you just mentioned weren't really producing for the Sun. Ben, Sabrina and I talked about Bette Nijelaney's game specifically after game one. Three points, no defensive rebounds, stat line that was not reminiscent of the Bet Nigelani that we've known all season and in her career. And even she said as she talked to Holly Roh after the game, the game was a little doo doo. It wasn't that great. And she definitely had to wake up. What impressed you most about her comeback?
- [13:18]
Diana
I think it's just her confidence, frankly, in that she attacks every game. She is pretty fearless. And I think you talk to her teammates, you talk to other people in New York, they recognize how important she is to their success and she often plays like it. She knows she has a big role on the team. You talk to people around the league and they will tell you benijelaney is one of the best defenders in the wnba. She was second team all defense. I think I had her first team on my ballot. And you can certainly make a case. You know, Sabrina and I have recently had some conversations with, you know, GMs around the league. I think a lot of them really applaud Benij Elainey's defense. So that's what she does on that end of the court. Her versatility really opens so many things up for New York on the offensive end. You know, frankly, this is the player the the 20 point outing in game two that New York has come to expect and she has lived up to the occasion on a pretty nightly basis. You mentioned that game won three points before that. 19:19 in against Washington in the first round of the postseason. In her final 10 regular season games, she was averaging 17 points from 53% shooting from the field. This is the player she has been, you know, Jonathan Kolb won executive of the year this past season. You can make a case he probably has thrown his hat in the ring for executive of the year for next year if it works like that. Because locking Benijelaney up to a multi year extension. They sign one towards the end of the season. I know Sabrina loves that deal. She thought it was a steal and, and it has looked like that because she is a, a true star in her role. She might be a star period, but if nothing else, she is a star in her role. I would expect what we saw in game two, in game three and in game four, and I think one thing that we've seen is New York needs her to play that way. She needs to make shots from the perimeter. Especially just her ability to stretch the defense from three opens so many things up as a safety valve for New York. But I still expect her to play like she has pretty consistently except for that game one.
- [15:08]
Sabrina
Sabrina just mentioned the benches, particularly the bench of Connecticut sun catching up with them. I also think that the bench for New York has shown to be a lack for them in terms of being able to look to them for some sort of a burst. And you know, throughout the season it could have been Maureen Johannes. It also could have been Kayla Thornton. That one game it was Stephanie Dolson where she said that she was just throwing stuff up and it went in. But those, you know, they've got a bench issue as well. I want to ask both of you, between the Connecticut sun and the New York Liberty, what do you expect out of their benches in order to have an edge up on being able to win this semifinals between the Liberty and the Sun?
- [15:49]
Diana
I mean, the thing that I think is most interesting about New York's decision is New York for all season has touted their bench. Jonathan Cole from media day on, you know, spoke about depth being a strength. We acknowledged as we talked, previewed the postseason that New York's bench is a strength of their team. That they have, you know, more players, especially compared to say, Las Vegas, that they trust in big moments. Sandy Brondella went away from the bench in game two. Simply put, you look at the box score, you can just sum the minutes in game one that she played four bench players. They played 36 total minutes in game two. They got 12 total minutes out of their bench. 12. That's it. She rode the starters all night long. Maureen Johannes, like she's been a key player for them all year long. Once in the regular season, she played less than 10 minutes in a game. She's played five or fewer minutes in three of their first four postseason games. And you know, New York has great guards, Sabrina Unescu, Courtney Van der Sloot, Benajulaney as we talked about. So you don't necessarily need a ton for Marine, but I think it has been surprising, you know, especially surprising in game two to see her go away from it. I certainly get riding for your best players, but I'm, it's, it's really worth watching in game three and game four. What are the rotations look like now that the schedule is a little more condensed for New York? You know, does Sandy choose to go to the bench more or does she stick with a tighter rotation and does that run the risk of fatigue? You know, this is the playoffs. Obviously you want to play your best players. But it's a really open question, I think heading into game three of this one one series, how much does New York use their bench? And I don't know the answer. I don't know if anyone, maybe only the New York Liberty coaching staff knows and maybe not even them.
- [17:29]
Sabrina
Sabrina, what about you? Looking at the sun, I've been fairly.
- [17:32]
Zena
Pleased with the sun bench throughout the playoffs, other than the notable exception of game two. And even then I don't really think it was the bench's fault. I think two starters didn't really come to play and that's sort of what put a, you know, a greater emphasis on the benches production. But Ty Harris has been hitting her threes. You know, she was one of the best catch and shoot players in the league during the regular season. Over the second half of the season, she was making 50% of her catch and shoot threes. You've got Olivia Nelson, Adodo. Who Zena. Obviously you've illuminated all of her gifts, right, the length and the traps. She had a putback on one of Dewana Bonner's free throws during the first quarter, which was one of the funniest plays I've seen where she just sort of like clucked it at the rim and it just went in and they're all really excited because one DB doesn't miss free throws that often. But if you can, you know, get four points out of possession because of a oh, no put back like, I think just she has looked ready for the moment. Like this is her first postseason. You know, she didn't get to play in the playoffs last year with the Sparks and she's looked completely ready for it, right? Like she played again like Tiffany Hayes, a lot of big games at UConn. She's aware of this stage and you know, obviously offensively she's not giving you the spacing, you know, that you would hope for. But I don't think she's taking away that much like, if the Liberty are not in zone, you still have to put a body on her on the glass. You know, she's still gonna demand attention in the paint. I think she's providing as much as you could hope for her and Ty Harris both. The real key here is that, you know, Dijonay Carrington was supposed to be that spark off of the bench for the Sun. Like, she's the one who gets that downhill juice, who gets going in transition, is that perfect outlet for illicit Thomas passes. And the sun really missed that just burst of energy without her in the lineup. And I think you felt that when they needed just, like, to add, you know, a little spark to the game in Game two, they just didn't have that off the bench. And I do wonder what the status of her leg is going forward. Like, I don't think they're listing her on an injury report, but at the same time, like, she just wasn't ready to go in Game two. And that's obviously can't happen for the sun if they want to win the series.
- [19:22]
Sabrina
Well, speaking of winning the series, it's a clean slate now. It's 1:1, and they've got three games left. They're going to McKeegan sun to start the next two games here. I'm going to ask the both of you, since it's 1:1, a little bit of a clean slate here. What are your predictions for the rest of this series?
- [19:41]
Diana
I mean, I think New York probably wins in five games would probably be my prediction. I don't see them winning two games, and I don't think they're going to lose two games in Mohegan Sun. You know, one player who we haven't mentioned that I have my eye on for Game three and Game four is Courtney Vandersloot. She played, you know, her best game of the postseason in game in game two. The 19 points, that was her third highest output of the year, if you include the regular season. And I think you saw it pretty early on, like, her ability to. She was just more aggressive attacking the basket. She had a couple, you know, of the Steve Nash kind of dribble under the rim, circle the pole, play and see who's open, dribble drives. And when she does that, you know, she's feeling explosive. She, you know, she's been dealing with some kind of leg injury. It's. It's really unclear what. They haven't listed her on the injury report again. But, you know, even prior game one of the series, a couple days before, she sat out Part of a practice and you know, load management and monitoring how your your output at this point in practices and shoot arounds. You know, it's not surprising that she's sitting out some portions of a practice. But, you know, I think that does speak to maybe just how she's feeling physically. And I'm not really sure. She kind of has downplayed it, but I don't think she's looked her best, certainly. So she plays like she does in game two. Everyone else plays up to par as well. You know, I think New York has a really good chance to win in five games at home court. I think would make a difference also in game five.
- [21:07]
Sabrina
And thank you for bringing up Bannersloop because you're right, I mean, three of four shooting from the three. You saw her kind of wake up in comparison to what you saw in game one. And I also would be remiss, not to mention Ionescu's kind of revival as well. First game didn't go to the line at all. This game went to line 10 times, hit it 10 times. You know, that was a big lift as well for the New York Liberty. Sabrina, I know you already gave your prediction on this. You also think Liberty in five.
- [21:34]
Zena
Yeah, that's correct. Okay.
- [21:35]
Sabrina
They're gonna go back to Connecticut and it's gonna still continue to remain spicy. I know that these storylines are gonna continue all the way up to Connecticut. It's not that far from Barclays, so it'll just follow them right up north. But let's go all the way out to the west and let's talk a little bit about these Dallas Wings going up against these aces. I just feel like it's crazy every time we talk about these aces, every time we like right after a game. Huge, obviously huge number is Asia Wilson, 30 point game. Asia Wilson, 30 point game. She is playing out of her mind. And when you see this team play, they are clicking on all cylinders this game. I thought Chelsea Gray was a shining star. I mean, she came out there and was doing like the moves that your mama gives you to make sure you know that she was good back in the day. And that mid range game, I mean literally that step dribbles, I mean off brush screens going to that right. I think it was the right corner of the free throw lane extended. I mean up, just, just net, just straight net. It was beautiful. She's playing amazingly. But it's not like the Wings are getting blown out, people. The Wings are putting up a solid effort. It was 81, 85 with 1 minute 36 remaining in the game. These Wings are really putting up a strong effort, yet they're not being able to close out these games. So, Sabrina, I'm going to start there. What is keeping the Wings in these games so far in the semifinals despite the stellar performances from the Aces?
- [23:05]
Zena
It's really the possession game. This is the advantage that the Wings had to take, you know, coming in against playing the Aces, because the Aces are such an efficient offense, right? Like, they shoot so well from every area of the floor. Their four best score is among the most four efficient scores in the wnba. So you really just have to take advantage of the volume of shots that you're going to get. And, you know, The Wings took 88 field goal attempts in game two and the Aces had 65. So plus 23 right there. And then you look at the turnover battle, the Wings turn the ball over four less times than, you know, the Aces. So just the math advantage would suggest that the Wings have so many more opportunities to score compared to the Aces. The problem is, like, they shot absolutely terribly in the paint. It almost seemed like they were just playing volleyball at times with those offensive rebounds. Like, Tara McCown would need three chances to get, you know, one shot attempt to go in on the offensive end. Same with Kalani Brown. Sometimes, even if the Aces allowed multiple offensive rebounds on the same possession, they still weren't able to convert. So I really think they just have to be sharper in the paint because it's the kind of thing where, like, if you take four tries to score in a possession, I understand that the result is two points. It just doesn't have the same demoralizing effect on Las Vegas if you're not really punishing them, you know, inside. So I think, number one, you know, the Wings just haven't been efficient enough. Like, it's so crazy to look at a stat line and see that you had 23 more shot attempts and still didn't score as many points as the other team, because what are you doing with those chances? So I really do believe they're just not being disciplined enough with their shot selection. Like, maybe you get an offensive rebound, kick it out, reset the possession. Like, it doesn't have to go up immediately because Asia Wilson is right there. Kia Stokes is right there. I do think they. They just have to be a little bit. A little bit cleaner with their shot selection.
- [24:50]
Sabrina
I'm looking at that statistic, too. I mean, they did win the points in the paint battle, but you're right, they exerted so much more effort in Order to be able to do that. I want to follow up on that. You're thinking about shot selection, and that immediately makes me think of satus abali and the volume of shots that she's putting up and the quality of those shots. Ben, when you're looking at her game right now, how much of what she's putting up and what she's doing on the court, do you attest to the aces just being so aggressive and disrupting the flow of satu's game versus maybe her having playoff jitters and her, you know, putting pressure on herself to try and produce at a high volume?
- [25:36]
Diana
I mean, I lean on crediting, I think Las Vegas and they can just throw so many different players at her. You know, just from a physicality standpoint, someone like Chelsea Gray, you know, guarding her is a. It's just. It makes things tough. You know, Chelsea is obviously a little smaller than satu, but you know, just in terms of strength, tough to move and, and tough to get around because of Chelsea's speed. Same thing, you know, possessions when Jackie Young, my guard saw to like, it's just a little bit of a. The whole series is kind of an awkward fit because of styles and because of Dallas being so front court heavy. And I think right now just Las Vegas is dictating pretty much everything on both ends and, and you mention, you know, the difference in, in front court in shots between the two teams. And so certainly Dallas is getting their chances. But Dallas has just been playing catch up all series long. You mentioned game two and how it was so close. Dallas never led in game two. There were no lead changes. There were four lead changers in game one. Their biggest lead was by one point. Like that's kind of the series for me. Dallas has stayed close, they've gone on runs. They certainly haven't quit. And we've seen that from satu. We saw, you know, Arique got off to a little bit of a slow start in game two. She picked it up certainly. And we saw Dallas down the stretch. They made a run. Suddenly it's four points, it's six points. You look up, you know, they've made a couple hoops in a row, saw to included, but they're not really dictating play. They're. They haven't jumped out to a six point lead, an eight point lead, and had Las Vegas have to counter. It's all been Dallas kind of countering and trying to stay close and they almost stole game two. But I think that's a really tough place to be in Against a team like Las Vegas, I think Dallas is going to have to get out too. An eight point, a 10 point lead in game one. And then I'd be interesting to see, you know, how Las Vegas recovers a little bit. And I would expect Las Vegas to answer and. But does Dallas then have another answer in them? So that I think is going to be really interesting in the rest of the series. And I frankly don't think that Dallas can dictate play enough, jump out to consistent leads for three of the next five. Obviously we've never seen a team down 20 advance, so, you know, statistically it is unlikely. But, you know, I think Dallas is going to have to play really, really well in game three. And I think they might have to just steal game four in one of these kind of close games, because I don't expect Las Vegas certainly to get blown out two games in a row. Even if Dallas, you know, comes out and it's just guns a blazing in game three.
- [27:55]
Sabrina
No, that makes sense. And when you're talking about Dallas swings, trying to have an answer, trying to do something to switch it up. I know that starting Odyssey Sims was one of those things. Sabrina, you actually recommended that after our last podcast, after game one, having Odyssey Sims come out there, start really giving that poise that we talk about, that experience that she provides as a more veteran player. What did you think? Was that the right choice? What? Did she actually make an impact starting the game versus coming off the bench?
- [28:24]
Zena
I think it was the right choice just because of how Crystal Dangerfield has been targeted on the defensive end. You know, she's a lot smaller than Odyssey. And when you have big guards like Chelsea Gray and like Jackie Young who can just post her up and make things difficult for Dangerfield, you know, that doesn't happen to Odyssey Sims in the same way. At the same time, it's a lot easier to look good against Las Vegas bench units and, well, bench units, I'm using that in quotes because they only really have two bench players on the court anytime than it is, you know, against Las Vegas starting unit. And we saw Odyssey, you know, struggle a little bit with ball control and her like every other Dallas wing, like her shot selection was not where you would want it to be in that game. But I still think it was the right idea just, you know, to bring that ball pressure in from the very beginning, you know, just having another adult in the room, someone who knows how to handle this situation. And I thought it was interesting that Dangerfield was basically out of the rotation Only ended up playing was four minutes in this game. I don't know that she necessarily needed to be cut out altogether. But, like, these are some weird decisions that literature Trammel has at her, you know, to make right now. Like, I thought Veronica Burton had some nice minutes. Like, she's actually the biggest guard who can kind of contend with Chelsea Gray. But then like, what is she giving you offensively? She kind of looks scared to shoot sometimes. Even though I do believe she made one three pointer in that game. No, I'm confusing with somebody else. But yeah, it's just none of these options are great when you're playing the Las Vegas Aces, right, Ben? Like, that's just what are you supposed to do, right?
- [29:52]
Diana
I mean, I think we talked about it heading into the series. It's just speaks to the difference in roster talent, right, that Dallas has a hole right now at that other guard position and Las Vegas knows it. And you can watch some of those possessions, especially when Las Vegas is in a zone and they just leave these guards open, you know, Dangerfield, LT Latricia Trammel, she cited Odyssey Sims efficiency heading into Game two as the kind of reason why, one of the reasons why she made that switch. And LT is right that Odyssey Sims had been really efficient. But in Game two, she's two of seven from the field, she's zero of two from three. And I think those are pretty open attempts. Like, she's got to just, simply put, she's got to make shots. You go down the list, Krister Dangerfield, Veronica BURTON, they played 12 minutes between them. They took only two shots. Like, Las Vegas is often daring those guards to shoot. We certainly know that, you know, other players on Dallas have been really aggressive and they want to get shots around the rim. But that guard spot, they're going to have to make shots and specifically perimeter jumpers. And if they do, I think, you know, how Vegas chooses to defend Dallas changes a little bit. But until that happens, and I'm not convinced it's going to happen in this series, I think that's a big differentiating factor between these two teams.
- [30:58]
Sabrina
I'm really happy you brought up Veronica Burton, too, because I was thinking the same thing from a defensive perspective as far as size goes and her being able to contend, as you mentioned, with the Aces. And I am anticipating seeing a little bit more of her coming into Game three. But all I can think about right now is there was a camera shot to coach lt, to Coach Trammell. I can't remember if it was game one or game two. But you could just see her go, you know, like, just take a breath, right? And I feel like that's what the Wings are experiencing right now, where it's just the Aces are coming at them and they're fighting. They're really putting up a solid fight. But it is. You gotta. You gotta find a way to catch your breath and find and dig deep and find that extra umph and really find that extra ump somewhere within your bench. A part of me really just wants to see Maddie Segris go off for 25 for fun. You know, just put it up, the number she was putting up in college. But it is going to be a battle. But it's now going to be a battle at the Wings house. So let's do the same thing. This time it's 20 ASUS. Probably an easier prediction to make, but thoughts on what's going to happen for the rest of this series?
- [32:15]
Diana
I think it will be a sweep. I think it will end in three games. I think Dallas will play again. I think they'll play an inspired game. I think they're going to play really hard. I wouldn't be shocked if they had a halftime lead. And, you know, some of that what I talked about of them jumping out early on and, you know, making Las Vegas recover, like, I wouldn't be surprised if Dallas was the aggressor. And still, I think Las Vegas's talent is kind of overwhelming. And this ends in three games.
- [32:39]
Sabrina
Sabrina.
- [32:40]
Zena
Yeah, I mean, I already predicted the Aces to sweep.
- [32:42]
Sabrina
That's true.
- [32:42]
Zena
And I see nothing that has changed my opinion on that.
- [32:46]
Sabrina
That's perfectly fair. Well, the Wings will be. If they're listening, they'll be like, okay, we got something to prove. We got something to prove. All right, so that is what's going on in the WNBA playoff landscape. Let's talk about what's going on in the WNBA awards landscape, because now it's all closed. All out. Last week, we already had heard the rumblings. All right, Defensive players have been announced that all defensive teams, first and second, as well as defensive Player of the Year, had been announced. Twitter wasn't so happy about that. Players weren't so happy about that. Even coaches weren't so happy about that. This is a perfect timing to shamelessly plug that. We also talk to GMs, and that article is up in live right now. Find out what they think about the defensive players within this league. But today we're going to talk about that final award, during which, when that was announced, none of those ramblings and none of that uproar stopped. If anything, it got louder. And that was the announcement of Brianna Stewart for mvp. And this race was close, which contributed to why there was so much chatter around the outcome of this race. So before we even get into that and how the voting actually broke down. Ben, Sabrina, help me understand and help those listening. Sabrina, I'll ask you first. How does voting break down? Who votes? And then also the point system. How does that work?
- [34:13]
Zena
Yeah. So Most of the WNBA's awards are a single name ballot, like for sixth player of the Year, Coach of the year, most improved player, Rookie of the Year, which I actually don't think has been announced yet, but I'm pretty sure we all know who it's going to be.
- [34:25]
Sabrina
Oh, it happened. You're right. You're absolutely right. I think, I think that we.
- [34:28]
Zena
Congratulations in advance, Aaliyah Boston.
- [34:30]
Sabrina
I think we all just knew it. Fair.
- [34:33]
Zena
Yeah. All of those awards are just one name. So if you think Aaliyah Boston's Rookie of the Year, you just write Aaliyah Boston's name for Rookie of the Year. That's it. There's no ordering. And the voting is conducted by a panel of 60 media members. There are two members from each team market. So that's 12 markets around the league. So that constitutes 24 voters. And then the additional 36 voters are national writers and broadcasters. So that's how we get to 60 for MVP. Every voter is asked to produce a top five list for the MVP. So the way it works is the first place vote gets you 10 points, the second place vote gets you 7 points, third place, 5 points, 3 points and then 1 point. So it's possible to collect points even if you're not getting first place votes. Right. Like, even if you're not someone's number one choice, you can still get points on their ballot. And that's, you know, came into real play into this particular MVP discussion because the player who earned the most first place votes, Alyssa Thomas, was not actually voted the most valuable player of the league, which has happened once before in WNBA history back in 2005 when Sheryl Swoopes won despite getting less fewer first place votes than Lauren Jackson.
- [35:48]
Sabrina
Right. And they were super close. 327 points for Cheryl Swoopes to Lauren Jackson's 325. So there is a two point difference between them back then, but Brianna Stewart and Alyssa Thomas had seven points in between them. Now I'm curious about the votes because you can see the chart and you can go find this on the Internet, you can see the charts of the breakdown. One person voted Asia Wilson, fourth place. Interesting. There was another person that voted, Sabrina Unescu for MVP as well. There were some interesting votes.
- [36:25]
Zena
Fifth place.
- [36:25]
Sabrina
Fifth place. Fifth place. Yep. There's just some interesting votes. And it's called into question forcing people who vote to tell people who they voted for. And this question of voter transparency seems to be loud and proud on the Twitter threads. Ben, give me a little bit of understanding as to why making people who voted say who they voted for and how they voted matters.
- [36:58]
Diana
I mean, you have the honor or the privilege of obtaining a ballot. And it's a responsibility that I know myself, I hold one, Sabrina does as well. Like we take seriously. And it's something that if you're going to put it on paper and submit it to the league, like, you should be willing to reveal who you voted for. I know we were pretty transparent, I think at the Athletic, we did a roundtable, we did multiple podcasts. If you want to find out who we voted for. Watch or read back any of that. And frankly, spoiler for a lot of media out there. It's good content that people like to read and listen to. But, you know, I think it just comes down to you put all this time in. You're supposed to put all this time in. It's an important thing, and you should kind of stand by the decisions you make. And so what does it matter is kind of the argument for transparency. We see transparency in award voting in the NBA. You know, sometimes, of course, we've seen that leads to, you know, backlash upon voters, whether that is for specific selections involving, you know, first team, second team, third team, all defense. Mark Jackson, the. The commentator, he omitted Nikola Jokic, the joker, off of his ballot, MVP ballot this past year. He called it a mistake and took some, some heat for it on Twitter and in the punditry, the media punditry. So, you know, would that happen if WNB voting was transparent? I'm sure some people would get called out for some of their votes. You know, I'm pro transparency. I would. But I think it's a complicated issue in that we personally don't know who these voters are. And I think that's one of the things a lot of people are clamoring for. You know, a lot of outlets, even some people who are around the teams, their outlets don't permit them to vote. So that complicates the pool and thins it out even more. You know, some people, they're just not allowed to vote, even if they're around the team all the time or around the league all the time. So that is a complicating factor. You know, it's a broad topic, Sabrina, I know we haven't really talked much about it. Where do you stand on the transparency discussion?
- [39:10]
Zena
I think if you're given a responsibility like this, where you are voting on these awards, which do have monetary results for the players, there is a bonus to winning an award. If it's something that serious, then you should be forced to hold account to it. And I think that if we have given the privilege of being one of these voters, there's no reason why, if we put all of this time into deciding on the names that we shouldn't reveal them anyway. I do realize that there is public backlash and it can get kind of dirty sometimes. I think back to Maria Taylor in 2020 when she got a ton of flack for leaving Anthony Davis off of her all NBA team. And it can get messy. And I realize that that's a thing. But I also think that transparency is just kind of more important to know, first of all, just who's making these decisions. Right. Like you and I are 2 of the voters. We couldn't tell you who half of the voters are in the pool. And we go to a lot of games and go to a lot of WNB events and we were trying to figure out, like, who else would be on this ballot and couldn't come up with 30 more names of people who are on this panel. So I think just knowing first of all who is in this pool where these decisions are coming from. And I'm not saying that this should be an opportunity, like an invitation to be like, hey, this person said Asia should be fourth place in mvp. They should have their vote taken away. No, just give an opportunity to explain yourself and if it was a mistake, admit it was a mistake. But I think more openness is better than not.
- [40:42]
Sabrina
That makes a lot of sense. And I would be fascinated if someone could actually calculate or amass the list of names because 60 people is a lot of people and as visible as all of the, you know, WNBA journalists and pundits and influencers, whatever you want to call anyone that's involved with the voting and are given a vote. A lot of them are very transparent and very involved and vocal on their Twitters. But I'm thinking of a list right now and I. You're right, I could not think 60 names. It's interesting to think that there are some people that would want to keep it private for whatever Reason because of the backlash. We talked about how WNBA Twitter can be a scary place, but it's a responsibility that you have if you are voting to be able to to be like I understand it's a scary place. I understand the ramifications of my vote and how this can impact someone's career. Their you know, like you said Sabrina, monetary dispensation like you get money from this about $15,000, right. That's not an insignificant amount of money for these players. And also, you know, similar that you see in other leagues. This sort of stuff can have impact on the contracts that you can get too. So it is a really, really big responsibility. And I completely understand why people are sensitive. Erykah Badu said, I'm sensitive about my art. People are sensitive about their WNBA players and they want to know who voted.
- [42:01]
Diana
The other thing I think we might see changed in future years. And you know, I don't think this transparency conversation frankly is going to go anywhere. But it was reignited about positionless versus positions. You know, all defense was positionless this year and we saw someone like Natasha Cloud. She was not named to an all WNBA defensive team. Natasha Cloud, when we did our GM survey was listed twice among the nine GMs that we ended up speaking to as the league's best defender. You know, it wouldn't be shocking if in future years like all defense went back to being having positions just because of that reason to kind of not just reward bigs versus guards. I also wouldn't be surprised if on more categories I think Sabrina mapped it out. Is MVP the only one? Sabrina, I should have known this in which we had to do all five. It is right? Yeah. Like MVP the only one in which we had to list five names other than the kind of all W and all defensive team. So you know an award like six player of the year. You know there was a lot of clamoring for Dana Evans who I think made a really good case and you know she I think received the second most first place votes but like a third most. But there isn't a way to know just how close the voting really would have been or would she have gotten more second place votes and more points. So I get doing it for mvp, but I think that's another change that I would expect to happen. At least we do top three in a lot of these other categories because I think it just creates more drama and gives people more opportunities. And as we saw this year with AT&Stewie and Asia Wilson, just because you get the most first place votes doesn't mean you're going to end up with the most points.
- [43:34]
Sabrina
So I'm really happy that we're talking about voter transparency because I would be very curious to find out more about why voters voted the way they did for the MVP race when it came to the second place vote. And what I mean by that is you see that asia Wilson had 25 second place votes, Brianna Stewart had 23 second place votes, and Alyssa Thomas had only 12. And there's something about that second place vote. To me, if you go in and you're not already voting Alyssa Thomas for first place, so that means you voted for Brianna or Asia for first place. I think that that second place vote will most likely go to the person you think the most of when you think of MVP caliber. And the person you're probably gonna think the most of is probably the person that had the most memorable performances. And unfortunately, in the sporting games, that always leans towards offensive production. So you're thinking about who had the most high scoring games or who dropped the most threes or, you know, had the most points in a quarter versus expanding your evaluation to the full project or the full performance over the course of the season. Because you already did that for the very first place vote. It makes me think of in 2019. This is going to be a stretch, but come with me now. Come with me. We're going to stick with this. 2019, Cardi B won rap Album of the Year, the Grammy for the rap Album of the Year, for Invasion of Privacy. When you think about that album, you think, oh, of course it deserved to win 13 out of 13 songs on that album. They charted on the Hot 100 simultaneously. They were certified platinum or higher, all 13. And that album sat at the top of the Billboard 100 for a long time, many weeks. That performance, what Cardi B put together was deserving of an MVP or a Grammy, right? But there was a lot of spectacle around it, right? Remember she was pregnant and she was performing pregnant. Remember all the amazing features that she had. J Balvin and SZA and Kehlani and how many other demographics she tapped into and more visibility she added into by tapping into those features. Like she was incredibly visible. But there is an album that did not get that same visibility. It got respect, but it did not get that same visibility. And that was AstroWorld. Travis Scott's AstroWorld. If you ask any hip hop head, they'll tell you that album was so unique, it is gonna be incredibly hard to replicate, if not impossible to replicate. It was unique. It transported you into another world, Astro World. So much so that an amusement park was created. There was pandemonium over that album, but it did not have the same spectacle around it as the Cardi B album. That's not to discount the Cardi B album. It was deserving, but there was just more memorable aspects to it than AstroWorld. And I think that in this case, Alyssa Thomas only got 12 second place votes because she was the astroworld in this situation. She had a great MVP caliber season, but if you didn't already vote for her for first place, you probably didn't think to remember her or think of her in the same vein as an Asia or a Brianna. And that makes me wonder and ask you all, do you think when you look at the MVP award, knowing that there's already a Defensive Player of the Year award, that the MVP award ends up kind of being almost like an offensive Player of the year award? And if it's not, should it be, should it be considered that way?
- [47:23]
Zena
Well, it's interesting because like the NFL has an Offensive Player of the Year award, which makes sense because they literally play on one side of the ball versus the other. You can't really affect both sides. And then they also have an mvp, which I think is interesting because how do you delineate offensive value versus defensive value? But that's a different discussion. I do think that offense is prioritized more when it comes to MVP than defense. And part of that is because we have the separate Defensive Player of the Year. But you know, we're, we saw all three of the top MVP candidates end up on the all defense first team. Right? Like these people are not slouches on either end of the court. And I think in a league that is this small, that is this concentrated in talent, it is impossible to have a player produce the most value if they are not impacting both ends of the floor. So I don't think it's necessary to really bring in an Offensive Player of the year. I think most of these people would shy away from that fact, honestly. Like they don't want to be considered just offensive players. You know, like what, what did Asia say in game two? Like the O is where we go, but like the defense obviously leads to that. They, they pride themselves on being two way players. So I think it would be a disservice honestly to suggest that, oh, we can just compete on offense for this particular award. And I think that MVP is fine this way. Even though I do realize people like tend to value offense a little bit more on this side than they would, you know, like it's not, it's not. I wouldn't say it's 50. 50. Right. But that's also because frankly, like the teams that score most efficiently are the ones that generally win more games. So you want to have a better offense and that kind of just makes offense matter a little bit more, I think.
- [48:51]
Sabrina
Ben.
- [48:53]
Diana
Yeah, I mean, I also just want to build off the point Sabrina made citing the NFL. You look at the last three years in the NFL, it was all non quarterbacks. And I think there's a conversation in the NFL about is quarterback just an MVP award? And so what you wouldn't want in, you know, in the WNBA is like, does offensive player just go to, you know, the best guard who, you know, shoots high volume threes and you know, he's just a three points. But you know, someone like a Sabrina UNESCO in future years or does like a, you know, a few, A player like that Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum, are you just plugging them in and they're the offensive player of the year and someone else wins MVP for whatever reason? Right. Like, I, I don't think that is necessarily good, good either. The one thing I would say, you know, and maybe this is putting a bow on our conversation a little bit, but I think one of the things that was encouraging about everything amid all the controversy was that the vote was as close as it was, you know, you know, I sort of, you can certainly have your, your quibbles and disagree with who won. You know, I put 81st, Sabrina put Asia Wilson first. So, you know, we would, I guess make the case that overall, you know, we didn't vote Stewie first. And so you can make of that what you will. But the fact that it was close, I think it was good to see that that reflected the discourse more generally around the award because I think if it was 80 and Stewie and then a huge gap between Asia, like, I think that would have really raised some eyebrows or any combination of those. So at least I think, you know, the voters, if you're going to say the voters got it, you can argue if you would like, that the voters got it wrong in the end about who was the mvp. But I do think encouraging to see generally that people had the right process or right mindset or enough to have the three super, super bunched together.
- [50:49]
Sabrina
No, I completely agree with you. I agree with you both. It would be a disservice to be considered just one side of the ball. And that's what's so lovely about basketball, is that in 2.2 seconds you're playing on both sides multiple times and you'll be able to showcase what you can do on both sides of the ball in just that amount of time. All right, well, thank you all for breaking down the MVP voting, giving your transparency and helping us have an understanding as to, you know, how this is coming about and how this vote came about. There is still Rookie of the Year to be announced. The WNBA is Rookie of the Year. AP has already, Associated Press has already put out who they think and I'm just going to give a wild guess that I think it's the same person. But we'll see what happens. But Game three for the WNBA semifinals is coming up. The teams are switching locations to their opponents. And so it's going to start out with the New York Liberty vs Connecticut Sun, 7:30 Eastern, 4:30 Pacific on Friday and then following right after that will be the Wings versus the Aces out in Dallas. Thank you both for joining, but now it's time for off the Script. Alrighty for today's off the Script. Y'all, I am so, so excited because if you haven't heard the scoop from Marcus Thompson ii, by the way, Marcus Thompson II is actually joining me to talk about this. So stay tuned, folks. But the Bay Area is about to have a basketball team that is not the Golden State Warriors. Allegedly, a women's basketball team is coming to the Bay. Particularly a WNBA team is coming to the Bay, according to sources from Marcus Thompson. So I had to go to the person that found this out. Marcus, what's up? Welcome to the Athletic Women's Basketball Show.
- [52:43]
Marcus
What's up? Thanks for the invite. I have arrived in my career. Now. Let's go.
- [52:49]
Sabrina
I appreciate you validating us this way because you know, it is a big deal. For those of you that don't know, Marcus covers the Bay, covers the warriors, covers the A's, covers the Giants covers. Have you covered the Giants or you.
- [53:00]
Marcus
Cover the 49ers when they're worthwhile? Mostly 49ers, I cover the teams that's worth coverage. How about that? Woo.
- [53:06]
Sabrina
No shots. No shots. No shots. But yes, you cover a lot for our team, way even beyond the Bay. But one of the things that is very close to your heart is the wnba. And I know that you were pretty excited yourself to get this information. So let's first start out with what did you actually learn about a team coming to the Bay?
- [53:26]
Marcus
Well, the first thing I need to say is that it's not final yet because that's what was stressed. To me, it's, I've, I've learned that it's close. But to me, the, the key, critical thing that we've learned, especially if we're looking at this from the last, what, couple years, is this has been like a talking point. We learned that the warriors are ready to go, go for this. They've always been interested. Joe Lacob has always wanted a team. I remember talking to him about this when they were in Oakland. Like they've, they've wanted a WNBA team. The question was finances. The question was timing. They, they, they, they were focused on Chase. And then after Chase happened, the pandemic, and it was just a matter of, can we do this now? So we didn't know if they were getting in the mix. What we learned is they're in the mix. They're in the mix, like hardcore all the way. And from what I've been told, it's pretty close. Like they're going to, they're going to do it unless obviously something happens to where they don't. But it's close that the Bay Area is in the building, baby, for the first time since 1998.
- [54:36]
Sabrina
That's crazy. And it makes sense when you think about the Bay Area and their appreciation for women's basketball, particularly on the NCAA level. Thinking Stanford, thinking Cal, it makes sense to bring a team to the Bay. But there is something that you mentioned in your article about this that I think if you're not a Warriors fan, you probably did not know, but Joe Lacop's tie to women's basketball goes deep. Even before he had the Warriors. Tell us a little bit about that connection.
- [55:05]
Marcus
Yeah, Joe was part of the original push. Well, I'm not original, but the original modern push for women's pro basketball in America. 1996, Olympics in Atlanta, like US women's national team was lit. Like, you know what I'm saying? It was a big deal. They barnstormed the nation right before the tournament. Like, I mean, this was top level times here. Dawn Staley, people don't understand, you know, Dawn Staley from South Carolina. South Carolina, right? Now, if you playing. Dawn Staley was everything back then as the point guard.
- [55:37]
Sabrina
This is when they were like doing all the features, right? They were like on all the sitcoms and they were showing up on everything. Yeah, I remember this.
- [55:44]
Marcus
That time was so lit. It was so fun. I remember they came to the Bay. It was crazy. And after that, there was like this push to bring women's basketball to America because they just had everybody turned and you know, women have been going overseas to play basketball for a long time. So it's like, why not? So Joe Lacob was part of the crew that brought the American Basketball League, which actually started before the WNBA. They launched in the fall of 96, and he owned the San Jose Lasers. And then In June of 1997, the WNBA launched, and they had the backing of the NBA team. So back then, it was WMA team with the NBA team. So financially, they had the support. These teams that were making a bunch of money were able to essentially eat whatever losses came with it. Right. The league was committed to making this work. So the ABL lasted three years, and Joe Lake of San Jose Lasers died. But he's been wanting to see ever since. He was there at the beginning. They all know about how Stanford kind of made the Bay Area into this, like, women's basketball hotbed, Right? Like Kate Starboard. I mean, like, we were in this thing, like, way before. I mean, from Nicole Powell, who was the star from the. For the Monarchs, to Candace Wiggins, right? Like, the Bay has been lit. I mean, even going way back to Rucker, I mean, there's just been so many players. Jamila Wyman, who was fouled in the 1997 NCAA Finals against Old Dominion, against Tisha Penn Andchero squad. Like, we been about this life, okay?
- [57:23]
Sabrina
Yeah.
- [57:24]
Marcus
We still bitter about it. They didn't call the foul and they lost.
- [57:27]
Sabrina
Okay?
- [57:28]
Marcus
So, yeah, it's been a big deal. So we've been waiting for this for a long time to get women's basketball back here.
- [57:34]
Sabrina
Wow. Okay. Number one lesson I'm learning. We are absolutely bringing you back on this pod to get a history lesson because Tisha P. Don't like what I say. Tisha P. Don't like what I say. I bet. But player turned agent, if y'all don't know Tisha P, Go look her up.
- [57:49]
Marcus
She's legend, bruh. Legend.
- [57:51]
Sabrina
Legend. Legend. Wow. That's why I'm excited. I mean, I've only been in the Bay four years now, having worked at the Golden State warriors, and knowing how much the team, the warriors, are excited about the concept of women's basketball, the players go and support, you know, the area at schools. There's a lot of buzz around here for women's basketball if a team comes. Obviously, you just said it's gonna mean a lot just from the historical perspective, but, like, what do you expect this team to be able to do in terms of creating a new generation of women's basketball lovers?
- [58:24]
Marcus
That's what was so interesting about this and why we've been waiting to see what was going to happen because there were two, like, lanes. This could have gone, I guess three if you count no Bay Area team as a lane. But, you know, Elena Beard was leading this movement to bring the WNBA back to Oakland. And as you know, the warriors left Oakland to go to San Francisco. The Raiders left Oakland to go to Las Vegas, and now the A's are basically, you know, two feet out the door. So there was this lane of bringing Oakland a franchise that it needed revitalizing, you know, the area, like, and. And then that. That team would have been Oakland's team, right? And that in and of itself has its own level of inspiration and motivation. Right in East Oakland at the words old stadium. Like that. That was kind of in play. We didn't know if that. If we were going that route or if you're going, like, let's blow this thing out. Like the. The most profitable, probably the most lit WNBA team of all time, right? The. The warriors are a global brand, a global icon who have, like, ridiculous resources. They have mega stars, right? So that was the other route, right, where it can go. Like, all right, you got Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Clay Thompson sitting courtside. Chris Paul, another big WMA supporter, sitting courtside. Every game is lit, right? Brand new arena and women being put on the pedestal that the warriors are on, right? So like, either way, there was, like, this massive benefit for the area. Personally, you know, I'm a town dude. You know what I'm saying? I'm from East Oakland.
- [60:06]
Diana
I wanted it.
- [60:07]
Marcus
I wanted to. I wanted to lay the beard, right? I wanted it, but it's hard. It's hard not to see the potential just like. I mean, just for, like, women. Like, Oakland Tech has won three straight, you know, high school girls basketball, you know what I'm saying?
- [60:22]
Sabrina
Like.
- [60:23]
Marcus
Like, women's hoops out here deserves a team, and I can set my little personal things aside just to recognize the larger picture. But, yeah, we. We wanted that for Oakland. But, you know, the Warriors. The warriors get what they want, and this has a chance to be, like, huge on a level that I think we haven't seen the WNBA have yet. You know what I'm saying? Like, even though the Lakers had the Sparks, right? The Lakers are top shelf.
- [60:50]
Sabrina
Sure.
- [60:51]
Marcus
I don't know if the Lakers were where the warriors are now when they had their team like that. That was like. They were like, Sparks was there with Kobe shacking them. So, yeah, maybe since then, right? Lisa Leslie, they Were lit. So.
- [61:04]
Sabrina
All right, sure, yeah. But not to discount what you're saying. Bring it back to the point of the players that you're talking about. Draymond Green with a daughter. You look at Steph Curry with his daughters, like, there's also a level of support. Kobe and Shaq at the time did not have their daughters playing. Now Kobe had Gigi and Shaq had his daughter as well playing. But the team now is invested. You see Steph Curry at these games now with his daughters. You see, you know, Draymond with his daughter as well. This adds another level of a connection and a connecting point. And like you said, that pedestal of we respect the game out here, our stars are here to support it and everything. So I do think it adds another level that is a little bit different than what was going on at the time that Lisa Leslie was dunking basketballs. I'm really, really excited. I just got chills when you were talking about it of what this could look like and what this could mean for the Bay. But. But like we said at the very top, it's not final yet.
- [62:01]
Marcus
Not final. Can I get a wink?
- [62:03]
Sabrina
Not final and winking. Ms. Nurse?
- [62:05]
Marcus
I am winking.
- [62:07]
Sabrina
Not final yet. There's still some things that have to be figured out. So what are those things that will, you know, as soon as we find them out, we'll definitely have you back. But what are those things that we're still waiting on?
- [62:17]
Marcus
We're waiting on a deal to be struck. We're waiting on the wnba. I think this is my personal opinion based on people I've talked to. I don't know if it's for sure, but the compensation package, right. Like, expansion teams cost money, and how is that going to be worked out? And the. The NWSL is playing a major role in this, right? We've seen a team come to the Bay, women's team. And. And what's the saying, Xena? Yesterday's price ain't today's price. Hey, so, like, we're seeing, like, how market moves.
- [62:52]
Sabrina
The market moves.
- [62:53]
Marcus
And like. Like, you know, the warriors, right? You know, they don't just do things. It's always about the splash. It's always about the. So I do think they're also working out how they're gonna, like, roll this thing out. There's gonna be some aces up some sleeves. They're gonna be some little surprise things like, so who's involved? I'm looking for, like, who's gonna be the face of the franchise. It's not gonna be Some regular deal. It's gonna be something, it's gonna be something headline worthy. And they've already started by trying to throw a bone to Oakland by saying the team's gonna be based. If they get the team, it'll be based in Oakland. Right? They'll practice, they'll have, they'll use the facility. Which I know people are, are saying, like, yeah, whatever, put them in Oracle just don't make any sense. But I think we need to remember the warriors do not own Oracle Arena. So it, you know, it just doesn't make, it wouldn't make financial sense considering the WNBA's finances right now anyway, to rent out a spot, Rent out a house when you got a house, right? You know, you don't want to rent out offices when you own offices, right? So. But also, they'd have a pretty, they'd have a legit practice facility. It wouldn't be some makeshift spot. And, and we know, like, that that's an issue, right? We, we've seen travel issues, we've seen, like, accommodation issues. Right. Practice, like, all that stuff. So they're getting, you know, the practice facility that Steph and KD played in. Right. Like, so I was just going to.
- [64:15]
Sabrina
Say this is the same one that the warriors won a 2018 championship. And I mean, all three of their championships.
- [64:20]
Marcus
All three, absolutely. So we're, we're, we're looking for those little details, but mostly we want to see this. We want to see if this gets across the finish line, to be honest. Like, Alaina Beard is such a incredible, like, just person and competitor, like, you know what I'm saying? I want to see, like, how, how she responds to this. Right? Because I do believe, I do believe she's worthy of being the front person for a team. And to see how the WNBA responds to this successful, accomplished, legendary black woman. Like, you can't talk that talk. And then she out here hustling, trying to make it happen and then, you know, you know what I'm saying? So there's a lot of other things that are going to happen afterwards. You know, we're waiting to see if, if the Bay is the only team, right? There's, there's a lot to happen out of this. So. Yeah, yeah, we, we gonna talk about this. And just so you know, I'm, I'm having nuggets all the time, so we just, we just about to be bringing it on here. You might as well just have a little segment for me or something, because this day in WNBA history, Right, Right.
- [65:22]
Sabrina
Oh, trust me, that part actually. Tanika, our producer, just make sure you take a mental note because I'm not even joking on that. We have a lot to learn from our friend Marcus over here, including what's going to happen with this team. I'm so excited. I cannot wait to see what happens. I do think you have a great point. The WNBA will have a choice to make in honoring their loyalty to their former players as well as to their brother league in the NBA and, you know, choosing how they play this out. We won't know that for a while it seems though, but the second we know trust, we'll have you back, Marcus. But thank you for this off the script letting us know the Bay Area might be getting a team. Y'all get your monies together. I'm not playing with y'all. Get your dollars together. We gotta support this team. All right, that is all for today. Appreciate you guys listening. Please follow, subscribe wherever you get your podcast. For the Athletic, I'm Zena Keda encouraging you all to keep listening, keep loving and keep learning about the game because that's the only way that this game is going to expand. All right, until next time.
- [66:34]
Marcus
As we.
- [66:34]
Zena
Head into the playoffs, it's safe to assume there will be a few calls.
- [66:37]
Erykah
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- [66:49]
Diana
You heard that right, 99%.
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Zena
So make a good call for your.
- [66:53]
Erykah
Wallet and get Discover. Based on the February 2024 Nielsen report. Learn more at discover.com creditcard this podcast.
- [66:59]
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- [67:53]
Marcus
Acast Powers the world's best podcasts.
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Sabrina
Here's a show that we recommend. Hey guys.
- [68:01]
Zena
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Diana
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Diana
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Zena
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