July 23, 2024
Locked On Women’s Basketball: WNBA All-Star and rookie mental health
By The Next
All-Star recap, Allisha Gray makes her mark, Team USA preview and more!
On today’s episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, host Gigi Speer is joined by WNBA personality JuJu Gotti to talk about last weekend’s WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix. They discuss the environment and atmosphere of the event, take a look at Team USA as they head to Paris for the Olympics, and touch on how rookies across the league are approaching their mental health.
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Gotti, who has been an Atlanta Dream season ticket holder for the last five seasons, spoke about how it felt to see Dream guard Allisha Gray become the first player to win both the Skills Challenge and the Three-Point Contest in the same year:
“It really made me emotional to see that,” he said. “Atlanta, we have been getting it together for a couple years on the team, championships not necessarily on the radar. So to see my sister up there with that spotlight on, that shine, and see her so humbled, just her smile is so infectious. And to see [A’ja Wilson] so happy, [Rhyne Howard] so happy, just all the ladies, sisters, surrounding her, that made me so happy.”
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Then, they talked about the experience of 2024 WNBA All-Star Weekend and how it compared to past years.
“The vibe was on fire,” Gotti said. “I think they did it right this year by having it Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It’s usually Friday, Saturday and Sunday and [travelling] Monday morning, you feel a little crazy trying to get back home … [but] from Thursday night, and until Saturday night, Sunday morning, every place was filled with love. I’m not a frequenter of Phoenix so I don’t know how it usually is, but I know that everywhere I went the vibes was so high … And it was all love, nobody hounding each other, you know [Caitlin Clark], she really can’t take two steps without a camera in her face. And [there was] none of that all weekend … it was amazing to be a part of that.”
They also talked about how this rookie class, and especially Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, have helped bring the WNBA into pop culture in a major way.
“I feel like [Reese] has had her moment [in the] past couple years, going from Maryland [to] LSU, but the way she uniquely brings pop culture or culture in general and intertwines it with the WNBA, I’m not sure many other players do that, especially [as] rookies,” Speer said. “And I feel like that’s just something that’s been a big takeaway too … I hope she rests the next couple of weeks, but I hope it settles in people’s minds that she’s doing some serious work she doesn’t really need to do.”
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They also discussed Team USA’s exhibition game against Germany that took place in London on Tuesday afternoon. After losing to Team WNBA in the All-Star game over the weekend, USA rebounded with a 84-57 win. A’ja Wilson lead all scorers with a 19 point, 14 rebound double-double. 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!
