Episode 2
· 54:11
Welcome, buenvenidos, to We Got Next, a podcast for fans by fans, where we center athletes who identify as women, fems, and thems, and who are changing the game on and off the court, the field, the pitch, the pool, and more.
Filiberto:Hey, Michelle. What's up? What are you drinking today?
Michelle:Well, we're drinking the same thing. We're sharing.
Filiberto:We're sharing for our first episode. Well, we did the first episode, but
Michelle:I would say episode zero. So this is, like, the first one with, like, the
Filiberto:even thought it says episode one. But yeah.
Michelle:In our hearts, it's episode zero.
Filiberto:Yeah.
Michelle:We decided to have some you can't call it champagne, so it's Prosecco.
Filiberto:It's not from the that part of France.
Michelle:It's not.
Filiberto:It's the California adjacent edition.
Michelle:And we went really fancy. We have Kirkland.
Filiberto:Look at y'all that we shop at Costco. We actually have the executive membership. Mhmm. So I I get there at 9AM. It was pretty amazing.
Filiberto:09:30.
Michelle:Yeah. You watch all those losers, thought that it was open at nine. They have to wait.
Filiberto:I mean, they don't think of themselves as losers, but I walk by and I feel really bad.
Michelle:Costco should do some well, no. Costco shouldn't do it because they don't wanna, like, have their customers fighting each other, but someone should and I'm sure this exists on TikTok somewhere. But, like, someone should do, like, kind of a funny video of, like, you know, the executive members thinking they're super cool. Like, walking by all the losers to get in, you know, when it opens like that thirty minutes early.
Filiberto:At the risk of sounding snobby, it does it does kind of. Sooooo I've been on first class a handful of times through random circumstances, and it kinda felt like that when you're in, like, first class.
Michelle:That's
Filiberto:true. Everyone, like, walks by you. No one's actually mad at you, but they're mad at you. Yeah. And it's pretty intense.
Michelle:They're like, that guy doesn't look that rich.
Filiberto:Yeah. And I'm not. Let's be clear about that.
Michelle:Like, use my bonus points.
Filiberto:Again, random circumstances. It it didn't make any sense when it was happening, and it still doesn't make sense.
Michelle:Yeah. So, yeah, we went with the champagne, the midweek hump day champagne.
Filiberto:Mhmm. And I think the first thing we want to talk about is there were so many rookie debuts after a long summer of CBA negotiations. And we're not going to get into the CBA negotiations too much in this episode. We're kinda waiting for them to release the new contract so we can really get into it.
Michelle:And we will read that whole thing.
Filiberto:We will we will read that whole thing. We will review the whole thing for you.
Michelle:For our listeners, we will read that whole thing and pull out stuff that has been kind of ignored by, you know, the other media.
Filiberto:We might even do a special episode, honestly.
Michelle:I think we should.
Filiberto:But the one the one thing I wanna say about the CBA, again, we're not gonna talk about it this episode, the rest of the episode, but I've never and I've been a labor person, labor union thug person for twenty years now. I've never been in a situation or seen a situation where workers are bargaining whilst also owning their own league or the product itself. It's like if auto workers went to bargain and they also managed to own their own and and produce a car. Like, the fact that they had Unrivaled while they were bargaining was incredible because it gave them so much leverage. And.
Filiberto:They were able to say, fuck you, WNBA. Give us what we want because we have this entirely then worker owned league ready to go.
Michelle:Yeah. I think there's a lot you know, fortunately, unfortunately, depending on how you're looking at it, there's a lot of places for women basketball players, professional players to go. They can go overseas.
Filiberto:Like they have been.
Michelle:And quite frankly, they're making a lot more overseas. So it's like, you know, how do you still build this league and wanna think of yourselves as the best league in the world when you can't attract the talent because you're not investing in said league? So, yeah, I think it's great. But these these overseas leagues have been around for a while. I don't think the average American fan, Nesli
Filiberto:US fan. Yeah.
Michelle:Knew that much about it. But then what Unrivaled does is it's actually in our backyard. People there's... you get access to watching the games. You can actually attend them. So it was like, you have more fans that can, like, actually see this, can consume it, and that helped put pressure in
Filiberto:We're following the same players that we know that are actually bargaining. The union presidents were part of or at least Napheesa Collier, I forget her title in the league. She's an executive officer.
Michelle:She's one of executives.
Filiberto:Yeah. Breanna Stewart is an executive officer. They created the league. Like, nowhere in organized labor history have I seen that kind of flex.
Michelle:Like, in the labor world, it's called seizing the means of production. One of those those fancy names. That that's what they did. They said if the W is not gonna give this to us, then we're gonna create it for ourselves.
Michelle:And that's they did.
Filiberto:Yeah. So really incredible that bargaining happens. We were we were getting anxious. People were getting anxious. And then shortly afterward, there was a draft.
Filiberto:So a lot of new new to the WNBA players got selected. And we're in preseason mode, and it's really exciting because you get to see a lot of young players that are probably not gonna make the team, but they're hungry and they're out there. So who have you been paying attention to, Michelle, in this preseason post draft experience?
Michelle:Well, like you said, it's preseason, and it's it's a little different than like other sports leagues. It's very short, especially this season because they delayed you know, they got a later start to the draft and training camps because of the
Filiberto:league year because
Michelle:of the bargaining went so late. So training camp preseason is gonna be shorter than you might see in other leagues, other professional sports. So, yeah, there's gonna be a lot of your veterans, your stars may not play and or at least not play a lot of minutes. So it's an opportunity for other people who are newer to the league to kind of get some experience, get some clips, right, if they in case they don't make the team. We had a lot of rookies.
Filiberto:It's about getting a scouting report because . You're trying to make your team the team that you're may have some kind of relationship with, but there may be other teams that have noticed you that are playing against you that might pick you up. Or and or as we saw last year with the Valkyries, there were a lot of injuries. And so those players are are gonna become the folks that pick up after those injuries.
Michelle:SO there's gonna be a lot more of that movement than you might again see in other sports. So it's a little unique for to the W at least right now. No. But I I was usually, you don't really spend that much time on preseason because of these many reasons. But it was kinda cool since it is so close to March Madness and women's college basketball finishing up.
Michelle:Some of the overseas leagues are still playing a little bit more overlapping with the W. But it was cool because you could see a lot of these first year, these rookies come in. We just watched them play in the the tournament. And some of the these rookies even started the preseason games they were in. So that was really cool.
Michelle:So And
Filiberto:For the UCLA players, for example, it's only been, like, a couple of weeks
Michelle:I know.
Filiberto:Since they just watched their national championship.
Michelle:So they probably wanted a little bit of a break.
Filiberto:Yeah. Some of them might still be working a hangover.
Michelle:Like or their knees are like, dude, like, I need a break. So, like, I I took some notes on just kind of and it you can it's, you know, they may not be, like, huge offensive showings their first first first games, But they got to learn a lot. They they gotta learn some systems, the ball movement, kinda doing you know. A lot of training camp is like a large emphasis on defense. So that's some of what you're gonna see in some of your pieces of games. But for the starters, we had Olivia Miles with the Minnesota Lynx.
Michelle:She spent her last year with TCU. She started, she had the eight points. She was three of five in the field, three rebounds, two assists, and one steal in seventeen minutes of play. Then we had Cotie McMahon. She's with the Washington Mystics.
Michelle:Most recently with she graduated with Ole Miss. She also started 11 points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals in twenty three minutes. Flau'jae Johnson with the Seattle storm, she is from LSU, started also 12 points, five of 10 from the field, one of two from threes, five rebounds, one assist in twenty three minutes. Then we have Lauren Betts, who's with the Washington Mystics, who had a lot of high picks this year. I don't know if they're gonna be able to keep them all.
Michelle:But Lauren Betts, also started. She came from UCLA 13 points, five rebounds in twenty three minutes. And then Kiki Rice, so the last one of our starters here. We just finished watching the Toronto Tempo game, their preseason game against the Connecticut Sun. Unfortunately, we're recording this before the Portland game.
Michelle:That's later on this evening. So excited to watch the two expansion teams have their first it's preseason, but it's their first games. Yeah. So Kiki Rice with the Tempo. She came from UCLA.
Michelle:She had five points. She was two of six from the field. She was one on one on threes, one rebound, two assists, one steal in seventeen minutes. So those all got to be on the court for the tip-off. Super cool experience.
Michelle:You don't really get to have that many rookies do that.
Filiberto:Yeah. They all mostly played, like, at least kinda half the game. Yeah. Close to half the game.
Michelle:Yeah. And then I don't need to, like, read off a lot of numbers, but other rookies that just had really strong showings, Raven Johnson, she's with the Fever. Tayyena Mayer with the Seattle Storm, Marta Suarez with the Golden State Valkyries, Ashlon Jackson with the Valkyries, Ta'Niya loss Latson with the Sparks. Chance Gray didn't get a lot of, like, hype coming out of Ohio State, but she's with the LA Sparks. She had a phenomenal game.
Michelle:She had 14 points. She was five of 10 from the field, four of eight on her threes in seventeen minutes. So she really stood out to me.
Filiberto:Well, and I think in the WNBA, if you can make threes, you can make a roster spot. Yeah. Like, if you can hit your threes, you're in a good place.
Michelle:Yeah. I mean but, like, yeah, 14 points, that's absolutely stellar. Again, it's not about the offense, but, definitely a bright spot there. And then we had Gabriela Jaquez. She's with Chicago Sky from UCLA.
Michelle:Kara Dunn with the Phoenix Mercury coming from USC. And then Justine Pissott with the Indiana fever. She came from Vandy. But yeah. I think also just like pointing out some of that great defense.
Michelle:Ashlon Jackson, who's coming from Duke for Golden State, just looked really great. So did Taina Mair from Seattle Storm who came from Duke. We got to see both of those both from Duke. We got to see both of them play in the sweet 16 elite eight when they came through Sacramento for March Madness.
Filiberto:We just saw them, like, a month and a half ago. Yeah. And they include Raven Johnson too. Yeah.
Michelle:Yeah. No. So it's wild. So it is, like, super great to see so many rookies get in on the action. And I didn't this isn't all of them.
Michelle:This is just kind of a few from the weekend. But, yeah, it was it's great. Great experience.
Filiberto:Any general observations? Anything you're excited about?
Michelle:I think, yeah, we were at the Valkyries game on Saturday where they played in San Francisco, they played the Seattle storm. So it's kinda awkward at one point. People know about the trade. Flau'Jae Johnson.
Filiberto:At least online, people are still upset about it.
Michelle:Yes. So the the Valkyries took her in the first round, but then immediately traded her to Seattle for Marta Suarez. But they've met they're cool. Nothing against each other. Right?
Michelle:It's a little awkward for them, but, like, you know, they're kinda thrown in this situation. So they kinda had a minute where they could, like, just, you know, hug and Yeah. And talk. So they're they're cool, but it was weird because, like, Flau'Jae started that game. She had 12 points, and it took her a few shots to get her first points in the game.
Michelle:And when she did, I I kinda, like, cheered for her. It was like, she's a rookie. She's got a huge following. And it was awkward because I was one of the only ones in our area that cheered for her.
Filiberto:Absolutely . People noticed. But I I think, like, you know, we were disappointed about that trade, but this is a better situation for Flau'Jae. She gets a like, in she got starter minutes. She got starter time.
Filiberto:So it's good for her. It's better overall.
Michelle:Yeah. I think for her, definitely, I think she would have liked living either in or near Oakland
Filiberto:Oh, yeah. It would have been dope.
Michelle:With her music career. I Think
Filiberto:It would have been dope having her around for sure.
Michelle:Fantastic for her. And she's probably still gonna spend time there. But but I think Golden State, between their their draft picks, between returning players and some people they've signed to training camp contracts, it's one of the hardest like, just looking at the rosters as they stand now, it's gonna be one of the hardest rosters to, like, break through on
Filiberto:Its a very deep roster with all the European players.
Michelle:Yes.
Filiberto:All those European players, even if they're first, second year, the WNBA, they played for their national teams. They played for their professional leagues in Europe. So they've seen action already quite a bit.
Michelle:Yeah. Even if they're younger, like, you're allowed to play earlier in France and some other
Filiberto:People sign when they're 16. Yeah even younger.
Michelle:Countries... So that's what some of the reporters have said too is they're noticing that, like, this is gonna be a really hard roster to to crack. So, yeah, I think I think you're right.
Michelle:Flau'Jae is gonna get a lot more time in, you know, in Seattle.
Filiberto:And she was into it her body languages was there. She was excited.
Michelle:Oh, absolutely. She had a lot of energy.
Filiberto:It's the same Flau'Jae we saw a month ago or two months ago.
Michelle:You could argue Seattle is gonna need that. Right?
Filiberto:Yeah. They need that. The Seattle fans are gonna need that excitement because there is gona be a lot of losses. It's gonna be tough.
Michelle:Well, they they lost a lot of players. Gabby Williams. Gabby Williams came from Seattle in free agency to sign with the Valkyries. So they've got a new coach, new coaching staff, kinda new roster, and whatever newish, if that's the case, offensive and defense. So, you know, they Seattle could be doing great, but it is a lot of change, and sometimes that can be hard.
Filiberto:Alright. So we talked about the rookies. And, why don't you take us around the world in women's sports, Michelle? What's going on? A few things of note.
Michelle:Few things to highlight. So if you were if you're watching any of the March Madness in the NCAA tournament this year, specifically UCLA, you may have noticed there was a Ginger on the team, Megan Grant. So she was a she's at least a two sport athlete. I'm not sure she does any other sports.
Filiberto:But Probably does, if not recreationally, but as far as we know
Michelle:yes
Filiberto:I mean she probably hits that ping pong really hard between practices or something.
Michelle:I don't know. Or maybe a cricket.
Filiberto:I don't know. Yeah. Who knows?
Michelle:So she was on UCLA's basketball team, but there were times where she was not there. She was not on the bench because she was also, she's a huge star on their on UCLA's softball team. But, you know, she did come in and play whenever she could for basketball. But softball season is still going right now and she's having a monster year. She just set, she broke UCLA's season home run record that was held by a Stacy Nuveman, if I'm pronouncing that correctly.
Michelle:She had hit 31 home runs in a in a season that includes I think that includes the playoffs.
Filiberto:How many games did they play in their season?
Michelle:I have no idea.
Filiberto:Okay.
Michelle:But this record was set in 1999, and Megan not only passed it this past weekend, but she kept going. They they had a series against Washington in the Big 10, And she hit two home runs on the twenty fourth. So she the old record was 31 home runs. She was able to hit her thirty second and thirty third in that game, first inning and then third inning. And then the next day, she continued her surge and she hit another home run.
Michelle:So she has 34 so far on the year. And they're still going. They're still playing series. So she may be able to add on that. And I think it's includes the whole season, so includes regular and post.
Michelle:So she still has the record.
Filiberto:She has plenty of opportunities, really.
Michelle:She has plenty of time. There are also a few other players on that team that are also hitting really well. So UCLA looks really strong as they head into their conference tournament play and and going to the to the their own tournament for softball. But that's just really cool because there there are athletes that do multiple sports. Usually, they're, like, really good in one or but to be able to USA is a pretty strong basketball team, so to have a roster spot she's not starting.
Michelle:Right? She doesn't play a lot of minutes or score a lot of points, but to be able to
Filiberto:She made that spot. Yeah.
Michelle:To be good enough to earn that spot, but then also excel at softball is pretty amazing.
Filiberto:And softball's also recently gone professional too. So a lot of exciting opportunities around the horizon.
Michelle:She may be able to play I mean, if she wants to, I I think she absolutely will play in the pros.
Filiberto:Oh, yeah.
Michelle:Yeah. That's great. And she'll and she'll be one of those persons that helps kinda propel that that league forward if she wants to. Yeah. Sticking a little bit with that small little ball that you throw off a mound, we have another awesome woman, Olivia Pichardo, if I'm pronouncing that correctly.
Filiberto:It's kind of ironic.
Michelle:Exactly. I love her last name. It's perfect. This week, she was the first woman to pitch in a D1 , a division one baseball game. So she's with Brown on Saturday.
Michelle:They were playing Cornell, the battle of the Ivies. She came in in the ninth inning to relieve. So she only faced one batter, but she's able to retire them and win the game. So Brown won 16 to 4. But the right hander, she, you know, made history when she was able to be on the team back in 2023 with Brown.
Michelle:But and she's she's played some. She's coming in to pitch. She's played a little bit, you know, kinda off and on. So she's not kind of a regular for the team, but coming in and pitching in relief, that was first time that's ever been done. She's very humble, wants to keep the attention on the team because it is a team sport.
Michelle:It's not about one person. But it was really cool for her to kind of get a little bit of spotlight.
Filiberto:That's amazing.
Michelle:Yeah. And then switching over to track and field. A lot of people will remember Allyson Felix. She is amazing. She's 40 years old right now, and she has been retired.
Michelle:She has won national world championships and then also Olympic medals in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the 400 meters, along with the relay teams. So she's won so many medals and championships that I'm not gonna list them all here. But she announced this week that she wants to come out of retirement and she's gonna try to make the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Filiberto:Yeah. Very big deal. Very impressive. And shout out to somebody over 40.
Michelle:I know. Right?
Filiberto:Getting it.
Michelle:So she'll I think she'll be 42 when that comes around, at least in 2027 when she's starting to, you know, hit the competitions that get you into the Olympics, right, to to qualify. So
Filiberto:And we're talking about the LA 28 Olympics.
Michelle:Yes. Yeah. So she goes back to, like, world championships. She's a three time world champion in the 200 meters between 2005 and 2009. So that's how far back she goes.
Michelle:And she's just epic. She dominated, really helped the the women's four by 400 meters win Gold in 2008, 2012, 2016 , 2020. So they can definitely use her help again. But it'll be great to see she's also done a lot of activism for athletes who have children and are nursing children and the lack of resources and investment they've had from the Olympic Committee and other people who run sports leagues. So she's done really great bringing attention to that and getting more benefits for people.
Filiberto:Using her platform, it's incredible.
Michelle:Absolutely. So you can imagine she's wanting to do this. I have no idea how old her children are. But just wanting to be able to do this and kind of show people that as long as you take care of your body and yourself and your mental health and everything that you can do this, especially with the scientific advances we have now, you can do this well past what used to be thought of as your prime.
Michelle:And super exciting. And then last thing we wanna touch on for what's happened this week is the Professional Women's Hockey League. The playoffs are starting tomorrow, April 30. So this league launched a couple years ago. They have eight teams between The United States and Canada, and they're starting their playoffs tomorrow.
Michelle:So we'll have the Minnesota Frost. I love that name. Minnesota Frost is gonna be playing the Montreal Victory. And then we have the Ottawa Charge. I also like that one too.
Michelle:We'll be facing off against the Boston Fleet. So these will be series I think they're five game. Best of five. Yeah, best of fives. And then whoever wins those will play each other for the championship.
Michelle:So that's super exciting.
Filiberto:Well, I remember covering the PWHL when they first started, not because of the sports angle, but because they were trying to form a union when the league first began. Yeah. And I think they've certainly benefited a lot from the WNBA and the PWSL, the women's soccer league too. Like, it's helped give them greater attention, gives them more economic opportunities. So while it isn't something that's like an official agreement or anything, each one of these leagues is supporting each other in a really meaningful way.
Filiberto:So I definitely that's definitely something happening.
Michelle:Yeah. And I think the the PWHL pulls players from multiple countries. But I do remember the the women's national team for The US. They were, you know, fighting for equal pay when they were going to world championships, the Olympics. And so they, along with soccer, were kind of the first teams that, like, really got, like, a lot of attention for the activities they were doing and and trying to bring attention to just the really sparse differences between the women's and men's teams and how they were treated by their own the same same commissions and leagues.
Michelle:Same sport commissions. Difference yeah. The difference in not just like their pay and their compensation and bonuses if they won a gold medal type thing, but also just like, again, their training facilities, the fields they're playing on, the conditions they were in, the injuries they were getting because the fields were shitty. And this goes back ten, twelve years, this kind of activism. So each of these leagues has been able to you know, between basketball, hockey, soccer, they've been able to build upon each other's wins and kind of, you know, the whole the idea of the rising tide lifts all boats. So and I know they've helped each other, like, go give talks or presentations. Like, this is what these are steps we took to, like, gain that leverage and and have that power. I remember the hockey players had to call some of the younger college players and tell them, they're gonna call you. They're gonna ask you to be on the team.
Michelle:If we strike, you can't do it. You can't be scabs. We're fighting for you so that when you get here, you have the resources you need to be successful. And it works. They had to talk to their parents.
Michelle:Like, they had to, like, really pressure them and and tell them this is a fight for all of us. And I remember thinking that and and kudos to the younger players that said, I'm with you. And they they, like, hung up when they got calls from the national teams.
Filiberto:Yeah. And I think sports journalism generally doesn't report on it because they're not good at writing about some of these things. But certainly, the women have been struggling really hard over the last decade to form their own associations and unions in order to represent themselves better. And even in Major League Baseball for men's, the minor league players just got unionized. So that's a that was a huge
Michelle:That took years
Filiberto:a huge campaign that just, again, got sort of erased, but that's it's major. And there's a lot of as you're describing, there's a lot of political education that goes into it. You have to teach folks what a union is and how to participate in a union and how to protect a union. Yeah. So it's a lot is happening all over the place.
Filiberto:So that's really awesome.
Michelle:Yeah. Awesome. So I think that I think that that's it for our news of the week.
Filiberto:Well, just so everyone remembers, this is a Valkyries podcast. And so we're gonna spend our time talking about the Valkyries. Last week, we went to the April 25th preseason home opener. The game was sold out.
Michelle:Mhmm. Continuing their streak.
Filiberto:Mhmm. Because the last time we saw them play was game two of the first round of the WNBA playoffs, sometime six or seven months ago.
Michelle:September, probably?
Filiberto:Yeah. September. Yeah. So it was really great to be back in Chase Center because we didn't get a chance to see them at Chase Center at that time. But I think the the really cool thing is there were so many people there.
Filiberto:Like, it felt like a regular season game. In some ways, I think the thing that was really distinctive about last season was we were fighting for a playoff spot right to the end. Mhmm. So a lot of the final games of the season felt like playoff games. Like, it was it was a lot of intensity.
Filiberto:And I definitely felt that at the state at the arena last Saturday. Was it Saturday? Yeah. Yeah. Saturday.
Filiberto:Yeah. I felt that intensity was cool. It was awesome. What were your what were your impressions?
Michelle:No. I thought it was great. So we our season ticket holders and we actually upgraded. We were in the upper bowl last year, and this year we are in the lower bowl. So that's a little different, like, adjustment for us.
Michelle:We've got new seat mates, and it's kinda, like, learning the Usher.
Filiberto:Different angles. Yeah. We're closer. It's awesome, but it's still different angles.
Michelle:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that that was kind of like, oh, this is gonna be, like, totally different, but, like, the vibe is definitely still awesome. Brandin Podziemski, who's a Golden State Warriors player was at, like, I wanna say most home games last season, and he was there again for a preseason game, which was awesome.
Filiberto:He was there most of the first half, at least. He was a little spotty in the second half
Michelle:That's true. Their training camp started.
Filiberto:Yeah. We think there was some overlap.
Michelle:Of the Valkyries season last year, so he he start, he wasn't attending toward the end. But, yeah, it was great to see him there. And like we were talking about earlier, it's gonna be interesting to see who. I think a lot of players in this game made coach Nakase's job a little bit harder because everyone's competing, which is what she wants. Right?
Michelle:That's the culture they're building. But I think a lot of rookies or new players just did really well. And it's gonna be really hard to, like, narrow down.
Filiberto:The training camp signings. Yeah.
Michelle:I also just wanna huge shout out to Kayla Thornton. She injured herself. She had a huge knee injury last year. She's been rehabbing. She had surgery on it.
Michelle:They were kind of tight lipped about whether or not she was gonna start the season.
Filiberto:Well, even in the off season too. Like, there just wasn't a lot of updates as to her status.
Michelle:No. And they kept saying it was a knee injury. They weren't really saying kinda what it was
Filiberto:But it required surgery.
Michelle:It was like mysterious.
Michelle:We saw her toward the end of season, she was showing up to games. She was in the suites. She had kind of like she had like a pillow for her legs. She was like elevating it while she watched the game, and they they would show her on the Jumbotron every once in while. But so it's great to like have her there.
Michelle:She's been doing so much of their social media in the off season, so you're kinda like, hopefully, she's coming back. They kinda wait until like the end.
Filiberto:Took a while to even sign her.
Michelle:I know. People were like, what? So she actually played. She played I don't know how many minutes, but yeah, it was great to see her. I thought she did amazing.
Michelle:You could tell she had kinda missed it, not being able to play a lot of the season last year. So it was great to have her. She probably was on a minute restriction, but like I said, she played a decent amount. So she brought great energy. It was it was very good to see her, and the fans just lost it.
Michelle:I think she started too.
Filiberto:Yeah. She played fourteen minutes.
Michelle:Yeah. Fourteen. That's that's huge Yeah. For someone who's probably gonna start for us or
Filiberto:All year. Yeah. Well, I think the the thing about watching Kayla play too that, you know, so we lost her presence most of the last season. It was like, oh, man, are we still gonna make the playoffs? And, you know, it took a while for the offense to adjust not having her sort of presence and role.
Filiberto:But I think just again, watching her just a little bit, what you're reminded of is how well she plays in the mid range and how well she like. So the the Valkyrie's offense is basically a three and d offense. It's a lot of spacing. There's some cutting and and pick and roll action and screens at the top of the key, but you're waiting for your three spot and you're waiting to get open. So Kayla can really stuff stiff up or, fill up that space that's created because of that three focus. And just having another player that can play back to the basket and then again pressure the defense, create some openings for the shooters, I think is really important.
Filiberto:And to have that, hopefully, to have that all year long is gonna be nice.
Michelle:Yeah. And I think people like Gabby Williams are gonna really benefit from that.
Filiberto:Yeah.
Michelle:Yeah. I mean, I will say the one silver lining from Kayla's injury last year was, you know, other players had to pick up the slack for not having her there, and that's that's that helped Veronica Burton really come on her own last season.
Filiberto:And Rupert and everybody else in Chechi. So it was a lot of things that happened because of that that were important. Yeah. And that's why we have a stuffed roster because we've seen them all play, really.
Michelle:Yeah. No. It was it was great. Veronica Burton shot four from seven behind the three point line, so it was it was a really great game. We we hit a lot of threes.
Michelle:That would that's what allowed us to win win our preseason game when, you know, no one cares.
Filiberto:Think I about the shooting as well, like Miela Sowah just blew it up. Like, what was going on with her? And I think the I think the last thing I'll say about the game too is that it was just really impressive to see how hard, like, these players were playing for Nakase. Like, we had I think Seattle had more of their starters playing a little longer, but and we used more of our bench, used the of IT. They were they were grinding hard.
Filiberto:They were trying to win. And I think just whatever training camp is successful if you can imbue that attitude into the team right away, and that really showed up. So it just says good things about what the season's looking like. And I don't wanna get too skeptic or not skeptical, but I don't wanna speculate too much. But it's just a really good sign, I think.
Michelle:There's also some news before the game, though. We had Gabby Williams, who was our our big our splashy free agent signing. She, it took her a little bit to close out overseas and get over to back to California. But, yeah, you you kinda watched some of the coverage in her her press conference, her introductory press conference.
Michelle:So what were some of your thoughts?
Filiberto:Yeah. One of the things we like to do at the here at the We Got Next podcast is watch the press conferences because you can really get a lot of insight. So what I learned about Gabby Williams is that she grew up in Alameda, played her AAU game here in the East Bay, Nevada area. She is still has family in Oakland. Her brothers go to Cal State East Bay.
Filiberto:Did not know that. Really exciting. Cal State kids.
Michelle:CSU!!
Filiberto:That's cool. And then her sister went to Berkeley, played basketball. And she is a cat lady.
Michelle:Yes.
Filiberto:She is a cat lady. So we're really excited about that. Didn't know that about her.
Michelle:She yeah. She did say that, like, she was coming back back from Istanbul and Turkey. And for some reason, she wasn't able to bring her cat with her to Istanbul, which is weird because I have visited. The cats are everywhere. They're fucking amazing.
Michelle:They're cute. They will come up to you for pets. So it's weird that she couldn't bring her cat. Maybe it was a visa a cat visa issue.
Filiberto:Maybe the cats decided. I'm like, no.
Michelle:Yeah.
Filiberto:Don't like your cat.
Michelle:I'd rather stay in Reno.
Filiberto:We don't know the rules.
Michelle:So on her way back from Turkey, she did stop in Reno to to grab her stuff. But I love she has a cat. She definitely talks about the most important thing was her stopping to get her cat. Yeah. Ride or die cat people.
Michelle:So love love to hear that about her
Filiberto:And the general manager was almost in tears describing the signing. I mean, just there is a lot of I think what I've enjoyed about this team the most, and this shows up a lot in the press conferences, but just how much affection they have for one another and how much this love, genuine affection, and and, like, camaraderie they have in the team. Like, it's real. And you see it on the court too, but it doesn't really show up until you hear them talk about each other.
Michelle:Well, I think, like, they understand we and we've talked about this when it comes to the college game and the transfer portal and how important it is to have you see players wanting to gravitate toward coaches who are not only invested in them as athletes and basketball players, but also as human beings. Like, you know, people like Pat Summitt who make sure that you graduate because not everyone's gonna play professional basketball. So make sure you have a pathway after college. And so, yeah, I think that's kinda what you're picking up on is, you know, there are certain teams, certain coaches that gonna really lean into that relational aspect of that. And, yeah, it can translate to success on the court, right?
Michelle:If people think that you really care about them and they get that, they're gonna you know, run through a wall for you. Right? And so that could be kind of your motivation as a coach. But it does feel genuine and authentic with the Valkyries that, you know, coach Nakase really does care about her players. She wants to build that camaraderie, that togetherness, that kind of solidarity.
Filiberto:Well and I think the style of play that they play. Right? You have to pass a lot in their system. So in order to, you know, have the best passes, you have to trust each other. You have to trust each other to make those shots when you when you serve it up like that.
Filiberto:So I think that's part of it, knowing that everyone's gonna be in their spots. And then the kind of the kind of defense they play. It's team defense. They're using their length. They're trying to get hit lanes in the middle.
Filiberto:They're trying to collapse around the paint. And, yeah, you need to be able to intuit where other people are. And so you need that relationship. It's not just an ISO team that just one offensive player is dominating everyone else waiting for a three. Like, that's a very, very different team.
Michelle:Yeah. And I think that's what's gonna help you when if you know, because basketball can be a game of runs, and it can be a game of ruts as far as
Filiberto:especially if you are a three point shooting team.
Michelle:Exactly. So you may go through two or three game losing streaks, and being able to have that joy of playing or playing for each other is gonna help you kind of have that even keel when when you're not doing well. But also when you are doing well, it kinda keeps you grounded. Right?
Filiberto:Well, I think in the Nakase presser too, she kind of talked about that a little bit where it, you know, I'm kind of reading between the lines a little bit, but I think she suggests that a marker of success for this team is when they're playing with a lot of joy. That's what, you know, they're looking for. So that could definitely comes across. I think Nakase mentioned something that seemed evident in watching the game that they seem ready. Like, this like, especially when we were watching preseason last year, we were kinda concerned.
Filiberto:We were like, what the hell is this? We knew it was a new team and everyone didn't know each other, they weren't gonna, you know, get into the full playbook, but we were a little concerned. But watching yesterday, it was like, yeah, these players know each other. They know the playbook. They're integrating other people.
Filiberto:There's, you know, some sloppiness, some turnovers, but they look good. They looked really good. They looked like they know each other.
Michelle:Yeah. Definitely were a lot of turnovers last preseason and the beginning of the season. Yeah. It was problematic.
Filiberto:Now flex passing offense is gonna produce a lot of turnovers Yeah. If you don't know each other that well, especially.
Michelle:Yeah they look good. And Kaitlyn Chen had a really good game.
Filiberto:Yeah. In the pressers, there was a lot of questions about Chen, her status, just noting that she played more than half the game, that at one point, she actually tried to sub herself out and Nakase wouldn't let her. Yeah.
Michelle:I missed that.
Filiberto:The sign is I didn't see this either. It came up in the press conference. The sign is pulling her jersey, and Nakase was like, no. That's alright. So I think the the sort of opinion was Nakase wanted her out there just to learn how to direct the offense and just be pushing her to
Filiberto:Direct the offense. So I think the speculation is that she's gonna make the team. But, you know, you just don't know. Just don't know.
Michelle:Well, yeah, I think the you know, you have Veronica Burton is probably gonna be winning for me.
Filiberto:Yeah starter point guards. Yeah. Ballhand guards.
Michelle:You need you need someone to come in. And so that there are some questions as to who that's gonna be. Kate Martin can kinda fill in sometimes, But maybe Kaitlyn Chen is gonna be either that second or third option for Nakase. A lot of people thought because something new with this year, with the new collective bargaining agreement, is each team gets two developmental players that don't count toward the salary cap. So you can carry them with you.
Michelle:They can play. I there's probably some limits around this.
Filiberto:A fourteen day rule. So Yeah. Then then other teams can pick them up. So there is some caveats. Yeah.
Filiberto:We'll put a note in the show notes so y'all can read about it more thoroughly if you want.
Michelle:But there were some thoughts that Marta Suarez might make the team, but then a Kaitlyn Chen and an Ashlon Jackson would be the two developmental players. But now that might be shifting. Again, it's one preseason of the game. So you we don't wanna read too much into it, but a lot a lot of people said, you know, they felt that Kaitlyn Chen has such a good game. She's gonna make a case to not be a developmental player.
Filiberto:Yeah. I also just think Gabby Williams is well suited to be like a point forward. So how that factors in is unclear. And you mentioned that too, but
Michelle:Yeah.
Filiberto:I don't yeah. I think I think they're gonna lean into that pretty hard.
Michelle:Yeah. And the next Valkyrie's game is May 8, and they will be playing in Seattle.
Filiberto:Alright, everybody. This is definitely our favorite part of the podcast and hope it's yours too. This is where Michelle and I get to have some hot takes. So, Michelle, what's your hot take section called?
Michelle:Yeah. This segment is gonna, is called ImAStopYouRightThere .
Filiberto:Alright.
Michelle:All one word. So this is kind of we talk a little bit about in the world we live in today about being an ally, being a co conspirator, being anti racist. And part of that is interrupting behavior that is racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, etcetera, etcetera. And a lot of people understand the need to do that interruption, do that call in, that call out. But a lot of times they don't quite know how to get started.
Michelle:Right? You know, it's it's
Filiberto:How do you initiate the difficult conversation
Michelle:It's is a conflict. It can be a confrontation for some people. I do not like confrontations. So we were talking with a group of people like, how how do you start? Like, what are some tips you have?
Michelle:And I remembered a story, one of my jobs where someone was referring to me as a girl as a girl. And I remember just being like, I'm a sub right there. So that's kinda stayed with me as how to kinda like stop there. Other people will use something like because usually a lot of this racism and sexism is through jokes. So some people will be like, hey, so it's a joke.
Michelle:Can you explain to me why that was funny? And so these are kind of like tips for people to call in, call out certain behaviors, certain quote unquote jokes. So that's why I called my segment, ImAStopYouRightThere. That's kind of my my bridge into an interruption. So this week, I'm talking about Rakea Jackson and the threats against her safety that she encountered a couple of months ago.
Michelle:At one time, she was dating James Pearce Jr, who is a football player. And it was announced this week, which is why I'm talking about it now, that he's going to enter an intervention program to avoid a trial on felony charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, his car, fleeing police, and resisting arrests, along with a misdemeanor charge of stalking. So for those of you who aren't privy to these details or need a refresher, back in, I think, February, there was an altercation where Pearce was allegedly chasing Rakea Jackson via they were driving their separate cars. He was chasing her. She was scared to death.
Michelle:She was heading to a police department to seek help. And he rammed his car into hers. Police were responding. He ended up trying to leave the scene. He ended up hitting a cop with his car in the knee area, so he assaulted a police officer.
Michelle:He tried to escape. I think at some point they got his car stopped. He resisted arrest, was fighting the police officers. But he gets to participate in a therapy as part of a stipulation of a six month intervention program. I think the narrative that his attorneys and family are pushing is that he allegedly suffered a mental health crisis, which we should absolutely take seriously.
Michelle:And they're claiming that he's never been charged with a crime before. He's a first time offender, which is why he's being offered this intervention program. I would argue he's had a long history of allegedly stalking Jackson. There were eight seven or eight 911 calls placed to police in the weeks leading up to that February 7 attack. This happens frequently in domestic violence cases where there's a lot of attempts to get help from police.
Michelle:And sometimes there's not a, besides the call itself, there's not a paper trail. The person's not charged with anything. There's no restraining order in the court, and that's something that's purposefully done by police and by others to try to protect these violent perpetrators.
Filiberto:And women often don't choose to either when dealing with these situations too. They choose not to report to the police
Michelle:There are several reasons.
Filiberto:They don't trust them. There's a lot of different layers to it.
Michelle:Yeah. No one's gonna believe them. They might gets retaliation and more violence against them and any family members that are involved. So there is a record of Pearce repeatedly stalking, harassing, terrorizing and tormenting Jackson. Police did not properly protect her from an obvious and dangerous and violent perpetrator.
Michelle:Time after time it was on her to leave her house and try to stay in a hotel. This happened in Miami when she was playing In Unrivaled. Florida does have a rule, a law that allows prosecution to talk with victims and others if there's gonna be a plea deal. She allegedly agreed with this pathway. So again, it's on her to just wanna move on, right?
Michelle:To kind of like, not necessarily wanna go the whole path towards accountability. She's trying to move on from this. They've not been dating for a very long time. And I think Pearce may have suffered a mental health crisis. And I think it's a reminder that his family, his attorneys, police who encountered them in the months leading up to that February 7 stalking and attack on Jackson have failed him.
Michelle:He should still face accountability. How many other people have experienced mental health crises and breaks, but they are in jail. They are in prison. They are not getting better.
Michelle:Why are they there? Or the people who are dead at the hands of police who responded to mental health calls and either weren't trained on how to deal with them or just didn't care and escalated the situation. And it led to a gun being pulled or a taser being pulled and people not making out of that. It just kinda feels like a convenient excuse to avoid a trial where the full picture of the violence and abuse would have been on display. And the last point I wanna make on this is usually if you even look at a cop the wrong way, especially as a person of color or certain people in our society, you become a target of the police.
Michelle:If you actually touch them or they push themselves into you as we've seen at protests and rallies in this country lately, you become a target. They're able to use excessive force. They can get away with this. And they've killed civilians who have touched them or looked at them the wrong way. So the fact that Pearce is not being held accountable by the forces that usually bend over backwards for police.
Michelle:This is a clear indicator of how the system allows domestic violence abusers to escape consequences. And it just shows you how much the hatred of women is so systematic is so systemic in this country that someone who actually hit a cop with a car is not gonna face any jail or prison time. He's gonna, they're allowing an alleged criminal to get off the hook. And so I think that's there's a lot of anger about the no jail or prison time. But I think we just need to look at the way we repeatedly excuse and allow and sometimes encourage domestic violence in this country against women.
Filiberto:Yeah. And I think jail or prison isn't a solution for anything like but a meaningful process that actually holds him accountable and makes him deal with whatever it is that causes these instincts, these outbursts, whatever is kind of the central to this. And I think in a lot of instances, talking about mental health has been used by the police to murder people as an excuse to murder particularly black men. And so there is a high degree of privilege where you can actually use this idea of mental health to get away with something. So we're definitely talking about, he's a black man, but he's a very privileged black man.
Michelle:Absolutely.
Filiberto:Giving him a lot of leniency because of his position.
Michelle:Yeah. A lot of professional male athletes, like, are idols to a lot of people in law enforcement and others. So they get those privileges. They get those entitlements that the rest of us do not.
Filiberto:Yeah he was a first round pick. He came with a lot of fanfare to the team. People know who he is. Like, there's reasons to be suspicious and concerned. But I also don't want the system to disproportionately hold black men accountable. Like, we need to start with the behavior of white men and go from there. Mhmm.
Michelle:What about you? What is your ImAStopYouRightThere for this week?
Filiberto:Well, I think I'm gonna call mine, mira homies. That's my hot take for the week. This is my section, mira homies. So I think in general, as the season starts, one thing that I've been thinking a lot about and I think a lot about as a labor reporter or as a union person is how much much people just want to worship billionaires. And as we get into the league, most of the owners are now billionaires, mostly men, mostly NBA billionaire owners.
Filiberto:And there's a sort of subtext of like, we need to thank these billionaires for this league or to pay these players or whatever. And I just want to be really clear with folks that there isn't anything impressive about what a billionaire has, quote unquote accomplished. Like, I want to be really clear that someone like Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk, the difference between them and other, I guess, millionaires or petty, petty sort of vassals or kings in this country or this world. The difference between them is their capacity for cruelty. That's what makes them money is they don't mind people dying, getting hurt, being harmed by their products, their processes, their inventions.
Filiberto:They don't mind them dying so they can make a profit. That's the difference. The willingness to do that is what makes these people feel superior to us because they have their lives in our hands. So for example, with Elon Musk and the AI economy, he was able to buy off city elected officials in Memphis to put in gas turbines to power his data centers. What are those gas turbines do?
Filiberto:They're completely suffocating and killing black people in the South, in in Memphis and other parts of the South likely because they just quote unquote approve more gas turbines to fund these AI projects that don't do anything. He doesn't give a shit about the black people that he's killing. He just doesn't. And it's really unfortunate too because the the tech journalists that write about these things also overlook that and talk about him being a genius because he was able to get past these unnecessary regulations to get his gas turbines up.
Michelle:Well, again, it's the further idolization of these tech titans.
Filiberto:Yeah. And what you do when you idolize these people is similar to what Michelle was talking about. You give them impunity. You let them get away with whatever the hell they want. And you let them believe that they're entitled to the power that they have over us.
Filiberto:And they definitely aren't. So as we get this season started, as we get this league going, let's not thank billionaires for their contributions to our society. What we who we need to thank and what we need to thank is the game itself and the players that have made this game what it is and the players that were fighting for a union contract to improve this game. Because despite what those billionaires are being complaining about that they're paying people too much and they might try to charge us more because of that, It's these players that make things happen. It's these players that do things.
Filiberto:Billionaires do nothing. Billionaires sign checks and use their privilege to keep making more privilege. So many of them come from inherited wealth. Like it's just it's not impressive to do a lot with all with what is already too much. It's not impressive to be more cruel than somebody else to make more money.
Filiberto:I don't want to live that life. This isn't the world that I want. I want a world where we lift each other up and support each other and love each other. And you can't do that if all you're thinking about is how much profit you're going to extract from somebody. So you can have another yacht, you so can have a third wife, you can do another, have a fourteenth kid, whatever it is.
Filiberto:So again, this isn't just about Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, all these men, all these billionaires, all these mostly white men who are pretty mediocre are just crueler than other people. That's all that is. And this system encourages that so much so that they're now billionaires.
Michelle:It's not something to celebrate. It's something to run from.
Filiberto:Yeah. It's something to question. It's something to fight against. As many people are all over the country, you see people fighting data centers, you see people fighting the future that these billionaires are trying to impose on us. It's incredible.
Filiberto:And those are the people that we stand with and we stand behind.
Michelle:That's why we're gonna be at May Day rallies and protests on May 1. This episode will probably not hit your ears until after that. But that's why it's important when you see these these solidarity actions, these collect these collective actions that we all participate in them because it's that's important. That's where we're meeting the people who are with us and the people who are in the same boat as we are because these these tech people, these billionaires are not.
Filiberto:Yeah. And let's, if we're gonna celebrate anybody, let's celebrate those workers that make our days bearable every day. The folks that are making your food, the folks that are in your concessions, the folks that are ushering you and helping you get to your seats, the players themselves who are bringing their best to you every game that they can, the coaches. These are the people to celebrate the fellow fans. Thank you all for being part of this.
Filiberto:It's incredible. But those are the folks we want to celebrate and focus on in this podcast.
Michelle:Yeah. That's the message of May Day, right? Day without immigrants.
Filiberto:International Workers Day. Yeah.
Michelle:The United States is just waking up to the power of May Day, but it's it's become a thing, and and we're excited to be part of it.
Filiberto:Absolutely.
Michelle:Thanks for listening and building community with us. Make sure you're following us on Instagram at PodWeGotNext , and subscribe at wegotnextpod.org.
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