Latest / QUESTION EVERYTHING / What Does it Really Mean to Be a Champion? Renee Montgomery: Making History + Living the (Atlanta) Dream + Changing the WNBA

Transcript

What Does it Really Mean to Be a Champion? Renee Montgomery: Making History + Living the (Atlanta) Dream + Changing the WNBA · QUESTION EVERYTHING

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Big things happen when you're pretty, pretty bold, pretty clever,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: pretty strong. I'm Danielle Robey, and each week my guests
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: and I have conversations that put a new spin on pretty.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: This is pretty smart. Renee Montgomery is a name you'll
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: read about in the history books. She recently became the
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: first former WNBA player to be named owner and executive
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: of a WNBA team.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Hers is the Atlanta Dream.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: That title doesn't outshine her accomplishments as a player. She
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: was fourth overall pick in the draft, won two championships
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: during her eleven seasons in the league, earned the WNBA
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: All Star honor. But despite a headline making career, in
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty, at what some would say was the peak
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: of her play.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: Renee decided to retire.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: The death of George Floyd and the fight for racial
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: justice in our country excavated something in her that she
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: didn't want to quiet. She turned her attention to social
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: reform and justice, and that new path led her to
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: an even more unforeseen one owner of a WNBA team.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: Basketball is simply the backdrop of this interview. What Renee
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: is really conveying to all of us in the next
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: thirty minutes. It's a little bit about business, a little
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: bit about going after your dreams, and a lot about character.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: Who do you want to be on your way there?
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: So, Renee, you grew up in West Virginia and you
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: said you had a dream of being a WNBA star,
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: but it was kind of an unconventional dream. What did
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: basketball mean to you as a kid and as a teenager?
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: You know, basketball was a way to get to where
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: I wanted to go, and it was a way to
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: see the world to you know, I love West Virginia's
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: where I was born and raised, but it was a
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: way to see more parts of the world, more parts
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: of America. And when you grow up in the country,
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: you wonder what other cities are like and what that
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: lifestyle is like. So basketball was a lifestyle, a hobby,
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: but also a vehicle to get where I needed to go.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: Do you have three or four players who have really
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: shaped the game for you? Oh?
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: Man, players that have shaped the game for me? I
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: would say it's difficult because I wouldn't necessarily think of
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: a player, but I would think of moments like the
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: Olympic team, the nineteen ninety six Olympic team on the
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: women's side. That shaped a lot of stuff because they
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: call it the Title nine Olympics because of what it
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: did for women's sports. You know, the WNBA started after that,
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: and it just was a trickle effect of women taking
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: a stance and kind of being on the big stage.
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: So I would say that that really shaped things for
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: me as a young player because it launched the idea
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: that I could play professionally as a job, a career,
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: because before that all you really planned on, you know,
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: I had dreams a bit playing at a high D
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: one school. That was my whole goal. And then when
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: the WNBA became a thing, it was like, oh wait,
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: so I can do this as an actual job.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: What That's wild that you were so excited about something
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: with no end in sight and it happened while you
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: were on your path.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: That's a wild thing.
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's different, you know, like like for a lot
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: of young boys they started out, NBA was always there's
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: seventy five years old. There's not many kids that didn't
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: think about that. But for the WNBA, it started when
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: I was ten, and I started playing basketball around five
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: or six, which is young, but I was so serious
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: by ten and then at ten to have options and
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: ways to be able to play the game I love
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: and actually get paid for it. That was a wild
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: concept to me.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: You know, one thing I learned about you as I
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: was researching is that you do everything at one hundred.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: I respect it so much.
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: So when you.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: Turn pro, you don't just go pro your fourth overall
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: pick in the two thousand and nine WNBA draft, you
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: go to Minneso. So you have a hugely storied career,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: and in twenty twenty, amid the racial reckoning, you decide
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: to leave. You stepped away from what had been your
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: dream for years. You said, moments equal momentum. Can you
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: take me through the moment that you decided to step away.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: I can't imagine that was an easy decision.
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah, no, it wasn't easy at all. You know, I
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: had there were so many factors. You know, I even
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: talked about it. I had dreamed about playing in the
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: WNBA all my life, So it was it was something.
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: It was a goal that I was working towards. It
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: was a long term goal. And so once you achieve
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: that type of long term goal and you get there,
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: then you want to have an impact when you're in
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: the WNBA. And so in twenty twenty. I was thinking
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: about all those things. I was thinking about my team
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: leaving them. I never want to leave my team hanging.
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: But really it was the decision was made because there
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: was just so much I live in Atlanta, and so
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: that means a lot. When you talk about twenty twenty
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: and what was going on in the world, all eyes
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: were on Atlanta and the South, and so I want
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: to to be a part of the change. I want
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: to be a part of the movement. And you know,
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: when I say moments ecu momentum, my whole thought was
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: I wanted to add my moment to the movement and
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: the momentum that was already happening. And when I opted out,
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: I put that in my tweet and people will sort
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: of gravitated to that specific line moment's equal momentum, and
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: so we just made it the mantra.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: I remember that tweet, and I remember people saying, why
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: can't you do both?
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: And you said, if I'm not all the way in,
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: then I'm out.
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: Yep. That's just the thing. You know, if people watched
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: me play, people know what kind of person I am.
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: I fuel off of my passion and my energy, and
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: so if my passion and energy are here in Atlanta,
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: wondering what's going on and wondering how I can have
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: an impact. Well, I'm not really going to be helping
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: my team like I should, or I'm not going to
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: be the same player. And I wouldn't even want to
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: put that type of product out there as far as
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: the game, because I respect the game of basketball so
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: much that I wouldn't want to be out there fifty
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: percent and fifty percent out And that's not to say
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: that I wouldn't be happy playing basketball. Are focused on
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: my team, is that I would want to be doing
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: so much more boots on the ground here in Atlanta.
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: So I just made the decision to be all in
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: here in Atlanta.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: You went all in for sure. The WNBA seems to
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: reflect society.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: Women are underpaid. The WNBA is incredibly undervalued. I actually
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: spent a lot of twenty twenty interviewing WNBA players, and
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: I was shocked to learn that many WNBA players have
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: second or third jobs just to pay their rent. I
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: couldn't believe the league was dependent still on the NBA.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: So what are three things that you think need to
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: happen for the WNBA to be independent.
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: Well, first, I just think that sponsors have to take
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: the leap. And when I say take the leap, it's
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: not even a bet anymore. It's not even like a risk.
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: We know the numbers. The numbers are there, Viewership is up,
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: everything is up in the WNBA and women's sports for
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: that matter. So it's more of a matter of people
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: just realizing what's reality now. Things that were the past
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: were the past. But now sponsors, knowing the numbers, knowing
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: the opportunity, they should be coming on tenfold TV rights.
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: We should be having way more games on TV for visibility,
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: which will bring one more sponsorship and brands coming about.
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: But even player sponsorship, you know, with name, image and
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: likeness going on in college and different things of that nature,
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: there's still great, great WNBA players that are great options
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: to be an ambassador for whatever brand. When you think
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: about the WNBA, almost all the players have graduated from
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: and have a bachelor from a university, a good university.
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: So when you think about being prepared and being knowledgeable, educated,
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: WNBA players have all of that built in just by
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: this year fact that we can't enter the draft until
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: four years after high school. So I just think that
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: there's so many qualities that the WNBA has, including its players,
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: that people just have to see it, recognize it, and
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: invest in lean into it.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: I remember watching last year so much about pay inequality,
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: and I felt so kind of dumb because I didn't
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: quite understand what was happening. I remember reading about players
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: in the NBA getting a percentage of sponsorship.
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: Is that correct?
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's how the CBA's broken down. So for instance,
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: like jersey sales and different things of that nature, I
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: believe they get like a certain percentage of that.
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: And WNBA players don't get any of that.
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: I don't think. So that's why I said, don't get
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: me on record, Lion. I'm not sure the ins and outs,
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: but I don't know, but I don't think so.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: I remember reading that and I was thinking like that
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: was a huge discrepancy.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: Also in terms of inequality.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: I interviewed Kathy Engelbert last year, who's the commissioner, and
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: she kind of broke down in her opinion why viewership
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: wasn't as high as it is in the NBA.
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: In many ways, she said it was systemic and could
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: very easily change.
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: The thing that you hear all the time is that
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: women are and it's fun to watch, which is we
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: both know a complete fallacy.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: That's not true at all.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: You've been a player, now you're an owner, So I
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: think you have a really distinctive three sixty view. For
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: everyone who underestimates undervalues the WNBA, what are they missing?
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: You know?
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: The WNBA. I think there's there's a style of basketball
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: that if you like basketball, where there's passing, cutting, different
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: things of that nature. Not to say you're not going
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: to get in the NBA, but the WNBA thrives on that.
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: They drive on team basketball and they also have one
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: on one They have people that will break your ankles,
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: people that could do the best of the best shooting
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: with whoever in the world. I think that that's what
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: the WNBA provides. It provides a certain energy, a certain love.
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: Like if you want to watch people who love to
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: play the game play the game, you're going to watch
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: the WNBA. If you want to watch people that put
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: the work in and people that you know, blood, sweat
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: and tears, like it's a labor of love. Because we
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: know it's not like we get paid a certain amount
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: that that we are like, oh yeah, I'm just gonna
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: do it. Just for the pay. No, a lot of
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: PLOMBS players do it for the love of the game.
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: So if you want to watch people that love the
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: game play, you're gonna watch the WNBA.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: You know, it's interesting you talk about community and team
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: because I read somewhere that you said if you were
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: more selfish, you probably would have been a better player.
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: Definitely. I mean, I think there's certain traits that come
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: along with superstars, and if you watch all the documentaries
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: and different things of that nature, there's going to be
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: a common thread. But when you're a superstar, you have
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: to have a little bit of selfishness because you have
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: to take shots that everybody else is not gonna take.
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: But you know you can make those shots, and you
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: have to shoot them confidently, and you're the superstar because
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: you can make those. Sometimes there might have been a
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: better shot, but if you're the superstar, you're gonna shoot
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: your shots. So for me, I almost one of those
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: players that I'm always passing for the better shot, even
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: if you know, people considered me a shooter when I
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: was playing, and it didn't matter, Like a lot of
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: times my teammates would want me to shoot it. But
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: I'm a point guard. Through and through. So if I'm
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: open and somebody else is open, I'm making the extra
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: pass because that's just that's just how I play. And
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: so I'm sure that you know, not even just with myself,
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: but with a lot of players. The more selfish you
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: might become, the more points you might score, and in
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: turn you might have more All Stars and more accolades.
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: But for me, it was really just like I'm hype
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: if we just got a dub.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: In hindsight, any regrets, none.
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: None at all. You know, this is a blessing, you know,
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: Like I didn't know what was gonna happen when I
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: opted out. I really didn't have a plan. I just
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: knew that I wanted to be like here in Atlanta
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: and try to make a difference. And what's happened in
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: this past year has just been like unfathomable for me,
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: Like it's just I can't like I'm humble and grateful
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: is the only things I could think of. Because for
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: the city of Atlanta, you know, I'm not from here.
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: I'm from West Virginia. As we talked about, in the
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: city of Atlanta, the way they embraced me and brought
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: me in, people like Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms all the
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: way to Stacy Abrams. I felt like I was from Atlanta.
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: I felt like I was here. I knew I was
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: a part of the fabric, and so I really have
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: no regrets. I'm thankful for my career. I'm thankful for
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: what I learned in the WNBA because all of that
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: translates over when you get to another job. Being disciplined,
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: time management, having confidence, teamwork, all that stuff that, like
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: I had to learn to be an athlete, it's so
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: valuable now on the other side of things, and so
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: I'm just thankful.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: I have so many questions for you about ownership, But
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: before we jump into that, you mentioned All Stars, and
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: immediately my mind goes to Kobe Bryant, particularly because he
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: was so supportive of the WNBA and mentoring college female players.
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: What did Kobe mean to the WNBA and how do
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: you think his passing changed the trajectory of the league.
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: I mean, Kobe meant a lot to the WNBA. Kobe
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: meant a lot to basketball. I would even just say
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: the WNBA, I would say the NBA as well. When
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: you have somebody that's so dedicated to the sport, and
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: that's why I say the sport. He was dedicated when
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: he was a player, by how he trained for the game,
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: by how he prepared that mamba mentality, and then how
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: he approached the game. You know, he had a daughter,
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: gg and he knew that she was on track and
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: could be a WNBA player, would have been a WNBA player,
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: and so he leaned into the WNBA. He was at
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: the games. He was wearing the hoodies. You know, one
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: of the last photos on his Instagram is him wearing
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: a WNBA hoodie and that just says a lot about
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: his support. You know, he was you don't have to
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: ask him to come to a game. You know, he
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: showed up at WNBA games. He wanted to be there.
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: So just having star power like that on the sidelines.
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: You know, everybody was talking about last night Ben and
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: j Low were at the Lakers versus Celtics game. That
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: made big news. Well, Kobe Bryant was sitting at a
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: lot of the WNBA games and that made big news
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: as well. And when you talk about getting sponsorship and
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: getting i's on the WNBA and growing the brand, he
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: was doing that by just being there, by just being him.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: Obviously, his passing was so so tragic for so many reasons.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: But as I reflect on it, that was one of
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: the things I felt sad about. I felt like he
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: brought a lot of attention to the league. Do you
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: feel like other NBA players are stepping up to try
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: and and bring that attention as well?
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: Oh, definitely. There's so many NBA players that are just
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: locked in. I mean, even if you look at John
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: Morant's new Nike commercial, he has two twins wearing Asia
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: Wilson jerseys and she plays for the Las Vegas Aces
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: and the WNBA. There's so many different NBA players even
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: with me that I talk to that way, I'm coming
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: to the game, says, and I'm like, that's what's up.
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: And so, you know, I call it like there are
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: brothers like I call it my you know, like the
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: Broskis and everything like that, because they really do lean
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: in and that helps, you know, like having star power
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: on the sidelines, having just support from your counterparts is
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: dope to look over on the sidelines and see, you know,
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: the who's who watching you play and perform. And there
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: are a lot of NBA players that do that. I mean,
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: even look at the the Phoenix Suns team their whole
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: team went to the Phoenix Mercury playoff game, and even
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: on other teams they've done the same. So definitely have
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: support from the NBA side of it.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: That's really good to hear.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: So February twenty twenty one, Renee Montgomery made history.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: You purchase the Atlanta Dream.
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: You're not only the first former WNBA player to become
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: both an owner and an executive in a WNBA team,
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: but you are thirty four now just turn thirty five
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: years old, so you're one of the youngest to ever
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: own a sports team.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: First of all, how did you make this a reality?
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: And second of all, how does a deal like this
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: get put together?
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: Like, how do you even start to finance something like this?
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, it takes a lot. It's the whole
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: process now, you know, when you talk about money and
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: financing things. It's one of the reasons that I joined
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: the team at Valor Venture as a general partner because
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: getting funding for big acquisitions, or getting funding if you're
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: a founder and you're a minority be or if you're
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: a founder and you're a woman, it's not very easy.
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: You know, it's not. Ninety five percent of VC money
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: goes to white men, and when you think about that
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: and trying to take on new endeavors, that matters. And
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: so that that's how I started my whole venture capital
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: journey in a sense of needing funding to do things.
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: Everything needs funding, and you never want to just pay
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: for everything out of your pocket. And so when we
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: when I first started to think about becoming an owner
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: of the Atlanta Dream, it wasn't even my first thought.
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: It was my wife's arenas. She was like, hey, well,
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: you know there might there might be a cell and
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: if there is one, you should buy the team. And
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: I looked at her, like, girl, what are you talking about?
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: And she was just like, yeah, I think that who
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: better to run a team than somebody that played for him,
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: someone that loves them. And the more she talked, the
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: more it made sense. And then I had to start
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: figuring out the financial aspects of it, figuring out well,
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: who do I talk to, what do I do? And
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: you know, there was a network around me that that
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: helped bring it to life. One of them you talked
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: about you interviewed the commissioner, Kathy Engelbert. She was one
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: of the people that was very instrumental in that, you know,
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: Lebron James has more than a vote. They were very instrumental,
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: so it was a lot. You know when they talk
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: about a village in a community, I really am a
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: product of that, Like I'm a product of people just
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: pouring into me and wanting to see something happen that
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: they believe should happen. And so that's why I said
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: my whole life this past year, all I can think
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: of words is like grateful and humble because I don't
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: know why I was chosen in a sense of, you know,
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: for people to just give me grace, but they have,
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: and that's exactly why I try to give out as
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: much grace as I can. For maybe you don't have
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: the resume, but you have the skill set, so somebody
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: has to give you a shot. You know. Everybody has
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: to get a start somewhere. It's that first person. And
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: for a lot of times in my life, I was
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: waiting on someone to say yes to me. So it's
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: really dope now that I get to say yes to people.
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: So that's kind of what my whole ethos, my whole
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: world is now, like I want to be somebody's yes.
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: Oh that's awesome.
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: You know, for years we heard about a pipeline issue,
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: and I kept trying to understand, well, how do you
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: start the pipeline? And it's just about one person saying yes.
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: So it's very cool that you're stepping up as that
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: person for somebody, and probably a bunch of people.
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: I know you mentioned Lebron and Kathy Engelbert are more
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: than a vote. Was there anybody that you consulted before
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: you really took this on?
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: Just my family? It's crazy because that I'm surrounded by powerful,
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: educated women, you know, and all of them worked for
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: my company, and that's why, you know, I feel like
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: I pulled all of my family members in and we
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: built it by committee. So that's who I could. That's
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: who I consult with about everything. I don't have to
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: necessarily have outside council because my mom was an academic
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: advisor for thirty years and at HBCU she was a
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: professor there, multiple masters overqualified to work here with me,
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: but hey, we got her. So it's amazing. Like I said,
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: my wife, she just graduated from Kennesaw State University with
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: a journalism degree. So when we talk about pr and
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: doing the things I need, I don't have to go
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: anywhere else. It's here, right here in house. My sister.
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: We brought her. She was managing a company and then
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: we pulled her over here. So now we have her.
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: So I have some very overqualified people around me that
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: just so happen to be family that I lean on
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: and I talk to and consult about everything.
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: So I can tell you're a person that comes from
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: a place of love, and I think you exemplify when
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: they go low, you go high. But I cannot imagine
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: that it didn't feel a little bit good to grab
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: the team from Senator Kelly Loveler.
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: Now, you know, like, that's not even that wasn't even
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: a part of my thought process. I was telling my family,
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: this is a generational thing. Think about how many black
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: women are in ownership team ownership. I don't know, but
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: for that to be our family history, now that was
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: my first thought. I was like, this is crazy that
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: the monk Imori family we now are part owners of
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: a w NBA team. I can remember back I was
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: talking to you. I can remember back at like five
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: or six. I don't remember them, but when I was
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: starting playing, who would have ever thought that coming from
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: West Virginia, And so that my first thought when I
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: knew it was for sure going to happen, because for
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: a while there, even after it happened, I couldn't believe
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: it really happened. I'm like, did that really happen? But
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: I just couldn't believe that West Virginia, you know, made
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: it to Atlanta and this is what we did.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: So obviously you have experienced from the other end of
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: the court, But what was the transition like in terms
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: of being a boss and a leader. Did you feel
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: like you had to garner respect in a different way?
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: Did you use like different qualities that you didn't know
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: you had inside of you.
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: You know, that's the thing about sports, It really does
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: prepare you for life in a sense of sports is
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: sports is tough, it's unforgiving. There's no excuses. You have
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: to perform every night. You're only as good as your
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: last perform ormance. So you have to stay sharp. And
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: so when I moved from the locker room to the boardroom,
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: that skill set was so valuable and I didn't even
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: know it. You know, I get complimented all the time
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: on things that are just regular in sports. You know,
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: people will tell me, oh, wow, you're on time, and
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: oh you work great with others, and I'm like, oh,
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: I thought that was like a norm, but this is
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: in the business world. I realized that things are different,
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: you know, things are ran different than or ran in
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: the sports world. And so I really leaned in on
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: the skill sets that I had to develop. You know,
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: being a leader in sports is the hardest leader you
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: will ever have to be because you have to manage egos,
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: You have to manage superstars, you have to manage people
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: that are wealthy and people that you know have been
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: told yes their whole life, and so that is a
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: difficult task. So when you become a captain of a
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: basketball team or when you're leading a team, you have
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: to figure out how to do that, how to talk
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: to each player individually to get the point across. And
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: so when you move into the business space and you're
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: doing meetings and you're talking to people and you're communicating
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: with them, that's something that is ingrained in me that
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: I'm so thankful for because you have to you run
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: into so many different walks of life and business. How
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: do you communicate, how do you connect with them? Well,
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: I've learned that over the course of my basketball career.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: The WNBA recently earned a nearly perfect score for race
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: and gender inclusive hiring this year. It's the seventeenth consecutive
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: year that the organization has been measured this way. Clearly,
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: the NBA is doing a lot of things right that
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: organizations in America are doing wrong. What do you think
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: we can take from the WNBA and apply to other organizations?
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: I would say with the WNBA, just lean into inclusivity.
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: You know, That's what organizations, corporations, companies need to do. Like,
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: the more diverse your company is, the better it will perform.
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: That's not even an opinion, that's a fact. When you
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: have more diverse thinking, more diverse people, more diverse creativity,
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: that makes your company better. And I think the WNBA
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: is that we're eighty percent minority women, but from all
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: different walks of life, from different countries, from the country,
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: from the city, from all different areas. We've leaned into
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: diversity and inclusivity, and the product has shown that it works.
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: It's great, and it's exciting to be a part of
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: an organization that does that.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: My last big question is what has basketball given Renee?
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: What has it given you?
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: Oh? What has basketball given me? Only everything you know,
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: basketball gave me confidence. Basketball gave me a sense of
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: belonging in a group. You know, I grew up in
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: West Virginia, so I look different than a lot of
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: my classmates, and but basketball made me feel a part
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: of that group. And I would just say basketball changed
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: my life, honestly, all.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: Right, rapid fire number one. Negotiation tip.
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: Number one negotiation tip, don't throw out the first number.
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: You just turned thirty five? What's one big hope for
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: this year?
• 24:06
  Speaker 3: One big hope for this year is to have Think
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: Tank productions thriving by the end of the year.
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: What should be required reading for every human being?
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: Required reading for every human being is to know some
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: parts of the Bible. I'm sorry, I don't know, but
• 24:20
  Speaker 3: I feel like being morally grounded helps in whatever Bible
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: it is. Just have some type of religion that you
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: abide by.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: All right, So I have a car deck of fifty
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: two questions. You let me know when to stop.
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: Okay, okay, okay stop.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: What is the weirdest thing you've ever done in your car?
• 24:41
  Speaker 3: Ooh, the weirdest thing I ever done in my car?
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: Take a nap in it. I don't know if that's weird.
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: I know you're not supposed to sleep in cars, but listen,
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: I have taken a nap before just because I wanted to. Like,
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: I was tired, baby, I was tired. I love it.
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: What is the smartest decision you've ever made?
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: Ooh, the smartest decision I ever was marrying Serena, So
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: I would say that's definitely it.
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: Okay, Last question. The WNBA is always ahead of the
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: curve in fashion and activism in so many things. What's
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: something a word or a piece of clothing or something
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: that only a WNBA player would know about that you
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: think is fun that we should all know.
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, I don't know that only we would
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: know about. But I know that everybody knows about the
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: orange hoodie and that's a staple now. And I don't
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: know how many leagues have a staple that when people
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: see a certain collar hoodie they think of that whole league.
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: But when you see an orange hoodie from the back,
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: a lot of times you would assume that there's going
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: to be a WNBA logo on the front. And I
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: think that's different than any other league for sure.
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: Renee, thank you for your time. It was great to
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: get to know you.
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: Thank you for having me.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: Today is a good day to have a good day.
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: I'll see you next week.