Napheesa Collier on WNBA salary increase and her future in basketball

0:00 what we did was transformational in our sport

0:01 and I think in women's sport in general.

0:03 People are crazy for sure.

0:05 Like you get death threats because you didn't make a free throw.

0:07 I'm going to kill you and your whole family.

0:09 I hope you die on the plane ride home.

0:11 I do feel like they the game is too physical right now.

0:15 I think that it should be catered

0:16 to the offensive player because that's why you play basketball.

0:19 She's a great business woman.

0:21 Um but I think especially now where we are with our sport like you have

0:24 to be able to connect with your players and I thought that part was missing.

0:27 Nfisa Collier is a star on the court for the Minnesota Lyns of the WNBA.

0:32 She's a star off the court where

0:35 she co-founded her own offseason league and also

0:38 is a senior union official deeply involved

0:41 in negotiating a huge new contract for women's players.

0:44 When we met in Minneapolis,

0:46 Collier was wearing a boot because of recent surgery.

0:49 As you will hear, I had laryngitis, so we were both playing hurt.

0:58 Okay, thank you for welcoming us here.

1:00 Really appreciate it.

1:01 Sorry about my voice.

1:03 Um, this is your first season under the new contract.

1:07 Congratulations.

1:07 I know you had a lot to do with it.

1:09 Thank you.

1:09 How different does it feel?

1:11 It feels amazing.

1:12 It just I really feel a sense of accomplishment.

1:15 I was My first year in the league was the first year under the last CBA,

1:18 so I had nothing to do with that one.

1:20 And just knowing how hard we fought

1:21 for this, knowing everything that went into it,

1:24 you just feel like that much more pride in it.

1:26 So, I'm really excited.

1:28 You had a big role in it, of course, and it makes me wonder if on some level

1:33 you feel as much a business person as an athlete.

1:37 Um, I do.

1:38 I think that started with Unrivaled for sure and you know,

1:41 the league that we built for threeon-ree.

1:43 Um, I got to learn a lot about business through that.

1:46 And so I feel like taking that knowledge

1:48 and applying it to CBA negotiations where,

1:51 you know, I I know kind of the behind-the-scenes things that go into a league.

1:56 Uh, Brianna Stewart is my co-founder.

1:58 She's also part of the EC.

2:00 So I feel like that gave us a unique perspective where we

2:03 um kind of knew more of the granular things to to look for.

2:07 Do you come to think of the sport itself as more of a business?

2:10 Absolutely.

2:10 That has changed as well.

2:11 I think in the last I would say 5 years in your mind it's changed.

2:17 Oh for me personally.

2:20 Yeah.

2:19 Yeah.

2:19 I think when you first come into the league

2:21 for me um it's about the stardom of it like

2:25 you know you're fulfilling your dream of playing in the duba

2:28 and you're making more money than you've ever made.

2:30 In retrospect it's like not that much money but it feels like a lot at the time.

2:34 Um but as you grow older you start thinking

2:36 about how this is so um it's not forever.

2:40 So you have to start thinking like a business

2:41 person to make sure that you're maximizing your time while

2:44 you're playing to make the money that you can

2:46 to set yourself up for the future whatever that looks like.

2:48 And so that turns you into a business person.

2:50 The negotiation of course was about money but was

2:52 it about something larger than money for you?

2:55 It was um of course money was a big

2:57 part of it but another huge part was the revshare

3:00 and that goes into money but it also goes

3:02 into what it means for the future of our sport.

3:05 um changing what it looks like for not only my generation now,

3:08 the people who are in it, but setting them up for the next CBA and the next one.

3:11 Revenue sharing of the total revenues of the league.

3:13 That's what you're talking about.

3:15 Yes.

3:15 Yes.

3:15 The total revenue of the league.

3:18 Um we had something like a little bit of a rev share on our last CBA,

3:22 but it was nothing like it is now.

3:24 Um what we did was transformational in our sport

3:26 and I think in women's sport in general.

3:28 Um, and so that was the biggest thing that we were wanting to lock

3:32 down on because that is something that's going to affect people way after us.

3:36 Although you are not equal to the men in this respect.

3:40 No,

3:39 you get 20%, the men get 50%.

3:42 Yes.

3:42 But even though that's not like where we want to end up,

3:45 it's a huge step for us and it's where our league is at.

3:47 The men do make a lot more revenue so they're

3:49 able to do that and still sustain on both sides.

3:51 Earlier in the negotiations, you very famously spoke out at a press conference,

3:57 speaking more clearly than I can now.

4:00 And you said of this league, it's the best league in the world,

4:05 best fans in the world, worst leadership in the world.

4:09 Worst leadership in the world.

4:12 What was it like to call out your commissioner

4:15 that way and then have to deal with her afterward?

4:17 Um, thinking about the state of the world right now,

4:20 I think that's a little dramatic.

4:23 Um, but you said it.

4:24 Yes.

4:25 I mean, it was tense for a while

4:27 just between the players in the league in general.

4:30 I think it was something that needed to be

4:31 happen and it was something that furthered our CBA negotiations.

4:34 Um, I am still happy that I did it and I

4:39 think it had the intended unintended effect of moving our negotiations along.

4:42 I think an unintended consequence consequence would be like I never

4:47 want someone's personal life affected the way that it was for her.

4:51 Um, how was it affected?

4:53 Um, I think it was just really hard.

4:54 She got a lot of backlash for that.

4:56 Um, and what I was talking about was professionally.

5:00 Um, and when you take things personally, I think it,

5:03 you know, that was an unintended consequence for sure.

5:05 But you were saying in that news conference,

5:07 you don't really care about the players.

5:09 You don't care about their health.

5:11 you don't care about the quality of the sport.

5:13 Yes.

5:14 And I think someone in that position professionally like

5:16 you need people who do care about those things.

5:18 I think she's a great businesswoman.

5:20 Um but I think especially now where we are with our sport like you have

5:24 to be able to connect with your players and I thought that part was missing.

5:27 Did you have a conversation about those accusations you had made with her

5:32 previously?

5:32 Yes.

5:33 How' that turn out after?

5:35 Oh after.

5:35 Um no I didn't.

5:38 Never since.

5:39 No.

5:40 Mm-m.

5:40 Do you talk to her now?

5:42 We talked a little bit during the negotiations,

5:44 but not about the press conference.

5:45 Just let it go.

5:46 Just about negotiations.

5:48 Well, this negotiation had to be about a lot more than money for you.

5:54 Yeah.

5:54 Would you name it?

5:56 Um, I think even more than money, again,

5:59 it's about the future, about the precedent of what we're doing.

6:03 Um, and I think we set that and asking

6:05 for the revenue share and what we did with even retirement benefits.

6:09 um reproductive benefits,

6:11 just changing so many more things than just the dollar amount that we're making.

6:14 Uh setting the people up in the next CBA

6:16 that hopefully they're getting even more than what we're getting now.

6:19 You said reproductive benefits.

6:20 There's fertility uh provisions in here.

6:23 There's provisions for pregnant players

6:26 not to be traded as easily.

6:28 Yep.

6:28 You're a mom.

6:30 How much did you think about your kid when you thought about this?

6:32 So much.

6:33 I mean obviously when you become a parent they are your entire world and you

6:38 never want your job to be compromised because

6:39 of that or the stability of or security

6:42 of your job and so they try to do that in the last CBA but once things

6:46 start going you see where the holes are

6:48 and you see how things slip through the cracks.

6:50 So really, we're just trying to tighten

6:51 that up in that when a player is pregnant, it hurts both I mean,

6:56 for salary cap purposes,

6:57 it hurts both the player and the team

6:58 because they have to pay for your full salary,

7:00 which is great for us,

7:01 but then it takes away for they can't add another person to their team and so

7:05 then it ends up hurting the player because

7:07 you don't want to sign a pregnant person.

7:08 Um, so just fixing some of those things where it doesn't come off the cap

7:11 now and so you can get paid and the team can still assign someone else.

7:15 when you spoke out in the way that you did,

7:18 how much support did you get from your fellow players?

7:21 I got so much support.

7:22 Um, which was amazing to see because when you do something like

7:25 that, you never really know what the response is going to be,

7:28 but to see them back me so fully and to be

7:30 behind me 100% it just it meant a lot.

7:33 I want to try to tell you with my terrible voice about

7:37 a friend of mine who has been educating me about the WNBA.

7:43 Huge fan.

7:44 and she closely followed your negotiations

7:47 and put them in the context of history.

7:50 Said, "When I watch these negotiations, I think about Billy Jean King.

7:55 I think about 50 years of efforts at progress uh for women toward

8:01 equality." Did you think about any of that as you were going through this?

8:05 We did.

8:06 I mean, we wouldn't be able to do any

8:08 of this stuff without the people that came before us.

8:10 And that's why one of the big things that especially Alicia Clark,

8:14 she's one of our EC members,

8:15 really fought for was to make sure that retired players have benefits.

8:19 Um, so that was something we were really proud about in our in our

8:22 stars from before the WNBA was big.

8:25 Yes.

8:25 So the people who built it, who are the reason that we can be here now.

8:30 Um, she was really the one that pioneered like

8:32 we want to make sure that they're taken care of.

8:35 It's kind of wild because they had to retire never expecting this, right?

8:38 Yeah.

8:38 never expecting this, but they deserve it.

8:40 I mean, especially I mean the names that they are, what they could do,

8:44 like the people now will never know or unless you're

8:47 a really big WNBA fan or you look at highlights, but they are amazing.

8:51 Um, and we are just lucky to be

8:52 born in a time where women's sports is exploding,

8:54 it doesn't make us any more talented than they were.

8:56 They still deserve the recognition and um the money that we're getting now.

9:00 You had a Nobel Prize winning economist

9:03 help you out with the negotiations, right?

9:05 Mhm.

9:06 who said, "I will do this for free

9:09 because it matters for women." That must have been

9:13 quite a feeling to realize what you were carrying there.

9:17 Yeah, it's amazing.

9:18 And I think it goes back to we know that we're doing it for more than just us.

9:21 Like we know that we are setting the precedent

9:23 for so many women to come after us.

9:26 And so to have someone like that to be a part of our our side of the table,

9:30 to be on our side of the table means everything.

9:32 Um and I think it's just it was like a boiling point.

9:34 Like we've been working and working and working working for this for so

9:37 long and now there's the explosion of women's sports and we have

9:40 to be able to take hold of that like we've had more we

9:43 have more power now than we've ever had in the history of our sport.

9:46 And so to waste that or to not take advantage of that I think would

9:50 be a shame for the people who did come before us and for the future.

9:54 And so we realize that um in this moment

9:56 and that's why you saw us say the whole time like

9:58 we're standing 10 toes down in what we believe and we

10:00 have to hold firm no longer how long it takes.

10:02 How should you use that power next?

10:06 I think we should use that power to grow the sport.

10:07 We're in the CBA.

10:08 We're happy with it.

10:09 Like, we did everything we can to get here.

10:11 We fought for it, and now we honor

10:13 that by playing as hard as we can in the sport.

10:15 Um, giving our all to the game, our teammates, the fans, and playing basketball.

10:22 Do you expect that explosion to continue

10:24 of the sport?

10:26 Yeah,

10:26 absolutely.

10:26 I think we're just scratching the surface of women's sports.

10:30 I think we're finally getting to the point where we're given the platform

10:33 um to be able to show people and showcase what we have.

10:37 And so this is brand new.

10:39 So how can this be the end or the pinnacle?

10:42 This is just the beginning.

10:43 Where does your other league, your league unrivaled,

10:47 fit in with all of this?

10:49 I think really well.

10:50 I think it's a perfect um supplement to the WNBA

10:54 and that the WNBA is only six months and it's only during the summer.

10:58 unrivaled is in the offseason and during,

11:02 you know, regular basketball season, which is the winter,

11:04 and it showcases these stars where we're not

11:06 going dark for six months out of the year.

11:08 Um, and so the WNBA success is unrivaled and vice versa.

11:13 Although part of the reason for unrivaled, right,

11:15 was that women were not making enough in the WNBA.

11:20 Now they are.

11:22 Yeah.

11:21 Does that reduce the need for your league?

11:23 I don't think so.

11:24 Our salaries are still extremely competitive.

11:27 Um, most people are still making more in Unrival than they are in the WNBA

11:33 really.

11:32 Uh, and on top of that, we still have to play.

11:35 We're just getting paid for it.

11:36 You still have to improve your game in the offseason.

11:39 Um, you still have to work out.

11:41 And playing against the best players in the world is iron sharpens iron.

11:44 And so being able to do that and getting paid at the same time,

11:48 um, is I don't think the need for that will ever go away.

11:50 I'm curious.

11:51 It's publicly known.

11:52 You got a supermax contract, $1.4 million for a year.

11:57 someone at unrivaled can make more than that.

12:00 Yes.

12:01 Really?

12:03 Yes.

12:02 Why?

12:02 Why are the economics so different?

12:05 Uh, a lot of reasons.

12:06 I think we don't have as many players.

12:10 Um, we are able to we don't have shareholders the way that the WNBA does.

12:15 You know, they have three different ownership groups with WNBA owners,

12:18 NBA owners, and a mixture of of other people.

12:21 And so, we're able to move a lot faster.

12:23 For example, um we had our on the road game

12:26 for the semi-finals in Brooklyn that came together in two weeks.

12:29 Like we're able to be agile and move quickly

12:31 from idea to execution.

12:33 Yes.

12:34 Yeah.

12:34 Because we had our Philly game which we had been in production for over

12:37 a year and it did so well that we got the opportunity to host in Brooklyn.

12:41 Um and that happened two weeks before the actual game.

12:44 So things like that where we're able to move really fast.

12:47 Um because we don't have, you know, individual owners.

12:50 It's all owned by the league.

12:51 each team is it's just a lot easier to move.

12:54 How involved are you in those moves?

12:56 Are you at the table or are you making decisions?

12:58 What do you do?

12:59 I wouldn't say I'm making decisions.

13:00 They do ask just my um my opinion on a lot of things.

13:04 My expertise is from the players perspective.

13:06 So what players would think about things,

13:08 what we would need um just like the climate in that area.

13:13 So I definitely stay in my lane when it comes to that.

13:15 But I am for sure trying to learn the business and what goes into that.

13:19 So I am still listening and trying to learn.

13:21 But as far as decision-m um they're just kind of asking my opinion from

13:25 I am wondering if the word is entrepreneur not business person.

13:30 Are you feeling like an entrepreneur?

13:33 I'm trying.

13:33 I mean I think unrivaled has definitely changed my mindset on that.

13:37 Uh just on what's possible to do.

13:40 So I guess that that would be a good word.

13:43 Now that you've signed this contract,

13:45 how do you think your life is going to be different individually if at all?

13:49 I don't think it'll be much different honestly.

13:52 I mean obvious the money is amazing of course but the goal is always the same.

13:55 Like I'm trying to get back on the court,

13:57 get healthy to play and win a championship.

13:58 That is my number one goal in sports right now.

14:01 Tell me a little bit more about that when you think through your goals.

14:06 Um I mean for me my biggest goal is a championship.

14:09 Like that is something I haven't achieved that yet.

14:11 That is the reason you play is to win.

14:13 You're on a team with a history of championships.

14:15 I am.

14:16 Yeah.

14:16 Yeah.

14:16 You must feel that weight.

14:19 a little.

14:19 I mean, not the weight so much as just

14:22 I want it for me and my teammates as well.

14:24 Like, you know, you are surrounded by people who not only know what's possible,

14:28 but know the path to get there.

14:29 So, I feel really lucky in that.

14:31 And my coach and our assistant coaches,

14:33 they've all won and so they know the formula.

14:35 So, it's really comforting to be around people who

14:38 we're not all doing this for the first time.

14:39 Like, they know what it takes to get there.

14:41 Do you get to the end of the season feel you know what you lacked,

14:44 how you did not get to the championship?

14:46 Yeah.

14:46 you know, every year what happens.

14:48 What What about last year?

14:50 Last year.

14:50 Last year, I mean, we had a lot of injuries last year.

14:53 We had a lot of We had a lot of people get injured.

14:55 So, just some years you're unlucky.

14:57 Like, you have to be good and you have to get

14:59 a little lucky and we just we didn't have the luck last year.

15:01 Is that part of the reason why you were so mad at the league?

15:05 You felt they weren't taking care of the players?

15:08 I do feel like they the game is too physical right now.

15:12 Um, I think that's been a complaint of players

15:15 and coaches alike for the past several years.

15:18 We've been compared to the NBA of the 80s and just our physicality.

15:22 Um, and I do think that is hinders the players obviously

15:26 like you come to watch players play offense and to score.

15:30 And so when it's so physical,

15:32 the game's not fun to watch and it's not fun to play.

15:34 How did that happen?

15:35 How did it get so physical?

15:37 Yeah.

15:37 I think we're competitors.

15:38 I mean, we want to win and if the rules allow,

15:40 we're going to kill each other to get there, you know?

15:43 So, I just think the rules need to change in that regard.

15:46 So, it's safety for others and it's a better experience for the fans as well.

15:50 Now, when you say the rules need to change,

15:52 it's not just a matter of strict refing.

15:54 You want different rules.

15:57 I think it's both.

15:58 I mean, I think it's both.

15:59 I think consistency and refing is the number

16:01 one thing that we ask for every year.

16:03 Um, and so that and then also I think the game right now is catered

16:09 to the defensive player because you always

16:11 hear like defense wins championships and it does

16:13 but in my opinion like I think that it should be

16:15 catered to the offensive player because that's why you play basketball.

16:18 You'd like it to be more like the all-star game.

16:21 I would not go that far.

16:22 Not maybe not the all-star game.

16:24 You still need defense for sure.

16:26 Um, but just a little tweaks here and there.

16:29 Your fans want to know one other thing.

16:32 Why did you sign for just one year?

16:35 I am so focused on the now.

16:36 Like I just came off two ankle surgeries.

16:38 I'm trying to get back on the court and like this was such a whirlwind.

16:42 We had um with the CBA going on and all

16:45 these things like everything was happening so fast.

16:47 Uh I just wanted to be able to focus on getting

16:50 on the court with my team this year and winning a championship.

16:53 But you are the team leader.

16:55 They would have given you three years, five years, whatever you wanted.

16:59 Mhm.

16:59 Again, I think just like not looking too far into the future in that way

17:04 and that I want to be able to stay focused on my recovery.

17:07 I've never had surgery before like this.

17:10 I've never had to come back from injury.

17:12 Um, this is new for me and I wanted to be

17:14 able to give it my all and focus on the now.

17:17 Now, you've already got a supermax.

17:18 It's not like you're going to get more money,

17:21 but do you feel there are opportunities that will come to you

17:24 in a year that would not be available to you now

17:28 in terms of teams?

17:31 Yeah.

17:31 Um I mean, of course, I think there's new opportunities every year

17:34 and every time you're off your contract, there's opportunities.

17:37 Um but again, that's like so far in the future for me.

17:39 We haven't even started game one of this year

17:41 and so that's not even something I'm thinking about.

17:44 Uh it's amazing to think of less than a year so far in the future.

17:47 I know.

17:47 Yeah.

17:48 But that's what it feels like.

17:49 The season feels like a mountain and every

17:51 day it's like you're fighting for something.

17:53 It's physically and mentally exhausting.

17:56 Um and so it really is like you're just trying to get

17:59 to the like make it to the end of the season and get to playoffs.

18:01 Is it going to be hard to miss the beginning as we know you will.

18:04 Yes, it it's sucks.

18:06 I'm not going to lie.

18:07 Not being on the court.

18:08 I miss unrival too again.

18:10 I've never not played for this long.

18:12 So it's hard.

18:13 Like I'm a basketball player.

18:14 I want to play basketball.

18:15 Do you already have in mind how you're going to resume?

18:19 Yes, that's all I've been thinking about like when

18:21 can I get back on the court to start

18:23 training to make sure that I'm hitting the ground

18:24 running that I can be as, you know,

18:27 least rusty as possible when I start gameplay.

18:30 What are you able to do now right now?

18:32 Without hurting yourself?

18:33 Yeah.

18:34 Now I'm still in my boot.

18:35 I'm nonweight bearing or I'm, you know,

18:37 I can't walk without the I can't even do that yet.

18:40 Oh man.

18:40 Yeah, I know.

18:41 In a couple weeks, I'll be able

18:42 to do heel raises to shoot some basketballs, man.

18:47 Yeah.

18:46 Do you have anxiety that you might struggle to get back?

18:51 No.

18:52 I am such a everything happens for a reason person.

18:54 And I know the determination that I have.

18:57 Like I'm going to do everything I can to get back on the court.

18:59 I know how hard I'm going to work and I know my body.

19:02 I'm healing really well.

19:02 I'm ahead of schedule.

19:04 Um, and I did this to get them fixed and they're fixed.

19:06 So now it's just about making sure I'm strong enough to to play again.

19:10 I want to think a little more about your future.

19:14 Uh I assume at some point you realize you're not going to play forever.

19:19 Do you have in mind how many years you'll play?

19:21 As many till the wheels fall off.

19:23 As many as I can.

19:24 Could be 10 more.

19:25 Could be more.

19:27 I feel like 10 would be a good number.

19:29 10 number.

19:29 We'll see.

19:29 I'll be 39.

19:30 I don't know.

19:31 We'll see.

19:32 And are you also thinking when we think about you as a business person,

19:36 as an entrepreneur, the way that your career might evolve in other areas?

19:41 I definitely want to evolve there.

19:43 Um, I want to learn more about the business, what goes into it.

19:47 Um, just all of those things.

19:49 So, I'm really eager to learn from that perspective.

19:52 How you going about that?

19:54 Trying to be in a lot of these meetings with Unrivaled,

19:56 asking a lot of questions.

19:58 Um, yeah, I mean, asking a lot of questions.

20:00 That's all you can do is not be afraid or embarrassed to not

20:03 know what you're talking about cuz how else are you going to learn?

20:05 What is a question you've been asking?

20:08 I ask how they come to their decisions.

20:10 That is like a big question because

20:12 that's also something you can't really teach.

20:13 Some of it is instinctual.

20:15 So like what goes into that.

20:16 So even again for example the Brooklyn

20:18 trip like we were kind of divided internally.

20:20 Should we do it?

20:21 Should we not?

20:21 It's a risk because it's so close.

20:23 Are you going to get the ticket sales you need?

20:24 All those things.

20:26 um like what goes into making the decision to pull that off

20:29 besides just the statistics like what gut feeling how do you hone that?

20:35 Um so trying to learn that.

20:36 Is there something about the business that you've

20:38 learned that you were clueless about as a rookie?

20:41 Oh my gosh.

20:42 Everything.

20:43 Clueless about a rookie.

20:44 I didn't know anything when I was a rookie.

20:46 Everything.

20:46 Take me back there and take me through some things you learned

20:50 for the business side.

20:51 I mean, how much planning goes into it?

20:55 Specifically for our league, it's like the things you know you're going to need.

20:58 Locker rooms, a basketball court, players, you know,

21:02 things you don't know you're going to need.

21:03 Game day security, like security at the hotels,

21:07 um where you're going to get your vendors from, just all these little details,

21:11 which is what makes the experience.

21:13 So, I think learning that too.

21:14 It's like it's not about the big things.

21:16 Everyone knows the big things.

21:17 It's the details that separate you and make it successful or not.

21:21 We're in a world where people bet on everything.

21:23 Obviously, they're betting on sports.

21:25 People are addicted to sports betting.

21:26 Yeah.

21:27 And predicting everything else.

21:29 How, if at all does that affect your work?

21:31 Me personally, it doesn't affect me.

21:33 Um, but people are crazy for sure.

21:36 Like you get death threats because you didn't make a free throw.

21:39 Um, but at the same time, you literally get death threats.

21:43 Yeah, literally.

21:44 Oh my god.

21:45 Yeah.

21:45 But people are crazy.

21:46 Like you can't put serious enough.

21:48 You got to call security.

21:49 And I mean I tell security.

21:51 Yeah.

21:51 I tell security.

21:52 We all do.

21:53 Just like just in case, you know.

21:56 But on the positive side of that, it means the sport is growing

21:59 because we didn't have sports betting in women's basketball a couple years ago.

22:03 Nobody was interested.

22:04 Yeah.

22:05 So that means that when you start getting the casual fan,

22:08 that means that you're growing.

22:09 You're not just having the diehard fans who have to go, you know,

22:12 years before on Facebook to a link to YouTube to find it.

22:16 Like we are so much more accessible now that you do

22:18 have the casual fan in the betters and whatever it is.

22:21 Um and that is great for us honestly.

22:24 When would you know if it went too far gambling and prediction markets?

22:30 Um, in terms of safety for players,

22:32 I think it's a definitely something you think about because even though

22:36 like you get these threats and you don't take them too seriously,

22:39 you never know what people are going to do,

22:41 like what is going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

22:44 But that's why um we have security.

22:47 We take precautions.

22:48 You don't post your location, things like that.

22:50 Like you just have to do everything you can to stay safe.

22:52 And that's what comes with being on TV and being so visible as we are.

22:57 Unfortunately, that's the dark side of it.

22:59 So you have to, you know,

23:00 we have to do what we can to stay safe in that way and take care of ourselves.

23:03 Okay.

23:04 What is a DM that you got from someone that you can share?

23:08 Oh my gosh.

23:09 Like a horrible one.

23:10 People are crazy.

23:11 Like I'm going to kill you and your whole family.

23:13 I hope you die on the plane ride home.

23:15 Like just I mean anything you can think of.

23:18 Like people are crazy.

23:21 Are there crazy people that send you nice ones too?

23:24 Oh yeah.

23:24 There's so many nice ones.

23:26 like for every bad one there's 10 nice ones.

23:29 People really are fans I think of what we do.

23:31 Um especially women's sports I feel like it for especially

23:34 the people who have been in it for a long time.

23:36 It brings you together like I think people are

23:38 proud of what we were been able to do

23:39 of us being role models and so there are so many more nice ones than bad ones.

23:44 That's part of it for the fans, right?

23:46 I think more so than the NBA.

23:48 Yes.

23:48 I think it's identity.

23:50 I think so.

23:51 We I would say like the most if not

23:54 one of the most inclusive leagues in the world.

23:56 I mean we have gay, black, queer,

23:59 like women speaking out who are super vocal who

24:03 are not afraid to say what they believe in.

24:05 Like we are kind of a minority group of people in so

24:08 many ways and I think a lot of people identify with that.

24:11 Um and so we do get a lot of support and it's it's nice to to feel that.

24:17 How has your family story influenced the way you've approached the game?

24:23 A lot.

24:23 I mean, I really credit everything

24:25 to my parents and just their courage and everything.

24:28 I mean, I think the story you're talking about is when I was little,

24:30 the basketball team that they was thinking about it.

24:32 Yeah.

24:33 Yeah.

24:33 Why don't you tell that story if you don't mind?

24:35 Yes.

24:35 So, when I was sixth grade, fifth grade,

24:38 um the town I was living in didn't have room for me on their basketball team.

24:41 And my parents did not take that as an answer.

24:43 They're like, "We'll create our own basketball." That's my first question.

24:45 What does that mean?

24:46 didn't have room for you.

24:47 They said all the spots were filled.

24:49 Okay.

24:50 Yeah.

24:50 Okay.

24:50 If only they knew.

24:51 But go on.

24:51 Go on.

24:52 Yeah.

24:53 Um and so my parents were like,

24:54 "We'll create our own team." So we got all the best girls we

24:57 could find in the surrounding cities and we put our own team together,

25:00 became a traveling team, the best team in the state.

25:02 Um and so just even that mindset of not taking no for an answer,

25:07 of seeing something that um seeing a problem and finding

25:10 a solution to it is just that was my parents.

25:13 And I think just learning from them it's

25:17 you know you never think inside the box.

25:18 You also has some notable grandparents.

25:20 Is that right?

25:21 Yes.

25:21 My grandfather.

25:23 Yeah.

25:22 My grandfather was um an ambassador for the UN and he helped

25:25 get um independence for Sierra Leon

25:28 independence for Sierra Leone from Great Britain.

25:31 How much do you think about that story as you push ahead in life?

25:34 Honestly, I don't think about that individual story so

25:38 much as that the person that my grandfather was,

25:40 he raised my dad that way and I got to know

25:43 him through my dad because he died before I was born.

25:46 But um that mindset I think my dad tried to instill in me and my siblings.

25:51 And so even though I don't think about that specific story,

25:54 that character I guess I think my dad

25:58 just tried to instill in us from from birthier.

26:02 Thanks so much.

26:02 Thank you.