Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / Courtside Confidence: Andraya Carter On Building a Career At ESPN, The Importance Of Being Present & Authentic Storytelling In Sports

Transcript

Courtside Confidence: Andraya Carter On Building a Career At ESPN, The Importance Of Being Present & Authentic Storytelling In Sports · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Chasing a dream is a transferable skill. My dream was
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: to be a professional athlete. I chased it. I didn't
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: get it. But the idea of having a goal and
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: going for it, to me is a skill, and so
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: that skill just went from basketball to everywhere else that
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: life took me. And obviously here.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Hey, hey, Emily body here. You are listening to another
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  Speaker 2: episode of Hurdle, a podcast featuring the mindset, secrets, and
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: true stories of the most inspiring women in sports and wellness,
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: empowering you to live a healthier, happier, more motivated life
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: and of course, conquer your own hurdles. In this week's episode,
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  Speaker 2: I am sitting down with the incredible Andrea Carter. If
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: you are me deep in March madness, just like me,
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: then you are familiar Andrea. She's one of the most
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: recognizable faces on ESPN covering all things of basketball, and
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: her journey to your television screen is one of both
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: reinvention and resilience. A masterclass, if you will, in conquering hurdles.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: After multiple injuries cut her playing career short at the
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: University of Tennessee, Drea took on a number of different jobs,
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: ranging from driving uber and lyft to coaching at Orange
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: Theory while getting her feet wet. In sports media, this week,
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: we dive deep into navigating career transitions, how she pivoted
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: from the court to the sidelines and found a new
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: way to stay connected to the game she loves overcoming
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: physical setbacks, the mental fortitude required to deal with repeated
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: injuries and the lessons learned from those hurdle moments, and
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: authenticity in the spotlight, how she stays true to herself
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: while working on some of the biggest stages in sports,
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: and why he treats every broadcast like a game, and
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: the work ethic that keeps her at the top of
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  Speaker 2: her field. Make sure you're following along with Hurdle over
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: on social It's over at Hurdle podcast. You can also
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: check out Iheartwoman's Sports. Over at Iheartwoman's Sports and me
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: over at Emily a Body. Listen to Hurdle with Emily
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: a Body on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: you get your podcasts. And with that, let's get to it.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: Let's get it's a hurdling today, I am sitting down
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  Speaker 2: with a true trailblazer in sports media. Arguably, let's call
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: her the Swiss Army Knife of ESPN's backs basketball coverage.
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  Speaker 2: Andrea Carter, Welcome to Hurdle. How are we doing? Thank you?
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  Speaker 1: I am great. It is a great time of year.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: I'm excited to sit down with you. So yeah, all
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: good things.
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  Speaker 2: The fact that you made time to sit down this
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: time of year is beyond me honestly. Yeah.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: You know, sometimes I feel like if there's a time
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: to get it done instead of like pushing things off
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: to when there could be a better time. To me,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: it's just a matter of is there time, Like is
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  Speaker 1: there time? Do I have the bandwidth for it? If
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: those two things are yes, I try not to wait
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: for like, oh, there's a more ideal time later. It's like, no,
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  Speaker 1: we have time now. Time and bandwidth are two things,
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: and I felt like I had it today. I do
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  Speaker 1: have it today. Sometimes I get myself in trouble agreeing
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: to things when I think I have bandwidth.
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  Speaker 2: But no, I knew i'd be good today. That's actually
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: a really good point that time in bandwidth are two
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: very different things. I also need to start off our
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: conversation today by giving you your flowers. Congratulations on your
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: Sports Emmy nomination. Now Standing sports personality emerging on air talent.
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  Speaker 2: Not your first rodeo here, but still an amazing situation. Nonetheless,
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  Speaker 2: thank you. I appreciate it. Yeah, well, I didn't know.
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  Speaker 1: One of my bosses and my agents texting me this morning,
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  Speaker 1: they're like, congratulations, and I was like, for what, and
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  Speaker 1: then they were like, you know, told me and I
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  Speaker 1: was like, oh, I was emerging in twenty twenty three.
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  Speaker 1: I guess you can emerge twice, you can re emerge,
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  Speaker 1: so I hope everyone knows that you can re emerge
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  Speaker 1: in multiple different ways.
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  Speaker 2: For me, it's with the Emmy.
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  Speaker 1: I'm blown away, surprised a little bit, but thankful to
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  Speaker 1: be nominated for sure.
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  Speaker 2: Thankful to be nominating you, of course in some really
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  Speaker 2: great company as well. I mean, did you ever think
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  Speaker 2: that you'd be in a category next to JJ Watt
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  Speaker 2: or Jason Kelsey. No, not at all. I never did.
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  Speaker 1: So yeah, this, I mean, everything as a whole is
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  Speaker 1: always shocking. Sometimes I'm like, I can't believe that this
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  Speaker 1: is my career and this is my life. So yeah,
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  Speaker 1: it's but it's really cool.
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  Speaker 2: You know, obviously you're doing something right if you're emerging
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  Speaker 2: twice in twenty twenty in twenty twenty six. What do
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  Speaker 2: you think it is about you, Andrea that makes you
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  Speaker 2: good at what you do?
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  Speaker 1: I will say I do feel like all along the way,
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: like I know, the Big Three was a big thing,
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: and Christine and Cheney are amazing to work with, but
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: like from the beginning of my career, which emerging now
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: is still so crazy because I've been doing this for
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: so long. It feels like to me, you know, like
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  Speaker 1: my first game on TV was in twenty seventeen. But
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  Speaker 1: I do think one, I have really good colleagues that
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  Speaker 1: always seem to know what I'm passionate about, or they
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  Speaker 1: take the time to know what I'm passionate about what
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  Speaker 1: excites me, and I think that brings out the best
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  Speaker 1: in me.
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  Speaker 2: So my colleagues one, Like, all along the way, I.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: Hear these horror stories of people who have to, you know,
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  Speaker 1: work with somebody that they don't like or you know,
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  Speaker 1: and I've never had to experience that. So I do
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  Speaker 1: think I've gotten the chance to do my best work
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  Speaker 1: thanks to the people that I work with. I hope
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  Speaker 1: as well that what translates to viewers or when they're
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  Speaker 1: watching is just my passion. And I've been able to
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  Speaker 1: be myself on air, and I know when a lot
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  Speaker 1: of people have talked to me about watching me work,
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  Speaker 1: they feel connected. Connecting to people has always been something
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  Speaker 1: that I try to take a lot of pride in,
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  Speaker 1: and just my ability to talk to people either through
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  Speaker 1: a camera in person and make sure they feel important,
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  Speaker 1: they feel my enthusiasm, that they can feel my presence.
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  Speaker 1: So I hope those are the things that are translating
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  Speaker 1: for sure some of my colleagues, and just the ability
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  Speaker 1: to connect to my colleagues and also to the viewers.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, it's so special and I definitely agree with you.
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  Speaker 2: It certainly comes through when you're on TV. And also
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  Speaker 2: that connection, that desire to connect with people with something
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  Speaker 2: that was really integral when you were getting your start,
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  Speaker 2: right Yeah, yeah, definitely.
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  Speaker 1: I mean I think just being able to connect to
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: you know, when I got started in TV, I just
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: finished playing obviously, you know, my career didn't go the
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: way I wanted to, and so I felt like when
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: I first started, I got to really speak as a
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  Speaker 1: former player that was just playing, and so I wanted
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  Speaker 1: to connect to the fans for them to understand how
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  Speaker 1: hard what these young women are doing and how I
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: played with this person and she was this and I
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: played against this person and she was dead, And so
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: I had this strong desire, yeah, to connect to the fans.
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  Speaker 1: And then now as my career has grown, I just
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  Speaker 1: think that that is something that is the foundation of
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: my analysis, is just speaking in a way that is
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  Speaker 1: authentic and also understandable, and also kind of teaching and
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  Speaker 1: helping people understand what these athletes are doing is not easy.
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  Speaker 1: So yeah, I think that's always been a thing for me.
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  Speaker 2: It's what the athletes are doing isn't easy, but then
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  Speaker 2: what you're doing is an easy either. Because being able
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: to connect with people is one thing, especially after the pandemic,
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: like the ability to connect with people as a lost
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: are at this point, but bigger than that, to be
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  Speaker 2: able to translate what's happening on the court, connect with
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  Speaker 2: people in real time and show up and look and
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  Speaker 2: be confident. It's a whole other ballgame.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's definitely a whole There's so much more to
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: it than you think, And that's kind of the the
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: part that people don't understand all the time, Like trying
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: to get your point in when some news just broke
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: and you had one minute for your point, but now
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  Speaker 1: you only have thirty seconds, and so maybe I thought
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  Speaker 1: I was going to have time to talk about someone
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: else and then I got cut short. So now there's
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: not time to talk to you know, like there's just
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  Speaker 1: there's so many things that go into analysis and that
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: go into TV feeling confident, looking confident. I'm very fortunate
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: to have, you know, great hairstylists. My personal stylist is amazing.
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  Speaker 1: Our makeup artists are great. Every time our makeup artists
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  Speaker 1: do our makeup, I'm like, I hope you know how
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  Speaker 1: vital your job is, and I hope you feel important
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  Speaker 1: because you help us feel like our best selves. I
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: always tell them that when they do in hair do
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  Speaker 1: my makeup, because that's also a big part of it.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: It sounds vain, but how you present yourself, how you
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  Speaker 1: carry yourself, how you look, all of those things play into,
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  Speaker 1: you know, being on TV and being in front of
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  Speaker 1: so many eyes.
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  Speaker 2: It's not just being on TV either. There's research studies.
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  Speaker 2: I believe it's called in clothed cognition, where if you
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  Speaker 2: look good, you perform better. Right, so even as far
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  Speaker 2: as when you go to the gym, right, if you
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: like what you're wearing at the gym, You're gonna like
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: being at the gym just a little bit more. Yes, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: one hundred percent.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: Like I mean, it's funny actually because I work with
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  Speaker 1: this this social team, and I love the work. My
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: trainer she's one of my best friends. We played basketball
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: against each other, we coach at Orange Theory together and
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: now she's my trainer.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: She has a clothing line and it's the cutest.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: It's called bear bai R and it's the cutest little
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  Speaker 1: workout sets that's just not me.
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  Speaker 2: Like it's cute, but I feel my best.
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  Speaker 1: In a T shirt and shorts. So, like I try
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: to explain to people, like my STYLI is Sydney. She'll
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: get an outfit and she knows I'm gonna roll my eyes.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I'm not gonna wear it. It's cute,
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: but it's not me.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: And so I do think finding what you now, you
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: have to have people that can push you a little
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: bit outside of your comfort zone. That's how growth happens.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: But feeling good in any space that you're in with
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: what you have on I think is huge.
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  Speaker 2: You've gotta let me know, is the amazingness of Christine's
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  Speaker 2: wardrobe is that solely on her? Or is she really
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: relying on the stylist here? That is one thousand percent Christine.
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: I like, watch, I look at her fits and I'm like, shoot,
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  Speaker 2: I am like, I need to make an entire pinterist board.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: Christine could be someone's stylist. Like I'll ask Christine, I'm like,
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: where'd you get that? And she's like Zara and she's like, oh,
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  Speaker 1: I got this piece from here. I got this piece
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: from here, and then I found the belt somewhere else
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: and I'm like, or She'll She's always like weight, should
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: I add glasses? And I'm like, where did you get
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: those glasses? Style is genuinely something that comes naturally to Christine,
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  Speaker 1: Like she can see a shirt and she knows the
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: pants she has at home that it's gonna go with,
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: and the shoes and the it's style is not natural
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: for me. So it is something I admire in Christine
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: because it's automatic, Like she doesn't she could hire someone
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: just to simply make her life a little less chaotic
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: in terms of finding her own outfit, but I honestly
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: think it would be counterproductive because she would probably tell
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: them how to style her, and she's spending time doing
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: that anyway, so she might as well just go pick
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: the pieces and put it on, which she does every
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: single time.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: I'm so impressed by her. But I want to bring
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: it back to what you were saying about enjoying leading
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: you down a different path than maybe what you had
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: hoped for from the age of seven to be a
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: professional basketball player. Talk to me a little bit about
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: how you were able to put maybe the emotions aside
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: that came hand in hand with the frustrations of getting
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: sidelined and then step into this jack of all trades role,
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: running in so many different directions before you really got
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: your feet wet and media.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it was definitely hard like basketball.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: My career at Tennessee, I loved playing.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: I had multiple surgeries, I missed a lot of off seasons,
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: and I did love my role at Tennessee of being
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: the defensive stopper. I was the type of player that
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: needed a lot of reps to feel confident offensively, and
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: I didn't get those the off season, and then I
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: couldn't really get reps in season because my time on
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: the court was so limited, Like getting extra work outside
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: of practice. Also meant putting more pressure on my knee
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: and putting more on my knee, which was so there
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: was always this catch twenty two, like do I get
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: in the gym or do I stay out of the
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: gym because my knee is hurting all the time, and
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: so the the you know, it was always just push pull.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: If I want to be the player that I think
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: I can be, but I'm also in pain, and I
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: think choosing to walk away from the game had a
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: lot to do with the pain I was in. But
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: I felt really fortunate that I always had something else
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: to focus on, so to me, like I always just
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: threw myself into something else. So right after I, you know,
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: walked away from the game, I had a fifth year
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: to play, so I was still on campus, but I
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: was finishing grad school, so I graduated in three years
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: with my undergrad I started my master's in my fourth year,
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: so that fifth year that I would have played, I
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: was still in my master's program, so I threw myself
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: into school. That's also the year I had the opportunity
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: to call games online as a color analyst, so I
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: threw myself into that. I spent a lot of time
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: at the Tennessee School for the Deaf. I taught pe
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: classes to deaf kids and kids at that school and
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: they were so sweet, and so I spent more time
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: there and then moving back to Atlanta, like I had
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: a nine to five, and then that nine to five
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: became Orange Theory, and I loved Orange Theory and coaching,
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: and I was still pursuing TV. So I think for me,
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: I used to just throw myself into basketball, and once
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: basketball ended, the mindset was just like what else can
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: I throw myself into?
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: And TV? You know, Orange Theory I loved.
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: Honestly, for a while, I thought I was just going
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: to be like the national trainer of Orange Theory coaches,
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: like I would. I loved Orange Theory so much, and
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: I would I traveled to Boston to train coaches, and
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: I trained coaches in Atlanta and I got to work
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: with them, and so that's what I thought I was
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: gonna do, and I thought I would do TV on
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: the side, And after a while, like my passion and
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: energy for TV grew and so that became my focus
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: mentally while still coaching at Orange Theory. But once I
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: locked in on that and decided that's what I wanted
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: to do just throwing myself into every assignment. So yeah,
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: I think it was just I've said this in the past,
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: but I feel like chasing a dream is a transferable skill,
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: Like if you know what it feels like to chase
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: a dream, Like my dream was to be a professional athlete.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: I chased it. I didn't get it.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: But the idea of having a goal and going for it,
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: to me is a skill.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: And so that skill just went from.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: Basketball to everywhere else that life took me, and obviously here.
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: And do you think that that realization is something that
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: you've had in retrospect because at the time, again, it
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: doesn't take the emotion out of it, right, So there
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: is frustration and not being able to do what you
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: originally wanted, but you had the foresight to really be
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: able to put that to the side in pursuit of
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: all these other avenues.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think being an athlete helped with that because
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: when you're sad, but you have basketball, When you're sad
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: for whatever reason, but you have practice, you can put
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: that sadness to the side and get in the gym, right,
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: or if you're sad, you can go do a workout,
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: or if you're sad but you still have a game.
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: There's a job to do, and so for me, like
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: I was so I think frustrated. I felt frustrated at first,
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: and then I just felt sad, like I missed my
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: teammates and even today, Like I've told this before, but
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: my most common dream I have really vivid dreams at night.
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: The most common one that I have is of playing basketball,
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: Like I dream about playing and in my dreams, I'm
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: not in pain.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: Like I loved playing basketball.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: I would be in gyms for hours, like playing pick up,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: playing open gym, you know, training.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: I just loved the game so much. So I was
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: just sad. But I had to go to class.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: I needed to be there for those kids at the
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: Tennessee School for the Deaf. I had bills to pay,
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: so I needed to drive for ubers, drive for Lyft.
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: So to me, being able to compartmentalize was something that
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: I learned as an athlete, and I just had to
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: take that with me into the real world sooner than expected.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: But I felt I feel now, yes in retrospect, very
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: thankful that my coping mechanism was to just keep working.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: And that's why I feel like it all kind of
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: worked out. When I hear you talk about the myriad
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: of things you were doing, my first thought is, like
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: a man could never a man could never have a scheduling,
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: ability to drive uber coach and orange theory, get on
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: TV look good doing it Like there's no way.
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's you know, it's actually it's funny that you
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: say that, like not to counter your point at all,
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: because yes, women are obviously like women can do tenfold
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: what a man could do. But I was actually listening
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: to Kid Cuddi's memoir Yeah, and he talked about how
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: he worked in a clothing.
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: Store and he got a job at abercrom.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: Mean, he's in this clothing store while also pursuing music, right, So,
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: like I do, I've started to realize and I do
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: tell this to people that you know, want to be
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: on TV eventually, Like the story of having a job
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: to pay the bills while having a dream in the
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: back of your mind is actually not uncommon. And so
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: while I like sometimes I give myself credit for it,
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: because I don't know if everybody can break through the
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: barrier of getting out of that nine to five or
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: I don't know if they can hold on to that
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: dream long enough through the ups and downs of trying
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: to get there, I myself almost walked away.
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: I was very close.
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: With China Robinson is the reason why I didn't and
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: I went full time with ESPN a few months later.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: But it's not uncommon to have that happen, but I
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: do think it can be uncommon to like break through.
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: So I'm really thankful. Lachina another media tite in within sports.
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: What was it that she said to you that inspired
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: you to go all in?
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: She La China's amazing, Like Maria Taylor gave me the
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: first idea of what being on TV would be like.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: She brought me to set when she was with SEC Network.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: They had SEC See Now, which is the football show,
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: and I did a segment with Paul Finebaumb when they
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: were in Knoxville.
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: She took me to the SEC Network studio in Charlotte.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: So I feel like Maria Taylor gave me the dream
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: and the idea of being on TV, and La China
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: gave me like the tangible day to day like crying, listening,
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: talking through Like those two I can't say enough and
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: now they're like my dearest friends, who I just I'm
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: so it's so mind blowing, Like these women becoming my friends.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: But China, I was driving back and forth from Charlotte
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: to Atlanta doing shows coaching Orange Theory, doing shows coaching
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: Orange Theory, and I was just sick of.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: It, Like, and I called her. I was crying.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: I was like, I'll just be an Orange Theory coach.
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: Like I'm good. I don't want to do this anymore.
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: And she was like, no, you have to keep going,
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: like you have to. You have a gift. And she said,
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: the ones who can be uncomfortable the longest are the
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: ones that make it like you you have to push
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: through this discomfort. And like she just basically didn't let me,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: didn't let me give up, didn't let me quit. And
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: I owe her a lot because of that. I owe
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: her a lot for a million different things. But that's
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: just one of the things on the list.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: It's so true, though, it's this affinity to get to
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: this place where you can get okay with discomfort, you
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: can get okay with understanding that there are going to
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: be things in the interim that don't necessarily feel good,
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: but those things might be the trick to help you
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: get to where you want to be.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: Yes, And I've realized too like getting the job you want,
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: Like there's really no job worth having where you're not
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: tired like I was tired, you know, coaching the five
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: am to sixteen to seven thirty and then at Orange
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: Theory and then driving to Charlotte and doing a show,
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: driving back late at night coaching again, Like there were
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: some times where I would drive back and just go
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: straight to the studio because I had to go coach
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: classes at Orange Theory.
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: And that's a form of tired.
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: But even now, like you know, being in the studio
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: until you know, a little after midnight because I'm joining
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: SVP and we're talking basketball and it's great, and then
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: we have you know, Sports Center in the morning, so
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: you're getting back to the hotel at one am. By
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: the time you're in bed, it's two make ups at
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: six because Sports centers at seven thirty.
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: So it's like it's a different kind of tired.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: So once I do think, once you know what discomfort
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: feels like, obviously within limits, and you have to know
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: your own boundaries and know yourself and obviously not push
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: yourself to a place of not being healthy and not
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: you know, being right in your mind and feeling right
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: in your spirit, but overall, I do think the ability
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: to push through fatigue and discomfort.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: You have to do that in any job for the
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: most part.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: So now that I'm an analyst and I have the
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: job that I've always dreamed of, so tired, But I
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: don't mind being tired. I've been tired before, so it's
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: it's just kind of yeah, it all applies.
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: I think a lot of people don't give you enough
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: credit for the different hats that you put on, besides analysts,
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: also doing sideline, also commentating, also being behind the desk.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: Would you say that one perhaps demands more of your
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: mental energy than others.
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I would say, Oh, it's tricky. It's
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: hard because when I used to do other sports, I
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: think sideline demanded a lot from me because those sports
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: weren't as natural for me. And just being able to
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: try and connect to a coach or a player in
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: an interview and not having that much time and so
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: how do I speak in a way where they feel comfortable?
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: That was hard.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: Now I only do basketball, I will say, probably color analysis,
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: So sitting and calling the game requires more bandwidth because
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: you just have to watch the game with a different
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: eye than when you're in studio. So I started as
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: a color analyst. That's what I did for so long,
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: and I took a two year break and I didn't
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: do any color I just did studio. I tapped into
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: some sideline and did different things like that. So now
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: being back in the color analysts chair, which I was
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: so excited to do, that takes the most bandwidth right now,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: just getting back into a flow of it. But you're
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: so locked in for a short amount of time and
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: like watching the game as the play happens and thinking
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: about what's the most important thing in this play? Okay,
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: and then the ball moves and what's the most important
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: thing in this play? And do I have a story
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: on that player? Do I want to hit that or
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: do I want.
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: To hit this?
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: You're like constantly making decisions while live action is happening.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: It's shorter because you know, when you're in studio you
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: might have a triple header.
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: You're there all day.
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: It's not as intense, but it's longer. The games are shorter,
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: but they're very intense bandwidth wise.
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: You bring up a really important point, And I also
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: think this kind of plays off of what you were
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: talking about doing so many different things at once, and
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: that's that when you got your start, you were working
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: with in other sports sports that maybe wouldn't have been
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: your first choice. Some people hear something like that and
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: they're like, well, I just wouldn't take the opportunity, Like,
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: it's not me. What was it about these opportunities that
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: you knew would be good for you?
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: I think just the opportunity for me to get more reps,
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: like to be in front of a camera, to talk
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: to coaches, to you know, speak to athletes and not
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: know there's sport, but figure out how much research and
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: how prepared can I be where they don't even know
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: that I.
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: Don't know anything about this sport right like like, so.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: It was it was a challenge on one hand, but
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: it was also just an opportunity for reps and kind
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: of going back to who I was as an athlete,
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: I had to have reps. I needed to be in
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: the gym shooting extra. I wasn't going to feel good.
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: And so when I started thinking about just being on
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: TV in general, to me, any rep was was good
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: for me because it was a rep. It was an
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: opportunity to have a microphone, to speak to be on camera,
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: and it was fun, and honestly I loved Like when
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: I look back on it, I think it gave me
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: more confidence. Like when I did the NBA Draft for
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: the first time, I was so nervous, but I remember thinking,
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: like I covered softball and I covered beach volleyball. If
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: I can cover those sports, I can cover basketball and
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: any basketball is what I know. And so I'm so
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: thankful for those times. Beach volleyball was so much fun.
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: Softball was fun. Yeah, I had a blast doing other sports.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: Football was great, you know, the outdoors and the elements,
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: that's a whole different story. I'm glad that I'm indoor
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: now for basketball all the time, but huge part of
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: my journey that I'm really glad I didn't say no
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: to any of.
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: That, Yeah for sure. I mean these in between years
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: really taught you a lot about resilience, maybe in ways
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: that being on the court good in Yeah.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: And I think too, like just trying to figure out
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: where I can again connect, kind of going back to
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: the idea of connection. How can I connect to these coaches,
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: these athletes, and these fans, Like you're coming into an
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: entirely new fan base. I want them to trust me,
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: or I want them to know that I care about
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: this sport and I care about these athletes. So yeah,
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: it was a challenge, but it was also so rewarding
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: and had a lot of fun doing it.
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: Is this affinity for connection, something that has always been
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: important to you. Was it modeled for you in some way?
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: Because I think it's irrefutable that not everyone approaches the
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: type of work that you do through that connection. Lens. Wow,
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: I've never been asked that before.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: But when as I was listening to you, the first
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: person that came into my mind was my nana.
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: My Nana Gloria.
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: She passed actually while I was in college, but was
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: and still is to this day, my favorite person in
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: the world.
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: And like you just felt.
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: Her love for you, You felt her care, you just
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: felt her heart. Anytime you talk to her, you could
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: be talking about anything, and she like gave the best hugs.
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: I never felt disconnected to her. I always felt connected
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: to her. She opened her door to everyone, anyone would
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: talk to her, and so I do think the importance
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: of connection and just embodying love came from my nana.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: Like my mom would say that anybody who has been
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: in my life but knows my nana knows she is
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: the top reason and the top example of anything that
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: I have when it comes to connection, love, care, unconditional love.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: So yeah, I think I think that like, if I
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: can connect to someone, I think that's embodying the spirit
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: of my nana the most and what she would be
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: the most proud of. And so I have to say
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: that's probably you know, she passed the year before I
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: stopped playing basketball, and so you know, it's top of mind.
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: I guess just embodying her has been probably like a
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: thread line of my career.
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's really special. Thanks for sharing that. I think
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: that something that's really stuck with me over the last
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: few years specifically, is this bigger question of how do
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: I want people to feel when they leave me? And
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: so many things you just articulated about the way that
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: your nana made you feel and how you hope to
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: leave people. Those are integral in the way that I
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: move on a day to day basis. I want you
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: to feel seen, I want you to feel heard, and
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: if you don't, then I'm probably in my head about
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: something else and I'm not present there anyway.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: Oh, the importance of present being present is so it's
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you, I hope people start to
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: understand more how you really are your best self when
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: you're present. Like anytime you're out of character, you probably
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: have something else on your mind. You're imagining being somewhere else,
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: You're thinking of where you should be or what you
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: should be doing, instead of being present. Like the importance
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: of the present moment is it can't be overstated. Like
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: being present is so important. And I will say, you're phenomenal,
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: like you have been so easy to talk to, You've
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: clearly done your research, like you're this has been so effortless.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: So yeah, I think your your presence is it's already
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: showing in this.
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: Realm, coming on my show and complimenting me. Right ready
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: for this? What's ready for it? But I will also
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: say this is yes, and it's mutual. And it is
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: impossible then to not go back to when you went
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: in on being on air full time, because so much
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: is going on, you're completely a newbie here and you
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: found a way to be present. What would you say,
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: Maybe it's that, maybe it's something else. Was the most
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: difficult part about that initial rise when you got your
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: seat on air.
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: One of the most difficult parts for sure, was all
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: of the outside opinions. And it's hard because when I
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: first started, like when you first get started, you don't
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: always have the same crew, so you don't always have
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: the same producer, You're not always working with the same
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: play by play, and so different people think different aspects
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: are good and different people think different aspects are bad. Right,
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: So like some people, when you do a sideline hit,
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: they some producers think you should say, you know, back
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: to you, Dave, that was my football play by play guy.
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: He's great, Dave Neil, He's wonderful. Or you know, some
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: people think you should end with being like Dave, or
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: some producers are like, yeah, just in the hit, don't
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: say anything, right, So it's like this constant I would
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: say opinions because it's a very subjective business. So even
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: when I first got started, I had no idea what
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: was good TV. So my opinions on you know, I
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: remember I would finish a show and I would be like,
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: you know, people be like, how was it, and.
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: I would be like, I don't know, I have no idea.
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: I hope it was good.
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: So I think that just I had no background in TV,
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: and so my knowledge or understanding of what was good
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: or bad really came from other people, and my judgment
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: of myself came from other people, which when it's all
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: in the business, it was hard to still navigate well
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: what feels good to me because three different people think
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: three different things were good. But then also when I
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: was constantly getting opinions from other people in my workspace,
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: it was also hard to disconnect myself from other people
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: on like social media or fans or you know, those
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: that type of you know, the growth that happened with
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: my career, with more opportunities came more eyes and came
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: more opinions, And so it took me a while to
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: separate the opinions of others and understand what's a good
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: show for me, Like what when do I feel good
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: about a show because or when do I feel good
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: about a hit Because if someone's a fan of a
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: team and my hit was negative about that team, of
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: course they're going to hate it. It doesn't mean it
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: was a bad hit, right, Or on the contrary, if
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: I gave a great hit but it was like sloppy
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: and I talked in circles, but I was saying something
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: positive about this team, of course the fans are going
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: to like it. They don't care if I, you know,
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: was talked in circles, and so I think, yeah, coming
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: back to the hardest part has just been figuring out
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: how to whose opinions matter? How do I judge my performances?
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: Like in basketball, it's very objective, really like I knew
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: my role on the team. I knew what I was
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: supposed to do, Like did I get deflections?
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: Was I in denial? Was I in a defensive stance?
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: Was I disruptive?
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: It was very easy for me to know if I
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: did it right or did it wrong as a player.
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: As an ANALYSTI took me a while to figure that out.
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: That was definitely the hardest part.
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: Two things is zublehick on. The first one is how
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: did you get to this place where you were relying
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: less on the validation of others on your performance time
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: for sure.
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: Just having enough shows, like in the back of my
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: having done enough shows where I could feel like, oh
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: that didn't feel good or oh that felt good right,
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: So I would say time for sure. Too early on,
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: I I just started judging my performance based on was
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: I prepared? Like if I was prepared, I had my notes,
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: and not that I just make my notes, But did
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: I study my notes? Did I know my points? Did
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: I you know, was I ready for this moment? And
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: if I was prepared but I mixed up a name,
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: or if I was prepared and I, you know, said
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: something incorrectly, or I think when we speak we naturally
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: have pauses, We naturally might mispronounce a word sometimes just
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: because that's human nature. And so I just started judging
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: myself on prepared, was I prepared?
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: And then yeah, just.
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: Figuring out later through watching myself, which is my least
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: favorite thing to do, but China still encourages me to
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: do it and I do still do it to this day.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: But every time I watched myself back, that's how I
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: started figuring out, like, oh I liked how that sounded.
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: I liked how I presented that that was sloppy. And
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: so in watching film, like as an athlete, you watch
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: film as an analyst, I've had to watch a lot
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: of film on myself. It's awkward, it's uncomfortable, but it's
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: helped me understand where good and bad or strong and
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: poor analysis, where that line is for.
• 33:12
  Speaker 2: Me bigger than the actual performance or execution on what
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: you're doing. You're also getting opinions from people on perhaps
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: the way that you look. The other thing I want
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: to double click on is how have you navigated that
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: as you have gained more and more eyes over the years,
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: especially on ESPN.
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's wild, like hearing people's opinions.
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: What's the craziest thing someone's ever said to you that?
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: I mean that I've been called like all the normal things,
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: like you're a DEI hire many different points about parts
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: of my body, like my ears, my chin, my nose,
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: and I'm like, I didn't need Why are you even
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: looking at that? Like you know, there have been so
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: many things. You don't deserve this job.
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: You suck. You don't know anything about basketball. I hate
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: you get off my screen.
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: Like just anything that you could think of being said
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: to a person about hating them.
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: Has been said, which all of us get in this business.
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: It's part of it. Athletes deal with it, Analysts deal
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: with it. So many people. If you're in the public eye,
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: you deal with it. Yeah, like you're a clown. Hard
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: ours is one that's happened.
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: How do you deal with that? Honestly, I don't see
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: it anymore so for me, and it was hard. So
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: I had to.
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: I used to like read and respond to positive messages,
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: but in finding the positive messages, I would have to
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: read the negative ones. And so I had to just
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: decide that responding to, you know, the people that are
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: sending positive things wasn't worth for me viewing the negative things.
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: I never responded to the negativity, but even just viewing
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: it and seeing it was it takes a toll on you.
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: And so now, if I'm being honest, like my any
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: social media that I have, if I don't follow you,
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to see your message.
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: And so it's.
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: Unfortunate because I do feel like I miss out on
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: potentially connecting to people. Again, going back to connection, I
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: do miss out on some of that, but I haven't
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: gotten to a place where I can disconnect from someone's
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: very negative and usually like unreasonably negative opinion of me.
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: I'm not able to separate the two yet I haven't.
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: I don't know what it takes to be able.
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: To do that.
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: I don't have it, ye, So right now I just don't.
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: I don't see it anymore. And if I used to,
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: if I had a show, I would wait a while
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: then I would look at my messages.
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: And now I just I don't look at them at all.
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: To be honest, it's commendable for you to have this
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: level of awareness where you're like, this is what works
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: for me, this is what doesn't work for me, And
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: it doesn't really matter how that is perceived or right,
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: because you're doing what you need to show up and
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: do your job in a way that makes you proud.
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: I also am hearing you say that it enables and
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: empowers you to do your job well, to show up
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: and be present something that you've articulated is so important
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: to you. Yeah, And I honestly like it's.
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's the best way for me to have a
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: clear mind when I'm on air, Like even if I
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: and sometimes I think, well, I would love to respond
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: to positivity. And I'm so thankful for everyone that like
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: watches the show and wants to say something positive.
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: I love that.
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: My goal is like I can keep serving them by
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: just continuing to do good work, and I can continue
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: to do good work by not looking at these messages, right,
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: So the two things kind of go hand in hand.
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: So I hope anyone that has sent something positive just
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: know that I'm I'm receiving that in a way that's
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: just continuing to do my job and work hard. And
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: I try to encourage people like, if I'm ever somewhere,
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: just come up to me in person, because no one
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: comes up in person and says something negative. It's never
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: happened to me before. So I just try to encourage
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: people like, come up say something. If I'm ever in
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: a space with you, don't hesitate to come up and chat,
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: because if you're sending me a message, I'm not gonna
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: see it.
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: I'm not gonna see it. You referenced the Big Three earlier.
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: Obviously a lot has shifted since Elle left being your
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: sidekick over there. How has that transition been for you
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: and what are you excited about in this next chapter?
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: It's been.
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: Honestly pretty seamless in a way because Christine.
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: We all knew when.
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: Elle was leaving, like even Elle included, like it just
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: made sense for it to be Christine, and Christine is incredible,
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: Like she's again, we're close friends me Her and Cheney,
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: same way we were with Elle.
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: In fact, all three of us were at Elle's house
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: like a.
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: Couple of weeks ago. So there's a friendship between all
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: of us. And so while it was sad like Elle leaving.
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: I was so happy for her to have this opportunity
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: and to have more time with her family and more
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: time with her kids, and it just seemed like such
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: a glaringly incredible opportunity for LL. And then Christine was
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: coming to join us, and so it's kind of like,
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: let's just keep it moving, like we keep going and
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: kind of honor l by continuing to have this fun,
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: infectious energy on air between the three of us. So
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: it's been it's been great. I'm excited to keep doing
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: work with Christine. It's only going to keep getting better,
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: just like with the Big Three. I feel like we
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: got better with time, and so I just think, you know,
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: this getting even better with time.
• 38:46
  Speaker 2: That's what I'm looking forward to. And the games are
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: still so good.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: The players are so talented, Like we continue to have
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: such exciting content that they make the job really easy
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: for us in a way that it's like we don't
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: have to fabricate excitement. We're genuinely excited about everything that's
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: going on on the court, which also just makes the transition,
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: you know, pretty easy.
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: This isn't the first time that I've heard you credit
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: the excellence of the players with making your job better.
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: I love that about you, and I think it's really
• 39:16
  Speaker 2: beautiful the way that you are continuously lifting up other
• 39:22
  Speaker 2: women around you, especially when many don't have that mindset,
• 39:27
  Speaker 2: Many don't necessarily believe that a rising tide raises all boats.
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: Where does that come from for you? Is that from
• 39:34
  Speaker 2: your team background? Probably?
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: I think just understanding the interconnectedness of everything, you know,
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: like we could have a great connection on air between
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: the analysts and between the hosts, but then the product
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: on the.
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: Floor is you know, kind of a drag or there
• 39:52
  Speaker 2: were we're like, oh, what do we want to talk about?
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: I don't know right, But it's like everything works together,
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: Like our producer knows us so well, and she understands
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: the game, and we understand the game, and we understand
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: each other.
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: And the game's good.
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: So it's like we don't have to put in extra
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: work to make what we're discussing feel exciting, and that's
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: probably the best part. Like there could be some people
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: that work in a space and they're not passionate about.
• 40:18
  Speaker 2: The sport or the sport is good, but it's you know, the.
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: Talent level is low, and we don't have any of
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: those problems, you know, Like again, when you think about
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: just being present, I can just sit in studio next
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: to Cheney, next to Christine, Well you just watch the
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: games and stuff just pops out like it just it
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: just screams like, oh I want to talk about that,
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: Oh I want to talk about that, And yeah, it's
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: it's really it's fun like I would imagine it, like
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: you know, writers have writer's block or an artist gets
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: stuck right because they don't have any inspiration. And it's
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: like we don't run into that because we're constantly seeing
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: players or plays or actions that we want to break
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: down and discuss. And even if it's being critical like
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: oh they need to do this better, it's still there's
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: excitement behind players having to make adjustments or coaches having
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: to make adjustments. So yeah, I just think the product
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: and the athlete that being good directly impacts our job
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: as well.
• 41:31
  Speaker 2: Back when you were playing basketball, you were the last
• 41:35
  Speaker 2: class to sign with Pat Summit, A pretty big legacy
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: to say the least. With that said, when you think
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: about what you're doing today, what is maybe a patism
• 41:45
  Speaker 2: if you will, that comes to mind for you when
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: you're thinking about showing up putting your best self forward
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: and really stepping up to any challenge.
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: Wow, there are so many patisms. Obviously, I don't know.
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: I think about, like again, this is just this is
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: this is crazy to think because I feel like we
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: just have this theme throughout our conversation of connecting. But
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: you know, when I talked to Pat, she never made
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: me feel like she had somewhere else to be, or
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: she had something else to do, or she had something
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: else on her mind, or you know. I remember one
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: time Pat was they played the University of Georgia and
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: I stayed after to like chat with her, and there
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: was a line of people like waiting for her autograph,
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: and it was Tennessee fans, and there were ugier fans
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: like they're waiting.
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: To talk to her.
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: And I remember her people being like, you know, Pat,
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: you gotta go, you gotta go, we gotta go, and
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: her just being so gracious with her time and so
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: giving of her time. And so when I think about
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: like Pat's summit, making time for me, making time for others,
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: you know, even when I think about she was head
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: coach of Meritis my freshman year and she was still
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: into offices at times, you know, during that time and
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: obviously had so much going on, and whenever I walked
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: into the office, it was like everything was put down
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: and she just was like, hey, how are you doing?
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: You know, but just had time. And so I think,
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: I hope, you know, making time and being present and
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: having time and not feeling like what I had going
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: on was more important than what anyone else had going on,
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: because Pat never did that. I never saw that from her.
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: I never got that feeling from her. So just the
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: idea of yeah, everybody is important and everybody has value
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: is something that I hope to just carry with me
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: because I think Pat did a really good job of that,
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: and it's something that I appreciated a lot about her,
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: Like she's a legend and she had so.
• 43:42
  Speaker 2: Much going on, but you would never know it.
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: I think there are some people who love to talk
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: about how busy they are, you know, or talk about
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: that they don't have time, and it's like, you could
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: have spent the time talking about how you didn't have time,
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: giving the time that you just used talking about how
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: you don't have time. So I think that for me
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: stands out when I think about path beautifully put and
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: speaking of having the time, something that I personally loved
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: falling along with this year is your movement journey. I
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: might not be coaching Orange Deer anymore, but she's getting
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: in the gym.
• 44:17
  Speaker 2: Why is that important to you right now? And how
• 44:19
  Speaker 2: is that you taking care of you? I just love it.
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: I've always loved working out.
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: Like my teammates at Tennessee, you would probably tell you
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: they were annoyed with me because I didn't mind working out,
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: running extra sprints anything like that. It's always been so
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: important to me to be in shape, to push myself physically.
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: I think there's a connection to me, like when I
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: know I've pushed through a hard workout again, it kind
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: of goes back to just doing hard things. You can
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: put strain on your body and push through it and
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: see your weights go up in a certain category or
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: it's like a way of it's a way of achieving.
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: For me, it's a way of staying healthy and feeling
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: my best. It's time to myself, you know. Like now,
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: I feel really lucky too with just all the people
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: in my life. They know what's important to me. So
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: if I'm like, oh I'm going to work out.
• 45:11
  Speaker 2: They're like, okay, great, there's no pushback right, like you know.
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: I remember one time, this was this was early on,
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: but Cheney and L wanted to go to dinner. This
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: had to be years ago, and I was feeling a
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: little anxious and I hadn't meditated that day and I
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: didn't work out that day, and they were.
• 45:26
  Speaker 2: Kind of like dra come on, come on, come on,
• 45:28
  Speaker 2: and I was like, no, I'm going.
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: To meditate and do yoga, and they're like, okay, just immediately,
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: because they know how important that is to me. So
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: I think I feel my best when my workouts are consistent.
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: I feel my best when I know in my busy
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: time I've gotten five in. I feel my best when
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: I know that I have one scheduled. It's just something
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: that I value. And I've learned that in sharing some
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: of this and being a little more open about it,
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: it's inspired some of my colleagues. It's inspired some of
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: my friends, like again, you can make time for what
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: you think is important. Working out is important to me.
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: I always make time for it, and so just hopefully
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: inspiring people that whatever is important to you, I hope
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: it's working out, just because heart health is important and
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: those things are important. But whatever you value, you can
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: make time for and.
• 46:16
  Speaker 2: That's that's working out for me. Yeah, you're surrounding yourself
• 46:19
  Speaker 2: with good people that hear something like I'm going to
• 46:22
  Speaker 2: do this for myself and don't get counteractive about it.
• 46:26
  Speaker 2: For sure. You mentioned meditation. What's that look like for
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: you these days? Meditation? It's amazing.
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: I can't again, just the even though you know sometimes
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: I don't read most messages, some get through, right it
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: could be a comment or something like that, And just
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: the ability to like take a deep breath and separate
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: like a thought from a feeling, from what I want
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: to do about this or if I'm anxious, being able
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: to use deep breathing or be fully present where I am.
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: It's so easy to get caught up in what I
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: just did or what I am supposed to do in
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: the future. Sure, so meditating for me, it just keeps
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: me present a lot of times right now when when
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: I'm busy, it's meditating after boarding a flight, before a
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: flight takes off, meditating in an uber, when I'm on
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: the way to an airport, meditating sometimes if I'm walking
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: on a treadmill, I won't listen to music.
• 47:18
  Speaker 2: I'll just breathe.
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: So right now, meditating is a lot of doing it
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: wherever I am in my less busy time. It's you know,
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: sitting on the mat, being present for a really long time.
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: But right now, finding different areas in different places where
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: I can meditate in little moments.
• 47:36
  Speaker 2: That's that's what it looks like right now. I think
• 47:38
  Speaker 2: it's really beautiful that you can be the first to
• 47:42
  Speaker 2: say that it might not look how you thought that
• 47:45
  Speaker 2: it had to look at one point in your life.
• 47:47
  Speaker 2: Like some days you're going to make it to your mat,
• 47:49
  Speaker 2: but the other days you might be in the back
• 47:51
  Speaker 2: of an uber or you might be on a plane,
• 47:53
  Speaker 2: and like you recognize this is going to be something
• 47:55
  Speaker 2: that's good for me regardless, one hundred percent.
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: And I think I used to I don't only think
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: I could meditate, you know, sitting down and you know,
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: with my legs crossed and having a certain amount of time.
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: And now I've just realized there's so many different forms
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: of meditation. Listened to a lot of podcasts, I've read
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: a lot about it. But even if I'm you know,
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: in a space where I'm anxious and I can't close
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: my eyes, like right before a show, just counting different
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: things around me that are a certain color. That's like
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: being very much in the present moment right, and it
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: calms me down, and it's a way of meditating or
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: just listen saying like what do I hear right now?
• 48:32
  Speaker 2: What do I see right now? Do I smell anything
• 48:34
  Speaker 2: right now?
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: Like anything for me that brings me back to the
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: present is now what I consider meditating. So there are
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: times where like we're in a commercial break and I
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: might be just like looking around and I'm meditating. Right.
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to close my eyes on set because
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: I don't want to be like jes asleep, but you know,
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: so I keep my eyes open, but again just being
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: really present and just or if it's a four count
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: of breath, my eyes are open, but I'm just taking
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: deep breaths. So my meditation journey has evolved and I've
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: found a lot of different ways to just make it
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: work for me. It's funny because when I was on
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: the plane the other day, I was doing this nostril
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: breathing and I think the flight attendant thought.
• 49:13
  Speaker 2: I was nauseous. She was like, are you okay? Like
• 49:16
  Speaker 2: it was gonna bring me. I was like, I'm meditating.
• 49:18
  Speaker 2: I'm sorry. So yeah, some it might catch people off
• 49:21
  Speaker 2: guard sometimes, but it works for me. It's funny that
• 49:24
  Speaker 2: you brought up the color. Thing. That's actually something new
• 49:26
  Speaker 2: that I've been doing on my walks lately is trying
• 49:29
  Speaker 2: to be more cognizant of what's going on. And i
• 49:32
  Speaker 2: could be listening to a podcast still, but I'll pick
• 49:34
  Speaker 2: a color and I'll go out there and I'll just
• 49:36
  Speaker 2: look for punches of red. And it's one of those
• 49:39
  Speaker 2: moments if reds the color, that you realize it's everywhere
• 49:44
  Speaker 2: around you. You just have to take the moment to
• 49:47
  Speaker 2: be cognizant of that. It's kind of the same way
• 49:49
  Speaker 2: I feel like often walking around the city, I always
• 49:54
  Speaker 2: forget to look up above me, and there's so much
• 49:57
  Speaker 2: beauty up above me. But I have to be the
• 50:00
  Speaker 2: person that says, all right, I'm going to choose to
• 50:02
  Speaker 2: look up yes, one hundred percent or even two.
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: Like I used to be someone that would eat standing up,
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: like I would make food I would eat, or I would.
• 50:10
  Speaker 2: Eat moving around.
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: And so even now when I'm super busy or i
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: feel like I'm in a busy time, I'll be like, okay,
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: how I'm going to give myself a meditation. I'm just
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: gonna sit and eat, and I'm gonna be mindful while
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: I eat. Instead of walking around and eating, I'm gonna
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: make time to eat.
• 50:25
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: There's a quote actually that I think is really funny.
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: It's like, meditate every day for ten minutes, except when
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: you're busy, then meditate for twenty. So it's like, actually,
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: when you're busier, find more time to meditate and give
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: yourself some peace and be present. So I try to
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: just weave meditating in through, you know, throughout my day
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: and throughout my weeks and throughout these long stretches.
• 50:48
  Speaker 2: It's so important. It's so important now every week, hundreds
• 50:52
  Speaker 2: of thousands, millions of people see you on TV online.
• 50:56
  Speaker 2: But when you look in the mirror, Drea, what is
• 50:59
  Speaker 2: it that you see looking back at you? Wow, that's
• 51:04
  Speaker 2: a deep question.
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: I think I could take more time to look in
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: the mirror and look at myself. And it's not something
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: that I've done, like consciously. I can't remember the last
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: time I've just like looked at myself. When I think
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: about myself, I just think of, you know, someone that
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: loves what I do, loves my people. I love the
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: role that I have in certain people's lives, and I
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: feel very motivated for them, my siblings in particular, But.
• 51:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't. I don't know.
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: I haven't given myself time to really look in the
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: mirror on this on this stretch. Like I think I
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: looked in the mirror when I gave up basketball and
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: was like, what are you going to do? Maybe looked
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: in the mirror when I went full time and I
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: was like, you're an analyst. This is great. But I
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: haven't looked in the mirror in a long time. I
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: know I feel good, but I don't know what I
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: see you when I look at myself just yet. But
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: maybe after the Final four I'll take some time to
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: do that.
• 52:09
  Speaker 2: It's an interesting thing because I think a lot of
• 52:11
  Speaker 2: people hear that and they might think the same exact thing.
• 52:16
  Speaker 2: Almost the last time, I just stopped and looked and
• 52:19
  Speaker 2: asked myself, how am I really feeling about myself when
• 52:22
  Speaker 2: I'm by myself? What is that that I see looking
• 52:26
  Speaker 2: back at me? You bring up this. I really love
• 52:29
  Speaker 2: the people that I work with, and I love the
• 52:31
  Speaker 2: people that are around me. It's really special and irrefutable
• 52:35
  Speaker 2: that three women covering basketball in the way that you
• 52:38
  Speaker 2: guys get to cover basketball on this platform is like
• 52:42
  Speaker 2: I said, just so special. What does that opportunity really
• 52:46
  Speaker 2: mean to you? Drea? It means the world?
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: And I think too, like when you say three women,
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: I think the best part is it's three women that
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: get to be themselves, Like we are our full selves
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: on air and we get to show our personalities and
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: we get to laugh, and we get to have jokes,
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: and we get to, you know, maybe make a mistake
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: and then fix it or counter each other. And I
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: think showing our friendship in an authentic way, showing our
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: love for the game in an authentic way, like we
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: don't have to be on air pretending to be anything else.
• 53:19
  Speaker 2: We just get to be ourselves.
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: And I hope it inspires other young girls, young women,
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: young people in general, Like when they see us, I
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: hope they think like, oh, I don't have to fit
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: a mold either. She's different and she's different and she's
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: different and they're different, and look it works. So I
• 53:35
  Speaker 1: hope that people are inspired by that when they watch us,
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: like they see like, oh, I can be on air
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: and be just myself. But it's it means the world
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: to me. And again to do it at such a
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: pivotal time and such a time of growth, and to
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: have the opportunity that we have to just watch these
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: athletes do just incredible things out there on the court,
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: and you know, see businesses and and see dollar Signs
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: go up and see just the value to be alongside
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: such a huge point of growth.
• 54:08
  Speaker 2: I think it's something that we don't take lightly.
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: I can speak for all of us, you know, we
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: take it lightly, and it means a lot.
• 54:15
  Speaker 2: In order to be her, You've got to see her,
• 54:17
  Speaker 2: and there's a lot of little girls looking at you
• 54:19
  Speaker 2: and being like I can be her. You said dollar Signs.
• 54:22
  Speaker 2: Got to talk about it. Who was the first person
• 54:24
  Speaker 2: you called when you probably woke up and saw that
• 54:27
  Speaker 2: the CBA was a go? Well, the first thing, like
• 54:30
  Speaker 2: it was in our group chat for sure.
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: You know obviously Cheney, you know, Neka did so much
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: work and the you know, the executive committee in general
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: and the players and they did so much work on it.
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: So yeah, that was that was the first conversation in
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: the group chat about it.
• 54:46
  Speaker 2: And it's it's so exciting, like.
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: I can't even I don't even know how my energy
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: for these players can't be contained. Just I think there's
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: value in feeling valued, and value in be being paid
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: what you feel like you're worth and not what other
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: people say that you're worth. So I'm so happy for
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: all the players in the w and you know, just
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: their opportunity and the way that they stood on what
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: they believed and to me, like when I see the
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: different posts from different players and I see their excitement
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: about it, that's where I'm like.
• 55:21
  Speaker 2: This is awesome, Like they feel good about it. That's
• 55:23
  Speaker 2: that's the best thing.
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, it's it's historical, it's really cool.
• 55:29
  Speaker 2: It's really cool. You have a job that a lot
• 55:33
  Speaker 2: of people would love to have. But are there moments
• 55:37
  Speaker 2: where you're sitting behind the desk, you're standing up on air,
• 55:42
  Speaker 2: and you're thinking that you'd rather be on the other
• 55:44
  Speaker 2: side of the screen, you'd rather be on the court.
• 55:48
  Speaker 2: I haven't had that thought on air.
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: I think when I am on air, I'm so again present. Yeah,
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: sometimes when I'm like doing my research or I'm watching film,
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: I'll see a player do a move and I'm like,
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: that would be so cool to be able to do that,
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: like to you know, or do something on the court,
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: and their their skill level is beyond anything. I got
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: close to, and I'm like, oh, like, if being a
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: basketball player was your profess, my profession and all I
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: got to do, not all I got to do, but
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: you know, my main job was to figure out how
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: to elevate my game and add creativity to my game.
• 56:23
  Speaker 2: Of course that would be so cool.
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: But then I remind myself, like I clearly wasn't meant
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: to play basketball, but I was meant to talk about it.
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: So the appreciation for what they're doing as I watch it,
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: I just try to pivot that to when I talk
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: about it, you know, like even it's such a small thing,
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: but in the South Carolina USC game that happened recently,
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: like a got mechere top blocked Jesse Davidson. It made
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: her go baseline and like I can vividly remember like
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: jumping in front of somebody to make them go another way.
• 56:54
  Speaker 2: And it's such a.
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: Small thing, but I missed it when I watched it.
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: We weren't on air yet, the game was happening. We
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: were gonna come on at halftime, and like I felt that,
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: and so that's what I talked about a halftime because
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: it translates the best when I feel that way. So yeah,
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: when i'm prepping or when I'm studying and i'm watching,
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, I miss it. And then when I
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: get to talk about it, it's it's almost like reliving
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: it because I'm describing it, and as I'm describing it,
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: I'm almost imagining it, So it's like I'm playing it again.
• 57:20
  Speaker 2: That's the best way I can explain it.
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: But yeah, I'm definitely miss playing basketball. But the next
• 57:27
  Speaker 1: best thing that I could ever do is talking about
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: it and talking about it with passion and energy.
• 57:33
  Speaker 2: So hopefully that translates. It translates, it definitely translates. I
• 57:37
  Speaker 2: feel like I've been hiding something from you for the
• 57:39
  Speaker 2: last fifty six minutes, and that it's that I'm a
• 57:42
  Speaker 2: Yukon grad and so I just want you to know
• 57:46
  Speaker 2: that I'm personally excited about your pick to when the tournament. Yeah.
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I mean I feel like all jokes aside,
• 57:55
  Speaker 1: Yukon is incredible. Yukon is also sometimes I don't know
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: if I love to admit this, but I grew up
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: in Georgia.
• 58:01
  Speaker 2: I grew up in Gwinnette.
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: I had some training sessions and my dad would take
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: me to watch Maya More play all the time.
• 58:08
  Speaker 2: Maya is someone I consider a friend.
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: She's been on our show before and I've been on
• 58:12
  Speaker 1: a flight with her before, and like, she's so cool.
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: But she was one of my favorite players ever. Growing up,
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: we got a dog and I was like listening to
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: dog Maya because I loved Maya so much. I don't
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: know if I've told her that before, but like so
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: Maya and then her career at Yukon. Yukon was also
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: in my top three. Shay Ralph has a really funny
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: story recruiting me to Yukon. It ended up being too
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: far away from my nana. I wanted my nana to
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: be able to come to my games and my family
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: and things like that. But I to what most people
• 58:48
  Speaker 1: might not agree with, I grew up like it was
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: Tennessee and Yukon and those were like my two favorite schools.
• 58:53
  Speaker 1: So no hard feelings about you being a Yukon grad.
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: And congratulations on your team who has a really strong
• 58:59
  Speaker 1: chances to me winning.
• 59:02
  Speaker 2: The title, So you should feel really good as you
• 59:04
  Speaker 2: are hoping for it. We're hoping for it, yeah, for sure.
• 59:07
  Speaker 2: The other day, Maya's like calling the game and in
• 59:10
  Speaker 2: the most like bland, like not enthusiastic voice. She just goes,
• 59:15
  Speaker 2: I think they're going to fut around and find out
• 59:17
  Speaker 2: I was just like losing it, Like is just she
• 59:22
  Speaker 2: cracks me up, She cracks me out.
• 59:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, she's I mean, yeah legend, Like when you think
• 59:28
  Speaker 1: about Maya more, you're just like, yeah, legends.
• 59:33
  Speaker 2: And I mean not gonna lie. Drea, like that's come
• 59:36
  Speaker 2: in for you and clearly because to circle back to
• 59:39
  Speaker 2: where we started, you're again a two time emerging on
• 59:45
  Speaker 2: air talent nominee. Not everyone gets this on her.
• 59:48
  Speaker 1: You can emerge, and you can. I'm like, does it
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: mean I disappeared and emerged again? Or like did I
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: emerge and then flatau and then emerge? You know what,
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: I'm not gonna overthink it. I'm very thankful. It's yeah
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: again like a testament to my colleagues and the athletes.
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 1: So it's really cool, and new new opportunities have opened up.
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: Like from twenty twenty three the analyst that I was
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: then and what I was doing then, I'm doing some
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: of the same things, but a lot has happened since
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty three, So it's cool.
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 2: I'm honored and thank you. Home Stretch. What are you
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 2: most excited about right now? What am I most excited about?
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 2: I'm like thinking about life. Yeah, I know. I like
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 2: that you're thinking about life and you don't just immediately
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 2: tell me it's the tournament.
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I am very excited for the final four. I'm
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: excited to be on the road. Honestly, Usually for SWE
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: sixteen and Elite eight we're in the studio in Bristol,
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 1: and this year we get to be in the arena,
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 1: so that's cool. That's new, and like being there to
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 1: see the teams. They get to go to the final four.
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 2: That's so cool.
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: So that I'm excited for I'm really I'm also excited.
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: I have six younger siblings, so Ali, Zoe, kurt On on
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: my mom's side, and then James and Chloe are on
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 1: my biological dad's side, And I'm just really excited.
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 2: They're all different.
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: Ages, like they range. I'm the oldest, but I'm really
• 1:01:11
  Speaker 1: excited for them. Like as I was thinking about life,
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: I was thinking about them, and they're just doing cool things,
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 1: Like Ali and Zoe are.
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 2: Out of college.
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 1: Curtis finishing college, James just started at a junior college.
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: He's running track. Shavon's a senior Chloe's about to be
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: in eighth grade. So they're all in like.
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 2: These pivotal years.
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 1: It feels like where they're either starting something or they're
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 1: moving into a new phase of their life. So I'm
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: really excited for them, and I'm really I don't talk
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 1: about them very often.
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 2: I don't really put them on my social media.
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: I don't want them to like get any type of
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: anything as a result of me. It's terms of like,
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 1: I don't know, backlash or I don't know. People can
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 1: just be kind of weird sometimes. But I love them
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 1: so much, and so when you asked what I was
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 1: excited for, they were the first thing that popped into
• 1:01:59
  Speaker 1: my head. And I'm just excited to see them grow.
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 1: Like I remember them as kids and babies, and they're
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: like all becoming young adults, and I'm really excited to
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: just be in their lives and watch them figure out
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 1: figure out life well.
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 2: And you reflect so beautifully about so many of the
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 2: things that were going on in your life during so
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 2: many of these key moments for all of them, So
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 2: to think about that, to think about that so much
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 2: goodness is ahead of them, of course you're excited.
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm so like and just to be here for them.
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 1: And you know, like I so many different things that
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 1: I do. I get to meet so many people that
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 1: I you know, like my my brother wants to get
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 1: into cybersecurity.
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 2: And I happen to be.
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 1: On a flight one time and this guy that is
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: this founder of this huge cybersecurity company, he mentioned it
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 1: to the flight attendant and I just chased him down
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 1: after the flight. I was like, hey, sorry, but I
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 1: heard you're in cybersecurity.
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 2: Can I have your information?
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 1: Like so, just being able to connect them to people
• 1:03:01
  Speaker 1: and just watch them grow and flourish and hopefully help
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 1: open doors for them.
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's yeah, it's cool, of course. Yeah. I'm
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 2: really excited.
• 1:03:09
  Speaker 1: There's such there's such like cool kids too, Like they're
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 1: just they're all really different and they're all really cool.
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 2: So I like not to brag, but they're really cool. Cool.
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 2: There's a final question for you today, Drea. Right now,
• 1:03:22
  Speaker 2: you have an opportunity to offer yourself a piece of advice.
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 2: You know what. I want to bring it back to
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 2: when you were in the place where you thought like
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 2: I'm ready to hang up my shoes here, this isn't
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 2: working for me. That moment when the China told you
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 2: you got to go all in. It's gonna be hard
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 2: knowing what you know. Now, what would you tell yourself
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 2: during that hurdle moment? Yeah, big hurdle.
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 1: I probably would have told I would tell myself now
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 1: to start meditating sooner, because it's truly been life changing.
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 1: And I would probably also just tell myself to enjoy
• 1:04:02
  Speaker 1: it a little bit more like. I think I wanted
• 1:04:05
  Speaker 1: it so badly, and I know I loved pursuing it,
• 1:04:10
  Speaker 1: but I think I pursued it sometimes in a way
• 1:04:13
  Speaker 1: that was like I have to have it and I
• 1:04:15
  Speaker 1: want it, and it was almost like this tension, And
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 1: so I think I would have told myself to like,
• 1:04:20
  Speaker 1: let go.
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 2: A little bit and enjoy it a little bit more like.
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 1: I think back to that journey, and I did love
• 1:04:26
  Speaker 1: it and I had so much fun, but I think
• 1:04:28
  Speaker 1: I could have enjoyed it even more and actually taking
• 1:04:33
  Speaker 1: it in now I can take it in in hindsight
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 1: and reflection, and there's so many things that stand out
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 1: to me about that time, different segments I did, and
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: different things that producers let me try, and different moments
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 1: with my colleagues like Alyssa Lange and I had a
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 1: football show we talked about We had our own football
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 1: show where the two of us we're talking about football.
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 1: And I wanted to be so good at it. And
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 1: now I look back and I'm like, that was so
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 1: much fun. And I don't know if it felt fun
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 1: at the time, because I want wanted to be perfect
• 1:05:00
  Speaker 1: and I wanted to get it right. So I think
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 1: I would tell myself, meditate, and enjoy it a little
• 1:05:06
  Speaker 1: bit more would be my two biggest things.
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 2: Enjoy it a little bit more, be present, and then
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 2: you've got it on lock Andrea Carter so happy that
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 2: we were able to do this today. For those that
• 1:05:16
  Speaker 2: aren't following along with you at Jesse yet, give me
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 2: the deats. Where do they find you online? Yeah?
• 1:05:21
  Speaker 1: Andrea Underscore Carter on everything and it's a N D
• 1:05:26
  Speaker 1: R A.
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 2: Y A beautiful. I'm over at Emily Body and at
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 2: Hurdle Podcast Another Hurdle conquered. Catch you guys next time