Ep. 103 | Coco Gauff, Tyrese Haliburton & the Pressure to Perform

Coco Gauff continues to prove she's built for the biggest moments, and this week the aunties are talking about what separates champions from everyone else.

Jen and KB celebrate Coco Gauff's French Open championship, discuss Aryna Sabalenka's post-match comments, and explore what poise, resilience, and leadership look like under pressure. They also break down the first two games of the NBA Finals, why Tyrese Haliburton continues to deliver in clutch moments, and whether the Indiana Pacers have what it takes to challenge the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The conversation also covers Detroit sports, including the Tigers' incredible season, the Pistons' draft history and the "what ifs" surrounding Tyrese Haliburton, plus the latest headlines involving Shedeur Sanders, Kevin Durant, Aaron Rodgers, and the public scrutiny surrounding Vanessa Bryant.

From championship tennis to basketball strategy and the stories shaping sports culture, the aunties bring thoughtful analysis, honest opinions, and the conversations that happen long after the final whistle.

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Two aunties. Two mics. All game.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Ateez Talk Sports, where we go beyond the game and explore the intersection of sports and culture for the female sports fan. I am Jennifer, aka Ateez Jen, aka Jen Jen B. And I am Kalia, also known as KB. And, you know, we always start off the show with you know a crazy headline or you know the most interesting or the least your favorite or least favorite uh headline from this week or story from this week so What you got? What you thinking this week? What did you see? Well, I'm a little late. I'm a little behind, but I finally heard G-Mac Cash's song about the Tigers. Have you heard this? Has anybody heard this? Yes. That's right. I know, but that is funny for me. Because one, I hate Detroit rap. So it's like rapping against the beat, but the fact that it was like... I saw there's some promo stuff this week. And so I'm loving how the professional sports teams in Detroit really are using Detroit culture to kind of promote their team. So that was funny for me this week. Yeah. My least favorite headline. I'm going to call it. Hold that L. And I'm going to tell Arena Sabalink to hold that L that she got. in the French Open against Coco, when she came out after she lost and said, you know, that Coco didn't necessarily beat her. She, you know, beat herself. You know, weather conditions were bad. She was making up all kinds of excuses. And said that the opponent, the previous opponent that Coco played, Iga Swiatek, could have beat Coco if she had played her. And... you know, just ridiculous. So that I'm just going to say, hold that L. Yeah. She was behaving badly. I mean, I think it's important for people to know how to win graciously, but right. Also to be a good loser. And, you know, she was still in her feelings and it showed. Yeah. So, you know, speaking, speaking of the French open, it was a very, very, very great match. Coco at 21. You know, while Sabalenka was self-destructing and hollered at her box and I think she was cussing him out, Coco displayed great poise. She held it together. She was down the first set. She almost came back and won that first set. And then she dominated the second set and pulled through in the third set. So it was just a great victory. There were a lot of, you know, there were a lot of unforced errors on both sides, 70 by Sabalenka alone. And yeah, they, you know, they're both great players, but Coco is really... She showed a lot of poise and that was a great victory for her. Yeah. We talked about it a couple of weeks ago that she felt it seems like she's kind of hitting her stride and being a little bit more comfortable being more visibly emotional, not in a bad way, but just showing kind of that fire and that metal. And I think she definitely carried it over to the French. You know, so she was winning her second major, both against Sabalenka, right, in similar fashion. So that's also what was probably up underneath it, right? Sabalenka knows that, oh, I can, you know, win the first set, but that doesn't mean, you know, that Coco is out of the match and she's younger. So, you know, it's not necessarily a full changing of the guard, but Coco is letting people know that she's coming. So just, it was a special match to me. because it was the first number one versus number two in a final since 2013 when Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova. And, you know, Coco Gauff is the youngest American to win a women's single since 2002. And obviously, Serena won it. I think it's just great, too, because Coco talks about how much Serena really meant to her, right? And so it's nice to see her breaking some of the records. But we were just talking about You know, I feel like Chris Everett was on the right side of history, right? Everybody knows that she was sometimes a big critic of the Williams sisters, but she definitely made sure that, you know, she let Sabalinka know she wasn't really a fan of her making excuses about all the unforced errors. She's like, at this point, the number one can't play, you know, in windy conditions like that. That's ridiculous. So good win for Coco. Looking forward to the US Open. I think that's my favorite major is the US Open probably followed by Wimbledon what about you? I agree shout out to Chris Everett a broken clock is right twice a day and I just you know yeah she's talking about Coco but Coco is safe and Chris Everett likes safe and that's why she's defending her but The history that she has displayed, I don't know. I just have that to say. Up next, another story that I followed this week was about Michael Beasley and Lance Stevenson battling out on the one-on-one platform at TNC, which was just crazy to me. TNC, unbeknownst to me, have you ever heard of TNC before this week? No. It's like an online platform, like a gaming platform. for people to battle it out one on one and then they live stream it so imagine like being in your boys club gym right where you just got everybody in there watching the game from the neighborhood that is like that's how it is okay so it's like real street ball but inside it's all like Rutgers but inside of you streaming it right so Lance got into a couple of fights he's pushing people I mean it was wild But Michael Beasley won. He beat Lance Stevenson, won $100,000. But I think it went viral because of the promo. And so Michael Beasley was talking. Everybody know he has some mental health concerns, but he was talking a lot of trash, saying he was going to have Lance out there shaking like a stripper. I mean, it was wild. People were like, is this basketball? And then after he won, he said, oh, we entertained the masses. this was like the best you know x-rated tape since Kim Kardashian like it just his conversation about the gang had like these sexual undertones and people was like what's going on? Did Lance blow on his ear or something? I don't know but it was definitely weird but I think you know so everybody knows Kyrie Irving is a little bit you know can be kind of picks and choose about who he associates himself with but he was a commentator for TNC. He did the post game interviews. He used it as an opportunity to give Michael Beasley his flowers and So, I don't know. I don't know if I'll watch it again, but it was entertaining, but probably for all the wrong reasons. Let me just piggyback on, you said he was, Lance Stevenson was fighting DeMarcus Cousins, 34-year-old DeMarcus Cousins over in Puerto Rico fighting fans today and got suspended. Okay, I saw that, but I didn't click on it. You know, but it's... One of my friends was listening to our last episode and she texted me. She knows nothing about sports, but she was like, I can't believe it's like adult people fighting. Mamas and daddies, because she was talking about Halliburton's dad. But, you know, sports gets the adrenaline pumping. And unfortunately, sometimes people take it too far. So let's see. Tigers.

UNKNOWN 8:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:57

You know, I'm a homer. I got to talk about the home team. Okay. My Tigers are still in first place. Still have the best record. Still have the best record at 44 and 24. And they beat up on Baltimore last night.

UNKNOWN 9:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

I was glad that they were out of town because we were down at the Kendrick concert. And they would have been crazy. Parking would have been even more crazy. What did Kendrick say? He won the Super Bowl, so he's a Super Bowl champ. But yeah, so Tigers, it's not a fluke. Like I said last episode, it's not a fluke. We're here. Yeah. You know, we have a couple of great pitchers that – I mean, we have more than one great pitcher, but Scuba and Flaherty are, you know – tops of my book and Flaherty's on my fantasy team just so you know I'm gonna go to my first game so I haven't been to a Tigers game this season my kids have but I haven't but I'm gonna go I promise I'm gonna go I went to one so far they lost that hasn't happened in a long time I haven't seen them lose in my presence in a long time. Yeah. A lot of action in the NBA with coach, obviously got a lot of coach firing some hirings. Jordan Ott, a Cavs assistant, former MSU assistant is on his way to the Phoenix Suns. That is really hilarious because we have another mortgage giant with ties to Detroit. who owns a team and him and Matt seem to be going back and forth, right? Yeah. Competing in sports as well as mortgages. So what do you think about that, Jen? Yeah. The coach that he hired was Cavs assistant. Yeah. The other coach that they interviewed was a Cavs assistant. And, you know, I love it. Look, I think Ishpia is competing with Gilbert more than Gilbert's competing with Ishpia because I just you know he just always seems to be doing stuff but it's to me it's healthy I don't know Ishpia Matt Ishpia also just he and his brother that are buying the Chicago White Sox probably so I think so he's expanding his sports empire so you know shout out to him I like him you know But he, I mean, he is very clear. He was named, I think it was Crane's business leader of the year a couple of years ago. And I heard him speak. I mean, he was very open. Like, you know, he's competitive. He's a competitive guy. So he's like, yeah, I'm trying to kill Dan Gilbert. You know, not literally, but he's like, yeah, I'm coming for him. You know, so I think it's also right. The older guy who's kind of not getting to the end of his career, but has made most of his money by comparison is the younger right the younger guy but yeah I don't know I mean I think he definitely sees that the NBA is not the mortgage business right and it's very different from being a fan to right being an owner and I think you know, probably first-time owners overstep a lot of times, make a lot of, you know, personnel decisions, and then once they see them not paying out, like, oh, that's why people hire a good team. And he thought you could just go out and, you know, get all the big guns, and it was a disaster. And he caught heat. And he had to explain that and, you know, catch that heat. But I like, you know, his support of the WNBA team, and so that goes very far with me so Shout out. Shout out to the hometown owners. Yes. And, you know, we talked a little bit about Coco as well, and I think you mentioned it, but, you know, 70 unforced errors for Sabalenka, six double faults, you know, the rain, 30 miles an hour winds, also, you know, really, really important, undoubtedly had an impact on the game. But, you know, what I'm excited to talk about next? Because I called it, right? I did call it. I was wrong. I said that OKC would win game one. I just... You know, I don't know. And I said, too, I love an underdog. And Indy's been known to go into their opponent's arena and take home court advantage. And sure enough. That's exactly what happened. You called it. I did. I called it. I called it. We got to get, like, the little ticker. You know how they have on Sunday? No, it's not Sunday night. It's college game day when they have their little ticker for the season. So all the games that you call, what's your record? But yeah, I mean, it was a great game. But I think the Pacers have shown right all playoffs long that you can never count them out. You can never count them out. And I was reading up a little bit on kind of Tyrese and his preparation. And I read this really great article about him and kind of his selfishness and how he's not a selfish person. He's more so like a pass first, you know, point guard. But his trainer was teaching him you know that when he is more selfish by and large the team does better and so I'll talk about it a little later but the statistics that the Pacers have when he actually takes more shots and why that's successful but yeah you know I just knew when I was watching game one I was like oh my goodness they're about to steal this game because it was like steady, steady, steady. Yeah. And OKC was just like, oh, you know, oh, we got this. You know, no, you don't. You're about to lose this game. And when they came back, the momentum just swung and it was just like, They're going to lose this game. And they lost. And they deserve to lose because they were just too comfortable. What I loved about Halliburton in his post-game interview, he said their goal is always to cut it by five. So we're down 15. We're going to try to cut it to 10, cut it to five. And just that methodical kind of game plan of working in fives, I think, paid off for them. So we have some statistics here that were prepared by our interns Elijah, the intern, we want to introduce him. So Elijah Hines, who is a rising senior, rising senior at University of Detroit Jesuit, is our intern. So Elijah, you want to say what's up?

SPEAKER_00 16:29

Hey guys, thank you for the great introduction. Elijah Hines, rising senior at University of Detroit Jesuit. Yeah, just doing what I can to help.

SPEAKER_01 16:39

Thank you. Thank you. So game one, and I think in looking at the statistics, right, the Pacers had a balanced attack, right? So they had six people, six people on the team in double figures. And although, you know, SGA played, you know, 40 minutes and scored 38, it wasn't as much of a balanced attack. And so I think moving forward, that's going to be something that we have to, you know, continue to monitor it's like will a more balanced attack from the Pacers you know obviously SGA is going to get his but it's the strategy for the Pacers is like let him score as much but try to keep the impact of the other players to a minimum right he's going to get his 30 no matter what win or lose he's going to have 30 that's SGA but it's there's I think Halliburton, he'll defer, defer, defer, and then he'll turn it on. Yeah. And where he had the 39 minutes but 14 points, it may not look like he was involved, but when he hit the shot, he hit the shot when it needed to count, right, at the end. What was it, .3 seconds or something like that? Yeah, yeah. you can't do anything with .3 I mean you can tip it whatever but he when he needed to step up he stepped up yeah so no that it was funny to me too because I feel like nobody ever talks about it his little double pump you know what I'm saying you know what I'm talking about it's like at the end of the game everybody's usually tired especially if you play a lot of minutes but he has a little double pump on his shot that I think gives it just a little extra oomph to get it in but But yeah, I think it was a good game. But then game two was like the complete opposite, right? They were completely outplayed and were down bad and really couldn't shave off those points in the same fashion. Well, yeah. And I'll say even in game one, it looked like Indy had no chance in the beginning. They were like discombobulated. And then, you know... Game two, I want to – the difference there, and Richard Jefferson must have said it like 50,000 times. Halliburton needs to do that the whole game. Don't wait until the fourth quarter or the end of the fourth quarter to try to turn it on and come from behind. If you do that same thing the whole game, you'll win. Turn that meter on. Turn that – double pump on in the beginning of the game, not just at the end of the game. Yeah. So I was fascinated by that. There was a really great article on ESPN where he talked about actually when he was still at Sacramento and how he had reached out to Drew Hanlon, who is a big time trainer in the NBA. And he said Hanlon had told him that he would only work with him if I think he took 15 shots in the next game because he was like, your unselfishness is actually hurting your game. Then he made it a point to go out and shoot more. I think he ended up scoring almost 30. Then Drew was like, okay, I'll work with you. I thought that was fascinating because in today's day and age, a lot of times you find that a lot of players, even point guards, are shoot first. They're shoot first. They're thinking about kind of getting their points. But he still, you know, he maybe is more of an old school player or old school point guard who's still looking to get others involved. But they he has said in the article that one of the ways that he kind of reminds himself to shoot more is to think orange. Right. Because the rim is orange. And so the morning before that first game, Drew had taken all of the orange things in his household and put them in front of his bedroom door. Like, come on, I need you to be actually looking at the basket. Act like you want to shoot. I thought that was interesting. It's always great, I think, to hear what players do mentally to kind of prepare. That is an interesting point because They have rituals. They have pregame meals or something. They're superstitious a lot of times. So they're looking for anything that gives them an advantage to be in the game. Yeah. So I found it. So it was online. So when he shoots 20 or more shots a game, the Pacers are 4-0. So when he shoots, you know, 15 or more, they're 29 and 10. But if he takes nine, well, actually, if he takes 10 or more shots, they're like 52 and, you know, 27. So and that's a weird concept, right? The more selfish I am, the better my team is going to do.

UNKNOWN 22:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

Do you think that's how it is in life? The more selfish you are. Yeah, like the more you prioritize yourself, your own needs, that you then are better positioned to give to other people. Put your mask on before you can help others. That's hard. That's hard. It's something that you have to practice. It's something you have to be conscious of. And when you don't do that, if you're not your full self, you can't be... useful to anyone else so I think that applies in life and in sports remember this is the intersection of sports culture life that's right and then too so when we talk about like the difference in game one and game two right so SGA still had his 30 Pacers still had a balanced attack but this time they had seven seven players who were in double figures but the difference was really Alex Caruso who came... I mean, first game, he had 11. Second game, he had 20. So it was much more active. Let's see. Chet had 15 points. So that was up from the first game. He only had six. So they definitely got more production out of their supporting cast. But, you know, I think I like... I do. I like the Thunder, but I still feel like they're young. And so I think... that the young players on the team are still going to be inconsistent, up and down, up and down. I think the Thunder's – I remember I told you a couple episodes ago that their defense is – it's going to be defense against offense, in my opinion. OKC's defense can really lock them down and – If they had just stayed the course in game one, it would be 2-0, but that ain't how it works. Any given day, any team can win. Tonight's a big night. It is. Who you got, Les? This is game three. Call it now. My record here is a little tarnished. I'm going to give game three to OKC. I don't know why. I just, I don't know. So they're in Indy tonight, right? They're in Indy. I'm not a big Pacers. I mean, of course, Pacers is my hometown team. I'm from Indiana, but I'm going to still go with the Pacers. Yeah, that home crowd is going to be on fire. But I said the same thing about OKC in game one.

UNKNOWN 25:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

Indiana went in there and stole that one. I think all you need to do is steal one, right? But did you see the video of Reggie Miller, the video in his house when Halliburton hit the game winner in game one? No, because they were too busy showing Dwayne Wade and his reaction. I'm like, we don't want to see that. Oh, it was so sweet. His family, his kids, they were jumping on furniture. It was a real sweet moment. I know you think what should happen with Reggie if they win. I think they should give him a ring. First of all, I think they should sign him to a... No, they can't sign him. I think they should sign him to a one-day player personnel development contract. But why? Why do you think that Reggie should get a ring versus... I don't think he would want it, but I'm just saying. Because it's Reggie Miller. He is Indiana Pacers. yeah I mean well but you know what I watch every time I see it I watch it 10 times and I share it on my story that Tayshaun Block that's like that's history right there I love it I love it so I gotta ask Elijah what do you think happens tonight who do you pick tonight because I like your take on sports I need you to chime in with who you pick Who are you taking?

SPEAKER_00 26:45

I'm taking OKC. I think you were right. You said the home crowd is going to be on fire. Indiana, basketball is – they eat, breathe, sleep. It's a basketball town. Right. And so the fans are going to show out. That's not going to be a question. So Indiana is going to have that home court advantage. I just think throughout the whole season – and the playoffs especially, OKC just, it seems like, you know, they've gone against every type of team. They've gone against slow and methodical teams like Thunder. They've gone against, you know, teams with great athleticism in, you know, the Timberwolves. And I think they are, despite their youth, well-prepared for any type of environment. And I don't think they're going to get flustered or phased by the Indiana crowd, and I think a lot of teams would, but someone like SGA who has this ability to just keep a level head through everything, I think the Indiana crowd isn't going to throw him off his game. I think he's still going to get his, and I think OKC takes game three.

SPEAKER_01 28:02

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_00 28:03

There you

SPEAKER_01 28:04

have it. What was their... Figure out what their record was on the road. On the road. OKC. And, you know, I know they had a record, home record. Yeah. But how were they on the road? And not that the playoffs, you know, playoffs is a whole different season. You know, it's almost like a new season. But like you said, I don't think they'll be – deterred, stifled by the crowd. Even though Indiana crowd is like, they're getting crazier and crazier too, but it's okay. So one quick question for you. So do you think that Halliburton has already achieved rare air? So I think the stat is now he's maybe tied. I think LeBron James has a record of maybe six winning shots. in the playoff run Halliburton has five already so do you think that this stretch right of the playoffs how he's played you know these game winning shots has kind of put him in that rare air even if they don't get back to here do you think people will be talking about this playoff performance I don't know five ten years from now you can't deny that yeah I mean that's you can't deny it um So even if they never get back, you think his position is kind of cemented? They may try to gloss over it because it's Halliburton and they really don't. I don't know. It's something they just hate on him. You think people hate on Halliburton? I just want to say one thing because I'm a homer. Detroit could have had Halliburton. He thought he was coming to Detroit. I'm still mad about that. I thought about this because he's hurt. He's still hurt behind that because what's the little French player that they drafted? I don't even think he's in the league anymore. Killian Hayes. He's a... He's playing somewhere. Oh, gosh. I mean, the Pistons have had a horrible record of drafting. Look, I'm still on Darko. I'm still heard about Darko years ago. Right, because they could have had Melo. They could have had Melo. They could have had Halliburton. Who else? He thought he was coming here. That's right. It was like a done deal. Who else have the Pistons passed up? Let me see. You want the whole list? Yeah, yeah. I'm looking it up now. People do hate on him, but you cannot deny game-winning shots are what every kid, every adult dreams of. When you're on your basketball court, your backyard, you talk about five, four, three, two, one, and you shoot the game-winning shot. That is rare. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:16

Yeah. And just for context, OKC, their road record in the regular season was 32-8. Playoffs, they've gone 5-4. So total on the road, they are 37-12 on the road this season. They have a very good road record.

SPEAKER_01 31:33

Very good road record. So tonight, you know, they'll get one of these games in Indiana. But I think it's tonight. I think they... I think they were probably shocked about game one, and I don't think they're trying to let that happen again. Okay. I found the list, so we're going to go down the list. Okay. You snatching air? Oh, yeah. I'm snatching air because I'm ready. I'm ready to go. Because the Pistons, y'all are going to mess up. Yes. All right. So in 2012, the Pistons selected Andre Drummond, and they passed on Draymond Green and Chris Middleton. I'm not mad about that. You're not mad about it? No. I'm mad. I love, you know, I love Draymond. But Draymond was, okay, go ahead. I mean, yeah, but even Chris Middleton, but in hindsight, right, Draymond is a culture guy, a lot of grit. The Pistons would have gotten back to the bad boy era a lot quicker with Draymond on the team. So you say they still won that. Andre Drummond was a good selection. I'm not sure they won it, but you're talking about center and a forward right so so it was it just your gut did they was that a good why you gotta say Andre Drummond I saw him at Costco with his dog you know I was like what are you doing okay anyway um so did they I be getting off track I don't think that, well, Chris Middleton, both of them? Right, so that's who was on the board. I had to know who we had at the time. What did we need at the time? I'm forcing you to make a decision. They selected Andre Drummond over Draymond Green and Chris Middleton. Was they on the right side of history or no? It's obvious they weren't on the right side of history. What do you say, Elijah? Would Draymond and Chris Middleton have done the same thing on the pistons? It's about system. It's about fit. Right. Nobody thought Darko Middleton was the right pick ever. I agree, but they... I'm saying, now we know in hindsight, they... Are now on the right side of history. Okay. All right. So 2019. Oh, here we go. 2019. They selected Sekou Doumbaya. Who is that? I mean, come on. 2019. Oh, you don't know Sekou? No, I don't. And they left Jordan Poole. I don't know. Kelton Johnson, Kevin Porter Jr. And Nicholas Clayton. Claxton. Yeah. I think Jordan Poole could have probably... Man, he has really gone to... That's what I'm saying. Washington, man. That's right. He probably could have done better here. All right. Say cool. What's his last name? What's that last name? See, we don't know. Yeah, nah. Then let's see, they passed up in 2020. So they had three first-round selections. They selected Isaiah Stewart and Sadiq Bae, and they passed on Philadelphia 76er all-star point guard Tyrese Maxey. Now, the Pistons have sucked. They just have. I mean, we know it, but seeing it again today, We needed Isaiah Stewart in the playoffs. That was a missing piece for us. Back to 2013, they selected Contavious. What I don't understand is these players going to want to have really nice careers. Some of them. Contavious, Caldwell, Pope. In 2013, they left C.J. McCollum on the board. Yeah, KCP went on to... It's the system. It's the role. There's a lot that goes into it. But it's also talent. There's a role player other places where they wanted them to be number one here, and I don't think that was... Right, but even in a... Well, I would say that the Pistons haven't had a system, though. So what were they trying to plug players into? I think they were hoping that somebody... All these drafts would be like the cornerstone of a rebuild. Was that when Stan Van Gundy was coaching GM? I mean, that was a train wreck. Don't talk about Stan. Stan is great on the sideline. He was not a bad coach, but he was doing too much. I will say this. I've had very few opportunities to meet NFL coaches, but I got an opportunity through work to meet Stan Van Gundy and his wife. And I will say they are truly amazing. the nicest people. And his wife passed away a couple of years, but when he was coaching here in Detroit, I was working, doing a lot of work around early childhood education. He and his wife heard about the work, decided that they wanted to make a sizable contribution to support early childhood education. So just have a little... a little soft spot in my heart. I mean, I know, but I'm not a, I was, I almost became a Dan Campbell fan and I'm not, you know, I, you know, but I'm talking about on the court, on the field, all that. It's yeah. On the sideline, the band Gundy's Jeff and Stan, those are, those are icons, but I mean, on the, on the sideline announcing, um, But yeah, you're trying to be a coach in a gym at the same time and it's not working. Like, no. Yeah, it was. So just to kind of close the loop on that. So his wife, her name was Kim. They have been married for almost 40 years. And so she passed away in 2013 and it was revealed that she passed away from suicide and had really been struggling with depression. But lovely, lovely couple who. What, are you a homer? Are you a Pistons, Lions, Tiger, homer?

SPEAKER_00 38:05

I am not. I am a Philadelphia fan. I'm a Philadelphia sports fan. I was born in Philadelphia. So

SPEAKER_01 38:13

when you brought up Tyrese Maxey, what was that? They picked up Isaiah Stewart and Sadiq Bae and skipped Tyrese Maxey. Well,

SPEAKER_00 38:27

it's worked out. Maxey's a point guard. They got Cade Cunningham. In the end, they probably... wouldn't have needed Maxie. You know, I think if they had taken Maxie, they probably wouldn't have taken Cade. And I think for what the Pistons are building, I think Cade is a better fit than what Maxie is, especially because I think Maxie, he's an excellent offensive player, but I think Cade, his defense and, you know, what he brings at the point guard position is, better for, you know, how the Pistons are trying to construct their team. You know, the identity of Detroit teams has always been great defense. And, you know, I think with Cade, you get more of that than you would get with a Maxie. And, you know. We're loving Maxie over here in Philadelphia.

SPEAKER_01 39:16

Right. So I do think where Cade has been the shining star. We got that right. But going back to 2017, we drafted Luke Kennard. Luke Kennard. We passed on Donovan Mitchell and Bam Adebayo. I mean, it reads like the best of the worst. The male Caitlin Clark. He came in. He was supposed to be our sharpshooter, our three-point shooter.

UNKNOWN 39:42

That's

SPEAKER_01 39:42

and he went it just never panned out it was like yeah we passed on Paul George in 2010 and Gordon Haywood I think to me What makes these picks worse is not that some players went on to win a championship with other teams or that they went on to be a really solid player elsewhere. It's the fact that who the Pistons chose, a lot of times they're still not in the league. To me, that means the evaluation of talent was off. You thought that this person was going to be able to compete in the league elsewhere. They could go to any other team and still produce and maybe be a six-man or a journeyman, but the fact that they're still not in the league. To bring it back full circle, Halliburton you know they passed on Halliburton for Killian Hayes and they said everybody told the Pistons people the powers that be that Killian could not shoot and they picked him and found out he couldn't shoot and you know then they were like oh guess he can't shoot the only contribution Killian Hayes had that was positive is that when the Pistons played in Paris he was able to go home and they created a lot of great content stay there they created a lot of great content from that and All right, all right. So we got a couple of topics and Jen, you're going to let us know if we're going into overtime, right? If we're going to talk about it or just end it at regulation. You know, it's, let's see. I want to, so my story, this one, is one that we've talked about before, but it's rearing its ugly head again. Shador Sanders and Cleveland. In Cleveland, you have four quarterbacks. You have Joe Flacco. You have Kenny Pickett.

SPEAKER_00 42:13

You

SPEAKER_01 42:13

have Dalton What's his name? I don't even know. And then you have Shadora Sanders. I'll figure out his name. I'm going to come back to the name. I'm sorry. But Shadora Sanders, all other three quarterbacks are getting reps with the first team, first team reps, except Shadora Sanders. And being the ever professional that he is. Shador said, it doesn't matter what reps you get. When you get in the game, nobody's asking you what reps you got. So do we want to go deeper in that? Look, I'm making the executive decision to go deeper into that one because I want to talk about it. He said that It doesn't matter. When you get in the game, they're not going to ask you how many reps you had. Nobody cares about how many reps you had. It's that you are prepared once you get in the game. But there's always a story about Shador Sanders and the comparison. If you're going to trade him, just trade him. I don't want that narrative to keep coming up and people just singling him out like that. He was picked in the fifth round. He was picked after all the other quarterbacks or whatever. If he's not getting first team reps in June, it doesn't matter. Just let him develop. Let him play. Let him practice. Let him develop his game. I don't really know about that. I think... you know, if he goes on, he goes to be six, goes on to be successful in the league. people aren't going to remember it. But I think that right now the Browns made some choices about how they wanted to draft and they're they are going to play that out. Right. Because if you now start putting them on the first team and he's getting reps on the first team, then it's like, oh, people are going to be downing your whole strategy related to the draft. So whether or not it's legitimate or it's not legitimate, they are going to carry this through. Right. And I feel like Just the whole messaging around it is just setting him up not to be successful there. I'm sorry, Dylan Gabriel. I'm sorry I jacked up your name. Let a quarterback get hurt. All that narrative goes out the window. All that, you know, we got to keep up this narrative. But if you're the fourth string. Any given Sunday. Right, but I just don't think at this point, if he's still the fourth string quarterback at the end of training camp, do you think that they're going to keep him on the team? No. I hope not. I mean, for his sake, I hope not. But they might. They might. Who knows? Here's the thing. Nobody knows what goes. This is the Cleveland Browns we're talking about, right? Like this is not even real. This is not real life. So the Cleveland Browns are not a real football team. Like they're not, they think that this is like strategy or something or like they're, you know, it's a shell game or something. I don't know what they're thinking, but nothing they do makes any sense. So, you know, I don't put a lot of weight into any of that, that narrative. And they have to carry it. They, they look stupid for drafting him at that point. You should have just let him go and undrafted free agent and let him choose where he wanted to go. Like they did the most Cleveland Browns thing that they could ever do by drafting him in the first place. What about his daddy? Do you want to talk about his daddy or no? So are we on paths on that? The mysterious illness? He's back. He's all right. Dang, D.I. can't even get a cold. They said he was really sick was another headline. I do want to talk about... He's eight toes down. Eight toes down. I do want to talk about this, though. You're not going to like it, but Aaron Rodgers being married. Aaron Rodgers being married. I'm so curious. Who in the hell? Wait, you said what? Aaron Rodgers is married. Who he get married to? That's what I'm saying. I wanted to talk about Aaron Rodgers just signed this contract that could go up to $19 million in a sense. Really, Pittsburgh? Really? That's another one that's looking crazy right now. Okay, I mean... Yeah, so he got... To me, there is no other player in the NBA who has had such a 180 as far as how they were perceived initially early on in their career and how they're perceived now. Because I think consensus is that Aaron Rodgers is like... crazy crazy as hell so he signed his one year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers and he was at you know doing press kind of after their media day and somebody asked him about this ring that he had on his finger they thought it was an aura ring shout out Jen got hers on over there and he said that he was married and the whole room gasped um He could be trolling. Aaron Rodgers also said he was vaccinated. He said he didn't actually say he was vaccinated. Like, do you know he's a troll, too? I mean, yeah, but I'm just saying. It is hilarious to me that he has turned into be such... a weird person but this is something that I do really really want to talk about and this is I think the intersection as we talk about of sports and pop culture and so one of the stories that went viral over the past two or three weeks was Vanessa Bryant and the story the viral story of people saying that Vanessa Bryant the wife of the late great Kobe Bryant was pregnant all over social media what do you think about just what do you think about that story and she did come out and address it right kind of but it was clear like I'm not you know I'm not pregnant yes she came out with a picture of Rihanna with a drink and you know let me enjoy myself like oh my goodness okay it's been five years since Kobe Bryant... Was it five? Since Kobe Bryant passed away. She is... Vanessa Bryant is not married. She's a widow. Okay? That's number one. Number two, the fact that people are in an uproar about her and her... The possibility that she might be pregnant. Like... Get out of her body. Get out of her body. Like, what are y'all doing? This is ridiculous that she even has to address it. Yeah. Not to mention the fact that if she comes out with a little pudge, you know, she can't just have a little pudge, you know, just she's pregnant. Like, get out. I just, I'm tired of the internet. We need the internet. We need the internet for this podcast. Yeah, but Well, she did. I need people to just be able to live their lives. That's too much. Yeah. They think Vanessa Bryant and Lauren London are supposed to be like... Forever, forever, ever. People are going to go to the nunnery or something. I'm just like, come on. Yeah, so she did. She said, me protecting my peace, not pregnant, and having fun all summer. And then posted the follow-up meme, which said, I'm not mean, I'm just not the one. I mean, I think- Or the two. Like, leave her alone. I think what's hard about that is it's obvious. Her husband was a sports icon. It does not matter. It could be 15 years, 20 years. She's never going to be able to step out with someone And people not mention her late husband. It's like, do you as a wife or a widow, do you choose to move on with your life in a public fashion? Because she still has. She's done a lot of public events and speaking engagements and things. So it's like, is she setting up this scenario where she's never going to be able to have her personal life? Should she choose today in the public eye? So it's like, you're going to have to hide. hypothetically a new man? She would have to be with a very strong man. And he would have to be a man of steel. Is it a man that strong? Man of steel. Well, I'm just saying. Like, I mean, your former husband, there's murals around all over the world. I mean, so she just supposed to be a lonely, you know, just... I mean, no, you know, who knows? I would never leave the house if I had that much money. I wouldn't have, I don't leave the house now. Why? Why wouldn't you leave the house? Because people just are crazy. That's why you have security. I mean, I know I would have a club in my, I got a club. You're talking about like, I got a club in my house. I mean, I would hope if she chooses that she's able to date and, you know, have a relationship, if she would want to. However, I don't, don't think that there would be I don't know I just don't think she'll be able to That man is going to always have to deal with Kobe's name being brought up. And you mentioned Lauren London. She's been very clear. She doesn't think that she'll ever really date or be in a relationship like that again. Let's hope that that doesn't become true. They're not old. So that's a long time. That's a long time. Yeah, I just don't know. That's a long time. You know, if you want it. If you don't want it, that's fine, but don't let the public make that choice. But then you're going to have to go through that whole thing of are you going to change your name, right? Vanessa Bryant. She don't have to get married. Yeah, but I... I just, I think it's a non-starter. I don't think any, Elijah, do you want to weigh in on this topic? Do you think that Vanessa Bryant could find someone who would be okay with being in a public relationship with her, even though her husband was a late Kobe Bryant?

SPEAKER_00 53:54

It depends on the person. I think, you know, like you said, it would have to be a very, very strong individual who would be willing to tune out all that public backlash. And with how beloved Kobe is, I think it'd be difficult. And at the end of the day, it's, you know, it's one of the, you know, things about the internet that, you know, isn't so great is that Everyone can voice their opinions, good or bad. Right. And, you know, if you're on the internet in really any capacity, it's hard to tune that out. So I think it's unfair and unrealistic for someone to just, you know, give up on having any other relationships.

SPEAKER_01 54:46

Right.

SPEAKER_00 54:47

You know, for the rest of their life because of something, you know, out of their control. Right. So, you know. I wish nothing but the best for Vanessa Bryant. And I think if she, if that's what she wants to do, then she should be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01 55:00

Yes. Yeah. I think she should do it just because now. Just because. Sometimes you gotta pop out of the show. Like, but you know, that, that, yeah, that just, that's a, I'm tired of the internet. I'm tired of it. All right. Next, next story. We gonna pass, pass it. Kevin Durant. Rumors of the Phoenix. Shopping him for a trade. I mean, I think that's a given. I'm not going to go too deep into that. I say game over, but what do you say? I mean, just weird. I don't know. I feel like... I mean, we can discuss it a little bit. I do want to discuss it. I like, obviously, like Durant as a player. But I don't and have never really thought that he was a strong leader. No. I never thought that he was the type of player that you could bring in to help set culture or maintain culture, build upon it. And so I think he's definitely underachieved, which is horrible to say, right? Because he obviously won a championship. He's going to go down in history as one of the greatest players. But considering, I think, the amount of rings he could have had. You think about OKC making it to the finals. You had him. You had Westbrook. You had Harden and OKC, but their personalities and immaturity wouldn't allow them to jail. You had him and Kyrie together with the Nets. That self-combusted and he's down in Phoenix. I just think that he has underachieved compared to people's expectations of the type of career he could have had which is crazy but you know everybody's like he's a freak of nature I think people want more for him than he wants for himself that's valid I like that and you just can't do that he is not a vocal leader he's not going to be your team leader like you know half the time he doesn't even like his teammates or they say he doesn't because he doesn't interact with them so you have to know what you're getting if you get a Kevin Durant so you know like you said he didn't live up to people's expectations yeah he's not going to And I don't know if that's fair, but what I do love about Durant is that he is very honest about just how much he loves the game. Did you see the clip that went viral a couple of months ago where he was just talking about how much he loves the game of basketball? He like teared up. He was talking about the Olympics and just like, you know, how awesome it was to like be representing a country and to see people who, you know, saved up money. to travel to see them. And he was like, just to think that Ball did all this for me. So I love the fact that he just has a purity about how he sees the game and his love for it. But you're right. And I don't know if that's fair, right? To say that he has underachieved based on other people's expectations. Whereas he's like, I just, I love to hoop and I still get to hoop. And so it's a success. And I made a lot of money hooping. Right. So I'm a success, a wild success. I like how unbothered he is. And I think he's, as he gets older, he's even more unbothered. And I like that. It's obvious because his hair still look like indoor outdoor carpet. Yeah. And he does not care. He's still not putting on any lotion. You know what I'm saying? He does not care. He still wears his little night suits. So he just want to hoop. That's it. But at this point, where would you see him going? They keep saying Dallas. Dallas? Was it Dallas? Yeah.

UNKNOWN 59:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 59:23

He might as well go back to Golden State. So here's my thing. I'm not good at saying, oh, I can see players, a certain player in this team or that. I just want them to go wherever they go, and then I'll look at it. Because who do you have to give up in order to get them? In order to get them. And so I'd have to know both sides of it. Elijah, where do you think he would be able to

SPEAKER_00 59:51

contribute? I've heard, the team that I've heard the most is San Antonio. Oh,

SPEAKER_01 59:58

that's what, the other Texas team. I said Dallas. I meant San Antonio. I'm

SPEAKER_00 1:00:03

sorry. I've heard San Antonio. And I think from a, you know, a fit perspective and a, you know, trade perspective, I think that's not a unrealistic, you know, trade destination for him. San Antonio, they have the number two pick. And, you know, they're in a position where if they want to get a, you know, a win now player or Kevin Durant type player, the number two pick. And, you know, they've got a lot of young guys that they could package a Kelton Johnson, a Devin Vassell, maybe, you know, guys like that. They could put together a very alluring package for a Kevin Durant. Now, the one thing I will say about Kevin Durant, and you touched on it earlier, was that he is not going to be your vocal leader. And I think if you are going to have a Kevin Durant on your team, you need to have a coach or setter already in place.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:01

You need somebody to punch somebody in the mouth like Draymond. Who is that on Saturday? Because Wimby is not.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:08

Yeah, and that would be my one gripe is that I'm not sure that Wimby... is that vocal leader. And it doesn't have to be, you know, a punch you in the mouth, you know. That was just a job. We saw it in Golden State. Steph Curry is a culture setter, but he's not the culture setter in, you know, that type of way. He's a culture setter in, you know, he leads by example, his work ethic and, you know, his leadership allows, you know, Golden State vocalists to have had one of the greatest teams ever when Durant was there. And I don't know that San Antonio would be willing to give up all those young pieces for Kevin Durant at this point in his career. But if any team were to make a move for Durant, I think it would be San Antonio. It

SPEAKER_01 1:02:02

would be nice to see him, Victor, and De'Aaron Fox play together. Is Chris Paul still there? For now. Yeah. For now. I think he has... It depends. How much longer does he want to play? That's the thing. I want to see... Do you want to see him win one more championship? Yeah. You do? I mean, I do. So, I do. But... TBD. TBD. Does he leave? Does he stay? I think he leaves, but... it has to be the right fit. Don't just go somewhere just because. No rebuilding. But that is our time. That's all we covered a lot. I have a lot more I could cover, but we got more shows to come. Tonight's the game. Tonight is game three of the finals, so we'll see how we do with our predictions on the next episode. But thank you, everyone, for tuning in. And make sure you tell your friends and your family about Ateez Talk Sports if they want to go beyond the game and go to the intersection of sports and culture for the female sports fan. And thank you, Elijah, for... the statistician and the, uh, the information that you gave us and your input. Yes. We thank you very much. And thank you for having me. Yes. Well, signing off. Catch you next week. Bye-bye. Peace.