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I love anytime you say, I don't know if I should say this because I know it's going to be good. Anytime you say that, I know the tea is going to be piping hot. What's up, everybody? Welcome to Queens of the Court, an Odyssey original podcast produced in partnership with the WNBA. I'm your girl, Cheryl Swoops. And I'm your girl, Jordan Robinson. And court.

is in session. Those are our gavels. We really love them. We have to fit them in somewhere. I love it. I love it. I love it. Somehow. But as usual, we have a lot to talk about today because I just love picking your brain, Cheryl, on all the things that are going around the league. WNBA training camps have started. It is May 1st when we are recording this. They've just started. We're

Las Vegas has a brand new practice facility that is gorgeous. Gorgeous. I'm coming out of retirement. Yeah, you're coming out of retirement to get you a locker. Yes. It's so nice. It's so nice. Players are already getting waved. Might talk about that a little bit. But first,

Last week, Brittany Griner held her first press conference since she's been released in Russia in December. And I was overcome with emotion. I was so excited to see her so happy. And there, there was a lot of media that showed up. But what was kind of your first thought when the press conference got started? As I'm sitting here getting ready to cry all over again. No, no.

I won't, but it's kind of hard not to. Yeah. I think for me, it was actually real. You know what I mean? So yes, we knew she got released. We got her back home. She's here. She's in the States. She's with her wife. We know those things. But for me, the fact that she was actually sitting there at the mic answering questions in person, not over Zoom, and

In that moment, it was real. It was, okay, she's really back. She's really going to play. And from a physical standpoint, right? Because I can't speak on the mental aspect of it, but from a physical standpoint, just looking at her, she looks good. She looks happy. She looks like she's ready. Just excitement and joy to see her back where she belongs on American soil, getting ready to do what she loves, right?

And, you know, at that press conference, they weren't the reporters there weren't really allowed to talk or ask about specifically her time in Russia. But I do want to roll a clip from the very first question. I believe it was from Holly Rowe. And it wasn't a dry eye in the house after this one. What resilience has been required for you to be sitting up here today? How have you found the resilience personally to be here with us?

You know, I'm no stranger to hard times. See, you crying, you made me cry. Just digging deep, honestly. You know, you're going to be faced with adversities throughout your life. This was a pretty big one, but I just kind of relied on my hard work getting through it. I know this sounds so small, but, you know, dying in practice, you know, and just hard workouts, you know,

You find a way to just grind it out. Just put your head down and just keep going. Just keep moving forward. You know, you can never stand still. And that was my thing. Just never, never be still. Never get too focused on the now and just, you know, looking forward to, you know, what's to come. That was in the first five minutes. I'm a big crier.

I cry at everything. I am a very empathetic crier. If somebody starts crying, I'm immediately going to cry. But to your point, Cheryl, it was, it hit me in that moment when, when BG is talking about her resiliency and,

about this is real. Like all of the emotions that we have, have gone through just as fans, you know, I've, I've cried just thinking about Sherelle on a random day of what she's going through. Yeah. And so now to have BG sitting there and addressing us and, and kind of talking about it, but not really talking about it. It hit me. I was falling. Yeah.

I don't know how to your point. I don't know how anyone, even if you weren't in the room, but if you go back and you watch it for her, you know, and BJ's tough, right? She comes across as, as being tough. And the fact that you could hear it in her voice, even before she said, now you're crying, you're crying. So now I'm crying. I even think for her, um,

The reality of what I just went through and here I am today back at home with my wife, with my family, with my teammates, getting ready to do what I love. See, I'm getting choked up now. Oh, no. Well, it's just, you know, it puts things into perspective on days when I'll speak for myself. Right. When it's like, oh, my goodness, today is such a tough day. And how am I going to get through it?

putting things into perspective and you think about what BG just went through, my days are easy, you know, compared to that. So it, for me, it just did my heart so good to see her and to, to watch her and to feel her and to listen to her. And, um, I'm, I'm, I'm happy for her and,

And I just, I hope this is just me. I hope she's not putting too much pressure on herself to come back and do what people expect her to do. You know what I mean? Oh, that was, that was one of my first thoughts of, you know, when she did come back safely in December, um,

nobody thought she was going to play this season. I didn't anyway. Nobody really put that on her, put that out there because one, we wanted her to make that choice and announce it when, when she was ready. But I personally was like,

chill, like spend all this time with your wife, like get right, get acclimated back to America and the normal mundane things of daily life. But she said she wanted to come back and her talking about it at the press conference of the last time she was on the court was the WNBA finals against Chicago. And so like she wanted to kind of have that bar for herself of that was the last time she was on the court. But

One of my favorite questions that was asked was from the athletic Sabrina Merchant. She said, what made you certain that you wanted to play in the WNBA this season? And BG said, I believe in me. Like she had a huge smile on her face and she said, I believe in me and my ability. And when you have that type of confidence and knowing what type of player she is, she knows what type of player she is.

She felt like she could work her way back to being the BG that we know, the all-star, everything. So as a spectator, as a fan, I have no pressure on her to be that. I just want to cheer her on doing something that she loves. But like you said, I hope she doesn't put that pressure and that high stakes on her. But you're different. Well, I'm saying, but you're different. So as...

as an athlete, right. And, you know, I've been retired some years now, but my, my situation was different. I look at me and when I, when I was pregnant with my son and my first thing was, okay, my son is healthy. Now it's time for me to go back to work. So from a standpoint of, I,

To her point, right? Like I knew me. I knew that I was ready. I knew, yeah, I had a lot of work to do. But when you're an athlete and you're that competitive, there's a part of you that the only thing

That will get you through what it is you're going through is to play the game again, to be back out on the court, working out, doing drills, getting in the weight room. Like for me, that was my my Zen. Right. That was my Zen space. And nobody could tell me what I couldn't do when I'm in that space. So when you say as a fan, as a spectator.

You're not putting that pressure on her. You're just happy to see her back play. I'm the same way. The reality of this world we live in is there are people out there who aren't like Jordan and aren't like Cheryl.

who will will give her grace per se right and they're gonna look at her like if if the first time she has a bad game or the first time she doesn't show up and be the BG of old there unfortunately there will be people out there who will question why is she playing is she ready to play and my response to those people right now even before the season even starts is I

Let her do what she wants to do in her own time. And again, I'm just so happy and so grateful that she's back in a, whatever, whichever BG, whatever BG we see on that court, I'm going to be happy to see her. And this all started because she was overseas doing a job. And when she was asked about that, this was her response.

I'm curious if the desire to play overseas in the off season is a need or a want, and if that is something that needs to be addressed, and if it is a need, what do you think needs to be addressed about it? Well, I can say for me, I'm never going overseas to play again unless I'm representing my country at the Olympics. If I make that team, that would be the only time I would leave the U.S. soil, and that's just to represent the USA.

I'll say this, the whole reason a lot of us go over is the pay gap. A lot of us go over there to make an income to support our families or to support ourselves. So I don't knock any player that wants to go overseas and make a little bit extra money. I'm hoping that our league continues to grow and with as many

People in here right now covering this. I hope you continue like I said to cover our league bring exposure to us I hope a lot of these companies start to invest in our craft Because as you'll see this season if you haven't watched before we have a really good craft and ourselves in the WNBA it's a shame that we have to leave our families for

holidays. I mean, you're missing everything being away, but at the same time, as much as I would love to, you know, pay my light bill for the love of the game, I can't, you know? So I think that's, that's probably one of the biggest reasons people are still going overseas. And that's why I was there, you know? So hopefully that changes though. A lot there. Yeah. A lot in there. First,

She was very certain about her saying, I'm not playing overseas again, unless basically unless it's for the Olympics and she's, you know, playing for Team USA. But I also love that she said, I'm not faulting anybody else if they still want to go play and get their money, because I think that's what.

the whole conversation when, you know, we were in the thick of this situation when BG was detained in Russia. And just as a journalist, I kept getting asked and commenting on...

every women's basketball player and if they should play overseas or anything and it's hard to be in somebody else's pockets like it's hard to make that decision for somebody else but for her to say this is my experience and in my point of view I'm not going to do this again but I don't fault somebody else for doing it I felt like that was a very very great respectable answer.

Yeah, there's a lot there. Here's my question. How many, well, when the reporter, and I don't know who the reporter was, when the reporter asked the question to BG, when she said, going overseas, playing overseas, is it a need or a want? How many NBA players, when their season is over, get another job?

Even rookies who don't play, even the last player on the bench who never gets in the game. How many of them have to get a second job when the season is over? None. None. So my response to that question, and it wasn't asked of me, is for the most part, it's a need.

Right. But because the women aren't being paid what they deserve. So you have three months of playing in the WNBA. What do you do? I believe the lowest rookie salary is $62,000. When you think about players can go overseas and play for six, seven, eight months out of the year and

and make a whole hell of a lot more in those eight months than they're making the three months they're playing here. Something's got to give. So if, if BG was never in a situation where she had to go play overseas to compensate for the lack of income, we're probably not having this conversation today, right? Here's what I'll say on the other side to every single player that says that

this is what I want to do, right? I want to go play overseas. I think you should, if that's what you choose to do. And just for the experience and just to see what it's all about, I think you should do it because going overseas also doesn't have to be a bad thing. Right. I would say it depends on where you're going, right? Who you're going to play for. There's,

So much has changed since, right, since I played and since I went overseas. But the fact that that's even a conversation to this day, to me, says we still have so much work to do. Like, how many people do you know?

Especially when you're talking about professional athletes, right? Because professional athletes make crazy money, right? There are people who are working regular nine to fives who don't make $62,000 in a year. I understand that. But we're talking about professional athletes. And to think about $62,000 a year for professional athletes, it's crazy.

Right. And there is a pay gap. And Bee Gees has been able to...

bring attention even more so over these past 15 months of that pay gap. When you start asking questions, why was she over there in the first place? Oh, to make a living. So like, that's where those conversations begin to happen. But another thing I love that she did is she turned it on to the media. She said, if you guys...

cover the WNBA like you're covering me. You know, that's essentially what she said. Keep that same energy when the season starts and cover us like this, write about us. That's,

that's how the league continues to grow and more guys get on it, more investors, more money so that that pay gap continues to shrink. And then we're all dreaming of a day where the WNBA is the one and only job as a professional women's basketball player that you need. But because I'm sorry. Yeah. I just want to add the one thing to what you said when, when, when she threw it back on the media, right. To me, it's,

are you here because you want to ask questions about Brittany Griner, like my, what happened in Russia? Or are you here because you truly care about the W and you want to cover the W? I thought when she put that out there, she said so many great things during a press conference. But to me, that was one thing that I was like, yeah, that was a good one. That was. So it's going to be interesting to see what happens.

And I hope it does. Like, I hope that's where, you know, I had my, my husband's grandmother asking me about Brittany Griner. She doesn't watch the WNBA. She doesn't know a whole bunch, but she was like, how, how, what's the update on that situation? Is she going to come back and play? And then it's, it's more people got involved and learned more about the WNBA from that situation. And so if we're able to,

Bring in a couple more fans any way that we can at this point to to watch and learn more about the league, then we can do that. Other thing I want to just talk about.

talk about for the press conference is she just had BG had the biggest smile on her face. She was cracking jokes the entire time. She was bringing light to the situation. She was asked, what is it going to be like playing with Diana Taurasi? She said she was worried that she was going to retire while she was gone, but who wouldn't want to play with the walking fossil, which hilarious. Only BG can say that about DT. Yeah.

That was hilarious though.

announced the partnership Brittany Griner and Mercury had with Bring Our Families Home, which advocates on behalf of Americans who are held hostage or wrongfully detained in other countries. They had a mural unveiled. So it was still Brittany Griner saying it's bigger than me. Yeah. And I think that was that was powerful as well.

Just like we always say more than an athlete, right? In a situation like this, we are absolutely more than an athlete. And Brittany, you know, I think she, no, I know she totally understands that.

The spotlights on her right now. And it's an opportunity for her not not to bring light to who she is as an athlete and a basketball player, because we know that right we people know who she is as a basketball player, but the fact that she's willing to.

Or she wants to continue to talk about those who are wrongfully detained and bring light to it. And the work's not done, right? She's home. And I think for her, it's just getting started. So to your point, that organization currently counts 54 Americans as being wrongfully detained.

And I think it's a great opportunity for not just BG, not just the Mercury, but it's a great opportunity for all of us who are able to continue to do our part and do whatever we can do to help bring home not just Americans, but in particular Americans who are being wrongfully detained abroad.

Well, I feel like the press conference was great. I feel like it got me excited to watch BG play basketball again. I know I am going to be at that Sparks-Mercury game, which is going to be the first game of the season, her first game back. Cheryl, do you want to fly to LA to watch this game with me? Can you get a ticket? Can you get a ticket on that?

We have some pool being the queens of the court. Oh, okay. We'll see. We'll see about that. But we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to talk about whether college players are prepared enough for what's expected from them at the pro level. There's some stuff. We'll be back. And now a word from our sponsors at Betterment.

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So we're back. Welcome back. Last month, Alexis Morris helped LSU win its first national title in women's basketball. Then she was drafted by the Connecticut Sun, number 22 overall pick. But over the weekend, Morris shared a video after her first day of group training. I just want to share some insight from a basketball perspective of things. And if you play sports basketball, then you're going to understand what I'm talking about.

I don't know if many of you know, but I'm going to tell you anyway, I am currently trying out for the Connecticut Suns to become a professional athlete. And so that was my first day of group workouts, training camp, kind of sort of type deal. This is for like the colleges and the institutions. In order to grow the league, you have to like prep the players for what's to come. And in order to do that, you have to watch the league. You have to see the style of play, the systems that they're running so that

the adjustment and the transition for college for women college players to the WNBA won't be so difficult and you know and I'm not saying it's difficult for everybody but I do think that the style of play that you play in college can either help or hurt you when you're transitioning to the next level okay shots fired yes or not I don't know or not so there are different

People are kind of taking this video and running with it a little bit. Because that's what you do when stuff is out on social media. And we're thirsty for some WBA content right now because we can't wait for the season to start. But just, I feel like this really...

talks about the first week of training camp where a lot of rookies are coming in. This is their first introduction to the pros. And Alexis Morris kind of seems to be to me. She's saying that other people in that group training weren't prepared. That's how I took it, because she's kind of, you know, responding, saying, I'm not saying I'm prepared.

I'm prepared. I'm ready. I'm just saying that there is a gap between college and the pros, and maybe some people aren't ready. But how did you take it, Cheryl? What was your take on it? I don't even know how you got that out of that video, Jordan. I don't. You clearly know something I don't know, because I got none of that. Okay. You know what? Here's what I want to do. Before we even...

dive into the video and what she meant or didn't mean, or at least what we think. I do think she's a hundred percent correct. Yes. That we agree on. First of all. Okay. The other part of that is you can't put all of the blame on whatever college coach you're referring to or program that you're going to. Right. So I'll just say in Alexis's case, Alexis started at Baylor.

got dismissed for whatever reason, transferred to Rutgers, right? Had to sit out a year because of the then NCAA transfer rules, went to Texas A&M for a year, then went to play for Kim at LSU. Right. The reason why I say that is because that's three different coaches, right? You got Kim Mulkey, Vivian Stringer, the C. Vivian Stringer, and Gary Blair, right?

Who I feel are top notch coaches, right? For whatever different reasons. So as a player who's in college and you know, you have goals and dreams and aspiration to play at the next level. How are you preparing for that? And I'm going to say this because I know this for a fact, a lot of college players don't even watch the WNBA. Yeah. Yeah.

a lot of them don't even start watching it until they're now a senior. And in your mind, you think you're good enough that you're going to go play at the next level. And you think you're just going to show up because of what you did in college and you're good enough. So you can just show up. That's not how that works. Not even close. Listen, this is now a job. Yeah. So Connecticut sun, I believe have, what do they have? 22 players on their roster.

It's a lot. 20 players. 20 players. And this is just an example, right? I'm only using Connecticut because we're talking about Alexis Morris. Pretty much every team in the W, they have over 20 players at training camp and they're all fighting for a job. So this is a job now. So yeah, we consider and have a conversation about colleges and coaches not getting players prepared because I do believe that.

People may say I'm biased and maybe I'm a little bit, but I will say this. There is one coach who used to be a player that I feel does a very good job of making sure her players are ready for the next level. And that is Dawn Staley. So for players who feel the way Alexis does or did, or however you want to put it, if that's important to you, maybe you need to start really doing your homework on

on choosing the right school for you so that that coach can help prepare you for the next level. Because not every coach can do that. And let's just keep it 100. Not every coach really cares about that. A lot of coaches care about the moment. Those one, two, three, four, maybe five years now with COVID, I don't know. It's about what can you do for me in this moment? And how can you help me win? Yeah. So after that, you got to go.

to your point about Dawn Staley, she, you shared this tweet with me, um, that she tweeted on April 30th, first day of training camp. She added to all my babies. She added all of her, her Gamecock rookies. And she said, you created pro habits, your entire Gamecock women's basketball career. So be true to this is because you aren't new to this sending love. I

I love, love that she tweeted that. I love that just to your point of her saying, we have been working on this and having training camp in mind throughout your Gamecock career. But with all that said, you think Alexis Morris was throwing shade at Kim Mulkey? I don't know. I don't know that for sure. But what I will say is that's the last coach you played for.

Yeah, y'all just won a national championship. You have to be feeling some type of way to record that video. And listen, I hear you. We're going to agree to disagree. Okay. But if you think, if you're thinking she's referring to some of her teammates in training camp, then I need some of her teammates in training camp to come on our show.

I can see, looking back on it, I can see where you get that from. But here's what I'll say in addition to that. Wrong move.

Right. Okay. That's what people are coming after. You're a rookie. And you're still trying to make the team. You're still trying to make the team. Why would you kind of come off on this wrong foot, kind of talking about other people saying they're not ready. But I will say this. I've never been in a WNBA training camp or fighting for a spot in this situation. But I would say even just coming from high school to college and

And you're automatically with grown women and you're like 17 years old. And I was like expecting everyone to have the same fire as I do, the same competitiveness, the same love for the game. And I was shocked.

that some people didn't even really understand basic plays. Like, I'm like, wait, wait, wait. Who was your coach? What program did you have? I get it. I get it. I get it. Do you know what I mean? So I think that jump from college to the pros is even more shocking. And Kelsey Plum, who now has an amazing career, she's talked about how much she struggled and she was a killer in college.

And now she has a dog class. It's a different, it's a different ball game. Yeah. And this is not to take anything away from any player out there. College is one thing. Becoming a professional athlete is completely different because again, now you are a grown woman with a job.

And because of the lack of spots and opportunity, everybody is coming at you every single day saying either I'm coming for your job or you're not going to take mine. So let me go back to why I said what I said. Okay. Okay. So hold on because I got to get this right. All right.

Kaitlyn Bickle, before Kim went to LSU, she was a painter. And Kaitlyn played for Kim for at least a year. I don't know how many years, a year or two, right? So Alexis tweets what she tweets. And Kaitlyn Bickle says, yes, I'm reading it the way she wrote it, right? Yes, in all caps. The type of play is so different. Thank God for at Nikki Collin taught me so much. Bickle is on Connecticut Sun roster.

Sorry, let me throw this in there. It's sun, S-U-N, no S on the end of that. People call it the Connecticut suns. It's just Connecticut sun. Sun, one sun. One sun. Melissa F chimes in and says, a thousand percent shout out at Nikki Collin for preparing me for the WNBA from terminology to style of play. Listen, I'm not, I'm just reading what's on social media. That's all I'm doing. That's all I'm doing.

So you think I'm trying to interpret your interpretations. Alexis Morris putting this video out was a dig to her head coach, Kim Mulkey. And then these other players who stayed at or were coached by Nikki Colleen at Baylor are trying to give up to coach Nikki saying that she prepared them. I'm saying it's interesting.

Because both both Melissa and Caitlin Bickle were coached by Kim before Kim went to LSU. Got it. But neither of them mentioned her. Both of them mentioned Nikki and

reading too much into it because I'll also say this Nikki Nikki did coach in the W right she did coach Atlanta Dream for some years hey and I'm gonna leave it there I love you said you like criminal minds this is you putting some pieces some pieces together this is me not having much of a life the last few days and just being on social media said oh where's the tea where's the tea

I will say this, because listen, I'm a fan of Alexis. I talked to her at the draft, love her game. Alexis, if and when you listen to this, come on our show. I want you to clarify. Yeah, let's do it. Caitlyn, Melissa, y'all all come. We're a big family. I'll say this, and I'm actually, I have, or I want your opinion on this, because Nikki Colleen did tweet

the fastest way to get cut in a WNBA camp, try to do too much. If you're taking shots away from vets, you won't make friends play with pace, run hard, cut hard, screen hard, watch the vets and drills. So you get it right the first time. So I guess I love that she tweeted that. What is your advice to some of these rookies and people trying to make a camp? What would you say to them?

First of all, I loved everything Nikki said. I don't think vets get mentioned enough in training camp. And especially if they're good vets, because not all vets are good vets to learn from, seriously. But if you go into training camp saying, I just got to learn, right? It's a new system. It's a new style, new teammates. The vets are going to set you straight. The coach ain't even going to have to do it.

But if you go into a training camp saying, I'm going to put this out there only because I know this vet, Nneka Gumike and Zaya Cook, right? Yeah, two totally different positions. But Nneka is a true vet that will take Zaya under her arms, under her wings and say, rookie, let me show you the ropes. Let me show you where you fit, what we need you to do. And if you listen and you buy in,

Nine times out of 10, you're going to find yourself on a roster spot. But here's the other thing I'll also say. Even as a rookie, you don't go into training camp being cocky and being arrogant, but you go into training camp being confident in you.

Because I say to this all the time, there's a reason why that GM or that coach selected you. I don't care where you got drafted, where you got selected. There's a reason why. So you can go into a training camp being confident in who you are and your ability and say, you know what? I belong here. You have to feel that way. But you don't go in feeling being cocky and arrogant because there's two totally different things, right?

And I want to go back to Alexis because I watched, I think it was something else on Twitter I saw yesterday. I loved how vocal she was. Yeah. Even as a rookie, right? Being a leader and talking to her teammates and talking on defense, like coaches, they notice that. They want that. And especially at her position.

That's what you gotta be. You gotta be vocal. You gotta be a leader. So continue to do those things, but also turn to your vets and say, what do you need from me? How can I make this team? That is the number one question you should be asking, not just your coaches. Talk to your vets, your vets, most of them, not all. Most of them are there to help you. Not all, most of them are. But you know what? Now is a time, training camp is a time for you to,

To yes, work on your game, learn the system, learn the style of play, but also get to know the vets on your team. I loved when I read what Nikki tweeted, I was like, damn, I wish more coaches would do that. Yeah, it was because it would absolutely help the players. No doubt about it.

Just one follow-up to that. Do you think that... There's so many teams that have new coaches this year. So even if you're a vet,

coming into this training camp and kind of, you're kind of learning the coach and what they, how they want to run practice and all of those things the same. So do you think there's a difference if there's a new coach or a vet just still knows how to make it in this league regardless? I don't even think that itself has anything to do with the coach doesn't because a vet understand, listen, maybe I shouldn't say this,

But a lot of times a vet is going to go to the coach and have a conversation with the coach, new or not, and say, coach, we need her. If we're going to be good, we're going to win, we're going to be successful. She's the right one. So I only say that because in a situation like that, it doesn't even really matter if the coach is new or not, because vets are going to have the coach's ear. That's why I say get to know your vets. Okay. Yeah.

I love anytime you say, I don't know if I should say this because I know it's going to be good.

Anytime you say that, I know the tea is going to be piping hot. Well, I just, listen, I go back when I say stuff like that, I go back to like my Comets days. We had myself and Coop and Tina and Tammy. We had a lot of vets, even when the league first started, right? Because a lot of us were vets. It was a brand new league. But as the years went on and new players were coming in, rookies were coming in.

I just remember for me, that was something that always resonated with me was how is this rookie approaching training camp? Not to mention the fact that we had won, right? So we were successful. So you have to come in understanding what you're walking into. And the best way to do that

is to get to know your vets that myself and Coop and Tina. And, and I remember having conversations with coach Chancellor saying, coach, she's the one, right? Like we need her. We didn't need somebody to come in thinking, Oh, I'm about to put up 10 shots a game. Nah, boo. No, no, no, no. Right. Not when you had players who were like Coop taking 20, I'm taking

Tina taking 10. Right. Know your role. Yeah. Yeah. And so I remember having several rookies who came into training camp and I would just sit back and watch them at times like, hmm, let me see. What does she think she is going to come in here and do? Or what does she think her role is going to be on this team before I even had a conversation with them? Like, I think that's one of the most important things.

and important ways to either make a team or get cut from a team. Mic drop right there. I hope you guys are all listening to- We ain't dropping the mic, we hitting up. That's a gavel hit. That's what it was. Okay, when we come back, Cheryl, we're going to go a little around the world, around the horn with some hot topics that I want your opinions on.

quick opinions on. So, here we go.

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Okay, we're back. And I completely made this up right now. So I'm so excited. You said you've been on Twitter. So you know what's been going around. My first one that I want. Wait, some. Because I don't follow a lot of people. No, it's okay. It's okay. All right. Okay, let's go. It's fine. We kind of hinted at a couple of them on top of the show. But first, we've been talking about LSU. Haley Van Lith.

is going to LSU and is joining the reigning national champions. Quick thought. Go. Super team. One word. Done. You said quick thought. Say it now because this is May 1st. You can stamp it and replay it if it actually happens. Do you think they go back to back? Do I think they go to the fight of four or do I think they win? Win. No. No.

dig into more of that later. But I like that she went to LSU. She had it between Baylor and Louisville before playing for Kim Mulkey. Now she says, I got two more years potentially. I'm going to go to LSU, join up with the Super Team. See, since you're having a conversation now, I got to come back. I said Super Team, but I was really joking. Only because, you know, it's Super Team, NBA, all that. Here's what I honestly think. I love to see it.

Yeah. And Angel Reese and Hayley Van Lith together and both of them love talking, you know. But I also think

LSU is a really good fit for Haley. I know they won the championship. So people are like, well, you won the championship. How could you need another piece? Haley to me is she's, she's the shooter that LSU didn't really have. Right. But she's also Haley got a little dog in her. I love it. Yeah. I love it too. I love it too. Okay, great. I'm so happy. We got to talk about that for a second.

Las Vegas Aces get a brand spanking new practice facility. The first WNBA team to really have something of that caliber dedicated to them. Candice Parker went on Draymond Green's podcast a little bit ago and she said she's been in the league for 16 years. She hadn't had a locker with her name on it. And going to the Aces, she felt like she deserved that.

You said you're coming out of retirement to also get that locker. What are your thoughts on this facility? No, no, no, no. I'm not coming out of retirement to get my locker. Cause I had a locker with my name on it with the comments. You're like, can't relate. Yeah. Honestly, when she said that, I was like, that was shocking. Yeah. Like confused. How does it, I don't know. Um,

First of all, just beautiful, beautiful. And I'm not even talking about men, women. I'm talking about period, beautiful facility. Here's what I will say. Mark Davis gets it. And when you talk about investing in women, it's putting his money where his mouth is. That is investing in women saying, I want us to be top notch in every sense of the word. Oh, I will be at that facility.

Not working out, but I'll be there. I'll be walking too. I don't want to work out. I just want the tour.

Yeah, I'm not working out, but I am going to see that facility. Beautiful. Oh my gosh, it's beautiful. And exactly what you said, that was my comment too. The investment is showing and it is so amazing to see. And I think other teams and programs and other players are like, man, this is nice. This is what we want too. This is what we want for our players. You want to have an organization that

that players want to go play for. Right. And, and that type of stuff matters. Yeah. Having, having your own practice facility and like, like it matters and an owner ownership that, that shows you what you truly mean to them and how important you are. And they want to give you everything they can possibly, possibly give you as a player to help you be successful. That's it. He got it right.

He gets it. He gets it. All right, last one. We talked about the Indiana Fever. We talked about the Indiana Fever being the training camp we are going to be looking at very specifically. And turns out they've already waived Emily Angstler. Quick thought on that. Shock. I was very shocked. I thought she was a really, really good fit.

for Indiana. But again, you're talking about new coach, right? Maybe she didn't fit Christy's style of play. I don't know. But I did see the Mystics picked her up. Oh, I didn't see that. The Washington Mystics picked her up.

that. Clearly somebody sees something in her and says, we're going to bring you to our training camp. I do think she will be on somebody's roster. I think so too. Oh, that makes me so happy because I felt the same way. I was like, dang, even before training camp, that's coming in just being like, this is what I want. You know, but it makes you, that's why I say maybe Christy coming in, right, had this...

of this is what my squad's going to look like. This is the type of style we're going to play. And maybe she didn't fit. I have no idea. I have no idea. That I was, when I saw it, I was like, let me rub my eyes a little bit more. I was like, this didn't happen, but it happened. But yes, the Mystics picked her up. So I was so happy to see that. Okay. Now I like, I like that. A training camp with her battling with Shakira Austin. That's going to be, that's going to be good. Okay.

Okay. Well, that's all I got. I know. I was sweating. I thought she was about to hit me with some stuff, Jordan. This was the first one. I'm going to come with some spicy takes. We're going to, we got some other segments in mind. But no, I went easy on you today. You were already crying a little bit earlier. I didn't want you to. I did. I did. I did.

It was good, though. WNBA training camp is going to be crazy. It's going to be crazy. I'm so excited. Just like week by week, we are going to be able to see the progress up until, you know, preseason games. And we're going to be able to talk about it all. So I'm excited. I'm like, some of the training camps might be more exciting than actual games. I know.

What I think, you know, just the battle themselves of like, no, this is my spot. You don't get to have it. So I'm excited. I'm excited. Me too. Me too. Okay. Well,

If you are loving Queens of the Court, which I know you are because I'm loving it, please follow, rate, and review the show available on Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. And if there's something you want to hear us discuss, or if you have another case that you need Cheryl to crack, she will do it. I promise you. Let us know.

on social media. You can find her at airsweeps22 and you can find me 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 Isabel Apple. Imaging from T-Storm Battle. Court is adjourned.