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To say goodbye to the podcast. This is Queens of the Court. What's up, everybody? Welcome to the final 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 Queens of the Court.
Is in session. Is in session. That was good. That kind of made me sad. This is the final of the WNBA season, the final episode for the season. But I think I wanted to kind of start with, because now that the WNBA season is over, college basketball is right there. Only weeks away.
Women's college basketball, it's going to be a really great season. But unfortunately, we are recording this on Monday and we got the news that Tasha Butts, she was a basketball coach at Georgetown. She just passed away. She was 41 after a battle with breast cancer. And I know, Cheryl, you had a connection and that was just not the best news to wake up to. Of course not.
I think a few weeks ago, maybe even a month ago, everyone was posting, like, "Get well soon," or "We got you back," because they had already said Tasha was stepping away, taking a break. And to your point, at the age of 41, so young, after battling with breast cancer,
You know, she wasn't just a coach at Georgetown. Tasha had been around the game forever, former Lady Vols. So to all the Lady Vols fans out there,
God, like our condolences in not just her, you know, to me, the, the irony of it was yesterday, South Carolina played Rutgers. So it was like a charity game, a tribute to Nikki McCray, remembering her life and legacy who passed away on in July. Same thing. She battled with breast cancer. So they're celebrating Nikki's life and legacy and,
who was also Lady Vol. And then today, this morning, we wake up and hear the sad news of Tasha Butt's passing. Yeah, I didn't have a personal relationship with Tasha, but I knew her in passing. Whenever I saw her, we would talk. And it's basketball, so it's a sisterhood. I don't care where you played, when you played, how long you played, basketball is a sisterhood. So
I just want to send my condolences to her family, her mom, her dad, Georgetown and the entire women's basketball community, because we absolutely lost another great one gone too soon. Rest in peace, Tasha.
Rest in peace. Sending all the good vibes. And I know Georgetown is going to play this season for their coach, especially. So we will have her in our thoughts and prayers and her family as well. Not only is college basketball season on the horizon, but baseball playoffs. Cheryl, did you throw out the first pitch? Okay.
Listen, we are so going to talk about this because not only did I throw out the first pitch, it was a strike. I need for everybody to know that. My catcher though, my catcher struggled because it was the mascot. It was Orbit. Orbit couldn't see with all the things he had going on, but it was right down the pipe, baby, right over home plate.
The unfortunate thing was the Strolls lost. Listen, we got to redeem ourselves. I know. I was going to say. They 0-1 for Stroll. Don't do that. Don't do that. Listen, I will take an 0-1 if we end this thing. We got to get the dub tonight. It's do or die. It's win or go home. It's Liberty versus Aces.
Win or go home. Win or go home. Okay, we'll see. I didn't know that the mascot was the catcher. I was like, are you really throwing a professional baseball catcher under the bus? No, I wouldn't do that. Jordan, I would do a lot of things. Why would I do that? I wouldn't. But it was such, it was just such an honor. I was talking to someone, actually my brother went with me and
I just said, like, it's an honor to get asked to throw out the first pitch. So when they reached out, I was like, okay. And I ain't gonna lie. My brother went to the store, bought a baseball and we were in the backyard throwing the baseball yesterday. Cause I was like, it's got to cross home plate. I can't throw it in the dirt. Listen, I got her. I got a reputation. So shout out to the Astros. Thank you for having me.
And let's go get that dub tonight. Let's go. Okay. I had to bring that up because that was amazing. Royalty. You didn't know I had an arm like that. That's why you brought it up. You know, I didn't. But am I surprised that the Hall of Famer is great at everything? No. You are really good at a lot of things. And just add baseball to that list. Do tell. Do tell. Do tell. Oh.
We'll add it to the list. I'm not going to puff your head too big now. You got those practice rounds in. I did. I did. You mentioned Aces Liberty. We've had some time to kind of sit back and scroll through Twitter. I refuse to call it X. Me too. And see all of the...
the celebrations from the aces they're going to play bingo and wigs like they are having a time the aces parade is monday night tonight we are recording this in vegas will usher show up maybe we'll see um what else happened since then the liberty was fine twenty thousand dollars for not going to the media a lot has happened
If Usher doesn't show up, it's not for lack of trying because Asia has been calling him out anywhere and everywhere. She was on Good Morning America calling out Usher. His people had to see it. Let's see what happens. Here's my thing. So not only have we seen the Aces celebrating and dancing and Kelsey Plum with the boom box and all that.
I have to just at some point get off of Twitter. Like from the time the Aces won until probably this morning, I just, I have to take it in in moderation because there's so much stuff. And a lot of it to me, it's just funny. It's funny where people are just going at each other. Like Twitter has been spiked
So spicy. And here's the thing. You know, Sid Colson has been, I feel like her, her thumbs are tired. She needs to like ice them after she's been tweeting so much, but they just woke up as a collective team and was like, we have been silent all season long. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. We haven't talked mess. We haven't said anything. So what you said to me in the,
May on May 30th. I'm talking about it now. Like they saved it all for this moment. And my favorite was Jackie Young, who hasn't tweeted in months upon end. She was just like, I don't even tweet, but we all tweet. So here you go. Like everybody just got in on it. I had to go look. I was like, am I even following Jackie? Cause I know she never tweets anything.
Well, there were so many I had, but I'm going to say this. So because I got to go at some people who went out or who went at AC, Alicia Clark, because they were going at everybody. So there's this one. I think it's a guy. I don't know who it was. Don't really matter. That posted bitch, bitch players talking like starters. I don't know if you saw that. And so first of all, here's my thing. I don't care if you're a starter, a bitch, whatever. Talk, yo, talk. Do you?
I don't care. Just do it. I love it. I love the spice, but here's what I will say. Alicia Clark ain't a bench player. No. If you know her, if you know her game, if you follow the league, if you followed her, Alicia played for the mystics. She played for the aces. I mean, for, um, the storm she has started, um,
Coming to this team, she knew what her role would be. And she embraced her role every single game. Even the minutes she plays coming off the bench for the Aces are starter minutes. So my thing is like, know your history, put some respect on AC's name and her game.
Because without Alicia Clark, I don't know if the aces repeat. She was that important to this squad. Just understanding her role, understanding what the team needed from her, that finals game. I won't even talk about her offense, even though she had some crucial buckets for them. Her defense on Stewie in game four, wasn't it four?
one two three game four yeah yeah game five game four yeah thank you dang and game four no it was hard it was clutch it was again without ac do they repeat i don't know so and it's a backup backup backup not only did she do know her role she did it the best she won six player of the year award like she was the best at that role yeah yeah
Yeah. So I don't look, a lot of people were bold. A lot of people saying a lot of stuff, but I,
I love the spiciness. I love that this is brewing. We talked about this a little bit in our reaction pod after the game, but this is just fueling a rivalry for the next few years. Like all of it. I want all of these tweets saved into a historical document so that when the Liberty, if they win next year, they can go back and point to, well, remember when you said this and it's,
That's what's the best about sports. You have to talk mess because that's what makes it fun. Jordan, not only that, like it's good for our game. Yeah. People, like we're not all these perfect little angels wearing halos. Like, you know, it's a few of us got some horns on our head. So let's go. I like it. The last one I want to bring up, and maybe you can help me with this because I only saw bits and pieces.
Not really sure what what Kelsey Plum said that had JJ go off in. I don't I miss that. But yeah, there was something there. Do you know? There was there was. And essentially, I'm going to look up exactly what was said, but essentially, Kelsey Plum said.
was saying that you can't build super teams overnight. And then she was saying that, you know, the Liberty aren't a team. Like, because of that, we, talking about the Aces, we, you know, have went through adversity. We've been through stuff. We've had losing seasons. And so we're really a team. And the Liberty aren't a team. And they just, like, plucked that out.
That's the part they pulled out. And so then they just asked Sandy Brondello, what do you think of Kelsey Plum's comments? JJ, what do you think of Kelsey Plum's comments? So it was kind of that. Here we have the quote here. We also knew that as much as they're a team, they're not a team, if that makes sense. They're really good individual players, but they don't care about each other. And you can tell in those moments. They revert back to individual basketball.
Okay, that was way worse. I didn't see that. Yeah. Here's my here. Oh, okay. Let me let me digest this for a second. Yeah. Dang. So my thing is for her to be like, they're not a team. They're really good at it, but they don't care about each other. And that part, I don't know if I agree with because I didn't see that with the Liberty. I totally agree with her statement as far as saying,
you can't become a super team in two or three months, right? Yeah, you can put those pieces together, but those pieces have to learn how to come together and play together. And she's 100% correct. The aces are there, right? But the majority of those players have been together longer than three months. They only added Candice and Alicia, right? So that in other people's minds made them a super team. When...
some might argue they were already a super team right yeah but uh okay so in reading this now I see why JJ got upset here's my thing here's my thing listen if that's what you think and that's how you feel and I'm to Kelsey own it just like we're telling fourth place voter for Asia to own it
I mean, on it, don't back up. Don't walk it back. Like if that's what it is, then it is what it is. That in itself, if I'm the Liberty or I know we'll get into free agency. If I'm JJ, I'm like, oh no, I'm coming back to the Liberty because we got some unfinished business. KP, you want to talk your talk? All right.
I love it. I'm ready for next season already. That's what I'm hoping for. This is only the tip of the iceberg once that quote kind of came out. So JJ's comment was, I think it's easy to kick people when they're down and you're up. And honestly, to me, it felt classless. You can celebrate with your team and instead you choose to essentially s***.
On someone else so that's what John Quo Jones said About KP's comments but then Kelsey Plum enters The chat again and she Says since the media wants To do clickbait I'm gonna cut this Drama right now so we can move On and be in peace what I Said was taken extremely out of Context I was trying to articulate My teammates and I Have been through a lot and we used Our bond to get over the
the hump and getting through it doesn't happen overnight. Never been the type to throw shade. I don't know if that's true. KB quite the opposite. Actually, I see how it came off. Never was my intention. And I apologize. Our game grew immensely from this series. So don't let this bull distract from the biggest win here. How about that? How about that?
Is it too late? Like it's an apology statement. I guess she's saying, but the apology, that's me as a player. I'm like KP, but to your point, and this is me, this ain't nobody else. KP, you, you, you, you've thrown a few, a little bit of shade before a little bit. I ain't mad at you. You know, I love it. Tom Brady.
At the game. She did. That time you showed up, like that shade, KP. That's okay. No. Listen. It's all right. The Liberty is not accepting this apology. Just know that. And I love it. Oh, man. So, yeah. So, that happened. That was... What was the game? A week ago? A week ago. Barely? Barely. The 18th. So, so much has happened. And...
Like you said, Cheryl, it's just getting me excited for next season. And it's also just allowing me to kind of reflect on this season. So when we reflect, what do you think this season will be remembered for?
which is kind of a tough one because there's so many there's a few things that have happened this year but i guess if we just kind of run through them what what would be some things that this season would be remembered for
One, I'll start with one. I would just say attendance, like the numbers for, and not just the finals, playoffs, and even some regular season games, just the attendance numbers were out the roof, crazy people talking about the game. The game absolutely has grown, um,
I will start with attendance. What about you? What's another one? Well, I would say just record breaking.
I know that we had that conversation about how it's a little bit of an asterisk because this was the longest season in WNBA history with 40 games. But I just feel like every single night it was somebody breaking a record. It was Alyssa Thomas breaking a triple-double record, Asia tying the scoring record. It was most 40-point games. Like, that is wild.
When I hope, you know, we look back, what was the 2023 season? What happened that year? Oh, that's when everybody was getting buckets and people were scoring a lot of points. And that is a great, great thing to be known for, honestly. Well, it is. I will say this. I actually thought about that. I totally agree with that. Record-breaking what Asia and Stewie did. What I don't think will be remembered enough is
even though we're talking about record breaking is just how amazing AT was this season. Yes. Stewie, Stewie was great. Asia was great. And I know we've talked about it, but I just, I want to end this podcast, just leaving it in people's minds and brains that Alyssa, what Alyssa Thomas was able to do in a single season is,
may not ever be done again. And I know there's some amazing talent in college that's come into the league at some point. To have six triple doubles in one season, breaking the double-double record. When I think about great players that I played with and against, Rhonda Griffith, Lisa Leslie, Candice Parker, Tina Thompson, Lauren Jackson, she broke the double-double record.
In the same season that she set the triple-double record. It's crazy. And on a team who lost their center. And she still continued to do all of those things, keeping her team in the playoff hunt, making it to the play. That's the part for me that I hope people will remember and talk about in years to come. And I don't know if we will.
I think it's going to be remembered a little bit of that MVP race, like of the voting. And that's going to be a big part of this race.
season and what it kind of boiled down to and where I hope real people know like man Alyssa Thomas came up short but look what the season that she had and I hope that's kind of the how we talk about this season yeah um and the next question I had excuse me was the biggest surprise of the season and I was gonna say the Connecticut Sun in a sense because
Brianna Jones went down so early that that could have been their season. Like that could have been the story of the Connecticut Sun all season long, but it wasn't. It was the best Dawana Bonner we have seen. It was the best Alyssa Thomas we have seen. It was wait, this Tiffany Hayes trade really worked out. Like this is really great. Um,
We did not talk about them at all when we were talking about the draft, the preseason. I just was not prepared really for Connecticut to come on this strong and especially after losing someone like that. So I would say that's one of my biggest surprise. And then I also want to give a
a shout out to Jordan Canada because I feel like when we talked about the most improved player, I was given flowers galore to Satu. But I also want to give it to Jordan Canada in the sense that she I think people forget and I forget too. She was on a training camp contract coming into the season. Yeah. And it's like, what?
Well, I was Jordan Canada on a training camp contract and she went all the way to one game of the Sparks being out of the playoffs and really putting it on her back as they went through so much injury, so many injuries and different lineups. Jordan Canada was the constant of the Sparks. And so I...
I don't know if I'm surprised because I'm such a fan of hers personally and on the court. But I think what she did, if you just look back in the history books, it's going to be like, wait, training camp to second and most improved voting. Like, that's incredible. Yeah, I agree with that. And, you know,
Because Satu, Sabli had a phenomenal season. And so I know we spent a lot of time talking about her. And we mentioned Jordan, right? But we just mentioned her and then we skipped, we moved on. So I totally agree with that. Big fan of Jordan Canada. I agree. I don't think it was a surprise. Yeah. But we didn't talk about her enough. Mine would, mine will be the end. Like the fact that the Aces won the,
the championship in New York without Chelsea Gray, right? I know Kia Stokes was out. Candice was out. People might be like, oh yeah, I knew it. No. The biggest surprise for me was the way the aces were able to win the championship in repeat.
without their head of the snake. That's so good because in the middle of the season when we were having those blowout games, if I would have told you after New York blew out the Aces by like 40, I would say, Cheryl, I just looked into the future. The Aces are going to win the championship over the New York Liberty without Chelsea Gray, without Kia Stokes, and Kayla George is...
is going to be leading in points at halftime like you'd be like shut up i don't believe you and and sid colson's gonna have five fouls in the first quarter yeah that that to me and there were so many things but oh no that's good that is the biggest surprise which i mean hey save the best for last that it was just the perfect um bow
on the regular season. But we look at the standings. We've talked about how Minnesota finishing at sixth was a little bit of a surprise as well. They finished over the Mystics. I wouldn't have guessed that coming in at seven. I think Chicago...
was surprised that they didn't have the amazing season that i was kind of hoping and wishing that they would but it's only up from here i think this is their floor yeah and and let's not forget izzy didn't play all season is a big difference for them but but i want to go back to the mystics because we
You and I both, I think you had the Mystics winning and I had the Mystics making it to the finals. Yeah, I had EDD as my MVP at the beginning of the season. So I would say maybe that was probably for me another surprise is them not doing as well as I thought. Granted, you always have to look at injury and staying healthy.
if Shakira Austin doesn't go down, you know, in the middle of the season, she's out some time coming back from an injury EDD. She plays a few games. She's out a few games. You Tasha cloud is hurt. Ariel Atkins. Like, I don't think they ever, with the exception of the very beginning of the season, I don't think they ever had a full roster healthy where they could try and make some noise for that, that yeah.
Some things got to change there. Some things got to get shifted around. Something got to give. And looking at the bottom of the standings, Indiana Fever coming in at 10th.
Again, I feel like we've mentioned it, but they should be so excited that they're not 12th and that they're moving up. Like they had great season. This Green and Fever team with the right few pieces can make some noise next year. They're young. They're good. They're talented. I'm excited about next year with this team. Thanks.
Me too. Okay, well, we're going to talk about some free agency and some other changes that may be going around in the offseason. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
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welcome back to queens of the court and we're gonna get into our listener mailbag which is my favorite thing you guys have been holding it down all season long with these great emails that you've been sending to us or tweeting at us
everything um first one we're gonna start with is Sabrina from England I will spare you my English accent I need to hear the accent I need to hear it pretty good but let me be the judge let me be the judge let's go come on I'm not gonna do it come on Jordan well we actually have two questions
from our England listeners. So maybe I'll do it on the next one. It's all right. Little suspense. - Wow. Okay. - So it reads, how do you both feel about the appointment of the new Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts? He has no women's basketball experience and will be paid the highest wage in the league's history. Is this two steps forward and one step back for the league?
- Big sigh. If you haven't heard the news, Phoenix Mercury hired Nate Tibbetts. They announced it kind of while the finals were going on, which I think was just, it did kind of feel like, yeah.
it did a little bit feel like two steps, you know, two steps forward, one step back because we're like, yes, this final is so great. Two woman head coaches, two former players. This is awesome. And then they announced this news and I feel like the women's basketball community was a little deflated from it. But what were, what was your gut reaction, Cheryl? WTF. It's perfect. No, that was, that was my initial reaction. Like,
And I even tweeted about it. I just, listen, we talk about growing the game and opportunities for women. The expansion team that was announced this year in the Bay Area, more jobs for players and more opportunity. And then the Mercury goes and hires a man.
i i am not opposed to men coaching girls women but i am opposed to it when you're not even given giving women an opportunity and there are my opinion i i don't i don't know nate from adam i don't but when there are women who i do know
that are very well qualified, if not more qualified than Nate for this job. But I think the part that even frustrates me even more is the way they did it. Like, did you even have a conversation with Nikki Blue? Did you interview her? Did you, like, Nikki came into this season, she stepped in, she became interim coach,
And she had a lot on her plate to deal with. I don't think anybody was expecting them to win a championship or quite frankly, to even make the playoffs. But for Nikki to step in, become interim, I thought there was a point where they did start playing a little better together. But then you just kick her to the curb. Like not even a shot. And here's the last thing. We're quick, not us, but we're quick to say, well...
Example, Becky can't go coach in the NBA because she doesn't have experience coaching men. She was an assistant under Pop for I don't know how many years, who is arguably the best coach or one of the best coaches ever in the NBA. She learned from the best.
So how is it not okay for her to go to the NBA and be a head coach coaching men? And it's perfectly fine for Nate to come to the WNBA and coach in the WNBA when he doesn't have any experience whatsoever coaching women. So it says, but he is, let me just read that. He, a veteran coach with nearly two deck, a widely respected veteran coach with nearly two decades of experience in the NBA and NBA G league, but nowhere in there does it say,
Coaching women. Yeah. Women's women's college. Women's AAU. I'm just saying nowhere. So to me, this is when you when stuff like this happens, Jordan, to me, it it almost makes makes our league look like a joke because here's what I think is going to happen.
You couldn't, you couldn't or didn't get a head coach in the NBA. So you're going to come to the WNBA and coach Phoenix Mercury for a few years, three, four years, maybe, and hoping that you'll then get an opportunity to be a head coach in the NBA. And then you're gone. That's what happens.
Yeah, it's that stepping stone mentality, right? Like that we that we talk about both ways of, you know, all the taking a head coaching job in the WNBA is going to lead to an assistant in the NBA because that's, you know, that's the next step up. But we don't I want to get rid of all of that. I think my gut reaction was.
I want to know, was Nikki Blue considered? Who was in the hiring pool? Like, were there not only women, were there Black women considered for this job? Were there former players? I think that's something that we just...
are a little fuzzy about. I'm reading this Just Women Sports story and the general manager of the Phoenix Mercury said, you know, as you know, when you run a WNBA organization, the diversity and opportunity are critical. I would say our process and our candidate pool and our finalist pool all reflected that. But the person you chose does not reflect that at all.
And again, I don't know Nate. He could be an incredible coach. I think it's just coming into a community where you just don't have that street cred yet. Like we don't know you. We had to Google you and we know this league and love this league. And so I think it's just going to be a lot of climbing, climbing.
Also in this story, he says, I don't live online. I haven't heard all the discourse about this hire. I'm just going to kind of come in and do my job. That's like what he's saying. Even if you're not online, you've heard it because someone has told you. But Jordan, listen, I'm sorry to cut you off because we're just talking about him being the head coach. Yes. You're the head coach in the WNBA. That part. No. No.
My first thought when I heard that was I hope Teresa Weatherspoon, the ink hasn't dried on her contract because I want her to get the money. And I hope Becky Hammond, as they were celebrating with the champagne, she looked at Mark Davis and said, find out how much he's getting paid and double it for me because I have two championships in this league. And you're...
And mine was the bar that he jumped over. But there's so much. And then I read where he said, I don't know this league. So I'm going to rely on my players to help me. What? Can I please read this though? Because I've always had respect for Muffet McGraw as a coach. Yeah. Always. And so I'm, you know, again, on Twitter and I'm reading Muffet.
The fact that Muffet is saying what I'm about to read, to me, it just took it to a whole different level. Right. So Muffet McGraw, her tweet said, quote, breaking news. White man hires white man to coach WNBA team and makes him the highest paid coach in the league. Gender bias is real. 95% of men's sport coaches are male and 60% of women's sport coaches are male.
Title IX is 50, yet we don't have equal opportunity, equal pay, or equal rights. Yeah, Muffet. That just really sums it all up right there. And then I read somebody else said, it's not what you know, but it's who you know. And to me, this is a great example of who you know. You cannot tell me that you could not
find a female to give this job to and make her, her, the highest paid coach in the WNBA. I'm saying this and she's probably like, no, Cheryl, don't do that to me. Carolyn Peck, come back in the league.
Jordan, there are so many. There's so many. I mean, there's so many. We could come up with the list tomorrow. And if, and if the Phoenix Mercury didn't know, you know, their hiring staff or their GM and their ownership, I wish they would have asked like, who are the best candidates? Who can we do to do this? But I, I will say, you know,
to play the devil's advocate, if you will, of this situation is that Phoenix, it's bad. It's bad there. There was drama with Skylar Diggins. There was the Vanessa Nygaard getting fired. They were the last place in the league. Like they need a lot of work to get back to the Phoenix Mercury of championship winning Phoenix Mercury.
So I get the idea of like, let's start over. Let's get somebody brand new in here and let's start over. That would kind of be the devil's advocate to not continuing with Nikki Blue. But this can go really well.
really, really bad by bringing somebody from an outsider in who doesn't know who's going to bring whoever on staff that hopefully know about the WNBA and hopefully have coached women's basketball. But you are taking that risk by doing that because you're cleaning house. You're saying, let's start over. Let's start scratch. We know Skylar Diggins is going to be there next season. So let's just get a reset button.
but that could blow up in your face as well and so this is when it does or if it does we're gonna point back to this moment and say okay Phoenix this was the choice that you made you chose Elite basketball coach legendary player girl dad wow wow well because here's my thing why not go why not go to the WNBA and get one of their assistants you hired an assistant from the NBA
So go get one of the many female assistant coaches in the WNBA. But at the end of the day, I don't care who the coach is. I don't care if he came from the NBA, G League, Mars, overseas. I don't care where he came from. You still got to have talent. Yeah. You got to have players to win, to compete. And so for someone...
For someone who doesn't know our league and our game, I don't even know if I would have said that. Right? I'd be like, yeah, I watch the games. Keep that to yourself. Yeah. Do a quick, you know, spark notes of the WNBA to just throw out some generic names. Like, don't say you don't know what you're doing. That's like rule number one of any job. Do I know what I'm doing all the time? No. I'd be like, I was born for this. I was made for this.
I don't know. I don't know. Man. All right. Well, I think that's going to be on a microscope. I know we are going to cover it next season. We're going to be watching it like a hawk because especially now we know that you're getting paid.
You better bring it. And I also hope there's a lot of head coaches. I don't know what he's getting paid. I just know he's the highest. I know. That's what it is. It's just over a million dollars. Becky was the highest paid. So we know you're making more than a million. We know you're making more than Becky. So Becky, find out the exact dollar amount and get $1 slash a million dollars more because you deserve it all. Okay. All right. Next question.
from Armand thanks for sending this in what free agent would you love to see join a new team where they can be a difference maker oh God there's so many there are so many we have a full list of all the unrestricted free agents I started counting I got tired there are a lot of them a lot a lot
A wild stat just to throw in just sure. What's that? 42 free agents? 42 free agents. And these are just the ones that are currently signed on to teams. Yeah. A wild stat for you. The Aces, they have cap space to sign a super max player, which. That's scary. Come on now. That's scary. Come on now. Yeah.
Any names on here that you would want to see on a new team that would make the biggest difference? I think that's the key part of the question. That's what makes it so good. All right. So let's just jump right into it because I'm sure you've seen, and I have too, like Skylar Diggins is out there, right? She's posting stuff. Everybody's commenting. Yeah.
Come here, come here, come here. I saw a Liberty fan was like, come to New York. And she responded and said, would I come off the bench? Which means if I'm coming off the bench, I ain't coming. And then people were like, oh no, come to Vegas. Here's what I say to that. Yeah, no doubt Skylar wants to win a championship.
But I also feel like Skylar is like, I want to compete against the best. I could see that. Yeah. But I don't think that Skylar is what the aces need. They need a scoring big. Yes. Yes, they do. So when I look on this list,
She's not a big, but I'm a huge, and I don't see her on here. So I don't know if she's a free agent. I'm just going to put it out here though. I love Emma Mieseman. Like I love Emma Mieseman. So I'm not really sure what her story is. If Brianna Jones doesn't go back to Connecticut,
Brianna Jones could be a really good piece for the aces oh I like that too oh I like that too but yeah Emma Miesman she's a free agent she just was she was out this this past season but man when she she's a finals MVP for a reason with that Mystic squad because she was she could shoot it from three
She was defending. She could do a lot of things. And you could say NECA, but I don't think so. I don't think she will. I don't either. But I also think NECA and Sinead are like a package deal. And both of them can't go to the Aces. But your question was, what free agent would I like to see on a team that could make the biggest difference or impact, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, I am going to go with Skylar Diggins for a few reasons. She didn't play this year. Skylar is hot. Skylar is ready to come back. Yeah, she is. And do some things. Okay. So, I think, I couldn't come with one. So, I'm going to give you two. Okay. All right. I wanted to say. We talked about it early on. No doubt about it, Indiana. Okay. Okay.
Indiana could use Skylar. Skylar could run the show. She's got some great young pieces around her. She would be home. You know, Notre Dame, like Indiana, Indiana, Indiana. It would be really good. Okay. Okay. All right. And the second team, I'm going to say Connecticut. Okay. Okay.
And of course, this is dependent upon if DeJuana stays, if AD stays. I don't know. I like Connecticut. I like those two teams. But I would also say this. There are other teams that she... So the list I wrote down was Indiana, Connecticut, Chicago, Minnesota. I say Chicago. That was going to be my pick. I think...
I think that could work. I just have a feeling the Chicago Sky, Skyler Diggins, it's right there. With Spoon being the coach for Chicago? It's right there. I kind of like that. For Chicago, you know, looking at this unrestricted free agency list, Courtney Williams is on this list. So I don't,
- No, I think Courtney Williams and Skylar could play together. But when you look at Connecticut, it's Tiffany Hayes, it's Bree Jones, it's Rebecca Allen, it's Tawana Bonner. All of those people would have to come back and Skylar Diggins somehow to be able to be a team that I think could compete.
you know I think it couldn't be all those people or Skylar you know that's not enough you gotta have you gotta have more Skylar is just like she's ready let me I'm gonna put this name out here because it's not on here and I know she's playing I think in China right now I don't know what the deal is in the league and the story and all of that
But Kennedy Carter. Oh, okay. Kennedy Carter is a bucket. She's a bucket. I know it's like there's other stuff that people say. I don't know. I think under the right coach in the right system, she could help somebody.
Because she's a bucket. Kennedy Carter is a baller. I'm just saying, she's a baller. That's a good name. And the other player is when you talk about bigs, because I know, I don't even want to jump ahead because I don't know if it's in here. It is in here, so I'll just wait until we get to it.
No, I see her name on here, so I'll wait until we get to it. Okay, that's perfect. But there are a lot of great free agents, though. There are a lot of great free agents. And I was just going to say Natasha Cloud is on this list. And her exit interview with the Mystics was a lot about...
thanking them and how she's been a part of this franchise. Does she stay? Does she go somewhere else? I think the Mystics are a great fit. She's going to shake some things up. I think so, too. Like, even if she just pokes around a little, I think that'll just be fun just for the league as a whole because she's such an instant,
chemistry person and just somewhere that can go and shake with who's ever with her. Yeah. So it makes her kind of the perfect free agent a little bit. Jordan, I'm sitting here. I know we got to move on, but I'm sitting here looking at something and I'm like, based off of the conversation we just had earlier about the Liberty and the aces,
Does JJ leave New York and pull a Kevin Durant and go play with the Aces next year? No. I'm just saying. You said they need a scoring big. I'm just saying. Is that not a scoring big? If you wrote the script, this would be interesting. Is that not? On this list, that's the best scoring big.
But I'm like, you know, Katie left and went and played Golden State after they beat them. I'm just saying. Look, I am here for it. Katie, Katie talking smack, JJ coming back. Like, do they become teammates next year? I am here for the chaos. I am so here for the chaos. I think just on this list,
And John Quill Jones and Brianna Stewart are on this list as unrestricted free agents. But Liberty are going to have to figure that out. They want both of them to stay. We were just talking earlier about JJ's comments about KP. Maybe does that make her revenge or does that say that's too hard? Let me just go join. You're right. Let me come play alongside you.
you're so right we're not a team i want to jump join your team oh my god oh my god that would be i like it well if that happens we can replay this clip because you called it and that would be awesome oh my god that would be awesome yeah okay we could talk about this all day but all day this might be a whole nother uh yeah the whole another episode real quick really quick this time
This is the second part of Armand's question. Which team in the lottery, Fever, Mercury, Sparks, Storm needs the first pick the most? You said real quick, this is easy. Girl Dad. Girl Dad's team. Really easy. The Mercury. They need 11,000 picks to reshape this franchise. So Armand, there you go. It's the Mercury. It's easy.
Okay, this is from Kazzy, also from England. - I need the accent. I need the accent. - What a great name. - I know, I do like that. - Kazzy from England. - Kazzy, Kazzy, come on. Say her name. - Kazzy first. - Kazzy, Kazzy. What was your favorite game to watch this season? The one you'd go back and watch and show people that this is what WNBA basketball is. - Come on, Jordyn!
- I'm not even gonna try. No, that was so on point. - Wow. I like it. I like it. - Oh my God. - And it's favorite. It's a OU favorite, very English version of favorite. Which,
What was your favorite game of the season? Gosh, I don't know. There were so many. Look, I'm going to go with recency bias. Totally. And I'm going with the finals. I really am going with the finals. I'm going to go with the finals. Yeah.
i think that has to be it that was just a chef's kiss way too i would in that that playoff series going down to a last second shot just so good i would also say just uh this just came into my head when jewel lloyd was going off and why was that when they were playing arique when arique was going off i was at that game i was gonna pick that one too man that was so good i think it was uh
38 points and 40 points or something like that. They were going back and forth. That was one for the books. That was one that I'm like, I would point back to say we got some scorers, some hoopers in this league. Watch this game because Jewel Lloyd and Arike were going off. That was a good one. Okay, enough with the accent. We'll move on to the next question.
- Nichelle asked about two players who didn't play the season. So Tina Charles and Emma Mieseman, which I feel like this is who you were talking about a little bit ago. And asked if we see them making a comeback
in the WNBA. So for some background, Tina Charles didn't sign with the WNBA team in 2023. She was an unrestricted free agent. She's now playing in China during the off season. And just yesterday, Charles recorded 22 points, 11 rebounds and four assists and her team's 90 to 61%
And for Emma Mieseman, didn't sign with the WNBA team, was also an unrestricted free agent. And she's playing overseas as well. Real quick. Do you see Tina Charles, Emma Mieseman to the aces, I think you called, but do you see Tina Charles making a comeback in this league? I don't know, but I, but I'll also say this is, is Tina at a point in her career where,
Where she's like, I only want to play overseas because I can go play overseas for four or five months and make me a nice bag. Yeah. And because she's at a point where she can't play year round and take her body through that. So I would say, does Tina Charles want to play in the league again? And if she does, are there teams out there right now that are like, yeah, we would take you?
I don't know. And with Emma Mieseman, I would say absolutely see her coming back. I love Emma Mieseman. And I think I did. I said Vegas would be good for her. But I also think a Phoenix Mercury team could use an Emma Mieseman. So, yeah, I do.
Okay. I think that's fair. One thing I'll say about Tina Charles is it recency bias is kind of not on her side with the whole Phoenix and Seattle switching and canceling contracts like that just happened not too long ago. So I think people are kind of pointing to that rather than the legendary career that she's had prior to that. So recently bias just isn't really on her side. I, I, I agree with you. I don't know if Tina, uh,
makes a comeback, Emma, she's a bucket. And just the veteran presence that she wants on your team. - Yes, she is a bucket. - Incredible story too. We'll talk about it another time.
Um, a couple other things on the docket. This is a super max episode because we're just not ready to say goodbye yet. But, um, off season. So now we're going into off season. I talked about, you know, women's college basketball is what I'm going to be sinking my teeth into, but, um,
There's also Athletes Unlimited. There's the maybe unrivaled 3X3 League. But are you where are you going to be looking to see everybody offseason? Well, I mean, Athletes Unlimited, you know, I've been very fortunate to
do some broadcasting for Athletes Unlimited the last two seasons. So I'm really excited about that. Not sure what players will play, but word on the street is Aaliyah Boston is considering playing in Athletes Unlimited, which could be really good, right? Okay. Does a
Probably not, but does a player like a Skylar Diggins who doesn't want to go overseas and just wants to get her feet wet and wants to compete a little bit, does she come and play in Athletes Unlimited?
I don't know. So I'm absolutely, I will be there. And as far as international players and, you know, so I'm like everybody else, I'm on Twitter and Instagram, seeing what players are doing, where they're playing, how they're doing. Shout out AT because I know she's in China. She's hitting them with triple doubles already.
Already. Already. Yeah. He walked off the plane with the triple-double. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. They had the sign that said, welcome triple-double queen. And to your point, the status of Unrivaled, I don't know the status of it. So, because we haven't heard anything else about it. So, of course, I'll be watching if it happens, but I don't know. Off-season will be good, though. It will be good. And I hope that the, my only thing is,
the finals, like we talked about the momentum, everybody's talking about it. I want us to find a way to keep that energy until the draft until tip off between next season, because with the NBA, people don't shut up about it. They talk about it from the end of the finals all the way until the season starts tomorrow. And it's like, it's always talked about. So I want us to, to
to figure out how we can just keep on that momentum, keep people excited from the finals throughout the off season. But with athletes unlimited, all these other leagues, there's plenty of opportunities that are growing, especially here in the United States that are going to be it. And one more note, the next season there is an Olympics. So that's going to put a little wrench in, in the season. They're going to take a mid season break when the Olympics happened and
talk about spicy the last Olympics and who made the team and who didn't was a whole thing. So I'm going to be really excited to see who makes the team when that team is announced and how they don't get a break. They go play the Olympics and they come right back and finish off the regular season, which I'm sure is just a whirlwind. Yeah. But that's going to be, that's going to be exciting. Are you going to Paris? No, no.
For the Olympics? We'll find a way. For the Olympics. For the Olympics, not the preseason. I know. I thought you were talking about the preseason, right? Yeah, that one, no. I don't know. I'll be very honest with you. It depends on what's going on in this world.
That's true. If I go to Paris. That's fair. That's fair. Well, if you do go, then I could be your carry on. You could just carry me on and I'll just go with clothes on my back. Okay. Great. Well, that'll be fun. That's a date. All right. Well, we'll finally wrap this episode up after the break, but we're just not ready to say goodbye. We'll be right back.
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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. Welcome back to Queens of the Court. Let's just give out some flowers. This was probably my favorite segment all season long. Let's just give out flowers. You're giving out some flowers. Um...
Well, I am the number one sappy person. So I'm giving a bouquet of flowers to you, Cheryl, because you jumped into this podcasting thing.
And you took a leap of faith and you held my hand through it. And I promised you that I will throw you out loops all season long. Oh my God. Don't make me cry. Don't make me cry. I'm not gonna make you cry. I'm not gonna make you cry, but you killed this. You killed this on top of doing analysis for ESPN, the halftime shows like you have reentered ESPN.
everyone's WNBA hearts and minds in the media space and you're killing it. So I just have to give you your flowers because this was so fun. This didn't feel like work. This was just talking basketball with a legend. So thank you for doing this with me. And this is the first of many. Oh, my gosh. Well, then I will drop. Hey, I'm just going to say back at you.
I didn't even know you had the accent and all of that, the English accent. Full of surprises. On the last episode, pulling out stuff you didn't even know about. Because you know how sappy I can be too, because I will cry in a minute. It's been so much better than I thought it would be because this isn't my space, right? And you're 100% correct because I was like, Jordan, listen,
I haven't done this, don't even know what I'm doing, but I'm trusting you to lead me, guide me. That's what being teammates is all about. You have been by far one of the best teammates I've ever had, walking me through it, getting me through it. And people have actually said this to me, like, how long have you guys known each other and worked together? I know. The chemistry that we've been able to have this first season,
I don't know. It just has been so good. Such a great feeling. Like, I love you to pieces. I love you to pieces. And you've made this so much better than I could have ever anticipated being. I love you. So did you give me a bouquet? Yeah. I'm giving you a garden. I'm giving you a garden. Oh.
And you have gardens. Every day. Just go pick whatever flower you want. It's been amazing. I love you. I believe this is our last one for this season. Last one for this season. Also want to give some flowers to our incredible team. Alex, our producer for putting up with us and our crazy schedule. Yes. Thank you, Alex.
um Lena for bringing this and putting this all together um I mean I think just some really cool badass women that are putting on this show is awesome to do every week so I also want to give a special thank you to the league and their partnership this season um I mean just them
them posting about the show on social was a huge bump for us, but just being in partnership with the WNBA, being the official podcast for the WNBA, that was awesome. I've always wanted to be. It's an honor. Yeah. Like it's an honor. And for me being a former player to still be able to be a part of the league in a different capacity, absolutely. Just want to say thank you much love. We appreciate all the support and to your point,
the fact that they would take the podcast what different episodes different parts of it and post it and and promote it without the league um you know we're not we're not as successful as i thought we were this year for sure i know i'm never gonna be drafted to the wmba but i'm happy that i have an official never ever don't gas me up
Never say never. With that accent, you can come in as an English player. You're so open. You're so open. I'll start working on my handles. Oh my gosh. Man, thank you to all our guests too that came on and shared their stories and shared their flower segments. Thank you to the
the fans like just thank you you guys all the listener emails even the tweets like I was I just saw one other day when we came on after the finals and I think it was Shay Serrano that yeah I love Shay yay thank you to Queens of the Court for getting this pod up immediately and not just him just everybody who supported us
Even the not so good listener emails we got when you thought we were going in too much or not enough. Like you- It made us better.
Without you, without the questions, without the comments, we don't get better. So I think we try to get better with every episode. But we could sit here and get flowers out all day and say thank you to everybody. But seriously, this season has been so much fun. I have thoroughly enjoyed it. And thank you to everybody who supported Queens of the Court. We love you. We'll be back.
Great. We'll be back. Yeah, we're taking some time off in the offseason because it's our offseason too. We're going to figure out what next year looks like. So make sure you stay subscribed to the Queens of the Court feed. And please, pretty please, keep those ratings and reviews up.
coming because we read them we love them we appreciate them it really makes a big difference in helping us keep to keep us going so we talked about meeting all of you guys face to face at all-star weekend and all those incredible vibes and positive things that you were able to share so keep sharing those and stay subscribed
I forgot one. You know I have to do this. A special, special shout out and flower segment to the one and only Eminem, Monica McNutt. Just us in check with our gavel timing. You made us get better, Eminem. You did. You did. We appreciate that.
But listen, you guys, y'all know where to find us in the off season. We will still be on social media. As always, you can find me and Jordan both on social. I'm at airsoups22. And she, her, Jordan is at, for the final time this season, is at HeyJordanR.
That was the longest one yet. Dang. I had to get a long one today. You know, I just, I got a glimpse of what we were just doing and I was like, oh, I cannot explain this to a random person why I'm doing the cabbage patch with a wooden gavel at my desk. Doesn't matter. Don't need to. Real ones know. Queens of the Court is an Odyssey original created in partnership with the WNBA.
The show is produced by our great producer, Alex Ozzie, and our amazing executive producer is Lena Moss Glazer. Social media assistance from Isabella Apple. Imaging from the one and only T-Storm Battle. And court is adjourned for the 2023 WNBA season.