Under Her (Dallas) Wing w/ Alysha Clark

00:00:03
Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, welcome back to another episode of Futter Around and find Out. I'm here with my girl of Shanty.

00:00:09
Speaker 2: Hey, Hey, how you doing. I'm so excited for this episode. Let's get right into it. We have a very special guest. Do you want to do the honors of introduced her?

00:00:17
Speaker 1: The most special guests we've had yet?

00:00:19
Speaker 2: Ooh, we've been waiting on this one.

00:00:22
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, we have the one and only Alicia Clark wookay Ac is a three time WNBA champion. She was the WNBA six Player of the Year in twenty twenty three. She was on the WNBA All Defensive Team in twenty twenty and twenty nineteen, she's on the All Defensive second Team.

00:00:43
Speaker 2: Wait, whoa, Okay, Alicia, you're a superstar and we're really glad to have you on here. Okay wait Ac.

00:00:52
Speaker 1: Led the NCAA and scoring in two thousand and nine and twenty ten.

00:00:56
Speaker 3: I did not know.

00:00:57
Speaker 4: That long time ago, long time ago.

00:01:00
Speaker 1: You're the only player in the WNBA history with at least twenty seven hundred points, fourteen hundred rebounds, six hundred assists, and three hundred and fifty three pointers while shooting forty seven percent from the field and I didn't know this, but you led the NCAA and scoring in two thousand and nine and ten at Middle Tennessee State.

00:01:19
Speaker 2: Okay, so I just want to jump into it. I do want to talk about how your time has been so far in training camp. Tell us some of the things, some highlights, and maybe a little bit of the challenges.

00:01:31
Speaker 4: Training camp has been good. It's been fun.

00:01:34
Speaker 5: You know, it's always weird when you're in a new environment and just like trying to find your place and where you fit in and just kind of go. But it's been super easy here adjusting and just kind of falling into the flow of everything. And I think that just starts with how Jose showed up and just like I love when people are just like directing like, hey, this is what I expect, this is where we are, because then you know how to operate in that. But it's been super easy. It's been fun, fun getting to know new teammates. Yeah, and then the challenges. Honestly, the other day we were going we came in for like some film and what you know, we when you say walk through, you're literally walking maybe a slight little jog through, And so in my mind that's what I'm anticipating we're gonna do. So they're like, all right, you guys need to stretch or anything, and I'm like, no, we're We're good, Like we're just about to walk through.

00:02:25
Speaker 4: These mofos get out there and.

00:02:27
Speaker 5: They start going one hundred miles an hour and I'm standing on the side and I was like, oh, so we're not walking through like we're going.

00:02:35
Speaker 4: It's like, got it, okay? And I was like, maybe I should have activated and done a little stretching before.

00:02:42
Speaker 1: I'm used to a Yukon walkthrough, which is like full speed three man, we like, we're full on practice.

00:02:47
Speaker 3: So he said get to the base.

00:02:48
Speaker 2: I'm like, y'all did.

00:02:51
Speaker 5: They started sprinting and I looked over at ours, at our coach empress.

00:02:54
Speaker 4: And I was like, this is a lot through.

00:02:56
Speaker 2: I was like, hey, I saw your face.

00:03:00
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:03:00
Speaker 5: So that's probably the biggest adjustment is yes, young group, I gotta remember. I'm like, they want to come out and start shooting from the three point line first, they want to sprint through everything.

00:03:10
Speaker 4: So just that's been the adjustment.

00:03:13
Speaker 2: I'm looking forward to what what it ends up turning out to be, because i mean, like, yeah, walkthrough.

00:03:19
Speaker 3: Definitely asterisk, but it'll pay off.

00:03:21
Speaker 2: It'll pay off.

00:03:22
Speaker 3: We're gonna find it in between pace.

00:03:25
Speaker 4: Yeah, they're keeping me young. They're keeping me young.

00:03:29
Speaker 2: Anyway, Alicia, So recently you posted on social media about a bet you had with Paige. So the fans wanted to know what that hundred dollars bet was about. If it's podcast safe.

00:03:42
Speaker 4: Yeah it is.

00:03:45
Speaker 5: It was like in between half court and like it's almost like volleyball line, and so I was like, you know, one hundred bucks, one shot, and she was like, oh bet, and I was like, okay. So she shot the first one and she claims that someone hit her ball and it was going to go in and she I was like, go ahead, one more and so she shot the next one and missed, and so I won my one hundred dollars.

00:04:06
Speaker 4: So I was like, thank you for my free money.

00:04:09
Speaker 1: So she should owe you two hundred is what I'm hearing.

00:04:12
Speaker 4: Thank you.

00:04:12
Speaker 5: That's what I thought too. But you know, I was like, let me, let me tread carefully.

00:04:18
Speaker 1: You have a whole season to get more money out of her.

00:04:21
Speaker 2: I will say, what about you? Why don't you get in on the bets, girly?

00:04:25
Speaker 1: I wasn't there. I don't want to take her money. I can't take AC's money.

00:04:30
Speaker 5: Listen, they got more money than me. Okay, I've worked hard so they can have all the money. Okay, I'm taking all of their money this year.

00:04:35
Speaker 4: Okay, thank you, thank you.

00:04:38
Speaker 2: I know that's right. Okay, We're definitely going to get into that because you have put a lot of work for this next generation and we all appreciate you. But see, I do want to know a little bit more like about you. Okay, we know you're Miss Tennessee. You come with many nicknames that we're going to get into as well. But you also have a love for cooking, and I'm hearing you piloted like or you came up with something for like a cooking show.

00:05:07
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's no longer up and going. We've kind of pivoted since then. But yeah, I was doing just like cooking on my Instagram, like it was nothing crazy, and we were trying to conceptualize what that would look like in a TV show format and started. I had recorded like three episodes with some of the guests that I got to handpick that I wanted to be a part of it, and.

00:05:28
Speaker 4: It was super special. Is dope.

00:05:30
Speaker 5: Doing the recordings showed me that, like, Okay, yeah, no, this is this is what I want to be doing.

00:05:36
Speaker 4: This kind of marries my love of.

00:05:39
Speaker 5: People, of food, of like communion, and just of like highlighting the goodness because I just think, you know, there's so much going on in the world anyway, and so I've always wanted to just be a light and like share goodness and put more goodness out there. The first guest that I had on there, it was just that, and I was like, yeah, no, this is something that I want to.

00:05:59
Speaker 4: Hopefully like redo and recreate in another avenue.

00:06:02
Speaker 5: But yeah, that was something that I just I loved being able to teach people food, learn something together.

00:06:08
Speaker 4: You know. For me, that's what I love about cooking.

00:06:10
Speaker 5: It's just bringing people together and fellowshipping and just enjoying good food.

00:06:16
Speaker 2: You gotta tell us twice, we're all foodies on this show, and anytime you want to come and cook something, please bring that energy over here, okay, and we definitely would love to see you in asy cooking. Just prepare your palate because my goodsess love some cottage cheese.

00:06:33
Speaker 1: I've already told her I volunteer if she cooks to be your taste tester if she needs one.

00:06:38
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I love cottage cheese too.

00:06:41
Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, lot y'all are meant.

00:06:44
Speaker 1: To be.

00:06:47
Speaker 3: What's wrong with cottage cheese exactly? Immature taste buds.

00:06:52
Speaker 2: Hold on, hold on, we're gonna.

00:06:54
Speaker 3: Work on that palate. We're gonna work on the plate in a minute.

00:06:57
Speaker 2: I didn't say I disliked it, kind of gave. Okay, I've only had it in my eggs. Okay, so let's start. I didn't try it like playing or in anything else, and it just made my eggs a little bit like more milky.

00:07:10
Speaker 3: Creamy fluffy, creamy fluffy. Yes, that was different.

00:07:15
Speaker 5: Yeah see but I love a soft scramble, so it's perfect.

00:07:22
Speaker 2: Ooh okay, okay a see.

00:07:24
Speaker 3: Have you always been a good cook?

00:07:26
Speaker 4: Not always?

00:07:27
Speaker 5: I've learned, Like I mean, I wasn't bad, but I think I've definitely refined my skills over the years.

00:07:33
Speaker 4: Just playing overseas so much.

00:07:35
Speaker 5: You have so much downtime, and so that's where I like started watching YouTube videos and now when they had you know, like the master classes with different chefs. My TV stays on the Food Network and food channels, so like I'm always watching and just learning, so it was definitely a learned skill.

00:07:52
Speaker 2: You've traveled a bunch of places, and you've lived a bunch of places. Where do you like the cuisine the best?

00:07:58
Speaker 5: Ooh, I mean Italy and Spain off the top, love love, love. The food is like I could eat it seven days a week, like I was in Heaven. I just yeah, I love it. All those are my top two for sure. Friends had really good food. I was playing in Leon and you know that's like the European gastro capital, and so there were so many different little mom and pop shops. A lot of the famous chefs that come, you know, European chefs started in Leone, and like, so there's all these really great restaurants that were there, and you get all the different cuisines.

00:08:37
Speaker 4: So yeah, I loved it.

00:08:38
Speaker 5: Like living there, I got you got everything from Brazilian, I got Middle Eastern, and we got Italian that was there. So I was like eating everything when I was there. It was amazing food wise.

00:08:49
Speaker 3: That sounds incredible. Definitely needs a visit.

00:08:52
Speaker 1: Okay, which WNBA city has your favorite food spots?

00:08:57
Speaker 5: Ooh, I think it's a toss up between Chicago and New York.

00:09:02
Speaker 2: I love it.

00:09:04
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:09:04
Speaker 5: Yeah, their food scene is very diverse. You can get literally any cuisine, so those are my top for sure.

00:09:10
Speaker 2: You have great taste.

00:09:12
Speaker 4: Thank you.

00:09:12
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be texting you all season for food recks everywhere we go.

00:09:15
Speaker 5: Listen, you wouldn't be the first teammate to do so, so I'm prepared.

00:09:20
Speaker 2: But like, Okay, so you're in Dallas. Now, have you found your favorite Dallas restaurant?

00:09:24
Speaker 4: Not yet.

00:09:25
Speaker 5: I've only eaten out a couple of times since being here, just because.

00:09:29
Speaker 4: I cook all the time.

00:09:30
Speaker 5: But I did go to a bomb Japanese and Isakaia restaurant the other night.

00:09:36
Speaker 4: That was really good. Yeah, it was good.

00:09:39
Speaker 5: And so yeah, I mean I've found some coffee shops, like two, but outside of that, I haven't really ventured yet. So I'm waiting for, like I need like a big date where I can like gas myself up to driving to Dallas and go somewhere.

00:09:53
Speaker 1: Yeah. The Dallas traffic will definitely scare you away.

00:09:56
Speaker 4: Yeah, and because the mats, you know, the mats don't work.

00:09:59
Speaker 1: Well, I can't wait for you to start venturing out so I can then hear from you which spots I need to go to try.

00:10:05
Speaker 4: I'll drag you along too. I'm like, get up, we're going, let's go.

00:10:08
Speaker 1: Let's go, please do, please do. I'll pay for dinner there as long as you drive, though I don't want to try.

00:10:19
Speaker 2: Say, let's let's pivot a little bit to the w you know you were you were talking about, you know, they keep you young. So when you were a rookie, who was your vet? Who were some people that you were able to look up to and guide you in the dub.

00:10:35
Speaker 5: I had some amazing vets my rookie year. They're the ogs, like literally legends of this game. My vets my rookie year. Looking back, I'm like I had actually Coach Smith, Coach Camille Smith formerly Camille Little.

00:10:52
Speaker 4: She was my vet.

00:10:53
Speaker 5: Tanisha Wright, Katie Smith, Tina Thompson, Lauren Jackson was there my rookie year, Tamika Johnson. I don't know if I sent her Sue obviously playing there, like those were those were my vets, and I just I was so fortunate because they just like they laid the foundation of like everything from how you show up to practice, what it means to be a pro, how you look when you're not when you're traveling, because you know, back then we traveled. You know, commercially, what you're supposed to, you know, how you're presentable in public, how you treat your teammates just so much and just encouraging, challenging. I had a great group of vets. I'm really fortunate for the vets that I had.

00:11:41
Speaker 3: That's so crazy. Yeah, yeah, that's super. Do you literally had the legends as your vets? That is so cool. Yeah.

00:11:49
Speaker 1: So that's going to be me talking in ten years if I hopefully still play and be like, yeah, my rookie year, I got to play with AC, I got to playing from her, and like that's insane.

00:12:01
Speaker 4: It's insane, Like it really is.

00:12:03
Speaker 5: And for me just even like looking back and just remembering, like I mean at that time, like LJ was not even.

00:12:10
Speaker 4: One hundred percent and what she was able to do.

00:12:14
Speaker 5: Just watching her, I was like whoa And everyone's like she was like what she's doing now?

00:12:19
Speaker 4: Like this is her? I'm like not even one hundred percent yet, And I was like, are you kidding me? I was like, what is she?

00:12:25
Speaker 5: If she looks like this at eighty I would have made it to be an opponent when she was at one hundred.

00:12:30
Speaker 4: Because this is insane.

00:12:32
Speaker 1: Wow, yeah, that's dope. Okay, I was doing some research on you earlier and I didn't I don't want to keep bringing up that your season, but I didn't realize that you were drafted to a team that no longer exists, Like that's definition of season. You were drafted to the San Antonio San Antonio Solfer Stars.

00:13:05
Speaker 5: Aka Las Vegas. Now so the team is it's around. Yeah, it's crazy because Becky Hammond was my first VET, like she was the VET on the team when I got drafted there.

00:13:18
Speaker 2: That's insane, no iconic, Like how blessed you are like to be able to learn and gleam off these Hall of famers. Is there anything that they said to you that like stayed with you?

00:13:31
Speaker 4: I mean so much.

00:13:33
Speaker 5: I mean I can go down the line of just like you know, find find a way to add value to the team that you're on.

00:13:41
Speaker 4: Don't forget what got you here. You belong here.

00:13:44
Speaker 5: Like in terms of in this league, put in the work, like control what you can put in the work. Be if you're not playing in games, be the best practice player and best teammate you can be. Be ready for your opportunity. You never know when it's gonna come. If you're not ready for it, that's on you. And so like there were so many yeah, I know, just so many nuggets that just like even now to this day, that have carried me through because you know, this league is it's full of ups and downs, especially for players like me that you know are the intangible type of players, it can be a lot of up and down. You know, you do a lot of the thankless work, and it's like sometimes you know, you can it can feel like you're not being appreciated and not being seen for what you're doing, and it's like, hey, as long as you show up and you're doing what you're supposed to do and you're staying ready for opportunities and you're adding value to the team, like you're fine and so yeah, and that those for me, those nuggets just I mean, year after year have been my like foundation.

00:14:42
Speaker 1: You are the definition of adding value to a team. Oh thanks, I've gotten to see that from watching you play growing up, but just even in the less than two weeks, I've gotten to see firsthand like you add value and everything, like you said, all the intangibles, it's not stuff that you can replace.

00:14:58
Speaker 4: Yeah, thanks, Ed, I appreciate you.

00:15:00
Speaker 3: I'm learning from the best.

00:15:03
Speaker 4: Listen, I'm a set. Don't make me cry.

00:15:06
Speaker 1: Okay, see, I want to know what was your welcome to the league moment?

00:15:09
Speaker 4: Honestly, So there's two. One.

00:15:11
Speaker 5: I was talking yesterday at Media Day and I was like, you know what, honestly, it was probably getting cut my first two years. Like that for me was like like a reality like check of like whoa, it doesn't matter what.

00:15:25
Speaker 4: You did, what you know, program you come from, Like this is hard.

00:15:29
Speaker 5: And then once I finally got into like onto a team, we were playing LA for a preseason game and Delisia Milton Jones was on the team at the time, and you know, I'm like this tweener. I played a post my entire career, so like I've been playing against bigger, stronger defenders the whole time, So like I did you know my move that I would always do and like get around them, And I had like gone around her to go like finish on the opposite like side of the rim, and like she was behind me.

00:15:59
Speaker 4: So I was like, oh okay, like.

00:16:00
Speaker 5: You know, getting my feet wet, like feeling confident, and she was like blocks me out of bounds, and.

00:16:04
Speaker 4: She was like, nice, tryrook.

00:16:07
Speaker 3: She actually said that, yeah.

00:16:09
Speaker 4: And I kind of chuckled about it, you know, and I.

00:16:11
Speaker 5: Was just laughing, and I was just like, oh my god, there's not only are they like bigger, but like there's so much faster than like the players I played against in college. Because I literally thought I was like, oh yeah, I went around and you know this is in her later years when she was about to be done, but she closed that space so quick and blocked me out of bounds, and I was like, oh, okay, so I gotta go a little faster.

00:16:31
Speaker 1: That's really funny the comment. That's crazy.

00:16:34
Speaker 4: I was like, oh, I did try.

00:16:37
Speaker 2: It's okay, nice try real Look where you are now. You need it every moment, I know. So Ac, over time, you've developed a couple of nicknames. And I don't know if these nicknames come from the league or if they come from family friends.

00:16:52
Speaker 3: We have a c which obvious, Alicia Clark.

00:16:55
Speaker 2: We have vamps vamp Where does that come from? I'm scared.

00:17:04
Speaker 4: Right honestly.

00:17:08
Speaker 5: That literally started last year because Media Day in Seattle, I had posted my like one of the first pictures I had ever taken in Seattle, and I posted it with my media day picture from last year, just kind of side by side. I was like, these pictures are I think it was like ten years apart, because one was in twenty fifteen.

00:17:27
Speaker 4: When was it last year?

00:17:28
Speaker 5: And so everyone was like, you have an age, you're a vampire, like what and I was like, no, like you can clearly see I've aged, like there's a difference, and so ever since then, it's just like taken off. I didn't help myself yesterday apparently because someone had put together like all my media day pictures from over the years, and I was hoping someone could find it because I was like, oh, I would love to just see, like you know, they do it for everyone.

00:17:51
Speaker 4: I was like, well, I would love to just see that.

00:17:53
Speaker 5: And then everyone was like, yeah, you're not helping like the allegation, like you're not beating these allegations.

00:17:58
Speaker 4: You're not helping yourself. And I was like, you can see look at the eyebrows.

00:18:06
Speaker 1: Like yes, but no, I was just looking at that earlier in the tub and you can like see a difference, but it doesn't look like really aged.

00:18:15
Speaker 5: I mean good, but like also I have you know, and you know what the eyebrows was like back then?

00:18:21
Speaker 3: The eyebrows were then.

00:18:23
Speaker 5: Yeah, they were like pick up front and skinny in the back.

00:18:27
Speaker 2: It's okay, girl, you were staying with the times. You was staying with the time you were trended.

00:18:31
Speaker 4: You know, I do.

00:18:32
Speaker 1: I can't face card. Never declined though, that's for sure.

00:18:35
Speaker 5: Thanks Boky. But yeah, that's where it came from social media. It's hilarious.

00:18:40
Speaker 4: I love it. I engage with it because it's just it's fun.

00:18:43
Speaker 3: I'm nervous, quite nervous because I'm like.

00:18:46
Speaker 4: Was that all for the nicknames?

00:18:47
Speaker 2: Like, you know, we don't leave it at that, We won't leave it.

00:18:51
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, we'll leave it there. Okay, great, I.

00:18:54
Speaker 1: Feel like I need to come with a better nickname for you. We'll work on that. Okay, we'll work on it. But I wouldn't know what year and the W has been your favorite?

00:19:02
Speaker 4: Ooh what year? That's a good one.

00:19:03
Speaker 5: Honestly, probably like all of my championship years, just because I had so much fun with the teams that I was a part of, both on and off the court. And then just like in the year with what it all came out to be, I'd probably say that, Yeah, because I'm trying to think. Was there any like another sneaky year that I was like, Wow, I had so much fun?

00:19:23
Speaker 1: Yeah?

00:19:24
Speaker 4: No, probably those three years like equally.

00:19:27
Speaker 1: Yeah, you can't go wrong with the championship year. Yeah, I think that it's pretty hard to beat. Well, we're gonna aim to beat it this year.

00:19:37
Speaker 2: No, that's right, ezy.

00:19:38
Speaker 4: I love it.

00:19:40
Speaker 3: What's been some of the craziest changes.

00:19:42
Speaker 2: You've seen in the league. You know, you've been here for a while, you've seen and you've been part of a lot of the change.

00:19:51
Speaker 3: And she's made a lot of that change happen.

00:19:54
Speaker 4: Let me get let me roll out my uh my sproll.

00:19:58
Speaker 5: I mean what it used to be that was crazy was sharing rooms on the road. When we would travel, we'd have to share hotel rooms if you weren't a sixty year basis, because you had to have five years under your belt before you got your own hotel room.

00:20:12
Speaker 3: Wow.

00:20:12
Speaker 5: Honestly, I think just like traveling commercially, like you had the professional athletes, just like walking through the airport with like no security. We didn't have security back then either, so like there was no security if there was a delayed flight, you were sleeping at the airport, like on the ground, on the chairs like wherever.

00:20:35
Speaker 4: That was crazy. I think just like practice facilities, you know.

00:20:40
Speaker 5: I mean even going back to San Antonio, not that it was bad, it was like one of the better ones. But like our practice court was inside of a like a church gym, So like while we're in there practicing on the court, there's like a weight room upstairs for whoever wanted to be up there. And so like you had, you know, during the middle of the day, whoever's up there working out. You'd have like the grandmas and Grandpa's doing laps around the track because we're.

00:21:00
Speaker 4: Down there like practicing.

00:21:02
Speaker 5: You had some gyms where you would go practice and you're at a rec center. So you know, at the rec centers there's like fifty million lines and it's like, no, not the red or blue line, it's it's the green line that you shoot behind.

00:21:11
Speaker 4: Like just insane. What else?

00:21:17
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean even to like hotels, like when when Tulsa had a team. I guarantee you anybody watching this who was around back then, if I say strawberry field salad, everybody knows what it was. Because we stayed at the holiday and express and the only type of like healthy type of something you could get from the restaurant was the strawberry field salad.

00:21:40
Speaker 3: So though, yes, I know it was great.

00:21:43
Speaker 4: It was like a nice saw mag you know you had first strawberry man. Yeah, that was insane. And then obviously the money, the money, like the money.

00:21:53
Speaker 5: Like we were having a conversation, I was talking on Sydney's podcast and like my first contract was thirty six thousand, so wow, yeah a lot different.

00:22:05
Speaker 1: Wow. Yeah, no, wonder you guys went overseas.

00:22:07
Speaker 5: Yeah, you have to, like there was if you wanted to be able to just sustain, like you had to go overseas.

00:22:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's not a lot of money. That is crazy.

00:22:18
Speaker 2: Well, thank you paid you pay the duce.

00:22:21
Speaker 1: No, yeah, seriously, thank you so much for everything for making this possibility, for changing the league.

00:22:28
Speaker 3: How do you wind up being the vice president for the w NBPA.

00:22:32
Speaker 4: In our league, we.

00:22:34
Speaker 5: Have player leadership, which is like our highest governing body. So every team has two player representatives, a main one and an alternate, and then there's also an Executive committee. So that's kind of like the liaison between the league and the player reps and.

00:22:48
Speaker 4: The executive Committee. You have to be voted on.

00:22:50
Speaker 5: By your player leadership, by the player reps, and so there's terms. It's like two year terms for the vps. I think the president's like a four year term and you have the treasure all things.

00:23:00
Speaker 4: And so when the nominations were up.

00:23:03
Speaker 5: Two years ago, they were like, you know, they come to a player leadership because I've been a player rep for a little while now, and so it's like, hey, if you want to run for Executive Committee, submit your basically like application. It's like write one paragraph of why you want to be an EC member. And so I was like, you know what, I'm a room for it. And so in my paragraph that I was typing out, I was like, there's literally nobody in this league who has experienced literally every level everything that you can from being cut not being on a roster, to being on a roster and never playing, to being a bench player to being you know, working into like a role player, becoming a starter, becoming you know, a crucial part of teams winning at the highest level. Like, there's nobody else that has like literally started from the bottom line, like has worked through everything. And so I was like, I know what it feels like at every twist and turn. So I was like, I want to be able to offer be a voice for players like me that you know, these cbas don't necessarily cater to. And also I was like, by the time this term is up, I'm probably gonna be on my way out in the next couple of years or so after that, So I don't mind bting a little fire on my way out to like get what we deserve. And so, yeah, player leadership voted me in and that's how I became one of the vps.

00:24:16
Speaker 3: Yeah that makes sense literally every point of view you have. That's awesome, but there's a reason for it. I mean, hello, I'm just like, I'm just in all of you in all.

00:24:32
Speaker 2: I want to know more about the negotiations in New York and what that was like.

00:24:36
Speaker 4: Yeah, those were that was a crazy eight days.

00:24:40
Speaker 5: I was so happy that I got to like be there for it though, just because the way that things changed day to day.

00:24:48
Speaker 4: Had you know, we not been there in the room.

00:24:50
Speaker 5: To be able to like give feedback, this could have been a completely different outcome for the CBA. And I think when you have players, yeah we have you know, some of the one percenters, when you look at Fee and Stewie and Nekka, you know, those superstars, all Stars, MVP type caliber players, and then you had the rest of us that were, you know, have been again like crucial integral parts, but like represent the majority the makeup of the league or players that are in that middle tier. And you know, when we're sitting there having these conversations and just being able to balance ideas off of each other and going through like the nuances of what the CBA was, you know, there's perspectives that those one percenters don't they don't see just because they've never had to experience it. But when something came up that they didn't know, they were like, hey, how does this make you guys feel? What do you think? What should what could be better? And so it allowed a voice, like I think just to represent the majority of the league this go around with something that we all of us EC members were really really locked in on because the last go around, the middle tier players kind of got like left out. It was like we got kind of pushed out because everything was about the rookies and the and the super Max's, you know, and so the rest of us were kind of just like in this weird place where like, well, we're going to take a cheaper player over an experienced player, and so we wanted to make sure that didn't happen again, and so there was a lot of.

00:26:08
Speaker 4: Going back and forth.

00:26:08
Speaker 5: It was a stark reminder that this is a business, you know, sitting there having to negotiate across the table from other owners and gms and just the league itself of explaining why we're worth what we're fighting for, and that for me was just such an eye opener of like, this, this is a business, and don't forget it. Regardless of how much you love this league and how much you love the game, and you know you love your franchise and organization, etc. They're going to do whatever they need to do to make sure that their business does well. And so you know, we wanted to make sure that. That's where like a lot of our pushback came from was just like there is no more next time. This is the next time. But it was great. I was like our team at the PA, like our staff that we had, our board of advisors were freaking rock stars. I mean, we had some of the most amazing advisors leading us and guiding us through these negotiations, but yeah, it was. It was a fight till literally the very end. But like we were like, listen, we were college athletes. We would go out drinking and party until three in the morning and get up for six am workouts.

00:27:13
Speaker 4: We're about this life, So what do we tell you? We're here?

00:27:16
Speaker 2: Babies?

00:27:18
Speaker 3: Such a real comparison, true, eight days? Would you say sixteen plus hours?

00:27:24
Speaker 4: Yeah, it was like over one hundred hours. Like it was. It was crazy, but we were there for the long haul.

00:27:29
Speaker 1: The pictures and selfies I came out of that were also riceless.

00:27:34
Speaker 4: Fact. I was like, I need to make sure we're documenting this. Let me get let me take some pictures.

00:27:39
Speaker 1: So going off all this money talk should best be teaching rookies how to take care of their money so they don't go broke.

00:27:46
Speaker 5: Honestly, Yeah, because we had little to work with and made it go a long way.

00:27:53
Speaker 2: I made a dollar stretch and did do you hear me? No?

00:27:56
Speaker 5: But I definitely think there are things like nuanced, But you guys are already I think a lot more money conscious because you guys had the nil right, So you guys have teams and stuff that are already helping you invest and do things. But I think when it comes to maybe I don't know where to save a little. Whether it's like, hey, is there really a difference between getting the name brand this and the off brand this? And it's like, no, listen, bigs, if you save some money, because I'm the Queen of saving. Okay, I want to save money wherever I work hard for my money. But no, I mean, I think there's tips and tricks obviously that we've learned over the years and along the way that yeah, we're open to helping and give suggestions where needed, but honestly.

00:28:36
Speaker 4: We need to be talking to y'all like how we make more money off the court? Like what do I need to be doing?

00:28:39
Speaker 5: But what do I need to be doing on my social media?

00:28:43
Speaker 1: Oh? Please, you don't want to ask me that. Don't bring social media under this. I'm going to be a saving this season and spending on our excursions on dinner, on lunch, wherever we end up going.

00:28:56
Speaker 4: That's where I spend my money.

00:28:58
Speaker 2: They see, you don't have to tell her twy she she don't like spending money. She didn't told me multiple times every time I bring up shopping and she's like.

00:29:05
Speaker 1: No, but if it's not a good time in food, then I.

00:29:10
Speaker 3: Could be persuaded.

00:29:11
Speaker 2: Experiences and food valid ballad. Are you guys it is time for us to move on to our fudding games. So for our first game, it's really just fan questions that we have a lot of people had up billions, billions and billions of questions and we picked out We picked out like six or seven Ah childish, Okay, are you ready?

00:29:47
Speaker 4: Yeah?

00:29:47
Speaker 2: So the first one, Ac, What was your first impression of Ac?

00:29:52
Speaker 5: My first impression of hers is she's just so sweet. I was like, oh, she's just so sweet. Like she came in, it was just so like chill and CHOI was just trying to like look around and was just so kind.

00:30:03
Speaker 4: I was like, oh, she's adorable.

00:30:05
Speaker 1: Was the first time wait, are you talking about the first day in Dallas? Yeah, Like our first day in Dallas, we had to work out together. This is before training him started. And she's parking her car, walking into the facility. My mom is dropping me off and she's like phone out of the window taking a Picture's like, smile, it's.

00:30:21
Speaker 2: Your first day at work.

00:30:22
Speaker 3: It's like, Mom, you're embarrassing me in front of one of my friends.

00:30:26
Speaker 5: It was so I was like, oh.

00:30:35
Speaker 3: I was like trying to red just thinking about.

00:30:38
Speaker 4: And she was just like she smiled and was like.

00:30:43
Speaker 2: We love Katie.

00:30:44
Speaker 1: If you weren't there, I probably would have posed like you were watching so cute.

00:30:50
Speaker 3: Second fan question is what's your favorite thing to cook?

00:30:53
Speaker 4: Honestly anything I love.

00:30:54
Speaker 5: I cooked so many different things, but probably something that I cook on probably more often, is like salmon. I love a god Oh no, you know what I love scout. I love making my scallops. My scallops are pretty good. Yeah, I'll say my scallops.

00:31:09
Speaker 3: I've never had good scoops before.

00:31:12
Speaker 4: Well, you will this summer, Like what's that I never had that? You will this summer.

00:31:22
Speaker 3: I'll be your sous chef. Just let me know what to do. Okay, she gonna be your taste testa.

00:31:28
Speaker 4: Listen, I take people up on that. So I hope you're ready.

00:31:31
Speaker 3: I'm ready, little run down those stairs.

00:31:35
Speaker 2: Who is your funniest teammate currently you can do currently and then in the past, funniest teamate of all time? Yeah, of all.

00:31:43
Speaker 4: Time is for sure Sidney Coulson.

00:31:46
Speaker 5: Yeah, she's just like just naturally gifted at being funny, Like she doesn't even try and she's funny.

00:31:53
Speaker 4: And then this year's so far probably Amy or Lands. Yeah.

00:32:01
Speaker 3: Do you have any pregame rituals?

00:32:03
Speaker 4: Nothing crazy. The only thing that I have is.

00:32:08
Speaker 5: Like, when it comes to my pregame meal, I always have to have like a baguette with like olive oil and balsamac. It's usually just like a half of so a Demi bagette with like whatever. I don't know, it's just it became my thing. And because I'm such a like runner and mover on the court, I was like, oh, I need extra carbs, and I was like, oh, this is a quick way to get some extra carbs.

00:32:29
Speaker 4: And now it just becomes like a part of it.

00:32:32
Speaker 1: I have our questions about your pregame routine. I'm gonna ask you that later, Okay, as easy about hers?

00:32:39
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, I need probably all these crazy superstitions.

00:32:44
Speaker 3: Does pineapple belong on pizza? The fans want to know?

00:32:47
Speaker 4: Absolutely.

00:32:48
Speaker 2: See.

00:32:49
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, girl, we was locked in. We have so much in common, I know, like, are you okay? Are you just not okay? We're working on expanding her palate.

00:33:00
Speaker 2: Like a lot of things.

00:33:01
Speaker 3: But pineapple, why why pineapple?

00:33:04
Speaker 5: The sweet and savory like you don't get to like and grilled pineapples always bombs, so like, yeah.

00:33:10
Speaker 2: I like it separate but okay, and then our last one is your all time WNBA starting five.

00:33:21
Speaker 5: You know, I never answer this question because I can't. I'm like, I've played with so many different players over the years, how can I just narrow it down the five?

00:33:30
Speaker 4: Like that's insane? That's insane to me.

00:33:33
Speaker 5: And I'm so much of an overthinker because I'm like, Okay, I need somebody that can like be a defensive stupper that can do this and this.

00:33:39
Speaker 4: So I'm just like, I'm not good at that game.

00:33:41
Speaker 2: So I like that answer. I was just say, hey, listen, that's okay. That is okay. That wraps up our fan questions. Less easy you wanted to ask any.

00:33:53
Speaker 3: No, might'll be as slater.

00:33:56
Speaker 4: Oh no, I'm more nervous for those.

00:33:59
Speaker 2: And just to clarify because one of the fantom questions was do you like cottage cheese? But you mentioned already in the beginning that you you love it?

00:34:07
Speaker 5: Yep, yeah, I got two tubs in my fridge as we speak, from where grocery store I used to lack take cottage cheese black tap baby. Half a cup is thirteen grams of protein. Get your protein in.

00:34:23
Speaker 2: That's a chef. That's chef easy for y'all. Okay, the last thing we're going to do is are what the fud of the week or what the fun of the week is? Something that happened this week that made you say, what the fun? So I'll start because mine is very basic and easy. You have time to think. Asy, you also have one. I did all right, I have two oh period, so mine by the time this episode drops, it will pass when my birthday's coming up. So that's what the fun.

00:34:54
Speaker 1: Happy birthday, sean happy birthday?

00:34:56
Speaker 3: You think you thank you?

00:34:57
Speaker 4: Thay girl.

00:34:59
Speaker 2: Nothing too crazy, you know, very calm. Gonna go to movie theaters I rented out like a small theater and then actor gonna go shake my tail feather.

00:35:10
Speaker 3: That's it, as you should. What movie are you gonna see?

00:35:13
Speaker 2: The Michael Jackson movie that just came out, which is crazy because The devilwaar Is Proud of Two comes out on my birthday and I I'm kind of sick about it because I didn't know at the time when I chose and it's too late.

00:35:26
Speaker 1: But it's Okay, well, I feel like this one is like the you know, setting up for shaking your tail feathers, because you' gonna be shaking your tail feather in the seat.

00:35:33
Speaker 3: Listen to all the good songs and thank you. It's the warm up, it's the pregame.

00:35:39
Speaker 2: Okay.

00:35:39
Speaker 1: My first what the fud is that I was with my mom. I have a rental car. We got a nail in the tire, so we got a flat tire, so that I had to get a new rental car. But this one there was just a hailstorm, so it had like no options in the lot. So my car now is pretty bad, so that's unfortunate. And also there's another hailstorm to I didn't know that there were hailstorms in Texas like this, So Acy, if he didn't park in the garage, makes you park in the garage?

00:36:05
Speaker 4: Yeah, okay, I didn't know that was happening tonight. Cool.

00:36:09
Speaker 3: My second with the fud is Megan and Clay Child cut the caramel.

00:36:17
Speaker 2: Enough said that's my with the fud too.

00:36:19
Speaker 3: Then that's all I have to say, is what the fud?

00:36:22
Speaker 2: Yeah?

00:36:22
Speaker 4: That was wild? My what the fud?

00:36:26
Speaker 5: Honestly kind of like piggyback off of Asy about the storms. I was asleep and it sounded like there was It was like literally after midnight, and it sounded like someone had taken a boulder and like slammed it down right outside the window on the concrete and like hit like I don't know, and like threw a bunch of glass aside from it, and it like I like jumped up out of my sleep and I was like, I was like, what is are we?

00:36:54
Speaker 4: Is there a tornado on the ground? Like what did I just hear? Scared the crap out of me? Scared the crap out of me.

00:36:59
Speaker 1: Yeah, the weather alerts woke me up out of my dream. Like I woke up in a panic, like did I miss my alarms? The time for progress and it was just like one am with weather alerts.

00:37:08
Speaker 3: Going off for real. Well that's a wrap on our with the funds.

00:37:14
Speaker 1: All right, Well that is a wrap on today's episode. Acy. Thank you so much for joining us. It was so much fun getting to know you. Everyone's going to have to stay tuned for all of our adventures and cooking and for me taste testing. But everyone, thank you so much for listening for watching. Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to butt Around and find Out wherever you get your podcasts, and we'll see you guys next week. Futtter Around and find Out is a production of iHeart Women's Sports and Unanimous Media. Executive producers are Jesse Katz, Eric Payton, Charlte Sumter Brugette, and Stephan Curry. Co executive producer is Kleana Maria Cutney. Producers are Mike Costarelli, Grace Views and Mackenzie Fitzpatcher. And co producers are Kurt Redman, Maya Howard and jack Ln Schoeninger. This podcast is edited by Mike Costcarelli and hosted by me Aisy Fudd and a Shaunty Plummer