The Josh Innes Show - The WNBA Continues To Eat Itself

Episode Date: July 1, 2025

Sophie Cunningham, she who is famous for being hot and maybe banging that dude from the Suns, doesn't think ladies will want to play basketball in Detroit. Two years ago, the WNBA was out of sight and out of mind. Now, they are such big shots that they feel they can dump on cities that add expansion teams. It's wild. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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and Detroit and what's the other one? There's another city that's being added as well. But I think there are three cities that are approved for WNBA teams and by the time they start playing in 2029-2030, the league is going to have minimal interest. It'll go back to being on the fringe like it's always been and I'm not trying to dump on the WNBA by any means like I get that it's having a moment right now, but I see all of these people all worked up

like like we're getting a team like it's wild to me that you're getting a team five years from now and you're going to get a team when the wave is already crashed like I think that we're about to hit the apex of this league because this league first of all is not embracing Caitlin Clark. The players aren't everybody else and whether you think she's good or not like I saw that the players voted her like the ninth best guard in the league. They clearly hate the chick. They hate her

because she gets all the attention. They hate her because she's white for whatever and not necessarily white. They're white people. They like you have to be a white person that panders and you have to be a white person that you know, basically feels bad about being white, which I guess Caitlin Clark doesn't feel that way. But they hate her. They view her as like their little Jim or Fredette they view her as their little Oh, who was that the damn dude that Jeremy Lin, like just like a freak show type of thing that's having a moment that is taking away from their bigger moment and the WNBA is going to eat

itself because big picture nobody really cares. I think there's more interest than there used to be and I think they have name players now that like young girls might want to go watch but the only reason it's mainstream right now is because of the drama. The only reason it's mainstream right now is because of the drama. The only reason it's mainstream right now is because of Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese two years ago, and that's eventually going to wear off and it's going to lose steam. And three or four years from now, when these new cities are getting these teams, they're going to, it's already going to be at the end of the wave. And I think I don't think it's going to be successful in Philadelphia. I don't think it's going to be at the end of the wave and I think I don't think it's going to be successful in Philadelphia. I

don't think it's going to be successful in Detroit. I think they're expanding too much. I think by the way, I think all sports leagues should avoid expansion because expansion keeps basically it makes worse teams. The more you expand the worst teams get now there's not going to be a huge expansion if ever in the NFL. I mean, I'm sure they'll add something because it's the NFL but the NFL baseball you're probably not won't Nashville may end up coming in to be but like I think it's bad expansion is

bad because it waters down the teams and if you're in the WNBA, I don't know how many incredibly talented women's basketball players that are going to draw attention to a market are out there in the world at this point. Not saying they don't exist, but I don't know that you've got 20, 25 teams or cities worth of teams that are going to have watchable product in that league. That said, Sophie Cunningham, who is also having a moment, said something about Detroit. And I want to get into that here after these words. So Sophie Cunningham is having a moment because a bunch of dudes just discovered that she's

pretty hot and she plays in the WNBA. Basically she became popular because two weeks ago because she like ran to the defense of Caitlin Clark and that's where a bunch of dudes started following her Instagram and got all horned out over. She has incredible legs like that. I mean just like super sexy, long, just like incredible legs. I don't know why I just grunted like that. Like I'm an old man. Oh, she's got long legs. The incredible legs. We love her legs. We love her legs. And they're amazing. But great legs. And she always wears next to nothing when she comes to the arena. Like she's rolling out here with like no top on basically short ass like leather shorts showing off the legs.

I don't even know if she's any good at basketball, but she picked up like five, 600,000 new followers after the Clark thing. and people were like look She goes out and defends Caitlin Clark and you know gets in a fight now people follower They following her because she's got some girl fight in a basketball game They followed her because they realized she's pretty fucking hot. But anyway, that's neither here nor there So they were asking Sophie Cunningham about the expansion of the WNBA into cities like Philadelphia Cunningham about the expansion of the WNBA into cities like Philadelphia is Cincinnati a team that's getting the WNBA team or a city that's getting the WNBA team

Let's see WNBA expansion. All right, so it's Cleveland rather. Okay, so Cleveland Detroit and Philadelphia so Sophie Cunningham was asked about this and she starts laying out how like Yeah We don't really know that players are going to want to play in cities like Detroit or Cincinnati. If they would have put a team in Miami or Nashville, we would have really like that, but we don't think putting teams in cities like Detroit is going to help the league because players aren't going to want to go there like ma'am your league was out of

sight out of mind two years ago. Quite literally, nobody gave a shit. And then Caitlin Clark gives you guys this get out of jail free card. Now people are paying attention to you for five minutes and now you're in a position where a WNBA player is like, well, you know, we would have preferred they put teams in Miami and in Nashville instead of Detroit. Like there's a beggars can't be choosers element to this. Like all of a sudden you go from being an absolute nobody. It's like you went from not to hot and all of a sudden you don't

realize that you used to be ugly. It'd be like if this is a what's that? What's the she's all that type of thing where she's got the glasses and the ponytail and she doesn't realize she's hot. Then she gets hot and then just like starts turning down like Paul Walker and turning down Freddie Prince because like now I'm just too hot for you. Motherfuckers like no wait a minute. Don't forget that if I wouldn't have come in and taken off your glasses and ponytail and took

you out of those overalls and put you in that dress, you'd still be a nerd sitting there doing paintings down in some random wing of the school and watching Jeopardy with your dad. So don't forget what I did for you, right? Don't just dismiss me because I discovered you're hot and now you think you're too hot for me. And that's kind of the vibe I get here with these WNBA chicks. Like nobody cared about your existence, nobody was following you on Instagram, no one gave a shit that you were going to the game with your titties out, nobody gave a shit about Angel Reese getting 16 rebounds in the game, and nobody gave a shit about

anything. It was just the WNBA, and for the most part the WNBA was something that people would make jokes about, right? But you're having a moment, and Caitlin Clark has helped, you know, whether you like it or not, Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese caused some sort of weird socio-political race war that has drawn eyeballs to the WNBA and has led people like Jason Whitlock and Clay Travis who don't give two fucks about women's sports to talk about women's sports and all these right wing dudes who don't give a shit about women's sports are all of a sudden talking about women's sports and you're having a moment and I'm not dismissing the moment. This is a moment that it is having when 3 million people are watching a WNBA game on TV. That's a moment. Okay, there's

nothing to dismiss or scoff at. It is a moment. But these but you're adding teams. Your league is seemingly becoming more valuable because you're adding more teams and you've got someone in the league sitting there telling you that, yeah, we don't know if anybody is going to want to play in Detroit. Mind you, this woman lives in Indiana and she's like, listen, I don't know if anybody would want to play in Detroit or Cincinnati or whatever. Ma'am, no offense, but women want to be treated like men is the way the analysis goes. Screw you. Like if you're somebody in Detroit today, and you're like, listen, I'm not even really interested in women's basketball,

but cool. WNBA is coming here. It's another team cool. If I'm in Detroit today, and I hear this Sophie Cunningham saying like, well, we don't think women are going to want to play in Detroit. I'd be like good. I don't want to watch you in Detroit. Enjoy flopping here. That's what I would do. Like that's how I would feel like you're lucky that teams like considering where you were a couple of years ago, you are lucky that cities even want to buy your product and put in a

team. By the way, that's four years from now, and the league is probably going to be out of sight out of mind again in four years. It'll go back to its place in the pecking order of people just kind of being dismissive of it, particularly because these players hate Caitlin Clark so much they are going to not just kick the golden goose, they're going to shoot the golden goose out of the sky, pluck the feathers from it, chop the head off, and serve it at a Chinese restaurant on Christmas. Deck the har with bower of rory, farrah rah rah rah rah rah rah rah rah rah and that's what they're going to fucking do to the WNBA because they can't get out of their own way because they're so

fucking jealous of this chick that they're going to let it kill their league and as we've talked about we say it all the time the WNBA is like Brooks they cannot handle being out of jail and handle prosperity. And that's what the WNBA is. For a WNBA player, a high profile one now who's not very good, but a high profile one because she's hot and she fought for Caitlin Clark, she's famous right now. I think they call her the ma- she's the Maga Barbie. Is that the one they call Maga Barbie? But she's this big star now. for her to come out and dismiss and scoff at any city that's getting a WNBA team is fucking hysterical.

Like, it's almost like you're a kid, right? And you wanted a car like you're 16 years old. And a lot of people when they get a car, they have to get their first car and pay for it themselves by working at the Tasty Freeze or a burger joint or the skating rink or whatever it is bus and tables to make just enough money to pay that the note on a cheap beater of a car that just to have a car just to have enough money to buy a cheap shitty car. But imagine your dad buys you a car. It's

like you know what you're working hard and I know you're working hard. You know you've done well your grades are good, you're a good kid. So Christmas morning you wake up and you know people are opening presents and dad goes hey look over in the tree there what is that and you see some keys hanging in the tree and you're like holy shit dad what are these and he goes go look outside and boom there's a brand new car or not a new car but a car parked there and it's a little shitty. It's a beater, It's not the greatest fucking car ever. It's a Toyota Tercel. It's whatever the fuck it is. It's an old beater and you know it's got 250,000 miles on it but it's your car. It's got 250,000 miles. Dad gives this to you. He knows you've always wanted a car. Now you've got freedom.

Car license equals freedom and shit's great for you and then you see that car and you go, license equals freedom and shits great for you. And then you see that car and you go, yeah, dad, I don't know. I was kind of hoping to get like a Jeep Grand Cherokee or something a little bit more current. But you know, thanks, dad. I mean, I guess but whatever and you hurt your dad's feelings and you shit on your dad and you scoff at the car that you didn't have to pay for. That's the vibe I get from WNBA people when their league is expanding and it's getting more attention than ever. And you've

got players going, Yeah, I'd rather have played in Miami. Of course you'd rather fucking be in Miami. It's Miami. You know what Miami may not want you. I'd rather be in Nashville. You know who would pay no attention to your women's basketball league Nashville. But of course, let's let's scoff at Detroit. Let's dump on Detroit. Let's shit on Detroit whenever you're lucky that a city even wants to expand in a league that two years ago, nobody was paying attention to. So again, we go back to the Brooks angle. The

WNBA is going to shoot itself. The WNBA cannot handle this prosperity. The WNBA is better operating in the shadows. The WNBA is better off being a league where people ignore it and then they fight for attention where the players are like, why is nobody paying attention to us? Because people are paying attention to you now and you seemingly can't handle it because you say stupid fucking shit like that. Also, it's like, I don't know, it's it's, it's fucking crazy is all like I'm not I'm in no way against the idea of women's basketball. And sometimes I'll watch it and I'll

be like, Oh, this is fine. It's passable entertainment. I will never be passionate about it. I will never be fully committed to it. I will never have a team that I root for or a player that I root for. It's just not my thing. I don't give a shit. Whenever the LSU women's team is in the when they're in the tournament, I'll root for them. Why? Because I really like the coach. I like Kim Mulkey. And why do I like Kim Mulkey? Because a lot of people fucking hate her because she's fucking MAGA and and she's like and all these people hate her because they think she's this horrible person because she didn't go rescue Brittany fucking Griner. So I'm like you know what I'm really rooting

for because I think she takes a lot of shit from people and it's stupid. So I want her to win whenever the opportunity is there and I root for LSU women's basketball and I also like Flaugé so I like them. But like I'm never going to turn on a WNBA game and be like boy let me tell you my Dallas wings are on TV. Well, that's never going to be me. I'm not rooting for you to fail. I don't want you to fail. But I know that you're going to fail because you can't get out of your own way. Monkey noises at the arena. You can't get out of your own way. Oh, Caitlin Clark ninth in all star voting among guards. You can't get out of your own own way I don't know that we should have a team in Detroit we really need to have a team

in Miami or a... it's like a dude like that you know some frumpy ass dude at the bar some like five foot six dude at the bar some chick that's like a five she's like ready to go home because you yourself for a five she's ready to go home and you're like nah I'm just gonna wait for someone hotter it's like dude the hotter chick ain't fucking you, bro. It's wild, man.

Anyway, more to come.