The Comment Section with Drew Afualo - LOCKED IN Ft. Zia Cooke | The Comment Section Ep. 133

Episode Date: August 28, 2024

This week, Drew welcomes LA Sparks player Zia Cooke to talk the rise of women’s basketball and why random men online think they can 1v1 anyone. They unpack Michael B Jordan being a WNBA fan, the pay disparity in men and women’s professional basketball, the insane things men write as their “fun facts”, and so much more. Drew: linktr.ee/drewafualo Zia Cooke: IG / TikTok For sponsorships/partnerships, email [e-mail]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I think it's really fun when you see celebrities that you never would have thought are like really into the WNBA. Yeah. And Michael B. Jordan, too. He was supposed to come to a game, but he has not come yet. So if you see this, hurry. He's trying to get wiped up. He's trying to get wiped up by one of the sparks. He hasn't like came yet.

I don't know what's taking him for long. What are you so afraid of? Michael B. Jordan. Come on. Hey, everyone and welcome back to another episode of the comment section show starring me, your favorite. everybody knows me who cares about me on to the guest today we have the iconic the legendary the athletic ziah cook thank you for having you thank you for coming to the show my second female athlete second athlete overall on the show but only women only female athletes that's who

i have that's super dope period very exciting thank you for coming i'm honored to have you and i have a very very very I would say passionate drive to platform female athletes and make them more famous than male athletes yes I'm glad you could join me on this journey of course but I'd like to know a little bit more about your journey before obviously now you're on the sparks correct but you went to South Carolina game cock yes I've only done one college like anything like talk or whatever and it was at USC really Yeah. Okay. I went to South Carolina. You got a tiny little school. Yeah, that's, yep. And someone brought me a shirt that says, go gamecocks. Yeah, I wore it. Of course I do. You have to. Yeah, so I'd love to know how you started playing basketball, how you got into it, and like journey up to college. Yeah, so I've been playing basketball since I was six years old. And I really got into it from my brother, Strattman. He played every sports you can think of. And my dad had him waking up early. mornings, going to run the park, doing pushups, all type of stuff.

And I would just watch them and I'm like, I want to try it. I just always wanted to try it because I could tell like how happy it made my dad to see my brother doing when he was doing. Oh, that's cute. And I remember just a funny story. I used to go to church every Sunday. My mom would go to church every Sunday. I'll have my Sunday dress on.

And my brother was outside playing with his friends. When I got back home, I'm like, I went out there and I just shot the ball. And my brother was like, hold on, like, do that again. And then I end up doing it again. And it was like, every since then I fell in love with the game of basketball, just from being able to see my brother do it. And then just finally trying to pick up a ball and see what I can do with it. So, yeah, at six years old, that's when I started.

That's when you made the shot when you were six? I was probably like six or seven. Damn, that's crazy. Still, either way. Yeah, I was super young. I'd be afraid of you. I'd be like, okay, baby, genius. No, relax.

It's crazy because a lot of them. the boys like they would look at me like yes she can't play basketball and then I get out there and I just do them bad oh man it just seems to be so funny you're just hustling people always I'm such a girl you want to play against me right oh I love that that makes me that really activates my pray drive thinking about men getting shown up like that all the time and not only that but I play football too okay what you played football I was quarterback wire receiver running back I literally played it all My jersey got retired and everything. Hung in the rafters.

Yeah, it was just something like. Slight work. No big deal. But, yeah, so I got my first college offer in the seventh grade by Eastern Michigan. And I was playing football still at the time. EMU, that's the green and white team. Yeah. For some reason, I thought football was going to be like what I was going to do until I got older.

And I started developing as a woman a little bit. And my dad's like, you're getting offers. in basketball. You're not in football. So which one do you want to do? He's like, let's lock in, all right? Let's focus up. Yeah, so I locked in. And I, from the seventh grade on, I took basketball 100% serious. I gave my all to it. And I received about 55 college offers around there. Wow. Had to get it down to a top five. And South Carolina was in my top five and got it to a top three and then made my decision. Did you do like the commitment day where you like put on the hat?

Yeah, I did. Oh, period. I love those videos. I never did one of those. But I love those videos when they're like, it's a big surprise to everyone. Yeah. Was your, are you from? Where are you from? I'm from Toledo, Ohio, originally. Oh, okay. So was your family sad that you were leaving going away, or they were excited to come

watch you play? Well, they tricked me, first of all, because I'm a daddy's girl and a mommy's girl. Yeah. I was going to seem to be close to your family. I am very close. My decision didn't matter to me because I thought that they were going to come wherever I decided to go. Oh, really?

And they tricked me. They just did that so that I would actually go. where I wanted to go. Instead of like actually. Locally. Yeah. So they didn't move with me. So I was probably more sad than they were because they planted all along.

They were telling you, yeah, we'll move. Yeah. The whole time never came. That's honestly really smart to like just lie to you and tell you, I'll meet you there. Yep. I'm looking at houses now. Never did. They didn't go crazy.

But they were always there though. So it felt like they lived there. Yeah, I'm sure. And then being a college athlete that's like your whole life is just playing your sport. So how was it playing in college? college. Like, did you notice a difference and, like, you know, intensity or anything like that? I think for sure. The pace was something that was a lot different. And the pace from the, from college to the W is different. I think that's the number one thing that changes when you're

elevating and when you're playing basketball. But also, like, the mental part of the game, it didn't really click for me until I got to college. Like, understanding you got to be mentally strong. Like, I didn't even get that until I got to college and I was, feeling myself had different emotions, things weren't going my way, and it was the first time that it's ever happened to me. So it was something that I just had to deal with. Interesting. Yeah, and I think too, like even the mental part probably plays a huge role when you go from college to the W too. For sure. Because then you're adding in all of this, like, visibility too now, especially if you do really well in college, which I know you did. But it's like

when you garner all this attention, that was going to be my next question is like, how has social media played a factor in you know especially now that the w nba is having such a like renaissance right now like everyone loves women's basketball now which is great took them a while but it's great we're here took the scenic route but everybody arrived at the same destination love that yeah um so how has that been like now that you're at the sparks now you kind of went to the next level like as the exposure changed the experience is it completely different now that you kind of have to be two different people like have to be like a social person and social media person but then also an athlete yeah i think well

I'll say that college kind of gave me a head start for that because of NIL. Yeah, that's true. My first year, I think the first year NIL started was my junior year. So I got two years that understanding the business of things and being able to make money and understanding that my brand is super important. Yeah. So I got a very good head start with NIL. And that's what kind of helped me when I got to the W was just like just the same for me, really.

Just understanding that I have to be a businesswoman, understanding my family. instances and how to take care of my money, understanding what to say yes to, what to say no to. Yeah, totally. So I was happy that I was able to experience NIA before I got to the W. Yeah, that's how, oh, that's such a good point. And it's, and it gave you a lot of, first of all, it gives you what your due, which is like money for your compensation for your time and being an athlete. But then also, yeah, that's so true.

It gives you a lot more perspective on when you, like, transition into a full-time athlete. Of course. And not just, like, a student athlete. How has the attention on women's basketball been? like obviously you've been playing basketball your whole life so you've known how fucking awesome women's basketball is but now this it's really brought in this new wave of fans this past year so what's that been like now that you've been playing it for so long so you're probably i'm sure strange to see yeah it's just discover it's super dope to see i think yeah and i'll say like i was

it's it's kind of weird because i feel like i kind of grew up in the era where social media was just becoming a thing like we started having overtime yeah all his life she hoops like it was just all these different type of platforms that players were starting to get recognized on and that was like highlighting them that didn't really happen to like the end of my junior year till my senior year and that's how I kind of became who I am yeah because of the things that were captured yeah then when you get to the to college we it was kind of slow until nil came and then nile brought it up and then these new waves of girls that just got in the w angel reese uh kately Clark they are definitely leading the way I think and just showing what women's basketball is cable

above yeah and I bet it's like I've talked about this with my other friends who are female athletes too it's like it's very cool and it's also really annoying because then you have people being like oh my god did you guys know that there's a professional women's league in basketball yeah yeah a lot of us have known for a while and I think what I think is wonderful about it is now women's basketball players are just as much attention, like media attention as men's basketball players, which has been a thing forever. They're popular forever. And now we just got to, we got to keep moving forward, keep pushing up. And I think we're on the rise. Honestly, I've been in restaurants. Literally anywhere I go, I see women's basketball on the TV or I might see it on the screen somewhere.

And it's just like, well, sometimes I look at it. I'm like, wow, like, we're on TV. Every time I go somewhere, I hear about women's basketball. And it's just showing that we're on the rise. Absolutely. And I'm curious, like, what has it been like as far as, like, dealing with hate? Because obviously, you deal with, like, oh, my gosh. Actually, this is the first question I want to ask you. How many men have challenged you to, like, one on once? They're like, oh, well, if you just, like, if I, give me a couple hours, we just warm up a little bit. And I'm sure that's happened to you, like, your whole life. That's like, the challenges. The challenges. And then that's just kind of how men try to, like, get on with you, I think. Yeah, yeah. Like, they're trying to relate, but then they take it a little too. Yeah, they take it a little too serious and they try to do the whole loving basketball thing and it's like, yo, like, come on, be serious. No, I'm playing for real. Play for real.

Yeah. Play for real. Play for real. Like, I really want to show you that you can't guard me. Put the flirting aside. Oh, my ick that crossed through my veins just not thinking about men like play flirting. Yeah, like, oh my God. Shirts versus skins, you and me.

Yeah. I'm curious on, I was curious on, on social media because now because because women's basketball as well as so forefront in a lot of ways. Obviously, that gives a lot of men license to be like, well, it's still not as interesting as, like, I've fought men on TikTok many times who talk about female athletes. And recently I made one about WNBA players because they say the most head-ass shit. Like the shit they say, which is like, well, I mean, if I was in high school,

I could have beat, I could beat a WNBA team. And I'm like, okay, but you're 30. Yeah, like, you sell insurance, so I doubt it. Right. So I don't believe you, I guess. But I'm curious if you have to deal with that, especially getting featured on all of those different platforms. Like, W-S-L-A-M follows me,

and, like, they feature a lot of women's basketball players. Or even when Bleacher Report, like, post-basketball players, if they ever post-female athletes, there's always men in there. Always. One thing about me is I'm good of just ignoring people. Yeah. I do really well like that. I don't really...

I'm understanding that trolling is a thing now. Like that's what people like get happy about and that's who they are. So it's like to keep myself sane, I just read it, laugh at it, move on. Yeah, because that's all you can do. Yeah. Well, and I also think too whenever men say shit like that, like they're like, well, if I, you know, I could be the best basketball. Like there was one guy that got really mad at me when I made a video defending WNBA players. And when he started the video, he was like, well, first off, I'm 5'4.

Stop right there. stop right there sir I don't take you seriously you can't yeah I don't I don't take you seriously I immediately stop listening as soon as he said that because his whole thing was he beats people at at the gym all the time so he could easily

so he's like a YMCA basketball yeah yeah he's a pickup basketball guy you know you're like just loiters around the court like you guys you guys try to play he has no friends of his own he's just glomming onto other groups sometimes can't do it and I also think when it comes to athletes

like yourself and men running their fucking mouth, I always think like, you're at home, like, to that man. You're at fucking home watching her on TV. If you really, like, I always think, well, if I didn't get hurt, I just always think, what's stopping you now? Right. Go, go try to make the NBA right now, buddy. See how that works out. Right. Exactly. He's like, it's just opportunity. Okay, well, go. Like, I'm sure they have trials. Right. Literally. And I feel like for female athletes, they have to like constantly they can never I guess this is like a different kind of question but female athletes especially also have to keep a certain level of decorum about them so even when people are being really misogynistic in interviews or postgame pressers they have to be really

nice about dealing with it yeah which I I don't agree with yeah honestly men aren't like NBA players don't give a fuck like they're they're very honest and I think that's something that's kind of changing as well like we're able to be who we are say how we feel um i just got to give props to angel reese like i feel like she's one of the ones that yeah she stood on who she was and it was just like it's either you can accept it or you're not going to accept it but i'm a ball and do what i need to do regardless yeah so i think that's just like the mindset that some of the wmba players are starting to have and she's helped people just show who they are and believe in themselves really absolutely and they do not hold male athletes to that same standard yeah they never do they let them act however they want

like well they're just a passionate player yeah and then when women do it they're like oh look how fucking unreasonable she is yeah like it's crazy they start judging her as a person and not as an athlete exactly you know what I mean which I fucking hate yeah I hate that shit but I'm also I'm grateful for I'm grateful that everybody's paying attention to it now yeah but I hate that that also comes with it yeah so I'm sure you feel the same way I do especially having played as long as you have like again it's like I feel like athletes like yourself are like I'm just going to keep playing yeah you can keep doing this yeah I'm just going to keep playing yeah that's that's the Literally.

I'm going to keep playing the game. But speaking up, we're going to talk about our topic for today, which is terrible men on the internet who reject the validity of female professional athletes and don't believe they should be treated equally in sports, which we've already talked about is fucking really makes me angry. It irritates the hell enemy because men have this very strange blind confidence, especially about sports. And I was like, the amount of men who make it.

professionally is the same as women, which is very small. Right. And like they're not in that percentage. And all of a sudden they're like, well, I could probably beat women. Right. You're all, fuck 50. Fuck me. What I do.

This is crazy. Okay. So in this first video, in this video, a man plays a WNBA player 1V1. He doesn't say the name of the player, her team or tag her anywhere. So can't verify who it is. But he scores a ton of baskets on her in the clip shown and brags that he wasn't even trying that hard. And I was like, okay.

So he's just playing a woman in basketball and basically bragging. And saying she's a WNBA player but won't say who it is. So I'm like, is her back just to the camera the whole time? Right. And so the comments on this, like this one says, please explain to me how gender equality is even possible. Leave it to women to lie to themselves for every single thing in life. I'm assuming he's saying like women could never play against men.

Yeah, that's crazy. But the fact that I just don't understand, why men like get so excited when they when they beat women like honestly that's what you're supposed like like but isn't that like kind of your guys's thing yeah like you're better than i said everything like that's what y'all say so it's like why are you even talking about the fact i don't believe you that that woman was a w-nb player yeah me either i think that was that's trolling like you see how it is this trolling thing is crazy yeah it's truly it's like a fake video but i also think they in no reason reality like the video that I made was stitching this podcast with these two guys and they said do you think that the best high school basketball team like men's basketball team could be the best w nba team that was the fucking that's so disrespectful to which exactly to which i say uh no i don't think that a high school team could be the w nb NBA team that's

I saw something like that yeah I was like but two like what are these fake fucking questions like we're just making up hypotheticals like yeah That's why I'm like you like the men who say that shit. I'm like you couldn't even make varsity in high school. So what the fuck are we talking about? Are you the guy to ask? Like who's the best basketball player in the world? Yeah. I think it's so and so.

And I always say too that professional men's basketball players don't talk shit on WNBA players like that. Yeah. At least not publicly. If they ever do, you never see it. No, they don't. I think because they understand like the talent that we have. It's like real, recognized real. Yeah.

So like they respect an athlete and she is an athlete. So like, that's how I'm like, all of these women that you talk shit on have been endorsed by the men that they worship. So I don't understand. Like, where's the disconnect coming in? Like, the men that you worship and get on your knees for love these women and think they're remarkable athletes. So what the fuck are we arguing about it? It's crazy. Hey, what are we talking about?

That's why I asked how many men have challenged you. They're like, well, there's been a lot. She's never caught me at the L.A. fitness. Right. How are we to know? That's definitely going to be one of the comments. Like, all right. I told someone once, I remember seeing a thread like years ago from a famous women's basketball

player. And she's retired. She was retired then. I forget her name. But she was, did this whole thread basically saying like why she never accepts one-on-one challenges anymore or she stopped a while into her career. And she said, because I realized, like, I don't have anything to prove to these guys. Right.

And then when you start beating them, what ends up happening is they start. start fouling you and like hurting you on purpose. Then I realized I was like jeopardizing my career by trying to like prove myself to these men who could never make it in a million years. Literally. No matter with all the help in the world, they could never make it because God hates them. So that's why they're not players. So like that's why they don't have that life because they weren't blessed with that.

And so I every time I see men talk shit, that's what I think about. It's how women are like, I'm not proving myself to you. And that's something that I had to like learn going back. to my hometown and I would go to the YMCA because that's just where I grew up playing and I started noticing like some of them were playing like it was scouts in the room and it's just like hold on wait a minute like wait a minute what's going on here like it definitely they get the dunking on you I'm like roll like what are you calm down I'm just going to go that and you know what's crazy is I thought too when I talked about it with my boyfriend because

my boyfriend played college football but then he didn't want to play in the pros like he's like hey i'm done i give up i don't want to this anymore yeah and so he had scholarships and everything too and so he's like i just always think like men who play like that just never had like they just never felt that what it feels like to be the best no that's that's definitely too i think it probably just gives me a little bit of a boost of like adrenaline confidence maybe yeah i don't know he's like i actually saw zai at the y and i dunked on her you guys know her you know her yeah like It's crazy. You're like, okay, and I actually get paid to play this sport.

Right. You work at AutoZone. Right. Literally. It's not really the same. Not the same. But that's what I think is funny. Like, what's been my experience, like, with the female athletes I have, like,

befriended in this industry and everything, is all of you are so, like, whatever, dude. Yeah. Like, if that makes you feel good about yourself, sure. Like, the way that they're like, I could beat you. Okay. Yeah. Literally. Sure.

Like, that's why I said, what's stopping you? go audition. Yeah, literally. And audition, try out. This next comment says, most average male rec players would scorch most WNBA players. No. They would what?

They would scorch. What does that mean? Beat severely. Scorch. Okay. Scorch. I think a white guy wrote that. It had to be.

Scorch. Most WNBA players. No? No. The answer to your question is, no, they wouldn't. most I feel like they think WNBA players are this big no yeah and that's where they're like they're all 5-2 and petite that's what they literally think they think that they have to at this point

and that's what they're gonna tell you it's so wrong funny to see you guys are so wrong you know what's crazy is if anything they're more talented because a lot of WNB players are also serving face they have like like they look gorgeous on top of being an athlete of course I don't do that yeah they look ugly while they play they don't care about that this next one says no offense but that's kind of why that's why men get paid

more not saying they're better but because of the attraction of flashy dunks and consistency consistency that's actually not why men get paid more yeah like that's actually not true they play more games and have more visibility that's why they get paid more yeah some people don't know that though but i'm just stupid bitch so what would i know i'm a stupid woman when i made that video i got so much hate from so many men who are under 5-8 and all every single one of them was like well who the fuck are you to comment on players and I always say I'm just as qualified as you

not at all literally you don't see me saying I could be Zaya like I'm not saying that shit I'm not walking around being like yeah let me see Caitlin Clark on the on the fuck in the paint I'll get her in the fucking paint I would never do that yeah because I am not shit compared to her in basketball hello isn't that the whole fucking point I'm just as qualified as you buddy not at all okay this next

video in this video WNBA player Kelsey Plum is being interviewed she explains that there is a common misconception with the WNBA versus NBA athletes and pay she says that they're not asking to make as much money as someone like LeBron does they're asking to get

paid the same percentage of revenue for example they sell her jersey at Mandalay Bay and she doesn't get any money from that that's crazy crazy that's fucking nuts I did not know that crazy just say and then these comments are fucking awful this one says just saying she's making more than the middle class for a dream job like stop complaining it's just you never

win do you like they're like oh guess what men get paid more yeah i would like us to get paid in equal revenue shares now you're complaining complaining about getting paid for your job nice it's crazy women are just but what i do love is that we all speak up for what we believe in and even it's crazy because when i got in the w i didn't even realize like how much time and effort the the W actually puts into getting us what we deserve. I'm like, man, the W, what's going on? Like, do they not care? And then when I got to the league and I saw how many people were pushing for it,

all the players that was pushing for it, I kind of felt bad that I was even feeling the way I felt about the W. And now that I'm seeing the way that it's getting better and better and it's increasing, it's just like, it's just timing. Like, this is the timing for it to all happen. I mean, as women, I just told someone, like, we're going to always get it hard, but we can handle it. I personally don't think men can handle what we go through.

Honestly, I don't think they would be able to handle the things that women have to go through. No, absolutely not. This is the cards we were dealt, but we're on the rise for sure. Yeah, and still doing it. Like, still fucking showing up, still coming and giving your hardest, like giving 100% every single fucking time. Still talking about how much it matters, still talking about women. That's another thing, too, that I love that you don't see in any male professional leagues,

which is like the camaraderie, like how everyone's kind of sticking together and uplifting each other. Even when they try really hard to pit women against each other, like female athletes, they're like, I'm not going to sit here and talk shit on her with you. Like they're trying to make girls gossip about each other and shit.

It's not a thing. And it's like I'm a player, she's a great player, so am I. Like the fact that they give each other kudos, even if you're not on the same teams. Always. From different schools. Because if we have no one else,

we only have each other. And I think that's what the whole WMBA is. Like we're all the family. Totally. A total family. And even when we have altercations, one team just going back and forth for a player-on-player. And that's just competitive. Yeah.

When we get in the, for media, when we get to the media room, they ask questions, and we keep it 100% respectful. Yeah. We just have a few words. She's a great player. It's like, it's never, I hate her. And she's never personal. Because we know that we're all just competitors. And you're all athletes.

Yeah. Like that's what makes sports fun is that they're competitive. and they have a competitive edge to them. But that's what I mean when they say they're like, whenever if people like, they kind of like, it gets a little heated, like on the court, they're like, oh, do you guys hate each other now?

Do you guys ask LeBron that? Of course you fucking don't. You know what I mean? You never ask him that shit because you know it's just them playing against, it's just the natural nature of the game. Exactly. Everyone's feeling some type of way

because everyone wants to win. That's a good thing. But I love when I see interviews with so many different WNBA players that are like, It's just uplifting to everyone. Like, we all have each other. I have her back.

She has mine. Because we're all athletes. And if they, and honestly, that's what they want. Yeah. They want to turn everyone against each other. They want to turn women against each other. Not here. Yeah.

Sure. Not here. This one says, how many WNBA jerseys do you have? What channel do they plan? Because I don't, I didn't even know they were on TV. I thought they were just on TV. TooV is crazy. That's kind of a funny joke, but.

To be is crazy. They took their time with that joke. They took their time. That's kind of a funny joke, but fuck you still. How many WMBA jerseys do you have? Well, shit, I don't know. I would say, you know what's funny is

like clearly someone's buying them because they're in Mandalay Bay. How many jerseys have you sold, buddy? Oh, you don't have one. Bummer. Yeah, see? Was your family really excited to get a jersey with your name on it? Yes.

My whole entire family. The city of Toledo, too, like, they all went and brought my jersey. Really? Yeah, so. Oh, my gosh. How exciting. Super exciting. I was going to say, what's the coolest part since, like, going to the W and everything?

Like, what's been the coolest part for you? That's a good one. I think the coolest part is just probably playing against some of the greats. Yeah. And having an opportunity to learn from some of the greats. Yeah. That's something that I love. Like, I grew up watching Kelsey Mitchell when she went to Ohio.

State. Yeah. And to be able to play against her was crazy to me. Oh my gosh, like surreal probably. Yeah, playing against her Riquet, uh, DT, Britney Griner, like getting an opportunity to step in front of her and her telling me that I had a good game. It was like all those type of moments is the ones that I cherish the most just because

I grew up watching these women and to be able to share the floor with them is something that I'll forever be grateful for. That's so fucking cool. Yeah. And also, too, on top of that, even. WNBA players, like they talk about their favorite, like NBA players too. Like they're like, oh, I loved watching, you know, KD, I loved watching Steph Curry. I loved watching.

Like, they all say that. And then the NBA players say the same thing about WNBA players. And none of those men are being assholes about that shit. Yeah. Like, none of them are like, oh, eight women. I could beat them. They show so much love. Like a lot of, the NBA players, they even invest in the W.

I know. Yeah. Magic Johnson owns the LA Sparks. Like that's someone that's retired from the NBA, but he's poured into it. So I think that the love has always been there from the NBA. And it's like a brother and a sisterhood. Yeah, absolutely. This is Euphoria Calvin Klein, the new elixir collection featuring three perfume intense scents,

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piss me off. Yeah. This one says, this equal rights movement has gotten out of control, L. well, all right. Blah, blah, blah,

fucking blah. It's literally just unsurprising. It's like never surprising. It's like, that's the most consistent thing is men being a fucking hater. It's crazy. Yeah. Well,

I was going to say, what is the craziest thing that's happened to you since, like, becoming a person outside of your sport? Because obviously now, like, people are separating you as, like, they're just seeing you as a celebrity,

celebrity now and on top of being athletes the craziest thing that's happened to me like it could be with an encounter with like a famous person maybe a favorite athlete oh I feel like I'm not gonna say the craziest one I'm gonna think about it when I leave like dang I should have said that oh you're fun ah I always like to ask when people start because this industry is kooky puts you in the room I mean it's tough the first one that came to my mind and it's probably way more that I can say but when we played against Vegas Floyd Mayweather was like sitting Corside and I went up to him like Floyd

like what's up like I'm your biggest fan and Floyd Mayweather is a boxer that I've always looked up to and watched and just saw the way he was as a businessman and it just was like he was somebody that you know they'll say like if you had to go eat dinner with someone who would be I would be like Floyd Mayweather so to have the opportunity to meet him was pretty cool, but I know there's so many more but that's just the first thing. Also to sit court side

too at a... Yeah, he was just sitting courtside like, chilling. I'm like, I look over. I'm like, boy, let's take a picture after the game. I think it's really fun when you see celebrities that you never would have thought are like really into the WNBA. Yeah. Like, Dase, who's the one? The white guy. The actor

who loves the WMBA? Is it Jason Sudey? Jason Sudecas. What's a movie he was in? Yeah, I'm probably not going to know. Ted Lassau. We're the Millers. We've ever seen that?

He's the main guy. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. The regular guy. Yeah, he loves the WMIA. Yeah, there's so many people that do. He goes to every, he has like season passes. He goes to every game. And Michael B. Jordan, too.

He was supposed to come to a game, but he has not come yet, so. He's trying to get wiped up. He's trying to get wiped up. He's trying to get wiped up by one of the sparks. He hasn't, like, came yet. I don't know what's taking him so long. What are you so afraid of Michael B. Jordan? Come on.

Okay, just to wrap things up, I'll ask you a final question, but what would you say is your best piece of advice for any young female athletes that maybe are like looking to play or maybe they're playing now or they want to play and they are like seeing this like Renaissance, the love for WMA? Like what would you say is your best piece of advice for them if they're coming up? I think my best piece of advice, it would be so much that I would say. But just to keep it short, I would start by just saying like really, really. really pay attention to the people that you allow to be in your life, especially if you're really good at this sport or you're seeing that you're becoming really good. It's going to be so many people that are going to come and say, I can help her with this. I can do this for her. I can be here and do this for her. And then, hey, big head. You know what I'm saying? Like, it can just be,

they can get in a way of the success that you really deserve. Totally. So the one thing with me is is my dad was my go-to with everything. So falling on to the people that you know, love you and care about you and want to see you be successful. Stick with them the longest and let them help you figure out who else deserves to be in your circle. And then I would just say like make sure you're working extremely hard. Yeah. Like extremely hard. And with NIL being what it is now, it can sometimes make you lose focus on the school part of things. So it's like, make sure you take that serious too because the ball will stop bouncing at some point and you want to be able to go back to whatever you got that degree in. Yeah. Things like that.

And then just enjoying a moment. Have fun with the game. Like you want to make it seem less like a job for as long as you can. Because once it becomes a job for you, it's a job. And it's nothing that you can do to change that. And then lastly, I would just say, stay mentally strong. Make sure that you stay mentally strong and understand that you will have highs and lows and things like that. But I can really keep going because there's so much that I've been through that I've,

that I would love to just help people with. But that's some of the things I would say. Yeah, I would love to add, too, that like, when I was in college, I majored in journalism, so I worked with athletes a lot. So I did a lot of sports stuff. And I will say female athletes in college statistically always do very, very, very well. Yeah, we do. They statistically do very well.

They never have problems. They never fail. They never know. Like, they're always, and a lot of times, female athletes are double majors, too. Or they take way too many classes on top of playing. their sport. I have to say as a student athlete, I don't know how you can fail. You have so many resources. Okay. You know what? I've said that forever. You have so many resources. There's no way to fail. Yeah, for the most part, they give you all your classes,

all your books, they give you tutors. It's like, how do you fail? They literally build your schedule all for you. You should literally be an honor student. I swear, like, it's no reason. And honestly, most times, most times female athletes are honor students on top of being. athletes. And male athletes don't have that. They struggle with that. Yeah. They do. And you know how I know? Because I was a tutor in college for male athletes. Really? I know that was hard. I had to train athletes. I tutored athletes in general, but I never tutored women ever. Did you give them the answers? No, I didn't. Oh, good. I'm a really mean tutor. Oh, that's, I don't know if I was. It's like when your dad's being mean to you when you're trying to do math homework. Yeah. You don't give the answers.

I was like, what do you mean? You don't get it. Try it. Erase it. Erase it. Start over. I'd have to help them, like, write stuff more than anything. Yeah. This is shocking, but when I was in college, I worked in the athletics department office, and I was, like, the first job I ever had, I was, like, a stat girl, so I was just, like, making fucking copies all the time. And there was, you know, like, in college, when you do your bios, they'll give you, like, little papers to, like, fill out.

So they're like, what's your favorite food? Like, if there's fun facts. But more than anything, it's just your stats and, like, where you're from. Yeah. So there was a part, a section on the mail. athlete one that said like tell us a little bit about yourself and it said like write a fun fact or something so they could put it in your little bio the the shit that men wrote unbelievable I was looking through my photos and I literally like I took pictures of some of them because I was just shocked like

yeah I don't know the ones that women wrote were so thoughtful they thought it out funny sweet eloquent like they're just like oh I really love knitting and I love listening to frank ocean like it was like shit like that it's like something silly it literally could be half a sentence yeah some men would write like one guy wrote a whole paragraph basically saying he doesn't like to talk about himself because he's humble he's like I'm actually really not like that no disrespect he literally wrote that out whoa no disrespect I'm actually very humble athlete unlike other athletes no disrespect like wrote that like four or five times oh wow one guy wrote I like kung fu okay like to watch or to like engage like they would have to ask them like do you like do kung fu right do you

like just he just goes I just like it okay well then the women's ones were like I really love my family and I love doing charity like this literally like these like really thoughtful sweet well-written answers and everything men wrote was like I like chicken it's like some guy some guy wrote I just like the color yellow oh man okay but he also spelled yellow wrong oh and that's not a joke I wish I was kidding I'm not and all these men are in their 20s hey hello I'm 17 in the office making hobbies. Me being judgmental at 17. What would you say, oh wait, I want to ask you more questions. Sorry, I'm like rambling. What would you say is your like most memorable moment as an athlete? Like whether it's like a game you won, championship or anything like that.

That's easy. I think my most memorable moment was this is how like I became Zaya Cook, I think. When I was my senior year, I had like one of the best games in my career and I kind of like crossed this girl. I pointed at her and then I did like this crazy lay. Yeah. And that moment was crazy because it's like when people say like my life changed overnight, that was like one of those life changing. Because it was clipped and everywhere. Yeah. It was put everywhere.

My following went crazy. And I can just only imagine if like NIA was then. Oh my God. It would have been crazy. Yeah, that would have been crazy for me then. I swear. But I think that was one of the great, very good memory for me. But I got a lot like.

like winning my first national championship was amazing. Getting drafted, that was just like a whole, whole dream come true. Like, even when I still think about that moment, like, I still tear up sometimes. Really? Because it's just like. It's just all these years you've been building. Man, worked extremely hard to do it. Especially for your parents there with you?

Yes, I had my whole family there. It was probably like 100 of us. Really? Everybody, they were waiting on me. We got a hall and everybody was there waiting on me. It was just a crazy experience. But it went perfect. Like my draft night, I have no complaints.

It literally went exactly how I wanted to do. But you got to do it in your own. Like, were you at home when you did your, when you got drafted? Were you like in your hometown or were you in? No, I was in New York. So, yeah, that's where we got drafted. That's what the draft is at. Oh, I love.

I was only allowed to have four people, I think, at the draft sitting with me at the table. Gotcha. And then the rest of my family, they were just at a hall and was waiting for me to get there. Oh, that's so sweet. Yeah, it was crazy. But, yeah. That's really fucking cool. Do you think your dad's proud?

Oh, my God. My dad is, if you know my dad, you know, he is beyond proud of me. Like, I'm his baby. Are you the youngest? Yes, I am. I have one older sibling. Just your brother, yeah. Yeah, just my brother.

Love. But yeah, no, my mom and dad both are very, very proud. You can see it literally when they look at me. You can tell. And wearing your jerseys. Yes, of course. That makes me want to tear up. That's so sweet.

Okay, we'll just, we'll wrap really quickly. But what would you say? Just like, what are some parting wisdom you want to give any young athlete? I know you already gave your advice, but, like, maybe just one last piece. I would just say, be who you are. I would just say that. Take time to find out who you are first because you're going to go through so many different stages of your life. And you're going to think you know yourself.

You're not going to know yourself. And the order you get, you'll start to find exactly who you are. So I would just say be who you are, but then understand that you will change. that time throughout your life you're going to change and be okay with accepting that and and um just being able to hold yourself accountable to where you where you should get better at as a person um things like that so that's something i would say period love thank you so much for coming on the show yes you're incredible an icon a legend thank you all for watching and tuning in where can everybody find you you guys can find me at z dot loading i'm pretty sure z dot loading underscore on every social media

platform. Perfect. So yes. And we'll write it underneath you so it's nice and people can see it easy. And make sure y'all go watch Zaya play. Yes, L.A. Sparks number one. Period. Love that. Thank you so much for joining us on this episode. Thank you so much to my amazing guest to Zaya. Don't forget new episodes of the comment section drop every Wednesday.

You can stream the audio on all streaming platforms or you can watch the video for free and exclusively on Spotify. So make sure y'all go follow Zaya. Make sure you all watch the WNBA, period. Go watch female athletes. Yes. And thank you so much for us and I'll see you next week. Bye.