The Breakfast Club - Best of Full Interview: Dawn Staley Talks 'Uncommon Favor,' WNBA; MiLaysia Fulwiley, Caitlin Clark Vs. Angel Reese +More

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

Best of 2025- Best Sellers of 2025 - Dawn Staley Talks 'Uncommon Favor,' WNBA; MiLaysia Fulwiley, Caitlin Clark Vs. Angel Reese. Recorded 2025. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakfastClubPower1051FMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. I'm investigative journalist Melissa Jeltsin. My new podcast, What Happened in Nashville, tells the story of an IVF clinic's catastrophic collapse and the patients who banded together in the chaos that followed. It doesn't matter how much I fight. It doesn't matter how much I cry over all of this.

It doesn't matter how much justice we get. None of it's going to get me pregnant. Listen to what happened in Nashville on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Stefan Curry, and this is Gentleman's Cut. I think what makes Gentleman's Cut different is me being a part of developing the profile of this beautiful finished product. With every sip, you get a little something different.

Visit Gentleman'scutbuburn.com or your nearest Total Wines or Bevmo. This message is intended for audiences 21 and older. Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, Boone County, Kentucky. For more on Gentleman's Cut Bourbon. please visit gentlemen's cuthuburn.com. Please enjoy responsibly. I know he has a reputation,

but it's going to catch up to him. Gabe Ortiz is a cop. His brother Larry, a mystery Gabe didn't want to solve until it was too late. He was the head of this gang. You're going to push that line for the cause? Took us under his wing

and showed us the game, as they call it. When Larry's killed, Gabe must untangle the dangerous past, one that could destroy everything he thought he knew. Listen to the brothers Ortiz, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Who would you call if the unthinkable happened? My sister was y'all 22 times. A police officer, right? But what do you do when the monster is the man in blue? This dude is the devil. He'll hurt you. This is the story of a detective who thought he was above the law

until we came together to take him down. I said, you're going to see my face till the day that you die. I got you. Listen to the girlfriends, Untouchable, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And she said, Johnny? The kids didn't come home last night. Along the central Texas plains, teens are dying.

Suicides that don't make sense. Strange accidents and brutal murders. In what seems to be, a plot ripped straight out of breaking. bad drugs alcohol trafficking of people there are people out there that absolutely know what happened listen to paper ghosts the texas teen murders on the iHeart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts wake that ass up in the morning the breakfast club morning everybody is dj envy just hilarious sholomain the guy we are the breakfast club we got a special guest in the building the icon living

Dawn Stanley. Welcome back. How you feeling? Thank you. Thank you. I usually come back and I'm invited when we win the championship. We lost this year. So thank y'all for... You're always invited. Don't you start. You're always invited. A new book, Uncommon Favor, is out

right now. Basketball, North Philly, my mother and the life lessons I learned from all three is out right now. How are you feeling? I'm feeling great. Like, I mean, my friends have received their books and they have nothing but, like, great things. Like I am my cup running the over.

Yeah, I had you all over a place yesterday. Yeah, he did. I got to give you a shout out and you spark the conversation. So many people have asked me to write a book and I've like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, right? But it came from so many different people and then when I came on a show in 2022, we talked about it and you just, you kept the conversation going. You're real persistent with it and, you know, that's what I'm attracted to most. It's like somebody that actually is in persistent, persistent and know the process. Like you knew the process.

I don't know if you knew my story, so to speak, but you knew enough to know that, you know, this book will be received well. And I appreciate that. Well, people like you don't come around too often, Don, like you are once in a generational just person, you know, and you really learn that when you read the book, not even just as a coach, but as a basketball player, but more so as a child of Philadelphia. man I mean it's it's I mean I have fun like the process was fun it's liberating it is you know you don't really know how you're going to be received but every person like I'm actually

waiting for a critic like I'm waiting for somebody saying what didn't go right in the book and we have yet to get to that point and I just my one of my friends was you know listening had a long road trip listened to the entire book yesterday And she was like, I'm in tears, I'm laughing. I get it, like the leadership part of it. Like, I mean, the emotions that are in the book. And it's me. So some of it is emotional me.

Some of it is just I'm able to just get it out because I remembered most of it. And I had to call on my siblings that kind of fill in the gaps. But it's me. Like, it's so me. It's so relatable. It's so just, it was an easy process. So was it therapeutic at all to do it? No, it was just natural.

It wasn't like, it was natural. And I think sharing my story is just relatable to people. It's not like, you know, I don't think it's a, you know, like in, we don't overdo it with the accolades. It's like the accolades are intertwined and everybody's accolades won't be like Olympian and national champions. But on a certain level, like, if you graduate high school, it's relatable. If you graduate college, it's relatable. If you can pull yourself out of the projects of any city, it's relatable. And there's no wrong path.

Like, there's no, like, you can get off, tilted, but then you've got to come back by, like, habits, come back by, you know, the lessons in the book are just, just, it relates to every single thing that you would want to accomplish in life. And I'm not just saying that to pump the book, but it really is. Like, I'm only giving what other people are giving me, the feedback they're giving me. And it's cool to hear people just relate to the book. The beautiful thing about Uncommon Favor is you get to tell your own story. So when you're writing the book, what part of your story did you want to tell because you think people misunderstood it are overlooked it the most?

Well, one is when I'm not. When I speak on things that are controversial, you know, racial things, like, it's, it's, it's my perspective. Like, a lot of times people can't see what you see because it's not their experience. Their experience is only hearing you and commenting on how you feel about certain things when anybody can feel strongly about certain things. I feel strongly about everything in this book because it happened to me. Like, it's personal and it's my perspective, but it's not harmful. Like, allow people to tell their stories without hurting your feelings. It's personal to me.

Now, you could be a critic of the book or you can enjoy the book and you do all those things, but everything in this book is my story. It's a part of who I am. It's allowed me to grow and learn and succeed and fail and all those things that happen to everybody, you know, sitting. around this table and everybody that will read it or not read it. It's going to happen to you no matter what. So I think, you know, some of the stuff, you know, like, you know, the, you know, when I sued

the AD at Missouri, you got to get the whole backstory because if you only hear one side of it, you only hear snippets of it, you'll think, oh, well, why does she do that? Like, or equal pay, you know, why would you, you already making a lot of money? Why would you want equal pay? well well because I know my worth like like it's not it's not hard to see I think this book it's very simple like very simple lessons that I'm hoping that people can can take and utilize in their their daily lives I love it because you know people know you from different things right some people know you as a player some people know you as a coach but with this book it starts from

where you came from which is north Philly right and you talk about Raymond Rosen housing projects and you talk about you know you said uh growing up in the projects was the best decision your parents made. Explain that a little bit and how that formed to the woman that you are today. Just imagine the people that don't grow up in the projects. What you think

happens in the projects. You think probably only one thing. Crying, like bad things. And for me, it was the foundation of giving me the scars I needed, the chinks in the armor I needed

to succeed. Like, there was, unity in the projects there was discipline in the projects there there was there was manicure lawns there was my block I grew and never had trash in it like it was it was captain in a way that would would compete with any suburban lawn like or neighborhood so it was it was all those things that help build you up like I'm unbothered and unafraid to tackle on the most challenging things in life, because that's nothing compared to what I...

That's nothing. Like, so I think it gave me the foundation I needed to just be able to, you know, coach every day, like coach young people. Like, generations are changing. Coaching, coaching talent and individuals and young people nowadays is very, very challenging. And I can imagine, because, you know, being a player, I'm so you got screamed that crazy.

Yeah. But if you did... talk to your girls like that. You can't. You got to... You're making them a resource office. Exactly. So if you're not able to pivot, if you're not able to handle different challenges that you're faced with,

like I feel bad for coaches who aren't... Like, I'm a traditional coach. I like order. I like, you know, people call them rules. People think I'm very strict and disciplined. And I am. I am. But all of our rules are are just good character themes. Like, good, it's a good character.

It's not like, be on time. That's not a rule. That's a character trait. That's not hard to do. If there's something that you want to do, one of the lessons, you have to do what you don't want to do to get what you want.

That's the lesson of the actual. Yeah, like, you know, I mean, you're a renowned comedian, right? Yes. Like, you know how many stand-up shows you have, to do that maybe you were you weren't very good at at the beginning yeah like what you you want to be where you are today you just kept at it and kept at it and kept at it's no it's no different than you know a child that that wants to grow up and be in the WMBA or the NBA yeah I'm like

how much competitions out there so you got to work when nobody's working you got to do you got to get up and work out and sacrifice um I mean I say sacrifice problems. I sacrifice all these things, family reunions, because I wanted to be the best in my profession. And it's okay. You're going to have to choose. You definitely don't have to choose certain things over other things in order for you to really be the best at it. I love how you embrace your inner child. I love this picture on the back. What's a moment from your childhood that still shapes how you like handle pressure today? You know, there's There's a story that I share in the book about my father, who, I mean, I'm over 50 now, right?

But when he, I don't know if I was 12, 14 maybe, I got a chance to, I got invited to play on this team and this competition outside of Philly. Like, it was a road trip, and my father was like, no, you can't go. Like, that hurt me. Like, it really hurt me. remembered it so vividly that that for him to deny me that because it was one of the first times but I'm 13 14 years old whose parents going to let them somebody else take their child out of state like I wasn't thinking about that I was solely thinking about basketball but it was one of the one of the experiences that drove me like I didn't like my father

for that like I didn't like him for the decision parental decision that he made made, but as I'm older now and reflecting on and writing the book, it is, I need conflict. I know that about myself, that I need conflict. Like, everything can't be comfortable. Like, if I have, you know, 10 people supporting me, you know, here, I need about 10 to 12 people that's hating. Like, I need it. I mean, it helps me.

It drives me. Like, it drives me. That's why you said, I don't have a critic yet. I'm waiting for a critic for the book right now. Right. So it's that, is the ability, like, you know, we lost the Yukon this year. Like, you know, the critics are saying I can't coach. I didn't understand that.

That pissed me off a little bit. I'm like, that's what they say. But I'm like, okay, well, but again, everything that I've needed in my life, you know, failure, success happens to me. It's uncommon. Like, but I know our loss this year will somehow help us. it will it's just you know i'm not just i'm not just relying on on it helping us i'm going to put action to it so so it means something i love when you said that in a post game conference you was like i hope that they're crying i hope that my players are crying i hope that it hurts

that'll make them be better next year yeah i mean the the most growth takes place when you're uncomfortable the most if you're comfortable all the time and i've said this as well like parents really don't want their kids to feel what they felt like like pain and i'm like i want them to feel a little pain i want them to hurt i want them to be uncomfortable um and i and i love them enough to allow them to the the sit in that space because not for long but they they need to fight their their way out of it because nothing's going to be getting it I don't like that place. I don't like to feel that. So I fight like hell to try to not feel that by prepping, by doing everything I need to do to not feel that. It's almost like when you grow up in the projects and you grow up in poverty, you don't want that anymore. Like you don't want that. Once you've lived and you've earned a certain keep, you want to keep that because you want to change generations in your family. And I hope I'm able to do that. You seem like you've always been a natural born leader like throughout your

whole life even when you were the child. It made me wonder if coaching never entered your life where do you think your leadership would have shown up instead? Oh man that's a hard question. Like I'm competitive. I probably would have been a losing gambler. But trying like heck like trying like I don't know. I mean I I do I love kids. So my work would have been with kids. And I'm glad that coaching found me. Like, I'm glad somebody saw something in me that I didn't see in my side. I didn't see coaches.

I didn't want to coach at all. And I don't know why because I had great coaches. I had great people in my life that challenged me that were good at it. But when I had coaching friends, the only thing they talked about were their teams and basketball. And I'm like, yeah, this is what I do every day. I do this every day. Why would I want to talk about it every day? Why would I want my life consumed with it?

And here I am, 25 years later, like, loving it. Like, I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. And when you're able to live out your passion, it's the most beautiful, liberating and incredible experience. Like, I know my players really get something out of, our relationship. They do. They build character.

They navigate life. But for me, I'm overjoyed. When they graduate, I'm overjoyed on draft night. I'm overjoyed when they're able to see their hard work produce what they want. Like, what they want. And like, even if they don't make it to the league, they're equipped. They're equipped with being successful with anything. Like, seriously, that is.

that does something to my heart when young people were able to get what they're supposed to get. And how do you block out the noise or do you like the noise? Because you said you like the haters. You like the people that's doubting you. But do you need to block that out when you're coaching,

when you're teaching your girls or teaching your women? Like, how do you deal with that? I mean, the hate usually comes from, like, social media. Like, yeah, I read it. I see it all. You know, sometimes I... Can you dive into it? No, I mean, I look at it, yeah.

And then I sometimes I'm like, okay, 10, 9, 8, 7, I got to take a 10 count. Some people go like this and delete, they write, and they delete. I'm like, I'll give them that. But my life is living proof that what you're saying doesn't impact me in the way that it was dealt out. It impacts me in a way of proving you wrong. Like, I'm an odds beater. Like, I beat the odds. So the odds say, I've already won, okay?

This is really just icing on the cake. So it drives me for sure. You know, you talked about your players. You got a lot of success stories from your time coaching at the University of South Carolina. But in the book, you may get no secret that Asia Washington is your favorite. Well, I mean, here's why. Here's why. And I don't, I've coached a lot of great players.

Like, Asia was the very first. player that was the number one play in the country to decide she wanted to come play for us. And I know it's in her backyard, but she had, and we didn't, we didn't look like a national championship team. Like we never won a national championship. We had never been to the final four. So for her to trust us with that part of her career meant that she believed in us. She, she trusted us. She knew that we were going to get her to where she needed to go as far as still being the number one draft pick like four years later. Like when someone, and it wasn't just her, it was her entire family believed in it. And it took, it took some, you know, it took

us at times them thinking, did we make the right decision? Because she didn't, she's started her first game and then she was terrible like scrub like right scrub like is scrub like that's far so i was like i gotta take you out of starting lineup but i didn't even tell her that i told her parents first and her mom eva was like you're sure i'm like you're going to have to trust me on this one like you're just going to have to trust me and she was like all right but at the end of her freshman year she was national rookie at a year she was first team all SEC she was rookie at a year in the SECs like she got all the accolades coming off the bench and when when someone believed like when someone as as a coach and leader and mentor young people

young people believe in you like they really do when when that's reciprocated because I believed that I knew that she was going to be the one that takes us to that next level. When you're able to have the same synergy, right? And, you know, Asia was, was hell to deal with, right? Because she's young. Like, she's with a private school for like 12 years. All of her schooling was a private school.

And so she needed to be roughened up a little bit to get her ready for what she faces, like she faces the critics, right? now but I know I know she can handle them because we took her through all of that like she's she had dyslexia right throughout her college career and I'm like okay you're going to read in front of the team every time we have a game because we have a we have a like a you know you know we have a scripture reading and an inspirational reading before every pregame meal and there's somebody that has to read it so I was like you're going to read it took her or her senior year She couldn't do it the first, second, the third.

Her senior year, she read out loud. And she had fun with it. She said, y'all, this is a long one. Y'all going to have to bear with me. Like, it was that kind of liberation. So when she gave her entire self to me, the good, the bad, the ugly, entire. And, you know, that's why I just have a really strong, like, relationship with her. Like, she could tell me anything.

Like, I'm non-judgmental. Like, young people. People won't want to tell you everything because they think you're going to judge them. I don't judge. Like, there's nothing that any one of my current, former, future players can tell me that that's going to rock me, that I haven't seen. Like, everybody's been through, like, there's no new problems. It's the same old recycle problems. So just give it here.

So you're not dealing with it longer than you need to. What was something about your relationship with Asia that the fans and media don't see what it means the most to you? She gives me her darkest moments Like her darkest Like her darkest Like you see an incredibly Like gift I think she's the best player in the world

Right She is She's the best player in the world I mean she has doubts at times Like whether she's going to perform at this level And she gives me that And I you know I'm like Yeah it's a lot of pressure

So you know I've had experience with it because I played with the best player in the world during my day, Lisa Leslie. Same conversations I had with Lisa. Like, okay, it's time for you to be the best player in the world. Like, come championship time, come gold medal time. Like, I'm used to giving them.

I'm used to pumping them up. And at the end of the conversation, thank you, coach. I mean, and it's not much. It's just, boom, be done with it. What is your biggest? She is. Even in lesson four, right, when you say you have to do what you don't want to do to get what you want, you weren't even good with people at first.

I mean, you said you could not, you had a job that you had got through your mom's cleaning. She would get your jobs through her cleaning company, and you didn't even want to grieve people. My mom was a one woman shows. Like, it was. Well, you know, she would get you all these jobs, and you did not do good with greeting people because that meant you had to talk to people. That's not even what you wanted to do. And then look at you now.

like that journey from there to there how is like how did you get there doing that something that you didn't even want to do communicate with people well when you're when you're the youngest of five you don't really get to say I grew up in a household I'm the youngest like nobody gave me any

credit I couldn't speak like I had a older brother who's like eight years older my my deceased next oldest brother seven years My sister's six years older than me, and I got another brother that's two years older than me. Like, you're not getting to say in our household. So I was quiet, observant, listened, really formed discernment, doing those times.

And then you grow. Like, you really grow. When I went to college, I was still the same way. Like, I never talked. I was shy. And then, you know, things start happening to you. And you're like, if I don't say anything, they're going to start taking advantage of me. So now and I, you know, I think growing up and seeing things, and that's, you know, it's so cool that, you know, how I explain myself in this book, it lends itself to another lesson, which is look, sound, feel.

If something looks, sounds, or feels off, oh, I'm addressing it. I can't like it's in me to address it if it looks sounds or feels off I'm off I'm addressing if it looks sounds and feels good I'm encouraging it like it is it is it is that that's where I found my voice with something just didn't seem right or something that really seemed right that that I wanted more of yeah what accolade meant the most to you um I would say I'm so far from my plan days that I even really count that probably when my players graduate that's that's that's that's the best feeling because because we sit in the living rooms and we say your child will

graduate and sometimes it's a first-generational college graduate do you know what that means to the family like it's not it just doesn't impact that my player it impacts everybody that comes after her or everybody in her current family that that desires to get a higher education. They'll go out and do it because it's not tangible in some homes. It's not something that someone has ever done in their household. And for that to happen, their generations will change from that. So it's just the impact of that.

You know, it's interesting, right? Because I was watching you yesterday. You did Good Morning America, to view Kobe, all of that stuff like that. So you was working, but I still know you're still the coach of the University of South Carolina. But I was like, oh, you know what? She'll be fine because she used to play ball and coach at the same time, which I found out about in the book. That was insane.

Six years. That's crazy. Six years. I mean, when I got into coaching, I was like in my prime. So, you know, the AD at the time, he kept asking me. Like, he was persistent. Like, I'm like, no, no, I'm not interested. I'm playing in the WMBA.

This is, and then he just kept asking. and then I ended up having to go meet with him because the final floor was in Philly from Philly. He knew I was going to be there. So I went and sat down with him and he asked me two questions. He was like, can you lead? Did you do your research?

Like, did you? And I was like, yeah, I basically was the captain on every team that I played on, right? And then he was like, can you turn Temple Women's Basketball program around? I was like, oh, is that a chance? challenge? Like, is that really a challenge? Because I'm drawing the challenges. And I never looked at it that way. And I never answered the question. I don't even think I answered the question.

He was like, hey, can you just come down the hall and meet some people? So I was like, okay, I'm here. And he took me in this conference room, sat me at the head of the table. And they were like 10 to 12 people sitting around this table. And they're asking me questions. Like, where do you see yourself in five years? I'm like playing in the WNB. and they were like, do you, do you have to see yourself coaching? And I was like, no. Like, y'all, they were interviewing me. I was on a job interview.

And I didn't know it because all my job interviews were tryouts, like basketball, like physical tryouts. And needless to say, I took the job two weeks later, and they just agreed to allow me to continue to play and coach. So I was in, like, basketball utopia, because I was coaching and I'm actually still able to express myself on the court because I wasn't ready to hang up my shoes.

I was still very much a player. And I think that allowed me to play a little bit longer than I wanted to, and that allowed me to keep staying fresh with what was up with teaching young people because they were more enthralled with me playing because that's what they wanted. Like I was living their dream, right,

before their very eyes and I think it just helped me be a better coach, be a more understanding coach because I was a player receiving the information from a coach and then I just helped the dynamics of what I was doing. And I guess we learned how to get you to do things, be persisted and present you with a challenge. Right. Like as I think about it, all, and this is not in the book, but everybody that I have in my, you know, in my circle, like, I got a financial guy. He pressed me for a whole year when I was at South Carolina. He would come and just visit, just check in,

and then, you know, finally I gave all my money to him. Like 17 years later, we're, we're, we're, we're, he still. I'm investigative journalist Melissa Jeltson. My new podcast, What Happened in Nashville, tells the story of an IVF clinic's catastrophic collapse and the patients who banded together in the chaos that followed. We have some breaking news to tell you about. Tennessee's attorney general is suing a Nashville doctor.

In April 2024, a fertility clinic in Nashville shut down overnight and trapped behind locked doors were more than a thousand frozen embryos. I was terrified. Out of all of our journey, that was the worst moment ever. At that point, it didn't occur to me what fight was going to come to follow. But this story isn't just. about a few families' futures. It's about whether the promise of modern fertility care can be trusted at all.

It doesn't matter how much I fight. Doesn't matter how much I cry over all of this. It doesn't matter how much justice we get. None of it's going to get me pregnant. Listen to what happened in Nashville on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Stefan Curry, and this is Gentleman's Cut. I think what makes Gentleman's Cut different is me being a part of developing the profile of this beautiful finished product. With every sip, you get a little something different.

Visit gentlemen's cut bourbon.com or your nearest total wines or Bevmo. This message is intended for audiences 21 and older. Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, Boone County, Kentucky. For more on Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, please visit gentlemen's cut bourbon.com. Please enjoy responsibly. Dad had the strong belief that the devil was attacking us. Two brothers, one devout household, two radically different paths. Gabe Ortiz became one of the highest-ranking law enforcement officers in Texas.

32 years, total law enforcement experience. But his brother Larry, he stayed behind and built an entirely different legacy. He was the head of this gang, and nobody was going to tell him what to do. You're going to push that line for the cause. Took us under his wing and showed us the game. as they call it. When Larry is murdered, Gabe is forced to confront the past he tried to leave behind and uncover secrets he never saw coming.

My dad had a whole other life that we never knew about. Like, my mom started screaming my dad's name, and I just heard one gunshot. The Brothers Ortiz is a gripping true story about faith, family, and how two lives can drift so far apart and collide in the most devastating way. Listen to the Brothers Ortiz on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Who would you call if the unthinkable happened? I just fell and started screaming.

If you lost someone you loved in the most horrific way. I said through your shot 22 times. The police, right? But what if the person you're supposed to go to for help is the one you're the most afraid of? This dude is the devil. He's a snake. He'll hurt you.

I got you. I'm Nikki Richardson, and this is The Girlfriends, Untouchable. Detective Roger Goloopsky spent decades intimidating and sexually abusing black women across Kansas City, using his police badge to scare them into silence. This is the story of a detective who seemed above the law until we came together to take him down. I told Roger Goloopsky, I said, you're going to see my face till the day that you die. Listen to the Girlfriends Untouchable on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hey, y'all, it's me, your man, M.G. Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael F. Liorio. And I'm Laquan Jones. If you're looking to win your fantasy football league, you need to tune in to the NFL fantasy football podcast. It's right there in the name. Every week, Florio, LQ, and I bring you the latest news from around the league. We break down every matchup, give you all. our analysis and advice so you know who to start, sit, drop, and trade to bring that championship

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on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts Or wherever you get your podcasts Still with me And it's the coolest thing To have someone just Because you know like it pour in I mean you pour it into me with this book Like you understood it like I didn't want to write a book

Like I don't know why but I didn't want to write a book but then when we won last year in an undefeated way I'm like this is this is my cut running over this is uncommon favor and we tried to

come up with different titles for the book and it always came back to this because this really explains my entire life like if I had to describe my life my career

my is uncommon favor like to the empty degree have you have a question whether you were too hard or not hard enough on a player yeah yeah yeah yeah there was i mean it's all teaching moments where i i i wanted a freshman to beat out a senior when i kind of first my first couple of years at south carolina we you know we recruited this young lady because i thought she would be the best i i i was Like this is the one I want. So all of our coaching staff, we zeroed in on her. She committed. She came.

And then I was really hard on her. Like, like you got to do. I tried to pour everything in because I wanted her to beat the senior out. I couldn't just give her. I couldn't just give her. I'm not in it. You got to earn it because you got to protect your locker room. Because if you're just giving out something and you lose trust.

So I wanted, so I poured into her. I was hard on her. And she cried at different times of the season. And then I would talk to her. Like, I thought everything was good. You know, we were working towards it. Sometimes they cried sometimes. You know, they can take it.

And then at the end of the season, like I always do. I meet. I have our postseason meeting. And she said something I just didn't. It didn't dawn on me during the year. Like she was like, I wasn't ready. And I never thought she wasn't ready. If she would have said that to me

like during the season I would have backed off but she was just like I wasn't ready and I'm like I'm sorry so I do think that it strained our relationship I think she understands it now because she's a coach now

so she kind of understands it but I had the change how I operate in that space because and I ask our players to talk to me more like I could be I could be a better coach when you talk to me If not, I'm assuming that everything I'm saying you're good with.

So now it's like how you feel about this, how you want to play this, how you want to do this. What do y'all think? I'm more of a listener and I involve and more inclusive with game planning, more inclusive with how we handle, you know, problems that come up on the team between teammates, all of that. I'm just like, we talk it out. Like we talk it out. I expect, like, it's not a rhetorical question. And it is an inclusive question. Hey, let's talk about this.

Because I find that if you don't address it, it grows. And then you're halfway through the season. And like, y'all still on that? When a two-minute conversation could resolve it all. I wanted to ask about your father, right? You mentioned your father earlier in an interview. And you said your relationship wasn't that great, but you said it got better over the years.

Do you understand some of the things that your father was trying to implement in you as a young girl because they said that your father looked at women's basketball and felt there wasn't too many opportunities and didn't know if you could sustain at that time. And do you wish that you kind of put yourself in his mentality back then as a child? Because even with the name of the book,

it says basketball in North Philly, my mother, but not my father. So explain that a little bit, but not my father. Good catch. Good catch. You know, I think even the one, like family members that are closest to you. Yes, I thought I, yes, I should have had a much more mature outlook on that relationship.

Now that you can reflect on it, now that you can see, because I held that. And I, you know, if you can hear it, I still hold that instance. But when you're coaching, right, and you come up, you know, with, you come into a situation where you heard a player. Like you hurt that player That was like Probably 12 years ago I hurt that player Like it drives me to not hurt other players

Right And I wasn't mature enough Or savvy enough To handle that at 12 or 13 So I do think it's It's helped me be a better coach It helps me be a better person To really like I

Again I didn't talk about things I held that My father probably didn't Probably doesn't And he's been dead and gone since 2001. Like, I don't even think he really knew how much that hurt me. But I also used that to navigate, the nose. Like, I handle nose a lot better because of that, because of that.

It wasn't like, my mom, I was the baby girl, the baby girl. So the baby girl holds a special place. Of course. And, you know, with your mother. My father was a tremendously, like, not high education. Like, he didn't, but he was worldly. Like, he knew he was a carpenter. He was a mechanic.

He knew everything worldly from when I was younger until adulthood. And he really had a stronger relationship with my other siblings because they were older, too. They could have a conversation with him about anything. and I still used to sit back, even as an adult, sit back and kind of listen to them, have these conversations about prime ministers and presidency, politics. Like, I wish he was alive today to hear his perspective on what was happening in our world today because he was super up with everything. I love to respect the power

I have his chapter and in that chapter you speak extremely highly of South Carolina's own Malaysia for a while and you even refer to her as a younger savier version of you you say this is a quote I heard from so many adults who gave their own parents hell only

to see that teenagers return to favor now it's my turn in the barrel so when I see you had when I read that and I was like she had so much love for Malaysia what was your initial reaction when she decided to enter the portal and was it surprising Um, surprising. No. Um, I think, you know, being in this space, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you become, you know, to expect the unexpected, right? Um, I still have much love for Malaysia, like, much love. Like, I want her happy. She came in, said, she and her mom came in. She said, um, I think I'm going to get into the transfer portal. So I'm like, okay, well, you think or you know. And she said, I know. And I said, well, I said, I only want you happy.

Like, I really do only want our players happy. Whether that's with us or somewhere else, just be happy. I told her, don't look back. I know it's probably going to be hard to not look back to see, you know, you leaving your hometown and all that. I said, don't look back. Like, you know, you made this decision. Just go forward with it.

And don't look back. You're always going to be a game clock. You're always going to be welcomed here. I wish her the best and when I say that people probably think oh no but I do like I really do like because I am

what's for us is for us what's not is what's not let's keep moving I don't stay in despair I don't stay in those spaces for very long I'm like okay we got we gotta get

we got to get recruiting we got to get back into this portal to see who we can get you know to help us I think she's going to have a promising career. I do think she's a generational talent. That will never leave. Like, she does things on the basketball court that I've never seen a woman do. And she'll continue to do that and will continue to be happy for her, except the one or two times that we have to play them. Like, it's on. Like,

she's going to be super competitive against us. We're going to, we're going to want to win, and it's going to be a pride thing. That comes with just being, you know, a competitor. And We got much love for her and her family. Do you feel like the Transfer Portal era forces coaches to a ball faster when it comes to, like, player relationships? Yeah, well, for me, I need that. Like, I need to have a relationship with that. I need, I need that.

Like, I'm not good in, you know, one-offs. I'm not good at, you know, transactional relationships. Like, I'm not good. You know, I don't want to turn my heart off, you know, like my heart is the thing that leads me and I need that type of connection and I'm never going to I'm never going to go there with the transfer portal transactional mindset um it's it's helped and it's hurt like I do think that I do think that something needs to happen regarding how many times you can transfer like how many like how many is how many like one I think is great like

you pick the wrong school you know find the right school transfer now I think when you're able to transfer two three you can be at four different schools in four years and and does it create more

opportunity for them to be wealthier yes it does and I think us women are trying to get all of that back because I think our game has been held down for so long that now that this space is open to us and we're thriving in it.

We're thriving in the name image and likeness space. We're thriving. But I don't want people to lose sight of what team is. Like my whole life is built around team, my personal life. I got a team of people, team of friends that come hell of high water. We're going to stick together. whether we agree or disagree, we're going to do it agreeably. And I just, I want that for our game.

I don't want our game to lose that part of it because it's the very thing that's been attracting and magnetic to the fans. Now, this has nothing to do with the book, but I wanted to ask us we talk about players. You know, WMBA has taken a huge jump in the last couple of years, and I love it, my daughters love it, my sons love it. What do you think what's going on in the WNBA where it seems like they're pitting, you know, Caitlin Clark

against Angel Reese, right? Kind of what they did in NBA back in the day but it was more teams, right? I guess not, maybe not teams. It was Magic with Bird, this one versus that one. But this one, it just seems like it seems very personable. So what are your thoughts? Like, even the other day with that foul and they called it a flagrant foul, I don't necessarily agree, but what are your thoughts on it?

You don't think it was a flagrant file? I think it was just a foul. From what I've seen, me playing basketball, me watching basketball, I think if it would have been anybody else, it might have just been a foul. I don't know if it was a flagrant So just asking your thoughts. Well, I think the officiating has a hard job. That's one.

The decipher whether or not that's a flagged one or not. Hard job. Hard job. And I do think they understand the dynamics of Angel and Caitlin. I do. I think it's great for our game. Because it's like for, yeah, like it's a sport. Treat us like a sport.

Don't treat us anything other than being a sport. It happens in every sport. soccer, basketball, football. It happens in every sport. So let it be. I'm going to take the lead of Angel and Caitlin. And that lead is, they said it was a file. The officials got it right.

We're moving on. That's what I'm going to take. I'm going to take their lead. Okay. I think it's, I think it pulls people in. I do think there are new fans that haven't watched our game. And they really don't know. So they're only singly focused on Caitlin.

That one part, right? Right? So when you're that, and that's their idol, that's who attracts them. But I just hope that they'll open their eyes to the rest of the talent that is there. Like the product is incredible. And it's in high demand. We play Caitlin in the national champion. ship and last year, right?

20 million topped off at whatever it topped off at the most, right? I know. I know they saw us. Like, I know they saw us. I know they saw us have an undefeated season. I know they saw Camilla Cardozo. I know they saw Ashton Wax. I know they saw Tessa Johnson have an incredible career or day.

I know they saw Malaysia do some incredible things. like so open your eyes up to seeing you know outside of Caitlin well not even outside included because she's a part of a part of it all so you know I'm looking forward to the next time they play too I'm glued in just like everybody else yes the wrong man the wrong call in that scenario was a Leah Boston getting called for a tech exactly she didn't she didn't even know until after the game but do you feel like she type with her money's like She wants somebody to pay her fine. Well, Kayla said she's going to pay it.

Yeah, yeah. You feel like they should let the players play? Because I know it's not just WMBA, but NBA too. It just seems like they're taking too much control and not letting the players play. Again, officiating. Hard, hard, because you want them to just play. But you also know that it can escalate. And we know when things escalate, whether it's basketball or whether it's policing.

We know when they escalate. We got to learn how to de-escalate. escalate and then allow the players to do what they do. The game itself is going to lend itself to whatever, whether it's really physical, whether it's, you know, free-flowing. It's going to lend itself to whatever it is. I just think that officiating is a tough, tough job. Not even that.

Like, coaches are like on your butt all the time. Like, I'm including me. Like, it's, it's, it's, it's, That is, they get, I mean, they get paid a whole lot of money, too, to take that. But they're, they're the best in our game. Like, they're the best. If there were better people to officiate the games, they would already be in the game. Right.

Last question about this. The replay feature, like it or hate it? I like it. Why? I like it because officials make mistakes. Right? I mean, it allows you, it allows them to be corrected because they're wrong. Like, I would say this.

We have officiating conversations every year when we go to our spring meetings. Then it's, if they have like a 90% correct call rate, that's excellent. That's amazing. Well, what about the 10%? Especially if they cost games Like really important games Exactly what about the 10% Like what

What is done to them For being For calling something incorrectly 10% of the time That has Implications of For us NCAA seating

Right Like for You know For the NBA You know Like Like every game Matters

Right So I mean they're never going to get that part right. But it's part of the game. It's part of the dynamics of the game that, again, it's conversation. And it's, we should have conversation. Like, I don't think the officials want us to have conversation about this.

But you're a part of it. You know, you don't get, you know, if I'm going to get criticized for losing, you should get criticized for not making the correct call. I got a few more questions. I want to go back to that chapter, respect. the power of habits, right? Because when you talk about Malaysia, it is with such reverence.

How do you balance disappointment as a coach with support for somebody like her who just wanted to make a decision for us, though? Like if a young person is going to speak on what they deem is good for them, that's half the battle. Like half the battles to be able to speak up. And you know how hard it was for her to do that?

like really hard really hard so i understand that dynamics um of her decision making and then it's like okay well what do you do with like if she was my player and you know there was there was a chance for her to want to come back um or if she decided that this is that that's not what she wanted to do i was going to talk to her about why why did it why did it come to that what makes you think this is in the place um for you what and for whatever she said we would we would go from there i thought Malaysia Malaysia was was getting better like i really i saw a whole lot of growth on and off the court to to wear like unless she was going to get the the best of her now like we went through the you know we went through the the hard part of just kind of smoothing some rough

edges and getting her to create good habits like like I do think habits are the the thing that that allows you to to elevate right I do you know um so I think I think what we've given her and what she's given us will will allow her to have much better days much more consistent days than she had with us at her next stop did she know you felt that way about her or she's read the book and be like, damn. You know, and I want to clarify, the book was written already before she made a decision. The book was written, you know, months ago. I'm sure.

I share my feelings. Like, I don't have, I don't, I don't hide anything. I wear my heart on my shoulder. I do think Malaysia really knows how I felt about her. I know her mother knows. I know, you know, regardless of why she came to that conclusion of a one in the least. I know she knows she felt our love. Now, you know, the playing time, the whatever,

the, you know, for us, maybe taking her out of the game when she felt like she wanted to just kind of keep playing through some things. Now, she probably questions that part of it. And I'm okay with that. A lot of players leave because of playing time. A lot of people leave. It's not for all the other stuff because we treat them like royalty. Like royalty, like we're probably enablers when it comes to the treatment

that we give our players. So. I'm sure she would have started this year, her junior, right? I mean, who else was going to hold her down? So, yeah, I mean, it wasn't, I don't think it was, I don't think it came down to starting. I really don't. I think it came down to her wanting to play free and do, you know, what she wanted to do. win. And who's to say she

wouldn't have been able to do that in her junior year? So what's the relationship with coaches? If Coach Kim and LSU calls you and ask for some tips on how to coach Malaysia for Wiley, do you give any game at all? You on your own. Oh, no. It's bad. You figure it on. Damn.

Yeah, like, it ain't, I ain't going to help you. Help her. Be us? Nah. Nah. The coolest thing about your book is other than your stories and your experience is, big, this basketball texture. What was that conversation like that?

What was it? Because I know this was your idea. You wanted to do this. But did they say, did they give you pushback on it? Like, no, we're not able to. We don't know. How was that? See, Jess, you see a woman, sees all that.

That is, that's a strategic part of, yeah, they, we got the cover back, right? And it was just a smooth surface like the, like the front of it. I'm like, this would be cool if it could feel like a basketball. Like, I mean, the color, like, this would be really cool. Now, this was really late in the process, like, really late. They were like, oh, I don't, we don't think, we don't think we can do that. And when, and I didn't know they were working on it. I didn't, I didn't know that they were actually got it done until I got my first copy.

And I was like, whoa. Oh, wow. Yes, yes. Like, I did want that. Wow. This is so creative. It's butter, right. Butter.

Yes, man. Right. And congratulations on your statutes. in Columbia, South Carolina. Thank you. You and Asia Wilson got statues in Columbia. What would it take for a player to get a statue at the University of South Carolina? Because I know they come and they be like, damn, Asia got one.

What can I do to get that? I mean, Alia Boston. Alia Boston had a incredible career. Yes. Like, she did some things that Asia didn't do. Like, she really did did some things that Asia didn't do. I think when it comes to, and her impact, like, I think Asia, The total person, the proximity to South Carolina really helped her cause.

You know, but Alia, from a basketball perspective, from a community, like, she is all about community and what she stands for. Like, she's a young lady that's really, I mean, if she was from South Carolina, there would already be a statue of her. Oh, absolutely. Like, already. And, you know, the trajectory of her career, her impact that she'll have in the WNBA, I do think she's an Olympian. I'll start the campaign of getting Alia.

I mean, Asia's and my statue are like two blocks from each other. You know, why not go two more blocks and you can hit all the statues for Alia? All the statues in one pop. Wow. But you're all going to win more championships. We, we, yeah, by willing. Yes.

Final question. Charlotte's thing. Why can we bring them back to the Carolinas? Yeah, I get, I get this. South Carolina or North Carolina. I give this question, and I get this question about Philly too, because Philly wants a, once a WNBA team. I do think the Hornets and the Sixers got to do better.

They got to do better. They got to do better, you know, like it's, I think it's great. When the NBA team is doing great, it helps with the whole camaraderie. But I do think, I will say this, sorry, Philly, sorry, Philly. But I do think Charlotte's more ready for WNBA team just from a fan perspective. Like, we draw, like, we are, we draw, we're the highest attended games in the country at South Carolina. like for the past 10 years. Like no one's outdrawn us over the past 10 years.

So I do think we're ready from that perspective, but it's more than fan support, you know, it's a business, it's resources. Who's going to pour in to the team? If the team doesn't do well in the first year or two, which is highly likely, will there be enough, you know, resources poured into a team? We can put together the right investment group.

I think so, too. I'm down because people want me to coach in the WNV. I don't want to coach in the WNB. I want to own. I want ownership. There you have it. I would invest. I got a little dollar.

I got a couple dollars. I got a couple coins. Well, thank you, Don. New book, Uncommon Favor, Basketball, North Philly. My mother and the life lessons I learned from all three is available everywhere you buy books now. Go get it. You are guaranteed to learn something. That's right.

You are an icon living, Don. We appreciate your presence on this earth. We thank God for you. Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you. And listen, I want everybody to remember that today, Don Staley will be at the Barnes & Noble 5th Avenue in New York City.

If you're in New York City, you can go see Donnstairly at Barnes & Noble 1 p.m. today, 555 Fifth Avenue in New York. Go get a copy of Uncommon favorite signed. Don, thank you again. Show him, Stanley. It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning. Wake that ass up.

Earl, it's in the morning. I'm investigative journalist Melissa Jeltson. My new podcast, What Happened in Nashville, tells the story of an IVF clinic's catastrophic collapse and the patients who banded together in the chaos that followed. It doesn't matter how much I fight. Doesn't matter how much I cry over all of this. It doesn't matter how much justice we get. None of it's going to get me pregnant. Listen to what happened in Nashville on the IHeart Radio app.

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