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$45 upfront payment equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first three-month plan only. Taxes and fees extra. Speeds lower above 40 gigabytes. See details. I have to give a shout out before we get going. This past weekend, my brother graduated from dental school from Howard, from the Howard University. So he is Dr. Sean Tyler now. And the reason I'm not wearing any makeup right now is because I've cried it all off over the past two weeks.

I am a proud little sister. As you should be. Congrats. Thank you. Congrats, Doc. That's awesome. That's a huge accomplishment. Huge, huge accomplishment. He was in school for like 15 years, 20 years. Don't do that. He deserves it. Okay, I'm going to start crying again. I can't. I can't.

What's up, y'all? Welcome to Queens of the Court, an Odyssey original podcast produced in partnership with the WNBA. I'm your girl, Sheryl Swoops. And I'm Jordan Robinson and is in session.

Cheryl, do you have your gavel? You got to hold it down for me. I'm on the road. Gavel did not travel. The gavel didn't make the carry-on. Dang it. Gavel did not travel. Sorry. So you got to hold it down. You got to hold down the gavel. I'll hold it down. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You'll hold it down. What's good? What's going on?

A lot is going on. You know, we typically record on Mondays, but this is a Tuesday afternoon, and I'm actually really happy we waited to record because so much, so much news went down today. But before we get into that, the WNBA season starts on Friday. We're almost here. We've been waiting for it. We've been inching closer and closer from the draft to now.

I can't wait. You know, it's crazy to think about, to your point, that we're just, what, three days out from season opener when we first started talking about the podcast to going to the draft. And it's like, it's time. It is that time. It's time. And of course, you know what that means is that players are getting waived. Rosters are getting more locked.

We're going to touch on that a little bit later in the show as well. All our thoughts and feelings. And I need to turn my Twitter notifications on because I feel like every time I open that app, it's getting waved and I'm not happy about it. But...

We're going to talk about all of it. But first, the breaking news I think that we have that we kind of have to start with is that the WNBA have suspended Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammond for two games unpaid. Here is a little snippet of the WNBA statement just to give some more context.

The WNBA announced today that it has rescinded the Las Vegas Aces 2025 first round draft pick for violating league rules regarding impermissible player benefits and suspended Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammond for two games without pay for violating league and team respect in the workplace policies.

This goes back to De'Erica Hamby's contract, her being traded from the Las Vegas Aces to the Los Angeles Sparks after announcing her pregnancy with her second child, which she had in March. And she is already back on the court for preseason games eight weeks after she gave birth. But Hamby said in her statement,

Instagram post and that was kind of a bombshell when she dropped that in January but she said I was told that I was a quote question mark that it was said that I had gotten pregnant again and there was a concern for my level of commitment to the team she wrote I was told that I didn't hold up my end of the bargain because no one expected me to get pregnant in the next two years so

So when she put that on Instagram, no one knew who said it. And after the league did an investigation, they have, you know, said, I guess it came down and Becky Hammond had said these things to De'Erica Hamby. And now she is suspended. Cheryl, how are you feeling about this? This was, this was a lot.

You want the PG version of how I feel? I want the real version. How you feel. Because I gasped when I read this and I was heartbroken when De'Erica Hamby made this Instagram post. You know, it was supposed to be an exciting time with her pregnancy and she seemed... As it should be. Right? As it should be. And it was overshadowed with this investigation. So...

Um, yeah. Um, gosh, cause there's a lot there. My, my first thought going back to when DeErica posted it. And so I'm just going to go back and kind of reiterate some of the stuff you said, because when, when she says, I was told that I didn't hold up my end of the bargain because quote, no one expected me to get pregnant in the next two years.

First of all, I'm confused by that. Like who, who, who is the no one that expected you to not get pregnant in two years? I don't know. But to your point, pregnancy is especially for a woman like that's, that's special. And that's a time where you should enjoy it stress-free as much as possible. And here she is, it's a complete opposite because,

So I will fast forward to today. You said you want the real, so I'm just giving you the real. Give it. I just, it hurts. It really hurts my heart to think that

something like this would happen in the W, right? It's a women's league. It's run by women, pretty much. Let's just go to the Aces organization, right? It's all women. So to think that something like this would be said or something like this would happen. Now, in fairness, I don't. We don't know exactly what Becky Hammond supposedly said, did, whatever. Right, right.

But there is something that happened. And so when I look at the consequences, which was losing a first round pick, I believe 2024 2025, excuse me, losing a first round pick Becky suspended two games without pay like, well, that's kind of a joke.

to me. Seems like a, seems like a slap on the wrist. Not even a slap. It's a pinch. It's a pinch. It's a pinch. And that goes into the, you know, WMBPA's response. You know, today's decision regarding penalties misses the mark. And I think that's along the lines of what you're talking about. It, it,

if we are thinking about what it's like to be a working woman, just in general, we are wanting to be protected with all of our rights and everything that we have in our contracts and everything like that if we become pregnant. And if a league ran by women

who all of it is uplifting women in sports and female athletes, if that doesn't come down with the harshest of penalties, then where can we turn to? And that's where it's a little bit

I get that this is kind of unprecedented times and waters, and we haven't really seen this happen, you know, luckily, too often. But I wanted it to be more definite, more...

No, as it should have been. It should have been a, listen, what you did, what the organization did was wrong. And it should have been to the point to where no one else in the league, no other team would even consider doing something like this. The other thing I will say is I feel really bad for

for De'Erica. Right. I know stuff I heard and in conversations with different people, I feel bad for her because all she wanted to do was have her child and play basketball. Right. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But then I come back and my, and I have a question and that question is, no, it's not a question. I'm just going to make it a statement. This type of a situation is,

doesn't happen to an Asia Wilson doesn't happen to a Brianna Stewart. Like it just, it doesn't. And I could be absolutely a hundred percent wrong, but it doesn't. And the reason why I say that is because there is, it shouldn't happen to anybody. Let me, let me go back and say that, but it looks even worse if you do it to a superstar. Do you know what I mean?

So I go back to my time when I played and when I was pregnant and having conversations with, because it was new, right? Like it really hadn't been done. So it's like, oh, well, how do we navigate this? What do we do? But I go back to when I was pregnant and my first thought is it never even entered. Honestly, it never even entered my mind that the comments might want to move on for me because I was pregnant.

It never entered my mind. And I don't, I don't think that's something that should ever enter a player's mind. So Cheryl, what was your timeline for, you know, you got pregnant and you missed the beginning of the season. Is that right? In 1997? I did. And you know what? One thing I want to add to that, like I had no idea I was pregnant.

Oh my God.

Yeah. So the season I had my son on June 25th and I gave birth and I knew like, I just wanted to come back and be a part of the inaugural WNBA season. So I missed the beginning. I would say six weeks after I gave birth, I came back to finish out the season. So gave birth in June and I was back playing in August, not in shape, not in shape, but I was back out there. Yeah.

And so to your point, Jordan, if we have a league that's supposed to be for us, for women, ran by women, and we're not protecting our own, who can we turn to? Yeah. We have enough battles that we have to fight with men. On the daily. Yeah, every single day. That the last thing we should be worried about is going to work and worrying about

Going to work in the W with our teams and worrying about, gosh, I'm pregnant. What's going to happen? It's sad. It's really, really, really, it's sad and it's disappointing. It is. I just remember, you know, within De'Erica Hamby's statement, she was saying that her blood pressure was high, like during this, like feeling so much stress around it. And she also said, which I think is really important that,

That being traded is a part of the game. Like she understood that part. That is, it's a part of the business. It's a part of the game. But the reasons behind it should be valid. And that is what she didn't feel like was. You know what makes me, what makes me stop and say, I tend to lean a little bit more towards De'Erica side being the truth than I do the aces side.

Because De'Erica was very forthcoming. She came out and said, this is what happened. And we heard nothing from the aces. For a long time. It didn't look great. Yeah, it was kind of like, let's just sweep it under the rug and hope that it goes away. I just, I don't know. Today, when I read the statement and I saw everything, I was just like, are we going backwards? Like, this is not okay. Yeah, the aces did come out and...

And make a statement saying that they are deeply disappointed by the outcome of the investigation. The WNBA's determinations about Becky Hammond are inconsistent in what we know and love about her. They also said that we stand behind Coach Hammond as she continues to lead the Las Vegas Aces. And they look forward to continuing to support our players, coaches, employees, and the Las Vegas community. So that was...

Kind of their statement, which I mean, there's statements flying left and right. There's really no good statements that can be made about this whole entire situation. Why couldn't they? I'm sorry. Why couldn't they put that statement out when De'Erica initially put hers out? Yeah, that's the that's the question mark I have. That's a that's a big one. I want to go back to your experience, though, because, you know, with your experience,

so many of your accolades, a part of that is being the first player to have a baby and come back and have an incredible career and go on to be a great player that you were. But, you know, you said that it didn't cross in your mind thinking that the comments would move on from you or trade you to somewhere else. But were there any protections beyond that besides just

kind of the word of your coach or was there anything kind of set in stone in your contract? So here, here's, here's what was a little bit different. Like I actually had, I had a WNBA like marketing agreement deal that was guaranteed. Okay. But as far as my playing contract, like with the comments, like, Oh no, it wasn't guaranteed. And, and I didn't even get my entire salary.

So like, I don't know, I may have gotten half of it. But the reason why, and I don't mean this, like I'm not trying to be arrogant or cocky or anything like that, but the reason why it never crossed my mind is because I was like, you can't get rid of me. No, you know what I mean? So that's why it never entered my mind. But in today's world and in the league and where we are with everything,

I'm not sure I would, I would be so confident and it's unfortunate. Yeah, I know. You know, we, we, um, and when I say we, I'm talking about the league, like there's so many things we talk about and we discuss about how do we make this league better? And I know we're going to get into it because there's expansion. There's more roster for all of that. How do we make this league better?

Well, we can't even focus on making the league better if this is what we're doing to our players right now. That has to be fixed and addressed.

I agree with that. And there was such, you know, momentum and it was such a positive thing around the latest CBA of, you know, getting childcare and around, you know, working mothers who are in the wobble, you know, trying to also manage being a mom and being a player and around all of that. So there, there are steps moving forward, even since your playing days that we've, we've, we've made progress. Yes.

But we have to, what we continue to say every week is we have to keep moving forward and we have to keep building on that. And I think this is going to be one of those situations and those investigations that we look at and point to and say, we want this to be a point of emphasis that never happens again. How can we build on this to make sure that players are protected on all areas that we

They cannot be just told whatever and be moved on from because they don't think that you're a question mark or they don't think that you're going to be playing. And De'Erica Hamby, eight weeks postpartum, is on the basketball court. She is playing. And it is unfortunate that...

You know, sometimes we look at that and we're like, wow, she's amazing. That's incredible. But the other flip side of that is like, okay, she, there may be fear there. Oh, no doubt. Well, I have my job if I don't come back and play and, and,

Like you mentioned, I don't want that to be in a new mom's head because I'm not a mom yet. But I know there's a lot of things in your mind going on as you're sleep deprived and as you are nurturing this new life.

And to not have that be something. There's also a sense or feeling of guilt. Like, why am I back doing this so soon and I'm leaving my child? Whether that's with your wife, your husband, your mom, your nanny, whoever. So to your point, like when I came back,

There was no pressure from anybody. So I definitely want to put that out there. But for me, it was more about this is important to me and I'm ready. Like from a mental standpoint, I was like, this is, this is important to me that I get back and I'm a part of the first season. That may not be the case for everybody. And when you look at De'Erica, right. There were,

People like destroyed her on social media, like she's making all this up and like she got a bad rap. She's not a good team. Like so much stuff came out about her. So I can only imagine going to L.A. in her mind somewhere. She's like, I got to get back out on this floor, even if I'm not ready mentally or physically, because having a child.

not only does that physically change your body, right? But mentally that takes a toll on you because you are bringing in an entire another human that you're responsible for. And so somewhere like there's all these thoughts to your point, Jordan, all these thoughts going through your head of,

All right. If I leave and go to practice, is my baby going to be okay? Am I going to miss something with my baby? Like that's real. So for you to say, you know, eight weeks post birth, she is back on the floor playing like, yeah, that's great. But is she back playing because she was ready and she felt like it or did she feel pressured to come back and play? Mm hmm.

Yeah, and it's...

I know, you know, Nafisa Collier just had her baby and she came back the season at the end of the season. She wanted to finish it out with Sylvia Fowles and Katie Lou Samuelson is pregnant right now for the Sparks. And I love how she was still a part of media day showing off her, her baby bump. These are all life events that we should celebrate and they are beautiful. And it is such a momentous time in your life as a woman to be able to give life. Um,

I just want it to be a thing where you don't have to worry about your roster spot because of that beautiful thing happening. And I think, again, we're going to look back on this and say, okay, how have we grown from this moment? How has the league been able to add on to that?

But more importantly, De'Arica Hamby is healthy. Her new baby, her son, legend, adorable, healthy. And the Aces play the Sparks on May 25th. So mark your calendars. I think De'Arica Hamby is going to go off for 20 points. That's all I'm saying. You're putting it out there. You put it out there.

out there. I am, but I think we're going to continue to, you know, a lot of statements, like I said, have been made. I wonder if De'Erica Hamby is going to have a response. I think this is something we are going to keep looking out for following up on as more players are wanting to grow their families. So this is a

Yeah, this was the hot topic of the day and it got us pretty hot. But we're going to take a quick break. And when we come back, we are going to talk about. And now a word from our sponsors at Betterment.

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Welcome back to Queens of the Court. Thank you for continuing to listen, even though I started singing. Um,

Hopefully it wasn't too bad. I thought you were coming back with some more singing. No, I didn't do my, you know, vocal warm up for singing. So next time, next time. But we're back and we have to talk about this sold out crowd of 20,000 fans in Toronto for the first ever WNBA game preseason at that.

In Canada, it was the Chicago Sky against the Minnesota Lynx, which the Sky fought back and beat the Lynx, actually, 82-74. By halftime, the merch sold out.

Like everybody was repping all their WNBA stuff, all the little girls in the crowd. I mean, the orange logo woman was present. Everybody signed her. I mean, it was incredible to see. Like I felt some type of way that I didn't get an invite to go to the game.

Well, after, you know, and I can only imagine. You want to be there. Like, I saw social media, like you, like everybody else. And I was like, oh my God, like, this is so dope. But I could only imagine the atmosphere inside the arena. Just looking at it, I'm like,

Where does this happen for everybody out there that says no one watches women's sports? I beg to differ. 20,000 plus.

In Canada, where they don't currently have a WNBA team. Right. Do you feel like, I mean, if this was a trial run for Toronto or, you know, putting feelers out there, which I'm all about, by the way, I think we should do this more to see the turnout and see the thirst and hunger for the WNBA in different cities. But Toronto passed, like with flying colors.

Like they want a WNBA team there. You know, even hearing the commentators talk about, you know, we grew up playing basketball in Toronto and we only had the Raptors like to have these little girls in the audience be able to go and physically watch someone they want to be in the WNBA. It's priceless. It's priceless.

And I know you, cause you mentioned it, you said preseason, right? It wasn't regular season. It was preseason. And I, I have not looked at stats, but I would be willing to say that.

They had that type of turnout, not even knowing if the so-called stars were actually going to show up and play. Right. Because for them, it was about an opportunity to watch a WNBA game and come out and support. And just crazy. Like, just crazy. And I think that's something that we should do every single year. Mm-hmm.

I think so. You know, especially as we're, you know, this is a perfect transition into the conversation around expansion because that has, especially this week, that is really what everyone is talking about. And you have something like this Toronto game who that was such a success. We're all wanting it to say, okay, well,

nudge, nudge. Can we start this expansion starting with Toronto? Like you've already, you know, the quality of the, the, the game feed was good. The, the quality of the talent sideline reporters and broadcasters were good. Like they are built for expansion, the city of Toronto. And it just goes into the conversation as a lot of players are getting waved and

And as of right now, there are 167 players in the WNBA. So there's still 30 players left to cut. Cheryl, you are shaking your head, rolling your eyes at the same time. I mean, my heart breaks. It's so like, it's just a tough time. It's a tough conversation to have. It's

You know, my heart hurts for all of these players who won't make a WNBA team this year, or at least right now. Who knows? Maybe they get another shot somewhere else. But to your point, it's time. It's way past time for expansion. And I know, I believe, at one point, the W was talking about

adding a couple of teams in by 2024. And here we are, it's almost 2024. We have none. Um, it's just, it's so hard to sit and watch and hear about players getting cut in players getting waived. And it's like, now what? Yeah. You go overseas and play or you don't go overseas and play and you stay at home and now you go get a real job. Um,

And there's some good talent getting waved. That was, that's what I was going to say. Like some of just the recent lists, you know, and I, I hate to break your heart with this one right off top. I know. Don't just, don't just skip over it because we're going to have a conversation. Okay. All right. I'm going to give the list and then we're going to go in, but Henny,

Destiny Henderson got away from the fever. Monica Susano from the Sparks. Alexis Morris. We had that whole conversation surrounding her. Dee Dee Richards from the Liberty. Ray Burrell, who was injured all last year, and I was really excited to see what she was going to do for the Sparks.

Like the list is almost too long as, as we are seeing, you know, Dallas wings declined the T option, the team option for Charlie Collier. She was the number one pick a few years ago. I especially feel for the new WNBA fans who are like,

What is going on? And we've been in this for a couple of years. So we kind of brace ourselves for this news this week, knowing that this was going to happen because the reality is right now, I know we're talking about the expansion for the future, but the reality is right now there are limited spots and not everybody can make a team.

And I think expansion is one way we can go about the conversation, but I want to challenge everyone to flip it the other direction. The WNBA is the hardest roster, the hardest job to make in professional sports. And you think about all of these really great college players that we've all just cheered on in the final four. And we were, you know, saying they were amazing.

The WNBA players are really, really good. They are great at what they do. And the gap between a great college player and a decent WNBA player is large.

And we are realizing that as every day goes on, that the players in the WNBA are really, really great at basketball. And so there is one way that we can look at it and saying, oh man, you know, my favorite college player, how did this player get waived and all that? But when you reverse it and you say like, dang, like Kalia Copper is a hooper. Like, you know, you think of all the

That was just one player that comes to mind. But the players that are making these rosters, you know that they are capital H hoopers. And the roster spots are so limited and it sucks. But the players that are there and the quality of players that are on the court, really, really good. Drop the gavel. Gavel drop. I was going to say the mic. Like, I don't...

We could have this conversation for a while. This is a topic we could really talk about. So everything you just said, you hit the nail on the head. So let me try to just educate the people out there who think they know the game, but don't really know the game or the W, the W. We can hope. Yes.

And it's not to take away anything from a single player who just graduated from college or who just went into the draft. Like my heart truly aches for those players. But, and some people may be upset with me. Let me sit up a little bit, Jordan. Uh-oh. No, here's the thing. I know this for a fact that a lot of players, probably some who got drafted, you don't even watch the WNBA. Mm-hmm.

So that's the first mistake. And so if you come out of college and you're like, oh yeah, I'm about to go to the draft. I'm about to go to the league. Okay. And I said this in the first episode, just because you get drafted doesn't mean you're going to make the team. My thing to those players is do your homework, watch the league. How can you want to be a part of something that you don't even watch?

And the reason why I say that is because when, for some of those players who may not get drafted or for some who, even if you get drafted, but if you don't get drafted, coach is calling, inviting you to a training camp. If you've watched games, you've watched film, you've done your homework on these teams, you can say to this coach,

You know what? I appreciate the offer. I appreciate the opportunity, but I don't think that's the best spot for me. You could go in and spend 10, waste 10 days with a team that you know you're not going to make because you've watched that team. And I know these players are not watching the WNBA.

I'm going to go back to a Brie Beal because that was, you know, that's, oh, that hit me hard. I know. I thought about you. I thought about you. Oh, here's my thing with Brie Beal. Does Brie Beal need to work on her game? Absolutely. But you know what else I will tell you?

So does every single other player that not only went in the draft, even players that are currently playing, everybody should always want to work on their game and get better. My thing with Brie Beal is the reason why I thought she would make Minnesota's team. Because when I look at them and obviously, I don't know, because I'm not coaching. But when I look at Minnesota, I say,

Bree Beal could be a really good up and coming player for my squad because in a way they're kind of rebuilding. And I know coaches don't like using that word, but what Bree Beal brings to your team, that's like a tongue twister. Bree Beal brings, but what Bree Beal can bring to your team is,

especially on the defensive end, like that stuff you can't teach. Yeah. The, the hard, the fight, the let me, let me, let me guard her coach. Right now, the offensive side. Absolutely. She could work on her game and get better at it, but it's just, it's, it hurts my heart. Not just, not just her. I mean, Henny, I thought Henny was a lock. Me too. That was, that was surprising to me. I thought it was a misprint. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, and I'm glad you brought up Henny because I want to bring up the tweet. You know, a lot of this, a lot of all of these players getting waived, you know,

they go roster by roster spot and player by player and saying, well, this person got waved. They're better than this person. And how did they get waved? Because this person is still on the team. And somebody said that, you know, about Henny and mentioned Erica Wheeler. Oh yeah. And the, someone tweeted, you know, Henny is a way better point guard than Erica Wheeler. Indiana did a very dumb thing. And Erica Wheeler responded and said, I got time today.

I am in year eight. I'm an all star buddy. Do your homework. Don't mix me with the lack of W spots. Oh, I love it. Go get him. Go get it. Go get it. She said she earned this. And you know what? And she did. She did. And that's what I'm going to say because

It sucks seeing all of these players getting waived right now, but that doesn't mean that your relationship with the WNBA is over. That doesn't mean that you will never get picked up again.

We've seen it time and time again. Well, players do go, you know, they get wave, they work on their game. Maybe they go kill it overseas or they get, you know, they just get better and they come back and they are on a different roster and they can add something different. Like we see that happen over and over again.

Over and over again. And even players just reinventing themselves over again. But we cannot. And E-Weasy said it. We cannot mix up great players. And say that. Oh they're holding a spot for somebody else. Or they're better than somebody. Everybody's great. Everybody is great. In this league. It's also about.

being at the right place at the right time, being on the right team, the right system. Is there stuff that, that Henny does better than Erica Wheeler? Probably. Is there stuff Erica Wheeler does better than Henny? Probably. Yeah. And with a new coach, like there, there's so much that goes into that. The other thing I'm going to say is this, you, you said it when you said,

The difference between a great college player and a good W player is a lot. I'm going to add one more thing to that and say, just because you were a good college player doesn't guarantee you a spot in the W. Right. And it also, well, not only that, it also doesn't mean you're good enough

to play in the W right now. So to your point, take that and say, you know what, go have a conversation with the coach or the assistant coaches and say, like, what was it?

What, what do I need to work on? Help me get better. So if I'm given this opportunity again, I'll be ready. It, it, it really hurts me to see any player get cut. I don't care if they're a rookie, if they've been in the league for 30 years, they've been in the league for two years. This is a dream for most of these people, for most players, for most of the ladies, it's a dream. And to see that dream be crushed in, in,

a week right that's tough that's tough to have to deal with and now all of a sudden it becomes a what you thought you were going to do now you got to go figure out what what am I going to do now like like today just absolutely stinks yeah and we're not done yet and we're not 30 spots

To cut, I'll end it on this. You know, Breonna Turner from the Phoenix Mercury, she tweeted something that I think is really important because as these college players, you know, Monica Zazano is one of them. Iowa fans are head over heels in love with her, as they should be. She is a really solid player. She gets way from the WNBA. And so, you know, people are...

very unhappy and saying, well, I don't know if I'm going to watch because my favorite player isn't playing. And Brianna Turner tweeted this, I think is a really great reminder. She said, I know there are upset fans at WNBA roster cuts, and I see many people saying how they won't support the league because their favorite got cut. I would actually encourage the opposite. Please continue to support the league so it can grow and create more opportunities to support future players.

And that's where we're at. We need the expansion because all of these great players. What I want to do, and I think maybe we should do it next week, is we should create a team based on all the players who are waived or who are not yet on a contract and make our own team. Because there is a full team that could be really competitive. I like that.

So maybe we'll do that next week because that'll be, that'll be our, that'll be our expansion team. That that's our expansion. I was trying to think of what the Toronto mascot would be if they did have a WNBA team there. I don't know if it would have to go with the Raptors or what, but no, we can, it wouldn't. Right. Okay. Maybe we can brainstorm that too. We'll create our own expansion team based off of something to go, something to go with Drake.

Yeah, that's what I said. The owls. That's a symbol. Oh, no. Okay. I don't know. Maybe. Work in progress. Work in progress. Okay. On to the season is here.

Opening weekend is upon us. And let's just kind of go through some of these matchups because some of them are already juicy, like starting out the first day. Love that for us. All 12 teams will play a record high three games this season. I'm just, I could cry. That is pure joy to my heart. So four games on Friday.

First the fever. Who you got? I have the sun. I have the kinetic sun. Who do you have? You want to? Okay, let's do a little prediction. Yeah, let's do. Sun. Is it sun at fever? Oh, that's a good question. Or fever at sun? Sorry. I don't know. The fever at home. I'm going with the fever. Yeah, I'm going with Aaliyah Boston, baby. And Erica Wheeler. Newly engaged Erica Wheeler. I love it. Yeah.

think that's a good that's a good matchup especially you know first WNBA game they want to wrap everything around Aaliyah Boston and I know she's going to shine but you know what they do sorry because I know we're not doing each one of these individually but I'm really I'm really excited to see Nalissa Smith play yeah

Remember my big lineup? They're probably not going to play that the first game, but I really am excited to see Melissa Smith play. Okay. I think they're going to be a solid team. They're going to be a really solid team, but okay. We got Liberty at Mystics first game. Like you got the Mystics. I got the Mystics. I do too.

I do too. Yeah. I said it before. It's going to take the Liberty a little bit to grow into this, but I think the Mystics are going to be really good. I know we're not there yet or talking about it. I have the Mystics as my sleeper team. Oh. Because nobody's really talking about them, but okay, okay, okay, okay. They are, but then they're not. Not really. They're just like floating in the top and preseason predictions and all that and preseason polls, but...

I'm with you. I got the mystics on that one. And I also don't know if Sloot or John Quayle

are playing in the season opener. But even if they are, I'm rolling with the Mystics. Okay. All right. Okay. Sky at links. This was basically what the Canada game was, but Nafisa Collier wasn't playing Marina Mabry wasn't playing for Chicago. So all the stars I'm sure will be suited up for opening day. Do you think the sky can do it again?

I actually think, you know, watching that preseason game, the Lynx really missed Nafisa, just kind of getting their offense going. But I really liked Tiffany Mitchell on this team. I just, I'm obsessed with Tiffany Mitchell anyway. But so I think the Lynx get them. I think they have Nafisa and they get them this time. All right. I'm going with the Sky. Okay.

Well, we'll see who wins that. I'm a big, I'm a big Kalia Copper fan too. And I love, I love Izzy being on this team. That's a good thing to everybody else. But yeah, yeah, yeah. I got Sky on that one.

We're going to keep track of these and see who's right. But the big game, the night cap on the Friday game is Mercury at Sparks. I will be at that game because, of course, I will. And it's BG's first regular season game back. Who you got on this one? I think that's going to be an electric environment, everyone. I'm just imagining standing ovation for BG, like,

I know she's trying to give herself grace as she eases back into it, but she's a competitor. And I think she's going to, I think she's going to come out and try to compete, but I got my sparks. I am rolling with the sparks as well. It's tough when they just played each other in preseason. Like, no, it's not. Oh, okay.

No, because it's very different. It's different. Okay. It's a different vibe. Substitutions are different. Players are playing that probably won't play. I'm rolling with the Sparks on that one. Okay, that's fair. Because it's still people are trying to make a team. So it's not really about the players that we know are going to play in the preseason games. So that makes sense. All right. Two games on Saturday. Aces at Storm. Dream at Wings.

Aces at Storm. I'm going Aces. Yeah. The Aces look... I loved the picture that was tweeted. It's Candice Parker and Asia Wilson. I love that picture. And Asia herself commented or quote tweeted it and said, this doesn't even look real.

I love that picture. It doesn't feel real that they are on the same team together. So that's just going to be a treat to watch. Yeah. Yeah. In general. Yeah. So I'm going to go Aces. You're going Aces. And then the other one you said Dream at Wings. Mm-hmm.

We know how we feel about the Atlanta Dream on the Queens of the Court podcast. Yeah. So I have two sleeper teams. So the Dream's one of them. But the crazy thing is I'm really liking this young wings team with Natasha Howard in there. But I'm going to go with the ATL on that one. Okay.

That's a good one. Okay. Who are you taking? Three games. Huh? I will pick. Yeah, you do. Oh, man. I think I also go ATL. Okay. I think, hello, Ryan Howard. Can't bet against her. But a Ryan Howard, Enrique Agumboale matchup is always great television. So you never know what you're going to get. You definitely got to tune into that one.

And then three games on Sunday, Mystics at Sun. I think I have the Mystics there again, too. Yeah, I'm going Mystics. Okay. Fever at Liberty. I'm going Liberty. At Liberty, first home game for the New York Liberty. That's going to be an insane environment. Oh, my gosh. That's going to be fun. So, yeah, Liberty there. And then Sky at Mercury. Okay.

I'm going to go Mercury. Home opener. Their home opener. Yeah. All right. Well, there is so many good games to watch. Make sure you watch all of them opening weekend. We'll be right back.

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That's BlueNile.com. Overnight, Duncan's Pumpkin Spice Coffee has sent folks into a cozy craze. I'm Lauren LaTulip reporting live from home in my hand-knit turtleneck that my Nana made me. Mmm, cinnamony. The home with Duncan is where you want to be. All right, so as we were recording a little more breaking news, De'Arica Hamby posted

did address the media today after practice and she was able to comment on the results of the WNBA investigation to the Las Vegas Aces. So let's take a listen. I don't really have much to say about it. I kind of, you know, want to move forward and focus on where I am today. I'm healthy. I'm happy. You know, my son is healthy and I'm going to be playing basketball this season. So

I just want to focus on moving forward. This part of it's over and then me and the union will continue to explore my options. Is it just a matter of like cross that off now you can move on with the more important things? Yeah, cross that part of it off. Are there other parts coming? Can you let your game speak this year? I'm not going to try to put too much pressure on myself. I'm focusing on getting in shape and, you know, just turning the motor back on for basketball.

But I'm gonna play and I told Kurt, hold me to the same standards you would as if I was fully healthy or not recovering from pregnancy. And I work hard and I think that'll speak for itself. I ask this as respectfully as possible and forgive me if I don't get the phrasing perfect.

My understanding is that the WNBA does have paid maternity leave. Why was it important for you to play instead of take advantage of that in the CBA? Because I'm capable. I physically, I was physically cleared at four weeks and I did start to rest and then as time went on and I was kind of sitting at home, I was like, this is kind of boring. Like, I want to go back and play basketball. Like I said, I called KB four or five days before camp and I was like, I'm going to be there and

The first day I was supposed to just be like non-contact and I ended up doing contact. So I feel good. We had the scrimmage and it was nice just to be running up and down the court against another team. And as I continued each day, I feel myself getting stronger and more into basketball mode and just be prepared for Friday. Was this at all a part of your motivation to

The grievance that you had, was that a part of the motivation? I think initially a little bit, and I've been having to dial myself in and not make it personal to try to prove the aces wrong. Right now I'm proving to myself and my kids, and like I said, I can do it. But I think initially, yeah, there was a little bit of, initially I always expected to return a play. But when the trade happened, I kind of doubted myself a little bit, but

I'm back. I know that Amaya is old enough to understand what you're doing right now, but when Legend is like, what will you tell him about like, when he was born and the fact that you came back and played and that you were doing this as an example for both of them? It's actually interesting. My daughter, when it happened, she literally said, "Are you getting traded because of Legend?" And it like, it's gonna make me cry. It literally like, it made me cry.

For my son, I mean, he'll be able to see it and I don't think this is the end of it. And just like moving forward for being progressive for working moms. And I think the league has been incredible in what they've done, but we still have a long ways to go in this league and in the world. And so I know he'll see it. What did you tell her?

I cried. I was like, "Kinda." And you know, she just asked about LA. She said, "Well, we go to LA for two years and then we'll come back." But I think she understands now. She's excited. She's looking forward to the opposing teams coming so she can see all of her friends. You know, we played Seattle and Teresa came and she was cheering for Teresa. So she's enjoying LA. I'm enjoying LA. We're moving forward. She's supportive to me and she loves her mommy.

And I don't want to get ahead of it, but I think the second and the third game of the season are against the Aces. Yeah, probably be emotional for me. I'm locked in on Sparks basketball. Thank you. Thank you, De'Arica. I started tearing up. That was really powerful. She said, you know, she said quite a few things there and everything.

I think the part that really stuck out to me, and I bet for you too, as you are tearing up and crying, was the part, you know, shout out to the reporter, John W. Davis, for asking the question. But Amaya saying, did this happen because of legend? A little kid asking that is really, really touching and emotional, right?

And you heard De'Arca just getting emotional by just rethinking it. It's a lot in that. It's so weighted. Well, I think, you know, at the end of the day, this is, it's a basketball game, you know, versus somebody's livelihood and life and family. And sometimes I think we tend to forget, especially in this situation as a mom,

Like stuff like that doesn't just affect the player. Obviously with Amaya asking the question, did you get traded because of legend? So she, that obviously has affected her as well. You know, there, there was another question that was asked and it just made me rethink. And I'm kind of laughing because when he said what,

Why did you why did you decide to come back and play so soon? Because in the new CBA, it covers maternity leave. And she said, because I was capable. Like sometimes I think people tend to forget that being pregnant isn't an injury. Right. Like she she's not injured. She she just gave birth to a son.

And that's part of life. So for her to say, because I'm capable, it just kind of took me back to having people say to me, like what I telling me what I could and couldn't do after giving birth to my son. And I'm like, yeah, but this is what we do. And I'm capable. So like there was so much in that interview.

Yeah, I got a little emotional. I was like, oh, my God. And it's tough, though. You know, she was like, I just I want to move on. But at the end of the day, this stuff happened to me. Yeah. And it's not OK. And so we have to make sure going forward that all of our young ladies in the W that they're they're all protected and don't have to deal with this nonsense that she's dealing with.

And she said that, you know, she said the league has been incredible and how far it's come, but we still have a long way to go in this league and in the world, because this is a overarching, overarching world issue. Um,

I feel like she handled those questions with grace and she knocked them out of the park. There could be so much anger there. There could be so many other emotions. She was better than me. Couldn't be me. I also like the part she said, I was bored. Like she was, she was cleared at four weeks to be able to come back. And she was sitting at home and saying, uh,

This ain't for me. I need to go and play at a very high level. Yeah. So that goes back to what you're saying, just being capable. But a very inspiring story. Again, like the reporter alluded to, the Aces versus the Sparks, May 25th. It's going to be a nice reunion in some ways, maybe for Maya to see her

her friends, but it's going to be a little bit, a little bit to prove. I know she said she's not trying to put a lot of pressure on herself, but it's going to feel good when you go and ball out on a team that wasn't, you know, doubting that you could even be on the floor at this time. So that's going to feel extra sweet, but well, good for her. Good for her. I'm excited to cheer her on.

we should rebrand this podcast of the crying podcast because we gonna cry we gonna shed a tear we gonna shed a tear or two yeah oh man okay well that's it for us today next week when we get back together the season will be officially started cannot wait um

I want to say this loud and clear as we wrap up. If you are loving, loving, keyword loving, queens of the court, follow, rate, review the show. It's available on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. I love that. Well, I'm loving it. Me too. And also, if there's anything at all you want to hear us discuss,

Even if you want to possibly come on and join us, let us know on social media. You can find me at airsweeps22 and Jordan is at underscore Jordan Liggins.

Queens of the Court is an Odyssey original created in partnership with the WNBA. The show is produced by Alex Ozzie. The executive producer is Lena Moss Glazer. Social media assistance from Isabella Apple. Imaging from T-Storm Battle. Court is adjourned.