Locked On Women’s Basketball: Lexie Brown joins us to talk Athletes Unlimited, WNBA CBA negotiations

First, they talked about the move Athletes Unlimited made, taking its four week season from Dallas, where it had been for the past two seasons, to Nashville, and a couple other changes that have been made to the league’s structure:

“So far, it’s been the perfect the perfect move,” Brown said. “You have [Nashville] now putting a bid in for a WNBA team. So it’s like we are here at the perfect time. We have all these universities … Vanderbilt is right next door to where we are. So it’s like the perfect place. So new city, biggest thing and then, anybody who follows Athletes Unlimited, they’re very familiar with the leaderboard and the scoring system and the captains. We decided, we’re in a bigger system of Athletes Unlimited with other sports, and they typically like to keep things pretty uniform … it took some convincing. We had to convince them that basketball is just very different from the other sports, and the fact that one player can do so many things on the court … you could be a point guard in one game [and] have 10 rebounds. You can be a center and one day have nine assists, hit some threes … that’s the beauty of basketball. That’s beauty of this game. So the biggest change we made was, instead of captains being chosen by cumulative leaderboard points, you get chosen by your weekly leaderboard points. So somebody in 20th place could just have a stellar week and most accumulated points for that week, and then they can become a captain, even if they’re not the top four overall. So we just wanted to continue to give more players opportunities to lead, be captains, and just motivate players. Even if you’re not high on the leaderboard, you still can have motivation to get points … and win games, and you can find yourself at 30th place. But you have a good week, you’re a captain now, and now you’re you’re running the show.”

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They also talked about Brown’s experience with Athletes Unlimited, why she decided to spend her offseasons playing in the league and why she feels it has continued to be an important part of her basketball career:

“My first year in AU, I was fresh off of a WNBA championship and not sure if I was going to be on a team the next year,” Brown said. “I went overseas and, [eventually chose to] bet on myself. I said, ‘Whatever I’m getting overseas, I can find the same opportunities in the States with Athletes Unlimited,’ and they held a spot for me, even though I jetted off to France for a few months, they saved the spot for me like they said they would. And this has been the best decision I’ve ever made, and seeing more and more players come into Athletes Unlimited and regain their confidence and regain their joy for the game, and get new opportunities on and off the court. Now that’s what’s important to me. With Athletes Unlimited, yes, I’m here to get better and hone my skills … and get ready for the [WNBA] season. But overall, my goal is to just continue to put more players in good situations, because I didn’t have that luxury when I was a young player. I didn’t really have anybody making sure that I was good, making sure that I was prepared to be a professional. So I just want to be that person for these younger players and some of these players that are similar to my age, we got some vets in here that … told us … ‘we were kind of unsure about Athletes Unlimited, like, we kind of heard some weird things about AU, but it’s exceeding all of our expectations.’ And if we can just get a few more W players to feel that way every year, then that’s a win for us, I think.”

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Brown and Megdal also discussed the upcoming negotiations around the new WNBA CBA. Brown’s contract with the Sparks is one of very few in the league that are guaranteed through 2026, and wouldn’t be renegotiated as a result of the new CBA.

“This is my first guaranteed deal since I’ve been in the league,” she explained. “I love Los Angeles. I’ve built a very nice off-court life in Los Angeles. I have a lot of opportunities in Los Angeles, and I opted to maybe not make as much money as I could have made somewhere else if I decided to be a free agent a year ago. So for me, everybody’s priorities are different, and that’s a beautiful thing, like free will. I’ve seen people like say that this is a great use of free will, like people can do what they want and what makes them feel comfortable. … The Sparks offered me that extension in the middle of my health crisis, and I took it because I had no idea what my life was going to look like after getting sick. So, I mean, I would be eternally grateful to the Sparks organization for giving me that extension despite not knowing if I was ever going to play basketball again. So, yeah, I’m very excited for the new CBA. I don’t want any part in that first year of contract negotiations, because it’s going to be absurd, but it’s going to be fun to talk about it and report on it. But it’s great for everybody, and this year, I think, is critical for us as players as well, to continue to put a good product on the floor and get more eyeballs on the W and continue to keep [our] value high.”

Tune in to hear more from Brown about the AU season so far and preparing for a new WNBA CBA. Make sure to subscribe to the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast to keep learning about the WNBA, women’s college basketball, basketball history and much more!