The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Good Follow - Fighting in the WNBA, Mercury Move to 3rd + Skylar Diggins Praises Nneka Ogwumike & More

Episode Date: June 25, 2025

This week on Good Follow: Ros & Logan react to Sophie Cunningham’s fight with Jacy Sheldon, determine if the Phoenix Mercury are overachieving, discuss Skylar Diggins calling Nneka Ogwumike the most disrespected MVP of the league, and decide if the Liberty bench is deep enough to withstand the injury bug. Finally, Logan shares her WNBA pick of the week presented by DraftKings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by Dazon. For the first time ever, the 32 best soccer clubs from across the world are coming together to decide who the undisputed champions of the world are in the FIFA Club World Cup. The world's best players, Messi, Holland, Kane and more are all taking part. And you can watch every match for free on Dazon, starting on June 14th and running until July 13th. Sign up now at dazonone.com slash fifa. That's d-a-z-n dot com slash fifa. Get to Toronto's main venues like Budweiser Stage and the new Roger Stadium with Go Transit. Thanks to Go Transit's special online e-ticket fares, a $10 one-day weekend pass offers unlimited

travel on any weekend day or holiday, anywhere along the Go network. And the Weekday Group Passes offer the same weekday travel flexibility across the network, starting at $30 for two people and up to $60 for a group of five. Buy your online Go Pass ahead of the show at Gotransit.com slash tickets. You're listening to Draft Kings Network. Hey, what's up y'all? Welcome to Good Followed, presented by DraftKings. I'm Roz Golden-Wade. That's my girl Logan Hackett.

And I think that we switched places, Logan, because I was just in France. Now I made it back to New York at our New York studios here. And you're in France now, right? What's going on? Yes, I am actually here with Nike for something that is absolutely insane. Faith Capiagon, an Olympic runner and world record holder, she is going for the four minute mile or under the four minute mile. So she's trying to become the first woman to go under four minutes.

I think 359 is what they're aiming for. I think she could go a little less, but she's doing it in the big stadium, the big track stadium that they had the Olympics at and it is a huge deal. What Logan and Nike invited you out there to be a part of covering it? Yes, they did. I am so incredibly thankful. And in the meantime, while Logan's doing historic things out in France, we're going to keep it local here because we got a great show for you focusing on a lot of women's topics, certainly around the WNBA. Let's get to our show menu and topics.

The girls, they were fighting and Indiana Fever's Sophie Cunningham. Her popularity has soared since then. Is she a hero or a heel? And how are Alyssa Thomas and those Phoenix Mercury? How are they managing to be third in the standings? I've got some answers. Put some respect on Nneka's name. And how are Alyssa Thomas and those Phoenix Mercury, how are they managing to be third in the standings? I've got some answers. Put some respect on NECA's name. Say it again Skyler Diggins, that's enough. Enough is enough. Geez. And then the Liberty, they've hit an injury bug. And that depth that

I spent so much time highlighting for you, it is certainly being tested. Also reminder, we are now dropping two new episodes a week, one on Tuesday and one on Thursday. So make sure to tap in and subscribe, comment, like, and as always, thank you all so much for following us. But are you ready to get into it because we have a good show? Let's do it. Let's do it. So Sophie Cunningham has been the talk of the WNBA. Honestly, I was at the airport and they were swabbing my vag. I got kind of like randomly tested and the guy brought her up. He was Sophie Cunningham has been the talk of the WNBA. Honestly, I was at the airport and they were swabbing my vag. I got kind of like randomly tested

and the guy brought her up. He was like, I saw a girl named Sophie with Kaitlyn Clark the other day. And I was like, wow, it's actually crazy. How wide stream it got. I never would have expected those words out of his mouth. Actually, actually hilarious because I was in Cannes during all of this, right?

And so like, this is a huge marketing advertising festival, Cannes Lines. And word was starting to buzz there. I feel like I was talking with Gary Vee or Draymond Green or various people out there. And the CMO of such brand. And they were like, they fighting? What's going on? And they were like, this is crazy. I was like, I literally went to France and the WNBA exploded.

And so it was crazy. So crazy. And actually, Sophie's social media has exploded. Her TikTok went from 300k to 1 million followers, and her jersey is now sold out. Now, in this scuffle, no players were suspended. But Sophie did have to pay a $400 fine for her flagrant foul

against Jacey Sheldon in the last 46 seconds. But my question to you, Roz, is was the fine worth the new popularity that she now has? I have $400 for you right now. For anyone who can get my social media following up 700,000 subscribers or followers. I have $400 right now. Hell yeah, it was worth it. It's it. First of all, it also comes with a little bit of lore and notoriety,

and there's a toughness edge to it. There's there's a lot of sports storytelling that goes into that, that you can't you can't manufacture that artificially. Like this is one of those moments where like sometimes you just gotta be in it and it comes. Now, regarding the foul itself, the Sophie Cunningham foul, as an athlete, I'm gonna just, I've been an athlete the majority of my life. I'm gonna keep that hat on in this answer.

And the way I came up is that you had your teammates back. You hit one of my teammates, you hit our star player, you were gonna feel that. You weren one of my teammates, you hit our star player, you were gonna feel that. You weren't just gonna get away from it. Get away, you might catch an elbow or a hard foul at one point in the game. And look, back in the day for me, it was Stanford University,

whether it was Candace Wiggins, whether it was Nneka Agumike to my teammates. Look, people are crying over Nneka Agumike right now as we speak. Skylar Diggins, did you see her last interview? She was on the stage crying behind Nneka. And I felt that in my soul. I felt it in my soul as someone who knows Nneka.

I'm a grown woman and an adult. I don't even play on a basketball team anymore. I'm ready to fight right now for Nneka Agumike. Like, don't play with her. So I feel like stepping up for your teammate, I feel the way I was raised is necessary, especially your star. And for the Indiana Fever, in the 2024 season,

and so far up until that moment right now in the 2025 season, until Sophie Cunningham did that, there just have been no repercussions for hitting on Kaitlyn. And I've always found that to be weird. Whether you, whose team you rock with or like if you are rooting for this team or if you feel like you know Caitlyn deserved or did blah blah blah if she's flopping if she's in the mix either way I've always found that this star player this

teammate that you do blood sweat and tears with um and also a generational talent you know everyone's worthy of protecting but but certainly that, that like beyond just kind of like coming in and like separating, there's just been no like, tough person to be like, you're not doing that here, right? And even there's been current athletes who have gone on their podcasts to kind of echo that sentiment, which I feel is pretty widely understood.

Like even on Stud Buds, we love Stud Buds, Courtney Williams and Natisha Hydeman, I was chuckling watching them talk about it because they were like, would you have my back? And they obviously felt like, yeah, of course I would. But Courtney Williams had me laughing because Courtney was like, first of all, they wouldn't even do that to me. Courtney was like, they know who to play with. They wouldn't even try that with me.

And that had me chuckling, you know, but ultimately, Sophie came into the season and publicly told us that she was going to have her teammates back. She that wasn't she wasn't going to allow that to happen. All of that tussling that happened to Caitlin in 2024. And so when the moment came, Sophie stood on business, you know, so, um, and she's always had a certain level of toughness around her. Now that Sophie's foul, like there's a difference between catching an elbow and,

or, you know, a hard foul in a half court set versus Sophie Cunningham grabbing a girl in the open court and dragging her down. It's, it's full stop. It's inappropriate. And whether it's dangerous is, you know, debatable, but there's a very and then you're like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like,

I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like,

I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm see people being protective, and I get it, okay? Let's revisit Marina Maybree's foul. So Marina Maybree makes a foul on Caitlin Clark. It's a non-basketball foul, like non-basketball play, possession's over, and she pushes her.

Now, whether Caitlin Clark flops or not, now that's debatable, but the imagery is dramatic, and she goes down, okay? Not only were no suspensions handed out, Marina got to stay in the game. Like, what? A player was pushed to the ground. You know, like, where are the refs, first of all, taking control?

Afterwards, in the aftermath of it, let's talk about coverage of it. People, she was seen having fun, playful coverage of it on TikTok, because she's over there, Millie rocking in her huddle and doing everything. And she's even saying, like, I don't give a F. And that was the kind of coverage that came out of it on TikTok because she's over there milly rocking in her huddle and doing everything. And she's even saying like, I don't give a F. And that was the kind of coverage that came out of it. Just to for comparison, Kennedy Carter last season

did a non-basketball push of Caitlin Clark, a non-basketball foul. And she was not afforded that level of grace. She did not get fun, playful TikTok coverage afterwards. She was very much made a villain out of that. And both Kennedy and Marina were non-remorseful about the foul afterwards. You know, both were, both have histories of skirmishes

on the court and talking trash and, you know, being controversial at times. So the coverage of it was different. And that can be shown, that can be compared. And that's where people get predictive. I'll give another example. DeGeneres Carrington has not been afforded that grace in the way that she's covered for her physical

and aggressive and active defense. She accidentally hit somebody in the eye and she was not afforded grace there. So I say all that to say like, I come from an old school era where like, you know, you have your teammates back, but I do understand and stand with the protectiveness around the way that that's covered and often the difference can be

just around, are we covering it? If that would happen to somebody who was a black player, are we covering it the same way? And have we in the past? And it actually has been very different. Yeah, that was one of my first thoughts with it. And I mean, I completely agree with everything you say. It's like in the NHL, you have your enforcers and the people, if your star

player gets hit, then you know that next fourth line player is coming on to hit the best player on the ice. So I absolutely love that. And Caitlin does need people to stick up for her. I mean there were times where she was on the ground other teams were having to like pull her back up but yeah that double standard is absolutely insane. But I want to move on to the Phoenix Mercury who I actually watched play the Sky on the weekend and it is very interesting to watch them play because something will be going on and you're thinking to yourself what just happened and then Sky had the ball and then next thing you know

Phoenix had it again it was like how the heck what is going on and that game was a crazy blowout but last season they finished in seventh place and in the offseason they lost huge names like DT, Brandi Grin and Natasha Cloud however they added their big three and that is Satya Savly, Kalia Klaper and Alyssa Thomas. And with that, they're now third in the league. It looks so good to me and they're also on a five game win streak. But do you think they're over achieving or are they exactly where they need to be?

You know, I think it is overachieving. Logan, you mentioned a big three. Kalia Klaper has barely played to start the season. She's played in three games so far. Like a casual to medium level fan might've even looked at that roster and said, okay, Kalia Klaper has been out for a lot of this. Satu Sabali, okay. Alyssa Thomas, all right.

And who? And look at that roster and been like, wait, who would arrest these players? Because they got a bunch of foreign players and non-traditional rookies that are really playing very well and within a system. You've got Monique Okoha-McConney, right? Started playing ball at the age of 11.

Like she's been playing over in France and Europe. Playing in the WNBA was a dream. Like her pro career was in Europe, but it worked out. You know, you look at Catherine Westbelt, okay? She's 29. She's a rookie this year in the WNBA, but she's been playing pro overseas. So it worked out that she found her way in now.

You know, you have Lexi Held, a rookie. You also have other active, hustling, defensive, disruptive player like that Laksa or Mack, who's blocking shots. You know, they're all buying into what coach Nate Tibbitt is selling, which is they've got this identity of being tough and physical and disruptive and, and just long and defensive. They are tied for number one in the league for steals.

And guess what? Guess what? They are tied for number one in the league for steals. And guess what, guess what? Who else's teams always have a reputation of being physical and tough and defensive? Alyssa Thomas's teams. No matter where she goes, that identity follows her. And so now look at this Phoenix Mercury team

that they're all about that identity. They're physical and tough. Hello, Alyssa Thomas. Again,'s again with Alyssa, you got to be watching because. Everything that they do, she's so integral to she's quarterbacking their offense, their defense. She's leading the league in assists again. Um, she is nearing a triple double and, and, you know, averages she has, she's filling that stat sheet.

She's doing a little bit of everything. Um, and she continues to be great and playing at a high level. And then you got Satu Saboli, right? I spoke with Satu who told me she likes playing for Nate Tibbets. She's really thankful to have the clean slate, um, you know, in a fresh start in Phoenix after all those years in Dallas. And honestly, she also told me she heard the disrespect. She heard the talking and in Michael Jordan terms, she said,

I took that personally. And so she's healthy right now, and she just wants to let her game do the talking. And I'm so thankful to have the chance to let her game do the talking. And I'll give one more shout out for that team to the veteran, Sammy Whitcomb. She's been playing great.

So, so good. And actually, going back to A.T., one thing that I've never noticed noticed even while watching on TV is how much she talks during the game. A. To her teammates, but B. She is talking trash all game, not only to the other team, but people who are sitting courtside as well. The cast of The Shy was sitting courtside. They were chirping throughout the whole entire

game and then afterwards she went and was like, take the L, take the L, but either chirping or a huge smile on her face. I absolutely loved to see it. And I was really analyzing their interactions with their coach, with Nate Tibbets, and it looked so good. Like I love where this team is right now. But you also mentioned NECA a few times and I know that she's your girl.

And we had a little moment following the storm Sunday night win over the Liberty. Skylar Diggins had an emotional postgame press conference and gave her flowers to NECA O'Gwameke. Let's hear what she had to say. I came here to play with NECA. What she does, you know, day in and day out, it's special. You shouldn't take it for granted.

Like, I love her. She's a champion. She's the most disrespected MVP in the history of our league. And every night she's breaking records. It's amazing what she's done. And we celebrate her every day. It's a blessing to be on this team with her. And, you know, she's the first Battle of Hall of Famer.

First of all, I do have to call out how good Skylar Diggins' arms look. They are absolutely ripped. That was the first thing I saw. But oh my gosh. Yeah, no, Sky be in that weight room. Like crazy. They are so toned and defined, but Roz, do you agree with Skylar on this? Wholeheartedly. Say it louder for the people in the back, Skylar. I mean, NECA is literally what excellence and consistency looks like combined

over the course of a career, go and check her stats. She has never shot below 50% in any of the 14 seasons that she's played. She has never averaged below 13 points per game. She's an excellent player at every range she scores from. She's brilliant. She's smart. She's highly skilled. She's athletic. She's dependable. NECA actually has been in the MVP conversation for the last three years consecutively. Okay. It's been, she's been right there. It's been Asia. It's been Nafisa, but NECA is in the conversation.

You know, she wasn't a front runner for MVP, but Nneka has absolutely been in an MVP conversation for the last three seasons in a row. So from a legacy standpoint, like just, she's one of the best leaders ever in sports and has led the WNBA and its players through some of the most critical, challenging, impactful times, literally to the existence, the existence and opportunity for the WNBA. She led, she leads that from a legacy standpoint. NECA is one of the great leaders of all sports. Like for the WNBA, she has led its players, the league,

through some of the most challenging and critical times in the history of the league, for the survival of the league through some of the most challenging and critical times in the history of the league for the survival of the league some of the most impactful policy making she has been a part of and yet people still want to play in her face you know leaving Nneka Ogwumike off of the Olympic team in 2016 is one of the most regrettable decisions in the history of sports, in my opinion. It's absolutely shameful. Shame, like shameful. Nneka was the MVP that season.

She was the 2016 MVP and left off the 2016 Olympic team. She's the only MVP that hasn't been on an Olympic team. So I think Skylar said it right. You know, Nekka just comes in and does her job every game over the course of over a decade now, breaking records, climbing the history ladders, and continuing to be a graceful leader. With All-Star Rodin coming up,

do you fear for her place in the All-Star game this year? No. Okay, good. I think the only fear I might have is if she gets to be a starter or not, but Nekka's an All-Star. Yeah, I really think the players, because there's the players vote in the media vote,

they can really carry that. And you know, we were just talking about Sophie Cunningham and I feel like it's kind of the same situation in a way. Like we've had saucy Sophie since way before this happened, but now because she's on the fever and all eyes are on them, a lot of people are seeing this for the first time. And with the new fans coming in, I feel like Nneka is not getting as appreciated because not that many people might be watching her, but I

really, really hope that she continues to thrive. And the fact that she's been in the league since 2012 and she's done everything that she has. New fans really need to put some respect on her name. Everyone needs to put some more respect on her name. I think not knowing who Nneka Ogumike says a lot more about you as a fan than it says anything about her. Hello. Absolutely. And the last topic we have has been a big topic of conversation in the past few weeks, which is New York Liberty's depth. It has been absolutely insane, but it's being tested out right now.

Sabrina's out indefinitely. Leonie Fiebesch is out until the end of the month. Jon Cal Jones is slated to miss four to six weeks, and they're in the middle of a four-game road trip. Do you think they're deep enough to withstand all the injuries right now? I think so. However, I do think it's funny, like when it rains it pours. Of course, when their depth is being tested, they are in the thick of a very challenging part of their schedule. They're seeing some very tough teams and of course they're right in the middle of a road trip of all the times that

that could have happened. But any team that's going to be down three starters and two of those, I mean, arguably I feel should be all stars would need some time to adjust. You know, so you're not going to have Jonquell Jones probably through the all star break. Sabrina, we're not sure when she's coming back from that neck injury. And then Leonie Femish will be back at the end of the month after Eurobasket. But I think you certainly miss so much with those three. I mean, with Jonquell Jones, her double double that she's giving you a production.. I mean, with with Jonquell Jones,

her double double that she's giving you of production, but defensively you miss Jonquell, you miss Leonie Phoebus, you miss their size, Leonie's six four, the versatility, you miss Sabrina's ability to handle pressure, put the ball on the floor against the defense, to score points, you miss all of that. Even with those three out, the Liberty are still,

they've had a couple of losses here, they're still right in these games, and probably the biggest takeaway for the Liberty is they've been shooting themselves in the foot and losing the possession battle. They're turning it over too much and they're giving up too many offensive rebounds. And so that's really been the issue,

and the good thing is those things, those are things that can be worked on and and and improved and it often comes with the territory when you got a bunch of players who are playing out of position, playing out of rotation and figuring it out. But in the long run, I actually think this is going to be good for the Liberty to have the shake-up to get other players some playing time and experience, having meteor roles and then you know when all those stars come back, keep it chugging. That's exactly what I was thinking. And honestly, if it gets to a bit,

just tell Maureen Yohannes it's like game five season is on the line and she should be able to keep it clutch. But y'all, coming up, I make my DK game pick of the week, and we have some quick hits for you. We'll be right back. week and we have some quick hits for you. We'll be right back. At Desjardins Insurance, we know that when you're a building contractor, your company's foundation needs to be strong. That's why our agents go the extra mile to understand

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Welcome back to Good Follow. Today's episode is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings, the crown is yours. It is now time for the DraftKings Pick of the Week presented by DraftKings. DraftKings, the crown is yours. It is now time for the DraftKings Pick of the Week presented by DraftKings. This weekend we have the battle of the first overall picks with Caitlyn Clark and the Indiana Fever taking on Paige Becker and the Dallas Wimmings on Friday night in Dallas. Despite making headlines week after week, Indiana has had a bit of a streaky season so far picking up some interesting losses but also pulling off some great wins. Of course the player to watch here is

Caitlin Clark who's currently averaging nearly 20 points and 9 assists per game. Although she's been in a bit of a shooting slump I feel like she can get back into her rhythm against a team like Dallas. With that said the wings are starting to pick things up after starting the season 1 and 11. They picked up two great wins last week and Lee Hiroo has already proven to be a great addition to this roster. All eyes will be on first overall pick Paige Becker as she's looking to continue her hot streak. She continues to propel the wings putting up 61 points, 15 rebounds,

and 16 assists over three games last week. And there's no doubt she'll want to put on a show for this game. This is going to be such a good one, but I'm going with Indiana to pull out the win here. This segment is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings, the crown is yours. The crown is yours, Logan. Great job. We've got time left on the show. We need to hear the quick hits, the headlines. What do you have for me? Because it has been busy out there.

Super busy. And the first one is actually pretty fun, caused quite a stir on social media, but a fan posted on Reddit that there should be an NBA and WNBA counterpart jersey swap type of situation. So NBA players swap jerseys with WNBA teams and play in their games. What do you think about that? I think it's pretty cool. I mean, I just want to make sure that every team has a sister team. But yeah, and also NBA players love showing love to the women's basketball. Oh, absolutely. I also saw someone say that they should do it on days where the counterparts play each other. So the NBA teams play against each other.

And then the WNBA game is right afterwards. I think that would be so smart. It could be very cool. Right. And the next one, Cardi B mentioned Asia Wilson in her new song, Outside. I love the mentions because all the men's players get all the rap mentions, but the women are coming in. Asia Willis popping boo. I actually saw Cardi debut this song in Cannes when I was in France for the Spotify concert

crowd and at the time I did not know she shouted out Asia Wilson, but Cardi is very smart, has always been savvy. And whether it's her or her, you know, writers, love to see it. Go Asia. Absolutely. And something else we love to see is money in women's sports and the Golden State Falqueries are the most valuable WNBA team and the first $500 million pro women's team.

$500 million valuation at what? 13 games? We're not even halfway through the season. That is insane. They bought that team for $50 million. It's so crazy. The WNBA is where the money resides. Absolutely. And lastly, I guess actually to go with that, the first women's sports bar in LA is officially

open. It's called Untamed Spirits and it opened in early June to coincide with Pride Month, which we love. Oh, cool. Very cool. Very cool. Oh man, everybody making money right now with women's sports. Let's go.

And that's why we're here covering women's sports for you. And you know, now we drop on Tuesdays and Thursdays where a two time a week drop shot Everybody making money right now with women's sports. Let's go. And that's why we're here covering women's sports for you. And you know now we drop on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We're a two time a week drop show. Make sure you tap in with us because that's gonna do it for this week's episode of Good Follows Show, which is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings, Logan?

The crown is yours. I'm Roz, she's Logan. We appreciate you being here. Subscribe, follow all the socials, comment, yell at us in the comments. All the things bring it on, we love it. We'll see you next Thursday, next Tuesday, next Thursday, next Tuesday.

Just tap in, take care. Bye guys. Bye. Bye.