GOOD FOLLOW - Rachel Banham And Aari McDonald Settle The Giannis Debate, Podcasting Nerves, Unrivaled & More!

Summary

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Podcast Summary:

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz – "GOOD FOLLOW - Rachel Banham And Aari McDonald Settle The Giannis Debate, Podcasting Nerves, Unrivaled & More!"
Date: March 12, 2026

Episode Overview

Broadcasting from the Elser Hotel in Miami, this lively episode brings together Juju Gotti, Trista Crick, and WNBA stars Rachel Banham and Aari McDonald. The central focus is on basketball culture—on and off the court—including the women’s pro league Unrivaled, podcasting nerves, memorable on-court moments, and a hotly contested debate: did Giannis travel? The conversation is playful, honest, and gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the camaraderie and realities of professional women’s basketball.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Getting to Know Rachel Banham and Aari McDonald

• Both are prominent WNBA players and co-hosts of "Unrivaled," sharing their experiences in Miami and the league’s community vibe.
  • Aari: “It's been good. And, you know, being in Miami doesn't. It doesn't hurt in the winter time. So we're having a good time.” (01:42)
  • Rachel: Grateful for their “positive energy and just laughter” together. (03:05)
• Fun banter about Rachel’s recent highlight—crossing up a teammate and “catching a body” at practice, a moment both hilarious and slightly guilt-inducing.

2. “Unrivaled” Podcasting Experience

• The pair reflects on what it means to host a player-led podcast, emphasizing vulnerability, connection, and nerves.
  • Aari: “We know each other as Hoopers, but we don't know each other all the time on a deeper level... it's the perfect space to do it here.” (02:49)
  • Rachel: “I'm more on the reserve side. So... sitting and being Rach every week, that's... been amazing.” (03:05)
• On interviewing seasoned media pro Holly Rowe:
  • Aari: “I was kind of nervous for Holly, to be honest... I hope she—Is she gonna think we suck at this or judge us? But she was amazing. Made us feel so comfortable.” (03:36)
  • Rachel: “I get nervous before every episode... just talking to people. I don't want to ask the wrong thing.” (04:02)

3. The Art of Interviewing and Opening Up

• Trista shares her own nerves (the “Marina Mabry moment”) and seeks advice for making interviewees comfortable.
  • Aari: “We know these people a little bit more... just playing against each other for so many years... but you guys are cool... It's all about vibes, and you guys have great vibes... Just not really caring, just being weird and goofy.” (04:51)

4. Advice to Their Younger Selves

• Juju prompts the guests to offer advice to their “draft night” selves via a heartfelt exchange:
  • Rachel to Aari: “Be yourself... be ready when your number is called. Keep putting the work. It won't go unnoticed, and eventually it will pay off. Only the strong survives.” (06:28)
  • Aari to Rachel: “Continuing to push through adversity when injuries hit or, you know, when things don't work out... Just know that things are going to work out the way it's supposed to.” (06:41)

5. The Infamous Giannis Travel Debate

• The crew shows a “controversial” clip of Giannis’s gather—was it a travel?
  • Juju: “That's four steps. You only get two. If it looked like and it talked like. And then quack like, what it—what is it usually?” (08:22)
  • Aari: “In the W, they're calling that travel... but if you haven't gathered, it doesn't count.” (08:43)
  • Rachel: “Ugly is ugly, and it's a travel.” (10:45)
• Lighthearted differences in NBA versus WNBA officiating standards are discussed.

6. Off-Court Life: Hobbies & Downtime

• Dana Evans’ question to the guests: favorite non-basketball activities?
  • Aari: “God, I love a nap. It speaks to me. Napping, eating, playing card games.” (11:07)
  • Rachel: “Eating as well... I like to read and go to the beach.” (11:22, 11:43)
  • Aari: “Napping is a hobby dog. I don't know about y'all, but I get a nap in every day, two to three hours.” (11:29)

7. "Team Steal Your Girl" (Pop Culture Banter)

• Trista floats her playful theory that a particular WNBA team is "Team Steal Your Girl," sparking laughter and agreement.
  • Aari: “Paige... She would eat that up.” (12:11, 12:38)
  • Rachel: “Same.” (12:37)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On handling nerves and being authentic:
  • Rachel Banham (on podcasting): “I get nervous before every episode, just talking to people. I don't want to ask the wrong thing.” (04:02)
• On Giannis’s gather:
  • Juju Gotti: “That’s four steps. You only get two... if it looked like and it talked like... what is it usually?” (08:22)
  • Rachel Banham: “Ugly is ugly, and it’s a travel.” (10:45)
• On off-court priorities:
  • Aari McDonald: “God, I love a nap. It speaks to me.” (11:07)
• On Paige as a “steal your girl” candidate:
  • Aari McDonald: “I thought of Paige. And I’m like, oh, God, she would eat that up.” (12:38)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:12 – Introductions and Miami vibes
• 02:07 – Rachel’s viral “ankle breaker” moment
• 02:49 – The “Unrivaled” podcast experience and nerves
• 03:36 – Interviewing Holly Rowe, guest nerves
• 04:51 – Advice on getting interviewees to open up
• 06:28 – Advice to their younger draft-night selves
• 07:50 – The Giannis travel debate begins
• 08:43 – WNBA vs NBA officiating, player perspectives
• 11:01 – Dana Evans’ off-court hobby question
• 12:02 – “Team Steal Your Girl” banter

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Final Thoughts & Sign-Off

Rachel and Aari close the episode by encouraging listeners to check out their work and thanking everyone for the support:

• Rachel: “Thanks for the love and support.” (12:49)
• Aari: “Yeah. Thank you, guys. Seriously.” (12:51)

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Takeaway

This episode offers heartfelt, humorous, and behind-the-scenes views of WNBA life, blending on-court debates, honest talk about vulnerability and growth, and the empowering energy of women supporting women—both as athletes and personalities. The tone is supportive, hilarious, and real, giving listeners an authentic glimpse into the community driving women’s pro basketball forward.

Transcript

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[Juju Gotti]

Welcome back to good Follow. I am Juju Gotti.

[Trista Crick]

I'm Trista Crick.

[Juju Gotti]

We are joined today by two of hers. Her plus her equals the rage, Rachel Bantam and Era up there, Arie McDonald. How you guys doing, man?

[Rachel Bantam]

Good.

[Arie McDonald]

How are you guys?

[Juju Gotti]

Pretty good, man. Blessed to be joined by 2Pure. I'm talking about pure strokers and crossover ers in the league. You did. How is unravel treating y', all, man?

[Rachel Bantam]

Treating us well? Can't complain. But having fun?

[Arie McDonald]

Yeah, it's been good. And you know, being in Miami doesn't. It doesn't hurt in the winter time. So we're having a good time.

[Juju Gotti]

Exactly. Especially coming from where? Indiana and down Chicago bus stop. But we saw lately, right, Rachel, you was in practice and you actually caught a body like not too long ago. Rest in peace to my brother. His ankles. Please roll that beautiful brown footage.

[Arie McDonald]

Oh, gosh.

[Juju Gotti]

Oh, my goodness. What was going through your mind when you dropped my boy?

[Trista Crick]

Got him, coach.

[Arie McDonald]

Yeah, I was pretty happy. We were just laughing. I felt bad for Austin. He's a little sweetie. But you gotta do what you gotta do. It happens. It happens to all of us.

[Juju Gotti]

So you look like you feel real bad, bro. You don't like you feel bad at all.

[Arie McDonald]

I didn't expect him to fall like that. That was kind of crazy what you

[Juju Gotti]

thought about that area. Have you caught somebody in unrival practice?

[Rachel Bantam]

No, unfortunately I haven't. But when I saw this clip of Rach, I'm like, there she is.

[Juju Gotti]

Y got the. The new and improved podcast you did of unrival. How has that been getting to know all the ladies?

[Arie McDonald]

It's been fun. Like, it's good to just to get to know people differently, you know, like, we know each other as Hoopers, but we don't know each other all the time. Like, deeper level of, like, their life, where they come from, why they do what they do. So it's, like, cool to just, like, actually sit down and take the time to do it, and it's the perfect space to do it here.

[Rachel Bantam]

It's been great also getting to know Rach Rachman, bringing everything out of me because I'm more on the reserve side. So just, you know, sitting and being Rach every week, that's. It's been amazing. It's been nothing but, you know, positive energy and just laughter.

[Trista Crick]

You had Holly row on as a guest, and usually she's the one interviewing you guys. What's it like to. To be on the other side of the. The mic? Do you get nervous? Do you think about what you're going to say before you say it? Is it just a vibe? Like, what. What have you guys learned?

[Arie McDonald]

I was kind of nervous for Holly, to be honest, like, because she is so goated in what she does, and the way that she performs is, like, it's just top notch. I was like, I hope she. I felt like, is she gonna think, like, we suck at this or, like, judge us? But she was amazing. She made us feel so comfortable. It was super smooth. I mean, it's easy when Holly has so many stories. So, like, anything we could ask, we could go on about for, like. Like, a long time. We could have talked to her for hours.

[Rachel Bantam]

Honestly, for me, I get nervous before every episode, just talking to people. I don't want to ask the wrong thing. I don't know, you know, what's off limits. But, I mean, so far it's been great and, you know, just getting to know everybody on a deeper level, just off the course, it's been amazing and just, I'm, you know, ready to build more relationships within this league.

[Trista Crick]

Juju. I'm gonna tell them about the Marina Mabry moment.

[Arie McDonald]

Oh, God.

[Juju Gotti]

Don't do it, Br. It's. It's unnecessary. And this is. It's not, bro.

[Trista Crick]

You guys got. You guys got an awesome bite and an awesome interview from Marina. I. I fell on my face. I need you guys advice, like, what's the best way to have somebody open up? Me and you got along right away. Ari, when you were in college, like, what's the. What's the tip? To get somebody to. To be unfiltered?

[Arie McDonald]

I think, like, I mean, we know these people a little bit more than you. You guys do you know, obviously, just playing against each other for so many years and being in such a small space like this, you get to know each other really, really fast. But you guys are cool. Like, you guys, your vibes are good. You know, it's all about vibes, and you guys have great vibes. And I think, like, we try to do the same, make people feel comfortable, make it feel like a safe space to talk about, whatever. Obviously, it could be scary because this stuff goes everywhere, and people are going to interpret the way they want to, but just making people feel as comfortable as possible, I don't know. Just not really caring, Just being weird and goofy.

[Juju Gotti]

And then, like I said, you shouldn't have brought it up. Move it.

[Trista Crick]

You don't think I should have brought it up?

[Juju Gotti]

On the airy. See the. See the race. You feel me?

[Trista Crick]

Oh, that's over here.

[Juju Gotti]

Like, man, I'm buying my nails on, making sure we got the stuff together. She like, nah, let me dunk on them from the free throw line. So I'm blessed. I know. I feel you area. I'm blessed to have a partner that can slay the dragons as I stand beside her and pick up the bones. Take us back. Like, my question for y', all, take us back to, like, y' all draft night, the. The night that changed everything coming into the pros. And fast forward to you two looking at me right now. What advice. What advice do you have for that young lady right there? And let's mix it up. Arie, what advice do you have for that young lady in that Connecticut shirt? And rage. What do you have for that young lady in that Atlanta jersey?

[Rachel Bantam]

I would say just be yourself and just be ready when your number. Just when your number is called. Just keep putting the work. It won't go unnoticed, and eventually it will pay off. And just know that only the strong survives.

[Arie McDonald]

Yeah, I would say the same thing to Ariana. Continuing to push through adversity when injuries hit or, you know, when things don't work out the way you assume it's going to. Just know that. That things are going to work out the way it's supposed to.

[Juju Gotti]

Come on, man.

[Trista Crick]

Those photos are wild. Rach, when you see yourself in that photo, what's going through your mind there?

[Arie McDonald]

I'm like, did you not brush your hair that day? I think I have braids.

[Juju Gotti]

I'm not laughing.

[Arie McDonald]

I think, like, I must have had a teammate, like, do that braids. Like, what is that? But I'm just. I've grown a lot. I figured out how to do my hair. I. I need to get some sun in that photo as well. There's a lot of things that we need to adjust. But that's okay. It was young me. I didn't know any better.

[Trista Crick]

You were in Connecticut, too.

[Arie McDonald]

You didn't.

[Trista Crick]

Yeah, it was probably like, who really, you know?

[Juju Gotti]

But guess. Guess what? One thing about that girl in that photo with that orange shirt on, she went from everywhere on the court, so it don't matter. She'll get the ponytail down eventually.

[Arie McDonald]

I appreciate you, Trista.

[Juju Gotti]

Got a kind of exciting game for us to play. Maybe not, though.

[Trista Crick]

Are you guys ready for juju to crash out?

[Arie McDonald]

Oh, yeah.

[Trista Crick]

So we've had this debate go on for months. Is this a travel or not? Right here is where Giannis gathers picks up the ball. One, two, layup. No travel. Clean. It looks ugly. It looks like a travel. Maybe it's a carry.

[Arie McDonald]

But.

[Trista Crick]

But is it clean or no?

[Juju Gotti]

All right.

[DraftKings Host]

One, two, three, four.

[Juju Gotti]

Come on now. That's four steps. You only get two. All I'm saying is she said it looked like a travel, and guess what if it looked like and it talked like. And then quack like, what it. What is it usually? Ask yourself before you give y' all answer. I rest my case.

[Trista Crick]

As ball handlers, keep this in mind

[Rachel Bantam]

in a W. Angelica calling that in

[Arie McDonald]

the W. They're calling that travel because. Yeah, but I do. I do agree, you do have to wait until they gather right there. I do that in the three point line, right? Like the James Harden before he gathers he does the extra step. That's the same concept. It looks crazy, but if you haven't gathered, it doesn't count.

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[Trista Crick]

Watch for him to pick it up. Well, he stutter steps before he gathers, but technically the ball's still in the air.

[Juju Gotti]

Yeah, I mean, he did a like for the cartoon, bro. That's a travel, bro. You can't ago folk, bruh.

[Trista Crick]

It's NBA, cuz like Ari, we need your opinion. Where are you at?

[Rachel Bantam]

Is it.

[Trista Crick]

Is it a travel or is it clean?

[Rachel Bantam]

But ugly is ugly and it's a travel.

[Juju Gotti]

There we go. There we go. Come on, man. Lastly, we had Dana Evans on last week and she asked a question for the next guest to come on. So let's play the question she asked for you guys.

[Arie McDonald]

What's your favorite thing to do on your off time?

[Rachel Bantam]

Like when you're not doing anything, like, outside of sports?

[Arie McDonald]

I love that we can hear juju in the background going, I love to nap. I always say this, but God, I love a nap. It speaks to me. Napping, eating, playing card games.

[Rachel Bantam]

Yeah, well, eating as well.

[Trista Crick]

These are not hot. Guys, we need to stop. These are not hobbies.

[Rachel Bantam]

Oh, hobbies.

[Arie McDonald]

No. Nappy is a hobby dog. Nappy is a hobby. I don't know about y', all, but I get a nap in every day, two to three hours.

[Juju Gotti]

That's me. Fine as hell when you can get one. And then you'd be like, oh, boy. Is it a bird or is it playing? It's a nap.

[Rachel Bantam]

All right, since they're not hobbies, I mean, I like to read and go to the beach.

[Trista Crick]

I gotta ask this. I call Breeze team. Steal your girl. There's just so many. Valid or not valid.

[Arie McDonald]

Well, can you give more of an explanation of why you would you decided on this?

[Trista Crick]

Well, though your reaction sounds like you kind of know what I'm talking about.

[Arie McDonald]

Paige.

[Trista Crick]

Paige is like one of the top, I would say steal your girl candidates. I've seen her play all around the country and people are going crazy for her at all all different demos. Cameron Brink is a certified model. Kate Martin has helped a lot of Young women discover themselves.

[Juju Gotti]

Oh, my God.

[Arie McDonald]

I think you're right.

[Rachel Bantam]

Yeah.

[Arie McDonald]

I was thinking right when you said it, I thought of Paige.

[Rachel Bantam]

No, same.

[Arie McDonald]

And I'm like, oh, God, she would eat that up.

[Juju Gotti]

Thank y' all so much for joining us for your time. Any last words or promo on the way out of here?

[Arie McDonald]

Check us out. Check you guys out. Check us out.

[Rachel Bantam]

Thanks for the love and support.

[Arie McDonald]

Yeah. Thank you, guys. Seriously,

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[Juju Gotti]

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[Juju Gotti]

You dig it?

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[Juju Gotti]

Lock that in.

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This segment is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings. The crown is yours. And that's it for this Week's episode of Good. Follow. Make sure to subscribe to Good Follows YouTube page and all of its socials at goodfollow. Show you dig it. Goodfellow is brought to you by DraftKings. We'll see you next week.