The WNBA Season Is Here, Baby
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you know the answers of previous years have been like it's coming eventually it's like no tomorrow this is queens of the court what's up everybody welcome to another episode of queens of the court an odyssey original podcast produced in partnership with the wmba i'm your girl cheryl swoops and i'm jordan robinson and court is in session

Boom! That boom means... We got a lot. I was just about to say that. I just took a deep breath because I feel like in the week since we last talked, I mean...

So much has happened. And usually we say that and we're like, okay, it's a couple of things. No, no, no, no, no. I can't keep up. I can't keep up. The season starts tomorrow. We are recording this on Monday, just in case any huge news happens after we're done recording this. But first things first.

The season starts tomorrow. Cheryl, we made it. Let's go! We made it. There's been so much anticipation and we are here. I am so excited. It feels like, you know, the night before Christmas. Like, you're just, I can't wait to see everything unfold.

Other news that has happened, we're gonna talk charter flights in a little bit. We have a special guest coming on to talk through it, Annie Costable of the Chicago Sun-Times. Can't wait to talk with her. But another thing I wanted to talk about, which was huge news right after the charters news dropped,

We get CBC's Shereen Ahmed from that Toronto is getting a WNBA team. Expansion is happening. They have sold out the past two years in those preseason games. Now it is an official Toronto's getting a WNBA team. Cheryl, how do you feel?

Listen, I'm just excited. I don't care where they put another team. Just keep giving us teams more and more and more, right? Because it's just opportunity and there's so much talent. Again, I know we're going to get into cuts and all of that. There's so much talent that we're losing that I am thrilled. I am thrilled. I really didn't know if...

If I wanted to like step back in the waters of like coaching per se, but Toronto does some things to me. Okay. A little breaking news here.

No, it's not breaking news. I love Toronto. I'm super excited about it. The atmosphere and when you just see the desire. And I'm so happy that that's going to be to be filled. A couple more details. Shereen is an incredible reporter. She's based in Canada, and I'm so glad she got to break this story.

She reported that the Kilmer Sports Inc., headed by Toronto billionaire Larry Tenenbaum, has been granted an expansion franchise that we can play in May 2026. So in two years, we're going to have more teams, maybe even more, Kathy, into that. Maybe even more by 2026, which is super exciting. I feel like this year is going to be...

you know, all those cities that are maybe sitting back and saying, okay, we'll see if we can get in. If we want in the mix, they'll start getting in. It's time. It's time. If you want to be a part of this, you better hop on his train because this train is moving and it ain't stopping waiting on you. But I will say this. If, if rumors are true or at least stuff that's been put out there, um,

Tillman Fertitta is interested in bringing back, I don't even want to say the Comets, but bringing back a Houston team. Don't know if it would be called the Comets. But that excites me, just the thought of having a team back in Houston. I just...

Like, we've always known this, but everybody else who's just hopping on this train, Jordan, they're like, you know what? This women's basketball thing is pretty good. It's pretty cool. I want a piece. I want a piece. I know. And I think, too, just the, you know, going to a game, and we talk about it all the time, just the atmosphere. And it hurts me that they're...

are some states or people that are too far away from a WNBA team to be able to watch it in person. So the more teams, the more people to be able to experience that excitement and the high level of gameplay live.

So we'll see who else gets in that mix for 2026. See what I did there? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know we're beefing with Drake right now, but Toronto would still be cool. Who's beefing with Drake? You are.

i think we all are kendrick kendrick one that we know we know it don't put me in that don't say we all are no i'm kidding i'm kidding i i was about to say i really could care less about either it's fun it was a fun time um but also speaking of something that was about time

News dropped that Asia Wilson is getting her own shoe, the Nike A1, coming in spring 2025. And the apostrophe is a Nike sign. Swoosh. Swoosh. It's good. It's so good. That was just dope. That was so dope. Listen, we could talk about this forever. I know. But...

We'll save some of this for another episode, I guess. Yeah. Yeah, let's go. Let's go. Asia Wilson, congrats. So happy for you. Proud of you. You've earned it, deserved it. All of that. I loved everything about it. The hoodie, the way they released it, the, what was it, the banner they had on the door. All of that. It was so...

incredibly tastefully done. Loved it. Yes. Well, I know...

I know we are getting ready for our interview, but I did want to read one of our listener emails because, you know, Asia Wilson, the last time a women's basketball player, a black woman at Nike had their own shoe. It was Cheryl Swoops. And we had this listener email and I want to read it to you. OK, so this is from Cynthia.

When I was 14, when Miss Cheryl joined the W and the Swoop Zoom Nike shoes were released, I'd been playing basketball for like five years and was already obsessed with her. I needed those shoes. I wanted those shoes. Those shoes were my goal, my prize, my everything. I was going to play like this woman when I got these shoes.

shoes. My dad took me shoe shopping and I played like I was considering other shoes so that he wouldn't know how bad I wanted the swoops. Not sure what the tactic was there, but that's how I played it. The zooms were fire. I saw them on the pedestal and I so casually asked for them in my size. They didn't

have them. I'm from a small town in upstate New York. There was only this shop that carried women's basketball sneakers. I begged my dad to let me try them on a half size smaller. I guess I was over my cool casual play. He sighed and agreed. I tried them on. They were decidedly tight, told everyone they fit. I love them immediately and unwaveringly.

My dad insisted that I should get a pair in my size and suggested other shoes. No, no, no. I would not relent. I ended up playing the whole season in these two tight kicks, but it was worth it. I looked fly as hell and I was convinced.

I could jump higher and run faster. I am 40 years old. I don't remember most of my other basketball shoes, even though I played until I was 19. Cheryl Swoops is an inspiration and a delight. I love her and the pod. Thanks, Cynthia. Oh my gosh. Cynthia can't see me, but you just brought tears to my eyes.

Um, oh my gosh, I had no idea that you were reading that and this was happening. What a moment. Um, thank you. First of all, Cynthia, just thank you for your, your support and just the fact that you could remember that story and share that with everybody, but in particular, share that with me. Um,

That's very touching. And I think another reason why I get emotional, I actually got emotional when Asia made her announcement. Because for me, it's the, again, the whole see her, be her. And what Nike did for me in 1996 was,

was just, just make me feel like I mattered in a way. Right. And they did something out of the box that no one had ever done. And people looked at them and they were like, what are you doing? You're crazy. A women's basketball shoe. No one's ever going to wear that. Right. Like there's no need for it. Um, people wore it. There was a need for it. And here we are, um, from one black woman to another,

This is pretty sweet. And it's pretty deep. Like there's so many emotions I have. And I feel like this isn't even about me, but there's so many emotions I have and I

I don't know. It's like I was 22. She's 22. I have my shoe. She has her shoe. We're both with Nike. There's so much there. And I don't know. I'm so excited for her. I'm happy for her. But more than that, I'm happy for every little girl out there, black, white, brown. It doesn't matter what color you are. I'm happy for every little girl out there that can look up to Asia and see where she is, what she's doing and know that.

that you too can do whatever it is you want to do and achieve. I'm just, Cynthia, Cynthia, Cynthia, Cynthia. Oh, you got me. You got me with that one. You got me with that one. I, I, um, I appreciate that.

Well, that was special. I'm so glad to be a part of that moment. And I can't wait to rock my A1s. I already know they're going to be fresh. So I can't wait. Spring 2025. Asia had her hands in it, on it. Oh, it's about to be dope. And not just the shoe. A whole line.

It's a whole line. It's a whole line. Yeah, I was going to say that. All the way kids. Yeah, everybody. Everybody is going to be dripped in the A1. Well, so excited.

I know we're moving on to something else, but I have to say this because this was kind of on my mind this morning. I mean, we just talk about all the things that's happened, right? And they're all great things that's happened with the WNBA. But when you talk about the different partnerships the league announced, right? Dick's Sporting Goods, CarMax. For me, it was the Skims one. Mm-hmm. Isn't that cool? I love... Oh, absolutely cool. I love the fact that

These women are able to show like their beauty, like inside, outside. I love all of that. I'm going to put it out here because there were a few people that I would have loved to seen. Because if you're talking about the league being diverse, right, and representing so many different

types of people. Um, I would love to see like a Kalani Brown, right? Kalani, Kalani's taller. She's bigger, beautiful, chocolate, dark skin. Give it to me all day. Right. Yeah. And, and the other, and the other, like Natasha cloud, um,

Because beauty is different to everybody. And for me, it's about representation. And I would have loved to see Natasha Clout doing in the Skims ad. Now, I'm saying that and Tasha might be like, no, I ain't doing it. But seriously, I would. And the last one I thought about was Elisa Peeley. Yeah. Yeah. It's just, I don't know. I just try to think about every different...

body type should be represented. And don't get me wrong. I thought the players that they use and they had, they look strong, gorgeous, beautiful, powerful, all of that. But let's, you know, show let's include it. Yeah. I like that. I like that.

Okay. Well, the players that did do it, they did their thing. They did. Yes, they did. Shout out to Skims. I want all of the partnerships. I want everyone to have all the money, all the partnerships. The rollout was great. Everybody was posting at the same time. It was all over our feed. Candice looked great. Yeah, it was awesome. It was awesome. Well, we are going to talk about Charter Flights final rosters more coming up after this break.

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all right welcome back to queens of the court and we have a very special guest and we're going to break down charter flights let's go let's get into it we had to call we had to phone a friend because we have yeah so many questions we needed to phone a friend and that friend is annie costable the chicago sky beat reporter for the chicago sun times annie

Welcome to Queens of the Court. Thank you for being here. I am so honored to be here. I've been such a fan of this show since you guys launched. I remember reading the tweet when you guys launched. So it's just like...

I when I got the DM I was like uh-huh say less I'm there well welcome Queen we love all Queens on this court thank you for having me can you just give us a brief timeline of what we know up to this point because we recorded last week and just a bomb dropped and it seemed like out of nowhere that these charter flights were coming for this season so what can you tell us

Yeah, you are not alone. It was very much out of nowhere. And that point was kind of proven by the fact that teams and players had no idea that this news was coming. No one essentially did until tweets started coming out out of a meeting between the league and APSE editors, which happens regularly.

like every year, that's not something that's random. Leagues meet with news outlets and editors about all kinds of things at the top of the season. I don't know how regularly it happens. I have not myself been in one of those meetings, but I just know it's a common practice in the journalism world.

So anyways, when that meeting, news of that meeting came out, it wasn't a shock. But then when it was relayed that the information about charter travel was being discussed in that meeting,

That's kind of when I think a lot of people were like, wait, what's going on? Because as far as kind of everybody had been told, this was something that would need to be negotiated in the next CBA discussion, round of CBA discussions. So from there, that was May 7th. So that evening, the Sky were obviously playing the New York Liberty. And so when you're talking to players, coaches, the Chicago Sky handled it very well.

kind of like did not want to touch it, did not want to talk about it. But the Liberty went into discussion about it when asked about it. And it was just commentary about how they didn't know. They didn't know this information was coming. And then when it did come out, there was questions about its legitimacy. I remember Stewie and JJ were like, wait, is this really happening? You know, their excitement was there, but they just didn't know what to make of it. Which is fair. Yeah. Right.

Exactly. And then the release came out two days later. But within that release, we saw a lot of vague commentary as far as, you know, just not committing to a timeline. And now we see why. And that's that, you know, not every team is chartering on their first road trip. Wow.

That was a lot in there. I got so many questions. I'm going to limit my questions, but I do want to ask this one to your point. So why isn't every team chartering to start the season?

Again, I think that's unclear and I don't want to speak and say this is the information I've received concretely. What I can say concretely is that the league has not answered that question to me. So in terms of what I do know, it's that this rollout was so last minute that it's not like there are planes and –

pilots lined up ready to go. So that brings in the question of, okay, well, if the flights and pilots weren't ready to go, why is this happening in this manner? Which again, we have not received a ton of clarity or answers to those questions. So as far as why not every team, I do think it's a matter of not having the planes in place, not having the pilots in place, but the league has not answered that question.

Well, Jordan, let me just follow up with one thing. Yeah, go for it. I just sighed. I had to wuss off for a minute. Well, so here's my question slash issue with it. Because like even back in the day when I played, right, it was, there were a couple of owners who had charter planes and offered,

For us to use them. And it was no, if every team doesn't have a charter, no one can use it. Right. To my understanding, that has still been the rule. Right. If every team can't charter, then no one can. So, I mean, we can speculate, but I don't want to do that. So so when and where did that change for the two teams to be able to chart?

Right. I think that's the big question that needs to be answered here. And it certainly will at some point, there will be a point when Kathy is sitting in front of us and needs to answer that question when we are in front of owners or, or league executives that will have to answer that question. But at this point, the questions have gone unanswered and, and that is the rule that has been the rule. That's, that's what was negotiated in the CBA is that, you know, if, if,

every team cannot, then one team can't. And because of the competitive advantage. And to that point too, we've seen teams invest in these practice facilities, which has brought about the same question of, well, aren't these deemed, couldn't these be deemed a competitive advantage? And I'm not saying that in a sense of the league should limit who should be allowed to build a practice facility. I say that

that that's that's point proves that if ownership has the means to provide these things they should be able to provide them and and what's the phrase uh rising tides lifts all boats well if you want to compete in this league you've got to bring the same energy and you've got to rise to meet that same standard because why why the question i've always had to that is why is the league living living with

within that low means, you know, like if we can't, if we can't allow teams who are trying to operate at this high standard to operate at this high standard, why are we forcing them to operate at a lower standard than they're capable of? And we shouldn't, we shouldn't do that. Cause to your point, if I'm an owner and I have the funds, I have the means one to build a nice practice facility, but two,

To be able to fly my team via charter, I shouldn't be punished because you can't afford it or you don't have a charter. Like...

You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. What we know about the cost is that it's costing $25 million a year. Again, the league hasn't specified where that money is coming from. But if you put the fact that teams weren't aware of this news happening, if you combine all the information we have, it points to the fact that the league is coming up with this $25 million to...

pay for these these charter flights over the next two years? Again, that question has not been answered. But when you consider all factors and the fact that teams, GMs, team executives, officials were unaware that this news was coming, it leads you to believe that. Yeah, I guess I just wish that I just wish they came out and said, we just happen to have two planes in Indiana and Minnesota. And

And so that's why they get to go first. And maybe that's why. I don't know. What a coincidence. What?

What a coincidence. Especially considering the rollout of this information, because as we know, there was that video of Kaitlyn Clark and Aaliyah Boston in the airport and fans reacted very strongly. And we're like, what's going on? Why are these two players getting hounded by by people in the airport? And then days later, you know, this information comes out. So, again, there's so many questions regarding the rollout.

the timing and these two teams being afforded the, the planes first players are meeting with commissioner Engelbert today that came out of Chicago sky practice. Elizabeth Williams, let me know that that was taking place. So again, there are answers that, that are going to come at this point. There's just still so much that, that has gone unanswered. Well, Andy, cause here's the thing. I'm sorry, Jordan. Cause here's the thing.

Players being filmed, harassed, asked for photos, autographs. That's been happening since the league started, right? Yeah. The situation with BG last year. And for security purposes and her safety and all of that stuff. So when the situation happened with BG last year, why couldn't we go find $25 million then and say, okay,

we're going to start flying charter flights. Like that's all the questions that I guess that's my frustration is we're left to just wonder all of these things. And with a prop,

proper rollout, it would have been answered. All of those questions would have been answered and would have been, you know, we wouldn't have to speculate. And so that's kind of the frustration of why we're just, we're workshopping ideas, but I wish we had these concrete answers. I guess, Annie, my question to you, what is the Sky thinking about? They have some road trips coming up, I'm sure.

They already have travel plans in place. And I think I also heard, you know, travel plans were made. So you kind of can't get your money back if you're canceling flights or if you're booking all of these different things. So what is the Sky doing for their upcoming travel?

Yeah. So their first trip is to Dallas. They'll play their first two games in Dallas on May 15th. And then their second game is May 18th on Saturday. So for that trip, they are using commercial travel and their following game is against the New York Liberty in New York on May 23rd. So that's the question is, is will they use charter travel to travel to that on, on that road trip?

As of now, all that's understood concretely is that they are using commercial travel to head to Dallas, both there and back. Okay. All right. And I think to your point too, Cheryl, like very valid questions, right? And I think, again, if the rollout was different, these are questions that would have in a press conference setting been asked, right?

you know, why, why now? Where, why wasn't this a possibility last year, given again, Brittany Griner's situation. And I think the other thing of note is, is the attention on social media that this class gets, this, this rookie class is something I have not seen. You

You know, I've covered the league since 2015. I've covered the sky full time since 2021. And the urgency behind these fans, you know, and their concern for players is something that I have not seen on like my social media. And I say that because when Angel had her introductory press conference, she

I posted a video of her coming out to her press conference table. And I am not joking you that I had no idea that that video was going to go viral. And within hours, it had over a million views and fans talking about,

you know, the sky's practice situation. And then, you know, fans resharing past stories I've written about the sky's practice situation. So I think the eyes that this class as a whole is getting is, is requiring the league to elevate very rapidly and,

The other point to that is look at the stream. Angel Reese and Camila Cardoso's preseason debut was not available on the WNBA site. And again, fans' reaction to that required the Sky and the league to make an adjustment. And so I think a lot of this fan reaction is requiring the league to make adjustments on the fly. Quick, because it's not... Okay, I feel like the...

you know the answers of previous years have been like it's coming eventually it's like no tomorrow or in two days three days yeah yeah fans want to see fans want to see action now now um sorry go ahead you may it's okay you may not know the answer to this but where does the the wmbpa come in

So the WNBA is who, you know, is negotiating during that CBA discussion. But in this case, the league went around that discussion and implemented the charter travel without any negotiations taking place. And the thing is that that's interesting about this, too, is I'm not saying in my, you know,

I'm not saying what my opinion is on this matter, but the fact of the matter is that

Charter travel could have been used as a negotiation, negotiating tactic. Right. And so it, it, it begs so many questions about again, the rollout because that we know players, you know, players want charter very, very, very much. So as a league, you think about a company. Well, if you know that the person you're negotiating with wants something so desperately, you

you might, you're going to use that as a negotiation chip. And so it's just begged so many questions about why now. And I'm not saying that the league wouldn't, that they didn't want to implement charter travel at some point or that they would have held that against players. I'm just saying, again, when it comes to CBA negotiations, charter travel was a negotiating chip. You know? For sure. That's a really good point. For sure.

Annie, you're a rock star. Thank you for breaking this down, conversate, letting us vent, really. Coming on here to let us vent with you. Yeah. If you guys are in Chicago, we'll vent together over drinks. Please. We would love that. We're going to have you back on to talk about Chicago more because I think this is going to be a really great season for them. But thank you for stopping by, Queen. We're going to take a quick break and we're going to come back and talk about rosters.

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we're back that was a great conversation and um i think the other i feel like the natural next conversation is we know we talked about expansion but expansion of rosters and it's that time again where really good players are getting waved um because of limited roster spots but

There have been a lot of announcements. Who was a little bit of a shock to the system when you saw their name come across your timeline? To your point, absolutely. Expansion, more jobs, more opportunity, and we're not having... We're still going to have conversations of players getting cut, but it just hurts when so many great, talented players aren't able to play in the W because we don't have enough teams. But...

There were a couple for me. The first one I'll say is Veronica Burton with the wings. I just, I thought Veronica was a really good fit for them with, with what they needed, right? They have a lot of scoring and her running the PG Draft.

She just did a really good job of getting the ball where it needed to be. But I really liked her on the defensive end. And so when I look at Dallas's team, right, they traded Crystal D'Andreville. And then you cut Veronica Burton. So I'm like, well, who is, who's their PG going to be? Yeah. I don't know. Sheldon is, at least I think, she's a two guard. She's not a point guard. And she's better playing off the ball.

Arike, we know. Arike is not a PG. So, I don't know. But when I did their preseason game, I will tell you, though, Uzen, I think it's Sev Uzen from Turkey. She was impressive. But I always think it's an adjustment for foreigners to come over and play in the league, any position, but especially the PG position. But

I don't know. I was surprised by it. I was...

I was hurting for Veronica. Um, but I, I think, I think she'll land somewhere. I think she will too. And, and that defensive presence, I felt like she was beginning to build a reputation. Like this is what she was known for. Um, and, and I do think her offensive game even came a long way from when she first stepped into the league. So for sure she was making strides. Um, but I,

I don't see the vision quite yet with Dallas. I don't know if they're like, well, we want the ball in Arike's hands anyway. So maybe she brings it up and starts the offense and then gets it back. Not sure, but we'll, we'll see how that plays out. I think one for me was Monique Billings being waved by the LA Sparks. And I say that not only because I am a fan of her personally, I think she's a really great person, but,

but in the preseason games and what you know the reputation monique is is a rebounding machine just a getting after the boards even in the preseason games right when she checked in i would look up blink she would have three offensive rebounds or three rebounds that is something that you cannot teach that is something that you need on a team i also think she brings scoring with her size

I don't know if it was, you know, when just looking at the Sparks roster,

I don't know if it was because she's kind of, she can be a tweener. She can be in between positions and they are a little heavy at the three and four. So I hope she doesn't take this, you know, I hope she's still grounded in what she can bring to a team. And just this roster wasn't the right fit. Like it was just too loaded at her position, but she is definitely

definitely needed somewhere in the league for her rebounding. And unfortunately, that's just what it is. You end up being or going to a team that's loaded at your position.

Lots of times it's not so much about you, but it's about what they already have. I agree with you. One of the best things that Monique does, in my opinion, is rebound the basketball. She plays hard. I think she's a good defender. So no doubt, I think there is a team somewhere that will pick her up because

They could use her. They could use her. Yeah. And this one I'm going to bring up and a lot of people may, I don't know. A lot of people may be like, really? Cause I think you and I agree on this one. And that would be Jalen Sherrod. Yes. I loved her, her at Colorado. Just can score the ball, can defend, plays hard. It's a great teammate. And when I look at the Liberty roster, I,

Um, and honestly, in particular, the preseason game they played against Chicago, I saw zero defense. Yeah. And, and even when I look at, at that roster on the perimeter, right. I mean, we know what Benaja Laney is going to bring on the defensive end. She defends, um,

That's where I thought Jalen Sherrod could have made that Liberty team and really help them on the defensive end. So surprised and disappointed. I just, I don't know.

Very disappointed. I mean, yes, we talk about that preseason game where it was a near 50-point loss to the Chicago Sky, but this is a conversation we have been talking about dating back to last season. And that was, you know, what is there one thing that's missing? It was someone who can lock down. Someone else, I guess, because Benaja is that person in a guard setting. And if you switch, it's not...

Armageddon. It's not the end of time. No doubt. But now she can't guard everybody. She can't guard everybody. And you saw that frustration on her in the finals when she realized she can't guard everybody. So I thought Jalen Sherrod came in, got steals, got breakaway layups, her speed, her quickness. But I think overall, it's just a little bit of a tough time for small guards in the WNBA right now. Like it's, I don't know. I don't know what's going on. But

Get your height up. No, I'm just playing. We're us shorties. I'm just playing. To combat that, De'Asia Fair made the roster for the Las Vegas Aces. How about that? I still think the Aces got a steal with De'Asia Fair. And I can't wait to see her come off the bench and what she's going to add to this team. So that's exciting. I'm really happy she made that team.

I'm excited for DeAsia Fair and Kate Martin. And Kate Martin, yes. They both made that team. I think those two, listen, the Aces, we already know what they have and what they're going to bring. But that's...

really good pieces that they added that maybe a lot of people weren't expecting but i i yeah i'm excited i'm excited for both of them and and i'm and i'm happy to see them play me too i saw a tweet that said 13 out of 36 draftees made an opening week roster spot this season

Well, that's a sigh, but I do feel like it's, it's improvement, more improvement than the last couple of years, but it's okay. We're on the up. We're on the up. So yeah, I'm going to say this real quick before we move on when we're, we're talking about defense and, and,

Jalen Sherrod should have made that Liberty team. So Celeste Taylor. Yes. Make the Indiana's team. You remember we talked about. We talked about that. To me, Celeste being able to make that team on the defensive end, not saying that is solely why she made it, but even with Indiana, when I look at their squad, defensively, Lexi Hall is,

Right. Kelsey Mitchell is going to do what she does offensively. But on the perimeter with the guards, Lexi Hall is the best defender that they have. So to be able for Celeste Taylor to make that team, I think there was something they saw in her defensively that they were like, yeah, yeah, we are going to keep you. We need you.

Congrats to all the draftees, the rookies that made the squad. And for those of you who didn't, don't give up because there is something bigger and better waiting for you out there. Your time and day will come. I feel like we all needed to hear that. Right?

regardless of fighting for it. I need to hear that. I need to hear it every day. That's good. That's good. All right. Open a week, four games on Tuesday night, Liberty at Mystics, Indiana at Connecticut. That's going to be good. Phoenix at Las Vegas.

Minnesota at Seattle. We are here. I cannot wait. Wednesday, Chicago at Dallas. That's also going to be great. Atlanta at LA. And then a doubleheader on ABC on Saturday. Indiana at the Liberty at 1 p.m. Eastern, followed by Los Angeles at Las Vegas. Let's go!

I'm excited to see you. We got some good opening night games. Good opening night games. Yeah. This is where we get cooking. And

Not every team is going to be great off of from the jump, but I, I'm excited to see how I have my own power rankings going on WNBA.com. And I'm going to see how people start moving up the ranks or moving, moving down the ranks. It's going to be interesting to see early on. I'm excited. I'm doing a happy dance. If y'all can't. Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey,

I am so excited. It's just, it's like finally. Finally. No more preseason. No more talking about it. It's time to show what you got. Let's go. It's time. It's time. Well,

Our time for this episode has come to an end, but please continue to follow, rate, review the show. It's available on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Please keep sending us, you know, your questions, your stories. We've been reading through those. Shout out again to Cynthia. What an amazing story. Thank you for sharing that. Send them to our listener email address, queensofthecourtatodyssey.com. Thank you again, Cynthia.

I'm tapping my heart for you. And before I say what I need to say about where y'all can find us, I also want to say thank you for everybody that told Jordan our pineapples don't belong on pizza. I'm getting cooked, Cheryl. Y'all know what it is. Y'all know what it is. Come on, Jordan. Y'all know what it is. I just haven't found my pizza. Fuck.

in case well I'm going to tell them where they can find you now how about that maybe they haven't found you because y'all know y'all can always find us on social media I'm at air swoops 22 and she her Jordan is that hey Jordan R that's all she gets y'all she thinks pineapple belongs on pizza and it does not I couldn't even wind up no you don't get to wind no no no no no no

Queens of the Court 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 Lena Moss Glazer. Special shout out, special thank you. We appreciate you. And court is adjourned.