00:00Now I need to get your take on everything going on surrounding the WNBA's biggest name,
00:05Caitlin Clark. And I love Caitlin Clark. And I love what Candace Parker had to say. She's a
00:11legend, Hall of Famer, analyst, and she put WNBA players on blast. And I agree with Candace
00:17for voting Clark as the 11th best guard in the league. Nancy, I want you to take a listen to
00:22this. It's also kind of crazy. Like, I wholeheartedly believe that there needs to be
00:28some rules with the WNBA players, because this is getting out of hand. Caitlin Clark voted
00:3411th best guard by WNBA players. That's crazy. Kelsey Plum finished 12th in player rank, but
00:42she'd be percolating all over your defense. You'd be chasing her downhill on screen.
00:47No, it's unserious work.
00:48It's kind of crazy. I wholeheartedly believe I think people need to look at themselves in
00:54the mirror and realize, like, man, you got some insecurities. If you're sitting down
01:00and putting Caitlin Clark as the 11th best guard, y'all need to go to a therapist and
01:09figure out what childhood issues you have. Because if you're sitting there and looking
01:13at yourself in the mirror and putting her as 11th best guard, and you're putting you
01:18as 8th best, like, come on. And Kelsey Plum is the 12th. Now, maybe games, because she's
01:23been hurt. This is crazy.
01:28Crazy is a great word choice. Insecurity is from Kansas, I thought was a pretty great word
01:32choice as well. So you've got that. You've got all these physical incidents this season.
01:38You've got Republican lawmakers sending a letter to Kathy Engelbert, the WNBA commissioner on
01:44Wednesday, demanding that the league take accountability for multiple attacks. So what the hell is going
01:50on here, Nancy? Well, you know, uh, sometimes, uh, what is it? Uh, sometimes when people win
01:58the lottery within two years, they lose all their money because they're not used to, uh, having
02:04that type of access and money. But I will tell you this. I agree 100% with Candace Parker because,
02:13I mean, Caitlin gets the crap beat out of her. It's F it's, it's definitely something that there's
02:22jealousy. There's envy because to me, uh, she's in the top three or four players in this league.
02:30Some players play the game. Matter of fact, you're seeing a lot of players right there that have played
02:35the game and she changed the game. Candace Parker changed the game. Nancy Lieberman changed the game.
02:41Tarassi changed the game. There's, there's people like that, but she is the economic engine. So I
02:51understand that you should not get in anybody else's pocketbook because she has made virtually
02:58everybody who is on their contract. Now you will be millionaires if you're not already. And there would
03:05be no $2.2 billion in media rights being given to the WNBA. There would not be commercial, you know,
03:13jets right now given to the WNBA. She accelerated everything. I mean, just look at this, uh, everything
03:20she does. And yeah, she's been injured, unfortunately, but I think people take shots at her and you do, you
03:29got to, you got to look back and go, what kind of insecurities do you have that you don't like
03:34this
03:34player? Because remember the Jordan rules back in 19, you know, 84. First of all, I don't know if David
03:43Stern said anything to, you know, the league or to the union, like, Hey man, we can't hurt this guy.
03:49He's playing to, you know, full arenas everywhere. He plays the ratings going up, the collective
03:56bargaining, the money's going up because of what Michael Jordan did to this league. Get your
04:01feelings out of this. Okay. Uh, I had a friend once, uh, I still have him. His name is Warren
04:07Buffett.
04:07And he told me, do not make decisions based on emotion because you'll almost always make the wrong
04:15decision. The players who are taking shots at her right now, you're doing this out of emotion
04:22and it's a bad look. It's a horrible look. Now I think Congress and the government should stay out
04:29of this in my opinion, but you know, I, she's the type of player, Hey, who was doing the fist
04:37pump
04:37when he won tournaments with a red Jersey, Tiger Woods in the nineties, when he was elevating the
04:44attendance and the purses and the TV ratings. I am sorry that you don't move the needle 99% of
04:54the
04:54players in the league play in the league, but you don't move the proverbial needle that makes this
05:00a business. I'm sorry. It's the way it is. And you know, I was an unpaid pioneer. You're paid
05:08pioneers. You have somebody who's doing something special. It's not her fault. And Angel Reese's
05:14fault that they came into the pros and they had millions and millions of followers from their
05:20collegiate career. Timing is everything. I'm not mad at one player in the WNBA for what you have.
05:28I am so proud that this league has elevated to give all of you jobs. Clearly, clearly Asia
05:36Wilson is the best player in the world. Of course, her consistency, how she handles herself, the, the,
05:42the MVPs, the championships. She's a winner. Her DNA is to win. She's amazing. That's why she has so
05:49many national commercials. That's why Angel has so many national commercials. That's why Kelsey Plum has
05:56so many national commercials. Sabrina, her shoe is, is electric in what she's doing with that shoe
06:03overseas. And certainly Caitlin Clark is at the top. I, I think she'll be the first hundred million
06:11dollar player, female player in the history of women's pro basketball. And you say economic engine
06:18and you nailed it. And I don't even bat an eye when you say that's going to be Caitlin's salary.
06:22And I agree.
06:23And she's allowed, she's allowed me, Cheryl Miller and Myers, all the people you see on TV on all the
06:30different street streaming networks that, that are picking up the league. Oh, that's because of
06:35Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese and Asia Wilson. Okay. I'm sorry. There's some other great ones out
06:41there, but those are the ones that really push, uh, the needle or needle movers. Yeah. So here's the
06:48follow Nancy, which I'm struggling with because everything you said, I'm nodding along. I I'm with
06:53you. We're on the exact same page. And, and now people tune in for Caitlin Clark and you
06:58appreciate the WNBA and other players. So why do you think Caitlin Clark's presence
07:06has caused so much turmoil? What do you think has led to so many issues with Caitlin Clark's arrival
07:14on the W? I came into this league with stature. She came in with swag who doesn't have swag. I
07:23had
07:23swag when I came into the league. I had fist fights when I came into the league. I was actually
07:28the bully
07:29when I came into the league. And I don't think, uh, you know, Alyssa Thomas is a bully. She's a
07:35physical
07:35player. She's like Rick Mahorn. She's like, you know, Anthony Mason. She's like Alonzo Morning was
07:42Rodman was, you know, all those physical players. I was like her. I probably would have found out at
07:47every game, but because she's so physical and she is, you know, that type of player. Do you realize
07:56that she has been in the top three for most valuable player the last three or four years?
08:02She's won gold medals. People don't even know how good she is because they're so focused on the
08:09physicality, but who else is shooting that shot from three? People were pissed at Steph Curry when
08:16he came in the league and he was shooting those threes and every kid wanted to be like Steph Curry.
08:22Well, and you know, Caitlin is getting bigger. She's getting stronger. She's going to the rim more.
08:28She's going to get more contact and she is, you know, I don't know her, uh, uh, Olivia Miles, Chelsea
08:39Gray,
08:40three of the best passers I have ever seen in the history of our game ever, not just this season,
08:472026. And I just think, you know, we've got to lighten up, play hard, play to win, try and get
08:53your
08:53team to the playoffs. And, but you know, don't, don't play dirty. Okay. Don't poke her in the eye.
09:02Don't, you know, hit her when she's not looking and knock her down, you know, even, you know, and I
09:07just saw that, um, you know, Kennedy Carter just got released by the aces. Uh, it really started with
09:15that because that was blindside Chuck and Kennedy Carter is a hell of a basketball player, but you got
09:23to wonder why nobody keeps her on the roster. Right. I always, my favorite thing is, you know,
09:29you, this is why. And, you know, somebody else gets that contract. You know, if Becky thought that
09:36she could be that player, she'd still be there in, in Las Vegas, but this league is so great. The
09:42competition, you know, Cheryl Reeves is breaks the all time of coaches wins in the WNBA. And I think
09:50that's what bothers me, Nancy, the most that in so many ways, the WNBA is better than ever
09:55competition, coaching players, teams, expansion, fans, the fan base. Thank you. Arenas are being
10:03sold out. Yeah. And it, it drives me nuts that the players, they have this gift with the attention
10:12because of Caitlin Clark and who she is and what she brings as a needle mover. I love the way
10:18you
10:18phrase that you reference, obviously the Jordan rules, you reference Warren Buffett. I mean,
10:22it's all applicable here. I'm just struggling on how these players at times just don't understand
10:28that. It's because it's emotional. It's there in their feelings. Like, why am I not getting this?
10:34You know what? You might not. Am I on this show going when people thought I was the best player
10:40in
10:40the world in, in the eighties and nineties? Am I sitting on your show going, I can't believe what
10:45they have. No, it's, you can either support the game or not support the game. I'm not saying you got
10:52to let her just go by you or you have to not let Angel Reese, you know, get double doubles.
10:57I know
10:58everybody's trying to stop them, but they came with a fan base. Some of the players in this league
11:04did not come with the fan base. How about this? Economics. Michael Jordan never played to an empty
11:12seat. Tiger Woods has never played to an empty gallery. LeBron James has never played to an empty
11:22seat. Caitlin Clark has never played to an empty seat because whatever arena she goes into, it's sold
11:31out. Very few people have had that power, that following. And I know you're scratching your head
11:39go, why are, why are our fans, Arike, I think said this or Satu went to Dallas a few years
11:46ago.
11:46They're playing the wings and people are wearing Caitlin Clark jerseys. And to their credit, they said,
11:53why aren't you wearing wings jerseys? And the line outside of these arenas, I mean, I can't tell you
12:01why, but we've been friends really since her freshman year in college. And, you know, we've,
12:09we have a great friendship and relationship and I appreciate, you know, my time with her,
12:15but she doesn't deserve what she's getting right now. And God knows if that gal gets hurt,
12:23like seriously hurt, you'll see it. You'll see ratings go down. You'll see sponsorship go down.
12:29And I'm not saying one woman is, is just totally responsible because now we're getting to see
12:36more and more greatness in league. Look with Stewie. I mean, besides Maya Moore, who's the biggest
12:41winner in women's basketball history? Stewie. She's still doing it. She won four championships at
12:49UConn. She won championships, I think two or three with Seattle. I could be wrong. She won with the
12:56Liberty. She's unbelievable. There's, there's so many great players in this league. Look at Nneka,
13:02Aboumike. I mean, she's playing lights out. She's going to make the all-star team for, I don't know,
13:0912th year in a row. But people are starting to see the enormous amount of talent that this league has.
13:17And that's what we want because, and I'll put a period on this. There's a two-year-old
13:22that none of us know. And in 20 years, because of what these women are doing, in 20 years,
13:30she's going to be making 15, 20 million dollars a year. I know we were fighting to be millionaires.
13:38That little girl is going to have generational wealth because of what this group of women did
13:44because you're pioneers. You got nothing on me and Cheryl Miller and Ann Myers. You're pioneers.
13:52Just let, let's, and you get to play. And I love watching you play. I am the biggest WNBA fan.
13:59I make sure when I go to the Wings game that I shake hands with Jackie Young and, and like
14:04the ones
14:05that are very good friends of mine in the league. I want you to know, I respect you. I appreciate
14:12you.
14:13And I'll buy a ticket to see you play. That's how good you are.
14:17It's incredible stuff.
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