The Ringer NBA Show - Sue Bird on Life After Basketball, What It’s Like Playing Overseas, and Where the WNBA Is Headed | Real Ones

Episode Date: January 19, 2023

Logan and Raja are joined by four-time WNBA champion Sue Bird to discuss what it’s like to be done playing basketball after such a storied career and how she’s been spending her time now that she���s retired (2:43). Next, she explains to the guys what it was like playing women’s basketball overseas and how it compared to playing in the States (15:00). Later, she talks about how important the WNBA is for aspiring young players and where the league is going (35:30). Finally, they close out with their Real Ones of the Week (59:19). Hosts: Logan Murdock and Raja Bell Guest: Sue Bird Associate Producer: Jonathan Kermah Production Assistant: Kai Grady Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's popping, everybody? This is Logan Murdoch from Real On I have some big news to share. On Saturday, February 18th, the Ringer NBA show will be hitting the road for All-Star weekend for a live show in Salt Lake City. You heard that right. We are taping the pod in front of a live audience in Salt Lake next month and we want you to join us. Pull up on us at the stateroom in the heart of downtown Salt Lake. You can grab your tickets now at thestateroom.com. That's the stateroom.com. Doors open at 9 o'clock. Show is at 10. It's going to be a 21 and up event. come hang with the gang and chat midseason updates draft preview and even have a Q&A with us space is limited so grab your tickets while they last at the stateroom dot com or click the link in the description of this show hope to see y'all in there what's popping logan murdock here roger bell there roger back-to-back weeks bro we're not fucking around we got we got another big big guest in the building years in the making um we'll get to the name in a second let's get to the bio we got a four-time champ all right we got a five-time I'm Olympic gold medalist.

There's like five more gold medals in there, but we're talking about the Olympics only, all right? We got someone who is thriving in retirement out here popping, all right, out here living her best life. You know who we got, Roger? We got Sue Bird in the motherfucking building. What's up, Sue? How are you doing?

I'm good, I'm good. How are you guys? You forgot Logan the most important part, bro. Like one of the Walt Whitman Mall's finest. Back when it just had a Burlington coat factory. and like a cheesecake factory. I don't even know if it had a cheesecake. It didn't have a cheesecake back then.

It definitely didn't have a cheesecake. It had that little like Wilson's leather goods. Which more what we're talking about? For the viewers that are the listeners that don't know yet, you guys have had a pre-pod conversation about shared childhood experiences. What are we talking about? Can you paint the picture, Roger? What is going on here?

So my wife and sewer from towns in Long Island that are relatively close to each other. So we're talking about a mall on, what's it on 110 there? Jericho Turnpike 110. 110, yeah. Called Walt Whitman Mall. So shout out. Yeah, it used to be a really small little kind of grimy mall. It's blossomed into this like new, it's this new.

It's got Apple Store and Blumendale. Like it's blossomed right before eyes. Yeah, it's doing its thing. For those that don't know, it was like, or for those that do know, I should say, there's Roosevelt Field Mall, which is like that one is like the one on steroids. That was the one where it's like, if you needed something uppity, upscale. You had to take the venture. But if you needed something quick and easy, you just head over to Walwitman.

There it is. There it is. Okay. Okay. All right. Well, that's the podcast, guys. There we go. That's Sue's childhood.

There we go. Sue, what's retirement been like for you? Because I've seen the Instagram post. I've seen just the anecdotal stories from folks we both know. Everyone says that you are sitting, living your best life right? at this point. Your hair is down. Usually when an athlete retires, it's like, oh, man, what am I going to do?

What's the next step? Oh, man. You have taken the opposite and you have, you seem to have a better time now than you are going to play? You're thriving. You're not surviving. You're thriving. What is going on in retirement right now?

And how are you feeling at this moment? Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good. I'm feeling pretty good. It doesn't come without moments of like, oh, I missed basketball a little bit or like, oh, I used to have all this structure, which I was so used to. I missed that a little bit. I missed the purpose a little bit. It doesn't come without that.

But yeah, for the most part, I'm just really enjoying being able to make my own schedule, make my own rules. The hair is out. I'm like, why didn't I do this 20 years ago, maybe more? Yeah, just really trying to, I told my agent, I was like, listen, let's not, I don't want to hear a word until after the new year. And so in those couple of months, I just tried to really soak it all in, if you will. that's cool man that's i remember those days i took i took what three years i think so my my my my my i took three

years and with my agent and was like look i'm gonna play golf do not call me and then and then then i got to a point where everybody kind of gets to where you're like okay what's next and i kind of was you know before i came on i was looking you've already kind of started that like you and me started like this production company called the touch more like could you tell us tell me a little bit about that like what was the genesis of it well i feel like i have to start with the fact that i played overseas for a really long time. And then I stopped like 2000, maybe like 15, but I was still playing the WMBA. And I bring that up to say I had all my off seasons, which is basically from like October to April to start like, you know, dipping my toe into water, seeing what I like. So I really

tried to do that before I retired because I didn't want to retire and then not have any idea of what to do. You bring up a touch more, which is the production company like you said, that that Megan and I started and it's really just kind of with the idea of wanting to like shine that light on stories you don't always hear, right? Like a lot of times, especially in sports, you kind of hear the same stories. And I think we can all agree that what's like put in front of us, that's what people are going to be interested in. So when it comes to women sports, especially, a lot of times people are like, oh, we don't, we don't care, we don't care. How do you know if you don't even know the stories? Like you're just fed that. You're just fed that. So we kind of want to change that up. Highlight women,

highlight people of color. everything in the umbrella of people that, you know, that are marginalized, that you don't get to hear their stories. And it's not about us. We don't want to be in front of the camera for this. We want to be able to, like, put out other stories. I mean, let's be honest. Like, I know we're on this podcast. We're about to talk about me. People know. People already know about me. They already know about Megan. So it's our way of kind of paying it forward. So what is the first step in doing that, right? Are you talking to people in the business? Like, how are you, how are you, how are you, you know, plotting this in your head three or four years ago, right?

It's called networking, man. It's called networking, Logan. Okay, like you fucking, you use your platform. Come on, man. Sorry, Sue. I like to mess with me. No, you're good. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I can tell. I can tell. I can tell. Yeah, this is like a combination of, I'm already a part of together, which is a whole other, I mean, a touch more is like under the together platform, if you will, but it is like a little bit of a different thing.

So it started with together, just getting involved in that world. You know, like Roger said, you do your network, you meet people, you start having conversations. And it's actually the, we did that Instagram live thing during the pandemic. We ended up calling it a touch more where it was just us drinking, talking about current events, trying to have fun. You know, we're all stuck in our houses. We remember those days. And what we kind of discovered was like, oh, we kind of like this.

Like we like, we like telling stories. For me personally, I really like producing. Like we had like by the end of the show, we did it. for a month and a half or so. By the end, we had like segments. We were on the clock on some things. I'd be like nudging her like, yo, we got to get to segment block B.

We got to get to block B. You know, like we were like putting the show together. And I think that for me personally, again, like lit this spire of like, oh, I like telling stories. I like making things like fit and kind of be cohesive. You know, maybe the same way you might tell a really good joke or like you watch a really good comedian, they start over here and you're like, where are they going?

All of a sudden they've looped you all the way back and then it hits. I like the idea of that in storytelling. So that really spoke to me, and that was kind of part of, for me personally, again, like why I wanted to get into this. It's kind of eerie because one of my good friends is Steve Nash. I got to play with him for a long time. And when he was playing towards kind of the later stages of the career, he found the passion for kind of the same thing you're talking about there.

You know, he started the production company and he got into that. And I remember him talking to me about the projects they were doing. And he and his cousin Ezra were working on all this stuff. And so it's interesting to hear you talk about it. the same way. And so then my next question would be, I don't think he saw this coming ever. I don't know if you already know the answer is no, but down the line, like, you know, once we've kind of chased some of these projects and we've done them, and someone came to you and said, hey, Sue, would you be interested? Do you think you could or do you already know you would never coach?

Oh, man. Right? Let's go. I was like, where is you going with this? Let's go. I looped you all the way around, right? I looked you all the way around and came back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It just came up, right? Right from behind. I mean, never say never. It's hard. It's hard to, okay, being the point guard that I was, I feel like coaching is this like natural progression.

Like I definitely became a coach on the floor, all the like stereotypical things of like, you know, typical point guard. I became that in my later years for sure. So it's hard. It's like never say never. I think the big thing, it's not the coaching itself for me.

It's the life. Like do I really want to live that? life. Like the life I just live, the travel, um, you know, for coaches, it's like the constant watching film and all those things. Only as a player, that stress I was okay with because I had some control over it. Right. Right. Like I'm out on the floor. You only have control what you have control over, but like you have some. You've control of yourself at least. And as a coach, you got none. Yeah. It's just like you got to just depend on these like 25 year olds. You're like, you know, are they okay?

Do I have to worry about their mental health? Did they just break up with somebody? What's going on in their lives? You got to worry about all these things. And it's like, and that's just one aspect of it. And do I want that stress? Right now, the answer is now.

I can dig it. I spent a year in the front office suit. Like it was, you know, something that I thought. I was like, okay, maybe. And I quickly found that out. Like, this is torturous. Like, there's nothing I can do about any of this.

I don't, yeah. It's a lot. It's a lot. You know, there were kind of stops and starts. with your announcement, right? Or like even thinking about your announcement or every year was what it was, will she or won't she retire? What did you know in your heart of hearts?

This is the time to go. This is the time I have to go. Honestly, like a week before I announced. Really? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I definitely thought about it. I mean, I was kind of going through the ebbs and flows that you just said,

just like everybody else. There was like 2021, the season ends, the crowd kind of chance, one more year, which was one of my, you know, outside of winning things, like one of my all-time favorite moments as a professional athlete. And in that moment, I knew I was coming back. So, like, that was clear. Like, in that moment, I was like, all right, I'm probably coming back. But then as the season started in 2022, you know, you're kind of like dealing with the season stuff. And I don't know, it just kind of hit me. We were about to play. We were like a week or two out from playing New York. And that was going to be

the final time because we're only going to play them once that season at New York. That's obviously my hometown. So that's kind of what got it got me thinking where I was like, wait a minute. Like, this is most likely my last season. I'm like pretty close to knowing. And I want to make sure like my family, my friends, everybody in that area knows this is it. I want to like share that experience with them. And that's kind of what like, you know, push me over the edge, I guess. We see like, because like I'm asking that question because like right now in real time we're seeing the stop and start with like Tom Brady, right? Where you are, anytime you you you step away from something you're passionate about right you you have the damn like

one more year sounds like one more year like sounds good like because you think about the other side of it like damn this is my whole life's work of like I've been hooping every day of my life for however long you've been doing it like what is what is in the mindset of someone that's about to walk away right where you're going we're like oh the edge is right there the edge is right there I don't know what is the mindset of that? I think for me, it went something like this. Okay. So, you know, I kind of already mentioned playing overseas, hadn't done that in a long time. So that's kind of out of the equation for me. And you have the WMBA. And then you have the national team. And I think for me, what happened was, you know, we had just come off the Olympics the year before 2020, whatever,

2021, whatever year you want to use. And so you're kind of looking at it in cycles. And so for me it was kind of like, all right, like I'm sitting here right now. Today's January 17, 2023. Could I have played another WMBA season? Yes. Like could I have like, Sue? Talk of shit. Would it have been successful? I don't know. Could I have done it? Yes. Like physically, I could have done it. I could have, you know, shown up in October, November, gotten my workouts going and like made it through. But then it's like, all right, how many more WMBA seasons, you know, can one play? Like, how many more do I need?

At what point do I want to start something new in my life? Like start my second life, so to speak. And then I feel like the national team kind of kicks in because it was like, all right, I'm not trying to go for this Olympics. Like I'm not trying to be there for the 2024 Olympics. So then you're like, all right, do I really want to play the 2020 three season and then even be tempted by that Olympics? Like, nah, it's probably not.

Like, that's not in the card. So at that point, all of it kind of came together where 2020 just felt like the right time. That's really interesting. It's like you've got three different teams you're playing for, three different seasons. Like I didn't play year round like that and or play for national teams for long. I played when I was younger. So that's an interesting way to kind of have to look at it.

I got two questions. One, are you still working out? Like you fall into the category of your player and it's like not not doing it anymore. Or are you like, you know, I got to get this workout because this is what I do? I did the not, not, not doing it anymore for like a month or so. And then I was like, all right, but I really liked food. So I'm like, how do I need to have like you just, to me in retirement, you just want to have a healthy relationship with like you're working out, what you want to eat, having fun. Like you just want to have it balanced for me.

You just want to have it balance. And it's not going to be the same balance for everybody. But for me, it was like, all right. Like when I go out, I'm like, and I see, you know, fried chicken or a piece of pizza, like, I'm having that. So like, what do I need to do to make myself feel good about this? It's facts. I started working out more. I needed this convo today.

I needed this. You needed this? Motivation. Yeah. So now I'm just kind of like trying to find that balance. But yeah, I really like classes. Like I'm like a class junk. I'm like whatever class, I just started some boxing classes.

Like I'll do Pilates classes, spin classes. And I feel like it keeps me accountable. Like I'm like the classes at 11. It's the structure though. It really is. It really is. It's like, look, I found that too. if it was up to me to go get my lift in my gym here.

I mean, that's a 50-50 proposition, right? Like, I don't know. But if you give me a class, like if I'm going to Orange Theory or if I got something to do with my wife at Pilates or something, I'll be there. I'll get that done. Exactly. So I'm signing up for all the classes.

My second question was about your Euro League type of experience playing overseas and all the success you had there. And, you know, I spent a month or so myself before I got to come home. And I was just blown away with the culture. I was in Spain, playing in the ACs. be, but the culture and the richness of the basketball fan over, you know, overseas. And especially as it pertains to women's hoops over there. Like it's, can you talk to us a little bit about that and your experiences?

How rewarding was it winning over there as much as you did? Yeah. I would say the overseas experience is similar to the college experience here. Right. So you have like a lot of these teams are clubs the same way. It's like a university. Right. So I went to, obviously, I went to University Connecticut.

it, whether it's basketball, football, field hockey, like lacrosse, whatever track, whatever sport, if Yukon is playing and I happen to see it on TV, boop, I'm tuning in. It's like the same vibe, the same vibe is overseas. So if you play against Fenner Bachi, right, which are known for having like crazy fans, like that same energy for any, you know, any sport is going to be for women's basketball. So if they're track fans, they're coming over to the women's basketball side. So you have like that same intensity. So some of those gyms, they're not as big as over here, right?

But you'll be playing in an arena that maybe seats like 4,000. It's standing room only. They're chanting the entire time. Like noise makers, it's like, it's crazy in there. The same vibe if you turned on like a Duke UNC game. Like that's the overseas vibe. Not every single game is like that overseas. Just like not every single game is like that in college, but like that's the energy of it.

So it's hard. Like every Eurole thing, like I was on a team that was stacked. Like, I'm not going to lie. We were, you know, if not favored to win, we were like in the top two, three every year for EuroLeague. But no matter what, when we went to, you know, play Borge in France, probably 2,000 seats, it's packed, the chanting, the whole thing. Like, those road games are hard. Some of those Euroleague wins will go down as like some of my toughest wins because these gyms are like the energy in there is crazy. And that's kind of how I would describe overseas.

Sorry, Logan, because I'm in the weeds now. Sue, he's in a bag right now. He's in a whole bag. I got to know, man. So do they ref it different? Like they do, for men, it's completely different. So different. So different.

For a while, your league only had two refs instead of three. So that was like an adjustment. They added a third a couple years after I started. But that was an adjustment. They, it's like, so they are so strict on traveling when you like, first, start your bling. Yeah, the pivot foot. So strict. But they'll let you, your whole way down the court.

They'll be like, no, two, three. They'll let you do that. And then it's like, they'll call like some tickey tag bullshit bow. But then majority of the game, they let you beat the fuck out of each other. It is so, so people are always asking like, what's more difficult? It's like WMBA, the players are way more talented because it's all like, it's 12 teams, 12 spots, you get it. Way more talent.

players are stronger, bigger, faster. But the refs don't let you just, like, beat the crap out of each other. So overseas is actually more physical. And I mean, a classic, we always joke about this. This is a classic referee move. You will literally, like, drive down the lane or something happens. You'll get, like, the absolute shit knocked out of you. And the ref will look at you and go, and you'll be on the floor.

And they'll look at you and they'll go, like, just go, get up. And you're just like, I almost fought a cat in France. for that shit. I was so upset. I had never had a ref do it to me and I was so livid. This was a pro basketball game and he was like looking at me like, oh my God. And my favorite though, second to that is like kind of like a clear path foul, right? Like open court, maybe you did take one like a take foul whatever. That refer will be quick to come in and be like, flagrant. Intentional. They could run in. So it's like that. Like you get your head taken off. They say get up. You do a little tiki-tack.

foul at half court like a take foul and they'll come running in to call it an intentional all aggressive and that's I mean and that that's like it also is what makes those games like when you do win it's like you're kind of like fuck everybody like this was bullshit yeah basically I know that you played in Russia a lot of the time yeah and I don't know if you know this right but like one of her like the owners of her team one of the Russian oligars got popped while she was on the team like that that that was like that's the the the environment that she is in. And also, I'm hearing through a lot of great vines,

Sue that you are a great storyteller. So what is, like, the, the wildest, like, Russian overseas or overseas story in general that you have, that you can share with us? That I can share? Oh, man. Some of them are unshareable in public. Just in public. I'll tell you guys off the time.

So, yeah, you mentioned, like, our owner. And it really, it was a, like, he was a colorful guy. and he had the way I always say it is he wore a lot of different hats, right? And the hat that we saw was like the basketball owner, very family oriented, like, treated us as such. So we never saw these other parts of his life. So I never felt like in danger or anything like that. So a lot of the stories are more like lighthearted, just like funny. Okay, here's a good one.

So we hosted or he hosted. All-Star one year. So you're a League All-Star is hosted in our city, in our gym. And Shapti, that was the name of our owner, part of one of the hats he wore was that he brought like musical guests over to Russia. Like more so during like communist times when people weren't coming to Russia like that. So he brought like Michael Jackson over like he's known for this. So he's kind of tapped into that world. And he was like, I want to bring like some sort of performer over to Russia. Like do you guys have anybody you want. And at first we were like, who knows, whoever was popular at the time. And long story short, he was like, yo, like it fell through. I couldn't get anybody. I'm really

sorry. So we're like, all right, no worries. Like that would have been amazing. No worries. So the game happens. And then, of course, there's an after party. And just to give you like a glimpse, like getting to Russia is not easy. Like you need a visa. It's a big pain to me ass. So even the people at All-Star, it was like the All-Stars themselves, so 24 players, maybe if they had a guess and then like Fiba people. So we're talking like at this party, we're talking like 50, 60 people max.

And then you know, like as the parties get going, although the older people are kind of leaving. So now we're down to like 40. Like it's a small group. We're in this tent. We build this tent. All of a sudden it's like, and there's a DJ and there's music.

And all of a sudden it's like this beat drops. And it's like, boom, bitty bomb, right? And then this woman comes walking out. And you hear, My milkshake brings out, it's fucking Calise. Oh, fuck. It's tight. It's fucking Cali's out.

Sad Thai. All right. Yeah. So we look at him. We're like, and he kind of just like shrugs. He's like, you know. And then so Calice literally performed probably like four or five of her songs, like all the bangers.

And then her DJ just spun the rest of the night. And then she just like partied with us. We all went to our house. There was three of us living in a house at the time. She came back. She was like, yeah, my flight's at 8 a.m. I might as well just kick it. We were like, well, that's perfect.

So it's like we had like this epic night all because Shatai like to show show us a good time. That's icy. For people that, bro, the people that know, Colise is a great performer. Like I saw her like in this. I saw her like randomly in the bay at this like 500 seat like room. And she was amazing. Like I forgot how many hits she had. She's also a great performer.

That's awesome. That seems like a vibe. And then y'all kicked it with her. Yeah. Yeah. It was amazing. And then, you know, obviously I have stories that are just more like crazy Russian stuff. But those are the ones that usually I got to tell offline.

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Let me ask you, Sue. I don't know if you remember, but, man, I don't want to get this wrong. Were you in at Yukon 2000? Yeah. 2001, yeah. So I'm getting this right then. You guys came through to one of our practices at the, with the Sixers. Yep.

Right at Connecticut. And I was just blown away. Like as I watched and I remember the kind of interaction with coach bringing you guys in and stuff. And then watching all of you guys have these crazy careers afterwards, just how stacked and loaded some of those Yukon teams are. So how cool was it playing at Yukon for Gino and the sisterhood that you guys have? Yeah. I mean, you said it is.

It's very much like a family playing there. It's a type of experience that sets you up as a basketball player, more importantly, as a person. like even you mentioned going to the, I remember going to that practice, like vividly. And just being able to have experiences like that, whether it's, you know, getting to go to us. We actually went to your game, I think, the next day. You know, yo, you know what I remember about that?

I wonder if you remember this. I think it's the same trip. Because, you know, Coach R.m is from Philadelphia. So I feel like every time we went to Philly, he was always trying to show out. But we go to your game. And it might be at halftime, so maybe you don't even know this.

But like Will Smith was filming a music video there. I don't know that. No, I don't know. I would need, I would have to go in the Google machine to remember what song it was. Yeah. It wasn't getting jiggy with it, but it was like something.

And he had the whole crowd, like, at the same time. He's like, all right, I need you guys to like, you know, put your hands up during the chorus, blah, blah. And so, like, technically we're all in a Will Smith video from your game. True story. That's awesome. I wish I had known that. I wasn't doing shit.

I mean, I wouldn't win. I didn't win. Oh, that's funny. But yeah, like so, I mean, Coach Arama got lucky with the Will Smith experience. But yeah, going to practices like NBA games and practices, even stuff like taking us to really nice restaurants. Yeah. Just like experiences you wouldn't have had without going there.

And then, of course, there's the basketball experience. And like I said, just kind of like helping you build this character or like finding yourself, you know, through adversity, through like the fun stuff, just all of it. Like you really get to see and like sense like get a sense of like, like who you are. And I think we all have that family connection, not just the ones we played with. Although, like you said,

I was on like crazy stack teams. I still have group chats with all those people. So it's nice to stay in touch in that way. But even, you know, like a Nicole Wolf, I didn't play with her. But if I saw her right now, it would be like, what's up?

You know, like you feel like family. Even players who are at the school now, if I see them, it feels, it's a little weird now. I feel like I'm getting to that point where I'm like super old. Now they almost like, it's like a little different.

But it's still a connection. Exactly. Yeah. I went from like sister Sue to like Auntie Sue. Yeah. I'm on my way. I'm on my way. So I'm being from the West Coast.

Like we see Yukon like, you know, we see them like probably once a year, right? With Stanford and stuff like that. Oh, yeah, yeah. And the propaganda of Raja, when Yukon comes to town, it's fucking insane, bro. It is insane.

Like there is just an arrogance. You know, you even see like, like, it's just, it's ridiculous. right? I talk to Meg sometimes. She even talks about just the fucking, just the Yukon arrogance. You wear your sweatsuit every time during March madness. You let everyone you guys know that you guys fucking went to Yukon. What is it like to be a Yukon alumni and just like you got stick your chest out in a way that I have not seen like anywhere else in women's college sports, but in college sports in general? What is it like just to be a part of the propaganda machine that is Yukon? I cannot believe.

I can't believe we brought up that sweatsuit. That was like a joke. That was like my... I don't think that was a joke. I think that you do that. I think that's something that you're just like, yeah. What is University of Portland? Anybody tripping off an ad.

I know you do that in the household. I know I know that's there. I don't mind what comes with it. But we were doing a thing where I was like, oh my God, you have to see my college sweats. They are like eight times too big. Because that was a style. Yeah.

It was more like, you have to see the size of these. But yeah, no, a little bit comes with. that you put them on. It's nice. I'm not going to lie. I always say I'm like, you can't really talk shit to us. Like you just can't. And I get it. I can like totally put myself on the other side and be like, fuck these motherfuckers. They're so annoying. And now that Kake, it hasn't won in like six years or something, six, seven years, you know, the chirping starts to get louder. The haters start to speak up a little more because we haven't won. But at the end of the day, like, you really can't say shit. You can't say shit to us. And that's the beauty of it.

That's the beauty of it. I would say that the other beauty is, like when you're in the WMBA and you have teammates from other teams, like, this isn't a thing. It's more of a, it's more of like a joking. You know, we get to talk trash in these like little occasions.

But as players, like we're rarely doing that like in actual real life. And I'm not even being PC right now. I would say like fans, the people like associated with programs, they take it more seriously than, I think players do. Like, example, like, even though I didn't play against Jewel Lloyd in college,

like, Jewel and I never talk about Yukon and Notre Dame. Like, Skyler is my Olympic teammate. Like, we're not talking about that. Even when I first got in the WMBA, like, I had teammates from Tennessee. Like, every now and then you might be like, oh, our teams are playing. I want to put a wager on it. But otherwise, you're like, nobody's talking about that. So every now and then we talk shit, but honestly, only when people poke us.

I just remember, like, there was like 2010. and for a night and I don't think I'll ever forgive y'all for this. See like, see like, I wasn't even there and you're saying, you weren't. I'm ready to go. I'm locked in. I remember, this is a him problem. This isn't a you.

This isn't a you. This is a me problem, bro. This is a me problem because like, I remember it was 2010 when, uh, Stanford played. You guys made me a Stanford fan. I was not, I was not happy about that. I was really not happy about that. That hurt. That hurt.

Yeah. That's a choice. That's a choice. That is a very bad. Listen, but I know there's another fan base. The Miami Hurricane football team has a similar type of arrogance about them, Logan, although maybe not have achieved as much. I do have a question for you, Sue,

because you referenced like they haven't won in a while, and you kind of see it across the landscape of basketball in general, just the level of play because of the access that these kids have to training and real fundamental sound stuff from such a young age, the level of play generally has risen. So other institutions are coming up with these teams. They can compete with Connecticut who used to consolidate you guys and get all the talent. You know what I mean?

And so I was blown away. I went, I have a young, she's kind of my niece, my best friend's daughter. She plays for the Philly Rise. It's the YBL team. And I went to watch them play in Dallas last year. Oh my God, I was blown away. It was just, it was an incredible style of play to watch, the physicality. but when I went to see her play in high school,

they reft it completely different. Like they reft the game completely different. And so I was just interested, where do you think the game is right now as a whole? And why do you think they would like, you know, high school for boys, I coach. And so they don't ref it completely different. But when I saw the girls play at the high school level,

they reft it so intent on taking all the physicality out. It really bothered me as a spectating fan. I was like, this is. And then when I saw him play on the, on the on the on the ybl scene i was like man yes this is this is what it's about this is gangster and i don't think that the high school is really preparing them for that and i just couldn't understand the disconnecting it you know so i mean i actually i don't know i don't i haven't seen like a lot of high school games maybe now that i'm retired although i feel like

refereeing is coming up a lot come this must be like a defensive guy i'm talking to yeah no i never had a problem with a ref suit never it's not even or opposing play at all. Yeah, never, never. I don't see that at all. Yeah, no, I'll actually have to, I'll pay attention to that. Because I haven't, I just haven't seen very many. I watch college games.

If I catch some AAU games, like I'll check those out. But yeah, mostly it's been like college and beyond. But yeah, I think you're right. Like when I was in college, it was very consolidated. There was like two, three, maybe four schools that that kids would go to. So it was like a lot of Yukon, a lot of Tennessee, a lot of Stanford. And then like a little bit of Notre Dame and obviously they got better and better as it went. A little bit of this, a little bit of that.

And now probably actually like three, four or five, six years after my college experience, you started to see the, you know, you might look at like a McDonald's All-American list. And now you're starting to see like different schools on those lists. Right. And now you fast forward even from there, another 15 years. And now I feel like it's starting to really play out where, you know, what Dawn's done at South Carolina, right? A lot of that now, now she's a powerhouse. Now she's drawing players.

Obviously, like I said, Notre Dame was already doing it. Stanford's been doing it. But it goes beyond just these couple schools. And that's why you see, I think, the NCAA tournament is like a great, even though the ones and the twos, those seeds, same in the men's tournament, though, eventually do get to the Final Four. There are so many upsets. And you're seeing it more in women's basketball too.

So I think it's because the wealth is spreading. I think it's because the WMBA has now been here for 20 plus years. years. So even though part of this like hurt my heart, I knew it was a good thing. Like towards the end, like I would say at the last like four or five years of my career, I had players, rookies, you know, we'd be on the floor together and they would kind of be like, I watched you growing up. And even though that was kind of like, damn, I'm getting old, it was also like a really good sign, right? Because that meant they were aspiring super early. And that to me is like all part of like the ecosystem that needed to exist for young players to,

take basketball seriously, you know, and not drop out the way you hear. You know, when you, when you were at a, at Yukon, the WMBA was such a new league, right? And like, there's a time in your life where you're like, I didn't even know that there was going to, you're dreaming to play college sports. You're not dreaming to go to a professional league if you do us overseas. How much of that, like now, you know, these, these young ladies, they don't, they don't know anything other than a pro league in United States right now. Like, how much does that help a lot?

of things where, you know, they have an actual goal to attain, whereas, maybe not necessarily, you know, your generation, but like the Lisa Leslie generation and where they don't even know or Cheryl Miller, right, where they don't even, they don't even dream beyond college. How much does that help now that, like, they have, you know, a league that is going to be here for years to come? Yeah, I think it's everything. I think it's everything. You know, you make a good point. It's like, let's use Lisa Leslie, right? So that generation, there was no pro league. Like, Lisa Leslie's in middle school. There's no pro league.

So to your point, she's trying to get a college scholarship, right? And she's probably, and now I'll fast forward to my experience, the WMBA didn't start until my junior year of high school. So even for me as a young kid, like I wasn't dreaming about that. But I was dreaming about the Olympic team. That got put on my map a little bit. That was kind of, but it's like not every player, obviously, is going to be able to make the Olympic team.

It's 12 spots. So for me, like a professional league in the U.S., is so important for so many reasons, but one being that everybody can now dream for that. That can be a realistic thing for a lot of Hoopers. And I think it's everything. I think, you know, I mentioned already. I think it's a way in which players are going to like get serious

and stay serious about it. It's going to allow people to, I don't know, just like have that. Again, it seems silly, but like have that dream. Like, that's enough. It's a possibility. Yeah, it's a possibility. It's a possibility. My sister, my sister played at Florida.

Oh, yeah, my sister. Oh, okay. T-bell. But no, even when she came out, though, Sue, like, you know, she, I don't know where she was drafted. It was late, but she was cut, right? And Logan, she had an, you know, it was like, look, do I go back at this? Or do I start my life? And even she hadn't had the dream because it didn't exist.

So, you know, I had the dream and I was cut too. But it was my dream. So I chased that. Exactly. She didn't chase because she's like, I mean, you know, and that's it in a nutshell. Yeah. And so something I'm actually like really proud of. And this is, I feel like when you tell stories of professional sports and athletes and like what they did, what they accomplished, it's so a lot of it is predicated on like just when they were born.

Like, you know what I mean? Like whoever was first, their first because that's when they were born, right? If you talk about someone like LeBron, it's like he came after MJ and Larry Bird. So it's like when he was born, but he catapulted, obviously, the NBA. So it's like a lot of things that like depends on when you were born, like, in the timeline of the sport. And so for me, what I'm really proud of is I'm one of the first that had a 20 plus year career. Right. Like, and so now players can see an athlete or see like a woman's player and be like, oh, dang, like I can play that long.

Because for me, like, then don't get me wrong, Tina Thompson. set the bar in that way. Tasha Williams-Franklin set the bar in that way. Like, there are players that had long careers. But not the same as what, like, myself, what Diana's, Diana Tarasi is doing right now in terms of, like, got to, like, dream about it, get drafted.

You know what I mean? Like, just kind of like the way in which a lot of athletes are going to do it now. Right. Like the path that we already, the path that I just finished, a lot of athletes will follow it. Whereas, you know, if you compare it to like a Cynthia Cooper, she didn't get to play pro for the first like 15 years of her career only to come back. So it's just like a different thing. And I'm really proud that I get to be one of those players

that like, oh, no, you can have a 20 year career. Like this can be what it is. Because when I was coming out of college, like, how long do you want to play? I don't know. Yeah. Who knows, right? Like somebody has to set that bar. And again, like something I'm proud of is that like I was one of the people that helped set that. Yeah, it's interesting. I'm thinking so we're approaching WBA free agency. And I just and one of your your teammates or your former teammates now,

Brana Stewart is like, talk of this whole free agency. Yeah, yeah. You know where I'm going with this. But she's the talk. And I want to ask because, you know, like obviously the liberty

are lingering for her services, right? And there have been rumors that she's going to go there. Before I get into that part, I do want to know, like, with the WMBA, because we all know in the NBA, everyone's talking about market,

size, you know, I know you're a Knicks fan. Oh, the Knicks got it. You know, we're going to, we're going to figure it out the Knicks. We're going to get somebody in free agency. Same with the Lakers, right? And all these things. How much does market size like matter in the WMBA? Like, how much do you guys look into that and be like, oh, I'm going to try. And I know, I know, you know, the CBA is different now and it kind of gives a little bit more wiggle room to leave? But like, like, how much is it like, yo, I'm going to get my home girl here. I'm going to get my home girl here. And we're going to get a super team popping. Like, or how much is that, how much does that matter now? Or how much is that going to matter in the future?

Like, how much is it? Where are we going to that as a league right now? What is what, what are your, what are your thoughts on that? Yeah, I think we are. I think for a long time, there wasn't enough money. The rules were set up in a way where you really didn't, there wasn't a lot of movement to be had. Like we have this core. It's kind of similar to like a franchise player tag.

So we have like a core. So if you got core, I mean, people were getting cord like three, four, five, six times in their career. taking away all opportunity to leave even if they wanted to. That has changed. So a lot of the rules have changed. Like I said, the money. So now it's set up in a way where you can consider things like market, like market size and eyeballs. Like you can start to consider those things. Whereas before it's like it wasn't really a player. Like there was nothing to be gained by going, like whether you were in New York or Indiana, it didn't really matter. Now it matters. Now it's a thing. Obviously social media makes it matter a little less in that no matter where you are you're going to get love

you're going to get coverage but yeah new york is new york l-a is l-a like this is life this is what it is this is every profession this is you know and now i think because like i said the rules have changed it's starting to become a player and people or people start to talk about it the interesting thing is like maybe different from from men's basketball because because we play overseas together so much we're around a lot of different players a lot with a lot of downtime. And I always think like that's where super teams are going to get formed.

Yeah. Or and this is similar to because like one of my favorite things is like a fun little fact. I didn't know it at the time, but looking back I know it. Like at the 2008 Olympics, looking back and like remembering some of the conversations, I was like, oh, LeBron, D. Wade, Chris Bosch.

I'm like, Melo, like, oh, they were like, they were talking about their contracts. They were talking about, oh, if we opt out now, we'll be free agents at the same time. Are you saying there's campaigning the NBA right now? Come on. No, they were just having casual conversations. But, like, low key, I'm like, I'm pretty sure I witnessed some conversations that led to what was what ended up being the Miami Heat. Yeah.

Like, I'm pretty sure. And that's happening now with us. Like, national team, you're on the bus. You're like, oh, so when's your contract up? What are you doing next year? Oh, like, where are you thinking you? Like, what coach do you want to play for? Like, oh, what kind of?

And I think we are going to see. it more and more just because those conversations are now happening. I mean, D and I joke about it. If forming a super team was a thing in like 2004 when D got drafted, so maybe 2005, 6, and we start being like, yo, let's go to New York. Let's go to L.A. She's from L.A. I'm from New York. So that would have been the fight. But like, yo, why don't we team up? It just wasn't a thing. I want to get back to Brianna Stewart. We're not, we ain't myself that. But like, didn't you and D almost play together in the liberty? I feel like, wasn't it like a joking?

A joking conversation? Yeah, like, okay. So if I had to put a year on that, I would say we were both in Russia. So we're talking like 2012, 13. And we were kind of like, yo, what if? But it wasn't really, at that point, I was so Seattle. She was so Phoenix. Like, neither one of us was actually going to leave.

But we like had the conversation. We like gamed it out. Man, I'm like, isn't New York just the luckiest team ever? Like all these conversations end in New York. But why can't the Knicks have, the Knicks can't have that luck for some reason or another. I'm sorry, Sue. Yeah.

But what Brianna, right, like, it seems like this was something that like, I mean, I don't know if she's going to leave. Everything indications it seems like she's probably going to, but we'll see. What, in your mind,

what got to the point where that's even a conversation, right? Like where. For her specifically? For her specifically in like, where do you got, Because I just feel like I watched you guys in Vegas This was your last regular season game

And I'm like, no Brianna Stewart Is the Seattle storm What that was going on? In your eyes, how have we even gotten To this point of where she's probably Going to leave? TBD.

TBD. Okay, sorry, sorry. No, no, no, I'm just playing. I feel like a lot of sports leagues, like different players are going to have different like priorities in something like free agency. And because the WMBA, when you're Brianna Stewart and a player like Brianna Stewart,

it's not like the Seattle star. So we kind of have our version of like the bird rights ish. Like meaning the Seattle currently can pay Stewie more than New York can, unless you did a sign and trade. But the money is like the margin is like, I don't know, $20,000, $30,000. So it's not millions. And so right out the gate, money's not a player.

Why? Because Stewie goes overseas, because Stewie has marketing deals that are paying her far more than her WMBA salary. So money is not a player in this, right? I always say it's like, remember what happened with like ISO Joe. Joe Johnson, when he left Phoenix, I'm sure. Yeah, that sucked. Exactly. But what happened?

He just got offered so much money. It was like, what are you going to do? Blum out of the water, yeah. Right. Yeah. That's like that's not specific. that's not like apples to apples to Stewie, but like that's not happening. So Stewie can now look at other things. And New York is New York. She's from Syracuse, which obviously is not New York

City. But it makes a difference. It's closer. Her wife is from Spain. It's closer. Like she has a family now. Like things, you start to your priorities and like what you need from a team, start to shift and change because money is not the only thing at play. If Seattle could offer Stewie five more million than New York, I think we're having a different conversation. Right. But what's it like for you to see, right, where, man, you want to see your franchise, you know, after you're gone, kind of. Yeah. I guess in the perfect world will be like, you're going to, you're trying to pass a baton to Stewie. Like, yo, this is like, this is you. This is you. And like, you go for 10 more years and you go do that. Like, what is that like for you to see,

like, damn, now it's going to be like, if this happens, it's going to be a huge rebuild. Yeah. No, I mean, listen, when we drafted Jewel and we drafted Stewie, that was like, like forget, I wasn't even thinking championships. We were already in a rebuild. I was thinking like, I want to set these two up to take this franchise, like you just said. At that point, probably like another 15, 15, 20 years. They were babies, you know? So of course, like I, you know, I'm Seattle Storm until I die. So of course, there's some sadness there if Stewart were to leave. She's also like a close friend. And I want her, you know, it's like she has to live this life. So she needs to be happy in it. So I have, that's kind of where like I personally

land with it. But yeah, if I just look at it from a Seattle storm kind of with my Seattle storm goggles on, if you will, like, yeah, it's going to be tough. I mean, we still have Jewel. We still have a lot of talent. But it's tough without the Brianna Stewart of the world. Do you feel that way because you're retired now?

Like if you're playing next year, you'd be like, yeah, what the fuck? If I'm playing next year, if I'm playing next year, she's staying. Sure, okay. Or not. Or I'm not playing. Because now you're all five. It's like, yeah, you know, it's great. You go.

Exactly. Oh, no. Yeah. I was like literally like if I'm playing, it's because she's there. I mean, it's basically why I stayed in when we drafted her. I was a free agent that year. And then we got the number one pick. I was like, okay, I'm in.

I was going to be all right. Can I just say real quick, like Seattle is one of the biggest like, I wasn't a regret. I had nothing to do with it. But it was one of the things that made me sad in my NBA career. I loved going to Seattle. I mean, Oklahoma City is great too, but Seattle as a town, as a fan base, as a building, the plan, like...

Let's be real, Roger. Oklahoma City can't fuck with Seattle. I would choose Seattle as a city and as a place to visit and all of that, but Oklahoma City has some really good fans, too. Seattle's fans were fantastic, but all of the other stuff is Seattle in general with the fans and the experience in building

when they had like Ray and Richard and Floddy and those teams, oh, man, you couldn't touch that spot, man. It was fun. I need some context on this one. This is, I'm about to, because we don't get to ask you these types of questions. So I'm still asking about Stewie. So last year, right, and I think this is good for the game. No, I'm still here.

I'm still here. I think this is great for the game because now we're starting to get into the, especially it started last last off season to starting like back into this off season. The WMBA rumor meal is like very amazing. It's tight. It is. Like now, for instance, Candace Parker might be coming back to the sparks and I might cry, you know, because I said it's been tough sledding.

But like last year with Stewie, like, they were like, you know, you could just see that she was like kicking the tires on New York. She was just kicking the tires. Yeah. She took a meeting. Yeah. She took a meeting, right? You know, as her teammate, I need context on this. How did that go down?

And what were the conversations with y'all like? What did you? You were like, yo, what's up? Like, I'm only going to say one more. Yeah. Yeah, you can do that next. Like, what was that from your vantage point? Yeah.

I think it kind of, it kind of goes back to what I was saying. Like, this is Stewie's life. Like she needs to do what she needs to do for her life. I knew in that moment she was coming back. So her taking that meeting had like zero impact on me personally. Like I knew she was coming back. We had already talked about it. I had told her I was coming back.

We like had talked about the whole thing. We were at that point in time. Matter of fact, I had visited her. I was down in L.A. for something. She was doing her research. have she had Achilles surgery. And so I was actually like with them

kind of like around the time that she was about to take the New York meeting. We were already talking about the storm roster and like what do we need and who we trying to get and all those things.

So it's like I knew she was coming back. So that didn't. So her taking the meeting, it was almost like I compartmentalized. There was like what was going to happen for the storm in 2022. And then there was like what Stewie was doing for her future.

That's kind of how I viewed it. And good for her because like even though it's for, you know, everybody in Seattle, you're a free agent. You need to explore that. You do. You just do. I mean, then we can go into a whole conversation about shiny new toys and is the grass always greener. But that's like a part of, that's a part of free agency is kind of like dissecting that and figuring that out. I never, you know, to be honest, I never experienced that because the way the rules were, it never made sense to test the market. I was like, what market? I really wish you and Diana just would have went to my sparks, but, you know, I just like it could have happened. And you're like, you know, like, we just played with the idea. So you're happy Candace is going back. Might go back.

I don't know that. Did you see what the fucking sparks put out last year? Hell yeah. I'd be happy. And then did you see what Candace Parker did that? Hell yeah, I'd be happy. She'd come back. I was crying.

Bro, I was crying tears of sadness, what she left. When she left, okay. I didn't know. I didn't know you're with the sparks like that. I'm a huge sparks fan. I'm a huge sparks. I will, I was a Sacramento Monarchs fan to start, but you know, they left. So like, I know,

I'm a Sparks fan. Okay. Okay. Fair, fair, fair. She talked about free agency. I thought, like, when you play, even if you know your heart is in said town, I mean, it, just as a business person, it behooves you to explore options and keep options open and just, you know, vet everything thoroughly, right?

Like, I, unfortunately, Sue was a free agent a lot. So, you know, we went through that. But different, different styles of free agency, somewhere you were coveted and you were going to, you were going to command a slight bag, others where, you know, you're just trying to find a good place to fit where you can, you know, accomplish what you'd like to accomplish. So, I mean, even if you know, I was just adding on to that, even if you know and your heart's coming back somewhere and you want to go ahead and exercise that, you know, that, that, that, uh, that right to check things out and make sure that that this is the place. Absolutely.

Absolutely. Roger always talks about how he almost came to the Lakers. And I'm like, come on, like, talk. You could have, I could have been a full circle moment. That's my, yeah. Let's see. I mean, at the end of the day, I do kind of regret it, right? Because it didn't, end well for me in Utah. But more than anything, I would, I would have liked to have seen Kobe like every day. I've said this before. Just not talking about being the player that Kobe was, but see if you could match that work ethic, like that drive. See if you could live up to the standards that, you know, he held for the people in that building. That's something that I kind of regret. I had one question. I was watching the last dance suit. And there's a, I mean, again,

the UCon propaganda is out here. Michael Jordan was like talking about, I didn't bring it up. But I wanted to ask. No, no, no, I wanted to ask. It's a hidden thing. It's not a hater. I'm a hater. But, like, though, the question is, though, like, MJ was like, really,

what he had Lise McDowell's Yukon at that time. And that was around the time that I think you were starting a Yukon? Was he ever around at all? Did he ever pull up? Michael Jordan. Yeah. Did he ever pull up? No, no, no, no.

We went to one of his, similar to what we did with the Sixers. We went to, but it was a wizard's practice. And we got to watch him practice. And I just remember he was. they were playing one on one on one. Oh my God. He was just like berating everybody. It was like cooking rip Hamilton.

Cook and Rips ass. Oh my God. Yeah. It was like Rip. I want to say Tailu was on the team. He was just going at everyone. All of us are watching like, holy shit. And like you know how the like Roger, you'll know, you know how the Washington

practice court is? Yeah. So like our whole team, you kind of come in and you have to like go down some stairs to get down to the court. And the area up top is like where you walk in. It's like big. Our whole team is just crammed in there. All of us trying to get to like the front.

Like all of us trying to get to the pole at the front to like watch this one on one on one. It was it was brutal. I'm going to take it back about hearing conversations when she was with the national team that, you know, years later you reflect on those. What was the relationship like between the two national teams that because it sounds like you guys were pretty close, right? If you're close enough to be hearing those conversations, like what was that like? What was the support in the family type of environment? Yeah, no, it was great. It was great.

I think some of it is that, not some of it, a lot of it is that you're in these foreign countries. We're staying either in like a hotel or in some cases on a boat. That's a whole other thing. And it's kind of just us. Like we're all we really have, like both your team and then the men's team. And they always did a great job, USA basketball, Nike, always did a great job of setting up like a lounge for us where it was like players only like you really weren't even supposed to bring in like if somebody had like a partner with them whatever a family member you really weren't even

supposed to bring anybody in there it was just players and so it was like kind of like a safe place for us to just go whether it's like listen to music play cards like whatever it was just to like kick it and so you do you get to know each other um and then you know for me i get to like ease drop on contract conversations what is what is the what is the game of choice um w NBA card card games. Card game. There's not as many card games happen as in the NBA. But my first couple years on the national team, like my first four years,

like Dawn, Staley, Lisa Leslie, Cheryl Swoops, those three. It was like every day on the back of the bus. Practice could be like one minute away. And they were going to get a game in and it was Tonk. Oh, yeah. That's OG. Yeah. Yeah.

What's it? I saw I saw Brittany Griner yesterday at the MLK parade I didn't see I saw I was like I was there no I was not there

I saw footage you guys share an agent like what how is she doing like what what's what's what's going on on that and have you have you talked to her have you what's how she doing I know she's thinking about playing this season which would be some G shit

but what is how are our spirits Yeah, I haven't personally talked to her, but obviously, you know, I'm friends with a lot of people in the Phoenix Mercury. We do share an agent. From what I've heard and understand, like she's doing well. And I think, again, I haven't talked to her, like personally, but I feel like she's doing well in that she's so thankful. Her gratitude is like through the roof. She's home. She's with her wife, her family, our friends, or this or that.

So it's like, of course she's doing well. Do I know, like, in the depths of her soul how she's doing? No, and I think time will show that for her. But from what I understand, like, she is, she's doing well. I think she is going to play this summer and wants to play this summer. From what I've heard, that means, like, she is starting to work out. She played golf with a friend of mine recently. Like, I do think she's trying to like, yeah, yeah, I do think she's like trying to,

I mean, listen, she probably feels like she has a new lease on life. That's me talking, but how could you not? Right. You know, especially with what you just experienced. So, yeah, like I said, not from my personal information, but from what I've kind of gathered, it seems like she's doing pretty well. Are you a golfer? I'm not.

I do like top golf. I can drive and I can put my mid-ranges. It's like opposite of my bass fucker. My mid-range is suss. There was a time where golf just swept, like some people were playing, and then it just swept the NBA where like everybody is golfing. I heard you referenced golf. So I was wondering if that, if there was.

Not yet. People tell me I will. We'll see. What's the WMBA hobby of choice, though? I don't know what the WMA hobby of choice is. That's a good question. I know what the 41-year-old, or I'm 42 now, the 42-year-old, that was like, what's the best restaurant I can go to? It's jet shedding to Paris to see Kendrick Lamar is what that is. Amsterdam, close.

Amsterdam. Excuse me. Exactly, yeah. Yeah. I mean, it probably is like, honestly, it's like TikTok videos or something. I don't know what it is now. Hello, this is your real ones podcast, and I am Jade. The amount of trash hot takes per episode will be around 12.6 per hour. Before we get you out of here, this is going on a Thursday episode, so you know what that means, Ra.

We got a real one of the week where we shot out a person, entity and organization that just won the week for us. It's early. We're recording us on a Tuesday, but fuck it. We're just going to do. We're going to do a real one of the week. I'm going to go first, go with Rod, then we're going to end with Sue. My first one, and it pains me to say this, but, you know, he played his ass off. Dak Prescott, the Dallas Cowboys. He beat the goat.

I mean, and he played really well. There was a lot of people, like, Steve Young was on his head pregame. Like, I don't know if he's going to make the right decisions. And do-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. He's like, I thought he was a mid-tier quarterback, by the way, Steve Young was talking about him. But he came down and he made all the right throws. And he beat the goat, man.

And the Cowboys are coming to San Francisco. And it's a great game from him. So shout out to Dak, Press. Scott, that's my ruin of the week. Who's your ruin of the week, Ra? I'm going to stay in the NFL. I'm going to stay with the quarterbacks too. I'm going to go with the New York Giants, Danny Dimes.

Yeah, I don't know. Listen. I'm a New York Giant fan. No, he stole mine. I was going to be like the Giants. The Giants want a playoff game. Let's go. Let's go.

We'll share it then. Like, I'm going to go. Like, Danny died. Look, man, they did not pick up his fifth year option. I don't even know where I stand on, on, like, whether he is the long-term answer as a franchise guy or not. I'm not getting in the weeds with that. But he balled the hell out, man.

He probably made himself a lot of money in the process with that with that playoff performance. And the Giants, I mean, how long has it been? Long time, long time. Now I'm going to go like a hard left on this. I'm going to give a shout out because we talked about workout classes. I'm heavy in this boxing right now. I literally come home. And I'm like, Megan, Megan, today we did a one, two, duck four.

Are you more energetic than Meg now? probably. She's like, I'm like, why are you so tired? All these workouts, why are you so tired? No. So I'm going to shout out to it's based in Seattle. It's called Rowdy Box. They're hooking it up.

There it is. Sue, thanks so much for coming on. I think I can speak for a rock. I think she's made friend of the show status, right? Oh, yeah. She's friend of the show for show, right? All right. So that means you have an open invitation to come anytime.

So pull up any time. Just pull up on the Zoom. Next week I'll come with Bad Boy. Okay. So she's wearing a death row record shirt right now. now, and I don't know how to feel about it. Like, a native Oakland, I'm loving it. But, like, I just don't know.

I feel like she's like, I don't know if she's an op right now where she should be wearing a bad boy. Can I add something real quick, like lightweight? I notice is, I mean, we're really long right now. I don't remember what World Cup it was, right? But I remember watching and being like, yo, who's that? Before she blew up. Before Megan blew up.

No, real talk. And I was sitting there. I'd be like, yo, who is that? I like, I like her. She's tough. And everybody's like, oh, well, you know, this one and that one. And I'm like, nah, uh-uh. I swear to God, I'd be like, that one, that one.

She likes the smoke. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know who else was like that one? Sue Byrd. She was like, yeah, I'd like that one. Yeah.

That's been another addition of real ones. We will see you guys next week. Tap in. Holla.