Ep. 203 | Angel Reese, Michigan Turmoil & Trey Young’s Ringless Behavior

Jen and KB count down their top five sports stories that had them talking, laughing and throwing a little well-earned shade.

Caitlin Clark makes WNBA history with a 45-point triple-double, but the Aunties explain why the performance does not erase the larger conversations surrounding her platform. They also react to Derrick Henry’s surprising story about Nick Saban, LeBron James finally embracing the bald look and Steve Yzerman stepping away as general manager of the Detroit Red Wings.

The Michigan conversation continues as Summer League MVP Yaxel Lendeborg gives Wolverines fans another reason to celebrate, while Warde Manuel’s upcoming departure forces a harder examination of leadership, accountability, NIL and the growing list of controversies inside Michigan athletics.

Then, the Aunties unpack Toronto Tempo coach Sandy Brondello’s “protected species” comment about Angel Reese, why cultural context does not erase its impact and how the controversy overshadowed major performances on the court.

Finally, KB gives the No. 1 spot to Trey Young for revisiting a five-year-old Knicks playoff series, destroying a Jalen Brunson jersey and delivering what the internet accurately diagnosed as “ringless behavior.”

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Welcome to Artist Talk Sports.

SPEAKER_00 0:02

I'm KB. The courts of Indiana raise me, Detroit pays me, and I know ball both on and off the court, so don't underestimate me.

SPEAKER_03 0:11

And I'm Jen. Financial statements, I know how to read them. Fantasy sports, I know how to play them. Tough calls, I know how to make them.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Whether you're heading home, headed to happy hour, or just getting ready for another weekend of sports, we've got you covered with the biggest stories, the hottest takes, plenty of laughs, and just enough friendly debate. From Detroit to the national stage, if it's worth talking about, we're talking about it. So grab your favorite drink, pull up a chair, because this is your sports happy hour. Two aunties, two mics, all game. Good to see you too. What's up, Jen?

SPEAKER_03 0:54

Look, I'll say good to see you because I couldn't see anything with the with the the skies this past week or last week when Canada had us drowning in in their wildfire smoke. I couldn't see anything. My the vision was cloudy.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Yeah, that was that was really uh, I think just a wake-up call, you know. Every day I feel like there's a lot of conversation about climate change. Are we really experiencing climate change? Are we not? But between the air quality, the parasite, the temperature, I was like, are we preparing for Armageddon? Is this Detroit 2046? Uh, but I was in the house. I was not trying to fool around uh with the air quality. I mean, the fact that Detroit had the worst air quality in the world uh was alarming, especially given uh, you know, just the high asthma rates uh here in Detroit. So even having yeah, so I thought about that.

SPEAKER_03 2:02

I felt like I was back in in the pandemic. I had my mask on. Uh I was looking at the old people, like, I see you now. I see you. You got your they wear their masks all the time. I was like, I'm right there with you. I had mine on because I, you know, I was I was worried. You know, I I don't have asthma, but I was I was worried about, you know, what I was breathing in. I didn't know what I was breathing in. And this is this is the second year. I think la I know last year Canada had wildfires and we were affected last year, but it wasn't this bad. It was it was worse this year. I I had to, I was out in it shopping, and then came back home one day and my sister got locked out, had to go back and rescue her, and and I was just, you know, I put my mask on and um, you know, was still trying to celebrate my birthday week and went out to dinner, had put my mask on. I was but you know what? What never changed was me watching sports. Because I was at dinner and you know, there were there was a big game on, there was, you know, action going on, and I was like, uh, excuse me, I gotta put my phone on the table and watch this game because that's so crazy, man.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

I ain't never done that. I don't think, yeah, I don't think I've ever done that. So what while you had your your phone up, what did your your friends say? Were they like, how you gonna sit here and watch the game, and I'm taking you out to dinner?

SPEAKER_03 3:35

You know, people know my love of sports, but this was different because my friend and I, my friend Dawn and I, at least once a month, we go to one of my favorite restaurants, the Blue Nile. And the the people in there know us by now, and they're looking at us like we we we go in and we're in there about four hours talking. So it wasn't like it was a short dinner and I was really being really, really rude. We were having, we we have long discussions and and we're in there for a long time, shutting the place down. We're oh my gosh, the the people are gonna kick us out. But they know us now, and by that time it was like, look, if I'm gonna be here this while, I gotta watch the game, you know, the game is on. And and so I just had it playing in the background, just so I could see the score, keep keep up with the score. But um, she understood. She understands, and and we were still talking, it wasn't like I was like drowning her out. So, but yeah, that's pretty bad. I am addicted to sports, okay? I couldn't help it. And if I'm gone that long, if I'm engaged with uh in conversation with someone that long, um sports is gonna come up at some point.

SPEAKER_00 4:51

So yeah. Now I'm a checker, you know what I mean? So like if we go out or you know, I'm at an event and I know it's a game on, I'm gonna have my phone in my pocket and I'm gonna be looking at ESPN, I'm gonna be refreshing it, you know what I mean. So I'm gonna pay attention, but I don't think I've ever, probably maybe just once or twice, I will probably have my phone out because I don't like to watch sports on my phone. I'm a TV watcher, you know what I mean? My oldest, she'll she'll watch a whole game on her laptop. I don't want to do that. Let let me see it on the big screen, but I don't really need a big TV, but I want to watch it on the TV. This is I feel like it's too small of a screen, and my eyesight is already bad enough to be trying to keep keep track of the action on a phone. But I didn't go anywhere this weekend, but I was in my bed scrolling, watching everything. I was on, I'm gonna, I'm gonna hit up X, I'm gonna hit up ESPN, I'm gonna hit up IG. I'm on I'm on all platforms finding sports content, which is I think a little bit why I know I have a good friend, Yolanda. She calls me a pop culture enthusiast. And so I think that's why I'm always a little, a little bit more ratchet than Eugen, in my in my understanding of what's going on in sports, because it's for me that intersection of like sports and pop culture um that is the best of both worlds to me. But I uh when I was laying around, I actually started writing down the top things that I felt were like, you know, the things that caught my eye, like the top five moments over the weekend, because it was just a lot of wild stuff over this weekend that happened in sports. And I was like, man, for it not to not to have any sort of, I mean, it was a major sporting event with the World Cup, but I was just like, sports has gone beyond the event to like now these fan fests and just different things. You're gonna see 24-7 of news about sports and sports content. So uh what were you?

SPEAKER_03 7:07

I feel like if I yeah, I feel like I was looking at that too. There were so many different storylines that I probably I probably could narrow it down to to five or my top five. Um I, you know, I really, if I had to think about ranking it, um I would say that, and I and look, I'm just gonna touch touch on this one because I'm a little jaded here. Um you know, I can't, I can't uh disregard Caitlin Clark's 45 point uh historic night. Um her her record setting 45 point 10 rebo 10 assist night, uh first player in WNBA history to uh record those statistics. But I'm gonna throw a little shade. I'm not gonna talk too much about that one because she won't uh outwardly denounce racism, the racism that her platform, um, you know, their her her fans, you know, exhibit. And she did it against the Seattle Storm who are six who were six and twenty one. And she did it while shooting 19 free throws. So, you know, I had to throw a little shade on that. But I gotta touch on that. I did, you know, I gotta give credit where credit is due. She um she was schooling, schooling them, and she was hitting her shot. So um, I you know, I gotta give it up. She was um 11 of 18 field goals and six of 10 three-pointer. So her shot was on. The next night, they played the very next night, and she I think she scored like 17 points. So and then Kelsey Mitchell went off. The next the next game, Kelsey Mitchell went off. They're the best player on the on the Indiana Pieper went off and she showed up. So that was probably my she was probably my number five story, if I had to say top five.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

I didn't put her on my list. I'm I'm a I'm a I'm a petty queen. Uh my whole thing is just like Kaylee, I just want her to shut up and dribble. So, you know what I mean? I don't uh just play. Play, play the game, stop with all the antics, stop with all of the complaining. I think for me, and I I think you pay attention to football more than I do, but for some reason, across my timeline, number five for me was uh uh Derek uh Henry, who was a running back with the Baltimore Ravens, was on a podcast talking about his relationship with Nick Saban. Now, you know, I think everybody has felt like Nick Saban was a little dirty. Like it's like one of those don't ask, don't tell, right? It wasn't proven. But long before the NIL, people said that Alabama was playing, paying their players, you know what I'm saying? But Derek Henry said that Nick Saban was like chastising his players, uh, you know, basically saying, like, how are y'all praying? How are you all kneeling and thanking God? Uh, you know, one when you score a touchdown, but y'all out smoking, blacking miles, drinking, and womanizing after the game. And that cracked me up because I would never think that Nick Saban is trying to be the moral police or the Christianity police for his players. Because I don't really feel like he has he has a leg to stand on. So that that was that was just so funny to me. I mean, we saw a little bit of that with like Harbaugh, who was obviously, you know, pro-life, but that intersection of kind of religion and sports from a coaching perspective is a little bit of an anomaly.

SPEAKER_03 11:06

Yeah, I I've always seen uh Nick Steaks, Nick Saban as like a throw, throw a rock and hide your hand type type coach. I don't know. I just yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:15

You know, and that's and people are like, man, that's why he's mad about NIL, because now everybody can play pay players. But I think for me, number four, which you know uh my pettiness is showing too, was LeBron being named the top athlete of the century by Time magazine. I can't rock with that. So I don't, I don't even want that's not my real top four, but my real top four is at the event, the Time uh 100 Sports Gala, he actually previewed uh bald LeBron, like LeBron with the Baldy. So I was calling him over the weekend LeBaldi because you know, we've had LeBron with the headband when his hairline started receding. We had um hair plugs, allegedly LeBron, when people said that he, you know, got the surgery. We have had um, you know, the salt and pepper beard LeBron. We've had Doc River Faye LeBron, but he debuted the baldy. Now he did use Beijing on that beard uh at the event, which is crazy working. The Beijing Bay. He was Beijing Bay. It's like you go, you go, you, you preview your salt and pepper beard, right? At your boys' trip when y'all won the championship at the Jay-Z concerts, but then the next night you cut off your hair, but then you dye your beard black. Like it's just so funny to me. So that was number four. I was cacolate. And of course, on you know, IG and on X, everybody was like, LeBron is bald. LeBron is finally embracing the baldness. Um, what was your number four?

SPEAKER_03 13:02

So my number four was, you know how I talk about legacy and the icons and you know, passing the torch. It was uh Steve Iserman stepping down as the GM of the uh Detroit Red Wings and going into a um uh executive management. I mean, going into a senior advisor to going to be the senior advisor to CEO Chris Silich. Steve Iserman is a Detroit legend. He's a Detroit icon, right? And he was drafted, uh I think he was 18 when he was drafted, um uh way back when in 1983, and he spent 22 years in the um in the in with the Red Wings, all with the Red Wings. And then he moved, he retired uh and he moved into the front office uh the Red Wings. And then he went to Tampa Bay and he uh was an ex was the GM or the executive and he uh uh built some solid teams. Now he won, you know, uh what two how many Stanley Cups did he win in? He won several Stanley Cups here in Detroit before he retired, and then he uh won a couple, they won a couple after um he retired. Then he went to Tampa Bay and he built, you know, he helped build those teams there.

unknown 14:29

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 14:29

And he came back to Detroit in 2019, and right after he came back, Tampa Bay won the Stanley Cup. And so he missed out on uh, but he was instrumental in forming those teams. Came back in 2019 to Detroit and you know was looking to recreate the magic that he had as a player and as a GM in Tampa Bay, and it hasn't come to fruition. So he has has stepped down, rightfully so. Um we we've had high expectations for the Red Wings. I'm not much into hockey, but I am into Detroit hockey. Uh and I know that we've had high expectations every year, and every year it's been a letdown. So I'm hoping that, you know, in his capacity now, um, he can still help be instrumental in bringing a winning team back to Detroit. So congratulations on all of your accomplishments, Steve Eiserman. And, you know, now it's time for him to pass that torch to someone else. Hopefully they get a great coach and can do that.

SPEAKER_00 15:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:38

I mean not a coach, but a ex GM. Sorry.

SPEAKER_00 15:43

Yeah, I don't I don't really know anything about hockey at all. Uh, but I just had this thought we need to, the Andes need to take on uh and go to a hockey game and document that. Because I because I think Detroit is a great sports town and people show up, right, for sporting events in Detroit, but I have never gone to a hockey game. So I like the jersey. So you know I gotta give my jersey, my little outfit together, but I wanna go. I wanna go. We're gonna go.

SPEAKER_03 16:15

Yeah, I've been to a I've been to a few games. I want to sit at the glass. I want to sit at the glass and holler at the players. So if we go, you know, we gotta sit down at the glass and you know, catch a puck or something like that. So transition to my third one. Um another Michigan, you know, I'm a Detroit and Michigan sports fanatic. So Yaxo Lindenborg was the MVP of the Summer League. And so he helped lead a comeback, a 94-90 comeback over the Memphis Grizzlies to win the summer league, and he was named MVP. So I was happy about that. Um, seeing him shine in the summer league, he averaged 14.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, and four assists per game. Um, just a rookie. And all the haters who are like he, you know, he's a grown man, rookie. Yeah, he's a grown man. It's all right. But um he's uh a rookie and I hope he gets playing time. I hope, you know, uh Steve Kerr, you know, doesn't do his rookie banish to the to the bench moves. But and I and you know uh Draymond's been saying, you know, uh summer league, you know, wait till we wait till training camp comes. He's been like, I don't know, having some undertone. So Draymond, you better act right and and treat Yaxel, treat, treat Yaxel right.

SPEAKER_00 17:49

Yeah. I mean, I think we talked a little bit about this. And the fact that people are calling him an old man, I think it's just kind of misplaced criticism because, you know, before the one and done, you saw more players, more mature players with more all-around games, right, who are making it to the NBA. And it doesn't mean that you you didn't need player development, but I just think now what uh teams focus on, right, is drafting really unproven players, uh, and then spending a lot of dollars and a lot of time really trying to develop them. And he's coming into the NBA, right? I think his sixth year. So he's 23 years old. He um has used all of his eligibility because he had a COVID year. And for me, I think that was a great get. Now you know this is the best of both worlds for me. Michigan alum playing in Golden State. I love it. I can't wait um to see uh the Warriors when they come to town. But yeah, I I think Yaxo is the real deal. And with Jimmy Butler out, he's probably gonna get some PT. He's not a Jonathan Kaminga. I think again, they drafted Jonathan Kaminga. They get about his upside, but that didn't even pan out. He just was released by the Hawks. Um, and speaking of Michigan, number three for me was Tom Brady slapping Logan Paul at the uh Fanatics Fan Fest. Now, I love Tom Brady, go blue. Yes, but to me, his post-retirement like life has just been all over the place. So you are, and he is the goal. Most people would agree that Tom Brady is the best quarterback alive. His legacy is cemented. So I don't understand why he is like resorting to all of this like shock entertainment, right? To stay relevant. He had the roast and got a lot of backlash for participating in that Netflix roast where people were dogging out his ex-wife Giselle and like, you know, the lack of prioritization of his children because of his career. Uh, then last year people were talking about him because they were like, it seemed to me that Tom Brady is drunk. Uh, you know, when he was commentating, showing up in the dark black glasses, cracking all the inappropriate jokes. Now you participate in this like WWE style confrontation with Logan Paul. He brought out this rigid hand and smacked him upside the head. And it it just reeked of when you talk about legacy of someone not being comfortable with their act, too. Right. And so Tom just needs to be fine. He just needs to be fine, commentate, but please stop with the antics. That was just dumb to me. That was dumb.

SPEAKER_03 20:54

Yeah, it was dumb. And, you know, you you you touched on something. He lost his family. He thought he was gonna retire and go home and he was just zeling his kids finally, and she pulled the rug up on from under him right when he was, you know, gonna retire. You know, I feel fake, I feel bad for Tom, you know. Um, he's been linked to, you know, several women, you know, I think they're younger. I think he's just trying to find his place, but that that that slap was fake and it looked stupid. And uh yeah, but you know, I don't know. You're all right, you're all right.

SPEAKER_00 21:35

Yeah, I don't know if they told uh Carl Anthony Times it was gonna Towns it was gonna be fake, because Carl Anthony Towns was looking like, what's happening? What's happening? His eyes was as big as saucers.

SPEAKER_03 21:48

My number two is uh Ward Manuel. Uh he's going to Ward Manuel is the AD for the University of Michigan, athletic director for the University of Michigan, and he's going. To step down at the end of the year. Um, I think once the it's been several months and tens of millions of dollars in invested uh in an invest internal cultural investigation at the University of Michigan into the athletic department. Um after that, you know, started, you knew his days were numbered. Uh, and today I think he he announced that he would be stepping down at the end of the year. Now, here's the thing about that. Um Ward Manual, let's let's just talk about, I'm gonna start with some of the lowlights, you know, that happened under his tenure. And um you have the sign stealing with Conor Stallions that happened, which ultimately led to, you know, Jim Harbaugh leaving. I think Jim Harbaugh was gonna leave for the proles anyway, but it ushered his departure uh after the national championship. Uh then you had the scandal with Sherone Moore with his assistant, his affair with his assistant. Um you know, and you know, that that was uh the low light. You had, you know, coaches, you had John B line leaving after having gone to a couple of championships, didn't win all of it, but went didn't win it all, but he left after that, after six success. Um Dusty May just left after winning the national championship. Um, you know, so the so the departures of Harbaugh, Dusty May, and V line, you know, those are those are big. But he had some great, you know, success. Wait, wait, wait, wait.

SPEAKER_00 23:50

You forgot, you forgot about the smacking from Jawan. Speaking of smacking, you forgot about Jawan.

SPEAKER_03 24:00

Yeah, Jawan's smacked up the assistant culture of an opposing team. I think it was Iowa. So um yeah, or Wisconsin. That was wild boy. That was a wild time. And that was the end of his, that was the beginning of his end. And so those were, you know, Juwan Howard losing control of the team, uh, you know, that was a pretty good team, you know, but then it just went downhill. But okay, the biggest part about that, and and this was the biggest, um probably one of the biggest things on his one of the biggest marks on his record was that it took him too long to adapt to NIL and and and buy into NIL and get it into the University of Michigan. And that was the reason for Michigan losing out on, you know, talent and stuff like that. But um, so from you know, from like 2016 to 2022, they they were okay, but you know, then uh uh he had some successes, and then when NIL came in 2022, uh it kind of went down in the into recent years. But uh his days were numbered once, you know, the trans, especially the strong war transgression happened. But under his leadership, you know, they've had great successes. I mentioned the the the the championship, the football championship under Harbaugh, the basketball championship this this past season under Dustin Maine. They've had women's and men's gymnastics championships and and have ranked, you know, in the top, you know, uh top ten in the the country and sp in in in sports, you know, in all the uh all the sports, you know. So they've had some, you know, it's it's Michigan, you know. That's what we do, you know. We we just win, but you know, but the lowlights are always going to uh you know hang that cloud over any highlights that you have. So his days were numbered, and we all knew that. And I think Dusty Main weaving kind of, you know, just was like, okay, yeah, we can't even and it and Dusty Main was, you know, he he wrote, you know, N I L probably had a lot to do with it, but he wasn't gonna pass up the Dallas offer.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

So yeah. I mean, I think you're being too um, I don't know, I think you're being too conciliatory here. He got, I mean, I think. I mean, you know, I love Michigan, but the reality is that Michigan, we want to maintain moral superiority. That's that's just the truth. I know, right? We focus on uh our kind of academic achievement, uh, our stellar reputation as an academic institution. And as the president says, academics and our academic reputation, right, is what is first and foremost. Now, second is athletics. So people want the teams to be great, and that actually reinforces and you know, increases in enrollment, donor participation, all of that. The issue is that Michigan, and I it pains me to say this, is like Michigan had to learn how to be just a little bit dirty, and people were gonna be okay with Michigan being a little bit dirty. But then once it started to look like you're tarnishing the Michigan brand, you gotta go. And so that's what this is about. He they didn't want to fire him, so they're giving him an opportunity to quit because of the findings. And I looked at the report today, I looked at the talking points related to the report, and it was very clear that the leadership of the athletic department did not respond to the allegations about the improper relationship, they said, um, soon enough or in a consistent manner. So he was slow to do the investigation. He was inconsistent with the discipline, and they pointed specifically to the football program and said the sheer size of the football program, the organizational structure of uh the program, that they didn't have enough compliance staff to monitor what was going on and to ensure that employees did not feel that they would be retaliated against. That was the smoking gun. That was that was that was it, right? And so now you got 12 million in that the university has paid for the investigation, and now you have two lawsuits that are probably going to they're they're gonna settle, right? They are going to settle. So I feel like ward manual is the scapegoat. Uh, I'm sure everybody knew. And this also isn't just about, I would say, Ward manual. We've also had um uh Mark Sisel, the previous uh president of the university, right, step down for an improper relationship with a subordinate. So Michigan has started to tarn it, and this pains me to say, but we gotten a little bit too comfortable with being a little a little dirty. So now they're gonna hire, they're gonna hire somebody to bring to rein it in a little bit, and what's gonna be interesting to see is if winning goes down.

SPEAKER_03 29:36

Yeah, uh it'll be interesting to see who steps in. Um it's it's so crazy because between Michigan and Michigan State and all these departures and and departures, and oh, I'm not leaving, I'm coming back, you know. It's Michigan sports is is crazy right now. I mean, you know, yeah we can't even you can't even talk about each other because we we're both in uh right in a winter turmoil.

SPEAKER_00 30:11

That's right. And we have given little brother enough fodder to talk about us uh over the past couple of the past couple of years, but um I think yeah, we were like Mel Tucker, how could Mel Tucker do that?

SPEAKER_03 30:27

And then Sherone Moore said, watch this. Right.

SPEAKER_00 30:32

He said, Oh, look, this is about to be a bad joke. He said, Hold my butter knife. I was like, man, not with a butter knife. You threaten to kill yourself with a butter knife, like man, come on now, come on, but uh I should we should have known though that it was gonna be downhill for Sharon once he got that fade tightened up because what brother with what brother got hired, that fade, you know, I have a saying that says, you know, you can always tell, you know, a lot about a black man based on their facial hair. And I I firmly stand by this. If their beard is weird and their stash is trash, something something ain't right, something ain't right. I stand by that. So when he got hired in, people were dogging him out because of his facial hair, his lack of fade, all of that. The brothers was like, uh-uh-uh-uh, something ain't right, something ain't right. Brother found him a barber and got that crispy lineup and that type A. And he was feeling himself. He was feeling himself after that.

SPEAKER_03 31:42

But he had been hat, he had been hat fishing us for quite some time, too. So he took that hat off.

SPEAKER_00 31:50

It's like he took the hat off and then he had to get it tightened up. But number two on my list. What's your number two? And speaking of tightening it up was Sandy Bore Bordello, the coach of the Toronto Tempo, putting her foot, putting her foot in her mouth and referring to Angel Reese as a protected species. Now, I feel like there's a couple of parts to this. One, I'm gonna always ride with Angel. I love the fact that Angel basically called her a clown on X, right? Like she apologized. And I felt like the apology was sincere. I know a lot of people online felt like it was written by AI, but she addressed it. She didn't make excuses for it. Um, but to refer to a black woman or a person of color as a species, which we know historically that uh black people were considered animals, uh was was inappropriate. Now, she and Kiris came to me, my daughter, and was like, Well, mama, people are saying that she's from Australia and that this is colloquial, like a colloquialism in Australia. Correct. My point is where is the cultural fluency and the cultural competency trained? Right? The WNBA should be mandating that their coaches, their referees, their front office staff, as well as the commissioner's office, have to go through training to understand one, uh, you know, not just issues historically and present day about race and racism, but sexism, right? If you are a coach right here in the US from another country, you need to understand how to communicate. So I'm glad that they suspended her. Um, but the other thing that irritated me, and I don't even know uh who the woman was, I forgot her name, but a black woman who used to coach on Sandy's staff came forward and said, I worked with her, she's not racist. That pissed me off. So the thing for me is that I feel like sometimes as black people, we don't understand somebody can be good to you personally. You can have a good relationship with someone individually. That does not mean that they should get a pass for their behavior. It doesn't mean that they don't have thoughts or ideas or or a mindset, right? That is prejudiced. We all have different prejudices. And I hate when black people try to come in with their uh, you know, I don't say they cape, you know what I'm saying, and be saving them. I hate that. Let Sandy feel this heat, let her stand on her own two feet. Uh we we just don't need that.

SPEAKER_03 34:52

Yeah, what the what the black coach could have said is that she's never experienced racism from her. She shouldn't say she's not racist. Like yeah. Um, so Sandy Brandello. So she was a player for many, many years, and she um, you know, she did say it in in Australia that term means, you know, that the player gets a special whistle. And she said that she was not directing it at angels, she was directing it at the situation. So I'm gonna, so here's the here's so when I t when I said I was out at dinner on Friday uh watching a game, I was watching a uh the the Toronto Temple and Atlanta Drake game. And this this is the game that that that incident happened, where that incident happened. And I watched The Dream because they're my new favorite team. Because just like I'm a LeBron fan and I'm not a Lakers fan, I go, I'm a fan of whatever team LeBron goes to. I'm a fan of whatever team A.O. Race plays on. And so I'm a fan of the Atlanta dream. I like the other players too, but I that's why I could not, did not want to miss the game, because I want to see them uh play. There were a few storylines um that I wanted to see. And so I didn't find out about the Brondello incident until after the game, probably that night or the next morning. And so there were more storylines in the game, but um when she said the play that that that she was referring to where Angel got a special whistle, Angel, Angel Reese was uh driving to the basket and Nyara Saboli, uh the tempo player, was guarding her. Angel went up and she ran into Saboli and she hit her in the rib. Not, you know, just doing a bat, it was a basketball play. And they caught a foul on Sabali, rightfully so. It was a defensive foul. Angel did not get a special whistle on that play. So for her to even say that Angel Reese was a protected species, meaning she got a special whistle, was was it was all a line. It was not accurate. It should have ne it should have never been said because that wasn't what happened. So there's there are a few things with with her saying that, besides the fact that it wasn't a special whistle, it was a defensive foul on her player. But also, when you when you're talking like that about Angel Reese, knowing that there's already a negative spotlight on Angel Reese from all these racist fans, and saying that on a hot mic where you didn't think you didn't think that the hot mic would catch it, but you you're saying it walking on the sideline where the crowd could catch it, people have their phones on all the time, you weren't you know um preventing it. But just you know, you already know that Angel Reese has is experiencing racism, no matter so, even if you said, Oh, she got a special whistle, people are gonna take that and even if you use a different term, people are gonna take that and be like, even Sandy Brondello saying that, yeah, they're gonna run with it. Even Sandy Brondello says that Angel gets a special whistle, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So you're already putting a spotlight on her for no matter, no matter what. I'm glad that Angel, you know, so when they when the uh when it when it came up as a headline, Angel responded, are we surprised? and put, you know, at she put at Sandy Brondello and and the clown face. That's right. Rightfully so. And then um, you know, Sandy Brondello came out and apologized. It was a sincere apology. You know, I don't know what people wanted from her, you know, what more could she say? She not only apologized in writing, she tried to contact uh Angel Reese through through their team to talk to her directly because she said, Angel doesn't know me. You know, she doesn't know what type of person I am. So, you know, I I wanted to talk to her. Uh and then she put on a statement and said, you know, I've, Angel, I apologize, you know, I I, you know, you know, need to leave Australia colloquialism in Australia, and you know, I need to to educate myself. I she said, I've worked, I've played and have worked with strong black women who have edu who have taken the time, and I coach players who take the time to educate me. Um, and it wasn't directed at her personally. So there were just there was just that there was just a lot happening in that one incident. And too bad it overshadowed um some other storylines in that game that I was following while I was watching and and during the game. You know, Nas Hillman, who went to Michigan, go blue, um, she had a perfect night. She had a perfect game where um she shot you know eight for eight field goals, you know, four for four for those four of those were for three point, you know. So she had a perfect night. And Nas has been having um kind of an up and down season. And so I was I was like fired up. Like she was, she was, she was on fire. She had a perfect game, on fire. Uh Angel Reese had her league leading seventh 17th double double, you know, and and and now they played 26 games and that was 25 games at the time. You know, so those storylines should have been the highlight. And what happened after the game, it Sandy Brondello came and we forgot all about those highlights. Yeah, that should have been the the main stories of that game. And so it kind of kind of upset me because um I'm I'm so tired of, you know, first of all, I'm tired of racism, especially directed at Angel Reese. She seems, it seems to always happen with her. And, you know, then she had to explain again. You know, I'm gonna say this one time, you know, I'm glad that Sandy Bradello apologized. I'm also glad that she was suspended for a game, but I'm also even more glad that my teammates and the organization um have really embraced me and really, you know, mil help helped me um, you know, feel feel better about the situation. And she said, I want to be with the dream for life. You know, she is such a different experience than she experienced in Chicago. So it was just all those storylines and and her having to deal with that and and and answer to it once again, um, it is just was unfortunate.

SPEAKER_00 42:00

Yeah. I mean, I think though, there's a couple other things. One, that's what like racism and prejudice and homophobia, xenophobia, that's what it does, right? It strips people of their humanity, of their accomplishments, right, of their brilliance by collapsing them into these stereotypes, into these tropes. So that's the first thing, right? And I I think in her interview, in Angel's interview, you could see the fatigue, right? Just being tired of having to have the discussion over and over again. But the other thing here is why is Sandy acting like there isn't a legacy of uh prejudice, racism, and colonialization in Australia.

SPEAKER_03 42:51

That was because she because because she doesn't have to. Like they, you know, the it's uh, oh, this is something new.

SPEAKER_00 42:59

This is just look at the abor the the aborigines, right? And the history of colonization and how people of color are treated in Australia. So that was the thing where I was like, this isn't, this excuse isn't absolving you, right, for uh the the the connotations here. But I think also, and this is kind of like a 2A, um, when you mentioned the Chicago Sky, I read an article, and I think a lot of times people talk about, for instance, organizations and the caliber of organizations and how they run their teams. And as a fan or as a consumer, we don't we don't understand that there really is a distinction a lot of times uh in the quality and in the type of supports that players get, even in the NBA. And so I was cracking up because over the weekend, right, when I was in the house uh so that I could protect my lungs, there was an article that. I said the Chicago Sky had been practicing and have been practicing in a rec center.

SPEAKER_03 44:08

A rec center. Yeah. Yeah, that's nothing's changed. There hasn't been there's they're building, they're supposed to be building a practice facility, but nothing has changed. Right.

SPEAKER_00 44:18

But that I that escaped me. Like I heard that the sky had some issues. People were not happy with ownership, with management. But for some reason, I missed the fact that they had people that had those those athletes practicing in a public rec center. That's like having the Pistons play in Northwest, practice in Northwest Activity Center. Like, what are we talking about here? So it goes beyond just Angels reception, right? When she was, she was picked. It's about the resources and the lack of resources that the sky are investing in that franchise. And I think there were also like a couple of other NBA players talking about their experience in Philadelphia and like how Philadelphia didn't have like adequate nutrition staff or adequate meals and just the level, the difference between being at like a um, you know, uh a franchise like the Warriors or even the New York Knicks. And it was funny, I saw uh again the pod the roommate podcast with Mike Brown talking to Jalen Brunson, uh, and then uh Hart, Josh Hart, and Josh Hart was asking for the team to pick up the cost for his shooting coach, right? And so people were laughing, and Jalen was like, that's just because he don't want to pay for it. So a lot of times, right, teams may not be coming out of pocket to pay for the support staff that players need to compete at the highest level. Um, so that was just funny to me because Angel said, I'm home now in Atlanta. I get the red carpet pulled out, I got these athlete, you know, athletes and celebrities showing up at my games, and I'm getting treated right as a professional. And so, yeah, she she probably will stay down there.

SPEAKER_03 46:16

Yeah, there were a couple, so so the um two more points I want to make about. So we let me touch on this guy first. I I want to say in their practice facility, I want to say last year they were like competing for time to practice there. Like it was it was crazy, weird. And then um one of the things when you talked about Sandy uh Brandello and and her not her ignoring the fact that you know racism exists even in Australia, she's a white woman who doesn't have to acknowledge that and has never had to, right? So she she can act like it doesn't exist or or or you know she can ignore the fact I've never heard her speak up and talk about you know the treatment that Angel gets or you know or anyone else in the league for that matter, even even if they were her players. But also it I saw more narrative probably it was probably white fans saying, Oh, that's just uh uh you know an Australian, you know, slang, you know, y'all, you know, you're you're reading too much into it. Species doesn't mean that, you know, blah blah blah blah blah, but they don't that's because they don't have to know the history of what species the word species mean species means to uh the black uh population or you know or or anyone else. Um they were on there quick to say, oh, she didn't mean it and she, you know, it's it's Australian slang, and you know, if you guys would just Google what it really means, you wouldn't be so upset, blah, blah, blah. And they they totally dismissed the fact that you know you can't say that. So she she got a pass from a lot of people. Um not just uh the black coach that you refer. She got a she was getting a pass from a lot of people in the comments. I was reading a lot of comments over the weekend, but um Yeah, that uh it's just it's unfortunate, but oh for for the Chicago Sky. So uh somebody said I watched the game yesterday, Chicago Sky, Atlanta Dream. I gotta watch that one because it's Angel against against her former team. Atlanta Dream, and we'll put a ball on this. Atlanta Dream, we're up by 20 some points, you know, and and Chicago cut it, you know, cut cut it. Uh Sydney, Sydney, uh is it Sydney Taylor? I think it was uh she's on my fantasy team. I should know this, right? She was going off. She's a she's a rookie. She was going off. And they they brought them, she, you know, after the half, they came back. They arm, you know, they they took the lead. Chicago took the lead. Atlanta was, you know, suffering. Angel, Angel hurt her and she twisted her ankle. She's she's out, you know. So the the the dream were like trying to find their way. Well, uh, the dream actually ended the game winning, they went ended up winning the game, shouldn't have won that game. I will, I'll admit, Chicago should have won that game, but they this the dream won on a last second layup from Jordan, Canada. So they won uh, you know, in a nick of tie, right? And somebody posted on on Facebook, like, okay, I don't get it. You know, did Chicago put brought all these players in, brought all these superstars in. Why are we not winning these games? Why are we losing? Why are we, you know, should have beat the dream? Why are we? And I can't help it. I put in the comments a picture of Whoopi Goldberg from the color purple, you know, to you do right by me. That's why Chicago's not until you do right by these players. Yeah, you didn't do right by Angel Reese, you're not good things are not gonna come to you. And everybody's making excuses. Oh, the Skylar Diggins is is is hurt. Skylar Diggins probably she might have played her last game in Chicago. She has not suited up since they finished her. And I is she really hurt. Um, they say, you know, um, you know, Rakia Jackson, who I who I love, who's from Detroit. Yeah, um, she she she's died with an injury. Oh, since Rakia went down, we're we're losing, nah, till you do right by those players. Nothing good is gonna come to you, Chicago.

SPEAKER_00 50:37

Yeah, and shout out to shout out to Rakia. You mentioned Rakia, Rakia Jackson. I didn't know if she would be playing this season. I mean, she had a very difficult uh, you know, uh summer uh and off season uh with her NFL uh boyfriend, right, being arrested for, you know, stalking her. Um so, you know, shout out to her. Um, you know, just it's good to see her uh, you know, back because she had taken some games off last season, um, you know, which just doesn't have a that doesn't have a place just in society. But can you imagine, right, being a professional athlete and then having to manage, right, your personal life where someone is threatening you, threatening your life and potentially being abusive. And you still gotta go out there and perform, you know.

SPEAKER_03 51:32

Right, right. Yeah, she did take she took some time off during the um rival for that. And she, you know, it was it was she wasn't in her, she wasn't in LA at her home. She's in Miami, uh really playing in yeah, Miami. Yeah. Um, at you know, during on rival season, and she's, you know, net not probably not near her family. Um I want to say that's one reason I like that she went to Chicago. She's closer to her family, and yeah, you know, that he wound up taking a plea deal, I think. So and she she approved of that. So hopefully they put that behind them. Hopefully he gets the help that he needs.

SPEAKER_00 52:12

But hopefully she can move move on. Uh um, yeah, I think it's it's interesting because when I look at the my ranking, this last one is is I'm just gonna say it's diabolical that I would put this number one after everything that has happened and it's a little bit un. My number one is straight Trey Young and his delusional behind.

SPEAKER_03 52:45

Uh you got Trey Young as your number one. Okay, let's go.

SPEAKER_00 52:51

Let's go. It was just so cringe to me. Okay, I've never, I have always thought that Trey Young was a little corny. I feel like he's kind of like the Jason DeRulo of the NBA. You know what I'm saying? He had when he came out of Oakland. Jason DeRulo. Right. He has some, he had a little bit of game, but I feel like he just he tries too hard. I think having him in Atlanta gave him a little bit more kind of cultural relevancy. But now that he's in DC, ain't nobody checking for Trey Young. And the fact that, I mean, it is just not. No, but who was checking for Trey Young? He has fallen out of the conversation, right? Of, you know, who's got next in the league. Uh, at one time, people thought that he was like a successor, right, to um, you know, um Steph Curry's legacy, right? Another beige point guard with range. But he, you know, he's just he's fallen off the map. And so it was so cringe to me. Two things. One, that he was riding around in New York City. Again, I'm I'm assuming he was there for the Fanatics Fan Fest. It was a lot of cringe moments from this weekend, but he was riding around, filming himself watching the Atlanta Hawks playoff run from 2021 when they beat the New York Knicks. Now, if I look in my calendar, it's 2026, dude. So that was five years ago. Now you had a great playoff run. First of all, it's five years ago. That was round one in the playoffs. Round one in the playoffs when the Hawks beat. Now, the Hawks that year had a great run, right? I did they make it to the conference finals that year or to the I think they they made it to the conference finals. I think they ended up losing to the Celtics that year. That was five years ago. It was five years ago. It wasn't it wasn't the conference finals, it wasn't the NBA final. So you are living in the past. Secondly, the New York Knicks just won the championship, Negro. Like, come on. So you riding around town hyping yourself up because you had a good playoff run five years ago in the first round, and the team that you love to hate just won the championship.

SPEAKER_03 55:23

And yeah, he did. They have a history.

SPEAKER_00 55:26

Right. And so it was just crazy. And then at one of his appearances, he took a Jalen Brunson jersey and ripped it up. So I want to know. They could barely even rip it. Right. So the first thing that I thought of was like, where your mama? Where your mama, where your daddy, your baby mama, your wife, your girlfriend, where your boys? Do you have any friends? Who are you? Who is your team? Because somebody should have just said, Trey, I don't think you want to do that. Because you look pressed, you look corny, and you look out of touch, like you're trying to stay relevant and that you need antics and something off of the court to make you relevant in the league again. Show up on the court, show up on the court, show up on the court, bring DC, bring DC back. You know what I'm saying? Folks still talking about, you know, uh Gilbert Arenas and the gun. You know, people still talking about Kuzma and Kuzma Bengong from DC. People talking about John Wall and his Dougie. Ain't nobody talking about Trey Young. And you don't, you supposed to be the man there.

SPEAKER_03 56:44

You know what's funny? Like, you very rarely, I've well, maybe not you, but I very rarely ever hear him talk. It's always like, does he talk? Like it's always like he's always like silent. Um somebody said, that's ringless behavior. And it is. I was like, that was funny. That's ringless behavior.

SPEAKER_00 57:08

And you know what else people would say, and I I I don't I don't, you know, traffic in the skin color jokes, but that was some that was some beige behavior. That was some light-skinned behavior right there. That was some light, that was some light-skinned behavior. And, you know, the other thing, the last thing that he was being talked about regarding was the fact that he had gotten uh new teeth. And people were saying that his teeth was too big. So your game, Trey Young, has become irrelevant, right? I need you to focus on what's going on in the court on the court and stop with all the antics.

SPEAKER_03 57:52

But it uh It kind of looked like he had the same agent as Tom Brady. Yeah. It was kind of along those lines.

SPEAKER_00 58:00

It was like they know and I mean I get it, right? That now we live and people talk about, you know, the influence of social media, right, on, for instance, the music business and how now artists have to have a content development strategy. I think people were talking about this with Lizzo, right? Lizzo came out with a new record. For you know, a lot of people, it was a flop. And she came out and she addressed it. She was like, I was a radio darling when I first came out. The business of music has changed. Now I need to figure out how to go viral, right? How to get my song right on people's reels. And so I think maybe what we're seeing with like Tom Brady as well as um, you know, Trey Young is athletes trying to figure out how to expand, right, their reach via social media in ways that go far beyond what's happening on the court, right? A performance, like an athletic performance. And I think sometimes it resonates, but sometimes it doesn't. I mean, you think even about LeBron James being at the Jay-Z concerts, right? And people were roasting him because he was dancing around. He was in between the stage and the seats, and people was like, he acting like it's his concert, right? But he knew that all eyes were, or that all eyes were on him, that he knew that that was gonna get clipped up, and it did, but I think there's a fine line, you know, between staying current, between leveraging social media and the tools that athletes have, because we know the likes, right, translate into engagement, which translate into sponsorship opportunities and more kind of economic impact. So I get it, but I think at the end of the day, you gotta be relevant and authentic. Um, and just don't be corny. That's the biggest thing. Don't be corny.

SPEAKER_03 59:59

Uh but uh I think speaking- I don't know if they know how to how to turn off the core sometimes. They they they're they're corny anyway. They were corny, you know, while they were playing, but now with their, you know, you're start starting to see more of their personality or trying to see more of their personality outside of their playing. But Tom Brady was always corny, and we just but but he was, you know, the goat. So yeah, yeah. Yeah, because he because people need to know you off the field. You're you you're a um you're a commentator now on the NFL. Just do that. Russell Wilson's just gonna do that. You know, he has his charities and stuff, but he's not out here trying to, you know, stuff for the gram.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:48

It's like just just do you. Well, I mean, I I don't know though. I mean, you know, Russell has been on the podcast, he and Sierra have been on the podcast circuit, you know, and I I was thinking about this though, because you were talking about like uh people being corny, right? And so I think the other way that uh people are trying to put themselves out there is like through fashion, right? And so I was laughing because again, at the time 100, I think it was at the time 100 event or maybe the Spees, they were roasting Russell Wilson because he came out in this like purple animal print tux, like the suit jacket was tuxed. And so people was like, what the hell is he doing? What the hell he got on? Um, so it is, I think, more pressure, right? If you think about most of these athletes have spent most of their time practicing, preparing themselves mentally, physically, and emotionally to be great in a sport. And now the way sports is viewed as entertainment, there is pressure to show more of your personal life for content, to expand in like fashion, right? You think about Kyle Kuzma. Does anybody remember when Kyle Kuzma wore that pink, like monstrous sweater and it was like he looked like Snuffleopagus, right? And so he did that because he was trying to position himself, right, as a fashion icon for endorsement opportunities. So there is more pressure on athletes to expand their reach beyond sports. And I mean, I get it, right? Everybody is talking about how athletes, how their money or these contracts that they sign are basically they're only gonna see half of that. And many people are saying the way that they hold on to really generate wealth for future generations is through their endorsement deals. But maybe that's that's something that we delve into on a future episode, right? Like who are athletes who've who've expanded their reach and who've expanded their endorsement portfolio in ways that are actually authentic to who they appear to be, versus when has it been done in a way that seems inauthentic or cringy?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:14

So it'll be so this week we have the uh this weekend we have the WNBA All-Star Game, which next week I'm gonna talk about uh the WNBA schedule and how they screw screw all that up. I'm gonna dive more into that, but uh I am interested to see the the the all-star game this weekend. So we'll we'll talk more about that next week, um, as well as you know uh starting to go into more of the NFL training camp. I wanted to just thank all of our listeners and watchers for all the support that we've received and all the the the comments and the um the questions, you know, that will continue to come. Uh, you know, reach out to us and and and let us know about any topics that you want us to talk about, have any questions that you want us to answer. And hey, we want to hear from you in the comments and and and out there. And and we'll be hitting the streets. And until then, and until then I'll say, two aunties, two mics, all gay. Thanks again for spending some time with us. This has been another episode of Aunties Talk Sports. If you enjoyed today's conversation, be sure to like, comment, subscribe, and share the show with your fellow sports fans. It really helps us grow our community. Have a question, a hot take, or a topic you'd like us to cover? We would love to hear from you. Email us at auntistalksports at gmail.com or connect with us on social media at AuntieS TalkSports. Auntie's Talk Sports is a podcast hosted by Jennifer Bright and KB Gaston. Find us on socials at JBright713 and at KB Gaston. Auntie's Talk Sports is recorded in Detroit and produced by Dana Co at Dana Co. on socials. Thanks again for listening. Until next time, two Auntie's, two mics, all day.