In Case You Missed It with Christina Williams is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. Welcome to another edition of the Case You Missed It with Christina Williams here on iHeartRadio, and I've been in Miami for the whole week, and you guys know how Unrivaled kicked off this week. So I'm super
excited about today's guest. She's a five time gold medalist and twenty twenty three, she was raped number one overall by the Indiana Fever, wrapped up the Rookie of the Year. She's a two time WNBA All Star, and let's not forget about her winning a national championship in South Carolina in twenty twenty three as well. Please welcome to the show, Aliah Boston, Alia. Thank you for being.
Here, of course, thank you for having me.
All right, So Unrivled kicked off this week and it's been so much buzz around the league. I want to know what's your initial thoughts about Unrivaled after just going through the games in the first week.
Yeah, it's super exciting. It's definitely a different feel than being in the league, and so I think I love that the most because you still get to play basketball, but it's not the same five on five, But I'm enjoying it.
Team Final is absolutely killing it. You guys are undefeated in week one. What's been working for this team?
I think it's that we just play together. We like to push pace, we like to play fast, get the ball in the pain. But we also have snipers all around the perimeter, and I think you were able to see that every single game because they've just taking their shots and knocking them down.
What was the initial thing that made you want to say yes to the invitation to play at Unrivals?
Just the opportunity when you think about it, have being able to have that ownership, especially as being the first group to be a part of this. I think that was definitely so enticing because I think when you look at Unrival right now, where it's at, the viewership, the brand deals that they have, the partners that they have, it's only going to grow. It is only going to grow.
The talent is going to continue to roll in. It's going to be such an exciting lead that everyone's going to be tuned into and everyone's going to want to be a part.
Of so I had a chance to visit the facilities this week and I saw all of the different things that on Rival had to offer its players. In your opinion, I know that the players union and the WNBA on the middle of CBA discussions. Do you think that, you know, Unrivaled is really laying out the blueprint for what could come and the WNBA in the next round of the CBA discussions.
Yeah, I think on Rival is doing a great job of just showing what it is to continue to have every single player cover on every single team per se. I know for the league though, it's it's definitely a lot more teams than Unrivaled and we're not just in one space like we are here in Miami, and so I definitely understand the differences between them, but I think that they're showing what it's like to once again take care of every single athlete on every single team. So
I'm super excited. But I do think the league is doing a great job. I think, especially for me, I'm only two years in and I know that people before have had different experiences than I have, but I think as time progresses, it's it's definitely gonna improve.
Your draft class is really one of the first draft classes to enter the WNBA to actually benefit from NIL. When we look at the momentum that women's sports is carrying over, how much do you think that factors into, you know, continuing the momentum and the growth of women's sports. I think the factors a lot. I think being able to have NIL and experience that and take that over to league, I think it just puts more eyes on
women's athletes, but in a different way. It's not just on the court, but you see them in ads, you see them in commercials and people are like, oh, hey, I like her, that was a nice commercial. I remember seeing her there. Let me watch her how she plays on the court. And then they follow the Phantom College into league and so on. So, Alita, I visited Saint Thomas a couple months ago, and when the car took us out of the airport, I saw a massive billboard of view that close out of the airport and I
was like, oh, okay, so talk about your roof. You're from Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands. Talk about how much you carry with that your culture with you through your career and through your life.
Yeah. So I grew up Sat Thomas moved when I was twelve, but I think St. Thomas has definitely been a big piece. Like my family still lives there, my parents, my grandparents, everyone still live there when my sister and I were growing up in the States, and I mean it's just been an important piece every time I go home, being able to see my family, being able to see people that tell me they download the ESPN app where they got the WNBA League Pass so that they can
continue to watch. And that's definitely been an important piece. And I carried everywhere with me.
One of the things I realized when I was visiting, actually, like everyone knows each other on the Islands.
Yes, it's like very small. Everyone knows each other. There's always someone that that can do something for you because everyone knows each other.
When you think about like where you came from and just the success you've had in women's basketball, do you think about possibly like going back to, you know, help to grow girls and athletes where you're from.
I think that's what I've been doing with my camps, Like I've been trying to make sure that young girls know that they can continue to dream big and they can continue to accomplish things. Because I grew up right here, but for me and my sister was different, Like my parents would send us away to the States for camps
and then we'd come back home. And so for me, it was like, I'm trying to bring that where they don't have to feel like they have to move away or they have to go to camps in the States, where they can have the camp brought to them with high level coaches that push them, that make sure they know, like this what it takes to get to that next level. And so that's what I hope to do. I've been doing it for a couple of years now, so I'm excited for it.
I as love that you're pouring into the next generation of young girls and athletes everywhere. So looking at the Indiana Fever in the off season, they appointed a new head coach and Stephanie White. What was that transition like for you and have you been in touch with Steph.
Yes, I've been in touch with Steph and the whole staff. It's been pretty exciting. I'm super excited to have them join us set the Fever. I think we have such a special group and I think they're the coaching staff and stuff can really elevate us and take us to the next level of where we're hoping to be. We've definitely had a lot of meetings, a lot of conversations. We've been able to watch film together, talk about what we hope for me, what we hope for the Fever,
been able to work out with Keith. So it's been all way great. It's been very community this offseason, so going well.
Thinking about your time here at MIIBLE, A lot of players say they're using this time here to work on their game, to add things to their bag so that when they go back to their teams respected teams in the season that they could just be better. What are some things that you're looking forward to working on here at Unlivolves.
I think just once again continue to get great finishing around the rim, making sure that I have my touch around the basket, because I feel like that's always been my bread and butter, so just continue to make sure that that stays up to par. And then expanding my game. Just being confident taking the shots, taking my jumpers, even if they don't go in initially, but understanding that, hey, you are taking these so you're confident, especially when you
go back with the Fever. That no matter what was you're put in, you've already experienced that.
And going back to that investment part, I mean, unrivaled just really set in the tone. But the Adeada Fever announced the seventy eight million dollars do practice facility, set to open in twenty twenty seven. In your opinion, as one of the star phases of the team, what does that mean to just have a team that's willing to invest in its players.
That's super exciting. I said before that having our own practice court, I thought was super important that we had that, especially with me coming in two years ago, and now they're building this whole facility. I mean, it's definitely a blessing our owners. Super thankful to them for investing. I think they see the potential and they know exactly what
we have on this squad and what we deserve. And I think it just goes to show that, you know, you continue to invest in the teams, to continue to invest in the players, and the results will come.
All right, I'm going to take a quick break and when we get back more from this conversation with Ellie Boston. WBA free agency kicks off this week and a lot of players in our livel College joke that this is a time where chemisty you can build chemistry with players and kind of pitch your teams or you know, trying to get players to come to your team. If you were a GM, what would you pitch to free agents about playing at the Beaver.
I feel like the first thing I'd pitch is that you guys don't like to play against us, so you might as well come play with us. Period.
I love that. I absolutely love that. And also this past week, I mean, obviously there was a lot of serious news coming out from your teammate, Caitlin Park with the whole situation, with the Smocker situation. As an athlete, how have you been able to take precaution when it comes to your safety and just thinking about like leveling up that security to protect yourself.
Yeah, that was super, super scary. So I'm glad that she is safe and that they were able to catch him and honestly just take the precautions that they have to do with that. I think just as an athlete, you always want to make sure that you are watching your surroundings. I think that's always important, but especially with social media nowadays, people just try to find their way and try to continue to speak and obviously that can get to a different level like it did with Kaitlin.
But I think thinking about the Indiana Fever and thinking about the people that they have surrounding us, even here at on Rivaled, like they have taken the precautions. They've made sure that everyone is saved, everyone is covered, and if you have any problems, like you're able to reach out.
But as athletes, I mean it's hard. You want to do your everyday thing, you want to live your everyday life, but you also have to make sure that you're just keeping an eye on what you're doing, but also not be afraid to say, hey, I don't really like this, someone kind of said something weird to me, and just being able to tell those that you trust.
General manager Amber Cox is a friend to this show. She was recently on this show and she has talked about being excited for the future and building a team around yourself and Kitlyn Clark looking at the future, what it cites you the most about you know this duo and you know taking that team.
To the next level. Super excited. I feel like there's no ceiling when it comes to us and the fever franchise. I think being able to look at what Kaylen, the addition of Kaylan was for us this year, I think you just saw how it just continued to elevate us. So when you think about us, when you think about us as a duo, I mean, I feel like we really figured out and got our foot on the same path the second half of the season, Like we were
really able to figure it out together. And now that we have and we understand each other's play, where we like to be what we like, I mean, I think it's just gonna be hard because when you look at Kaitlyn when she has the ball in her hands, she sees the floor so well and she knows whether that's passing it to me or whether that's passing up the floor and just making sure that we finish those shots.
I mean, she makes great decisions when the ball's in her hands, and so I feel like there's no ceiling for that.
In twenty twenty three, you won a national championship under head coach Don Staley, and big news this week he's now the highest paid coach in women's basketball. So what was it like, you know, under that time being coached by Don Staley and any thoughts on like her getting the highest paid contract.
First and foremost, it is so deserving for coach Daily, I think no one else deserves to have that type of recognition because she is just so amazing. I feel like I've said it so many times that Costaile was like a second mom to me. Got on campus and I was seventeen, and from that moment on, Costale just took me under her wing. So when we do captains, the way you do it is you go up there, you say why you want to be a captain, and then they put you through a ringer of questions and
then it goes like that. I remember my freshman season, I didn't go for captain because I'm like, I need to figure I need to figure this out. We had great captains, Tying Kiki amazing, and my next year cos Daly was like, don't be afraid to use your voice. You can be a leader on this team. And her telling me that at such a young age. I remember I called my mom after and my dad. I was like,
I don't know. I'm like, she's talking about being a captain and not being afraid to use my voice, and I was like, oh my gosh, I was like, I don't know. I was like, I'm just trying to figure stuff out. But at the same time, it goes to show the confidence that she instills in you from such a young age, like she is not waiting for senior year or junior year and be like, hey, I think you do this. If you want to do it, She's like, listen, I know you have the voice. I know you have
the confidence. You just have to be able to step into that role and embrace it.
When I think about don Staley's legacy and how she prepares you all for the WNBA, and not only that, just the suctress of the players from South Carolina and the WNBA, yourself, Asia Wilson, and the list goes on. What does that say about the South Carolina program?
What doesn't it say? I feel like it just says that Coach Daley develops you. And I think it's crazy, like when you think about it, like you don't have to worry about like freshman year coming in, like my
goal was definitely to go to the WNBA. But you can just see the development over time in everyone's game that comes through the South Carolina program, and that's the most exciting thing For me, it just shows that once she takes her time and she develops you to where you need to be, and you always feel confident and ready when you get to the league, like it doesn't feel like there's a major adjustment where it's like, oh my gosh, I don't know if I'm ready for this,
Oh my gosh, I don't know if I'm going to play. It's like when you play under Coach Day, she develops you to the point where when you get to lead, even if you don't start, you're gonna be like, listen, I'm ready for this. I know I'm made for the moment because Coach Daily has already helped me with.
That side of basketball. You're starting to establish yourself and the media as a broadcaster, as an analyst, as an anchor. Where did that passion come from to be able to be in front of the camera.
Honestly, I feel like I've always been someone that likes to be in front of the camera, whether that's like broadcasting or anything. I'm always like trying to sneak my way in somewhere. But when I was in college, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do, and I remember at first, I wanted to be a lawyer, and I was like, I'm going to be a lawyer. I feel like that's the typical thing everyone always says,
like I want to do. But then they were like, yeah, you have to go to law school and I was like no, thank you. And I was like it's okay. I'll be a therapist because I feel like a lot of people come to me and I talk to a lot of people. And then I was like, oh, you have to go back to school for that. Again, I was like, I actually don't think this is my career path. And so I was talking abot a you coach, and he was like, why don't you just go into broadcasting.
He was like, you love to talk, you might as well just talk all the time about basketball. And I was like, honestly, you're right because they always tell you like, have a second plan when the ball stops bouncing, and I feel like I always want to be connected to sports, especially basketball in that way. And I was like okay. So I remember I did have my majors communications and
I was like, I'm going to get into broadcasting. And then once I got to the league, I talked to my agents about it and They were like, we're not gonna wait until the ball stops bouncing for you getting to this broadcasting. We're gonna kick it off right after
your season's over. And that's why I was blessed to be able to work with NBC for my first year and then even worked with ESPN for the National Championship games in the final four, and so now we're back at it again this year, and so I mean, it's just super exciting, so blessing. I think just God has put the right people in my path to be able to say, like, hey, if my coach had never really thought about telling me I talk too much, I'm like, you know, maybe I would not have been I would
not have gotten too broadcasting right away. And so it's definitely definitely just a blessing.
Obviously, because you play sp things differently and you're able to use that as an advantage when you are on air.
I do I think just the way I think about basketball, Like I think about basketball all the time, Like I watched so many games. I remember I was talking to someone and they were like, Wow, you really love basketball. Like you just watch games. You just turn games on and you're just sitting there watching I'm like, well, that's how one I learned as a player because I'm able to see different stuff, And honestly, when I look at other people play, I'm like, oh, I need that. Ooh,
that'd be nice to learn. And then it's like now when I get to analyzing, I'm like, hey, this is what I think they need to see and this is what they should be doing, and it kind of just flows and it just comes freely when I watch.
I know you're an Adidas athlete in Kannas Parker or someone I think of when I think of, like how she just transitioned so smoothly into having a media career. Has she given you any advice on, you know, just how to navigate through that kind of world she has?
But I think she also tells me like she wants me to be able to experience that, and if I ever need anything or if I ever want to talk about I think she's absolutely there but allowing me to find my own way. And I'm saying like, here, this is what comes with it, this is the highest kind of lows, this is how it goes down. But I mean, she's always there for me no matter what.
Aleah heading into year three, of your WNBA career. What do you want fans to know? What can we expect from you?
You know, I always think about this question. Everyone always, you know, talks about your game and talks about like
what they want to expect for themselves. But I feel like I just want them to expect that I'm going to come in every single night and give it my all, because obviously I'm working on my game, I'm working on expanding my game, I'm continuing to work on my consistency, making sure I'm efficient around the basket especially, But I feel like I always put so much pressure on myself, and I feel like a lot of the pressure is to make sure that the outside people feel that I
am working hard, and for me, it's like I need to make sure that I'm doing this, I'm coming and working hard for myself and that I'm not putting too much pressure on myself to oppress the outside world because I know the work I'm put in, I know the work that my team is and I putting in, how we push each other, and so every night I come out, I need to just come out working hard, making sure that I'm giving in my all and not with the expectations of anything that's to impress other people.
If that makes sense, that makes complete sense. Just tuning out the noise of the crowd and just locking in and focusing. I think it's scary hours I locked in, Abeah. I'm looking forward to seeing what you all, what you accomplished, not only in Unrival this season, but also with the Indiana Fever. Thank you so much for joining us this week on In Case you missed It with Christina Williams.
Thank you for having me.
Pray.
Take another quick pause, and when we get back, we're going to dive into the startup free agency and we're going to get into the things that I love. This week, welcome back to In Case you missed It with Christina Williams. And I just want to thank Eliah Boston once again for coming through to the show. This week will be all about for her her season at Arrivals and of
course with the Indiana Fever now moving right along. As you guys know, free agency has officially kicked off in the WNBA, and if you're a basketball fan, you know this is the time where things start to get a little interesting. Players are going to be moving, teams will shake things up, and you know, we got to talk
about it, so let's dive right in. All right, So, as you guys know, in the first half of the month, teams began to extend qualifying offers and core qualifying offers to players, while some players didn't receive qualifying offers and are now hitting the open market. Kennedy, Carter, Queen egg Bow, Olivia, Popa, Charisma, Osbourne, and Leeming are all available to sign with news teams. This opens up a lot of possibilities, and you can bet that teams will be looking to make a splash,
so we'll keep our eyes close on these players. Now here's where it gets a little bit interesting. As of this week, twenty twenty seven's draft picks can officially be traded. That means that teams now have more assets to work with than they did previously. We've seen big trades go
down during last season. One thing I think about most notably was obviously Marina getting traded to Connecticut and how that benefited the Connecticut Sun Mayosha Hines Allen's getting traded to the Minnesota Links in that team reaching the finals. So I see that teams are now taking trades more serious and thinking about different ways they can use those assets to make their teams better and deeper to contend
for championships. So going back to this year's free agency, don't be surprised if we start to see some moves come through before players actually start to sign their deals on February one. Teams are always trying to shape things up and build for the future, so I think that
we can expect a lot of action over the next week. Now, let's move on and talk about one name in particular, And honestly, I think that this is a free agent that kind of went under the radar in early buzz and chat's about big name free agents, and so Britney Grinder, and this was a huge one, y'all. Brittany Grinder, after spending her entire career with the Phoenix Mercury since they drafted her number one over on twenty thirteen, has decided
to test free agency for the first time in her career. Now, Phoenix fans, I know that you are probably holding your breath right now, but honestly, this opens the door for some real shakeups in the league. Will she stay in Phoenix or could she be looking for a new home, a new challenge elsewhere And speaking of Phoenix, this could
also signal what we've all been kind of feeling. Could Diana Tarazzi be getting ready to retire Now, there was a report that came out of Phoenix that said that that is the expectation that Diana to Rozzie will be retiring, and so maybe that is the motivation for Brittany grinted to want to start else Goo, to start fresh with a new squad. But we'll see. I mean, it's reported
that she's open to have in those discussions. But you know, Phoenix kind of hinted at the end of the season that if this is it, that whole campaign dedicating the practice course to Diana to Rozzie. But if this is it for DT, I think that she's given the game everything. She's won at every level, She's done everything that she's needed to do, and so I'm here for the new
era for the Phoenix Mercury. So if Brina leaves, we might be witnessing the end of an era in Phoenix, and it's going to be fascinating to see what happens next. So yeah, there's a lot of uncertainty now, and I guess that's what makes this time of the year so exciting because pre agency is just getting started and over the next few days there could be some huge changes
that we see. Now in addition to those stories, the obviously you know that teams had started to extend core qualifying offers to their players and some of the names that we should be looking out for is Jewel Lloyd. Annie Constable had previously reported that Lloyd had requested a trade out of Seattle, and we know that Seattle had coreed Gabby Williams, who was an unrestricted free agent, and so Jewel can be looking for her next home now. I think that she would be a great fit on
the Chicago sky that is where she is from. She is from Chicago. I would love to see Jewel go back home and be that veteran point guard presence for the young players like Angel Reaes and Camilla Cardoso. So we'll keep our eyes on Jewel Lloyd. Now. What also gets interesting with the core qualifying offers is that Alyssa Thomas was coreed by the Connecticut son Now throughout the off season and towards the end of the WNBA season, Thomas has repeatedly and publicly stated that the priority should
be getting assets to Connecticut. In terms of practice facilities, we've seen other teams like the Dallas Wings, the Indiana Fever, the Golden State Battleries make that a priority, the Chicago Sky and breaking ground on new practice facilities. Another thing that is interesting is Kelsey Plumb in her future. Will she stay in Las Vegas or will she go elsewhere? And again, teams have the upper hands in this situation because these players are cored and so you know they're
going to get something back. So too softly has made it clear she does not want to play for the Dallas Wanks next season. And so there's going to be a lot of trades happening throughout the week, and so we're going to be paying attention to all of that and more for free agency. All right, So now it's time for the things that I love this week, and so here's the things that I love this week. Obviously, I'm down here in Miami for and the weather absolutely sucked.
So the weather is something that I did not like this week. But what I did love is to be able to be out here and see all of women's basketball fans come together for our rival, to be in a space where people love women's sports. I kind of missed that feeling after the w NBA season, so to see people being community to come out here to make
plans and trips to see our rival was jope. I had a chance to visit the practice facilities and just get a first hand look at the investment and how the players are just taken initiative for themselves to make things better. I think from top to bottom, the entertainment factor was huge. I was entertained at every game that I went to this week. I think that they were very intentional about every aspect of that game and using some of the top talent on broadcast and lean announcers
things like that, which made it really really fun. We had a chance to speed to play in a stewart this week at shoot around at media availability, and here's what you had to say about unrivaled and all for the best of the best of the players.
We want to play, but we want to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to get better and whether it's you want to get better on the court or you want to focus on some things in the weight room, Like the staff is top notch, like the best of the best, and it's cool for players to come in when especially those that don't have a routine and I don't have like a set schedule to kind of create that and see the others that do have it.
And then also I had a chance to catch up with Sabrina and y'll Nescu just about how she's adjusting to rival. She's playing for a Phantom BC and they're weak one, they're down go to like they are not playing well as a team. And so I had a chance to talk sad about just this process of adjusting to a different style of play and how she's been able to approach that. And here's what she had to say about that.
Yeah, it's great.
Obviously, I wasn't really sure what to expect, just from like a completely different format game. Not having the preseason games was a little tough because I just didn't know what to expect.
But I enjoyed it.
It was really fun, super fast paced. Obviously, the floor is just open, like you can take whatever you want. It's a lot different, at least just for me, from the WU season, Like you can't get double teamed, you can't get trapped, there's no hedges, like you're just kind of coming down the floor and able to get kind of manipulate the defense however you want if you take
care of the ball and get the right shots. And so I'm kind of happy to kind of get that first game out of the way and now understand kind of how this game is played every season.
Every off season, you have one thing that you work on. What is something that you're working on here a rival that you want to get better at.
Yeah, I mean, I don't think I'll really be able to get to it until probably next month as I like get back into playing, just with kind of the fact that I'm like getting my legs back under me, you know, after having surgery. But I would say continuing to just get really good in the in the mid range. Obviously, I've kind of perfected the floater that's done, got that
one check. Now it's just kind of understanding that I kind of get into that mid range and can really elevate over a lot of the players that guard me, and that's usually my best shot as well. And so for me, it's gonna be continuing to you know, create good separation going downhill to the paint, but also understanding there's so many counters that I can get out of that and wanting to get my mid range back to what it was like it used to be in college.
I really love that she was able to talk about what she wants to work on because I usually get to talk to somebody at the start of every training camp, and so to be able to be in the thick of what her office and looks like. We know that Subrina's never played in her off season, so to see her to make adjustments. She did say that clip that you just heard that she's working on her mid range games. So watch out for Subrinda in twenty twenty five. We saw what she had in her bag during the twenty
four season with adding the floater. So I'm excited to see the next level unlocked for sab and that was my trip in Miami for Unrivaled. I'm looking forward to see how the rest of the season goes. All right, that's gonna be it for today. Make sure you stay tuned to this show for updates as everything unfold. You know, all the right here, keeping you in the loop. I'll catch you next time in case you missed it. With Christina Williams is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership
with Deep Blue Sports and entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.