Legends Don't Have To Be Nice
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Also her fashion has gotten better. She's dancing. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Did you say has gotten better? That means that there was a starting point you didn't like. This is Queens of the Court. What's going on everybody? Welcome to another episode of Queens of the Court, an Odyssey original podcast produced in partnership with the WNBA. I'm your girl, Cheryl Swoops. And I'm Jordan Robinson. And the court is in session. In session.

This is gonna be good. Let's go. Let's do it. So much to cover, per usual. Well, I know. But you know, before we get into that, like, what's going on? How was your weekend? What'd you do? You know, my weekend was great. We had, me and my husband had a date night. We went to go see Bad Boys, Ride or Die. Good. Yay or nay? Thumbs up, thumbs down.

Thumbs in the middle. It was exactly what I expected. Also a little PTSD because the last bad boys we went to the movies to see the world shut down right after. So I'm like the last time we were here, COVID happened, but no. Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, they're having the time of their life. Why not make like 20 of these movies? Why not?

Sure. There's 20 Passing the Fairs movies. Right? We can have more of Bad Boys. I'm a fan. Like...

if i'm so much a fan of like will smith and martin lawrence i'm a fan of the whole bad boys movie um i think they're really good together um okay putting it on my list um yeah if you're going to see an oscar worthy movie then you're going to be disappointed but if you're expecting what it is a buddy cop

funny action movie, then you'll be satisfied. You'll be entertained. That's what my husband said. He was very entertained. Which is the point. Okay. So speaking of movies, I didn't go to the movies. I don't really go to movie theaters just because. Really? I don't. My husband hates it. He's like, no. So we do a lot of movie nights. And before I left for Dallas on Friday night,

I watched on Netflix. So I think I watched the Jennifer Lopez movie. Oh, okay. I think Jennifer Lopez is a really good actor or actress. I do. I think she's a better actor. I think she's a better actor than singer.

Right. Like absolutely. Like performer. I think she's good. Like dancing. Great singer. And I'm a, and I'm a Jennifer Lopez fan. So this movie, I was a little hesitant because I was like, I don't know.

But I will tell you, if you like kind of, I guess it was kind of sci-fi. It's called Atlas on Netflix. Okay. That's her new movie. So good. Okay. Oh my God. It was so good. Okay. So you got to check that out. And the other one I'll talk about before we get going was one. My husband was like, we need to watch this because yeah, he's just a little different. So we watched Civil War. Have you seen it?

Oh no, but we were going to in the theaters. It was okay. I think I was thinking it was going to be more, I guess, kind of sort of more realistic as far as what could potentially happen. And it was just okay. I honestly, I kind of was disappointed, but it was all right.

I would say don't spend your money to go to the movie theater and watch it. Wait until, or I would say watch it on, yeah, we did, I guess it was either Netflix or Amazon. I don't know, one of them.

okay but anyway yeah we kind of did this you got your movies you got your movie so don't say we didn't share with you yeah don't say we didn't tell you because we gave our honest opinion i love it all right well also some news that uh came out olympic rosters were a hot topic this week

Let's start with the 3x3 roster because some of you guys may not know, I'm a huge 3x3 fan. I do play-by-play for 3x3. And you're so good. I'm sorry. You're so good at it. You're so good at it. I listened to another day and I was like, okay, Jordan.

You're so good. Okay, sorry. I just have fun with it. And 3x3 is a totally different game. It is so fast paced. And there's a certain type of player that can play and excel at 3x3. And so the roster for the USA, Cameron Brink, Sierra Burdick, Ryan Howard, and Haley Van Lith.

I love this team. I love this team. The last Olympic team was Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, Alicia Gray, Stephanie Dolson. But this team has already won gold. Well, Brink, Burdick, and Van Lith, they were all on the team that won gold at the World Cup last summer. So they played with each other.

And I love it. What do you think, Cheryl? I love the squad. I do. And to me, three on three, it's not about position, right? You don't have to have a point guard, a two guard, a big. It's all about, to me, it's all about skill set, right? Like,

It's half court. I don't know. When I saw this roster come out, I was like, okay, I like it a lot. I like this squad a lot. So yay. I think they got it right.

I think they did too. I think Ryan Howard specifically, I was really excited because she hasn't had a long extensive on the circuit with 3x3. But when she has played, she's a matchup nightmare because she has the length, but she can also shoot. She can guard inside. She can guard outside. She can drive past people. So teams just didn't know what to do with her. And that's what you want when you're trying to go for a gold medal. Well, I mean...

teams in the W don't really know what to do with her. So here's, here's what I will say. I was excited when I saw Ryan's name on the three on three team.

And then I immediately was like, oh man, that means she's not on the 505 Olympic day. Yeah. Yeah. But this is a great start for her. Here's the one thing I will say, I think is, I mean, there are a lot of differences with three on three in 505, but I think the one thing three on three makes you do or forces you to do is really hone in on your one-on-one defense.

Right. Well, five on five does too, but at least five on five, like there's a lot of help side, you know what I mean? Like rotations and you know, where you're trying to force your man based off of what your team's defensive philosophy is. Are you forcing them baseline? Are you forcing the middle? And so then you understand the rotation, but three X three it's,

It's 3x3, but it's one-on-one a lot. Right? And so when I look at this roster, one player that honestly... Well, two. Cam and Haley, like what really stands out for me with them is this is going to be a great time, great opportunity for both of them to really work on their one-on-one defense. And I mean...

I'll put it out there. I don't see why this squad shouldn't be bringing home the gold. Just saying. I'm with you.

I am with you. Vanlith on the offensive side, she is made for 3x3. She is just one-on-one. I'm taking you off the dribble. I'm pulling up. I'm driving past you. It's perfect. Cameron Brink, a positive is you can't foul out in 3x3. You do get penalized for team fouls, but you can't foul out. That is a big positive. Big.

Big, big positive. Well, and Sierra Burdick, because we've, I'm sorry, because we talked about everyone else. Like even from, from a experience standpoint, a veteran leadership standpoint, I think 3x3 is perfect for Sierra, her game, her style. So absolutely ecstatic for her to get this opportunity as well.

So deserving. So do you. So deserving for Birdie. Yeah. Okay. The five on five roster sparked a little controversy, but I want to talk about, I want to talk about the players that actually made the team. I'm going to rattle them off. Aja Wilson, Brianna Stewart, Diana Taurasi, Alyssa Thomas, Brittany Griner, Nafisa Collier, Jewel Lloyd, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, Kalia Copper, Sabrina Ionescu, Chelsea Gray.

What a freaking team. Man, man. Yeah. I'm clapping because we need to. We need to celebrate them. Wow. And we need to congratulate them. Right. Because to your point, we haven't really talked about who made it. All the talk and controversy has been about who didn't make it. Right. So to all, what is this?

Two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve. I had to count. To all twelve players on this roster, like, congrats. Very deserving. Yes.

Yeah, UNESCO, Copper. Yeah, I think so too. UNESCO, Copper, Thomas, they're making all their debuts for Paris. This is their Olympic team debut. Like I mentioned, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young were on the 3x3 team in Tokyo and brought home golds, but this is their first time for five on five.

Diana Taurasi who has been playing so well. She turns 42 on Tuesday and will break the record of most Olympic appearances in the sport of basketball competing in her sixth games and aiming for her sixth gold medal. That is insane. Oh my goodness.

But like you said, I think they got it right. Like if I had to pick my representation for the best basketball players in America, this is who I would choose. These players have earned it. And they just talked about this week a lot of

just how much of an honor it is to represent with USA across your chest. We saw the 3x3 videos of them getting their jerseys and being able to see it and all the emotions. Yeah, yeah. Oh my God. I was tearing up. Like, I can't even imagine...

So I hope that they all feel celebrated. This is all reported, I guess. The official, official roster hasn't dropped yet, but I'm sure that this is right because they got it right. Yeah, I mean, you know, Jordan, I was fortunate enough to play in three Olympics and every single year, every single one of them, like I got emotional because it's an opportunity to

It's bigger than you. It's bigger than your hometown. It's bigger than your school, your college. It's your country. And I think especially right now with where the world is and where things are with the country, it's such an incredible honor to be able to put that jersey on and represent the red, white, and blue. Here's my thing. When we start talking about

you know, who didn't make it. Because I can probably think of a few players that maybe were deserving. Like to me, one player is Arike, right? I think Arike is having an incredible season. But when you go there, it's like, okay, if you take Arike, who do you take off? Because you got to take somebody off. It's always a question. And based off of my experience in playing in the Olympics, it's...

There's a lot that goes into being able to win and bring home gold. And for USA basketball, both men and women, but in particular women, like we don't bring home anything but gold. Right. So you have to assemble a squad. You have to put a team together.

that understands the mission, understands what we're going to do. And international basketball is very different from the WNBA. And so when I look at this roster, I'm like,

All of these women, or at least the majority of them, have played overseas, right? They understand what international competition's about. They've trained together. They've practiced together. The chemistry is there. And that's important because they're not going to get a whole lot of practice time prior to the Olympic Games, right? No. You know, and when I look at the first-time Olympians, Sabrina, Ka, and A.T., I think that's only three, right? Yeah.

Everyone else have been on five. Yes. For five on five. Correct. You know, really extremely happy for Sabrina, for Ka. But I got to say, I'm really happy for A.T.,

Really, really happy for AT. You know, I think we had this conversation and debate last year about MVP and everything AT is doing. I think this is a big, we see you, we recognize you, we appreciate you. You deserve to be on this team. So, so happy to see her name on there. And for everyone else, congratulations. Good luck. Go take care of business and bring home the gold.

Bring home that gold. Like you said, that's kind of the standard. Or don't come back. No, I'm just playing. You will now live in Paris, France. Thank you. Okay. A couple of minutes on the crazy double overtime game between Dallas and Phoenix. Phoenix ultimately won 97 to 90, but Cheryl, you were on the call. Just...

The franticness, the craziness. What was going on? You got a front row seat to it all. What was your takeaway? First of all, what a game.

and what a game and i honestly hated that it wasn't like on prime time somewhere like this game should have been somewhere i don't know espn espn somewhere because it was so good so good it was bg second game back and

BG looked like she had not missed a lot of time, but you could tell in overtime where she was starting to get a little tired though. She didn't have as much lift on her shot, but she looked so good. I got to say this, oh gee, Diana Taurasi. A lot of people have, she shouldn't be on the Olympic team. She should retire. First of all,

Who the hell are you? Are we to tell a woman when she needs to retire, whether that's from sports or just her job, whatever. Because DT, not only is she still playing at a high level and getting the job done, Jordan, she is having so much fun.

You can see it. She's just enjoying the moment. She's enjoying every second she's on the floor. She's still DT. She's still going to talk you know what to you. God, just... It was really fun to be there and to be on the call. Here's what I'll say on Dallas. First of all, Phoenix is going to be really good. They are. They're going to be really good. Here's my thing with Dallas. I think...

They're still a young team, right? So they're still trying to figure out how to win down the stretch. They're still trying to figure out how do we close a game? Because they had every opportunity to win. But you could tell down the stretch, they're young. And it was like, who's going to take this shot? Right before overtime, when Arike passed to Monique Billings and Monique passed to Sev, and Sev was like, oh my gosh, what do I do with it? Right? So then they turned it over.

Here's what I think Dallas is missing. I think they're missing two key pieces right now to be a really good team.

And one of them is another score. But I think when Satu comes back and Tosh, right. But I think when they come back, they'll have that other score. But my concern with that is going to be one, like just from a physical standpoint, how, how ready will they be? And especially with Satu having not played at all, you know, so she's supposed to be back after the Olympics, right.

The second piece I think they're really, really, really missing and could use, they need a point guard. Yeah. Like Sev is running point. She's doing an okay job. But when she goes out the game, you're asking your rookie and J.C. Sheldon to come in and run your squad.

And it's it is an adjustment because she's having to run your squad and handle the rock against some of the best players and defense in the world. Right. You're asking you're asking a lot of her. So I'm going to say it and put it out there again and I'll be done. Odyssey Sims would be a great piece for this team. Get her on the phone. She would. She would be a great piece. That's all I'll say.

Okay. I mean, we've talked about it, I think, almost every week, how much Dallas needs a point guard. We say, call up Tweety, because I think that would be a great piece. But just to wrap it up, I think...

Arike is that go-to person, but everybody on the court knows it. Everybody at home knows it. And so when you are, okay, we're going to throw a double at Arike, who else is going to be that person in those in-game closing moments? Just another option. So I totally agree with you. Mercury are really fun to watch. I'll say it.

I have loved watching Kalia Copper explode this season. She finished with 29 points in the double overtime. Griner had 24 points and nine boards. So Mercury, they're going to be good. They're going to be good. So this has been fun. That was a good time. All right, we're going to go to break. When we come back, we are talking to Las Vegas Aces, Callie Lawson Freeman of the Las Vegas Review Journal. We'll be back.

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Visit Betterment.com to get started. Investing involves risk. Performance is not guaranteed. Welcome back to Queens of the Court. It's now time to talk about the Aces. Five and four overall, but they have lost three of their last four games. Here to talk about it, we are joined by Callie Lawson Freeman-Murray.

916 in the house. Sacramento in the house. Hey, hey, hey, not too much. Not too much. Sacramento. Right. Not too much. Aces be reporter for the Las Vegas Journal Review. Welcome, Queen.

Welcome to the show. Thank you. You have no idea. Being on this show, I went to Cheryl at WNBA All-Star last year when it was in Vegas, and I ran up to her in a bit, and I was like, I love you. You are a legend. Your podcast is so good.

You're like a legend of the WNBA. And she was like, okay, girl. I did not. I did not do it like that. Callie, don't do that. Don't do that. Don't do that. She was actually very gracious and she did not have to be because I should not have ran up to her the way that I did. Why did you say actually? I'm a nice person. Don't do that. Yes, of course you are. But I'm just saying you don't have to be. Legends don't have to be nice.

Straight bags. Everybody should be nice. Whatever. Cheryl is nice. But that's sweet. Well, thanks for listening to the show. And now you are. It's good to have you on.

Thank you. Great to have you on. And I love that you are like an expert in aces right now. And it's no team is probably more deserving because they not only are they so fun, but they have a lot of storylines, a lot of things going on. And I know that you kind of have the inside scoop. And where I want to start with is Asia M.F.,

Asia MF Laquita Shaniqua Wilson. We like to add middle names here.

Asia is playing out of her mind to start this season. And I guess I want to know just even from media day from preseason when you were around her, did you kind of sense that? Okay, she got the gray, the silver wig on. Yeah, this is going to be a new level of Asia this season.

Girl, that was platinum. That was not silver. That was platinum. That was not silver? I thought it was silver. It was giving storms. Storm! It really was. It was. It was. It was. Okay. But, no, I mean, I think Mia Day is a great example. She fielded so many questions that day about just her approach and how it feels to come in as a champion. And every single answer she gave was like, I'm not satisfied. I don't even want to talk about that championship. Like, yeah, it felt good, but this is a new year. And so I think...

she has sustained that. Like she's been incredibly consistent. You look even at the season opener, it's ring night at Michelob Ultra Arena. Tom Brady is there and Asia gets on the court. She's supposed to say a couple of words before they get their rings. And she can't even give the speech because the crowd is chanting MVP. And she's like, y'all cut it out. We have a game to play.

And then she came out with that same intensity. So it's like she is walking it like she's talking it. She's leading this team by her action. She leads the league in points per game, rebounds per game. She's tied for first in the league blocks per game. Like you said, she's playing out of her mind right now. Yeah, Callie, to me, Asia is like...

Asia's on another planet. Asia is here and everyone else is trying to get there, right? How much do you think or do you feel, two things, her not winning regular season MVP last year, and more than that, getting a fourth place vote for MVP, right? How much do you think...

that is playing into like this mission that she's on right now. Yeah. I mean, I don't think Asia takes well to disrespect. And I think that that fourth place vote was incredibly disrespectful and she knows that. And so she, she mentions it like in interviews every now and then even Becky will mention it. Like,

The way that Asia has started this season has brought some questions like, wow, you know, is she gunning for that MVP? And Becky's like, I told you guys last year, if I had played her for the same amount of minutes as everybody else, then she would have been the MVP. But people didn't watch the games. So they just voted that way. Like, this is something we are all, it's in all of our minds. That fourth place vote. I mean, she knows it. And I think that's a motivating factor for her. Disrespectful.

I know. Anytime I hear that, it just makes my ears bleed of fourth place votes. But I would say the rest of the team, though, there's been some recent losses. And I feel like last year...

Well, there's already four losses this season and this last year, their fourth loss didn't come until August. So it's like, what's the vibe around the losses? Are they like, we know the playoffs are going to come and we're going to turn it up. Or it's also they were without Jackie Young against the Sparks. They're still without Chelsea Gray. What's the vibe over the overall record right now?

Yeah, I mean, I would say after that loss to the Storm, the energy was like, no excuses. We still could have won this game, even though there was... I mean, Jackie was struggling in that game. Like, yes, she played, but Becky said beforehand that she wasn't feeling well. Jackie only scored three points. So I think it's like you essentially don't have Jackie, don't have Chelsea. You don't have Kirsten Bell. Like, you are... you're a stretch thin. And so...

That game, also, Asia was pretty banged up. That was just right after the Dallas Wings win, where she, you know, was bloodied over the nose. She had a bruise under her eye. And they didn't get in the night before that game until, like, after midnight or something. So they had to cancel practice before. So I just think that, like, after that game, they had a lot of options for excuses, and they didn't pick any of them. They were like, we still could have won. We should have won. No excuses. Now, after last night's loss...

The energy was completely different. I think like they were very serious in the postgame after the storm. After this postgame with the Sparks, like they were laughing and smiling and they were just like, you know what? Like we, it is what it is. Like that was the general consensus. And Asia was like,

At the end of the day, I'm laughing because things are going to be different in October. And she literally said, she was like, when I'm back here in this press room and I'm talking my talk, don't be surprised. So I think that it's definitely interesting to see how their energy shifts after losses. I think like even the first loss of the season, I can't even remember what team that was now, but Becky was up for that.

Yeah. She was really upset and she was like, I'm going to yell for a while and I'm going to do a whole bunch of stuff. That's just, that was not the energy last night. Interesting. Okay. Interesting. I mean, I think, yeah. I'm sorry. No, go ahead. I think the bigger thing is like they're trying to embrace adversity. And I think maybe they feel like they can't embrace it if they don't like

smile and laugh through it. Like maybe that's their approach because they keep on saying like, it's just going to make them better down the line. Eventually Chelsea will return, et cetera. So here is my question. Um, like I get all of that. Yep. We know we're going to be all right. We're going to be good. But at the end of the day, um,

Chelsea Gray hasn't played, right? I know. She's on the Olympic team. Apparently she's going to play. Otherwise she wouldn't be on the team, I'm assuming. What can you tell us about Chelsea and her status? They need her. I'm sure after every game they're like, hey, so how's your ankle condition?

today? Is it a little better? It is clear that they need her. So great question. Yeah. I mean, what I can say is the team is like firm on not providing a timeline and they keep on saying that that's because it's dependent on her progress. And so,

I have to respect that. But Becky has said that she does expect Chelsea to return before the Olympic break, which is, I guess, a development because I guess there was a chance that she could play in the Olympics and then not play for the Aces until after the Olympic break. But that's all we know. And so we have seen the last two games. Chelsea has definitely...

been incorporated into warmups more. Like you can, you can see her doing a little bit more. So that tells me that she might be inching closer to a return, but that's not a very substantial update for me to provide. You know what I mean? But yeah, it's something, it's something. That is something. That is something. I know that. Yeah. They're, they're probably providing heat packs, ice packs. They're probably like, Hey, my girl, hurry up. Hey, I feel great.

My biggest question is just going to be what exactly is the nature of the injury? Because we know that she had a foot injury, like a fracture in her foot that kept her out of the finals. But now that was in October and we're months removed from now and they have maintained that it's a lower leg injury. That doesn't necessarily mean it's the foot. It could be the Achilles. It could be the ankle. We just don't know. And I feel like if we knew that information, it would probably help us understand this timeline. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, yeah. To me, what I was going to say was watching them so far without Chelsea Gray, I was watching, you know, moments of that Sparks game and

I'm like, this makes it even wilder that they pulled out the championship without Chelsea Gray. I think that puts it in frame when you think of how they've started this season and you're like, okay, she is a huge piece to this team. We knew that. We talked about it. But when you take her out of it, it makes it glaringly obvious that that was such a

How Asia Wilson just went into superwoman mode to put them over the finish line over the finals last season.

Yeah, I mean, I think that's why Becky keeps on emphasizing this is a mindset thing for the team. And I think you kind of saw that at the start of this game against the Sparks. Like, they came out on a tear, a 14-0 run to start the game. Like, they look like a team that you just don't want to see. And that's how the Aces are supposed to look. I think they weren't able to kind of maintain that offensive energy. And so...

that's why Becky keeps on saying like, I'm not worried about this team because this is in their heads. Like this is about their approach and our approach is terrible right now. Yeah. Yeah. So Kelly, I want to, yeah. Well, you know, and Becky just having played against her, Becky is going to always speak her mind. Becky is going to be like, listen, this is what it is. I, one of her, I guess it was a press conference, maybe after the storm,

Where she was just like, our approach, it sucks. We think we're just going to show up and win ballgames. I'm not going to say exactly what she said, but y'all know. So, Kelly, I want to ask you a question about Tiffany Hayes. Like, what was the conversation, like, bringing Tiff to the Aces? Like, had that been in the works for a minute? I think everybody was like, what?

Yeah. I mean, so it's so funny when she showed up at the practice facility after that loss to the dream, she said that essentially, like...

that call kind of came out of nowhere but she she was ready for it because she really wanted to play for the aces like she felt like she was running from something personally by retiring and this was her opportunity to play with the team that she like respects the culture she knows that they're able to win and so i think the aces especially becky she said this a lot like

she views Tiffany as just like a dog on the court, like somebody that you don't want to play against, somebody that you know can get it done. And Tiffany has shown that. I mean, she had two days of practice and was immediately scoring for the Aces. And so I think that –

I think that that makes like it's a good addition for them. And when I talked to general manager Natalie Williams, she told me like, we're not looking to replace any of our starters. We just need more depth. Like we need somebody to contribute on both sides of the ball. Tiffany has shown that she can do that. So I think now it's like they just need more time to keep on incorporating her.

Wow. I think it was just genius. I don't think I can say it enough because even last year, probably the last two years,

Aces haven't had the bench. And we've talked about the starting, you know, the Olympic team is essentially aces and friends. Like the starters are set, but it was the bench. It was the depth that was an issue. So you bring in just a bucket getter in Tiff. And I just, I love this. And you can already see that it is paying off. But also someone on the bench who moved into the starting spot,

against the Sparks. How about that? Money, Martin. Oh my goodness. So much fun to root for. I'm sure just you being around the team, we can see it on social media, but do they love her? And is she just loving her life as much as we are seeing on social? Yeah. No, it's so funny because people keep on saying they're like, yeah, Kate Martin is living her best life. And I'm like, Kate Martin

will tell you herself. She has said it in so many press conferences. I'm having the time of my life right now. Like she has said that verbatim. So I think that you can see like they have really embraced her. I wrote an article recently just about how that's indicative of the team's culture, but it's also indicative of who Kate Martin is. Like Becky has said her IQ for the game is through the roof. And she's also just really well liked by her teammates. And that's not something that just happens. Like you know, it does have. Right. Yeah.

Like you it's not it's not easy to win over a locker room as a rookie etc. And so these these girls really love her but I think also Asia Wilson Alicia Clark like they have made it their mission to like bring her into the fold in a very intentional way like they're not just like.

it's not like accidental that she's having this great experience. Like they're doing things on purpose. Like on her birthday, Asia Wilson gave her, you know, what was it? A Bundt cake and, you know, and things like that. Like she went and did that on her own. Okay. So like, and Alicia Clark, like she will mentor her. They'll have conversations. I'll see them at practice sometimes kind of talking in between like

plays and things like that. Like it's, it's so purposeful and it's so cool to see because obviously this is a year of major discussion surrounding rookies and how different a rookie experience can be, you know? And so, yep.

Yeah, Kate, they're doing it right with Kate for sure. - I love that. - And also you have to be a good sport per se, like with Kate, when they showed the video of the bus leaving her, right? And she's running after the bus like, "Don't leave me." - Smiling though. - Yeah, but to your point, Kali, I think she's able to embrace everything that comes along with being a rookie.

And you're on the defending champions team, not riding the bench. Like you're playing a significant role in the loss of it on the Las Vegas aces team. And just from having played so many years myself and knowing the dynamics between a rookie joining your team period, but especially when you're winning, like you've won a championship

like they're gonna take you through some stuff and you have to be able to prove that you can hold your own and kate has not only done that right like on the court they trust her they believe in her they want her there but off the court right like that relationship they have she's fun they enjoy being around each other like i know a lot of people aren't talking about kate martin in the rookie of the year conversation but listen

We need to start having that conversation.

I'm glad you said it I've been saying that so like I have been saying that I mean I think if you look just even at last night this is her first WNBA career start okay and she she wouldn't have known that that was coming for super long maybe a week at most because at Dallas Becky had said like okay if Jackie can't go Kate's gonna start but then of course Jackie played so then that gives Kate like a couple days to prepare for her first career start yeah that's true in pre-game Becky was like

Kate is ready. Kate is ready. She's probably over ready. She is over studying at this point. She is my little Alicia Clark. Like she is doing the work to be ready. And then she came out so bad. That's what she said. She said my little AC, which is so cute. But she was just like...

She was just like, I'm not worried about that girl. And Kate showed that she shouldn't have been worried. She made every single one of her three point attempts. She came out of that game with 13 points. Like, I don't know. 11 in the first half, right? Thank you. And 11 of those came in the first half. So I don't know what more you could. I mean, she's doing exactly what she's supposed to do, which is exactly what Becky Hammond says all the time.

She's a competitor. And you can't teach that. You can't teach your coach having it and being a competitor. She's a competitor. I don't know. She's fun to watch. I love her with the squad. I love her role with the squad.

Yeah. Yeah. Also her fashion has gotten better. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Did you say has gotten better? That means that there was a story that you didn't like. I'm like, so Jordan, you're basically...

her fashion was not it before. No, no, no. I think she is like, okay, I'm on this aces team. I'm getting minutes. The cameras are on. I got to elevate my style a little bit where maybe I would have came in a sweatsuit or something like that. I got shades now. I got the fresh kicks now. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I do too. Callie, I think

We have time. I want to ask you one more question. If you have any insight in this. So the whole $100,000 per player situation, investigation, all that, where do things stand with that?

Yeah, you know, that's kind of been like a big part of my beat trying to get updates on that situation. And so I can tell you the deals are not done as of two days ago. I talked to Steve Hill, the president and CEO of the LVCBA. That's the...

convention and tourism authority that offered those sponsorships. And so he said that, like, yes, the agents kind of agreed previously, but there are still negotiations that have to happen. There's a legal process that has to take place, which I'm not a business expert. So to hear that, I was like, okay, I didn't even know that there was a legal process. I thought it was strictly, you know, business agent to

corporation or whatever, but that's not how that works. So they have a lot of work to do and that has nothing to do with the investigation. I mean, he told me again, like two days ago that he never was contacted by the WNBA still. And he doesn't expect to be because the W doesn't have any jurisdiction over the LBCBA. The W has jurisdiction over the ACEs. Right. Yeah. So he's like, I mean, he's like, we're not obligated to give them any information. We wouldn't be happy to if they asked us any questions, but it doesn't seem like they will.

And so, yeah, I've seen a lot of people asking about whether or not like De'Asia Ferris is going to get $100,000. Yeah, that was my next question. Right. So no, that's not going to happen. Because I think, I mean, he kind of laid it out in his sponsorships, right? You have to play for the Las Vegas Aces and represent the city of Las Vegas. Obviously, De'Asia won't be able to represent the city of Las Vegas because she's not. So is Tiffany Hayes going to get her $100,000?

They will probably, because the thing is they just wanted to enter in 12 individual sponsorships, right? Yeah. So Tiffany is going to, is going to get in with that spot. Cause that's, so that's my point. 50 for Tiffany, 50 for Deja. Yeah.

they are business minded they're trying to make a return on their investment they're not just giving this money away which is exactly what the wmba is gonna you know look into it and see what was going on but i think that's gonna be to you know the aces players and the lbcba's benefit when they see like no this

This authority is not playing about getting their money. This is a business deal for them. They're not just giving away cash. Well, can you let them know that I can move to Vegas for a season?

Are you going to take the court? Are you going to? I can take the court. Just my play. I absolutely can be on the court doing some other things. I know you're playing, but in reality, if you did move to Vegas, the LBCBA would probably be reaching out to you because they have like

a hundred different influencers on their payroll that they use to promote different things. Like when they sponsored the Super Bowl coming to Las Vegas, they had Chad Ochocinco and they paid him money to talk about promoting the Super Bowl. Consider it. Okay, Cheryl's actually packing right now. She's actually in line at the airport right now. That's crazy. Listen, they would be thrilled.

Oh my gosh. Oh, wow. Well, that's actually a really great update because I feel like that was all the talk of the town. And then we just had nothing about that money, especially about the Asia Fair and TIFF. I'm sure that she answered that call a little quicker when she was like, oh yeah, what about that? Right. Right. Oh yeah. I can count on it.

But that's, I think that's why you still haven't heard the deals are done. Like they're still negotiating. That means negotiations fell through with T'Asia. Now they got to strike up negotiations with Tiffany's agent. So things are changing. They got a lot to work on, but I was told that once this is all said and done, they're going to do a ceremonial signing event. So they said, what investigation? We're going to celebrate.

Oh, wow. That's so fun. Wow. Well, Callie, thank you so much. Before I let you go, I just know that it's so rare to have a WNBA beat reporter for a team, especially in this day and age. So just how has it been to kind of

wear that badge of honor and be able to be a beat reporter these days. Yeah, I mean, it's been so incredible. Obviously, you're a Sacramento girl as well. So growing up in the town, the Monarchs left their stamp on. And I grew up playing basketball. So a lot of those players, like Yolanda Griffith, Ruthie Bolden, were around me. Danielle Viglione was my trainer in high school. Same! What? What?

Wow. We've both had Danielle. Let me call Danielle. But that was an assistant coach for the Sparks right now, by the way. Yes, exactly. That's what I was hoping to see her last night. I didn't get to see her, but we will make that happen. But my point is that like, it means a lot to me. Everything that's happening in the W for me to be in the position to chronicle this, like my inner child is just so happy every second because I never thought that I would be in this position. So.

It means a lot. I'm so grateful for it. I feel so embraced by my readers, by the athletes that I cover, by Becky Hammond, by the GM of the team. They have made me feel very welcomed. And so I don't take that for granted. I feel like this job is really important. So I'm just...

I'm just going day by day. Hey, it's a lot to cover, but you're doing great at it. And thank you so much for coming on and dropping some tea, some wisdom, some inside scoops. We appreciate you, Callie. All right, we're going to take a quick break. And on the other side, we're going to talk about something that made us smile from this past week.

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- All right, welcome back to Queens of the Court. That was awesome. I was so happy. - Really, really good. Really good. - So happy to talk to Allie. Just an inside look at the Las Vegas Aces. So that was great. But last week we talked about joy and thank you for all your emails, by the way, of sharing what brought you joy, saying that the show brought you joy. We so appreciate that. You listening brings me joy, but this week,

The laugh was Alicia Clark inbounding the ball to Arike Agumbawale accidentally. She was not looking. She was just talking to Becky Hammond on the sideline, just threw it in. Arike was shocked and she just shot the three and she missed it.

And I think what was so funny was that video was going viral everywhere. Shacting the Fool is not in the WNBA, but that would have definitely won the award if it was. ESPNW posted the video. Arike commented and was like, boy, IDK how I missed that. But I was too confused to lock in. And Alicia responded, you didn't want to just throw it back and start over? Yeah.

Oh my gosh. I wish, I hope everyone has seen that video because even us talking about it is hilarious, but it doesn't give it justice what happened. And you know, it was so like, oh, this is my teammate. Here you go. She's wide open. And then she threw it to her and took off running towards their basket. And even Arika, when she caught it, she stood there for a minute like,

What am I supposed to do with this? Well, I'm my easiest deal ever. Oh my God. Jordan, I was dying laughing. And then I don't know. And then to see everything that was on social media with Alicia Clark and her teammates and

I was just like, what were you really thinking? They are never going to let her live that. With a teammate like Sydney Colson on your team, you are never going to live that down. Ever.

But I think the thing that you have to do when you watch this video, you need to rewatch it over and over, definitely. But each time, look at a different person. So the first time I watched it, I looked at Alicia Clark. You're right. She was running the other way, didn't think anything of it, did a no-look inbound pass. The next time, I looked at Becky Hammond. She was also walking the other way. She didn't even realize it at first either. The next time, you look at Kelsey Plum, who was supposed to get the inbound pass, and

Her hands were just up like, do I defend? Do I, is this real? Hilarious. It was so funny. It was good. It was good laughter. It was great. Great. That was so good. That brought me joy. So I know it, we're laughing because it was funny and we did, we talked about what brought us joy last week and now laughter. So I want to, I want to just bring up something very briefly. So I,

Remember last week we talked about what we did and I said I spent 10 hours getting my hair braided, right? Yes. And so yesterday I'm on Twitter and like I had posted some photos before I got ready to do the game and I can't remember who it was, but somebody commented on one of my pictures and said, well, the 10 hours you spent on those braids was definitely worth it. So I smiled because I was like, and then I laughed because I was like,

They really heard me say I spent 10 hours getting my hair braided. So I can't remember who it was. If it was you, please hit me, tag me again so I know it's you so I can give you a real shout out. And thanks for telling me that the braids look good. That was so funny. It looked great. That was hilarious to me. How about that? Thanks, Jordan. It looked amazing. But yeah, it's like people, you really be listening. Yeah. Yeah. Somebody was like, well, the 10 hours you spent getting those braids done.

It's worth it. I was like, oh, okay. Oh my God. Thank you. That makes me feel much better. Oh my gosh. It was so worth it. Well, this was fun. This was a great episode per usual. Really good. And the games were fun this week. I know we're just getting started, but I feel like, you know, we haven't even really touched on

the commissioner's cup and the standings and all that, but Liberty have been playing super well. I've already clinched the East, but the West, we still have one more week of the commissioner's cup. The West is kind of for grabs a little bit. So we'll see how that plays out this week, but it should be fun. More basketball.

Coming. Make sure to... I'm sorry. Because I was just going to add that in. When you said the Liberty playing really well, they look really good giving Connecticut Sun their first loss the other night. Will Connecticut bounce back?

Will they bounce back? We will see. Also shout out to Courtney Vander Sloot. We don't know what's going on, but she's taken some personal days and I know Brianna Stewart has made sure to shout her out. So we are also shouting you out, Sloot. Hopefully everything is well. Sending you love. Sending you joy. Yes. We love you, Sloot. Yes. Make sure to continue to follow Redditor.

rate, review the show. It's available on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also keep sending us your questions, your stories, what brings you joy. I think that is going to be a thing every week. Keep telling us what brings you joy to our listener email address, queensofthecourtatodyssey.com.

Absolutely. And I think y'all know where to find me since you know it took me 10 hours to get my hair braided. Yeah, they know. But like always, you can find me at airsweeps22. And she, her, Jordan, is at

Jordan R. You had a new dance today. That was a new dance. I danced during the haze. You guys can't see us. Queens of the Corn is an Odyssey original created in partnership with the WNBA.

The show is produced by Alex Ozzie. The executive producers are Maddie Sprung Kaiser and Leah Reese Dennis. Social media assistance from Isabella Apple. Music from T-Storm Battle. And like always, a very special thank you to Lena Moss Glazer. And court is adjourned. Woo!