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Rookie Calls Out Luka + Angel Reese’s Playoff Rise · The Daily Play With Joy Taylor

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  Speaker 1: Before we get started with the podcast, gotta let you know,
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  Speaker 1: I'll be setting sail on the One Voyage cruise October
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  Speaker 1: episodes of Two Personal and The Daily Play, running watch parties,
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  Speaker 1: and use the code JOY. Let's set sail. Hey, guys.
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  Speaker 1: Welcome to The Daily Play with Joy Taylor. Thanks so
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: much for joining me. Make sure you hit subscribe. Follow
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: us on social at TheDailyPlayJoyTaylor. The NBA season is back.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: It tipped off this weekend. Every team has now played
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  Speaker 1: at least one game. And Lakers' first game was a
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  Speaker 1: dominant win over the Warriors, 127-105. A little bit surprising
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  Speaker 1: for me to see that kind of performance out of
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  Speaker 1: the Warriors to start the season. I was getting texts
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  Speaker 1: from Lakers fans just saying, elated with their team, but
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  Speaker 1: there was a little bit of drama, a little spice
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  Speaker 1: to start the Lakers season. Luka Doncic, Austin Reeves, and
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  Speaker 1: new acquisition Walker Kessler all went for 20 plus points.
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  Speaker 1: We also got to see highly touted Warriors rookie Yaxa
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  Speaker 1: Lindenberg make his debut. 12 points and he took on
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  Speaker 1: the defensive assignment of Luka Doncic which is you know
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  Speaker 1: not the easiest assignment for a rookie. Yaxel and Luka
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  Speaker 1: had a ton of back and forth during the game
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  Speaker 1: and afterwards Yaxel shared his thoughts on guarding Luka. He
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  Speaker 1: said I had a lot of respect for him because
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  Speaker 1: I didn't really watch the NBA much I just watched
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  Speaker 1: highlights and seen him kill people but Being in it
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  Speaker 1: firsthand and seeing all the whining and complaining, I lost
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  Speaker 1: all respect. That was awful. Me getting frustrated. It's not
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  Speaker 1: about the foul being called. It's about him complaining the
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  Speaker 1: entire game. You get the foul call. Congratulations, bro. Then
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  Speaker 1: you talk to me like you did something great. Come on, dog.
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  Speaker 1: That leap is weak. It kind of threw me off
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  Speaker 1: because I have so much respect for him. Gone, man. Gone.
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  Speaker 1: Just a couple things here. One, I always find it
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  Speaker 1: fascinating when players who are planning on going to the
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  Speaker 1: NBA are are openly like, yeah, I didn't watch the NBA.
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  Speaker 1: I hear NFL players say this too. Like, if that's
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  Speaker 1: your goal, why are you not watching the greats? Very
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  Speaker 1: strange to me. One. Two, rookie, I don't love it.
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  Speaker 1: I don't love it. Like, from a rookie, game one,
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  Speaker 1: I know you're coming in with some fire. You're coming
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  Speaker 1: in aggressive. It's a little early to be laying down
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  Speaker 1: the gauntlets with a player of Luka's status. I like
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  Speaker 1: the spice. I like the fights. But, yes, I still
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  Speaker 1: feel like it's a touch early. And as far as
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  Speaker 1: Luka's complaining goes, yeah, this is who Luka is. This
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  Speaker 1: is his bag. He's got a little touch of Karen
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  Speaker 1: in him. And he's going to complain. And he's always
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  Speaker 1: been this way. Sometimes he gets a call, sometimes he doesn't.
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  Speaker 1: A lot of people do not like this. I gotta
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  Speaker 1: be honest, it's not my favorite part of his game,
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  Speaker 1: and I really enjoy watching Luka play, but no one
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  Speaker 1: wants to see anyone complaining to the refs the entire time.
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  Speaker 1: Sometimes they miss a call. Complain. They're not always missing
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  Speaker 1: a call. And for that matter, they're not always calling
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  Speaker 1: everything that you do. And it's not an enjoyable watch
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  Speaker 1: for the fans. I don't want to see players complain.
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  Speaker 1: endlessly complain to the refs. It's a very unlikable part
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  Speaker 1: of Caitlin Clark's game to me. It's an unlikable part
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  Speaker 1: of Luca's game. And most people have the same opinion
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  Speaker 1: about it, that he complains too much and it slows
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  Speaker 1: the game down. It's, it's, it's over the top. And
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  Speaker 1: I do think he needs to, to cut it back
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  Speaker 1: because he, Look, you're going to get calls sometimes. Sometimes
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  Speaker 1: you're not. And if it's worthwhile arguing the call and
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  Speaker 1: you really feel like it was a bad call, go
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  Speaker 1: for it. Tear them up. But every call is not
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  Speaker 1: a bad call. And they're not always missing a call
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  Speaker 1: on you. It's just not fun to watch. I do
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  Speaker 1: like the spicy talk. And I like what I saw
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  Speaker 1: from the Lakers in that game. And, you know, Luka
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  Speaker 1: definitely took on the challenge. of his scoring although it
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  Speaker 1: was technically down from his 33.5 points per game last
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  Speaker 1: year he still had a good game and they absolutely
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  Speaker 1: dominated the Warriors so there's a little more back and
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  Speaker 1: forth between them there was like a sub out and
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  Speaker 1: then a point and re-escalated I like a rivalry I
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  Speaker 1: like a beef I like a little back and forth
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  Speaker 1: rookie not my favorite and but I do understand what
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  Speaker 1: he's saying because I think everyone has had it with
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  Speaker 1: Luka's antics. And Luka's an incredible player. He's so fun
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  Speaker 1: to watch. I love his trash talk. I love his spiciness.
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  Speaker 1: But it can't always be towards the refs. Like, have
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  Speaker 1: it be towards other players and not the referees. Switching
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  Speaker 1: over to the NFL, someone's going to have to win
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  Speaker 1: the NFC East. Doesn't look like anybody really wants to,
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  Speaker 1: but someone's going to have to do it. The Giants
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  Speaker 1: are 3-2-1 and the only team with a winning record.
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  Speaker 1: Then there's Philly. Jalen Hurts is out for the season,
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  Speaker 1: so they're two and four. Questions are still swirling around
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  Speaker 1: what happened with Jalen, and they will be running out
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  Speaker 1: Tanner McKee for a second straight week against the Cowboys
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  Speaker 1: in Dallas on Monday night. Dak Prescott and company down
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  Speaker 1: horrific back-to-back losses to Tampa Bay and Green Bay. Their
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  Speaker 1: expectations have been met with the harsh reality that Jerry
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  Speaker 1: Jones is saying that they need to add a piece
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  Speaker 1: before the trade deadline. Dallas, they're notoriously not a very
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  Speaker 1: active team. They don't really do anything in the offseason
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  Speaker 1: besides not paying their player to the last minute. Commanders, 1-4-1,
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  Speaker 1: hoping to turn things around during their bye week. Washington
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  Speaker 1: returns to the field in week eight to host the
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  Speaker 1: Eagles on Sunday night. It's destitute over there. And, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: these are four of the biggest brands in all of
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  Speaker 1: NFL football. The New York Giants, the Philadelphia Eagles, the
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  Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys, and the Washington Commanders. I mean, three of
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  Speaker 1: these four teams have franchise quarterbacks. One of them is
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  Speaker 1: out in the Eagles. The Giants came in with Harbaugh
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  Speaker 1: and a whole new look. And they're already spiraling. Like it's,
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  Speaker 1: And they're the best ones. And I do not take
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  Speaker 1: the Giants seriously. I said that before the season. I
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  Speaker 1: feel that way now. And they may end up winning
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  Speaker 1: just by default. But this is looking very much like
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  Speaker 1: an incredibly mid-division. Some because of circumstances and some because
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  Speaker 1: they are, you know, obviously the Eagles were dealing with
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  Speaker 1: so many injuries before the Jalen Hurts situation. So this
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  Speaker 1: is only added to it. You know, the only thing
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  Speaker 1: I can say about this division is what an opportunity
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  Speaker 1: for the Cowboys. It's absolutely terrible. Get it together, make
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  Speaker 1: a move, be aggressive, and try and make a run
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  Speaker 1: for the division. It's really sad that this is the
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  Speaker 1: state for this particular division. A lot of stars and
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  Speaker 1: a lot of potential and a lot of expectations. And
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  Speaker 1: at this point in the season, it's looking like they're
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  Speaker 1: going to produce the worst team in the postseason ever.
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  Speaker 1: Somebody's got to win it. So therefore someone's going to
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  Speaker 1: be there. Finally, let's talk a little bit about Angel Reese.
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  Speaker 1: So the Atlanta Dream are up 2-1 in the WNBA
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  Speaker 1: finals over the Golden State Valkyries. She played her first
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  Speaker 1: playoff game at State Farm Arena. It was the Dream's
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  Speaker 1: first playoff game at State Farm Arena. And game four
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  Speaker 1: is on Saturday night. The atmosphere at the game was incredible.
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  Speaker 1: If you saw any of the clips, it was energetic.
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  Speaker 1: It was very Atlanta. They're swag surfing. They're doing the
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  Speaker 1: ATL Ho chant. It was a beautiful sight. It really
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  Speaker 1: matched the energy of Valhalla in a very Atlanta way.
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  Speaker 1: And a big part of that is Angel Reefs. And
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  Speaker 1: I've been talking about Angel Reese, since her and Caitlyn
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  Speaker 1: burst onto the national scene with that moment in the
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  Speaker 1: national championship game. And the very moment that happened, the
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  Speaker 1: very next day I went on my show and I said,
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  Speaker 1: this was the Larry Bird, Magic Johnson moment for the WNBA.
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  Speaker 1: I have been wildly proven right in that statement. And
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  Speaker 1: it was not met with a good reaction, if you
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  Speaker 1: can imagine. As you can imagine. And what I believe
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  Speaker 1: about that statement is moments create stars. You can be
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  Speaker 1: an incredible player. You can be an incredible. boxer. You
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  Speaker 1: can be an incredible gymnast. But a moment is what
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  Speaker 1: takes you over the edge and makes you into a superstar.
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  Speaker 1: We were not talking about Caitlin Clark on any national
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  Speaker 1: show as a discussion point. We did not have an
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  Speaker 1: A block on Caitlin Clark. We did not have a
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  Speaker 1: Z block on Caitlin Clark before that moment happened. I
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  Speaker 1: know that because I worked there. I was doing the shows.
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  Speaker 1: I know what we were talking about. Now, believe me,
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  Speaker 1: I was gaslit about that too. But the facts remain
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  Speaker 1: the facts. We were not talking about Caitlin Clark before
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  Speaker 1: that Angel Reese moment. That Angel Reese moment was... the
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  Speaker 1: absolute genesis of the explosion of not just the WNBA,
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  Speaker 1: but of women's sports into the mainstream conversation. And part
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  Speaker 1: of the reason for that was it was very coded,
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  Speaker 1: the reaction in racism. It was very misogynistic reaction to it.
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  Speaker 1: And it showed the the true nature of competition, right?
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  Speaker 1: That these women are competing at the end of the day.
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  Speaker 1: This isn't some lady-like, be precious type of situation. This
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  Speaker 1: is real competition. And when it comes to basketball, you've
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  Speaker 1: got to have real trash talk for it to really exist.
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  Speaker 1: And men, mostly, and a lot of Karens have hated
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  Speaker 1: Angel Reese since that moment. And when Angel and Caitlyn
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  Speaker 1: came into the league, there was a lot of premature
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  Speaker 1: conversation and it has developed over the past couple of years.
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  Speaker 1: What I've seen from Angel throughout her career is growth.
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  Speaker 1: And despite the growth that she has obviously shown in
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  Speaker 1: her game, in her leadership, she is still met with
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  Speaker 1: the exact same level of critique that she had from
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  Speaker 1: college and from when she first came into the league.
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  Speaker 1: She is a completely different player than the player that
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  Speaker 1: came into the WNBA. And in my opinion, she's a
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  Speaker 1: different player than the player that started this season. She
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  Speaker 1: has taken a tremendous step up in every area of
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  Speaker 1: her game. And the thing about Angel, and this is important,
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  Speaker 1: Because we talk about this a lot. And when it
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  Speaker 1: comes to the WNBA, for whatever reason, people have an
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  Speaker 1: absolute inability to apply the exact same rules that they
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  Speaker 1: apply to every conversation about men's sports to women's sports.
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  Speaker 1: Big time players show up in big time moments. That's
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: been said on every debate show since the beginning of time, right?
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  Speaker 1: It's been written in every single article. It's been on
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  Speaker 1: every single meme. That's what superstars do, right? jimmy buckets
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  Speaker 1: perfect example okay the reason that michael jordan lives in
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  Speaker 1: lore the way that he does is because not only
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  Speaker 1: was he a great player he was perfect in the
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  Speaker 1: finals perfect now i am not comparing angel to michael
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  Speaker 1: jordan so hold yourself together what i am saying is
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  Speaker 1: she is a player that shows up in big moments
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  Speaker 1: And I don't know what else she has to do
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  Speaker 1: besides win this championship and win finals MVP while doing it.
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  Speaker 1: And the way that things are tracking, she very well
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  Speaker 1: may do that. In order for her to get just
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  Speaker 1: the credit that she's growing as a player, because that
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  Speaker 1: is still being pushed back on. She won defensive player
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  Speaker 1: of the year this year. She beat her own record
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  Speaker 1: for rebounds this season. She's been a rebounding leader all
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  Speaker 1: three years in the league. She won a college championship
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  Speaker 1: at LSU. She won a basketball championship in high school.
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  Speaker 1: She won a volleyball championship in high school. And she
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  Speaker 1: is a face of not just the league, but of
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  Speaker 1: women's sports, in business, in branding, in pop culture, all
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  Speaker 1: of those things. And for a while, her game did
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  Speaker 1: not match the brand. But now it absolutely does. And
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  Speaker 1: it's time to stop being silly about it. Because The
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  Speaker 1: thing that irritates me about all of these conversations is
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  Speaker 1: it's based in pure silliness. You cannot talk about any
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  Speaker 1: men's sport and be silly about it without being called out.
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  Speaker 1: But for whatever reason, when it comes to women's sports,
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  Speaker 1: people can just be completely obnoxious and ridiculous, have it
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  Speaker 1: based in no actual sports knowledge, no actual statistical evidence
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  Speaker 1: to back up what they're saying. Use your eyeballs. see
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  Speaker 1: the difference. It all just goes out the window. It's
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  Speaker 1: just like Angel's bad and that's it. Well, no. She
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  Speaker 1: was struggling in a lot of areas of her game
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  Speaker 1: and she has clearly worked on them and she is
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  Speaker 1: better now. And I would argue almost more importantly, she's
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  Speaker 1: better when it matters. That's what I want to see.
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  Speaker 1: Championship level play in big moments. Now listen, there's still
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  Speaker 1: basketball to be played, right? but there's a very real
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  Speaker 1: chance that they could go back to Golden State up 3-1.
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  Speaker 1: And if she continues to play the way that she
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  Speaker 1: has been playing, she will not only end up being
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  Speaker 1: the champion, but she will also be Finals MVP. And
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: then it's going to get really uncomfortable for people who
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: want to have conversations about the WNBA and not sound
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  Speaker 1: completely stupid. I don't know what you want to do
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  Speaker 1: with that, but the woman is balling. And if you're
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  Speaker 1: watching the games, you can see the impact that she
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  Speaker 1: is having. I also want to give a big shout
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  Speaker 1: out to Jordan Canada because I think playing alongside a
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  Speaker 1: player like her, a true point guard, has been the
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  Speaker 1: perfect match for her as a teammate as well. But
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  Speaker 1: Angel has been spectacular and the growth in her game
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  Speaker 1: is obvious. And if you want to continue even remotely
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  Speaker 1: being taken serious when you're having these conversations, you need
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  Speaker 1: to just acknowledge that. Thanks so much for joining me.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: Make sure you hit subscribe. Follow us on social at
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  Speaker 1: The Daily Play. Joy Taylor for this and other top
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: stories of the day. Tune into The Daily Play with
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: Joy Taylor at urban1podcast. com or wherever you get your podcasts.