We're All Fighting To Be Respected (feat. Bigggg Lo)
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I'm gonna jump back in my chair. 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 WNBA. And on this special day, I just want to say happy Juneteenth to all the listeners out there. And I am your girl, Cheryl Swoops. And I'm Jordan Robinson. Yes, yes, yes. Happy Juneteenth. And court is in session. Okay.

Well, we got a lot to get to today, but first on the agenda today, we are joined by this is also our first guest on the Queens of the Court podcast. So a little celebration for that little commotion for the guests. So we are joined by

I'm joined by the one and only Lauren Dreher, aka Big Low. You have to know the at. It's what is it? Four G's in there? Four. Big Low. Do you want us to call you Big Low or Low? Because I think Big Low is a flex, honestly. Yeah, it is. Okay, then go for Big Low. I like it. I like it. But wait. First of all, if it's four G's, it can't just be Big Low. It's got to be like Big Low.

Big low. There you go. Period. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Like there's a meaning behind four G's. There is. Okay. There is. Okay. So you are a school teacher by day and a women's basketball influencer by night. And you are part of the committee. For those who don't know, maybe, I don't know, they've been living under a rock on WNBA Twitter. I'm not sure. But tell us more about how the committee got started and how you got involved in it.

Oh, man, it just kind of was like, tired of seeing the same type of things. We just kind of wanted to diversify the coverage, diversify the voices in the coverage. So we just said, all right, well, let's just do our own thing. Let's come up, you know, and just do it. And that's, that's really it. I mean, that's what we did. That was the goal, diversify diversity, and we did it. Just like that, straight like that.

I mean, the Twitter spaces are spicy. The playbacks are incredible. It's just pure entertainment, honestly. Jordan, when you said, I don't know, if you follow WNBA women's basketball and you don't know about the committee, like, where have you really been? Get hip. You know? There's some things. It's like Lay's potato chips. You know how people say you can't eat just one?

So if you tune in to one episode, it's like, oh, no, no, no, no. You got to come back for more and more and more and more. Yeah, it's good. It's good. It's good. It's good. Thank you. We try. That is so spot on. And I feel like it is really about the community of women's basketball and how important.

I just feel like because...

But ultimately in the women's basketball space, we're all still fighting for something like fighting to be respected. You know what I mean? And even though we got our teams, we got this team, we got this team at the end of the day, we all wanted to push the women's game forward. So I feel like it's kind of like, you know, you got your cousins that you argue with. Like I could argue with you, but we don't take it too far. You don't say nothing to him or her because I say it. So that's kind of how it is. We do argue, but in the end, it's like, we all have a common goal and that's just to talk about women's hoops and,

get these athletes and get their names out there. So it's dope. It's really fun. And it's not, I'm going to say this, it's not for everybody, but you know, we love it. It's for, it's for those who need it. Yes. So listen, like I know we're keeping it light, but I want to, I want to go a little deeper, just a little bit, just a little bit. Okay. First of all, it's Juneteenth, right? Happy Juneteenth, everybody. We're celebrating Juneteenth. So excited to have you.

So low or big low. You said in the space that that we're all fighting to be respected. Do you feel as a black woman in in that space that you're fighting a little bit harder to be respected more or to be respected, period?

Because I've seen the change from the time I played to now, where there are actually more people, more women especially, who look like me in this space compared to when I played. They didn't exist. They did, but they didn't. Right, right.

- I would definitely say, you gotta fight a little more. I feel like it's easy for them to categorize black women where you just hear, you're in this quote unquote influencer role. You might know exactly what you're talking about when it comes to basketball. You know, they try to put you in a little box,

But you have to keep pushing and say, no, I can be a multitude of these things. I'm that girl. I could do this. I could do that. I could do that. So it is a little, you know, you got to push a little harder because people will try to discredit you along the way. And I'm just like, I don't know what for, but go off. You just got to keep pushing. So I do feel like you got to fight a little harder. Why do you think that is? I know you're saying you don't know, like.

And it's not new. Do you know what I mean? Like this is something we've constantly talked about. We've constantly fought about. And like, I could sit here right now and name some women who look like me, who look like you, who look like Jordan, who I don't feel get the respect they deserve. So like, what, what do you think? Like, what do you think it's going to take? Can I say that? Can I say a bad word?

Yep. Yeah. Bust the door, bust the damn door down. Keep pushing. That is not a bad word, but you know, I want to do, I want to do too much. You're right. But kick the damn door down and keep pushing until I'm gonna keep coming. And you're gonna get tired of seeing me until you don't got no choice, but to respect me. Cause I'm going to be everywhere. You're going to have a bad day. Every morning you wake up. If you got it, if you hate, no big, big low period. Yeah.

I love it. It takes that. It takes the tenacity to take up space because I think for so many black women who are trying to enter the media space, especially sports, first of all, just being a woman in the sports world is already one knock. Right.

And then on top of that, the double jeopardy of being a black woman to come into these spaces, it takes that force to say, move out the way.

We're coming through and we have something to say. I think that's what the committee has so much power is because there's power in our voices and there's power when we gather together and put a fork in the ground and say, we have something important to say and you are going to listen to us. And I love that you guys...

people come in droves to listen to what you guys have to say. Like the numbers don't lie. You know what I mean? Yeah. It's good. Yeah. And it's so good for the community. So yeah,

only, you know, we didn't have you come on only to give you your flowers because that's the number one thing. But we also have this new segment that we introduced a couple of weeks ago where we are giving flowers to other players in the league. And it's one of our favorite segments. And I was told that you would refuse to come on this podcast. We did not talk about Aaliyah Boston. And so I think that's perfect. Yeah.

the perfect place to start. You have the stage, Big Low. What are you loving about AB right now and this favorite team? Man, like, it's like we knew she was going to come in and she was going to do her thing, but this is like

Are you kidding me? Like her footwork, her, her, just her impact, how she just takes up so much attention, her making these moves on these grown women. Like, I'm like, yo, you know, you might have to worry about physicality and Aaliyah like she,

she is. You know what I mean? It's crazy. In my opinion, she has single-handedly changed the trajectory for this team because, like I said, not only does she score, does she defend, her impact. Everybody else gets their spots a tad bit easier. Everybody else can rebound the ball a tad bit easier. So she...

she's man that girl period like wow she's the real deal yeah the real deal and swoops we've been talking about it we from draft day we know that whoever swoops is swoops me yeah that was cheryl and swoops together i was there i like it i like it go ahead cheryl

We've been talking from draft day how Aaliyah was going to make an impact immediately. Like she's that type of player. And I feel like we saw into the future. It's happening. Listen, there's so low. I know you said against these grown women. Well, she is a grown woman. She is.

A different kind of grown woman, but she's a grown woman. So I know a lot of people were like, even Dawn, Coach Staley was like ready for Aaliyah to go to the next level so she could see some single coverage instead of triple teams. Well, she's seen some of that. She's seen double team, triple team, even on this level. So what that tells you is Aaliyah Boston is the real deal.

Besides her talent and her ability to get to her space and do what she wants to do. Yes, she's a grown woman, but she's a rookie and she's young. I love her poise. Like it doesn't really matter if it's double team or triple team or the team's down. Just her poise to be able to continue to play through whatever happens.

Yes. Like, like that's very rare that you find that, find that in a rookie. And honestly, in particular, like a post player, you know, a guard, a point guard. Yeah. You expect that. So I'm going to give somebody else flowers while we're in this segment. And that's her coach Dawn Staley. Y'all know, y'all know I ride for Dawn, right? I ride for Dawn. But let me tell you why I say that. Dawn has prepared, not only Aaliyah, Dawn prepares her players for the next level.

Without question. And you know why she can do that? Because she played at that level. She's coached on the Olympic team. Like she's been around the best, played with the best. So to be able to coach her players up and to get them prepared for that level, like she's not only talking about it, she's done it. She's been there, done that. So flowers, shout out. Y'all know I love me some Dawn Stain. I know. Honestly, couldn't go one podcast without her.

But Lo, you grew up in South Carolina or you live in Columbia specifically? I went to Dreer High School, just like my last name. It takes me eight minutes to get to campus. So I'm going to basketball games, football games. I grew up Gamecock through and through. Oh, wow. Wow. I remember Don getting higher and the shockwaves that sent around Columbia, South Carolina. Insane. Insane.

Like, everybody knew, like, oh, yeah. It's time. It's time. Yeah, that's a cool feeling to be a part of. But even, I mean, so you were kind of there for Aaliyah Boston coming in as a freshman and being touted as kind of, you know, one of the next big things. So seeing her throughout college and seeing her in her rookie year, what's kind of the growth that you've seen in her? It's like...

You think every year you think, dang, she the truth. And every year she ask something different. It's just like, girl, every year. What else? Yeah. Like what else? Like, what are you, what are we going to be doing next? You going behind the bank with Tina Hayes? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no

You just kind of like, girl, how are we even, we're just leveling up. Every year I'm thinking, okay, this is it. And she just levels up. She adds something, whether it's, you know, a little more efficient, maybe some new moves, maybe just like, dang, this year is even easier for her to get to the basket. Like, it's just every year is something. And it's crazy. Like every, it's like, she just almost like, is this real? I know.

Well, and, and Cheryl, I think the biggest thing, and you mentioned it too low of the impact on the team, like the fever, this was their first number one draft pick. And I don't know how long, and they, they needed somebody to impact this team. And I,

I looked at some of these stats just from a team standpoint, they're in multiple top five categories in the league. Like don't let their record. Right. Right. It doesn't show you their number three and field goal percentage number five and points per game and number four and rebounds. I wonder who's helping that. You know what I mean? Like she's helping this team and to be able to see this fever team,

even in a loss, they just look so much better than years prior, right? I know. I know like the girlies probably was like when the fever come in town, like, you know, we ain't, we ain't going to say we ain't going to hoop, but you know, but now they're probably on their toes. Oh no, we got to go out here and play basketball. You better. You better. You better bring it. You better. Like, so yeah, like I said, a lot of people were talking about how,

Aaliyah and Melissa were going to play together. Melissa Smith, right? And there were, because I heard it, especially during AU, I heard people saying there's no way they can play together. And I got to tell you, I don't even want to look at the record, but I love Aaliyah Boston and Melissa Smith on the floor together. I do. I do.

And they're both young. I know we're talking about Aaliyah, but Melissa's young too. It's a scary thing to think about where this young teen will be in the next year or two. Because I don't think it's going to take as long as people think for them to get there. I agree. I agree. I 100% agree with that. But yeah, like, and Alyssa is...

Even her ability now, like I said, because Aaliyah does take some of it off of her. She moving good. She'll get to the basket. It just looks good. Can we talk about her defense? Yes, please. I'm not surprised. Do not come in the paint. Don't try her. She's one of those players, and I'm not saying their game is similar, but on the defensive end, I remember...

playing with Lisa Leslie like in the Olympics and Aaliyah allows you as a guard to get out and pressure your man and getting past in lanes like she allows you to defend to be aggressive and if you get beat you know what I used to do if I got beat I would just turn and I'll be like oh Lisa's back there right so now if I believe his teammate I'm like oh A.B. is back there yes love it I'm good not coming to pay oh yeah yeah

the fear she's eliciting fear as a, as a rookie. So, I mean, I think that's the part too. Uh, we're going to talk about all-star voting in a later, but she's already, you know, top voting and all-star she's bringing more fans to Indiana for the games. Like people are lined up to get her autographs. It's, it's giving superstar. Uh,

I'm just going to say that. The media dropped the ball when they tried to say my girl went marketable. Are you going there? Are we going there? Not too much. I agree. You have to come back when we have that topic. Okay. I'm ready. That was a whole nother

boat to get on. But I think Aaliyah Boston is really...

The future of not only the Fever, I think they are, again, their record does not indicate how much they've grown, even just from last year. I think they're exciting to watch because even as a fan, you were like, oh, the Fever, oh, man. Now, I can't wait to see what Aaliyah Boston does next. She's breaking records as a rookie. She's doing all these things.

So flowers to you, Leah Boston. All of them. You deserve them all and more. Yes.

Okay, so some other players. I feel like a game in particular that we got to give some flowers to is Arike Agumbawale and Jewel Lloyd, who basically just had an old-fashioned shootout on Saturday. A clinic. There were three of the league's top five scorers on display because we got to throw in Satu Sabli. We talked about Satu a few weeks ago. We gave her all the flowers. She's playing incredible football.

but Seattle ended up getting the victory 109 and 103 over Dallas. Cheryl, you had a front row seat to this game because you were in the broadcasting booth. I mean, what were you feeling? Because Arika and Jewel just went off. Yes.

You can't see, y'all can't see my face. This is how I felt. And I told you this earlier, Jordan, I found myself at times like watching the game, not commentating. I was like, what? No.

Wait a minute. That's listen. It was so great to watch in person. I know it was good on TV, but in person, y'all, it was a whole nother level. And I said, I don't care about Seattle's record. You couldn't have picked a better game to put on television on CBS that particular day. It was a great game, but the two of them,

the fact that they're both Notre Dame alums, but they were going at each other. So, Jewel finishes with 39. Arike finishes with 41. Jewel misses that one free throw, right? So she would have had 40. You know, I said that to her. I was like, what are you doing? You could have had 40. Come on now. But y'all,

Easily, easily two of the best guards in our game today. Point blank, period. Period. Don't finish with 39, y'all, and didn't score a point in the third quarter.

Let's not forget that. Wow. Cause I was going to, she was going to turn her defense up on the third quarter. Yeah. She was like, you ain't not scoring me today. Joel did not. Joel was scoring us in the third quarter. That's a scary thought. Yes. Wow. Okay. So we have some sound to toss to, because like you said, our,

Arike finished with 41. She shot 50% from three-point land. Let me just throw that out there. Jewel finished with a season-high 39. She shot 58% from the three-point line. And she knew that she could have got 40. Let's take a listen.

Oh, that one. No, if I make two more Fritos, I'll be happy. She could have had a 40 piece Fritos. I keep missing Fritos and it's just, it's bad. I'm frustrated. It's bad, but she was 80%. Like, let's be real. It was really good. She knew she was so close. Mercedes Russell there hyping her up. Hyping her up or rubbing it in, right? I don't know. Like sometimes not saying anything is saying a lot. Because...

I mean, 80%. Still, I think it talks to just the player that Jewel is. She has a season high, 39. She had 37 at the top of this month. And she's still mad that she didn't make two free throws. Free throws. Like, that just kind of talks to the type of mentality that she has. Right, Lo? Yes. She really sitting there thinking about them free throws. That's crazy. And rubbing her head like, man. She's like, dang.

I just dropped that many points, but don't freak though. Right? And the shots that they were making, both she and Arike, like they weren't easy. No. Do you know what I mean? Like there were a couple, but like it was over defense or Jewel creating, getting to the rim. Arike shooting, they fade away, falling out, out of bounds, three, nothing but net. And then looking at everybody like, that's what I do.

Like, y'all really thought I was going to miss? Yeah. It's the making it look easy and effortless. Beautiful basketball. When you know that that takes a lot of effort and skill and practice to do. Like, those Arike step backs, I mean, maybe she was born with them, but I know that's a lot of time and effort to put into it. And it's unguardable. Oh, God, yes. Yeah. Like, what are you going to do with it? Nothing. Watch. What can I do? Beautiful.

Well, Seattle Storm head coach Noelle Quinn, she was asked about, you know, what this kind of looks like to sit back and watch it. Kind of like what you were saying, Cheryl. This is what she had to say.

The next, you know, after the game, I think is when I appreciate it most. But during the game, when they're going back and forth, it's, you know, every case taking some tough shots. Jewel's going and hitting some tough shots. And it is, it's great for our game. I felt like an all-star game a little bit, just how those shots were going up and how they're making it. But I think the appreciation comes, you know, after you, after I'm watching film and studying a little bit more. All-star game vibes.

very much so I love what she said there what did you guys think for real yeah I was watching like mouth agape because what like I just couldn't even believe it and like

Like you mentioned earlier, like shout out to Rike's defense. Like she decided like I'm going to defend you and that's what I'm going to do. And she did that. And I know sometimes she does catch a little flat for her defense. So that, her making that decision, I'm going to lock you up. Kudos to her. I love that for her. So here's what's good about that. Yes, she did. She decided I'm going to defend you in the third quarter. And she did.

Seattle still came out with a win. But if I'm Coach T, Coach Trammell, I have a conversation with Arike and say, I expect nothing less from you defensively moving forward.

You showed me. Now you got to do it every time. Don't show me. Don't show me you can do it. I'm going to expect that every single game. Bingo. Agreed. I think that's one of the things that Dallas definitely needs defense consistently and she just showed it. So now you got to do what you got to do, girl. Sorry. And you did it against one of the best guards in the game. Not just an average guard. Yeah. Yeah.

I was going to put a name there, but I didn't. Good. I was not going to put a name there. There was nobody I had in mind. Okay, one question...

that I had and I tweeted this about Arike. A couple people came at me and maybe you guys will too. But I said before, like she's your favorite Hooper's favorite Hooper. Like that's kind of who Arike is. But I feel like it's something different this year. Some in her eye. She's going for the MVP. And I feel like, again, if Dallas gets some more wins, then it's kind of hers to lose.

But does it feel like an Arike MVP season? No. Cool, cool, cool, cool. Awesome. No, I'll tell you. It's like it though. What I see is what she does. Like, it's what she did last year. Not saying she's not MVP caliber, but not right now. Yeah, yeah.

Which is, this is just like Coach Quinn said, this is great for our game that she's putting up 40 points, 30 points every night. And we're like, nah, she's not the best one. Like there's people better than her. There are people that are on different teams. I think that's wonderful. That's a wonderful, even to have this argument. That's great to have, right? Y'all looking at me like I got- No, no, it's a great argument. And no doubt about it because people look at,

sports and basketball in particular, and they're looking at numbers, right? Like, oh, she went from 40. Oh, she had a 50 piece. Like that's what they're looking at. So of course it's good for the game.

But for me, when I look at possible MVPs, I'm not just looking at the scoring that they're doing, like those numbers. It's a lot more for me. Agreed. It is. And yeah, Dallas just got it. They got to get some more wins. I think that's flat out it. For sure.

Moving on to our last person to give our flowers. First of all, Jewel, Arike, all the flowers to you because what a performance, really, theater that you guys put on for all of us to see on national television. Can I throw one person in here before you go to the last? Because I know you said one. Yeah. Go for it. And this is an old school because I feel like when we're giving flowers right now, we're

about some of the old schoolers. Okay. Nneka Agumake. Yes. Is holding it down for LA and for the OGs. Nneka is, wait, 19, 20 points a game, 10 boards a game right now?

She hooping. Yeah, she really is. So Nneka, I know we're doing this one kind of quick, but I'm giving you flowers because girl, you are doing the damn thing right now. A little flower, a little mini bouquet for Nneka. A corsage. A corsage. A corsage.

My sparks, it's looking rough in the wind-locked collar, but Nneka is still holding it down. She is. A little bouquet, a little corsage for you. The next one is, I think

Dewana Bonner is an OG. She's an OG. She's an OG. She's not a NECA OG, but she is an OG. She's an OG. And I feel like this is a couple. We didn't get to do the flower segment last week when she just went off. But we got to talk about Dewana Bonner and Connecticut still making noise. They're sitting at number two in the standings.

But that game where she had a career-high franchise record, 41, and handed the Aces their only loss so far. Juana Bonner has been doing it. Lo, what do you like about...

her game so far. She has like this uncanny like knack to know like, oh, it's me time. They need me. Yes. Yes. And she just like, she knows. Yes. It's like, she knows like, oh, it's my time. I'm going to go off. And she had like, she did good last year, but this season, it just kind of feel like,

what's the movie with Angela Beck? Like I still got her groove back. Like she is. Yeah. I like that. She, it's like, she, she like, she's like, I'm her, I'm going to do this every game. So she just come with a whole new energy. Like I'm that girl. And she really getting it done for them. I love that. Love that. And, and I, and I think a little bit, a little bit of that is, is, is personal.

Because, listen, as a player, you hear all the noise. You hear what people are saying, what people are thinking. And with Connecticut, it was all about Jazz left, Coach left, JJ left. Oh, my goodness. Something's not going to be very good. And no one was really talking about DB, AT. So I think DeJuana and AT also, I think DeJuana was like, oh, okay. I'm going to let y'all have that. I'm going to let y'all say that. Yeah.

But yeah, I still got it. And so to your point, Lo, oh yeah.

She is like, oh, it's go time. It's me time. Let me remind y'all. She's getting it done for the summer. We saw that in the finals last year, too, where she just flipped that switch and she just put her team... I feel like she went to the huddle and was like, hop on my back. I got us for at least a couple quarters. And she just does that. She kind of carries the load for Connecticut. And it's like...

like scoring in volume. Like she will just go back to back to back to back and get a bucket. But my favorite thing, because you said personal, this is where I thought you were going with Cheryl, was Dejanay Carrington tweeted after she dropped 41. I know. 41 points at 35? Wow.

On 16 of 23? Oh my god. Hang it up. These are all these question marks. Hang it up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I took that personally. That's what I wanted to see. Because it was like, oh, you were talking to me?

Couldn't be. Couldn't have been. Couldn't be me. And you're right. And Dejanay being the petty Dejanay she is. I love it though. Dejanay, you know I love you. I love you. She was like, oh, I got your back. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. You don't gotta say that I got you. That's gotta

That's the kind of teammate she is. But, oh, yeah, you're right. She did take that personal. No doubt about it. Yes. And I think the league is better for it. Like, I want her to go for the whole season just having that. Maybe just that tweet or just the video of Alexis Morris saying it with the captions on. Maybe it's in her locker or something. Or something beside my side. What Alexis said and then what DJ Day posted. With DB in the middle with her stats.

I don't know. Something. Yeah. I agree. We need it. It's good. That's good for the game too. It is. It is. I agree. We need a little bit of spice. Right? The committee gives us spice. Yeah. The committee always gives us spice. So we just need more of it. Man. But one last thought on Connecticut.

Do you think they have what it takes to go all the way low? They're sitting at number two right now. They beat the Aces once. But do you think the trajectory is going to keep going up? Like I talked to Cheryl, you know, a couple weeks ago, we've seen this story before where the regular season is always good and something happens. I think they can.

But I think it's some stuff they're going to have to kind of figure out. You know what I mean? Like sometimes the rotations can get a little wonky. You know, I think they need like a consistent person, like in the mid range to kind of, it's just little stuff that I feel like if they, if they get it, cause we got time, but they get it. Yes. But if it keeps like, in my, in my opinion, like,

Like, losses to the dream, you can't, you know? Like, you got it. And that's my team. You can't beat the aces and then lose to the dream. Yeah. Right? You know? So it's just kind of like... Yeah. Yeah.

Either they're going to keep going or they're going to flatline. It's either going to be one of the two in my opinion. Or just lose to the Aces and then turn around and beat them by 17, like in the same week. Like the inconsistency is what's really been a theme over Connecticut for the past couple seasons. Right. Lo, I agree with you. Sorry, I think there's a missing piece here.

Something, right? And like, I think Ty Harris is, is a great point guard for them. I think Tiffany Hayes is good for them. There's something, right? Something. You got, you got AT, you got DB. There's, there's something missing. Yeah. I agree with you. And if they get that something or figure out that something,

But if not, then I'm kind of like, yeah. Okay. That's fair. Okay. We'll keep a, we'll keep an eye on that. Um, do I want to bother your flowers, ma'am? You deserve them all.

Round of applause for you, all of your flowers and Big Low flowers to you. Thank you for coming on. No problem. And talking about flowers. And we want to give you your flowers. Keep doing what you're doing in this women's basketball space. It is needed. It is necessary. And we are so happy to have your voice a part of this community. So thank you for stopping by.

Thank y'all for having me. I really appreciate it. For real, for real. I really appreciate it. And as a former player in the WNBA,

I just want to say I wish there was a big low around when I played because I love your energy, your attitude, your realness, love everything about it. So keep doing what you do. We appreciate you so much. Thank you. And make sure to follow her. That's four G's big four G's love. Here we go. All right. Thank you all.

All right. Thank you, Lo. And when we come back, we're going to take a quick break. We're going to do our news roundup. Stick around. And now a word from our sponsors at Betterment.

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get a little update on the charter flight. So we were talking about last week. It is officially all-star voting, which I always forget how quickly it sneaks up on us. I feel like the season starts and it's like, you got to have an all-star caliber first time.

Few games. Like it's, it comes up so quick, but the WNBA all-star game is in Las Vegas. I'm so excited on July 15th. And here's how the voting works, because I think there's a lot of confusion around this. Sometimes fans contribute 50% of the vote.

Current players contribute 25% of the vote and media contributes 25%. Four guards, six front court players will be named as starters. The league's head coaches then select the 12 reserves. Fan voting opened earlier in the month. Top 10, Asia Wilson, number one. Are we surprised? No, not at all. Not at all. She's absolutely killing it.

Brianna Stewart, Brittany Griner, Aaliyah Boston, okay, rookie, Jackie Young, Jewel Lloyd, Satu Sabli, EDD, Nneka Agumbike, and Arike Agumbawale. Any of those surprise you or is there anyone missing? I feel like everyone is deserving. Jackie Young is a little surprising, but she's killing it though. So...

When you look at the breakdown, right, where it's fans contribute 50% of the vote, I don't think people really realize how big of an impact that is. So when I look at Aaliyah Boston, Aaliyah Boston is killing it. Players absolutely voting for her. So people may look at her and say, but she doesn't interact on social media very much. She doesn't. Yeah. But Gamecock fans?

are holding it down for Aaliyah Boston, right? So she absolutely deserves it. Here's why I'm saying that. So a player that I feel should be in the top 10 and is not, I think A.T., I think Alyssa Thomas should absolutely be in the top 10. Based off of her play, what she's done so far, yes, she deserves it. But

To my knowledge, AT is not on social media. I know. Not a lot. Yeah. We don't really interact with fans at all. And fans contribute 50% of the vote. So that's where I'm like, that's why she's not in the top 10. Maybe. I don't know. So there were just some other ones I had on here. I was like, hmm, there's no Nafisa Collier. Yes. That's interesting. Yeah.

Because UConn fans ride hard just like Hancock fans. And Nafisa is balling right now. Yes, she absolutely is. So when I think I have a theory, it's blown up. Yeah, but everyone that's in the top 10, though, absolutely should be there, deserve it. But there are a couple that I'm like, hmm, Courtney VanderSoot, surprise she's not

I'm a big Sloot fan. I'm surprised she's not, you know, we continue to have this conversation all day, but the biggest one to me, AT and Nafisa Collier, I'm surprised they're not in the top 10. Yeah, they should be.

Alyssa Thomas. Okay. Maryland fans. You got a couple of days on it. Make sure to go to WNBA.com to make your selections. The deadline is Wednesday, June 21st at 1159 PM. Eastern standard time. So get those votes in. There's been some double vote days over the course of the past week. So if you got a favorite, make sure to get your votes in so you can see them at all star.

Okay, next order of news. We have a charter flight update. We talked a lot last week about WNBA and charter flights. ESPN reported that Griner now has the availability to fly charter for the Mercury's remaining road games. A source told ESPN that the option wasn't available at the beginning of the 2023 season, but the league claims it had given the Mercury the freedom to fly private all year long.

That goes into the confusion of this whole situation. There's also been news about some teams using a public chartering service called JSX, including prior to the incident involving Greiner.

ESPN reported that while the league is allowing teams to use the service, they are only supposed to fly routes that JSX offers. The Washington Post reported that the Las Vegas Aces worked with JSX to create their own publicly available flights based on their road game schedule. But a source told ESPN that the Aces are no longer taking those flights. So essentially...

It's a lot. Yes, it is a lot. A lot. I'm laughing, but I'm like, I'm glad you knew all of that. But can we do a quick history lesson, Cheryl? Because first of all, I'm a nerd and I love doing research and reading a bunch of things. But I think I and I don't love always doing comparisons between the NBA and the WNBA. But this was worth it.

This is worth it. And this is something that I think a lot of people don't know. So if you'll indulge me and my nerdiness.

I would love to do a quick history lesson. So my dear friend, fellow journalist, Lindsay Gibbs, who has a fantastic women's sports newsletter called Power Plays, wrote a post about the comparisons to the NBA's journey to charter flights. And it's not what you think. A lot of us may think that they had charter flights automatically from the league's inception, but actually all teams weren't using charter flights until 1995. Wow.

That's crazy. I didn't know this. Isn't that crazy? Yeah. Right? Because I automatically thought that from day one, you know? Not day one, but you know what I mean. Yeah. The Utah Jazz were reportedly the last team to fully charter. And turns out public shaming actually worked. The Jazz stars kept complaining every single road trip to the media about not flying charter. Right.

But that's almost 50 years after the league's inception that all teams were on the same level.

And I just think that's shocking. So let's a quick little background. From the beginning, owners didn't want to front the money for flights. In the early 80s, players would fly game to game in first class, if all possible. And if first class wasn't available, the team had to pay the player the difference between the first class ticket and the coach ticket. Wow. Isn't that interesting? Yeah.

So Lindsay Gibbs reported that the big infliction point came before the 1987-88 NBA season when the Pistons owner, William Davidson, bought a private plane for $2.5 million. But that season, the Pistons took the private plane on all road trips and they ended up in the NBA finals. So other teams saw that and was like, okay, we want to charter flights too if we can be like the bad boy Pistons. It works. Charter flights work.

clearly. Wow. So one by one, the owners figured out a way to come up with the money to keep up with the other teams who had charter flights.

And there wasn't exactly, Lindsay said, there wasn't exactly a correlation with the team's record based on if they flew charter or not. The teams are still losing. Like, this was my point a few years ago when the Liberty, you know, got fined for chartering flights. They had a losing record during that time. So it doesn't always correlate with, you know,

We charter flights. It's going to be a huge lopsided victory. I think it's more about safety and comfort, which is what we've talked about.

So her conclusion, and I agree, is that whenever we have this discourse surrounding charter flights, we think, who can write a check for $20 million and allow all teams to fly charter? But if the league lifts the CBA rule, it would probably be more likely a slow rollout and take some time. Certain teams will be able to fly charter, and some owners will need to find a way to keep up just

Just like if one team gets a star player, other teams are trading to compete with the roster. This is no different. I thought that was fascinating. I'll keep it short and sweet. First of all, I love you as a nerd. That's great info and history that I didn't know. I'm sure whoever, so many people that will listen to this will probably sit there and say, oh my God, I had no idea. My thing is this. If

If your team can afford to or can fly you via charter, go for it. And if you can't, then you can't. Then you can't. I get the safety, comfort, and even rest, right? It's nice to be able to have a charter so you can, after a late night game, you can fly home, sleep in your bed, all of that. I get that. I don't know how much...

more of an advantage it gives teams who have charters versus teams who don't so when i say i'll keep it short and sweet that's it now do i think do i think teams and players should fly charter absolutely but i also think if if teams are like got a charter want to fly my team i think they should do it and if you don't then you don't we had none

And I think we all turned out pretty good. I think the games were competitive. I think the league was great. You know what I mean? There's so much we didn't have, but it wasn't us saying...

This was the only thing. Yeah. Or we could play so much better if we had charters. Right. Right. But it's a part of it. And I think that was so interesting because it maybe it's not a magic wand thing. Like it's going to take some time. And so if we can just allow teams to get the ball rolling, I think it would actually happen faster than we think if we go that way. So, yeah. Thank you for introducing.

That's really good stuff. That's really good stuff, Jordan. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Lindsay Gibbs. Shout out to her. Make sure to subscribe to her newsletter. It's amazing. Okay, we're going to take another quick break. But when we come back, we have Tweet of the Week. Overnight, Dunkin'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 Dunkin' is where you want to be.

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We're back and it's time for Tweet of the Week. We're going to work on a jingle. That wasn't great. Yeah, you could have seen my, I did a little dance too. Tweet of the Week. Okay, so this was one of my favorite things on the internet this week. The Washington Mystics have a post-game tradition where the team chooses the quote, Dog of the Night.

the person who goes to work, who's clocking in and honors them with a hard hat. And after a win against the Mercury on Friday, the hard hat went to Li Ming. She had 14 points, her first start of the season, but she needed a little help from her teammates with barking to celebrate the award. Listen to this.

So it could go. You should. No, you here. You bring your stomach. Yeah. God. Beautiful.

Oh my gosh. To take something so simple. I know. That was so much fun to watch. The first one, I was like, oh, that's a little Chihuahua. It was. She said,

I was like, wait, wait, wait. Did you say Tawala or Dawg? It's D-A-W-G. So it has to come from, like, that was the... Yeah, like that cool, you gotta go get it. Yeah, Maisha and Allen was pointing to her stomach, like, from here, from here. I know. I was like, you gotta go get it. But the Russian singer was like, mm. And then, hoo, hoo. Ha, ha, ha.

Wait, what's your best bark, Cheryl? You want the dog? The dog. D-A-W-G. You just won the hard hat for player of the game for the Washington State. Give us your bark. Oh! Geez! You made me jump back in my chair! Give me yours, Jordan. Give me yours. No, it's not going to do that good. Come on! I'll take a chihuahua if that's all you got.

You got more. You got more. I wish I had a growl. I can't even growl. Come on. That was pretty good. Yeah, that was real good. My dogs are literally outside the door now. Like, is there a dog in there? Okay. Okay. That was good. I love that. There's a dog in you. I love that. There's a dog in all of us. Just got to bring it out at times.

Well, what a perfect way to end this segment. Shout out to Big Low for coming on today. More great games this week. Any stick out to you that you're going to have circled? Okay. Please don't beat me up. I don't think I'll be catching any because I'll be out of the country. But if I have to pick, I will say this. After watching that The Wing Storm game,

I'm curious to see how the wings bounce back. Not just our re-game, but how they bounce back against the Sparks on Friday, I believe. You know, like a great game, but they didn't come out on top. So I want to see how they bounce back. That's a good one. I'll go Fever Aces on Saturday. That's a good one.

We love a good Aaliyah Boston, Asia Wilson storyline matchup. Yeah. That one's going to be good. I mean, plenty of ones. I, I, especially as we're getting closer to all star, this is kind of go time for a lot of teams to kind of figure out who, what their identity is and if they're going to keep going up, you mentioned the wings on Tuesday, they play the dream. I think that's a great matchup to see what they're made of. If they're going to bounce back.

immediately against the Ryan Howard dream team. All right. That'll do it for us. Please keep watching the WNBA and make sure to follow rate, review the show. It's available on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. We love reading your reviews, your emails, your messages. We've been receiving all of them. So please keep them coming. We love it.

You guys, your comments, your emails, your thoughts, everything, it makes us better. So please send. And if there's anything else that you're missing, you want to hear, let us know. We can absolutely check it out, discuss it. But you can let me know. I am at airsweeps22. And my road dog over there is at...

Jordan R. You need to go get the hay. Yes, you got it right. I think I need to add more Ys. Well, after Big Low, right? I know. And like we mentioned before, you can also send us questions or feedback at queensofthecourtatodyssey.com.

Queens of the Court is an Odyssey original created in partnership with the WNBA. The show is produced by Alex Ozzie. The executive producer is Lena Moss Glazer. Social media assistance from Isabella Apple and imaging from T-Storm Battle. I see you. I'm Wayne. Okay, thanks. And Court is adjourned.