← No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show
No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show
WNBA Player Poll: Face of the League in 5 Years
00:35:15
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- [00:00]
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- [01:55]
Zena Caida
Hello everyone and welcome to no Off Season. I'm Zena Caida.
- [01:58]
Sabrina Merchant
I'm Sabrina Merchant.
- [02:00]
Ben Pickman
And I'm Ben Pickman.
- [02:01]
Zena Caida
And today on the show, over the course of the last few weeks, our writers have been in the trenches, y'. All. They've been doing some work behind the scenes. My lovely co host. Reporters have transformed themselves into pollsters, asking WNBA players from all 13 teams a series of very intriguing questions. And we're here to dig into what they said. So get ready. But before we get into that, we got a full weekend of games. So we got to check in on news around the association. And this time we're doing it all under the rubric of shoulder shimmy, the Sabrina scale. Okay, let's get into it, y'. All. Sabrina, you made some big moves this week. Some big jumps. Dallas slid down from 8 to 12, Washington jumped up from 10 to 4 and Phoenix went all the way from number 5 to the top of the scale. What's going on over there? There's a. That's a lot of movement over there. What's going on?
- [03:07]
Sabrina Merchant
Well, you know, I. I made a claim on last week's show that I like to be reactive, so I guess I just went for it. Everything super reactive.
- [03:13]
Zena Caida
Sure did.
- [03:14]
Sabrina Merchant
It was. It was really hard to order teams this week because there were so many in the middle in that, like, 4 to 8 range that played each other. It's like, how do I keep everybody who beat each other on top? It's l. Like, I think Golden State beating DNA and ends up lower than them, but everybody else is sort of in the same range.
- [03:30]
Zena Caida
But.
- [03:31]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah. Let's start with Phoenix, right? An odd week for them to jump up to number one because Satu is out. She's in a boot. Kalia Copper is out. And there's Alyssa Thomas, just maybe the most consistent regular season player in recent memory in the WNBA. You need her to put up 15 assists in a game. She can do that. You need her to take 24 shots and, like, be your number one scorer down the stretch. She can do that too. So, yeah, I think just the way that at is playing, the level of dominance that Phoenix exhibited both in that game against Dallas and then the win against Minnesota is really what propelled them to the top. I like the way that team is playing defense. I think when you have a star like Alyssa Thomas, who. I mean, I gotta be honest, I think of Alyssa Thomas running pick and roll. I think of her as the ball handler. Somebody else sat in the screen. She's sort of making a play out of it. Sammy Wickham being the ball handler and Alyssa Thomas being the screener. And then, like, taking jumpers regularly out of this action was just. I think that in and of itself was what propelled Phoenix to the top spot in this week's ranking.
- [04:33]
Zena Caida
Okay, that's fair. I mean, having Alyssa Thomas be a pick and pop player was not on my. My bingo board for this season. Um, I knew she could do it. It was. It's just not necessarily in her bag to want to do that first and foremost, but, man. More applause. Nate Tibbets finding ways to get more out of, you know, as the season goes on. And I also want to applaud Phoenix has had a lot of commotion around them, not necessarily within them, but a lot of commotion around them. Whether it's been health, whether it's been, you know, Duana Bonner joining this team. What's going to happen? And they've been really solid and Consistent and focused. And I, I, I very much applaud that too. Ben, looking at the Sabrina scale, where you feel that things ended up, how you feeling about certain teams moving up or down the scale?
- [05:28]
Ben Pickman
I just love that she moved Washington up to the place that she did because, look, the Golden State Valkyries have gotten a ton of credit this year for being a big surprise and everything is flashy and new in Golden State. But I think I can make a pretty convincing case that the team that is actually the most surprising on the positive front this year is the Washington Mystics, who when we take this, they are 11 and 10 in the playoff conversation. They, you know, they've beaten good teams throughout the year and seemingly every time like a good team, most recently Seattle loses to the Mystics. It is like what has gone wrong with that good team. But maybe it's just because the Mystics are actually pretty good themselves. Like, they're number five in defense. They play incredibly hard. The two rookies in Iria Fenn and Sonia Citron both made the all star team. But Brittany Sykes, in my opinion, should have been on that all star over those two and she's been, you know, playing at a career best level this year. They're incredibly well coached and they don't have the same kind of like star power from a fame and popularity standpoint. And, you know, maybe the, the brand hasn't totally changed, right. In a way that, you know, things have happened in Golden State or Dallas is in this new era. But like, for the Mystics to be where they are at the end of the first half of the season, I think is really, really impressive. I'm glad Sabrina, you know, move them up to where she did. Is four a little high. Will they eventually come back? Sure, of course. But who's to. I'm not one to quibble with her rankings. I quibble with enough other things that Sabrina does. And so I'm glad she showed a little bit of love to the people down in Washington.
- [07:00]
Sabrina Merchant
I've also had to look at your shirt like 13 times today because it looks like you're wearing mystic skier.
- [07:05]
Ben Pickman
No, this is not a Mystic shirt. This is Virtus Bologna. It is. It's Virtus Bologna. It is a EUROLEAGUE team that a number actually of WNBA players have played in one of the best arenas, La Paladosa. It is known as the little Garden. Like a Italian MSG for those keeping fun facts on Italian basketball history at home.
- [07:28]
Zena Caida
I love that. And I do actually, I do recognize every time that the Washington Mystics Find a way to make other teams soul search. And it's true. There isn't enough credit to the way that they play. And something we hear tons of in the NBA is this whole concept of a two timeline. Right? When you've got these star players that are veterans, how do you insert the new, the new blood and how do you get them to play alongside and kind of get the next generation going? If there's anyone doing the two timeline incredibly well, impeccably well, it is Washington right now. They've been, they've been a lot of fun to see these rookies come up against these veterans in Brit Sykes and Stephanie Dolson. And then in the middle right there, Shakira Austin, you know, and Aaliyah Edwards. I mean, she's still part of the newer timeline as well, but very fun to watch. The Mystics for now.
- [08:23]
Ben Pickman
Zena, I can't believe you said that. As a phrase that is used around the whole league, I think you should be a little bit more specific as where do we hear the two timeline context the most? Let's be clear here because it's funny that you're using it in the Mystics context and not the other context in which that phrase is applied.
- [08:40]
Zena Caida
Listen, listen. There is something to be said about the two timeline concept in the Bay Area, but right now, guess what? When you've got an expansion team in the Bay Area, there's no two timelines. It's one timeline. They're all expansion team members. That's why we're not talking about it. All right. But what we do have to talk about are the player thoughts on the best player in the league. All of the above. All the work that you guys did on this player poll, don't go anywhere. We're going to talk about it on the other side of this break.
- [09:10]
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- [10:09]
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- [12:14]
Zena Caida
All right, so if you listened to our episode last Friday, we let you in on a little secret in anticipation of All Star Weekend and in honor of being halfway through the WNBA season. On the day that we're recording this, 60 days have gone by of the 119 in the regular season. Thank you Sabrina for letting me know that during the Sabrina Scale right up this week, but we are putting out episodes every day this week from Tuesday to Friday. Some of these will be a little shorter than usual, some not, but we're hyped to be with you a little bit more than usual. Now, one of the reasons we wanted to do more pods this week is because Ben and Sabrina have been hard at work on a little player poll project. I'm sure you guys have heard of it before in the past. It's something that the athletic has become very well known for. And of course, we had to extend it once again to our WNBA players. And we've been asking w players for from all 13 teams a series of the same questions. Now, I should mention these answers we're going to discuss are anonymous. And that's why people felt very comfortable to give their opinion and to offer their thoughts. But that doesn't make their content any less interesting. So let's get into it. Ben, Sabrina, let us know. What's the juiciest question that you want to start on?
- [13:30]
Sabrina Merchant
Well, I think the place to start is just who is the best player in the league? Right? Like this is. This is a league about excellence, the top league in the world. And so who is the top player in the top league in the world is really the most interesting question.
- [13:42]
Zena Caida
Okay, now what's interesting is, is that you couldn't vote for yourself, right? Is that how that worked? Give me the parameters on how this broke down.
- [13:52]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah. So not only could you not vote for yourself, you also cannot vote for anybody on your own team, which is why you get some interesting, some interesting machinations, let's say. Like, let's say, you know, perfectly hypothetical, you are a player on the Minnesota Lynx who plays with Nikisa Collier and you would to vote for Nafisa Collier for best player in the league, but you were not able to by the parameters of this poll. Well, you don't exactly want to vote for her top competition for best player in the league, so you kind of go a little outside the box, potentially. So, yeah, that's. That was, that was the deciding factor, I think, in how we conducted this poll.
- [14:23]
Ben Pickman
I should, I should also say we do allow. We do allow players to skip a question. So, you know, hypothetically, if a player is like, I don't want to speak another player's name into existence or say that they're the best or spoiler alert, later this week we ask, you know, who's going to win the championship this year? And some players were like, I'm not throwing out other names because it's going to be our team. We allow you to skip. We omitted rookies from this poll. We didn't talk to any rookies just because we wanted experienced players as part of our sample players who, you know, had been in the league at least a season, who just have experienced more than just like half a season of play. And so as a result, we talked to nearly a third of the WNBA's non rookies, about a third of the non rookies in the league this season. So that's kind of our sample and as you mentioned, you know, representatives from each team.
- [15:14]
Zena Caida
Okay, I love that. All right, well, it looks like the best player in the league was voted to be the FISA Collier. Okay, so, and then Sabrina, break down, like what the actual voting actually broke down to. What were the numbers and what were some of the things that players said to support. Support their choice?
- [15:34]
Sabrina Merchant
Right. So to keep in mind, we've been conducting this survey basically since the start of the season, maybe like two weeks into the start of the season. So we're coming off of a year when Asia Wilson was the unanimous MVP and set records all up and down that 40 game season. Points, rebounds, just a thoroughly dominant season. Her third MVP of her career. And when we conducted this poll two years ago, she was second in the voting. But that you would imagine, has evolved since she won a title on an MVP since then. But yeah, out of the 36 players who chose to respond to this particular question, almost half of them, 17 ended up voting for Nafisa Collier for the best player in the league, and 15 of them, so right up there ended up voting for Asia Wilson. And then you had the remaining votes split among a couple other players. So, yeah, even though Fee, as we mentioned, is the reigning defensive player of the year, but not an MVP yet, not a champion yet, has apparently done enough individually to be regarded among her peers at least as the best player in the league currently.
- [16:35]
Zena Caida
My question, Ben, is. Well, first foremost, I feel very validated in our power forward conversation, which, by the way, guys, go check it out. It's a really good episode in which we break down that position and why it's very valuable to the WNBA and why it feels as if like the coming MVPs are all gonna be in this very versatile power forward position, similar to those that were voted highly in this best player in the league position. Nafisa Asia. I understand that Brianna Stewart got two votes. Alyssa Thomas got a vote, and I believe did Alicia Gray get a vote as well?
- [17:12]
Sabrina Merchant
One vote.
- [17:13]
Ben Pickman
Yes, she did. She did, yes.
- [17:14]
Zena Caida
Okay, look at the guards poking through into the power forward conversation. But Ben, like, I'm, I'm wondering as you guys were talking to folks and they were, you know, giving your. Their Support and the ways in which they evaluated this position. What do you think really stood out to folks? Was it offense? Was it defense? Was it effort? Was it fluidity in game? Like, what was it that people really were magnetized to in terms of I like this player because, yeah, I mean.
- [17:44]
Ben Pickman
On fee, one player called out her footwork as a specific example. And I think that is the kind of thing that. That, you know, we talk about in the public space of just, you know, feast post move and how good it is. But like, hearing a player reflect on feast footwork and just how difficult that is to stop, I think was one thing that stood out about her. I think on Asia's front, I mean, there was one player, and we have this quote in the story that is basically like, what Asia does is not normal. We shouldn't take it as normal. But, like, we kind of have. Right. Like, that's kind of the sentiment that one of the players gets across. And I think that is pretty true. Like, I think there is this, you know, she's putting up crazy numbers time and time again, and her scoring 25 just feels like, you know, keep it moving for a lot of people when it probably shouldn't. And it was interesting to hear a player reflect on that. To Sabrina's point, like, this question was so close. You know, had we asked 30 more players, Asia could have definitely been number one here. You know what I mean? I think it was just more telling about how close of a race it was. And the other thing that honestly was very interesting about our answer here and Sabrina mentioned this player's name is Brianna Stewart, got two votes for best player in the league. We did this kind of survey two years ago when we asked this exact same question. Brianna Stewart was the most common answer we received for the best player in the league. So it is really interesting that in two years time, you know, Asia was second at that time, but like, so interesting that in two years time basically went from Stewie being the winner of that question. I think she got more than half of the votes to suddenly getting just two votes and Nafisa Collier going from an all star level player, a great player, but now to the true upper echelon top tier of the league. So I think that was one of the big takeaways I know both Sabrina and I had when reflecting on this poll result.
- [19:35]
Sabrina Merchant
Right. And I mentioned that since we conducted this poll last time, Asia has won a title and an mvp. Well, Stewie has also won a title and an MVP since we last conducted this poll. So it's not exactly like she has, you know, dropped off significantly in like the success or, you know, voters estimation of her. But apparently in this poll, like the, the steps that Fee has taken forward and the, you know, dominance that Asia has displayed were significant enough for her to only get two votes.
- [20:03]
Zena Caida
What's also interesting is I wonder how much the players factored supporting casts and how a player's ability to showcase that footwork, showcase their individual impact onto the game is a little bit more highlighted based on their supporting cast because all three of these players have really legitimate players playing around them. But I wonder if there was a way to ask who's the best player in the league and then also ask about, you know, ignoring the like ignoring who their teammates are. For example, I look at how much did unrivaled play into this at all. Like, if there was any sort of like residue left over from the way that Nafeesa Collier played in unrivaled, obviously Asia Wilson was not in unrivaled. So maybe like her play is purely based off of, you know, mostly the WNBA factors. But I'm just curious of how players integrated well. Nafisa Collier is doing X, Y and Z thing alongside Kayla McBride, Alanna Smith, Courtney Williams, and some players might see that as a better cast than what's in New York or what's in Las Vegas. Or some players might see the cast in New York a little bit better, maybe not give Brianna the same level of credit. I don't know. I'm making things up. I'm just curious as to how players may have evaluated this. But I want to also ask you guys asked players a slightly different question and that was who will be the face of the league in five years? And this one kind of leans into what I'm talking about in terms of like the individual aspect. You're thinking about not only their play, this is also what how they're received on and off the court in terms of their representation of the league. And I want to know what kind of answers did you guys hear for this one? Sabrina?
- [22:00]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, one thing Ben and I were a little bit curious about heading into the best player discussion was how young are these answers going to get right? Like, obviously the rookies last season had dramatically successful seasons with Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, but there is still a very successful set of veterans, you know, that occupy that best player in the league conversation. And as you notice, like they didn't even get one vote. You know, Clark or Reese or any really younger player. The Youngest player in this conversation, I guess, is Nafisa Collier, who was drafted in 2019. And she doesn't really seem to me young at this point. I mean, she just started her own league, for crying out loud. So this is where you get into that, like, okay, next generation, next set of stars who's gonna, again, not be the best player necessarily in the league, but be the face of the league in terms of marketability, perspective, or, you know, just who's gonna be on video game covers and things like that. And this is where Caitlin Clark comes into play. Right? We had some people who really couldn't decide, you know, between one or two. Like, we got a lot of Caitlin or Juju or Caitlin or Paige. And so of the people who responded to this question, I think 26 of them ended up saying Caitlin in some facet. And when you consider we surveyed about 40 people, like, that's. That's more than half the people who thought that Caitlin was going to be the face of the league in five years.
- [23:15]
Zena Caida
Okay? And I think this is an interesting point. We talked about the marketability on our last episode, talking about what Caitlin Clark is worth to the league bed and thinking about just how much that plays into the way that people are consuming this brand. It's not just the basketball. It's how they're consuming them off the court. And then you mentioned juju, who's not even in the WNBA yet, but already everyone knows her play capability. Everyone knows her marketability because we've seen it quite literally during the NCAA season and obviously as an nil player, et cetera. Um, what do you think could change in terms of pushing juju up or even pushing Paige up, who has also really catapulted herself into this position of marketability, but also confirming she can play in the WNBA as well. How could that change potentially in the next few years?
- [24:09]
Ben Pickman
I mean, I think it's set up to only grow. And that, to me, like all the juju Watkins responses, and we should say she was the second most. I guess the player whose name we heard the second most when we heard this response from players, like, that was probably the most interesting result to me of this question, because again, as you said, she's not even in the league. And so what that is is it's an acknowledgment of what her brand is currently. And also where players like how players see this moment in women's basketball that they're already willing to say that this player, who is great in college and we should mention also just had A significant knee injury we think could be the face of the league in five years. Right. And so it's like Juju's in all these commercials. She has all these major brand deals. She has kind of a signature look like she, you know, is a high profile athlete currently in college, playing in a high profile city in LA for usc. And players basically recognize that like her brand is well positioned to grow. And that I think is really, really interesting. It's also telling about like where we're at in society because all those things I just mentioned about like branding and marketability and TV and commercials, like that's all kind of baked into the face of the league conversation. It's a big conversation. I know in the NBA this past season, right? Who is the face of the league? And there's this whole idea about like, can you be the face of the league if you don't want to be the face of the league? And you know, that was like a, a whole big debate that we don't.
- [25:38]
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- [25:38]
Ben Pickman
But it is interesting in this context that like a lot of the players who are mentioned have kind of embraced being in the spotlight or at least kind of recognized that like they are in the spotlight and that's just kind of how it is and they have the deals to go along with it. We should say too, of the answers we got, and I think we had seven different responses, only Asia Wilson, she was the only respondent or answer that a player said who was not drafted in the last two seasons. Right. Everybody else, Angel, Reese Cambrink got a vote. Someone threw out Paige Beckers, Dominique Malanga got like a half vote. Just as I mentioned, those are all first or second year players. So you know, that's kind of interesting too that not even, you know, that Asia didn't get more responses or that a Sabrinascu say who's still, you know, 27 and obviously has a major shoe deal, didn't get mentioned either.
- [26:32]
Zena Caida
Okay. I'm wondering too that Asia part really is interesting because you talk about a player that has gotten the branding down pat right between the shoes, between the books, between obviously her, her prowess out on the court. I'm wondering if, if you guys were to assess who the faces of the leagues have been. I would say before this kind of jump in 20, 23. Ish, before this kind of blow up, especially with, I would say before the aces went back to back. I'm trying to think of who the faces of the league were in your opinions. Of course, a lot of people would say Sue Bird. Some folks would say Maya Moore, some folks would say Lisa Leslie. And those are different. There's generations to this. Right. When you started, you think about Lisa Leslie and Rebecca Lobo and you keep going all the way down. What would you say pre explosion in the WNBA would say? Like your top three faces of the league? Ben, I'll start with you.
- [27:39]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah.
- [27:39]
Ben Pickman
I mean, I think Bird Taurasi and Candace Parker kind of in recent years, in the kind of pre Covid era, like, come to mind for me, both because of, again, this isn't just who the best player in the league is. This is about like all the other things that kind of go with being a WNBA star or being a, you know, professional athlete slash celebrity. Right. And so, like, I think all those, those athletes kind of fit the bill in terms of, yes, great player, but also like a personality who's kind of out there that, you know, you can ask a question to about anything, like any topic in the league, any topic in society, and they're going to respond who's doing more high profile appearances. Like, I think that that all kind of fits the. The face of the league bill billing, to me, that's real.
- [28:30]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah. You know, like, in addition to face of the league, she's also kind of the silhouette of the league. Right. It definitely feels like her image is the logo of the WNBA with the bun. Right. So I think Tarazi obviously has to be in this conversation. I do think it's interesting that, you know, Stewie comes into League in 2016, wins a title, 2018, 2020, as an MVP in 2018, coming off of the dramatically successful UConn tenure where she wins four titles, four most outstanding players in four years. I wonder that, like, has she ever been the face of the league in a way that like Tarazi or Candace or Bird have? Because I do think there was a stretch, like for a good three, four years there where she was convincingly the best player in the league. And I'm not sure that we would ever consider her the face of the league. So it is an interesting that exercise because, like, Caitlyn being the face of the league seems very obvious to me. But that's not necessarily like an acceptance of the fact that she will be the best player in the league in five years.
- [29:25]
Zena Caida
And you can't say that Brianna Stewart wasn't marketable. I mean, she was, she has shoe deals as well. And she was in the mix in terms of her brand was there. And so that UConn Touch also was still there. The through line from the College into the wnba. So it does feel weird that she didn't immediately get that stamp and still hasn't really gotten that stamp, even though she's incredibly visible and incredibly marketable. Go ahead, Ben.
- [29:56]
Ben Pickman
What I was going to say, though, is I do think, you know, her first year in New York, when you kind of had the dueling super teams, like, that was a big year in kind of the Stewie versus Asia, like, faces the league kind of co partnership. I do think for Stewie, I think Asia fits this. And I think Neca Guma too. Like, those three players to me very much are voices to kind of the league right now, right? And I know the question we asked is more forward looking, but I think for all of them, like, they are players who, because of their success, because of their commitment to understanding the kind of holistic player experience, right? In the case of Neca and Stewie, they're prominently, like, involved in the labor discussion. Someone like Asia, you know, not doesn't hold a senior chair in the pa, but like, she very much has talked to and kept in the loop about how things are going. All three of those players to me are players that, like, if there is a big topic around the W that you want to hear someone's opinion on or you want to get their opinion on, it is fair game to ask them, right? They have kind of reached that level of superstardom where like, for better or worse, Stewie has a thought on everything, right? Schedule, officiating, you know, change of style of play, who's playing well, who's not, All Star weekend festivities, you name the topic, like she has a thought, so does Neca, so does Asia. Like, and so in that way, like, they still are, you know, some of the voices for the league right now. Even if, like, you know, Sabrina makes a good point, like, maybe she's not the sole face at any time, right?
- [31:33]
Zena Caida
And they're trusted, their voices are trusted to be a voice for the rest of the league. I love that point. And I'd be remiss to say Neko Guimike called this out. I believe in. I think it was Forbes or Financial Times, I cannot remember now. I think it was sort of Forbes article about the quote, unquote, face of the league from an external perspective. We're talking from people that love basketball in the world of WNBA and with respect for the sport externally, Neca called this out. Like, the face of the league have historically gone to people that are aesthetically more palatable, right? Whether it's from a racial perspective, whether it's from a sexuality perspective, a physical perspective. And so, you know, we'd be remiss not to call that part out. That definitely factors into it. But I do think that now with this new advent of all new fans that are appreciating the game and are appreciating all the players, I'm loving the way that fans are leaning into all the different types of players. I'll say this one part, I don't know if you guys saw that fan that had the Aaliyah Edwards purple and gold braid hat and was like twirling it over their head and I was just like, As a black, black woman that has had color in my hair, in my braids for years, I never thought I would see a middle aged white man twirling a colored braid off of his hat. But this is, this is how the growth happens, guys. This is where we're at here. And that's why I think the face of the league conversation is going to continue to expand.
- [33:00]
AllTrails
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- [34:06]
Uber Eats
This is Paige, the co host of Giggly Squad. I use Uber Eats for everything and I feel like people forget that you can truly order anything, especially living in New York City. It's why I love it. You can get Chinese food at any time of night, but it's not just for food. I order from CVS all the time. I'm always ordering from the grocery store. If a friend stops over, I have to order champagne. I also have this thing that whenever I travel, if I'm Ever in a hotel room, I never feel like I'm missing something because I'll just Uber Eats it. The amount of times I've had to Uber eats hair items like hairspray, deodorant, you name it, I've ordered it. On Ubereats. You can get grocery alcohol, everyday essentials in addition to restaurants and food you love. So in other words, get almost anything with Uber Eats. Order now for alcohol. You must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details.
- [35:13]
Zena Caida
Okay, let's keep it going and close this out. Answers for this next question, we're all over the place. And so you're not going to read about them on the site. This is kind of the cutting room floor here, but we got some good stuff here. And this is about the most underrated player. So I have a guess and I don't know if I'm going to be completely off. I feel like, I don't know, I might be completely off, but this is. I'm. I might be a little biased as well. You know, I'm big on bigs and I feel like one of the answers should have been Azarae Stevens.
- [35:55]
Sabrina Merchant
I don't think she's any of the answers, actually.
- [35:57]
Zena Caida
No. Dang. Okay, all right, let me think more. Let me think more. Underrated player, no. 1. Okay. No one gave Azrae her love. Got it.
- [36:11]
Ben Pickman
Cool.
- [36:11]
Zena Caida
Love that. Ooh, I will say, maybe they are giving her.
- [36:14]
Sabrina Merchant
She's not underrated.
- [36:16]
Zena Caida
Or maybe she is an underrated. You're right. The other person that comes to mind for me is Kayla Thornton and Veronica Burton. And I'm just biased over here in the Bay. But any, any votes for that?
- [36:30]
Ben Pickman
We did hear Veronica Burton, Kayla Thornton did not receive a vote, but Xena, I think she's an all star to why in the end, she is. She is. But this speaks to why we didn't run an answer to the question because we got, I want to say more than 15 different names that were thrown out for the most underrated player in the league is because, like, there are so many players who are really, really good players where underrated is also, like, you know, it's this weird mix of who's a good player or a great player who then maybe doesn't have the public presence or Persona or get talked about on podcasts and TV shows and written about in the way that, like, a player thinks is equivalent to kind of their value. Right. It's sort of like a good level. It's like a scale Involving popularity and also quality. And so there are a lot of players, when you ask players around the league who fit that bill. Right, right. The player who got the most votes, we should say was Alicia Gray of the Atlanta Dream, who, you know, this year is a All star starter, making her third consecutive all star team. Five players ended up saying her and she was the most, you know, she was the most responded to player that we got. But, like, other than her, no one else got more than three or four votes and everything else, like tons of players got one. Because then it's just personal choice, as you said. Like you started with Azrae Stevens. Some people threw out Leonie Fibich or Dericka Hamby or Brittany Sykes. Like, all of those are, you know, acceptable answers.
- [38:05]
Zena Caida
Those are great.
- [38:07]
Sabrina Merchant
Some people throughout Leoni Fibich and Brittany Sykes. He means literally one person each throughout the show. Good point. Wow.
- [38:13]
Zena Caida
Well, who had like three or four votes, at least?
- [38:17]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah. So the, the players with three votes were Gabby Williams, Kayla McBride and Skyler Diggins.
- [38:29]
Zena Caida
Got it. Okay, so this is interesting.
- [38:32]
Sabrina Merchant
In particular, like second best on a title team or a team made it to the championship game. Not even an All Star this year, you know?
- [38:40]
Zena Caida
Right. Yeah. Okay, this makes sense. I think. I think Brittney Sykes and Kayla McBride actually make a lot of sense for this type of conversation. People that absolutely have proven their playing capability. I mean, Kayla McBride literally, as Sabrina just laid out her resume right now, but aren't getting the accolades, aren't getting the visibility, aren't getting the platforms that other players are getting. I was thinking really low, like, really, like not on the radar, but like, I would. But I agree with like the Skylar Dickens conversations, because when you think about Skylar Dickens in the length of her career and where she is and how she's communicated about across the board, you know, with other people that have played as long as she has, she doesn't get the same level of respect and popularity and spotlight, I would say. So. Okay, this makes a lot of sense. I like this. Yeah, I get why the players are a little bit all over the place here. Because I think that when you got a league this good and this packed, it is hard to give everyone, you know, that level of notoriety in their play. And only a little bit of, you know, few players will rise to the top, whether it's because of the quality of play or because they're just popular amongst players. And I think that's some of the reason that some people, I'm not going to say hate on other players, but Some people hate because they kind of feel like, hey, should they get the level of popularity that they're getting for the type of play that they have? I don't know. I don't know. I'm not going to stir any trouble right here. That's why we're leaving this on the cutting room floor. Anything else you guys have to say on this on this question?
- [40:24]
Ben Pickman
No. Just come back and check back later this week, both this podcast and on the site for more answers.
- [40:30]
Zena Caida
You know, Oh, I, I love it. I love it. There are a lot more answers, a lot more questions. I'm trying to think if I should. You know what? I'm gonna say it. I also think that Angel Reese is an underrated player. I'm putting it out there. I think that's my thought right there. The, the record she's breaking. I absolutely think that she is underrated. Mic drop. Okay, that's all we got for you guys today, but come back here tomorrow for more responses to our player poll and more of the fun content you know and love. And as always, if you haven't already, please follow our show right now, wherever you're listening. If you hear my nasally voice, I am fighting through a cold, y', all, for you. That's how much we love y'.
- [41:09]
Ben Pickman
All.
- [41:09]
Zena Caida
Okay? So love us back. Give us that Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube button click. We wanna hear from you as well. So make sure you reach out to us. Drop us a comment and email wherever you can find us. Reach out to us and head on over to our partner Yahoo Sports hub for more content. Sports.yahoo.com women's sports on behalf of the Athletic, Ben, Sabrina and this nasty cold, I'm Zena Keda. Thanks for listening. We will see you next time. No off season is hosted by Zena Keda with Chantelle Jennings, Sabrina Merchant and Ben Pickman. It's produced by Tanika Burrell. Our executive producers are Andrea B. Scott and Cassius Fleming. Our theme music is by Marcus Bagala. Monica Compton is our video editor. Shannon Ryan is managing editor of women's basketball at the Athletic. Jessie Burton is our head of audio and Tim McMaster is director of audio operations.
- [42:08]
OpenPhone
Starting a podcast or business can feel overwhelming. Schedules, logos and endless decisions. But the right tool can change everything for millions. That tool is Shopify. Shopify powers 10% of all US E commerce from Mattel to new brands just with templates for beautiful stores, AI tools for content and built in marketing. Shopify helps you sell smarter. If you're ready to sell, you're ready for Shopify. Turn your big business idea into With Shopify on your side, sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com TheAthletic go to shopify.com TheAthLetic shopify.com TheAthLETics.
- [42:54]
Girls that Invest
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- [43:41]
Uber Eats
The co host of Giggly Squad. I use Uber Eats for everything and I feel like people forget that you can truly order anything, especially living in New York City. It's why I love it. You can get Chinese food at any time of night, but it's not just for food. I order from CVS all the time. I'm always ordering from the grocery store. If a friend stops over, I have to order champagne. I also have this thing that whenever I travel, if I'm ever in a hotel room, I never feel like I'm missing something because I'll just Uber Eats it. The amount of times I've had to uber eats hair items like hairspray, deodorant, you name it, I've ordered it. On Uber Eats, you can get grocery alcohol everyday essentials in addition to restaurants and food you love. So in other words, get almost anything. With Uber Eats. Order now for alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details.