Ep. 101 | The Aunties talk Shedeur Sanders, LeBron James & Raising the Next Generation

How much of an athlete's story is written by performance... and how much is shaped by the people around them?

In the debut episode of Aunties Talk Sports, Jen and KB explore one of the biggest themes in sports: legacy. Using Shedeur Sanders' NFL Draft journey and the ongoing conversations surrounding LeBron James and Bronny James, the aunties unpack what it means to raise confident athletes, navigate public expectations, and build a legacy that extends far beyond the game. Jen brings historical perspective and an eye for the business of sports, while KB examines the leadership, family dynamics, and cultural narratives that shape how athletes are viewed.

The conversation also covers the NBA Playoffs, Tyrese Haliburton's emotional postgame moment with Giannis Antetokounmpo, the beginning of the WNBA preseason, and why the league's continued growth represents more than just another sports story.

From parenting and leadership to media narratives and athlete branding, the games become the starting point for a thoughtful conversation about sports, business, culture, and the lessons that connect them all.

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🎧 Produced by @everybodylovesjg

Two aunties. Two mics. All game.

Transcript

Speaker 00 0:00

Hey, welcome to Auntie's Talk Sports. This is our premiere episode. I'm Jennifer. And I'm Khalilah. And this is where we talk about sports from an auntie's point of view. We've been talking, how many years have we been talking about doing a podcast? At least five years, five or six years. About five or six years. We'll get on the phone talking about business and inevitably our conversations will turn to sports. That's right. And what I found out is that My love of sports came from my mother. And then I told you that you were you told me the whole story about your mother. Tell me a little bit about your your your background with sports and like how you came to love sports. Yeah. So I grew up in Indiana. Shout out to Anderson, Indiana, home of the Indians. Growing up, I mean, my grandmother loved sports. My mother loved sports. She was a referee. She refereed high school basketball games, a few of my games, AAU. boys high school athletics so I started playing basketball in fourth grade year round AAU and then when I got to high school actually like the top two boys teams in the country were in the community that I grew up in and we had one of the largest gymnasiums for high school basketball in the country so if you're from Indiana you love basketball home of the Hoosiers but my family we watched Tennis, baseball, football, the Olympics. I mean, you name it. We're watching it. Yeah. I remember you telling me your mother was a referee. That was like, let's go. My mother used to play high school basketball. She swears that she invented the hook shot. You would think she was dunking back then, but let her tell us she invented the hook shot and they called it traveling or something because they didn't understand what it was.

Speaker 01 1:56

That's

Speaker 00 1:58

hilarious. So my love of sports, you know, because back from being a child and having a hoop in the backyard and I used to go out there and play but I never play organized sports but I always you know played in school the coach used to ask me to join the team but I was I grew up painfully shy so I was not about to get out there and be uh playing in front of crowds so but yeah we're finally here we're finally um sitting down to talk about what we talk about all the time on our phone calls so let's get into it let's get into a couple of things some of the things some of the crazy stories from this week I have a few but one the one that sticks out to me is the Tyrese Halliburton's father getting on the court and getting all up in outrageous and then subsequently Indiana saying oh no you can't come to the games for the foreseeable future and I agree with that like get off the court you are not your son you know you're taken away from him and so i respect their decision like between him and John Moran's father like sit down that's right I mean we see it right even in club sports where parents can't really you know just cheer for their you know their sons their daughters they kind of cross that line so I remember when I was looking on because I check ESPN every morning once I wake up and I saw the image of him and John is kind of nose to nose and I'm like what the heck is going on here but I will say shout out to Ty Reese Halliburton because he did what was right. He was completely honest, like, no, my pops was out of line. But being from Indiana, I just knew they wasn't taking that. So I'm not surprised. They are a more conservative, leaning state. So I knew that display of aggression, public, the embarrassment to the Pacers, they're like, yeah, no. Because too, we had the rumble, right? What was it? The rumble? Malice at the palace, right? The artist era. So no, they ain't trying to go back there. So I agree with it. I do. I do. I remember back in the day, LeBron's mother tried that. That's right. I guess he pointed to her like that. Sit on back down. But I mean, I understand being really passionate about it. I understand, you know, cheering on your son or your daughter. You know, my mother used to cheer in the stands and I could like hear her and it would be so embarrassing But it's like, who provides that checks and balance, right? Because I'm like, was his wife there? Were other family members there? Did it happen so fast that nobody could really pull his coattails and tell him to sit down? You know, security. So, you know, I didn't get to watch the game, but I'm curious about that. Yeah, I watched and I saw somebody come and break them up, but that didn't last. And they went back and by the time I saw it, they were like face to face. And I was like, You know, I didn't know what was happening. And then afterwards I found out. But that was my crazy story for the week. And I was just like... you know sit down let your son be in the spotlight they won right you know that's you don't need any more than that um because that's true at the end of the day that story was the highlight right right headline of the game when people should have been talking about their performance uh and and the win yeah you take you're taking away from your sunshine yeah like just go sit down don't live vicariously through him you had your time and you know let him have his shine you know you shouldn't be the story don't let the parents become the story you know let the players become the story that's the auntie take yeah yeah come over here let me let me talk to you yes yes uh so well i want to talk about some of the you know some of the top stories this week and it's this is a great time of year You have hockey playoffs. You have baseball has started up. It's in full gear. You have NBA playoffs. You have WNBA preseason last night. You have tennis going on. It's just a great time. There's a couple of times a year where all the sports, just at the NFL draft, and you have all the sports getting in the spotlight. So this is a great time. Some of my top stories this week are... You know, last night or yesterday, we found out that Greg Popovich is stepping down. You know, it's his time. Last night was also the debut, the preseason debut of the WNBA season. So that was good. He had some great games. You had the Warriors and the Rockets the other night. My poor team. They go into a game seven. So, you know, I feel like... It could be the passing of the torch, you know. Hey. Them young boys giving it to them. Yes, yes. They looking kind of old, but it's okay. It's okay. They still, hey, you still got to beat them. You still got to beat them. The Pistons lost a heartbreaker the other night. I feel like that game the other night should have tied the series because that previous game where at the end where the foul happened, And they didn't call it and they came out afterwards, said it was a foul, but it never should have come to that. So, you know, it is what it is. Well, yeah. And we know that even though the refs are always supposed to be impartial, we know that they give certain calls to teams based on the level of respect. Oh, yeah. Right. Certain players are going to get the call. Certain players are. And unfortunately, the Pistons aren't. aren't at that level where they're going to get the benefit of the doubt. They're going to get the call or not get the call. Right. So they have to establish themselves a little bit more. That one was a little egregious because of they were letting them play. They were letting them play the whole series. But that one was a little you couldn't even miss that one. You couldn't even there was no Okay, it could have been this, could have been that. It was very obvious. I saw a couple of headlines that said, you know the NBA called that in and said we need a big market team to move forward. Yeah, but you could have had a better storyline with the Pistons. We'll dive more into that too. You also had the NFL draft and that's another thing. The fall of Shador Sanders falling in the draft was the big story of the draft. It should not have been a big story. It was ridiculous how it happened. But you have Cam Ward, who was number one, and he should have been the story of the draft on the first day. But the first day Shador falling was the big story. And then, you know, the prank call to Shador and the fines coming, you know, both for the team and the defensive coordinator that happened. So those are some of the stories What do you want to talk about more on those? You know what I want to talk about. We got to talk about Shador. Okay. Okay. Okay. Let's do that. Let's do that. Cause I do think that we, when we talked about this before, I think we both had different takes on it. Right. So I think ultimately one, Shador is a superstar. Right. And the fact that, people were still talking about his fall right in the draft versus Cam Ward being the number one pick, right? And I think ultimately that's why some teams kind of passed on him because it is, and not in a negative way, but it is a spectacle, right? You know, you have his father, you have his family, they're on Twitch, they're documenting everything. You've got the legendary room, you know, so I can understand why people pass, but I definitely think it was a concerted effort to try to humble him. And that's really what I don't like. I feel as though, especially when young black men or women are confident when they, you know, present themselves like they are sure of themselves. They know what they want. They know what they deserve. That sometimes systems people don't like that. Right. You know, and I remember back to when it was Serena and Venus is dead and that clip where the reporter was basically needling them and trying to understand like where did this confidence come from why do you think you should be that confident and so I do think that sometimes we not us but others try to humble black people who are talented and who know they're talented and so I hope that he gets to Cleveland and he actually competes for that number one spot and I think that Hey, as they were saying, don't give them no discounts. Don't give them no discounts. Don't do that. Yeah. So I think like in this story, like 10 things are true all at once. You know, in the beginning, way before the draft, Deion came out and said, you know, if there are certain teams that want to draft them, don't. I don't want to. He kind of did an Archie Manning. And we haven't even touched on that. The Mannings came out when Eli was getting drafted and said that he didn't want to play for San Diego. And they came out later and said because of the management in San Diego. But that wasn't the narrative during the draft. It was that they were dictating where he was going to go. And San Diego wound up drafting him and then traded him to New York. So Deion came out and said, I don't want him to go to certain teams. He's very involved. He's coached his son since they were kids. And he's a Hall of Fame player. He's one of the best defensive backs in the history of the NFL, if not the best. He's arguably the best. So he has all the leverage to say what he said. But You know, Shador is his own man. He did go on the, you know, talk to some teams. What I don't like, so that's an angle. When you do that, you're going to allow people to write the narrative about you that whether you want them to or not.

Unknown 12:57

Yeah.

Speaker 00 12:58

You know, there's all kinds of stories, you know, could be true, could be not about how he interviewed with teams and what he said. But I do agree with you. It was that he was. Confident, you know, they think overly confident, and then they started saying that he was overvalued.

Unknown 13:16

Mm hmm.

Speaker 00 13:17

There's no way. He's overvalued. That's beside the point. I don't care what you say. There are teams that needed a quarterback. Pittsburgh, you need a quarterback. You're going to rely on 40-some-year-old Aaron Rodgers to get you a Super Bowl? Yeah. It wasn't a lot of quarterbacks that were actually drafted, and so I was paying attention to that as well. But I think it was the quarterback that was drafted in the third round, I think, where people were like, hmm. Yeah, we know he's better than Shador, but there's two things that I heard too. One, and I know you have your opinion about Ryan Clark, but he was saying, you know, can Shador command the locker room? Can Shador earn the respect of grown men? And he was kind of alluding to the fact that players who were, you know, married, got kids, been in the league a long time, wouldn't necessarily trust Shador to lead them in because they're thinking that his daddy is the one pulling the strings or telling them what to do, telling them what not to do. He said at the end, I think Shador can, but I wonder if that is what people haven't been really saying publicly or the fact that maybe Colorado and the coaching staff didn't really share all of the information. I also heard that they didn't share all of the information or people were questioning, are they really being truthful because Deion is the head coach and he's, you know, altering or editing the information that the scouts and stuff got. Who knows? Yeah, I think I don't know if you're talking about. So let's talk about Cleveland. Cleveland passing him over until the first fifth round. They drafted Dylan Gabriel. What has he done? Like, you drafted another quarterback ahead of him. Now you have five quarterbacks in your room. You got 40 something year old. What's his name? I can't even remember his name. You got a 40-year-old. You got Watson, who's going to be out for most of the year. And who has how many cases? Yes. And now you have five quarterbacks in your room. There's no way that all of them are going to be on your roster. Well, they said they want him to compete. They want him to compete for it. I don't want to see that. I want him to go to a team where I know... What rookie is... qualified to lead grown veterans. Like they could use that story with anyone. And usually quarterbacks are drafted, you know, very high. Well, they're drafted pretty high up.

Speaker 01 16:06

You

Speaker 00 16:07

know, even the number one quarterbacks, you're going to a bad team. You're going to a bad team. That's why they're drafting and they're so high. Well, I think this is where his relationship with Tom Brady will pay off because we all know Brady wasn't drafted high. It's obviously... Brady, where were you in the first four rounds of the draft? You don't have no say-so over there. You don't have no pull in Las Vegas. Las Vegas needs a quarterback. He can definitely... I guess, talk to Shador about, again, right? It doesn't matter where you're drafted. It's really what you do. I also think the fact that he don't need the money. I think teams knew that. Don't call my pockets. I know, but people do, right? I know, yeah. Because I thought about that, too. That's right. And that's what, I don't know if it's the coach or the GM or whatever, said at Cleveland was that, oh, we knew that we got him at a discount. Yes. Right? So they're like, oh, he's going to be okay. We know that he loves it. They don't say that about anybody. Anybody else. We know that he loves the game. Right. We know that he's going to go someplace. You know, he don't he doesn't have to worry about getting a check. So let's just see who else we can get. And that's what he said. You know, always as we kept, you know, seeing his name fall and people passing up on him, we were like, oh, wow, this is now too good to pass up in the fifth round. So, you know, it was definitely pocket watching and everything else. So I do. I mean, I was looking on the site. I may have to go ahead and copy a jersey just cause so off of his side yeah I'm not buying nothing from the NFL look as you could tell Your favorite sport is basketball. Mine is football. I could talk all day about football. I play fantasy sports because I want to learn about players from other teams and different leagues. I even try hockey fantasy. I didn't know what I was doing. I lost. I don't even know how to score that. I'm trying to learn hockey. Football, I know these teams. Some of them, Las Vegas needed a quarterback. Pittsburgh needed a quarterback, still do, and even New Orleans needed, but they did draft a quarterback, but you have Derek Carr, who has a shoulder injury, he may be out. So the teams that passed him over, including Cleveland, that passed him over that need a quarterback, that was just, that was... a concerted effort to make him fall in the draft because of the perceived image that Deion and the Sanders family portrayed. And I just disagree with that. I was shocked that Pittsburgh and Tomlin passed because I have heard him previously say, you know, when coaches talk about, you know, players' attitudes or, you know, players being a distraction, I've heard him say previously, well, then that just means that you're not the best coach or you need to up your coaching game. So I was shocked because I feel like if anybody can deal or could have dealt with Shador could have dealt with Dion it would have been Mike Tomlin but yeah I was surprised at that and then I'm wondering like how much no I know I'm talking about like your favorites cause I'm gonna rely on you for some of the basketball takes and I don't expect you to rely on me on football but I'm gonna listen more cause I follow basketball but there's some takes that when we talk I'm like okay I didn't even think about that cause yeah I think what it was for me with football really I stopped watching during after the Colin Kaepernick situation you know what I mean you know we did kind of you know protest and not watching so I'm just now kind of you know getting back to watching games we'll talk about that maybe in our next episode because I did hear that they said that he's still training his girlfriend said he's still training every single day y'all want to see me throw come on It's like, should he give it up? I mean, but obviously he loves it, but that ain't going nowhere. It's not going nowhere. I couldn't stop. I never... seriously consider stopping to watch. I remember my sister saying, I'm not watching anymore until they get them back. Then she was at the Thanksgiving game. I'm like, you can't go to the Thanksgiving game if you're boycotting. We took my mother-in-law. I'm like, you can't do that. Either you boycott or you don't. I'm boycotting on TV. See, if I boycott that See, I'm one that is all or nothing. If you tell me we're boycotting this, then I'm boycotting everything. I can't watch any sports because every league has an issue. And so I'm like an all or nothing. Yeah, I can't boycott. I'll support in other ways. Y'all You know, sorry. If they're striking, I'm a scab. I'm sorry. I have good intentions. No, I'm not going to cross the line because I'm nonviolent. But, you know, there are certain things that I, you know, have to take a stand on. I don't know. I couldn't do that. But I respect everything that they did that Colin Kaepernick stands for. I'm definitely in support of that. I respect his kindness too. Do you? Maybe it's the Afro. I can't do it. You can rock with the braids, though, if it's a straight back. It's got to be in low fade, low Caesar. Just a low fade. I'm not an Afro braids type person. Just kidding. That is funny. Shador, he's going to prove people wrong or prove them right. Because there are a lot of people who still believe in him. And the thing that I think is missed in all of this, and, you know, this is the same with WNBA and everything else. How old is Shador? 21? Mm-hmm. We're talking about a 21 year old. Now, now the guy that pranked him was 21, but you know, they, and they're trying, that's the thing. They're trying to portray that 21 year old that pranked him as a kid, like a 14, 15 year old kid. He is not a kid, but they're trying to make Shador Sanders at 21 be this grown, you know, 30 year old. Just look at the difference between how those kids, to people are portrayed. And research shows that, right? That black and brown children, you know, are often characterized as adults sooner or held to a different standard of behavior. But I told you I'm firing a coach. You would have fired him. I would have. I just, I mean, it's, I would feel like you were irresponsible with this data, right? There's, there should be no reason. And maybe his son broke into his office or went through his files or knew his password. But for me, I would, I just feel, I mean, again, uh, it depends. I mean, I know you were saying that the Falcons there, um, their defense isn't that great, but it's a distraction that I wouldn't even want to have to deal with going into the summer, going into camp, going into the season. It's a distraction. I really wouldn't want to deal with it. If I had had any issues with the defensive coordinator up until now, I'm using this as a reason to let them go. I don't think it's going to be a long-lasting distraction. Actually, I think it's already died down. I don't think it's going to be a distraction once the season hits. Um, you know, I, I, The team got ahead of it. Not got ahead of it, but they addressed it immediately. And if they had tried to sweep it under the rug, yes, that would have been a problem. But they addressed it immediately. They reached out to the Sanders family. And one reason that it's not going to be an issue is because Shador said, you know, we all do immature stuff sometimes. He... I can't be more mad than Shador Sanders is. You know what I'm saying? But reporters are good for bringing it up, right? So we know, especially if Cleveland plays the Falcons, they find a way to tie those stories together. You know what I'm saying? They probably gonna have a sit down with Shador. How did you feel when your name was pranked? Media does that because it's the clickbait. And he's gotta stop them. He's gotta stop them in their tracks. I do not believe the story that The iPad was lying there and he just glanced at it. No, he went through his daddy's iPad and looked up Shador's number because he knew what he was going to do. Or the dad was like, look what I got. Look, I got Shador's number. I don't even understand. If you're a defensive coordinator, Shador is a quarterback. Why do you even have his number all up on your iPad? You're not calling him. Atlanta was not going to select a quarterback. They probably have files on all the players. I mean, that's the thing, though. It's a data breach. And so who knows what other data was included in those files. It could have been health information, HIPAA. Who knows? They do psychological testing, personality testing. So to me, it's more so about data privacy. I do work for somebody who's in cybersecurity. It's more so about the data breach versus is write the prank to me and it's like, okay, what else? What else does he see and what else are you being really lax about? That's my thing. I want to know the truth. Stop telling the story that the iPad was lying there and he just looked at it. No, he didn't because there's no reason he had that information up on his screen. I got a question for you. Who is your favorite Sanders brother? Shiloh. Mine too. I love Shiloh. He's so cute. And that laugh. But did you see the video where he was clowning his daddy and really talking about if you wasn't that N-I-G-G, then we would be getting some figures, right? No, I didn't see that one. If you wasn't out here. He's always pounding you. If you wasn't that dude, he would have been drafted in round two. Yeah. He was like, dang, if they doing this to you, Shadur. What are they going to do to me? I felt like he brought the necessary levity. The reality is they were on a show, a reality show, but they could bring it back right now and people would watch. I used to watch it all the time. That's right. I also thought it was so funny where he said, was it going into day two? Oh yeah, I had to get me an agent because my daddy being my agent, that wasn't working out too well. I had to go get me one. I think that was the plan anyway. Deion is a coach. He's not an agent. It's a different time than when he played. He got Drew Rosenhaus, one of the best in the business. I think that's what his agent is. It doesn't matter what people say about them as a family. They brought the entertainment for the draft. Absolutely. They have an unbreakable bond and it's beautiful to see. It's beautiful to see. Even his ex-wife, their mother, she was in there. You know he didn't want her up in there, but it's okay. Dion took one for the team. He has raised a beautiful family. That's what we want. We talk about absent fathers. He is a very involved father. You want the narrative of an absent father. They love a hard luck story. you know, during the draft, he was homeless and, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah. There's none of that. And, and you can't, like you said, you can't, the media can't take sometimes can't take a confident family that doesn't need the money or doesn't need them and that's what I think irked a lot of people I know I saw a clip where they asked Shador what are you most worried about and he said I'm not worried about anything besides getting my mama and daddy to be in the same room that's my number one goal can I get my mama and daddy in the same room to watch the draft and so that's That was telling, right? I'm not really worried about this. At the end of the day, I'm going to land someplace. I'm going to do what I do. I'm still paid. They hating on my chain. You know what I'm saying? And so, you know, but being Black is not, you know, it's not a monolith. And unfortunately, we don't make a lot of room, right, for those different expressions of Blackness and Black families, especially when that narrative goes against a lot of times. what people see in popular culture. Yeah. Cause that should, that should have been the story because even on senior day, they walked out separately. They did. You do this. I'm gonna go over here and do this. I'm like, dang, y'all couldn't even walk out together for senior day. Come on now. But that's, you know, we'll stay tuned for that one because that is going to be a very interesting story. And I'm, And don't forget about Shiloh being in Tampa Bay. Yeah. He's going to show out. Yeah. And, you know, he's six feet, six foot defensive back that can hit. Oh, yeah. So is your auntie take that Shador and Dion should have handled it differently? They should have played humble. They should have kept their mouth shut. Or is your auntie take that they just they did what they needed to do or should have done? I don't know. And and. I don't know what it is. I don't really. So Shador said there were some things that he could have done differently. I would like to know what he thought he could have done differently. Like, you know, what really happened? Because I don't know what really happened. I can't really say. I don't think anybody should play small. I like that. You know, you have to have confidence to play. even be in the spotlight. And again, we're talking about a 20 year, 21 year old young man and, you know, his. If your father is primetime, you're not playing small. Oh, yeah. Must be the money. That's unrealistic to think that his kids are going to play small, even if they are playing small. You know what I'm saying? Why are you playing so small? Like his daughter, right? She tried to go and make a name for herself and just go to, what was it, Alabama State? Oh, no, no. I'm talking about DeAndre. Oh, DeAndre. You know what I'm saying? It's a difference between going off on your baby. I don't want to say baby. But he told her, right? I'm like, I raised you, you know what I'm saying, to handle these situations different. I didn't raise you to be on social media. And he said, you got to know when to walk away. One thing about your daddy, he know what's for him, what ain't for him. If it ain't working, he going to walk away. So even in their personal life, right? I think, you know, like you said, raising them to know their worth, know their value. And that's, that's a good gift. That's, that's an invaluable gift for a father to give their children. So probably younger Jennifer would have said, you know, just, you know, chill a little bit. dog Jennifer auntie Jennifer is like don't play small because my nieces and nephews do not play small sometimes I look at them like but then I'm like living vicariously through them like yeah go ahead do that what about you what's your take on I mean I I agree with you. I think in my younger days, I probably would have not necessarily been told to play small, but just been like hyper critical of myself, right? Or just anxious, right? Like when I looked at Cam Ward, I felt like they were really trying to position him as the anti-Shador, right? Got on a linen suit. We know it's cold. You know what I'm saying? Nothing flashy. He dressed like, you know what I'm saying? Like he going to the country. club, the small gold chain. You know what I'm saying? This is your time. Your style may not be like Shador's, but again, lean into the moment a little bit more. And I feel like as I approach true auntie status, almost 50, I am learning to just step into all of who I am. But I want that for my kids. I want that for my nieces and nephew. It's like, yeah, the world is so small. I think when We were growing up, right? You know, I'm still... you know, Berlin Wall, right? So it was like the whole notion of like global travel and studying abroad and, you know, all of the things now that young people have so much access to, we didn't, those things seem so unattainable to us, right? You've got social media, you've got Google, you know, all of this information. And so, yes, go and do. And I think about my oldest, you know, I friend we have a couple mutual friends Jen and Summer and they are always telling my oldest who's 14 like oh you expensive you expensive you gonna have to figure out what you gonna do with your life and how you go you know pay for your summer vacation and you like to spend they told her you like to spend Christmas in Mexico and she looked at them and said oh no when I get older I'm trying to vacation on the moon and I said well on the moon call Gail I was trying to vacation on the moon. I said, well, how much do you think vacation on the moon is going to cost? Right. So, again, the thoughts and ideas and dreams. Right. Are much, much more grander. Yeah. And we should not hold them back. Yeah. yeah I my last thought on the draft was Cam Ward was just trying to get through the day he knew he was going number one he didn't have to do he was like look just can we just he was just going through the motion with his little summer suit on right his little summer suit it looked like his mama picked his clothes out I said bless his heart that's my auntie bless his heart that's right that's the auntie take so we talk a lot about who our favorites are you know I'm a LeBron a LeBron Glazer I'm a LeBron-dia or whatever you want to call it a LeBron Glazer I love LeBron so here there's two takes on LeBron for me too I love LeBron as a player. All the people who chastise him for the decision, they sat and watched that whole special just like I did. I watched everything through the commercial breaks and everything. When he said he was taking his talents to Miami, I watched the whole thing. They all watched it too. Millions of people watched it, so everybody watches him. Haters are going to hate. I love LeBron. but I, I'm not, I do call them out when I have to, you know, have doing the whole walking up to Stephen A when the camera's looking at him, when he did the whole thing, instead of pulling them to the side in the back, you know, it was, you know, say what you have to say, but you didn't have to do it like that, but okay, you did it. That's fine. But then he went on Pat McAfee and, you know, just to troll Stephen A some more. So there are things that, And I think Jamel Hill said it best. Like you lost that one. You don't, there are things you don't have to prove anything to anybody. You've been proving things all your life. The one of the reasons I like him and Savannah is they're North, they're Midwest. There's something about Midwest values. There's something I like the realness there. But there are some things that now he, you know, you, you got Bronnie in the league. I did. I believe you deserve that. You've earned that. Whatever happened, we'll give you that one because people pull strings for people all the time. Not at the expense, but I do not agree with him like, oh, Bronny's better than all these other people in the league. Don't do that. You don't have to do that. Let Bronny make his own way. He's earned. He's my favorite player. There's a reason and he's not afraid to speak out on issues. Some people have... number one and LeBron maybe too but Jordan is not going to speak out like LeBron is and you just forgot Colby? I didn't forget Kobe, but he's probably, Kobe might be like number five. What? Oh my God. I got to look at like Magic and Kareem. Like, come on. And ones that played even before I was born. So you would put LeBron over Magic or Kareem? Yeah. LeBron? Yes. So you would put LeBron over Magic and Kareem, but then not Kobe? So for me, this is it. You know LeBron is just not my favorite player. I respect his game. I respect what he's done, you know, for the culture. I definitely, you know, off the court again, appears to be a great husband, father, you know, something. I mean, yeah, philanthropist, but I said appears to be a great husband, father, philanthropist. But I feel just like he's a diva dude, right? The recent meme about him peeking, laying on the ground and then moving his hand and peeking. He's a diva dude. He whines so much. He thinks he deserves every freaking call. What's the good with him lying on the ground and peeking it? Yeah, so I guess he fell on the ground and he had his hands over his eyes and he started looking up, lifting one hand. And now I'm like, are you looking to see if somebody watching you and then put the hands back over? It's gone viral. Oh, my goodness. This is the challenge for me. When you talk to LeBron stans or Glazers, they can never articulate to you why they put LeBron over a Kobe. Why do they put LeBron over a Magic? It's rarely about rings or really about his game. It's just that they like him. Oh, I can go into that. Okay, what's your calculus? Because I want to hear the calculus. Just the... you know his book of his playing is just I think is elite I mean the number like the number the points and all that the championships I don't think you have to win I don't think the number of championships defines whether you're the best player or not but he has won championships if he hadn't won championships I would probably not put him up there because you know You know, there are some greats that don't have a ring. And so I think, you know, even to be in the conversation, you have to have at least one ring. I'm not a statistician, but I know I know most of his stuff. You know, I put him up there because of his. His stats is, you know, full book. I mean, he, I think you could say, I would say, right, of course, number one for longevity. He's had a storied career, right? He's had a longer career. So, yeah, his stats should be higher. Is he, you know, close to 40? Is he 40 yet? Yeah, he's 40. Right. So, yeah, he's playing. But he kept that body in shape so that he could play till 40. So, he still goes hard in the gym.

Unknown 41:48

Yeah.

Speaker 00 41:48

Yes, he does. And I think he's had a little help, but we won't go into that. It worked. But the reality is, yes, he's had a storied career, but I just feel like for the past, I don't know, at least 10 years, the conversation used to be about rings, right? Especially in this more modern era. But now, but then with LeBron, when he started losing, then it was like, oh, rings don't really matter. Oh, no, I've never been an only That way. Yeah, that is the other people, the bandwagon people. Yeah. But he deserves all the criticism. This is my issue mostly with him. He does not believe that he believes that he's above criticism. He deserves every bit of criticism for how he handled this situation with Bronnie. I feel like, hey, as a parent, your son had a major health episode. He could have died. He could have died on the court. Right. So, again, I'm LeBron. I'm just going to say it. I've earned the right to help make my son's dreams come true. Agreed. But he tried to manipulate the situation. And then when people called him out for trying to manipulate it, now he mad. Don't talk about my son. And that's the part where I was saying, like, there's two sides. I love him, but I don't like this situation. what he does when he does that. He doesn't want anybody to criticize him. It's his pabness that comes out. His what? Pabness? What's that? I'll tell you offline. I need to know now. Like that diva dude personality. Is that an acronym? Yes, it's an acronym. Oh, yeah. Okay, I got you. That's right. Okay, I got you. And I mean, I'll be the first one to say Stephen A's ego over the past two years has just blown. They throw money at him. He is the man. These Easter suits. I met Stephen A. in person and he was so nice to me. We took a picture and I was so nervous, but he was very cordial. His pimp strolls. There are people that walk him out like he a part of the starting five. Oh, yeah. His Easter suit. His pastels. But, you know, yes, those, if you're a sportscaster, I think LeBron still hasn't talked to, to perk because perk criticized him and he just went off on him. He still won't talk to him or whatever, but that's the thing I say, you know, I love LeBron, but as a, if somebody is in the media and they're criticizing you, no matter what they say, they, he didn't say you were a bad father. He said, you know, you know, he talked about something, but he didn't say he was a bad father and by LeBron, even addressing it or, and, and trolling him, uh, That's where I don't, that's what I don't like. That's like immaturity. You're way above that. Yeah. It went too far. Then it was the whole, you know, talk about fighting and punching. Yeah. If you take a punch. Let me put up the video of Steven. Right. And would you throw a punch? It's like y'all are supposed to be grown ass men. Right. But y'all talking about who would win a fight. Yeah. But the other piece of it is that I saw the podcast with Mello and Dwyane Wade. And they both said, yeah, LeBron made it hard for Bronny. And he could have kept quiet. And I think they said Almost the exact same thing I feel that Stephen A said, but it's obvious that they don't like each other, that there's some animosity there. And so he responded differently. But to me, the NBA dad of the year award goes to Melo. Absolutely. I feel like how he handled that situation and has handled the situation with Kyan has just been like a class act. Yes. Even him going to Syracuse, right? Yes. He's like, we allowed him to make his own decision. Yes. But he's following the blueprint, right? Yes. And you know he wanted to be out there like LeBron was. Oh, yeah. He even said it was very hard for him to do it, but he had to do it to... And he said, I didn't want to be in his ear trying to... Let him make his own way. Right. You know, they... Well, no, they said Lala would be at the games. She'd be up in there. But no, let her be the one. Melo knows his greatness. He doesn't have to be. He's about to be in the Hall of Fame. You know, he doesn't have to do that. But that's when it's like, when has the player worn out their welcome? Or not worn out their welcome, but we know that the Lakers now are out of it. LeBron has an MCL sprain that's going to require six weeks. You know, does he... Should he come back or not? That's the big question now. Which I vote for come back. I mean, I think he deserves, he more than deserves, right, his farewell tour. I agree. He more than deserves all the jersey swaps. They got to get the documentary footage. You know what I'm saying? Some team got to give him a chair because that's what they always do. Give him a chair. I don't know what that is. Right. He deserves that one last all-star game. You know, so yeah, he should definitely come back. But I think that all these conversations about can they win? Are they going to win at all? I think it's time to shift the conversation. The expectation that he's going to will the Lakers to a championship at 40 years old. You know, everybody feel like the one that they got during the pandemic, that COVID championship. That has an asterisk. That really don't count. So it's like, let that man feed because he's always talking about his feet let his feet heal right let them dogs recoup right I think what I really want to see him do a full season with Luca so I want to see what that looks like I'm going to need him to get Luca in the gym with him to get his stamina up, to shift his feet. What'd you say? Like how the football players used to have to carry the ball all day and night. Who was I talking to? Was I talking to JG or you? When he walks in the building, he has to shift his feet when he was walking in the building. But the Lakers need a center. They were going to get Mark Williams in the trade, and the trade was rescinded. They need a center. LeBron can't play center. Yeah. Like at 41, he'll be 42. They got rid of street clothes. Yeah. Street clothes in Dallas. And went to Dallas and got hurt. And got street clothes. And got some new street clothes. That's what he got. I want him to come back just, you know, to, like you said, have that farewell tour, get his, just do, to get, to get his, uh, accolades for that farewell tour, but not if they don't get a center. And not if JJ Redick coaches like he was coaching in the playoffs. You cannot give them that many minutes. He's old. Yeah, yeah. So my question to you is, if LeBron, next year's LeBron's farewell tour, do the Lakers keep Bronny? Yes. Yes. Yeah, I mean, you draft them, you keep them. But for how long? Look, they got bench writers all over the place, or the G League or whatever. It's bench writers all over the place. Right, but is it always going to come up, the conversation? I kind of feel like after LeBron goes... I think you figure out where Bronny goes next. I think the conversation is going to always be about, especially in the Laker uniform, his father's legacy, his playing time. Let him, I don't know, go to Charlotte or something. Well, with that, it depends. It depends on if how Bronnie develops. That's true. How long is his contract? Three years? So when his contract is over, then you make that decision. I wouldn't just shift him you know before the contract is over but if this contract is up and he has not developed like he should and he's had every opportunity to do that then you do get rid of him and that's just business right it's not personal but does he get so next year LeBron's farewell tour does he have to then compete truly compete I won't say no names but I know some people whose kids is on the G League and they was balling out right yeah you know what I'm saying so that spot right somebody else could have had that spot yeah right somebody else could have been contributing maybe a little bit more so is it now you gotta really compete yes or are we still I think that should have been this year you know I don't think he should have really I really don't think I really don't think Bronny should have been in the league this year just because you scored 30 some points one game out the whole season or whatever it was or 19 or whatever it was you know no he did not the 55th pick in the draft does not get on the team like that, unless you're Bronny. So next year, just regular competition. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. And you pulled your strings to get him in the league. Now he's got to pull his own to get it. to stay in the league. I was thinking about, too, we're talking about Melo and Dwayne. I mean, nobody has really heard about Wade's son, Zaire, right? So, again, he definitely could have pulled some strings, too, right? Had him down there in Miami, maybe had him, you know what I'm saying, in Chicago. But I know he was in the G League for a while. You know what I'm saying? But he's obviously kind of, you know... following the path. And they're different. Their sons are different. Zaire would never let Dwayne do that, I don't think, either. We don't hear a lot from Bronny. He's not really saying, well, I don't know if he's done any interviews about this, but What you say about this? What's your take on this? What's Bronny's take on this? I think he's just happy to be alive. I'm not being funny. I don't even think he wanted to be in the NBA like that. He didn't want to. This is all LeBron. So you don't think he really wanted to play in the league? Well, not like he is. I don't think this was not his dream. His dream was to hear his name called. This is LeBron's dream that we're living out right now. This is not Bronnie's dream. You think his dream was to be drafted? Yes. And to go someplace and have an opportunity to contribute into play. I think so. Not necessarily be on the team with your father. Yes. I think he loves that it happened that way, right? Who wouldn't, right? But I don't think he would have a problem going to play for another team and trying to make his own way. Right, so I think that it's just like in the offseason, Savannah, Savannah, it's time for a family meeting. Intervention. Right. Because if you hear LeBron say, the critics... irritate LeBron more than they do Bronnie. Bronnie just lets, this is all LeBron's thing. My thing is free Bronnie. Free Bronnie. That's the auntie take. Come here LeBron. Let aunties talk to you for a second. That's right. Chill.

Speaker 01 54:09

chill okay that's a lesson you know to parents or aunties or you know whoever it's like you know allowing young people in your life to pursue you know their own interests even if they overlap in the way that suits them suits their personality but also suits how they see themselves living out their dream I feel like you know when Bronnie said that he really saw himself as as a Drew Holiday player, you know what I'm saying? Then, then he was saying like, I'm not necessarily thinking that I'm going to be a star like my dad. Right. And I don't need to be right.

Unknown 54:50

I want to contribute to a team primarily through my defensive consistency, you know, through, you know, maybe some well-timed, you know, threes, you know, be the glue guy on the team.

Speaker 01 55:03

That's a different trajectory.

Unknown 55:05

Yes. That's a different conversation. And it's a different type of,

Speaker 00 55:08

kind of tenure through the

Speaker 01 55:11

league you know what I'm saying and so

Speaker 00 55:15

I don't know again back to the diva do kind of you know your father's personality his notoriety eclipsing right that your child's dream and I do think parents have to watch out for that so what do you think then about Bryce that Bryce choose, right? Just, you know, college, Arizona. Yeah, Bryce, he might stay all four years. You never know. I would. I'm going to tell my daddy good and wrong. They don't, like, it was, it's a, you made history. It's great. Somebody was saying, you made history. You did all the photo ops. You had Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. out there with all the photo ops. And they said he invited them. Yeah, it was a, it's a great story. But, I don't think Brownie would have a problem going to write his own story, and Bryce is like, I ain't doing none of that. I don't think Brownie was the best player on his high school team or his college team or anything like that, so... We're not. And we're talking about the 55th pick in the draft. So let's start. I think after LeBron is gone, we'll treat it as such. But this is the thing. He probably could have used more time to develop. Oh, absolutely. But... LeBron's timeline was short. Absolutely. If you're the oldest child, I'm the oldest child. You are sensitive to what your parents want. I think it was hard for him to tease out what he wanted from what he knew his father wanted. I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to declare even if I know I should stay for another year or two. I don't know. At the end of the day, the kids is paid and set for life. He may need some therapy in a couple years. Zuri's playing volleyball, so they about to be out there. He may have some work to do with a therapist in the future. I don't blame them for doing what they did. You can do it. If you could do it, do it. Yeah. Don't hate the player, hate the game. No. Yeah. So, but yeah, so we, I think we agree, you know, come back for your farewell tour, then be out. Like, Go home. Figure out your next life. He's got so many things that he does. The spirits, the production company, everything. Just go do that. It's good. Or coach. If he comes back next year for his farewell tour, what is that? You thinking 17 minutes a game? Do you think it should be known and visible that this is my farewell tour? I'm playing 15 minutes a game. I'm sitting down. Maybe I do four or five minutes a quarter. I raise my hand. I sit my ass down. I think my respect for LeBron would grow if he did that, but I don't know if he's humble. Not humble. No. Humble enough to do that. Yeah. His ego. Okay. Maybe I was trying to figure out the best word, but it is humble. Would his ego allow him to do that? Yeah. I don't know. It's painful. I mean, you know, I love me some stuff. But I'm like, oh, look, Steph is he's like he knows that he's passing the torch to he's not gotten he's he doesn't have that same type of ego, I don't think. But it's hard to see the stars, right, age, especially now because we're at this critical junction in the league where. a generation of players are going to be retiring and as the whole conversation has been the past you know several months who's the new face of the league right because people thought Ja I'm worried about that people thought Ja was going to be the face and he out there

Speaker 01 59:25

right

Speaker 00 59:27

he was like oh I'm going to move away from the guns I'm just going to throw grenades wait wait can we touch on that for a second why can he not stop doing the gun gesture. He just got fined for doing that again. What's wrong with him? What's wrong with the boy? This is where the auntie come in. What's wrong with the boy? What's wrong with him? Why can he not stop doing this? He just did it a month ago or whatever and got fined again. What's wrong with him? All I know is I feel like Ja is like that little boy in kindergarten. He's a nerd. Who's trying to act whore? You are not whore. My mother was a teacher and she was like one or two boys who always tearing up stuff they can be good but they gonna tear that room up I don't even think that's him no it's underneath there he plays hard on TV he is not hard you don't have to be hard to be destructive I don't even think that's him I don't know what this I don't know what this is got all these hangers on the adjustment including his daddy right but now it was the guns then I'm like we go from the gun to the grenade so now Why are we throwing grenades? Just put the three up and keep it moving. People thought it was going to be Ja. People thought it was going to be LaMelo. Sorry, I couldn't help that. But he could care less, right? In all those press conferences, he out there throwing every type of F-bomb that you can. Like, I don't want no media training. I could care less. I'm going to talk. So, that's what. So, Ja, LaMelo, Tyrese, ooh, God bless his heart. I don't know. I just don't think that he has the charisma.

Unknown 1:01:24

Yeah.

Speaker 00 1:01:24

Indiana is a small market. Brunson got a funny shape head. No, you didn't. No, you didn't talk about his head. He made the right move. He's a dog. I mean, he is. He's great. I couldn't stand him when he was at Villanova. I think they were playing Michigan or whatever. Or whoever that is. in the championship, but Jalen Green is, is, you know, inconsistent as all get out though. You don't know who's going to show up. So you can't really make them the face of the league. Right. Cause he may. Yeah. I mean, I don't think, I don't know who the face of the league will be. No, he can't. I don't know. It'll be interesting. Um, You know, I don't, I really don't even like that face of the league thing. Like, cause it's changing so much and the NBA is good is going to go international. And so, you know, it's, wide open yeah well Wembley right that gives them the you know international connection the global aspect right you still got Jokic he's still relatively young people thought DeAndre Fox you know what I mean his his star was rising so there's lots of opportunity yeah right but they gotta have somebody's face on there I don't know I have to think about that one because there's you know I don't know. I don't know about that. Maybe. And this, is it the hot team, the star of the hot team that, that, that gets that honor? I don't know. I think it's a little bit. Cause you know, shy, shy, Shay. Oh yeah. You know, he kind of is the, the, face you know one of the faces and it's who's hot at the time whose team is hot at the time yeah so we'll see I mean it's definitely the team right but it's also like the elder statesman yeah right when things pop off right when there's issues who's gonna step to that mic right and I don't see that I don't see that right now I don't know everybody I think we might be losing that a little bit I have to see who's going to step up and be vocal. We might be losing that element of it. Um, you know, with the retired, with the changing of the guard. So I don't know. It'll be very interesting because it is a generational shift. Yeah. And they're also young. A lot of them are doing one and done or, you know, two or two and done. And you're coming in so much younger. Um, Yeah, and Gen Z and millennials, whoo, Lord have mercy. And they do not think like us. No, they don't. They not like us. They do not. They not like us. They don't think about work the same way. They don't care. They don't care. You know, presentation or communication styles are different, right? But, yeah, that's something that we can noodle. I mean, it's obvious that the league is really different. been trying to grow their presence internationally with these, these games and things like that. Yeah. And I think it's right around the corner. The, the commissioner just announced something recently where they're, I think that's right around the corner. Like we're less than five years, maybe less than three. Yep. Into, into, different countries. So I don't know. I think South America, they should try South America first. I mean, just from a travel standpoint, you know, I mean, it is an international game now, even though we forget, right? We do. Yeah. We do have the Raptors. Yeah. Yeah. Isn't Canada going to be a, are they going to be a 51st? 51st. That's right. So, you know, it might not be. That's right. That's right. So, Some of the stories coming up, you know, today is the Kentucky Derby. You know, I don't know when everybody started trying to go to the Derby because it's just a, you know, to get on social media. Derby didn't used to be this hot. I've always watched it, but now it just seems like everybody's trying to go. I've always wanted to go, but I think more so just because of the fashion. Yeah, I don't know if I want to go. Cause I don't like people like that. No, I'm just kidding. I want to go to see it, but I want to, so I'm the one that goes to the sports game to watch the actual game. Like I don't need to just, some people just go just to be in the crowd or whatever. I want to watch. And you know, every, every Kentucky Derby, I pick, you know, the number seven, 13, seven or 13 horse number seven or 13. Cause that's my birthday. But, um, so today they, they, you know, number seven is Luxor cafe. And, and, That horse has like a nine to one odd to win that. That's kind of my favorite. My, you know, the, the number 13, which is my favorite number is publisher. And they got like a 30 to one. So I'm going with Luxor cafe today. Um, My favorite part of the Derby is the roses. Those are the most beautiful. I don't know where they get. They must have a special garden to grow these roses. They are the reddest, most lush roses I've ever seen. I want to go just so I can get a rose off of the thing. I'm going to sneak on the track. So I'm saying this, though. You heard it here first. Kentucky Derby is a peak auntie sporting event. Is it? Because of the fashion? Because of the hats and all that? fashion, the hats. It just is. And I do have a friend there. I mean, it's, you know, Cassa. Shout out to Cassa. And so every year I get an invitation to come down to go and I just... Why haven't we gone? Because it always... I think I'm free. It always catches me off guard. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's early May. What is the first Saturday of May? It's usually the same every year. I just don't like Kentucky that much to want to go to the Derby. No, Louisville is cool. Louisville is cool. Okay, maybe at Louisville. But you talk about... My college roommate was, one of my college roommates was from Louisville. So you talk about sports and kind of, you know, your background in sports. I actually interned with a Derby affiliate. What? I did. Okay. Okay. I did not know that. Trivia question. So it In Indiana, we have a standard bred racetrack called Hoosier Park. And so they race standard bred horses. Really? And so I was a marketing intern there over the course of a summer, learned a lot about horse racing. Again, you know, a Kentucky Derby affiliate. And I mean, it was cool. But the thing is, it looks much more, I don't know, sophisticated on TV or in pictures because it's a lot of waiting yeah it's a lot of waiting it's like okay here's the race and then you wait and i'll come on till the race don't actually happen till like 702 or something like that

Speaker 01 1:08:50

yeah

Speaker 00 1:08:51

yeah um so yeah we'll have to get down there i'll go and go check it out it's funny in the in the um we have a family chat and today i was texting everybody like coco golf is playing at 12 o'clock on the tennis channel my sister was like Girl, it's the, it's the Kentucky Derby Day. I'm like, that's at, that's at night. I'll be drunk on mint juleps or bourbon by then, but I'm watching Coco at 12. Like, you know, y'all do what y'all, what Coco wound up. We watched the tennis channel too. Yeah. She wound up not, not winning, but she, she was in the final. So that's that. Hey, that was more than I could do. So shout out to her. But, um, yeah. So Kentucky Derby tonight, um, WNBA has started up again I watched last night Chicago's looking great but they played against Brazil so I don't know if that's a true that the Aces look unstoppable Asia look like she got something to play she look like she got something to prove Angel played great Angel so and we'll get more into this probably next episode Unrivaled was awesome A lot of people hated on it because of the crowd sizes, but it was awesome. And how they catered to the players, how they catered to the players as mothers, how they, you know, took care of them, how they gave them equity in the league. And to see Angel in the beginning of Unrivaled versus the end, her development, you could see it. And Lisa Leslie was working with her. That made all the difference. And that was great. And we're also going to talk about Lisa Leslie's and her coaching experience. Cause we, we got some deep dives to do on that. So just stay tuned for that. Cause we're going to talk, we're going to dive into that and how she was played. Yeah. But Angel has really, now she still does have to work on the mislayups and the putbacks, but you know, she, she had 15 and 10 last night. So, and two assists, I need her to get more assists. Camilla looked good. She looked like she's worked out, you know, look like she was more in shape this year. But one thing about Angel, last year's rookies, you had to come into the league and play right away. You finish in April and March, and you had to come right into the beginning of May and start playing. Paige looked good, though. Paige Beckers looked good last night. I thought Diana Taurasi a couple years ago, she talked about it very eloquently was that, you know, Caitlin's, specifically Caitlin's transition and how people underestimate the condition and the strength of the grown women in the league. She's like, no, it's a difference. These are grown women. These are grown women and the fact that she kind of struggled at the beginning of the season, but did Haley... She played a little bit. She came in and got a good and one or good hard foul and one. So I want to see last year's rookies. I want to see them this year. I can't wait to see Caitlyn because I just know she's going to come back a dog. And so I look, look, look, I'm a fan because I know I saw Angel in the summer and I saw the shift in her game, especially working with Lisa Leslie and Lisa Leslie gave her that constructive criticism and said, we're going to work on that. And they worked on it and you could see it. And I, Chicago picked up some free agents, so they look great. I'm going to my first game, WNBA game, so I'll be able to see Kaitlyn Clark up. close and personal in July. So going for a conference. I mean, again, I can respect people's games, but not necessarily like them as a player. And I think now, mind you, I'm from Indiana. So I grew up always playing, right. Specifically with white girls. Right. And so to me, especially when your teammates or when your competitors, right. There's just a, I feel sometimes a camaraderie, right. that can develop across racial lines, ethnic lines, right? It's just a way that you behave, you know what I'm saying? And I felt like, again, it's been much, much talked about when everything was happening online with her fans. I just felt like she waited too long to really voice her opposition to the bullying behavior. Yeah, again, we're talking about 22 year olds, 21, 22 year olds. And, and you don't really know what to look at the commissioner who fumbled the, fumbled the, the mic. Like she's the one that I really look at, but Caitlin, it took her a long time, but she did come out and say it. She, when she got her confidence, she got her boys. I, you know, I, I see why she took so long and, Do I think she took too long? I don't know. I mean, it's hard to say what you'll do in that situation. Like, where do I, where do I, she could have done more. Cause like, Paige did it back in when she was at the SB. She used her platform. That's right. But sometimes people don't know how to use their platform to do that. But I think she's quickly learning. She has gone into what Time magazine and used that platform to do it. And now now a lot of her interviews are saying that to me is better late than never. And she shut them down. Just like, you know, when she liked Taylor Swift's post and her fans came after her. And she was like, oh no, y'all not about to do that. Y'all not about to do that on my back. I mean, they're young too. Her interview with David Letterman. I think for me, Then I question the overall team. It's just about prioritization. I guess that's what I'm more so referring to. It was obvious. You got a team of people around you. They're getting the Prada outfits for you. You know what I'm saying? I was like, are those books? That's right. To try to position you as this fashion starlet. Your team and the sensitivity of your team to those issues. No, Nobody's expecting you to be an activist or anything, but it's like lay off of my peers. Yeah. Oh, no, I don't think she has the progressive team that. you know but not even that's what I mean not even progressive because when you that's what I'm saying the camaraderie right with players who compete against one another it's a certain code right I may not be political but I don't want my peer right to be getting death threats that's what I mean like when she didn't speak up for Aaliyah Boston getting yeah yeah yeah that like that one she she that was an easy right all you got but I don't think I think she didn't it's like the does, she didn't know where to jump in. And that, I mean, it's hard. And you could argue, yes, she waited too long. But there were ones where she could have easily just said no no that's my teammate lay off my teammates you know lay off my peers this is a game you know what I'm saying we're all out here trying to do our best so you know because of that I'm looking at her this year still a little sideways but again I am just because I'm like I think just so you all know I'm very very much a kind of values-based person, right? And so when people... kind of, you know, waffle. And to me, I can't really rock with you then because I'm like, when times get a little rough, things get a little iffy, you're going to be quiet, right? You're not going to have people's back. Are you really going to, you know, like that? I'm always looking for that, right? When times get tough, am I really going to be able to trust people to show up, right? And it doesn't have to always be out in the open. Sometimes it can be behind the scenes But the silence was very deafening, especially when you have your peers, other peers in the rookie class talking about death threats. You have your other peers talking about people showing up, right, when their buses are pulling them to hotels. Like, come on. You ain't got to say anything about the political environment. All you got to do is say lay off. Lay off. Just lay off. Everybody's out here trying to do... I did see that a little bit, but there could have been more. Sometimes you never know about a person until it is time to you know take your earrings off and I'm from Indiana so I know right how how things are in Indiana even though it is changing a little bit so the hesitation could have also been about the climate within the entire state your new fan base oh I think it was about brand I think it was about brand and but then it was like Okay. Well, my brand is not going to suffer if I start speaking up. So I wonder, like you said, I will, I'm not going to look at, I don't look at her side eye because I, you know, that's a lot to put up. Cause there's people that in the NBA that have way more money and access and all that, that they don't say anything. So I don't really look at them side eye and, you know, because that's not, You don't have to do that. It's great when you do, but you don't have to. But yeah, I do want to see what she does this year. But I'm talking about on the court, the game on the court, because if we were judging people like what happens off the court with them, I wouldn't like anybody. I wouldn't be able to be a fan of anybody because I know way too much about their personal lives. Like, take me out of the group chat, please. Take me out. You don't take you out of Shannon Sharpe's group chat. Take me out. We're going to do a deep dive on that next one because. Oh, my goodness. No, no, Shannon. No. 19? No, Shannon. No, no, no. Wrapping up the WNBA, I think that's a goal for us over the summer to get to a couple of games. Look, I got my shock shot. I used to be a season ticket holder for the Detroit Shock. Just so y'all know, I'm ready for them to come back. We almost had it. I'm ready. Look, I got $5. I got $5 on it. I got $5 to invest. I want to be an investor. What I don't understand is I don't really understand, right? Is... just how the bids were organized. And I don't understand. Well, I mean, I guess I do. Right. Cause Dan Gilbert, right. Obviously owns the Cleveland Cavaliers. And so it's trying to bring a WNBA team there. Right. Versus here in Detroit where we know, you know, he's from Metro Detroit, a lot of real estate holding. So I get it, but still. Yeah. Cleveland is, have you been to Cleveland?

Unknown 1:20:50

Yeah.

Speaker 00 1:20:51

I like Cleveland. It reminds me of Detroit. But we'll get our team back. The one thing that I want to happen is the WBL has a new league starting with the Detroit Shock. They need to give that name back. We need the name. Come up with that name. That's number one. But we'll get a team. I mean, my thing is, why did they allow the name to be used? I mean, it was a championship team. I don't know if they ever thought that we'd get a team back here. I was devastated, devastated when they were sold and moved to Tulsa. I was... like I used to have season tickets when there was nobody in the stands and they were winning championships that's right I bought tickets and I probably could have gotten the tickets for free because I could have I had my little special seat but I always moved down there was nobody and then they were winning championships and then people started coming but you know it's just like the Lions shout out to Swing Cash yes it's just like the Lions you know I I used to take vacation to go to away games. My goal is to go to a game at every stadium. So how many you got left? oh god I got a lot but people used to dog me you going to watch the Lions they ain't winning nothing now it's a thing to go to away games and I'm like oh for real but and Detroit shows out whenever they they show up I had a couple friends who went uh to Dallas for the game and they said folks down there was like we tired of seeing all these Detroit people down here yeah because it didn't you they I used to I think the last one I went to was before the pandemic and I haven't gone back but I I got to go to Oakland before they closed the Coliseum and it was a dump But I loved it. And I meet people everywhere. I don't know. People just start talking to me. But that's fun. I don't think I have any sports related goals or a bucket list. I have seen Serena. Went to Wimbledon. No, not Wimbledon. U.S. Open. Went to the U.S. Open. Saw Serena. That was probably... the top and I think beyond that the Olympics so that's probably the only yeah so we're focused on LA oh you do want to go yeah I do want to go we thought about trying to hit Paris we went to Paris last year in the spring it was like oh maybe we should do the Olympics but once I looked at the map of just where all of the activities were I was like I don't want to do I didn't want to do it from a logistical standpoint. I would like to go to the Olympics. This Olympics I watched more than any in the history of the Olympics. I was watching everything. While I was working, I would have it up on the monitor. I watched everything. I was all into it. Usually, I'd catch this here, this there. I was watching everything, including the guy on the pole vault. We ain't going to say what. He had two different pole vaults. We'll have to think about that. Ask people what's on their sports bucket list. That's a good question. Yeah, my sports bucket list is definitely to visit every football stadium or see a game. Actually, if it's a Detroit Lions game, preferably. But Yeah. I wish I, you know, my favorite city to go to a San Diego and the chargers moved. I wish I could have gone there to see a game with that. Other than that, I'll make it. It's going to be hard to go to green Bay because they usually play them in the winter and I'm not going to sit outside. I did that in Cincinnati. I was freezing. I don't, I'm too old for that. So no, but yeah. So yeah.

Speaker 01 1:25:03

All right,

Speaker 00 1:25:04

Gina. Inaugural episode. Premier. Yes, yes. We have a lot to talk about. Again, this is the great intersection of sports at this time of year, but there's so many stories happening. There's so much to always talk about, but... we finally did it we've been talking about this for so long what's crazy is this is just like our phone calls and I mean growing up and just being in our house and we talk about sports all the time but about quick story was about two weeks ago I was talking to a mother in Jack and Jill and she I don't know just asked me some random question about sports and I talked her ear off for 10 minutes and she said oh well I guess you like sports then huh and I said oh I'm so sorry like I thought you were asking me the question because we was about to go back and forth about sports and she was like oh no I don't know anything about sports you know what I mean she was like I know I have a friend whose husband is a assistant coach in the WNBA I used to go to the games but I know nothing she's like I was just kind of you know being cordial like oh You know, the pistons. And she's like, you done broke down some of the players, you know, the matchups and how the regular season was. And she just was like, woo, this got real deep, real fast. But that and I immediately called you and was like, oh, everybody don't talk about sports like this, especially women. I think I assume that more women talk about sports because that's how it is in my family. But I still you know meet so many women who are like oh I don't really talk about sports or maybe I don't understand it or you know what I mean like that's what some people in my household do mostly mostly men but I feel like at least for me sports were instrumental in you know leadership development understanding teamwork but more importantly from a professional standpoint I'm always able to have a conversation with a lot of people especially me Right. You kind of overhear a certain conversation about sports and it's like, oh, you chime in. And then it's like, boom. Right. Rapport. You have a touchstone. Right. To engage with them. And then they're like, oh, hey, you know, you watch sports. It's like, yeah. You know, even men who watch. may be a little bit paternalistic. You know what I'm saying? In other settings, once you break the ice through sports, then it's like they kind of, you know, become a little more cooler. Yeah. Yeah. Usually in the room, I'm quiet. I'm a silent observer. I'm just, you know, sitting by myself and inevitably somebody that knows me will come up and say, Jennifer, what'd you think about it? And I'll just light up and just start talking that you want to get me to talk, talk about numbers or sports, but especially sports. They kind of cool out after you beat them in all your fantasy football. Yeah, I did have beginner's luck in my fantasy football league and they were like, oh, she might know something. She a ringer. She ain't know nothing. Oh, let me just draft this person. They be like, why is she drafting them? That's right. High five! Woo! I'm all in the mic. So stay tuned for... Thank you for joining us for our premiere episode and stay tuned for a lot more from us. We appreciate it. Antis Talk Sports. Antis Talk Sports signing out.