00:00We've been very critical of the WNBA, and rightfully so.
00:06I mean, it's a walking reality show.
00:08It's a train wreck.
00:09Every single time we sit there and bring something up,
00:12it's always something off the court,
00:15whether it's being mugged as a player when you're talking about flagrant fouls
00:20or we're talking about trying to figure out what the W and WNBA means.
00:25They can't even figure that out with their special group that they're going to go around talking,
00:30and they're going to try to figure out whether a guy or a girl can play in the WNBA is
00:38ridiculous.
00:39But now I've got to say this.
00:41You know what?
00:42Hey, man, we're talking about them.
00:45And so this means they're becoming relevant.
00:47Actually, it's a sign of progress.
00:50It's a sign that people are actually kind of interested in the sport and interested in the league.
00:58Look, I say this all the time.
01:00Bad publicity is not always bad publicity.
01:03Publicity in general, when you're talking about something, means you've got to care.
01:07You're seeing on the mainstream news, you're seeing all the time being talked about
01:12on how the WNBA is being run.
01:14Well, to me, that's progress.
01:17You're showing a league right now that has an opportunity to really galvanize itself
01:22where people have an interest in what this sport is doing.
01:25You know, whether it's how the commissioner is not running it right, Kathy Engelbert,
01:30or whether or not we're talking about what's going on with Caitlin Clark.
01:34You're talking about you.
01:37You know, that means you're relevant.
01:39That means you're in the conversation.
01:41That's progress.
01:42I can't tell you, in my 32 years as a sportscaster, I don't ever remember talking about the WNBA.
01:51Hell, as much as five years ago, I never watched a basketball game with the WNBA, nor did I care,
01:58and I didn't even know when their season started.
02:01Now, I'm interested.
02:03Now, I care.
02:04Now, they've got polarizing topics.
02:07Now, we've got somebody that's in that position now where they're galvanizing, and they're a needle mover like Caitlin Clark.
02:15You've got all the parameters on being something that the American sports fan wants to see.
02:20You've got polarizing conversation.
02:23You've got some politics involved in it, and you've got great play.
02:27This is what basically saved the NBA coming out of the 1970s when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird burst onto
02:36the scene.
02:36Everyone said, hey, look at these two great players, black, white, Celtics, Lakers, East Coast, West Coast, greatness, all of
02:46that, race.
02:47All of that came out, and you knew what David Stern was going to do when he saw these two
02:52men burst onto the scene.
02:54In the 1970s, the NBA was a tape-delayed NBA Finals, and people were not engaged in it.
03:04Magic and Larry made people engage in it.
03:07Now, we're talking almost kind of the same thing here with the WNBA.
03:13This is progress.
03:14You know, we're very critical of how it's being run because they have a golden opportunity for them to be
03:21able to sit here and make this sport a lot better
03:24and maybe a more entertaining sport for people to want to watch.
03:28So, we are seeing progress.
03:30All right.
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