00:00Here's yesterday's press conference again.
00:02Female reporter, female commissioner of the WNBA.
00:05Go ahead.
00:05How much do you want to stay the commissioner of the WNBA?
00:08How much longer do you anticipate to be in this role?
00:12Well, thank you, Maddie.
00:13I do crack up how everybody's focused on me,
00:16and you should be focused on the hundreds of amazing women
00:19and thousands of women who run this league.
00:21I wonder whether you would ask that of a man, by the way.
00:24Bang right there.
00:25Okay, so it happens to be a fair question.
00:28It's not a question because she's a woman.
00:31A, she was embattled and damn near forced out
00:33as the commissioner of the WNBA
00:36when we were looking at the potential of a long work stoppage there,
00:39as you're well aware of, right?
00:41Yep.
00:41So I decided to do what most people don't do,
00:44and I think, Tyrone, you're very good at it.
00:46I decided to look into it.
00:47Right.
00:47So I know what the hell I'm talking about, okay?
00:49Right.
00:50So she thinks it's offensive or, I guess, even sexist
00:53that a female reporter would ask her about, you know,
00:57her plans to remain as commissioner of the WNBA,
01:01which is a fair question considering the upheaval
01:04of the last couple years
01:05and the fact that the players last year wanted her out.
01:09Yes.
01:09They don't like her across the board, okay?
01:12And that happens with a lot of commissioners
01:14during different times.
01:15Every commissioner gets booed.
01:16I don't care.
01:16From David Stern to Paul Tagley booed
01:19to Roger Goodell to Gary Bettman,
01:21who's the only commissioner the NHL's ever had.
01:23Right.
01:23He's been there forever.
01:23In his history.
01:24Right.
01:24So here's the research on it, okay?
01:27Gary Bettman was asked at a press conference
01:29constantly how much longer he plans on being commissioner.
01:33In 2022?
01:35In 2023?
01:36In 2024?
01:38And in 2025?
01:40And as recently as a month and a half ago,
01:42in 2026?
01:44Mm-hmm.
01:44Okay?
01:45Let me go to the next one.
01:47Rob Manfred,
01:48who announced that he was retiring.
01:50Yes.
01:50I believe it's 2029 is when his deal runs out.
01:55Was asked in 21, 22, 23, and 24
01:59when he announced the fact
02:00that he's not going to stay beyond this current term.
02:03Yeah, now that one I didn't know.
02:03I knew about the Bettman.
02:05I did not know about that one.
02:07Roger Goodell, in 2023,
02:10was asked about how long he wants to stay on as commissioner.
02:13He signed a four-year extension
02:15after that press conference,
02:18which gets him through this upcoming football season,
02:21and he has said,
02:23yeah, I'm probably going to stay,
02:24but of course,
02:25you're all commissioners stay
02:26at the behest of the owners.
02:28Right.
02:28But he has no plans to leave,
02:30but he was asked the question.
02:32So every male counterpart of Cathy's
02:36has been asked that question.
02:39Different answers,
02:40but every one of them has been asked.
02:42And this is the problem
02:44when you want to play,
02:46you're going to kill me for using the word woke,
02:48probably the wrong word here,
02:50so I'll accept that, okay?
02:52But when you want to play the victim here
02:54as you wouldn't ask my male counterpart that,
02:59no, no, we did ask them,
03:01and we asked them annually.
03:03It seems like every year
03:05the commissioner has their State of the Union
03:07addressed for their respective sports,
03:09there's going to be a reporter that says,
03:11how much longer do you want to be commissioned now?
03:14Each one of them,
03:15we're asking for a different reason.
03:17Yeah.
03:17For example,
03:18Gary Bettman is the only commissioner
03:21the NHL has ever had.
03:23He's the first and only one.
03:25He's also 70 years old.
03:27There's going to come a point
03:29where he says,
03:30I'm done.
03:31It's a fair question.
03:33Roger Goodell has been commissioner
03:35for more than two decades now.
03:37There's going to come a point
03:39where he says,
03:40I'm 65 years old.
03:42I'm good.
03:43I'm done.
03:44And he's been with the NFL
03:44since he was an intern.
03:46Yes.
03:46He's been there 40 plus years
03:47with the NFL.
03:48Right.
03:48His dad was a very powerful lobbyist
03:51that got him the original job.
03:53And he's been there.
03:54Had some connection to the NFL.
03:55That's right.
03:55That's right.
03:56And he's been there
03:56since he was in college.
03:57Right.
03:58So, and then Rob Manfred
03:59has announced that he's leaving
04:01because he was asked so many times
04:03because he doesn't think
04:04it's a lifetime job.
04:06Oddly, Silver,
04:07the only popular commissioner
04:08right now.
04:09Yes.
04:10With the players especially.
04:11And what's interesting
04:11is Adam Silver made a decision
04:13that no other commissioner
04:14has ever made.
04:14He went out of his way
04:16to be a player commissioner.
04:18Most commissioners
04:19are owners commissioners.
04:21Owners commissioners, right.
04:21He decided,
04:22the only way for me
04:23to have longevity here,
04:24and he was not stupid about it,
04:26it was a smart call.
04:27Yep, it was.
04:28Was to go to the leaders
04:29of the league,
04:30Chris Paul, LeBron James,
04:31and other superstars,
04:33Dwayne Wade at the time,
04:34and a few other guys.
04:35And I don't want to say
04:36Curry favorites them
04:37because that's disrespectful,
04:38but to make sure
04:40that those guys knew
04:41their voices would be heard
04:43by the commissioner.
04:45Right.
04:45David Stern ran the NBA
04:47as if it was his.
04:48Yep.
04:49All right.
04:49Now, he carried favor
04:50to guys like Michael Jordan
04:52and to David Falk, the agent.
04:54Adam Silver went above
04:55and beyond that
04:56and said,
04:57give me the 10 best players
04:58in the league.
04:59Let's sit down and talk.
05:00What are your complaints?
05:02What are your needs?
05:03And he's been very good
05:03at that, by the way.
05:04And the NBA is very healthy.
05:06Right.
05:06And by the way,
05:06they still did the second apron.
05:08Like, even though he talks to them,
05:10he still does what's best
05:11for the owner
05:11at the end of the day.
05:12And if I may,
05:13a quick programming note,
05:14he will be in my radio show
05:15on Friday at 5 o'clock.
05:16Oh, really?
05:17In studio.
05:17Yeah.
05:17Oh, that's exciting.
05:18He always joined me at Fox.
05:20That's cool.
05:20I'm sorry that he's not
05:21coming in here,
05:22but, you know,
05:23I got to make decisions
05:24every now and then.
05:25I'm going to get you.
05:26But the point is,
05:27for the WNBA commissioner,
05:30that's when you lose people.
05:32And now's not the time
05:34for you to take people off
05:36or play the victim card.
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