The Right Time with Bomani Jones - Knicks Collapse, Caitlin Clark-Tiger Woods Comps & Angel Reese Next Steps | 5.23

Episode Date: May 23, 2025

On today’s episode of The Right Time, Elle Duncan of ESPN joins Bomani Jones to discuss The New York Knicks' collapse and the ongoing WNBA drama. The show starts with Elle describing the events she witnessed at Madison Square Garden Wednesday night by saying why she won't make fun of Knicks fans (3:14) and that every A-lister was at this game (4:35). Bo explains why he wished the Knicks won the game in overtime (5:53) and loves that Tyrese Haliburton has become a villain in New York (12:12). They switch gears to the WNBA where Bo and Elle agree that it's ok for Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark to not like each other (15:49) and that this discourse prevents the league from making any positive strides (21:34). Bo states that Caitlin Clark is a Tiger Woods-like phenomenon but the WNBA is not capitalizing on it (24:39). They transition to the news that flag football will now be an Olympic sport in 2028 (36:58), which has Bo and Elle questioning if we're really going to see Justin Jefferson vs Team Japan (40:10)? To wrap up the show, Bo and Elle have fun discussing the time she covered the Atlanta Hawks. (48:05) . . . Subscribe to The Right Time with Bomani Jones on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts and follow the show on Instagram, Twitter, and Tik Tok for all the best moments from the show. Download Full Podcast Here: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6N7fDvgNz2EPDIOm49aj7M?si=FCb5EzTyTYuIy9-fWs4rQA&nd=1&utm_source=hoobe&utm_medium=social Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-right-time-with-bomani-jones/id982639043?utm_source=hoobe&utm_medium=social Follow The Right Time with Bomani Jones on Social Media: http://lnk.to/therighttime Subscribe to Supercast for Ad-Free Episodes: https://righttime.supercast.com/ Support the Show: Discover faster, more reliable search with Perplexity today. Download the app or ask Perplexity anything at perplexity.com! https://pplx.ai/bomani-jones Download the DraftKings Pick Six app NOW and use code BOMANI. Better payouts. Bigger wins. Only with Pick6 from DraftKings. The Crown is yours. Go to zbiotics.com/BOMANI to learn more and get 15% off your first order when you use BOMANI at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the right time, a wave original presented by perplexity. My name is Beaumani Jones. Thanks for listening wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for watching us on YouTube. Subscribe, like, rate us, review us, give us five stars. You only give us four stars. I'm inclined to believe you are a hater. At long last, it is L. Duncan Friday. L. Duncan, what's going on?

Bo, I missed you. I was like wondering if you forgot about me. Oh, word. That's what we do it. You're going to put this on me? You're going to put this on me? be hitting you up. You've been so busy and too busy for us for all this time. And by the way, I'm not offended. I recognize it. I would tell Sean, I'm like, look, man, you got to just hit her

every week and ask if she knows when she's going to have a time because that's what happens when you're dealing with ballers. Please. No, for real, though, it's definitely not on you. Sean would hit me and it would always be like, can you join tomorrow? And I'm like, I'm getting on a plane to whatever tomorrow. It was always like the day I was traveling. I was like, it couldn't have been today. But yeah, just put it on the calendar. You know that this is my favorite show to join. You're my guy. So thanks for having me.

That's what I'm saying. I knew not to take it personal, no matter how hard it was at times. You know what I'm saying? I did that. I stayed strong. And I saw you have a new show coming, right? Yes, we do. It's called vibe check.

And yeah, it's going to be a women-led sports show, but it won't just be women's sports. Obviously, it'll be a home for that. But, you know, you know, we got a lot of, like, we got a real roster of women at ESPN that can talk about anything. So super excited to be with Chenay andrea, more consistently shooting the shit. And yeah, we don't know exactly when it'll be coming, but late June or early July.

Oh, it's always one of those. Yeah, let's just say summer. Gotcha. I was afraid that I've been like, you're going to be like, yeah, it's been all since February. And I was going to be like, damn, my bad, I ain't got that channel. It turned, it actually turns out I went awkward in the other direction.

We love a little awkward. moment. The silence is definitely. Long it ain't my fault. You know what I'm saying? I ain't going to lie. I was going to pure self-interest. Like, oh, it's tough for you.

It's tough for you. You know, that happens sometimes. Just as long as it ain't my fault. No, it's not. So you were at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night, they tell. Or Wednesday night, rather. You were there. Yeah.

Yeah. Now, let me ask you this. And I think this is important for people to get. I have lived in New York now for eight years. My feelings on Nick's family. have changed because I'm around the real Knicks fans. But being in Atlanta, we don't get their best. New York got to do a little better with the ambassadors that they export to these other places because they're the ones that make us hate y'all. You know what I mean? Especially

in Atlanta because they come down in droves. You know what I'm saying? Like get down and then got the nerd to have something to say about it, right? There's a reason we had to make a whole song If you don't like where I stay, fly away. We had to sell these people. With that in mind, does that mean you took a great joy in watching what happened to the Nix? Is it all fell apart? So I am, I'm so petty. This has been made clear through many, many years and constant self-admissions that I am petty.

And there is a little piece of my petty heart that's like, you know, the greatest thing that's ever happened to Atlanta Hawks is making the Eastern Conference Finals like 12 years ago. And so the recognition that we are nowhere close to ever winning an NBA championship, I was not on the team that felt like, let's laugh at the Knicks fans because they made all too much of just making a conference final. Like that's pathetic. Why are you celebrating like you won the Larry O'Brien? I'm not on that team because I am a firm believer that like, as a fan, you're not supposed to

celebrate when you lose, obviously. And so then we're going to put, you know, qualifiers on when you're allowed to celebrate and be excited and have, like, buzz in the city. That's stupid. Okay, they haven't been to this point in 25 years, despite the fact, you know, the Knicks are basically the Cowboys of the NBA. They are in the constant news cycle. It's really important that they're good to the sport, but they haven't had a ton of winning. And they haven't won at all since the early 70s. And they haven't even been to a conference final in 25 years. So I'm like all for the celebration and the excitement and all of those things. But because I'm petty, you know, and I'm there,

and I'm just seeing all the joy on their faces, and I'm looking at this just list of celebrities. I mean, everybody was there. Everyone was there. Yes, the tried and true celebrity Knicks fans that are always there. But then like anybody of note, any A-lister that could score this ticket and wanted to flex that they spent $15,000 for a floor seat, they were there.

And just to see it all go down. and the way that it did against that team with Reggie Miller on the broadcast just was, it was just this cacophony of like, I'm not going to lie, I snickered a little bit. And it's not because I have any particular grievance against Nix fans, you could have inserted any team in that situation and also as an Atlanta fan,

not a Falcons fan, but an Atlanta fan. It's always really nice to see people continue to take some of the pressure off of the 28 to 3 Falcons. and like that's essentially what happened. It was just to go from the beginning of the game where the energy was just palpable and then like for the Knicks fans to just assume they were going to be riding the subway celebrating

and for that to happen was just wild. Hey man, I admit it was funny. Like that ball, I laughed when that ball took that super high bounce and went in. I was like, oh, this is hysterical. Like there was no other way to put it. That was just really, really funny. I kind of wish the Knicks had won.

because then it would have been in a way, it's not that it would have been funnier if the Knicks had ultimately won the game is that I wouldn't have felt bad about myself for laughing. It just would have been a, then you guys get to laugh along the way with everybody else kind of situation. Ha, ha, ha, yuck, yuck, yuck.

Right? Nah, they took it. That's a, that's a tough, tough L and L, tough L, period. L, comma, the first L is just the L, the second one starts with a E. L, comma,

these people get so excited about this team. Like I just, it's actually really sweet the way that New Yorkers feel about the Nix. And they just want a reason to be optimistic and they got it. And they're doing the thing. Have you seen this where they rename in the streets? Oh, yeah. They renamed all the streets.

And not just, not just the starters. Everybody's got one. I was like PJ Tucker Avenue or whatever. I'm like, I ain't even know he was on the team. And part of what makes it interesting to me and I was just about to bring this up. is you hit it. It's not just that all the dudes have streets.

Is that because Tom Thibito plays like six, six and a half dudes, there are so many New York Knicks that I've never heard of, right? Yes, there's PJ Tucker that I wasn't quite sure was on the team. DeLon Wright, hashtag, he's still in the league. They gave him a street. But I've never heard a Tyler Koleck, Ariel Hoek-Porty, Pacome Dadier. by com dat die et?

Unfamiliar. The boy, precious a chore, I've heard of you. The rest of you guys I've heard of, except when they be putting Miles McBride up,

I'm like, oh, dudes, got you. They got a lot of dudes that don't get no minutes and they get streets. And I hope they out there do it. And boy, take every picture that you can.

Tyler Coleck is taking a picture next to the Tyler Coleg Lane sign and everybody's trying to figure out why somebody's taking a picture next to the Tyler Coleg sign. Correct. They're like, oh, I wonder, like,

what happened to him? Who is that? Is that, are we memorializing? Was it a great story? Was it? My thing, though, Bo, with naming of the streets is they canceled the block party that they usually have around MSG. They canceled it yesterday or on Wednesday.

And I was like, why? Is it because of the weather? It was pouring. It was so shitty in New York on Wednesday. And they were like, no, because of all the damage that the fans caused. It does not feel like it is a good situation to then put street signs up after some of these people's favorite players. I feel like you are literally.

literally baiting them into stealing the signs. But nonetheless, yeah, I want to ask you because, again, you've been in New York for a long time. And John Starks was on my show on Wednesday. And he said the same thing that people always attribute Nick's fans as like blue collar fans. Like they're super blue collar. And I always laugh at that with the juxtaposition of, again, like, you know, Timothy Shalame being like Okay, okay.

Okay. I got you on that though. Yeah. I got you on that. All right. Help me out. All right. So part of it is, number one, things here are just really expensive, right?

And so everybody, including somebody like me, is priced out of something. Yeah. Right. And so, of course, I see it's not everybody can get. This is the thing about famous people in New York. And this is an important distinction. Famous people who live in L.A. want to live like famous people.

Now, black famous people in L.A., they still want to do black stuff, right? So you got, like, a couple diners and stuff you could duck out to. Like, one time I was at some diner. I don't remember exactly where it was, but it was hood, right? And then you look up and Queen Latifah's coming to pick up her plate and don't nobody mess with her, right? But by and large, you go to L.A. to B.C. Right.

Famous people who live in New York want to move like regular people. Fair. Right? that you, like, those, if you're on the subway, and I'm not like a real famous person, right? Nobody tossed to me on the subway. I did have a dude talked to be on the bus once because I think the bus was a bridge farther than he thought was possible. He's like, they're just like us. They ride the bus. Yeah, this can't be possibly happening. The subway made sense. The bus was a little more proletariat than I think he expected. So what I'm saying is those famous people are not the same kind of people as the famous people. who are in the other places. The other thing about it is,

and I don't know how many Madison Square Garden games you've been to, hey, man, those people are there for the basketball. And they are in it. Like, this is not Staples Center where there are people are there to be seen. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Those people are there to watch a basketball game intently. Yeah, I really, I do respect the fact that, like, all of the former players are, like, courtside, right?

Like, honestly, because a lot of teams will be like, they'll give their former player seats, obviously, But they want to really cash in on A, all of the television that's going to show all these big names stars sitting courtside. And then, of course, the money that comes along with it. And to see all of these former players, like right there sitting court side, how much that they have embraced, you know, their former players is really cool. Are you buying into the, this is karma for throwing trash at the Pacers fan? I will say this, Bo. I will say this.

I had like a security detail yesterday. And I was, or on Wednesday. And I was like, this feels really unnecessary. Like I don't like why. And, you know, one of the security guards was like, did you see what happened to Wendy when he just thought he was just going to be like a regular person and walk down the street and go back to his hotel? They were throwing things at him. And again, I don't think those are real Knicks fans. Like I think those are people who are just bad faith characters who are trying to stir the pot and cosplay.

But so you're not buying this whole, this is karma for picking on the Pacers fan. is what you get, take your medicine. Nah, no, no. I mean, honestly, the Knicks are just the Knicks. Like, there's a whole range of nickiness that, uh, that we could, that we could discuss in, in this. No, I don't, I don't think that it went down that road in terms of a karma. I just think they went out there and they blew that game.

And now, now, now we're going to see top to bottom, uh, what happens in this. I love the fact that Halliburton has made himself into a, villain, right? Like I think I enjoy the presence of that. I also like you enjoy the former players court side, but I think a big part of why the former players want to be their court side is this is the first time for many of them that someone's actually been happy to see them at Madison Square Garden in a very, very long time. The Knicks have not brought the people very much joy and people were not happy to see a lot of them who were there. John Starks, by the way, owns a bunch of car dealerships now in Queens.

When they first started making the playoffs, when I got here, you see the commercials for John Stark's Kia. And now I believe that he has Stark's motors. He's got like some Ford dealerships. And John Starks does the commercials for the four dealerships. And I don't know if you saw the 30 for 30 about Pacers Nicks many years ago. Yeah, winning time. Yes. And John Starks is prominently featured in that. And I don't know about you. But with regards to these commercials, I would love to see the bloopers.

You aren't right. I would love to see the bloopers. Hey, man. John Starks hit us with the ultimate, let me, how he said, malpropism? Is that how you say that word? Sure.

Did this dude just did this? He was fantastic on SportsCenter. It's funny to watch, like, we were running like old, you know, clips and videos, some of the stuff from winning time. And he's just chuckling through it. And I'm like, how quickly, like,

how much the emotion has changed arounding that? because I know you guys actually hated each other. And I love that, like, we can be reminded that when men play each other and they hate each other, it's all good. Like, it's good for the sports. It's great. It builds up the rival. We love rivalries.

You know, Patrick Ewing even got in a couple of shots on Wednesday when I talked to him on my show about Reggie Miller. Like, like, still, they don't, like, there's no love lost. And obviously, it's softened over the years. It's been 30 years. But, like, they don't like each other. And I feel like in the male space, that's like okay and that's exciting and we love that. Obviously, we know that when it comes to women, like, that's not okay. We're supposed to want to braid each other's hair.

And it's got to be this whole entire think piece about, you know, sisterhood and all those things when people don't like each other. But I dig the fact that like they still feel some kind of way about the paces. And Reggie Miller clearly, right? Because Reggie Miller has to let go of any of this stuff. Clearly. With regard to that, we had, you know, WMBA. season is back. And so are we, L. I'm not talking about actual WNBA fans. I'm talking about the rest of us. We show it up and they are watching Caitlin Clark games in unreal numbers. Like this is a,

this is a phenomenon with staying power. This is going to be a thing. I hope we get better at this. I've made this point. Actually saw somebody make a somewhat fair point because I did the thing on the show the other day where I said, tell me how I can get into this without having to get into it online because online makes it terrible. Because I do think online makes it worse than anything else. And the guy said, well, the way to do it is to watch games, but you clearly don't want to do that because the only time that you talk about this is when it's Andrew Reese and Caitlin Clark.

I'm like, buddy, I don't know how to break this to you, but the people who listen to this podcast are not coming here to talk about the WMBA. Like, that's not, I can't make them do that, right? Sure. Like I get that point, but I might watch every WNBA game. It's not going to be reflected necessarily by how much I talk about it here. Clark generally is the topic. And then we add Angel Reese to this and how we got here is its own story.

But now this goes to another place. I think that most people do believe that it is okay for these players to not like each other. I do think that there's kind of like the newbie Caitlin Clark crew that doesn't want anybody picking on her. And there's the race angle that comes into this and everything else. But I also think this. Rather than take the approach that you are taking. and that I'm inclined to take, which is, I don't think these two like each other, and that's okay, that makes it fun.

Chet and Victor Winbenyama, for example, do not like each other, going back to before they got to the NBA. This makes it better. But what I do think we had is a lot of people on the Angel Reese defender side, why do you think she doesn't like her? There's no reason for her to be jealous of her da-da-da-da. And I'm kind of like, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, she don't like her, okay? Like we don't, we have enough data points here that we can go to that,

nah, not, not, not, not. She is not a Caitlin Clark fan. That's not her girl. And when people lie about that part, I do think there are a lot of other people that then hammer that part. You know she don't like her. It's not that important that she doesn't like her. It makes it more fun, but let's not play in our faces.

Caitlin Clark also clearly doesn't like her. That pushing that look she gave her on that one, that wasn't just it's a hard basketball. foul. They don't like each other. I'm with you. I don't think that I think the the reason that so Jamel Hill said something the other day that I thought was like really on the nose. I think it's it looks pretty clear that they don't like each other right. It goes back to college and like there's certainly no love loss between the two of them. I think the issue is is that people are saying things. They're making it more than they just don't like each other. It's become, uh, angel is jealous. Angel

is bitter. Angel is, and I think Jamel nailed it when she said, could you not understand if she's resentful? And that's not the same as bitter and jealous. Like, that is, that is a resentment that there is an whole entire, you know, faction of bands, and I'm air quoting that for the people that are listening, that basically attribute everything that she's ever done to that moment with Caitlin Clark, where she trolled her at the national championship. And that, like, that without that, and without the link to Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese would have never reached the level of popularity that she's reached or any of those things. And we can exceptionalize Caitlin Clark, and we should.

She's exceptional. She is exceptional. And she's doing things. She's already about to break the triple double record in like her 43rd career game. Like it's wild what she's doing. Every time she goes out there, she makes history. the basketball is speaking for itself and the ratings are speaking for themselves. I mean, we are seeing incredible numbers.

But the problem I think for Angel Reese fans is that yes, they're not, they're not, they're being a little bit delulu to act like, what? These girls are fine with each other. But I do think that there is this inherent need to want and protect her because of what happens when you have these sort of public figures who really have no interest in this space beyond talking about this discourse and narrative and only have like two or three names in the tank that they can refer to saying things like she's bitter and she's jealous because it sort of solidifies in some people's minds what they already believe, which is that Angel Reese is

nothing without Caitlin Clark. And that's just totally and completely unfair. It's just not. And, you know, it's also some of the word association. Like if you want to say you think Angel Reese's is mid, of course. People call everyone in the W so sensitive. I'm like, no, that's. stuff is totally fair. She's mid, she's this, she's whatever. It's the, you know, there's a video going around right now where like someone asked, you know, fever fans outside, like, you know, one word to associate with Angel Reese. It's ghetto. You know, it's that kind of stuff that's like, you guys stop it. It's like such clear micro and macroaggressions that is super annoying. I am completely on team. Come watch for whatever reason than that reason is, especially if you're a casual

fan. For instance, I'm a casual hockey fan, right? I pretty much tune in for the playoffs. I like the playoffs a lot. I am currently watching the Hurricanes and Panthers series because Rod Brindamore two years ago, when they got swept by the Panthers, went on this whole tirade about how they did not, in fact, get swept by the Panthers. And I thought it was absurd and silly. And it's some of the, it's something like my favorite postgame sound of all time. If you've never heard it, just Google Rod Brenda Moore's sweep. It's ridiculous. I mean, just makes an argument about how they didn't get swept when in fact they got swept. They went 0 and 4 in the series. And so I'm watching for that reason alone, right? Like, it's okay to watch because you just like Caitlin or you just like Angel.

For me, the issue that I have is we have a couple of issues, but one of them is being a casual, coming in, making a snap judgment on something because you've seen it on social media, and then making it law, you know, like, this is what's happening. And I know it for a fact. No, you don't. And shut up. And the other thing, Bo, is that I've gotten so incredibly tired of this space because it just is the same discourse over.

I feel like I'm living in like fucked up Groundhog Day, you know, where something happens. And then inevitably, I've got some right wing, you know, media space that decided to write an article about it and is like, do you have any comments on Angel Reese trying to attack Kay? I'm like, oh, my God, it just is the same. We are not getting anywhere at this point. We're just not, you know, like we do not.

This is a very disingenuous space right now. Nobody is really here to listen to anybody else's perspective. If LeBron James posts that Caitlin Clark is his favorite player, then he's getting shit for not protecting black women. And if you post that Angel Reese is your favorite player, then you're trying to stifle Caitlin Clark's greatness. It's just unreal. We have retreated to sides.

no one is trying to listen. Nobody can be swayed. Nobody is open or open-minded. And nobody is really making the main thing the main thing. And I'm not out here trying to sell you on why you should, you know, feel like the most important storyline is who's coming off the bench for Phoenix. I'm in television. I get it. The basketball heads, the people that like really love the WNBA space, they care about those things. The new show that we're going to do is hopefully going to get into more of those things. I'm not out here trying to sell you. Let's pivot away from Caitlin Clark and talk about. I am just saying, Caitlin Clark herself would love for you to focus on the basketball part of it because the fever this year guys are real contenders. They look really good.

Their biggest weakness last year was a lack of experience and defense. They short up the lack of experience by getting two former champions on the team and their defense looks a lot better with a defensive-minded coach and Steph White. I would imagine, and I know this. to be true because I've been at those final four media availability when we get time with just the teams alone. I've been at two of them with Caitlin Clark. She is a great teammate. Her teammates love her. And I know that as much as she understands she is an otherworldly star, she would love for you to make it more about the basketball and how well Alia Boston's doing and how well Kelsey Mitchell's doing and what a great piece Sophie is and how they are actually contending.

Last year, fine. Last year at this point, we had a couple games on under our belt. There really wasn't much to talk about. People were filling in the blanks about whether she was getting bullied. But now they are actual contenders and I promise you she would love for you to focus more on that. But I just, when it comes to the constant discourse, Bo, I'm John coffee, bro. I'm tired, boss. Like, I just can't anymore. I don't, they don't care to listen. I'm tired of talking about it. I am very, very unique and that I have an ability to use my platform to actually leverage more of these storylines because I am on TV, talking about them. So like that's where my main focus is and not just responding constantly

to the influx of disingenuous characters on social media that try to drag you into a grudge match about race. So something dawned on me while you were saying all of that, that I think the Caitlin Clark comp that I haven't seen made so much, but I think it's probably going to prove to be the most accurate one. And this is for me watching the little bit I saw from the clips I saw from the game against the sky and then I think what they played the dream, next game when they lost at home. Yeah. Hey man,

we are actually dealing with a Tiger Woods like phenomenon. Right? Where you have, golf had a world full of fans and then the rest of us showed up. Yes. You know what I mean? Yes. But interestingly,

the rest of us showed up and everybody was on the same team when it happened. Golf people were in a different space. They wasn't like, hey, you guys wasn't watching us before. We were all just like, yo, did you see Tiger Woods? Right? Everybody got in there, but it was clearly one person who stood ahead of everybody else. But I always say Tiger Woods put a lot of those people's kids through private school.

A lot of people got a lot more famous because Tiger Woods was there. Phil Mickelson got famous in a much different way. We can go up and down the line. Then we had all the guys from a Sergio Gar, I mean, David Duvall to Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson wound up in that space for a while. We kept trying to find like an actual competitive peer to who Tiger was. And I think that happened because in part people who covered this who weren't all golf all the time people still had a greater familiarity with the game.

And so they knew a little better what they were watching and they knew who like the comps were to put next to Tiger Woods. So far, the only person that we have actually put next to Caitlin Clark is quite honestly somebody if we're just talking about basketball isn't there. Like, Andrew Reese and Caitlin Clark are not in the same class or caliber. We don't talk about Paige Becker's and Caitlin Clark vis-a-vis, which makes a bit more sense, right? When you just talk about like level of play or like who is someone that competes. Because look, anybody that knows anything about basketball, you watch Caitlin Clark and this is something different.

This is unlike anything I recall from a guard playing women's basketball, right? Like Asia Wilson, probably a better player right now, but not in this way, right? It's not this type of player that we're talking about. And so what I have been surprised by, and it makes me wonder how sincere a lot of the interest is that comes from people who haven't been there forever is it's not taking you to other basketball players. It just takes you to this one and then what is largely a contrivance that surrounds the situation with her and Reese.

but we haven't gotten to the place where this turns into man. So let's talk some more about some of these other basketball players. Like what I saw from these first couple games, Aaliyah Boston looks a lot better than she did last year. They look to have a lot more chemistry in this. A big thing that I think is important too, they go so fast from the women's college basketball season as rookies into this new season that when you come into this season,

it's like, wow, it looks like Caitlin Clark and her teammates have actually met before. Isn't that something, right? Like the vibe seemed like the actual basketball type stuff that we see. I do wonder when people like me, and look, I know I'm one of these people that's new. When does it get there? Because they're wearing me out on the way over there, I can't do this shit. I just can't everybody lying. Everybody on something else.

I personally can't do it. But I don't, I got to find a way to get into this. That's not the internet. And I think that's a WNBA problem, though, is that WMBA per capita is really online, really, really, really online. And it is very bad for everybody. Yeah, well, I think that, The issue is that the WNBA online space used to be something very different.

And it was a little bit like NBA Twitter, you know, and it was fun and it was a little petty. And like, you know, it was who's dating who, who's wearing what. Obviously it was about the basketball. It was very cultural. You know, let's be clear, the demo looked very different. And now the space has become exactly that. Like almost every single person that I have followed that's in the W space years ago, most of their content now is either defending someone,

defending themselves against reverse racism. It's just, it's a constant. Everybody has drawn their sort of battle lines and it's just constant defense of one thing or the other. It's, you know, we have like really big figures who have come into the space because of Caitlin Clark, and that's great. I've said this a million times.

I think it's great to open up the space, obviously. Like, I'm newer to the W in terms of covering it. And so it's important. That's how you grow fan bases. That's how you grow ratings is new people come into the space. But you've got people who are even Caitlin Clark fans that on a day where show make history will find something else to make it about. And it's like the NB, you know, the WNBA says they're going to do an investigation into

whether there was some, you know, racist things leveled at Angel Reese when she was there. And it becomes an attack on every single fever fan. And it becomes an attack on the Midwest way. And it's like, what? Like, it just, everybody is looking for a reason to be offended. And it has become absolutely exhausting. And I'm with you. You know, the thing with Tiger is, is that, like, I remember the first time that my dad

told me about this kid named Tiger Woods that was coming up. And I was in elementary school at the time, right? And obviously, the intrigue with Tiger started because he was a black kid in a white-dominated space. And that made him different. And you need. Sorry, ablation in a white dominated space. Cablination. Don't you leave that cap all out.

Oh, sorry. Don't you leave that out. There you go. Don't you don't know, sir Reeve. He want to make sure you get every flavor. That's right. A cabalasion. But like, but to your point, what we didn't have at that time, while it made it interesting

to watch him, what we didn't have at that time was this back and forth about whether he was popular because he was black or how that was an indictment or a front to all of the good white people who held down golf for so long, it was about the golf. It was like, yes, okay, maybe he drew your interest because he stuck out like a sore thumb and looked very different in this space that we assumed was like older and white. But you stayed because of his dominance, because of how incredible he was. And to your point, it's a little different that, you know, at a golf tournament, if you're watching for Tiger, you're by proxy going to watch the other golfers, right?

Like you don't really have a choice. You have a choice when it comes to basketball. You can only watch fever games if you want to, and that's okay if that's all you want to do is watch fever games. But I do think that this idea we felt like coming in last year, all of my frustration was all of these players understand that a rising tide lifts all boats. So anything that Caitlin Clark can do in this space is going to ultimately help them.

It's going to help them with their media deal. It's going to help the ratings. It's going to essentially help their pockets, and we're coming up on a CBA. But I'm with you. I'm just wondering how we can grow this space if there is a super fixation on one player, and that one player leads to so many exhaustive conversations that people now want to completely disengage. And I feel for all the parties involved, I feel for Caitlin too, because this is not something

I imagine that she thought she'd have to navigate. All she wanted to do was grow up and play in the league that she idolized growing up. She idolized Maya Moore. All she wanted to do was live out her dream of being a professional basketball player in the WNBA. And it turned into something totally different. I don't think when she was a little girl, she imagined she'd have to navigate the complexities of race in the W. Like I don't think that that's something she thought she'd have to answer to at shoot around media availability every single game. And so it's just, I wish that some of the people who call themselves Caitlin Clark supporters would understand that they do not honor her or pay tribute to her by denigrating all of the women that she looked up to. That is not the solution.

That's not the sauce. We've lost the recipe. Like, that's not what she wants. I know she appreciates the fandom, but sometimes it's like at what cost. And I think that's sort of the frustrating part is that longstanding W fans have been hoping for this kind of attention. and now that they've got it, it's, it's, it's pretty, it's pretty nasty. And it doesn't seem to have a solution. I thought it was going to get better after last year that we would sort of get that out of our system.

But here we are again. All right. I'm going to say something selfish right before we going to the break. And I know that this is selfish. But at the same time, it's tough times in journalism. And I want to do what I can to help. Okay. I got $100 for the first person at a media availability to ask,

Caitlin Clark. Caitlin, I was just wondering. Robert Griffin has been married to two white women. Do you think he's allowed to have an opinion on the WNBA? We'll be right back. This show is brought to you by perplexity.

Perplexity is an AI-powered answer engine that searches the internet in real time to give you fast, high-quality answers with sources. Unlike legacy search engines that respond with a list of links, perplexity skips straight to the answers you need, explained in easy-to-understand

everyday language with sources and citations. right, Bo. You know often we use perplexity to look things up, find information. For example, earlier last week, we used it to find out what else have Yolkage's brothers done? Perplexity quickly gave us information about the eclectalize of both Yolkage brothers. Discover fast and reliable search for Perplexity today. Download the app or ask perplexity anything at perplexity.a.i. It's playoff time. And if you're still just watching games, you're missing out. With Pick Six from Draft Kings, you can turn your hoops knowledge into real cash. Nobody's dropping better payouts than pick six.

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including New York and Ontario. Voidware prohibited, one per new customer. bonus awarded as non-with-trouble pick-six bonus bicks that expire in 14 days. Limited time offer terms at pick-6.draftings.com slash promos. Let me tell you about Zbiotics, pre-alcohol probiotic. Zibiotics pre-alcohol probiotic drink is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic. It was invented by PhD scientists to tackle rough mornings after drinking. Here's how it works. When you drink, alcohol gets converted into a toxic byproduct in the gut.

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and all that summer has to offer. Go to zbiotic.com slash Beaumani to learn more and get 15% off your first order when you use Beaumani at checkout. Zibiotics is backed by a 100% money-back guarantee, so if you're unsatisfied for any reason, they'll refund your money, no questions asked. remember to head to zbiotics.com slash bomani and use the code bomani at checkout for 15% off. All right. We are back on the right time with L Duncan, and I was hoping you had thoughts on this topic,

and you told me that you did, and I didn't want you to tell me before we got here. But for people who are unaware of this, they're going to put flag football in the Olympics. NFL players have been pushing for this to get flag football into the Olympics. and it looks like for 2028, there will be flag football and NFL players can play flag football in the Olympics. And I am curious, your thoughts.

Yeah, I honestly did not think there would be an appetite for professional football players to want to play flag football. I mean, to me, it's sort of like telling an Olympic gymnast, like telling Simone Biles, like, finally Simone, they've added jazz or something.

size to the Olympics. It feels like a totally watered down version of what they already do. But I guess I completely underestimated the ego of some dudes that are like, I have never had an opportunity to play for a gold medal and like I will get it any absolute way that I can. Lombardi aside, I want that gold medal. I just find this to be weird. And frankly, I also find the fact that there was such full-throated support from the owners

to be weird too because of the timing, these players will have to miss son of training camp. And like flag football at this level, I'm not acting like it's like, you know, intramural flag football. I understand like you have to be a real athlete. There's cutting. There's all kinds of things. The risk to injury. Like can you imagine risking your $150 million contract because you cut wrong out of flag football? Like this to me is, it's wild that it got support from ownership and it's wilder to me that

there's apparently all of these NFL stars that are like, this has been my lifelong dream. Since when? First of all, do you remember a former Georgia Bulldog great Robert Edwards? Of course. Ask him about flag football. What is it his thing? Oh, no. He tore his knee up playing flag football on the beach at the pro ball.

Oh, yes. Oh, my God. Yes, exactly. That's why they don't do it anymore. Yes, exactly. Yes, they were like, oh, man. He came back. He played, but he was, by the way, Robert Edwards and DeKeele Spikes were on the same

little bitty Georgia high school football. team, which is the most unfair thing that I have ever heard in my life. But this is my question about it, because I think it's easy to forget. American football is just that. It is American. This is not a sport that they play all over the world. This is not basketball, right? This isn't even baseball, which they don't really play all over the world, but they do play in different pockets of the world, right? Some South America, some Central America, some Caribbean, some Asia. But, you know, they play it in different places. The only place anybody plays football is in the United States.

Who they going to play against? Who these people, number one, who these people they go play against? Number two, is it going to just be one team per country? Right? Like how many teams are there? That's what I can figure out because are y'all just going to be playing against each other? Okay, we're really going to say Justin Jefferson. I got it, the dream team.

We sent Magic Johnson out here to play against Angola, and that wasn't fair. You know what I'm saying? We're going to really send Justin Jefferson out here to play against the Japanese flag football team. What are we doing here? What is the, like, how are you going to decide the five people from America to make the team? How does any of this, no, this is ridiculous. This is preposterous. Yeah.

Yeah, I honestly did not believe this was a thing that anyone was asking for. I do know flag football is becoming more popular in youth sports because of concussion issues and things like that. I've got friends that don't want their kids to play regular football, so they put them in flag football. I know flag football is really taking off with girls. There's been a big initiative with the NFL. So I get all of that.

It feels like though we're maybe like another Olympics away from there being a real appetite for flag football. I certainly don't care. Like I want to, right? Yeah. What you just said, though, that's still all in a moment. America. Yeah, it is. I ain't heard nothing about it getting cracking in Mexico. And by the way, if pick up basketball is any indication, Mexican flag football is not a non-contact sport.

Bro. Just letting you know right now. I'm telling you right now, I randomly caught like, I don't even know what it was, but it was like an international women's flag football game. And it was America versus Mexico. And those Mexican girls were boat racing America. I mean, they were so good. Like me and my husband were like, God damn, she's fast. They were killing America. So I have actually seen the women's Mexican League flag football. They could probably go up against the men's flag football team. They were incredible.

But again, I think that like women are embracing flag football more because it's an opportunity to participate in football at a level that, you know, that they can really play at and really excel at. I just, I didn't know that there was an appetite for flag football, homie. Like I didn't. I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone was going, oh my God, Olympic Committee.

Can you finally add flag football? And for me, how much does it suck for these dudes? Because there are like career lifelong flag football players apparently. I've learned upon doing some research about this. And like how shitty is it for you, you know, Mike Williams or whoever your name is,

who's like really waited for this moment only to find out you're going to lose your slot to Justin Jefferson. That's so unfair. Like let someone. else have something. You play for hundreds of millions of dollars and you play football and you play for, I, I could, it just could just be because I'm a Southern girl who loves football. But to me, there is no greater trophy in my mind than winning the Lombardi. Like it is incredible. It's so hard to get a 53 dudes to come together to win this game. And I think that it is the greatest

testament to teamwork and all those things. So I don't know why you're punching down to win a gold medal in flag football. It just feels so silly to me, especially when you think about the Riz. You know, I got a midpoint on what we should do with this, right? Because like Justin Jefferson, for example, should not be participating in this activity, right? Like, first of all, the most extreme, how did you ever let this happen is when Jamal Charles tells his stories about playing a competing in the special Olympics. I know that some of you just heard me say that and you're like, Bumani, you can't possibly be telling the truth.

Look it up. Jamal Charles said that he developed his confidence as an athlete competing in the Special Olympics. And I, to this day, can't imagine what it would be like if you showed up with your kid for the Special Olympics. And it's the 100 meter dash. And it's Jamal Charles. Yeah, that's not fair. I don't know what the equivalent in this. case of asking for the birth certificate is, but I assure you, somebody did that, right? Like,

that was just not, that was just not. Make it make sense. Yeah, yeah, you can't. Come on, man, you can't let them do it. At the very least, you can't let them do it twice. No. Like the first time, okay, somebody dropped the ball, right? Somebody, somebody misunderstood what was going on. But, you know, anyway, here's the way they should do it for the flag football. And I think that this would be something that would make it feel a little more wholesome, right? Did you, ever play uh golden i on uh the nintendo 64 no i've seen it but no i didn't play okay okay so you could put in the code in golden i and you could get all kinds of characters from other james bond movies to participate and play in the game right and one of those characters you could get was i job

you remember i job the little homie i job and you can have i job i job would be a monster to try to deal with for obvious reasons, right? I job only this tall. I feel like in flag football, there's a real benefit to not be in that tall, right? Sure. They got to reach down there. They got to get you. So this, you send five people over.

I asked perplexity to give me the shortest players in the NFL. And here is who we should send over there play flag football. Deuce Vaughn, 5'5, the new Darren Sprouls. Yep. Boston Scott, still in the league. Five foot six. Deontay Hardy, gonna be honest.

Never heard of him, but he's a mere five foot six. Jakeem Grant, seems like he's cool. Five foot seven. And Rodale Moore, whom I have heard of, plays for the Arizona Cardinals five, seven.

We need to do something for the little homies. You know what I'm saying? Let them get out there, run around, hitting L1, hitting circle, you know, spinning around.

Bro, they're ready for that. You don't even know Justin Jefferson. Justin Jefferson, I mean, I feel like it's hard to tackle Justin Jefferson, but to get them flags, man, he's a big dude. He really is. And honestly, you just enlighten me more than anyone else has on the merits of winning flag football because I don't know because I have real football to watch and I don't care. I never thought about the fact that being little would actually be an advantage because

it's harder to get the flag. You're lower to the ground. But again, I wouldn't know that because I don't play intramural in college anymore. And so I don't watch too much flag football. Hey, let me tell you, ever talk to an adult who, like, participates in flag football? They are dead-ass serious about it. I will never forget this. One of my mama's students took me when I was in, like, ninth grade, I think.

He took me on campus to get a haircut, right? It's the first time in my life. That was the day I learned exactly what weed smells like, right? Because the room was super weedy out, you know? And so I'm in there, and some cat comes in, and this is at Prairie View. And this is when Prairie View was in the terrible losing street, right? But this dude is telling me about how he plays flag football. And I knew enough to know when he told me how serious he was because he was like,

yeah, we wear mouthpieces. I'm like, for flag football? It's real in the field out there with that flag football. And cast that compete in flag football, they mean it. They, they are serious. And yes, they are salty that Justin Jefferson is coming in here to how they like. Like, come on, man, we got to just let this be regular people. I'll watch it in the Olympics if it's regular people.

Same. So what you're saying is, is that flag football is basically like a pickup game at the Y. A bunch of after elites in slides and khaki shorts out there trying to pretend like they've still got it and taking it more seriously than probably anybody has in their life. Okay. Yes. I got it. Yes. Yes. By the way, one could say show they still got it.

I believe that in many cases it's show they ever had it in the first place. they have not been put in a proper situation to say whether or not they did or did not have it. Like this is, this is, this is where they are. So fun story. I used to work out at the, at the AUC, like the Atlanta Medical Center rehab facility in Atlanta. And a lot of like former athletes and stuff would work out there or whatever. I mean, a lot of like track guys and stuff like that. But then of course, it's also a rehab facility at a medical center.

So it was just this juxtaposition of like 92 year olds like, you know, sitting on like the weight bench. Like there was a couple of times where I was like, we may have a medical emergency. I wasn't sure if they were alive or if they were just taking a break. And I was dating an NBA player at the time. And I would tell him about these pickup games and how these dudes just had so much moxie and like, you know, we're just, they were so territorial over the court. I'd be trying to do lunges and they'd be giving me shit. And so he decides to pull up one day, him and a couple of other of his teammates at the time. And just to put these guys in their place and to watch just like the fear go over the pickup players face when they see these NBA players come in and show them that they're not nearly as good as they thought they were.

It was one of the best like phone to friends of my life. I was like every once in a while, you're just going to remind people and put them in their place. I'm going to lunge wherever the fuck I want to because this ain't that serious because it's a rehab facility. and it's the middle of the day and get off my court. Damn, man. Josh Smith did them like that. You know what? That was...

Dog, I can't believe, man. Ivan Williams really rolled up on them people. My guy, Ivan. I would love nothing more in this world if we rap this and you told me, yes, I was dating Ivan Williams. I would love to know what it would be like to date Ivan Williams. That sounds terrified. I was...

I never dated Ivan Williams. There's like eight people. listening to this that know who we're talking about when we talk about Ivan Williams. And we have talked about Ivan Williams on this podcast before. Ivan Williams got kicked out of the whole Philippines league for being just a little too geeks. Ivan Williams threatened his own teammate who like on the side was a pastor, like the nicest guy that's ever lived and he threatened bodily harm on him. I loved Ivan Williams for the brief moment he's been in Atlanta, but not in that way. Look here. The first time I saw him play.

and it was on television and it was very clear what type of dude he was. What type of time, Ivan Williams-Zodd was abundantly clear. If you've ever been around that, that was what it was. So, like, tell me this, did Zaza I take you from Atlanta, Georgia to Wartor, Georgia to meet the family? I hate you. I'm just asking. It would be really cool. It would be a full circle moment, you know?

I've seen some pictures of War Tore, Georgia. On Instagram, it looks like a beautiful place. Zaza would come up to me at every day. re-game and be like, you know, I am from the real Georgia. I'm like, okay, Brad. That was his, that was his pickup line. I'd take you through real Georgia. I'm from the real Georgia.

You Georgia girl, but I'm from real Georgia. I love to Zaza. It was never, okay, so for those of you, Bo knows who I dated, and he's just being coy, and he's messing around, and he's naming everyone except the person. No, I never dated Zaza, butchulia. Good guy, though. Hey, I'm just saying, look here. Flip Murray, he was the man back.

today. Get the hell out of here, bro. Just say it. Just say it. But this is Elle Duncan. Could you tell people again about Vibe Check? Yeah, man, vibe check is a coming. I don't have a ton more information. That's right. I forgot. My bag.

Tell everybody where you can find it, Elle. I'm not sure. My fault. Here's what I know. It'll be on Disney Plus and it's coming sometime this summer. And Bo, hopefully I can come back on the show when I have more details. Yes, I'm just saying. Sometimes I'm trying to be a good friend and I'm being the worst friend ever, but I still appreciate

you and I think you're wonderful. You're the best, Bo. Thanks for having me, homie. No problem. Ladies and gentlemen, thanks so much for joining us here on the right time. Hit the voicemail line. 3-2-3-9-6-7-7-oldy-but-goody. Tell us about that time you tried your pops.

And if you've tried to get your story, y'all, and it hasn't gotten all before, try again. Sometimes you've just got to wait your turn to win. You know what happened that time. 323-5-9-6-7-67. My man Ryan Brumley handles everything behind the scenes. Thank you, sir. Remember, follow the right time. Subscribe, like, rate us, review us, give us five stars. You only give us four stars. I'm inclined to believe you are a hater. We'll talk to you guys in a couple of days. Take it easy.