Transcript
Speaker: You kill me.
Speaker: Hey!
Speaker: What's up?
Speaker: How you feeling?
Speaker: How's it going?
Speaker: I'm great.
Speaker: Everything's great.
Speaker: My vibe is great.
Speaker: Everything's great.
Speaker: Like I can't even explain.
Speaker: Energy, energy.
Speaker: Well, I just want to say thank you for being here today.
Speaker: Of course.
Speaker: Welcome to BiggerTalks, IG Live Chat.
Speaker: It's about you, your career.
Speaker: women in sports, you know, the NBA season because you report on a lot of the NBA and I think you have really, really good discussions and we have debates sometimes.
Speaker: So to people on this live who don't know, Ashley, Ashley is a good friend of mine.
Speaker: I met three years ago in Arizona, a mutual friend.
Speaker: We stayed in contact.
Speaker: She's the homie.
Speaker: it's like she's my bestie but we talk everything life sports spirituality and um i've watched ashley just grow and just become a beam of light in her position so ashley uh let's get this thing started um you look great and um thank you congratulations on all your success and your progress because progress equals happiness but before we get into the discussion let's take you back to your hometown because you're a native of chicago
Speaker: Correct?
Speaker: I am.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So give me a little just like a brief synopsis on like, what was it like for you growing up in Chicago?
Speaker: What inspired you to just get into sports in general?
Speaker: Did you play sports?
Speaker: Were you a cheerleader?
Speaker: Like, what did you do?
Speaker: I was a cheerleader and a dancer.
Speaker: I cheerleaded for football and basketball.
Speaker: But I would say my biggest inspiration for sports is my grandma.
Speaker: And everyone's always so shocked when I say that.
Speaker: But
Speaker: My grandma was the biggest influence over me.
Speaker: We went to baseball games, the Cubs games at Wrigley Field all the time.
Speaker: I would miss so much school.
Speaker: I can't even count how much school I would miss because there'd be games.
Speaker: She's like, we got to go to the game.
Speaker: And just kind of watching just how she carried herself, how she watched sports.
Speaker: Like she was so knowledgeable about every sport.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Way more than me because she it was for her.
Speaker: She liked everything across the board.
Speaker: I obviously specialize just in basketball.
Speaker: You know, I've covered football before.
Speaker: I've covered a little bit of baseball.
Speaker: So it's not like I don't
Speaker: you know, know the sports, like I'm pretty well versed, but my love is with basketball.
Speaker: But for her, she was always watching like, you know, golf and tennis and she loved everything.
Speaker: So all my inspirations from her, Chicago was great.
Speaker: We had all the sports teams, all the professional teams were diehard fans.
Speaker: I love Chicago, the Chicago Bulls, especially grew up with.
Speaker: Yeah, grew up with them in the 90s.
Speaker: So that was great.
Speaker: So
Speaker: Honestly had a great life growing up.
Speaker: Yeah, I love that.
Speaker: I mean, that's something I didn't know about you.
Speaker: That's a fun fact.
Speaker: I didn't know your grandmother was your biggest inspiration.
Speaker: What?
Speaker: So it's interesting that the topic is women in sports, isn't it?
Speaker: you went to the Arizona University, right?
Speaker: Was it University of Arizona?
Speaker: It's A-U, right?
Speaker: University of Arizona, yes.
Speaker: University of U-A.
Speaker: University of Arizona.
Speaker: University, the better school down south in Tucson.
Speaker: Because I know ASU, right?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: How was that?
Speaker: How was, what was your major and what was college like for you?
Speaker: What was your experiences like at University of Arizona?
Speaker: Go wild, guys.
Speaker: Yeah, bear down, baby.
Speaker: So with U of A, it's actually interesting.
Speaker: I went into
Speaker: school majoring in not even broadcast journalism.
Speaker: I wanted to be a sociology major.
Speaker: I wanted to do something to do with people.
Speaker: I think like
Speaker: another one of my callings is when I know we and you get really deep into everything about our birthdays and what we're meant to do and our, you know, our calling.
Speaker: I always want I like psychology.
Speaker: I like the study of people, the study of the mind.
Speaker: And that's something that I've always loved.
Speaker: So I went into sociology and I was kind of like, where is this going to take me?
Speaker: You know, like sociology, like, what am I going to do with that, like after school?
Speaker: So I was like, I need to think of something that I can combine with working with people, but also combine with something that I really love.
Speaker: So I kind of
Speaker: intertwined the two of them.
Speaker: I'm like sports broadcasting like I like sports.
Speaker: I like talking to people.
Speaker: So I was like, this is perfect.
Speaker: So I combined the two.
Speaker: I did broadcast journalism at the University of Arizona.
Speaker: And then I also did sports management, which was my minor.
Speaker: So I got to learn kind of the other side of sports where it's not just like talking on camera, doing interviews, writing, it's more so like the PR side, you know, how they handle things within the teams, how to approach PR.
Speaker: So
Speaker: That was a whole different beast.
Speaker: You know, learning marketing strategies, things like that.
Speaker: I just wanted to have that under my belt.
Speaker: And I really loved it.
Speaker: I mean, it was great.
Speaker: And the thing with U of A, there wasn't like a ton to do.
Speaker: So believe it or not, I spent like, I mean, I went out, you know, I had a good time.
Speaker: Who was at the school?
Speaker: Who was on a basketball team in your years?
Speaker: Who was on a team?
Speaker: What was their star players?
Speaker: I remember because I remember U of A, Jason Terry.
Speaker: This is a dude.
Speaker: Is it Will Solomon?
Speaker: Not Will Solomon.
Speaker: What's his name?
Speaker: Simon.
Speaker: Simon Kidd at the time.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker: Jason Gardner, Richard Jefferson, Gilbert Aranus.
Speaker: These are the guys I remember, you know.
Speaker: Those are a little bit older than me.
Speaker: Yeah, those a little bit older guys.
Speaker: But with me, it was Derek Williams, Solomon Hill, Momo Jones, Mark Lyons, TJ McConnell, Rondae Hollis Jefferson, Aaron Gordon, and the list goes on.
Speaker: So that was kind of, it was fun because I stayed for about four and a half years.
Speaker: Yeah, I got to like really, you know, kind of see that evolution of the basketball program.
Speaker: And I watched a lot of NBA League fast.
Speaker: I'm such like a basketball nerd.
Speaker: I was always at home like someone he will be like, oh, let's go out.
Speaker: I'm like, no, there's a game tonight.
Speaker: The Bulls are playing like, you know, I'd have my computer screen and then I'd have a game on the TV.
Speaker: I'd have four games on my computer.
Speaker: One on the TV.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: I was like, oh, I was locked in.
Speaker: Oh, it was great.
Speaker: I was locked in.
Speaker: But no prior basketball experience?
Speaker: Did you play in high school or did you play AAU?
Speaker: Did you wreck me?
Speaker: So no basketball at all?
Speaker: My brother played basketball.
Speaker: I got to watch all the games.
Speaker: But you didn't play basketball.
Speaker: No, like the thing is like, I'm using this as an excuse.
Speaker: I thought you played basketball at least like maybe when you were in like middle school or high school at least.
Speaker: I have short legs and arms.
Speaker: It was always really hard to dribble between my legs.
Speaker: I just like couldn't like pick it up.
Speaker: I'll play occasionally like out here, like, you know, in Arizona if someone's like at the gym and they want to shoot, whatever.
Speaker: I'll work on my handles a little bit, but like, no, I'm not that good.
Speaker: Got it.
Speaker: So if you had to think about from an intangible perspective, not a physical perspective, what drew you into basketball?
Speaker: Like I know you talked about your grandmother, like baseball and all these games.
Speaker: She got you into like sports.
Speaker: But why basketball?
Speaker: Was it the energy that was in Chicago coming up with the Bulls and Michael Jordan?
Speaker: Like what was it that got you like, you know what?
Speaker: This sport is something I'm intrigued by.
Speaker: I want to study it.
Speaker: What was that for you?
Speaker: That's a great question.
Speaker: I need to think about that answer.
Speaker: I think I like the com, the camaraderie with the players.
Speaker: I just like, like that, like that team aspect of the game.
Speaker: And I just feel like sports bring so many people together.
Speaker: Like it's just something that you can talk about, you know, something that you can relate to.
Speaker: And I like that it's also kind of an escape from everyday life.
Speaker: And it's like, oh,
Speaker: I can't wait to like watch my favorite players compete tonight.
Speaker: Like I can't wait to, you know, watch my favorite team.
Speaker: I can't wait to watch this matchup, two rivalries, like, you know, two guys going at each other.
Speaker: Like I love that.
Speaker: And the same thing like, yeah, like growing up watching the Bulls, like if you grew up in Chicago during the 90s, like there's absolutely like no way that you're not a Bulls fan.
Speaker: Like you have to be, you can't be from Chicago and not be like a big sports fan or a Bulls fan.
Speaker: So I grew up like, you know, just loving basketball, but I really liked baseball at first.
Speaker: Like baseball was like my main love.
Speaker: Um, cause I would go to all the games with my grandma and like, I knew like I was during Sammy Sosa days and like, uh, Mark McGuire and like all those guys.
Speaker: And I, you know, I got to, we had season tickets, like I'd be going all the time, but it was after the Steve Bartman game, that legendary game that I was at.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So tell me about that game.
Speaker: What happened at the game?
Speaker: Cause I don't have the information on that.
Speaker: So I hate to relive it, but, um, they were making a playoff push and they needed to win this game to advance to, I think it was, yeah, to advance to the world series.
Speaker: Um, and they were up like,
Speaker: couple games to like maybe one or not or something like that.
Speaker: I don't remember the full on my story behind it.
Speaker: But we're at the game.
Speaker: I'm thinking they're gonna win.
Speaker: I'm all hyped up.
Speaker: And the guy I think Steve Bartman was in the left outfield.
Speaker: He was in the like, like left field.
Speaker: And he intercepted what would have been maybe an out with the guy that was in left field.
Speaker: I think it was Moises Alou at the time.
Speaker: He intercepted the ball caught it in the stands and like the whole
Speaker: All of Rutley Field just went dead silent.
Speaker: You can hear like a pin drop.
Speaker: Like we were just disgusted because we were like, it was kind of the turning point, you know, when it's like when you're watching a game and you see the momentum shift, it was like everything was going good.
Speaker: And then boom, that happened.
Speaker: The fan interfered.
Speaker: And then suddenly from there, they lost the game.
Speaker: Everything started going wrong.
Speaker: And then the next game they ended up losing and then they did not make it to the World Series.
Speaker: So I was devastated.
Speaker: Got it.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I was devastated.
Speaker: I'm like, I, oh my God.
Speaker: You moved into basketball probably.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, not that the Bulls are doing any better after that, but it was still like, I also kind of disconnect, like disassociated my feelings with sports.
Speaker: I didn't like, I stopped being like a super fan because I was like, I can't like deal with the heartbreak and just that feeling of like, damn, my team lost.
Speaker: I think only one other time was when the Bears were in the Super Bowl.
Speaker: Yeah, that's tough.
Speaker: There has to be like some type of fanatic syndrome or something you feel when you're a team.
Speaker: Like when my Ravens lost and they were 14-2 to the Tennessee Titans in the second round.
Speaker: I've never felt so low in my life.
Speaker: Like, yo, what is this?
Speaker: Is this like a hangover?
Speaker: Or like, it was weird, so I can relate.
Speaker: That's why sports is so needed.
Speaker: And, you know, thank God that we still have basketball through the pandemic because, and look, we had everything that you're in.
Speaker: We had the basketball, we had the Michael Jordan documentary, right?
Speaker: That kept us intrigued, that kept us on our, you know, that gave us something to give our energy to.
Speaker: So that documentary?
Speaker: Yeah, I love well, like, even though we weren't supposed to be out, like I would meet up with like a friend, like a couple friends like the house and we'd like, you know, bring some white claws or some wine over it was like a holiday.
Speaker: It was like, yes, Sunday, like the documentary like it was and I'm just you know, you're live tweeting during it.
Speaker: And it was just so much fun.
Speaker: Like it was just that was great.
Speaker: We need that.
Speaker: I feel like we need to like that every day.
Speaker: Take off of basketball, right?
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Basketball.
Speaker: see it just it's just so fun i just love it so let's let's move a little bit into like women in sports and i think the first question for you is that um as a woman in sports like what is what works for you and what is like your biggest challenge you have you have experienced thus far
Speaker: That's tough.
Speaker: Well, right now, my biggest challenge is getting athletes consistently to do interviews during the season.
Speaker: That's pretty hard.
Speaker: But you know me, I'm relentless.
Speaker: I'll keep messaging like I don't care until you say no.
Speaker: I'm assuming it's a yes.
Speaker: I'm just going to keep going, keep rolling with the punches and try to get it.
Speaker: You know,
Speaker: I would say that's the most difficult part right now.
Speaker: Also with the pandemic, it's been tough for, you know, to get hired with companies just because it's like no one's hiring right now.
Speaker: Everyone's kind of just like, I don't know what the future holds and like it's totally understandable.
Speaker: Thankfully, I'm still kind of in it, which is nice.
Speaker: You know, I'm able to still do things, still kind of just keep my foot in the door, which is nice too.
Speaker: And then I would say like the easiest part is just the connections I've built over time, you know, and obviously that wasn't always easy, but
Speaker: um doing the research being consistent being persistent i i know i say it all the time but it's just being just true to who i am as well um but as a woman it just i don't think i really like saw any challenges in terms of not getting what i wanted i mean eventually i'm always going to get what i want because i keep you know putting the energy out there i keep i'm i'm persistent with it like i'm not gonna
Speaker: Just because I'm a girl, I'm not going to be like, oh, I'm a girl.
Speaker: I have to give up now.
Speaker: Like, I'm never going to be, you know, welcome in a male-dominated industry.
Speaker: I think that's the thing.
Speaker: I think that's the stereotype.
Speaker: I think that's the narrative.
Speaker: Like, from a man outside looking in, I'm thinking like, well, maybe women have more of a difficult position than a man in a basketball male-dominated sport.
Speaker: But maybe that's not the same for every woman, right?
Speaker: It's not the same for every woman.
Speaker: And they're all, you know, ebbs and flows and pros and cons.
Speaker: But I think what I've noticed from you is like your determination not to quit.
Speaker: You know, your determination not to give up and like, no, this is what I want to do.
Speaker: This is what I believe in.
Speaker: And then you can challenge someone's challenge.
Speaker: Like you can give information that people like I didn't even know you had.
Speaker: Not to get off a subject, but let's talk about a topic we talked about yesterday.
Speaker: talked about Ben Simmons, right?
Speaker: And you know, there are people that think Ben Simmons, she shoot the ball and he doesn't shoot the ball and people give him slack for that.
Speaker: But Ben Simmons is saying, hey, look, man, I play the best defense in the league.
Speaker: What's up?
Speaker: I'm that guy.
Speaker: And I was like, well, I think he's saying he's playing the greatest D ever this year because he's trying to deflate that he can't shoot.
Speaker: And he was like, well, no, I think that's a great PR stunt if that is his name, but why not?
Speaker: There's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker: And I think the way you broke it down and your context of what you were saying made me think about how I felt about it.
Speaker: I still think he's a great athlete, you know, you can't knock that out.
Speaker: I mean, he made it to the NBA.
Speaker: So I think things like that and it's like, I think outside looking in,
Speaker: the world has to give women the opportunity to say, hold on, she knows what she's talking about.
Speaker: She doesn't have to play the sport to know the sport.
Speaker: She studies the sport.
Speaker: She watches the sport.
Speaker: She reports on the sport.
Speaker: So as a sports reporter, what is like a thing that happens that people don't know to prepare for like, you got to go live and you got to talk to an athlete on the court or post game or pre-game?
Speaker: Like what is something that you do before you get to showtime that you prepare yourself for the game?
Speaker: Like, what does that look like for you?
Speaker: Preparation before like, say, I've seen you interview Damian Litter before.
Speaker: I think you interviewed Derrick Rose.
Speaker: I mean, he interviewed a lot of superstars.
Speaker: So what is your preparation before you get to the game for you, which is showing up and interviewing an NBA guy, a player?
Speaker: Well, first preparation is knowing who my subject is.
Speaker: I do my research.
Speaker: I study them inside and out.
Speaker: So I basically
Speaker: look at everything.
Speaker: I look up there all their Instagram posts.
Speaker: And I'm like, Oh, well, maybe there's something in there that I can ask about or something they posted a long time ago that like maybe is of interest to me.
Speaker: I'm like, for example, like a guy like the Andre Jordan, like I definitely want to interview him.
Speaker: And I know that he likes gluten free cookies.
Speaker: And I interviewed one of his teammates one time and I go here's some gluten free cookies that I, you know, brought them ahead of time because I knew that I was going to
Speaker: you know, see someone on his team or interview him.
Speaker: So I was like, OK, you know, I'm going to give him a little gift, like gluten free cookies.
Speaker: So I do my research like that, where I try to find something about them that not everyone knows.
Speaker: And like I'm giving so many gems right now, I feel bad for anyone.
Speaker: But I try to this is how I this is how I'm different.
Speaker: I also start watching other people do interviews.
Speaker: Like people think like my inspiration, my inspiration doesn't come from other sports reporters.
Speaker: I watch.
Speaker: No, like there's some sports reporters that I look at that I'm like, oh, like, I like their delivery.
Speaker: I like how they write.
Speaker: I like how they do their broadcast.
Speaker: I like their questions.
Speaker: But like, I,
Speaker: go to other sources for different details.
Speaker: And I get my interview questions from other people who are who are either coaches or their mentors or on YouTube.
Speaker: Like I find different types of interviews so I can stand out because what they're doing, it's not in sports.
Speaker: Sports is very like, if you watch some of these interviews, a lot of these people just talk about the sport and they just talk about basketball.
Speaker: Me, I like to go more in depth.
Speaker: Like I want to know you.
Speaker: Like I want to know like your biggest-
Speaker: You're a life path six.
Speaker: You're more than just a first reporter.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: Like, you know everything about me.
Speaker: You literally can break me down to a T. Well, actually we figured out you don't know everything about me, but you know a lot about me.
Speaker: You know enough.
Speaker: But, so that's the first thing that I do.
Speaker: And then, you know, I still get a little bit nervous, believe it or not, when I get on camera.
Speaker: Not all the time.
Speaker: I just, you know, just, you know, the butterflies.
Speaker: It's normal.
Speaker: Kind of get me going.
Speaker: I was nervous for this.
Speaker: I was like, six o'clock, let's go.
Speaker: But yeah, so I still get a little nervous.
Speaker: But I've kind of learned to I actually learned this from Mel Robbins, who someone else that I kind of turned to when I'm watching when I want to get you know, better at my interviews.
Speaker: Five things.
Speaker: It's not the five it's not the five second rule.
Speaker: But the five second rule was very inspirational book.
Speaker: And I really enjoyed reading it.
Speaker: She's just one of those people that I'm
Speaker: I turn to like whenever I like am like seeking answers for something, but she taught me how to control my nerves.
Speaker: So how to control my nerves.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Give me an example.
Speaker: So there's a couple things.
Speaker: Deep breaths.
Speaker: Inhale, exhale before an interview.
Speaker: Take a deep breath.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: That's how you.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And it calms you down.
Speaker: 10 deep breaths.
Speaker: And then also you want to shift your focus from being nervous to excited.
Speaker: It's the same feeling you get in your stomach where you're excited and you're nervous.
Speaker: If you're nervous, that's like a negative, that's negative, right?
Speaker: Like, oh, I'm so nervous.
Speaker: Like, what if it fails?
Speaker: What if it doesn't do well?
Speaker: What if I stumble or mess up?
Speaker: But when you shift it over to like, I'm so excited.
Speaker: I get to interview this person today.
Speaker: Like, I'm just so stoked.
Speaker: Like, this is going to be great.
Speaker: I'm going to knock it out of the ballpark.
Speaker: So those are kinds of things that I do before interviews, you know, so the preparation, knowing my subject, coming up with questions, watching different YouTube videos to see how I can better myself and better my questions, better my inflection, my delivery.
Speaker: And then I calm my nerves down.
Speaker: And then by the time the interview comes, like,
Speaker: I'm feeling good.
Speaker: I make them feel comfortable.
Speaker: I'm like, hey, what's up?
Speaker: So yeah, you know, I make it feel comfortable.
Speaker: So you said you watch other people from other sources, not just sports.
Speaker: So who is your biggest person that does great interview that you look up to that will inspire you?
Speaker: Is it Oprah?
Speaker: Is it Mel Robbins?
Speaker: Is it Robin Roberts?
Speaker: Is it David Rubenstein?
Speaker: Like, you know, all these powerful people, like who inspires you the most?
Speaker: I love Oprah.
Speaker: because she's really good at listening.
Speaker: She's very grounded and present when she's interviewing someone.
Speaker: I'm like, damn, she's good.
Speaker: Tweetable Nomi.
Speaker: Oprah is definitely one of mine for sure.
Speaker: She's definitely always been an inspiration.
Speaker: I would say like my two biggest inspirations for what I do and what I want to achieve down the road.
Speaker: Like I want to be both Oprah and Chelsea Handler.
Speaker: I watched a lot of Chelsea lately when it was on E!
Speaker: And I freaking love just like her attitude, her sassiness and just like her joke.
Speaker: So like when the time is right, depending on the interview, I can kind of implement my Chelsea Handler side to me where I can like you've seen my goofy side.
Speaker: You know who I am.
Speaker: Most people don't get to see that side of me because I'm very I am pretty closed off.
Speaker: I feel like when I'm in person with people, that's when they can really see who I am.
Speaker: But when it comes to like being on camera, I still want to present myself in a certain way.
Speaker: And I don't feel like everyone needs to know everything about my personality.
Speaker: But I do have that kind of side where I'm really, you know, silly.
Speaker: But then there's also the Oprah side where I can have like really deep conversations with people that I feel like can not only impact my subject and me, but also impact people who are listening.
Speaker: So I would say those two.
Speaker: I love, is it Tom Ballou?
Speaker: uh with impact theory um or the timbaloo is it timbaloo or tom blue um tom that's what i thought okay uh tom baloo the impact theory is um one of my favorites i would always i got my way to work or on my way places i would always you know listen to it on youtube uh jay shetty is another one um you get some i love him like i just i love his story i'm actually in the process of reading his book right now actually listening to the audible uh think like a monk
Speaker: And I try to implement some of those practices into what I do every day.
Speaker: It just helps me understand people more.
Speaker: So when you hear about other people share their experiences and why they behave the way they behave, it helps me
Speaker: do my interviews because I kind of get to and also like researching these athletes.
Speaker: I do what you know, I do the website you sent me with the zodiac sign stuff.
Speaker: I do like deep dives into who these players are.
Speaker: And a lot of it's pretty on point.
Speaker: And I've tested it out before because during one of my interviews, I was like, you know, are you are you one of these guys that does this or does this?
Speaker: And he and I knew what he was going to answer.
Speaker: And he answered the way that I knew he was going to answer.
Speaker: And I'm like, I knew you were gonna say that.
Speaker: He's like, how?
Speaker: I'm like, there's this website.
Speaker: And I sent it to him later on.
Speaker: I'm like, this is the website that kind of just gave me, you know, broke down your zodiac signs.
Speaker: But those are some of my favorites.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, so I think I'm gonna challenge you.
Speaker: I would say moving forward, maybe you should add a little bit of Chelsea and Oprah in your interviews.
Speaker: Not that you don't, but maybe in every interview, there's a joke.
Speaker: And you can create the joke for each player.
Speaker: That's funny to kind of like the movie.
Speaker: You probably already know, but you know what I mean?
Speaker: Just be intentional.
Speaker: I do, but you gotta be careful with some of these guys, though.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker: Some of these guys are very sensitive.
Speaker: You can't make any jokes.
Speaker: Like, if they miss a free throw,
Speaker: And you know, a couple of, if they go 0 for 6 from the line and I'm interviewing them the next day, I'll be like, bruh, like make your free throws.
Speaker: You do your research and you try to understand, it's a great quote that I always use that I came up with.
Speaker: And it's a seek to understand, then to be understood.
Speaker: Because most times when we're speaking or interviewing someone,
Speaker: We seek to be understood.
Speaker: Understand me, understand me.
Speaker: So I reverse and say seek to understand, then to be understood.
Speaker: Like understand that you can be present for them and not try to get them, look, I do this too.
Speaker: And we do it subconsciously because it's kind of human nature.
Speaker: But outside looking in, you can just force yourself to understand someone, it's perfect.
Speaker: So you've interviewed a lot of guys, a lot of NBA players.
Speaker: I mean, you got LaMelo Ball way before he was in the league.
Speaker: I think you did Damian Lillard, you said Derrick Rose.
Speaker: You get Devin Booker.
Speaker: You got Devin Booker before, right?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So I don't know the others, but who is your greatest, your funnest or most, I know you got Jamal Murray this summer, Kendrick Perkins, you know, former NBA guy.
Speaker: Who is one of your greatest interviews or fun to interview this year?
Speaker: Oh, you got D-Wade.
Speaker: You got D-Wade, Capricorn, because you're a Capricorn.
Speaker: I shot some D-Wade.
Speaker: Hey, good guy.
Speaker: So from you, like, what was one of your most memorable or funnest interviews that you've done, you know, for you, like that you always remember like, this was great.
Speaker: Or someone who shocked you in an interview, like, I didn't think they had that much in them, you know?
Speaker: I mean, a lot of guys shocked me.
Speaker: There's a lot of guys that I'm not sure like how they're going to be on camera and
Speaker: they end up like they don't want to leave the conversation or they say, wow, this felt like a, they're like, this felt like a therapy session.
Speaker: Like this was great.
Speaker: It's like, yeah.
Speaker: And then we also kind of reversed it.
Speaker: And I let them ask me questions, which I think is kind of fun too, instead of like them always being asked the question.
Speaker: I'm like, yo, like ask me a couple of things.
Speaker: Like I'm super, I'm open and I'm very transparent, but Ooh, a couple of interviews.
Speaker: So like, I kind of have them broken down in tears, um, with, you know, the reason why I liked the certain interviews.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: one of the interviews with Santa obviously Dwyane Wade, when I first interviewed him on his when he's on his one before he retired, he was on his farewell tour.
Speaker: And I met him in the hallway after you know, one of the workouts and I just started we're all in like a scrum setting.
Speaker: And I just started rattling off questions.
Speaker: I was so freaking prepared.
Speaker: And that goes back to being prepared.
Speaker: You know, that goes back to being like, I know what my questions are going to be.
Speaker: I know exactly how I'm going to word them.
Speaker: And like, I'm going to take over that interview.
Speaker: And, you know, I let a couple reporters ask some questions and then I just took over me and him just having a conversation back and forth.
Speaker: I just didn't even realize anyone was there at that point.
Speaker: I just have, you know, going on and on and on.
Speaker: And, um,
Speaker: Actually, one of my one of my videos, one of my questions went viral.
Speaker: Um, because I asked him about the Rose, all of us from Chi town.
Speaker: But, you know, I kind of asked him about, you know, when he was playing with him or when just how he's been able to overcome injury and things like that.
Speaker: And how he said that his son, he wants to see how he would want, he's going to have his son practice or learn from any player he'd wanted to be D Rose.
Speaker: So I thought that was really cool.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: That one.
Speaker: That's good information.
Speaker: Why did he say D. Rose?
Speaker: He wanted to learn from D. Rose.
Speaker: What was the... Because I asked him a question about it.
Speaker: I had asked him a question about... D. Rose, why he would want his son over.
Speaker: Rose?
Speaker: Did he tell you?
Speaker: The way that he trains, the way that he prepares for games, the way that he's been rehabbing, the way that he's been, just his whole, just his mindset.
Speaker: Like for him to come back from all those injuries and getting traded and like all that that went down and him being able to bounce back, that was just incredible.
Speaker: So just the work ethic standpoint, he's like, yo, D. Rose, got it.
Speaker: Like that's that guy.
Speaker: But
Speaker: um so i would say dwayne wade and then i obviously interviewed him again um in my in a studio and he was like wow like look at you you're in a studio and you know you come a long way from the hallway yeah i came a long way from the hallway um so that was a pretty significant moment in my life um and i got to you know it was my own interview where i got to ask him questions and not have to cater it to just you know
Speaker: things that were going on at the time, but it was more so like his career, where he's at now.
Speaker: Talked a lot about family and like I love that aspect.
Speaker: D Rose was another one.
Speaker: Obviously, like he's my hometown hero.
Speaker: I love Derrick Rose.
Speaker: I was like shaking like I don't get starstruck, believe it or not anymore.
Speaker: But with him, I was like, like just I couldn't control myself.
Speaker: And you could kind of hear my voice.
Speaker: It starts to get a little high pitch when I get nervous.
Speaker: And you could hear it, but my voice is cracking a little bit.
Speaker: So we got it done, and it was a great interview.
Speaker: That one really did well, too.
Speaker: And then, I mean, Charles Barkley was a great one.
Speaker: I mean, my grandma, I wish my grandma could have seen this.
Speaker: Like, I really, I'm like living through her, or she's living through me right now.
Speaker: She was there.
Speaker: She was there.
Speaker: I know she was.
Speaker: there's just certain things where it's like, oh, I just want to like, you know, I would have wanted to like, you know, consult with her first, like, hey, like, what questions you want me to ask, you know, because she would have been so excited for that one.
Speaker: And then even like a guy like Paul Pierce, the reason I like that interview a lot was because I was in a different element.
Speaker: And I got to take a player out of his element to where we're both, you know, smoking hookah and drinking wine together.
Speaker: Like, if I can do something like that all the time,
Speaker: know obviously if there's not like i still think there's like a bad connotation of smoking you know hookah and like drinking wine it's like oh like you know
Speaker: I don't know if teams would approve of that or agents would like that.
Speaker: A new show, a new Ashley show.
Speaker: You know, I have a lot of different ideas up my sleeve.
Speaker: I just need the players to cooperate and, you know, see the vision and understand.
Speaker: But like, yo, sipping wine, smoking hookah, like just a chill environment.
Speaker: I just think like that was just one of those things in terms of creativity that I really enjoyed.
Speaker: And it was at his hookah spot too.
Speaker: So that was really cool.
Speaker: That's dope.
Speaker: So look, let's get into the NBA season.
Speaker: So question, when you think of the NBA season for 2020, 2021, what's the first word that comes up to mind?
Speaker: What's the first word for you?
Speaker: That's a tough question.
Speaker: Honestly, the second you mentioned it, I was like injuries, like that's the first one I'm thinking of.
Speaker: Oh yes, yes, you've been, listen.
Speaker: That's what I want to talk about, Ashley.
Speaker: So here's the thing, let's send out energy and love and light to LaMarcus Aldrich.
Speaker: You know, he found out he had an irregular heartbeat, I think last night when he was playing the Rangers.
Speaker: So he decided the next day to retire and put his health and his family's nerves.
Speaker: LaMelo Ball broke his wrist this year.
Speaker: He's out for the season.
Speaker: LeBron, Alton definitely, you know, ankle injury.
Speaker: Steph Carrick, he bruises.
Speaker: I mean, he's back, but, you know, who else?
Speaker: Anthony Davis.
Speaker: Anthony Davis.
Speaker: And then there was just another one.
Speaker: Who was it?
Speaker: James Wiseman, I think, that I just read.
Speaker: One of the rookies.
Speaker: He's out for the season two.
Speaker: Oh, Jamal Mary.
Speaker: Yeah, Jamal Murray as well.
Speaker: ACL.
Speaker: My question is, the NBA has been on fire.
Speaker: Like, they need to create another league.
Speaker: The D League ain't enough, but the G League is not enough.
Speaker: They need to create another league because these boys can flat out do it.
Speaker: Luka, last night?
Speaker: I know.
Speaker: Crazy.
Speaker: Incredible, incredible, right?
Speaker: So here's the thing.
Speaker: Do you think and believe that
Speaker: the career expectancy of these players will be more than 10 years.
Speaker: All the players come in the league now and then because I feel like they're going to get injured and then their career is not going to be the same.
Speaker: Now some guys come back better or smarter.
Speaker: Paul George came back pretty decent, pretty good.
Speaker: You know, he's killing it now.
Speaker: KD looks fine.
Speaker: Kyrie always, you know, like, but what do you think the future of the NBA
Speaker: will be if you have to think about injuries.
Speaker: Do you think it's going to be as great as we see now, five years now?
Speaker: Or do you think it's going to kind of like die out and it's going to kind of like the players will really take care of their bodies who are, I mean, maybe athletic, of course, but more consistent in like their regiment, like taking care of their body, eating healthy.
Speaker: Because it's scary, man.
Speaker: Like even with...
Speaker: Ja Morant, he injured his ankle earlier this year.
Speaker: That scared me.
Speaker: I'm like, damn, we can't get him out.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Zarin was out last year for damn near the entire year.
Speaker: So it just, you know, what do you think is going to happen moving forward, all these injuries?
Speaker: So there's a couple elements, a couple moving pieces.
Speaker: So with the season this year, they had a shortened offseason, number one.
Speaker: Number two, they have a lot of back to backs right now.
Speaker: So there's sometimes they're getting maybe a two day break, but most of the time they get one day break and then they're back and they're not they get one day in between games.
Speaker: They're not practicing.
Speaker: They're not getting loose on those off days.
Speaker: maybe getting a little lift in.
Speaker: And then there's a lot of back-to-backs.
Speaker: So you're playing a game and you gotta hop on, literally you leave town that night after the game, you're on an airplane and then you land to the next city at like what, three in the morning, something like that, or whenever you get in, you have to get COVID tested like twice or three times a day, meaning you need to wake up early to make sure that you're at that appointment to get tested.
Speaker: If you don't, you're obviously not gonna be able to play.
Speaker: So I think that I think COVID has kind of made things a little tricky.
Speaker: But then also, I think shortening the season was why there's all the back to back.
Speaker: So I don't think that guys are getting proper rest, recovery.
Speaker: And then also to, you know, it's kind of like, well, on the flip side, there's a lot more technology, there's a lot more
Speaker: things you could do to recover.
Speaker: You know, there's a lot more research on diets and certain equipment and technology that can help you recover quicker.
Speaker: I mean, you know, they have those little, those little, those compression, compression pads that the guys are wearing.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean the ice baths cryo they have you know, you know, steam room sauna massages different types of treatments Acupuncture, I mean there's a million different things that these guys can do to recover their bodies, but I do think the shortened season is
Speaker: causing a lot of these injuries so yeah summed it up for me you know that little bit of information makes sense because i didn't i've heard of it but the way you broke it down i'm like oh yeah that's right you're only getting one day off and they're right back at it of course like these guys are going jumping and running some of these guys are playing the entire game i can't move after a day of leg day i'm like sore for a week oh my god
Speaker: I've just never seen an NBA where everybody can just go.
Speaker: Everybody can just... That boy from the Lakers, what's his name?
Speaker: Talon Horton.
Speaker: Horton, he's from Chicago.
Speaker: What is his name?
Speaker: What is his name?
Speaker: Do you know his name?
Speaker: Talon Horton Tucker.
Speaker: Tucker, that guy can't flat out do it.
Speaker: He on the yo-yo like he ran away.
Speaker: When he gets playing time.
Speaker: When he gets playing time.
Speaker: I watched him like closely like this guy is good.
Speaker: I mean, of course, the Jazz, the Zions, the Devin Bookers.
Speaker: Devin's a star.
Speaker: Kevin Durant.
Speaker: Kevin the star.
Speaker: So I just, it's so much competition.
Speaker: These guys are competing at a high, it looks like a turned up AAU tournament out there because everybody can really ball.
Speaker: I think for me, in my perspective, I think the NBA finals and who's going to win is going to come down to coaching and attention to details, right?
Speaker: The little things that make up for the big games, the big games, you know.
Speaker: From what you're seeing this year, who do you think is the MVP right now?
Speaker: If you have to pick.
Speaker: Be biased, be honest, don't be biased.
Speaker: Man, I got to roll with Chris Paul.
Speaker: Okay, here's why.
Speaker: He impacts every single team he plays for.
Speaker: And I get that everyone wants to look at the stats and like, oh, like 16 points a game, like isn't, you know, MVP worthy.
Speaker: So I can make cases for two different people.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Like Chris Paul, I feel like deserves it because just his impact alone, like the sons.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: They have everything they truly need.
Speaker: I feel like to make it to the finals.
Speaker: In the West.
Speaker: In second in the West.
Speaker: They're second in the West.
Speaker: And there was at one point they were at second in the entire league.
Speaker: So, which is crazy.
Speaker: Hmm.
Speaker: Who's number one in the West?
Speaker: Jazz.
Speaker: Oh, wow.
Speaker: The Jazz.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: See, no one even like knows that.
Speaker: Like the Jazz don't get enough attention.
Speaker: Like no one cares about the Jazz.
Speaker: Everyone's like, oh, the Jazz.
Speaker: And it's funny because like Donovan and like Donovan probably deserves to like,
Speaker: potentially be MVP but they got that six man you know the six man of the year coming off the bench so I mean yeah that boy Donovan got some fiber under him I know nuggets last year that hurt right then Shaq comments I feel I feel like after those Shaq comments he just turned it up like okay I know you know what Shaq is horrible for that but
Speaker: Um, but I think Chris Paul needs to get in the discussion.
Speaker: Um, my guy Nikola Jokic is just just watching him.
Speaker: Yeah, he's good.
Speaker: Play the game.
Speaker: Who?
Speaker: Will Barton.
Speaker: Oh, yeah, your guy, your guy.
Speaker: But Nikola Jokic, he just does.
Speaker: You can't stop him.
Speaker: I mean, it's crazy because like, like a bad game for him is like 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Speaker: Like, oh, he had a
Speaker: you know, like an okay game and it wasn't that good.
Speaker: And it's like, people expect him to be putting up like 30 points a night, 15 rebounds, 10 assists.
Speaker: I mean, at one point he was leading the league in assists and he's a big man just watching how he orchestrates the floor.
Speaker: I think he's just one of those guys that he just impacts the game at such a high level.
Speaker: And now without Murray, he's gonna have to step it up.
Speaker: He's gonna he's a big man.
Speaker: Yeah, he's a what is my friend call him?
Speaker: He calls him a
Speaker: Is it a big guard or he calls him something?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: He's a guard, but he's also, you know, a big man, obviously.
Speaker: So he's kind of changed the game.
Speaker: So, and like Winston said, like Damian Lillard, you could make a case for him too.
Speaker: There's so many guys.
Speaker: Joel Embiid.
Speaker: Joel Embiid.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: He does.
Speaker: Joel Embiid.
Speaker: Any of them.
Speaker: That's my pick for now.
Speaker: Who?
Speaker: I think he should.
Speaker: Joel Embiid, I think.
Speaker: I mean, he's doing it.
Speaker: So to piggyback off the CP3, because the way you explain it makes sense, he should be most valuable player, not the most popular player who scores all the points to win for a senior.
Speaker: Do you think Williams should be coach of the year?
Speaker: Who gets coach of the year for the record season?
Speaker: Because he's been no good this year.
Speaker: I mean, why not?
Speaker: Like, why wouldn't he get coach of the year?
Speaker: But I mean, you can make a case for Doc Rivers, you know?
Speaker: But I mean, I think what Monty's been able to do, no one expected the Suns to be with that right now at all.
Speaker: But I think like with the combination of who they have is just they're making it work.
Speaker: And I think Monty is just one of those coaches where he's been there done that.
Speaker: I mean, he's he's been to the playoffs before.
Speaker: He knows how to coach superstar talent.
Speaker: And I'm going to go with Monty on that one.
Speaker: But I do think like you mentioned in the playoffs, though, it's going to kind of come down to coaching.
Speaker: I mean, we're it's going to come down to the best coaches and how to the detail.
Speaker: Yeah, to the detail.
Speaker: So
Speaker: We're going to see Monty, but I'm going to go with Monty, and I'm going to go with CP3 as my MVP.
Speaker: I don't care what anyone says.
Speaker: I've heard it all.
Speaker: No, that's cool.
Speaker: I like that.
Speaker: Stupid, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker: He's just the way he impacts the game.
Speaker: We got MVP.
Speaker: We got coach.
Speaker: Who gets most improved this year?
Speaker: That's a tough one.
Speaker: You're going to need to give me a list of players because that's a tough one.
Speaker: I don't see I don't know how what's his name uh what's the guy from Kansas that plays in Charlotte who averaged like 19 last year I don't know what his year was like this year uh is it Deontay Graham?
Speaker: Devontae Graham that was last year that he could have potentially got it but yeah he didn't really I think Jalen Brown been showing up this year he is he's playing good he's playing good I thought he's been playing good this year that stood out this year uh
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: Nobody else that stands out that I know.
Speaker: I mean, you watch more basketball than I do.
Speaker: I mean, another guy in the Hornets that I think has been playing really well is Terry Rozier.
Speaker: Terry Rozier has been playing really good.
Speaker: Julius Randle with the Knicks has been playing really good.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: that's another one that's so funny winston just said at the same time as me wow you might think alike i'd probably say julius randall um i think he's kind of put the knicks on the map um no one thought the knicks were gonna go anywhere i mean let's be real he could say i mean he's been in the league for a long time but i mean what if he gets six man and most improved jordan clarkson i mean that guy's i thought jordan's always been balling though but i think he's on like another level right now but i feel like jordan's always been a bucket
Speaker: Jordan's always been a bucket, but sixth man of the year, absolutely.
Speaker: 100%.
Speaker: Like, it's crazy because you could almost give him the MVP.
Speaker: I know that sounds wild, but there's been so many games that if it wasn't for him going off, they wouldn't be where they are right now.
Speaker: So, like, technically, like, I wonder if that would ever happen, but it probably wouldn't.
Speaker: Like, if you're a sixth man, like, you can't be an MVP.
Speaker: But we saw Andre Godala win an NBA Finals MVP.
Speaker: Like, come on.
Speaker: so so we got to ask by most improved what about defensive player of the year i mean you got rooney gobert who else is locking you know things up these days i mean there's this other guy i think is starts with a b and last thing starts with an s or something i don't know i forgot it i forgot who it is but seriously do you really think he deserved defensive player of the year like seriously
Speaker: Because when you push your narrative with something and it kind of like, I can see that then you'd be like, yeah, of course, but we're not looking at it like that.
Speaker: And how do we really know?
Speaker: I just kind of want to know like when they're choosing this kind of when they're choosing anything.
Speaker: I just I just want to know like what the criteria is.
Speaker: Same thing with MVP.
Speaker: Like, it's political.
Speaker: It's always political.
Speaker: It's always political, which I
Speaker: It's not about who's the best, it's the most popular, who's going to make sense.
Speaker: Ben Simmons is obviously the most popular.
Speaker: I mean, think of who's his agent, you know, what agency he's with.
Speaker: Like, just think about like, yeah, so like you have to think like it is politics, like there's politics in sports.
Speaker: And like I when I told you, when you sent me the video of like, oh, Ben Simmons hasn't, you know, locked up some of the best players in the league and he's bad offensively, but he's so, you know, fixated on, you know, his defense, but I'm like, that's a PR move right there.
Speaker: That's a PR move.
Speaker: Because if you think about it, like, a lot of these guys, there's a little secret that I know, is that like, when you hear certain information, get leaked to media or like certain things or blah, blah, blah, like that stuff is like that strategy.
Speaker: There's reasons for that, you know?
Speaker: So there's reasons like why he's saying what he's saying.
Speaker: And there's reasons why, like, because like usually players, not all of them, but like most players, like they don't always like to really talk about themselves or like push for certain things.
Speaker: But think about, you know, when Damian Lillard was like, yo, I got snubbed for All-Star, you know, about a couple of years ago.
Speaker: Like, you know, what the hell?
Speaker: he's been an all star ever since.
Speaker: You know, when you think about certain guys who literally, you know, went on to talk to media about certain things, they get what they want.
Speaker: But I do think Ben Simmons is one of the best defenders in the league.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: I mean, when I when I was talking to you about, you know, maybe he can't lock down Kevin Durant and LeBron James for four quarters, but who the hell can?
Speaker: Yeah, you know, like, no one can.
Speaker: So it's
Speaker: What are those?
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, you're not going to be perfect.
Speaker: Speaking of those two amazing athletes, I've watched both of them closely.
Speaker: Shouts out to Katie and LeBron.
Speaker: They're fans.
Speaker: I'm really a big LeBron fan.
Speaker: I love Katie's just determination to be great.
Speaker: Who wins the NBA finals this year?
Speaker: God willing, everybody's healthy and in shape.
Speaker: Who wins?
Speaker: Who gets there and gets the chip?
Speaker: Who wins and gets the chip?
Speaker: Or who gets, by the way, who gets there?
Speaker: And then who's your wild card who like might surprise me get there that we're not thinking about?
Speaker: Well, I think the Suns might maybe get there.
Speaker: Yo, I got a ride for the home team.
Speaker: Come on.
Speaker: And they beat some quality teams this year.
Speaker: And most improved, Zach Levine.
Speaker: Zach Levine, most improved.
Speaker: Ooh, I'm going with Julius.
Speaker: I'm going with Julius only based on record.
Speaker: I feel like aren't the Knicks better than the Knicks right now?
Speaker: The Bulls have been, ugh.
Speaker: I don't even want to go there.
Speaker: It's a toss-up.
Speaker: But...
Speaker: The Suns, I think everyone's been underestimating them.
Speaker: They're gonna be that wildcard team everyone's shocked by even though they shouldn't like I don't know.
Speaker: No one's really watching the games clearly but they have everything they need but from veteran players to young players, but they're not too young.
Speaker: They're kind of like getting seasoned and improving as they go.
Speaker: And then also they have such a squad off the bench.
Speaker: Like, I don't think people realize like these guys can shoot threes.
Speaker: Like these guys are, they're shooters.
Speaker: Like 26 last night.
Speaker: Like damn, Jack.
Speaker: The other night.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: They, I think the other night against the rockets, they shot like a, was it a, I'm trying to think.
Speaker: I think it was like, they made history.
Speaker: They shot like 22 threes in a night or like 20, 22 to 25 threes.
Speaker: So I think,
Speaker: The Suns can surprise a lot of people.
Speaker: I think they do have all the pieces they need.
Speaker: And what I can tell different from previous years is like the veterans and the players that have come to the team, they are all very, a lot of them are very family oriented and they all like don't really have any distractions anymore.
Speaker: They're not like young.
Speaker: They're very, they're locked in.
Speaker: They're locked in.
Speaker: They've got, you know, most of them got families.
Speaker: A lot of them are not doing anything.
Speaker: Like they're very, I think like Monty also like,
Speaker: you know, he's very spiritual too.
Speaker: I think he's kind of like, you know, change the locker room.
Speaker: Yeah, like a Mark Jackson.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: So he's also brought like his style into the locker room, which I really love.
Speaker: And then I think
Speaker: Listen, I can't count LeBron James out ever.
Speaker: Like I just I just can't.
Speaker: But if they're not healthy, like if AD and LeBron are back and they're not healthy, like there's just no way like that they're going to be able to win.
Speaker: And I also don't think that they have a ton of depth.
Speaker: So it's kind of scary to me.
Speaker: But you got the Clippers out in the West who picked up this guy named Raejean Rondo, playoff Rondo, that I think like can make an impact.
Speaker: But I mean,
Speaker: I love Rondo.
Speaker: He's going to get in your skin.
Speaker: He's going to play hard, but they need more than Rondo to win.
Speaker: It's going to come down to coaching for them.
Speaker: I feel like they get paid off.
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: They get confused.
Speaker: I think Paul and Kawhi got to establish who is one and who is two.
Speaker: You know what I mean?
Speaker: Well, Kawhi is obviously one and PG is two.
Speaker: You say what?
Speaker: Kawhi is obviously one and PG is two.
Speaker: You know, they put up 36, 33, 28, you know what I'm saying?
Speaker: So I'm saying when you actually say it, like when LeBron say no, AD's the guy, he gives him that energy even though he still shows up the guy.
Speaker: That makes sense.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean.
Speaker: Off run for any team.
Speaker: I like the Nuggets as a wild card as well as the Blazers.
Speaker: The Nuggets without Jamal though?
Speaker: I don't know, they've been playing together for so long, all those guys.
Speaker: I don't know, I just feel like, oh, the Jazz, the Jazz as well.
Speaker: Let's put the Jazz in.
Speaker: I think they have what it takes.
Speaker: East is going to be between the Sixers and the Nets, but I'm going to take the Nets.
Speaker: Okay, Nets for sure.
Speaker: I'm going to take the Nets, but I mean, they need to be healthy, you know?
Speaker: Wild card, Lottie Seltzer, shouts out to Jason Tatum.
Speaker: Is his name Jason?
Speaker: Jason Tatum, yeah.
Speaker: They're, you know, they're playing good.
Speaker: They're making a little run right now because I was a little concerned about them.
Speaker: Uh, that's a stretch.
Speaker: Jamal points.
Speaker: That's, that's a fact.
Speaker: I like that.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: But Jamal is still that guy that you want in crunch time.
Speaker: He's that guy like, man, like,
Speaker: I mean, and you know, they were able to fill the void.
Speaker: So Aaron Gordon was able to fill the void for Jeremy Grant, who obviously was, you know, a big part of their bubble run last year as well.
Speaker: But and then also, okay, the Miami Heat, got to give them some love.
Speaker: They made it, you know, they made it to the finals.
Speaker: They still hung over from the finals, man.
Speaker: I feel like they gave everything they had, man.
Speaker: But we'll see what a playoff.
Speaker: Where's that guy?
Speaker: Where's Kendrick Nunn?
Speaker: Is he still in the league?
Speaker: Like, where's he?
Speaker: He's with the Heat.
Speaker: Oh, okay.
Speaker: Maybe he's not making noise like he was last year.
Speaker: I mean, they got a pretty big roster.
Speaker: Yeah, that's true.
Speaker: That's true.
Speaker: They actually have a deep team.
Speaker: They really do.
Speaker: Victor Oladimo can stay healthy.
Speaker: So we talked about women in sports.
Speaker: We talked about, you know, preparation and work ethic and being prepared when the job is there, doing your due diligence, doing your research.
Speaker: We got our NBA selections and picks.
Speaker: But can you give the people a little bit of like feedback or like what does it take to be an NBA reporter and producer?
Speaker: And more importantly, what advice would you give a young lady or male that want to be in a position you're in or even get to that level?
Speaker: Like what does it take?
Speaker: What does it look like?
Speaker: And what you think they should keep in front of their mind when they're thinking about this path or career for them?
Speaker: Ooh.
Speaker: It's very competitive.
Speaker: You're going to you're going to get a lot of people in your ear being like, everyone wants to do that.
Speaker: Not everyone makes it.
Speaker: Not everyone's going to be the next blah, blah, blah.
Speaker: Not everyone's going to be the next Rachel Nichols or the next Doris Burke or the next Stephen A. Smith.
Speaker: And it's like, you know, I've had to kind of I've had to like kind of tell the naysayers, you know, nicely to like, I'm not going to listen to you.
Speaker: So you're gonna get a lot of people that try to tell you like, oh, not gonna make a lot of money.
Speaker: You're not gonna do this.
Speaker: You're not gonna do that.
Speaker: Oh, you should just, you know, settle for the nine to five job.
Speaker: Not saying that's a bad thing, but you know, I've heard a lot of people be like, oh, I, you know, I gave up sports because I, you know, I wanted to make money or be, you know, in corporate or whatever.
Speaker: But I just stay with it, you know, stay with it.
Speaker: I mean, not everybody is, you know,
Speaker: Those people who tell you to give up on your dreams are people that gave up on theirs and they just don't have faith in themselves.
Speaker: And so
Speaker: you're gonna get a lot of people that try to tell you not to do something.
Speaker: Just stay with it.
Speaker: Also go to as many career conferences as possible.
Speaker: I, you know, I spent a lot of money.
Speaker: I invested a lot of money into myself.
Speaker: I traveled to any sports career conference.
Speaker: You know, they showed us the panel who was going to be there.
Speaker: Oh, that guy from ESPN.
Speaker: Oh, that guy from this team.
Speaker: Like, hell yeah.
Speaker: Like I'm going to go to this.
Speaker: And you know, I, that's how I got kind of also got started is I went to a career conference and
Speaker: I met a lot of people at ESPN.
Speaker: I met a lot of people in the NBA industry.
Speaker: And that's also another thing with basketball is that it's just a tight knit group.
Speaker: I met so many coaches.
Speaker: GMs, presidents of teams, and just putting yourself out there, you know, posting things, posting stuff on social media.
Speaker: Like, I can't tell you how many times, you know, reporters, when I was, you know, coaching a little bit and mentoring, I was giving, you know, people like instruction, like, okay, this is what you need to do every day.
Speaker: Because there was a point where I was posting on Instagram every day, it was called Ash Talk.
Speaker: Welcome to this edition of, you know, Ash Talk, like a spinoff trash talk.
Speaker: But, you know, I would, you know, give it like an NBA update and I would, you know, throw in my Chelsea Handler twist and make it funny.
Speaker: And I was doing it every day.
Speaker: Like one of my friends was like, dude, like you need to post content every day.
Speaker: Like you need to show your personality.
Speaker: You need to do this and do that.
Speaker: And I see now a lot of people that like want it, they say they want it, but they don't put in the work.
Speaker: They want you to, you know,
Speaker: feed them with a spoon and be like oh like you know coddled them and it's like i'm not going to give you my connections no i'm not going to put you in contact with this person like no i'm not going to do all this for you like i'm not going to you know hand over everything to you and it's been this has been like years this has been like eight nine years of consistent you got to earn your keep you got to put in the work and i think
Speaker: someone in your position, putting in the work, getting the experiences that brings the wisdom, allows you to transform and evolve in a different manner each year because you're meeting new people, you're interviewing new people, you're learning new things, you're becoming a new person.
Speaker: You know, always, if you're not willing to change your mind, you can't really change your life.
Speaker: Now, you got to shift your paradigm on the things you believe in.
Speaker: We're going to rap really soon.
Speaker: Before we rap, I have a fun, rapid fire
Speaker: questionnaire for you.
Speaker: I like games.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: I want to know what you're thinking with these questions.
Speaker: Are you ready?
Speaker: I'm ready to go.
Speaker: I think so.
Speaker: Let me take a sip of water.
Speaker: Okay, let's go.
Speaker: Ready.
Speaker: Allen Iverson or Kyrie Irving?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: What you got?
Speaker: Alan, Alan Iverson.
Speaker: Got it.
Speaker: Michael Jordan or LeBron James?
Speaker: How dare you?
Speaker: How dare you?
Speaker: How dare you ask me this question?
Speaker: I hate this question.
Speaker: I hate this question.
Speaker: Give me one second.
Speaker: I like both of them.
Speaker: You got to pick one.
Speaker: You only can pick one.
Speaker: One is fun.
Speaker: Michael Jordan.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: NBA Finals or the NCAA tournament?
Speaker: Final Four versus the NBA Finals.
Speaker: NBA Finals.
Speaker: I'm backing I thought she was gonna say the tournament.
Speaker: I like the tournament but like I mean final like I live for I love the wildcats in Arizona or the suns in Phoenix.
Speaker: Not the Sun Devils right the sun Phoenix Suns not the Sun Devils Phoenix Sun I'm gonna go with the Suns right now like the Wildcats are horrible.
Speaker: Turn your back on your alma mater, okay.
Speaker: Except the women's basketball team made it to the championship round, so that was exciting.
Speaker: But the basketball team has been nothing but disappointment year in and year out.
Speaker: So, yeah.
Speaker: So, for Ashley, when, if it comes to a man, does she prefer the athletic type, the athlete, or the businessman?
Speaker: Okay, so I have a question, though.
Speaker: Does the businessman still take care of his body?
Speaker: Hey, I can't get you the details.
Speaker: You just got to go off your gut.
Speaker: Like, when you think of athlete, you think of business man, what do you gravitate more?
Speaker: There's no right or wrong.
Speaker: I'm just trying to see, you know.
Speaker: Honestly, what if you have a businessman that is an athlete?
Speaker: I don't know which one do you prefer.
Speaker: It can be both.
Speaker: It could be a combination of both.
Speaker: I mean, there's nothing like a guy in a student tie holding a briefcase.
Speaker: Got it.
Speaker: All cleaned up and not, you know, all cleaned up.
Speaker: Businessman.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Give me a businessman.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So we didn't really discuss too much of women's basketball, but I had a question.
Speaker: Shouts out to the hoop lord, a good friend of mine.
Speaker: And he believed that the women WNBA should lower their hoops to get more of an entertainment, a more entertaining game.
Speaker: And maybe they'll get paid more money.
Speaker: What do you think?
Speaker: And what is your overall thoughts on women's basketball?
Speaker: And how can we get, how can women's basketball get more ratings and more attention from Ashley Neville's perspective?
Speaker: Well, first things first, like I don't always think it's fair.
Speaker: for men to chime in on a sport that they're technically not playing or not involved in.
Speaker: So I don't think it's fair.
Speaker: And the same thing with me, though, the same thing with me, like, I don't think it's fair for me to also say that that WNBA should do this because I'm not in the sport.
Speaker: I'm not playing this.
Speaker: I'm not there.
Speaker: I'm not on the court.
Speaker: So I think like asking other WNBA players is the way to go.
Speaker: because they're the ones that have to play.
Speaker: And like Candace Parker was like, I'm not doing that.
Speaker: Like she was on TNT, you know, with Shaq and Dwyane Wade.
Speaker: They are on there every Tuesday.
Speaker: And Shaq, you know, started the discussion and talked about that.
Speaker: And she's like, no, like, we're not doing that.
Speaker: Like, we don't want to do that.
Speaker: Now, would I love to watch women dunk, like windmill dunks?
Speaker: Like, hell yeah, I would love to watch that.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: I would love that.
Speaker: Maybe they can try it.
Speaker: Maybe they can like do something in the preseason where they can lower it and see like how it works.
Speaker: I mean, I know Adam Silver is always implementing new ways to make the game interesting or make the game quicker, you know.
Speaker: But I do think that it's up to the WNBA players to make that decision.
Speaker: Would I enjoy it?
Speaker: Who wouldn't enjoy anyone dunking?
Speaker: Like that's, you know, that's the beauty of the game.
Speaker: But
Speaker: You know, and then in terms of, you know, I saw someone talk about equal pay.
Speaker: I do think that they should get, you know, more.
Speaker: But again, like, it's, you know, marketing dollars.
Speaker: And I do, I don't feel like the WNBA does enough.
Speaker: to promote their players.
Speaker: And I tried to make this point the other day.
Speaker: I forgot what kind of what post it was.
Speaker: But I was like, if you have a product, and you know how to sell the product, you know how to market it, you know how to make it fun and interesting.
Speaker: Like, I feel like the women's the women's college tournament this year was so fun to watch.
Speaker: Like, it was so exciting.
Speaker: And I think it's also because of social media, a lot of the players are starting to get more involved.
Speaker: They're starting to really put themselves out there.
Speaker: So I just feel like from a marketing standpoint, the WNBA can do so much better in that respect.
Speaker: But these NBA players, I mean, they're getting paid off of the TV deals, the marketing dollars, the merchandise, like they're getting paid off all these things.
Speaker: So the WNBA should also have more games.
Speaker: You know, they should have more games on, you know, ESPN, more games on ABC, which is obviously, you know, an ESPN owned by Disney.
Speaker: But then also like on TNT, you know, there should be, you know, maybe a game or, you know, a game a week or, you know, just a little bit more publicity on NBA TV.
Speaker: So I just feel like it starts with the people who own the team to make those deals, to make those TV deals and to just make it more exciting.
Speaker: Spend more money on the marketing dollars, spend more money on social media.
Speaker: You know, like before when I first started getting into the industry, like,
Speaker: no one was doing any of the social media stuff like I brought my phone to summer league and I'm filming everything I'm posting everything so social media is at its peak right now and I think it's gonna this is here to stay you know people want to go to social media so you have to you have to do more to promote your product you need to do more right you need to do more to get more you need to invest money into the into the TV deals yeah you need to invest way more
Speaker: Well, I mean, this was beautiful.
Speaker: I know a little bit more about you today, young lady.
Speaker: Your conversation.
Speaker: So before we get out of here, where can we find you?
Speaker: What do you have going on?
Speaker: What could we look forward to for Ashley?
Speaker: And by the way, I know this is probably a rhetorical question, but I want to make sure I'm saying it right.
Speaker: How do I properly say your last name?
Speaker: Oh, you really say it.
Speaker: You know what I love?
Speaker: You always say it wrong.
Speaker: But I love the way you say it.
Speaker: So I never correct you.
Speaker: Oh, what is it?
Speaker: I don't want to tell you because I love the way that you say it bothers me up here.
Speaker: You've been saying it wrong since I met you, but I love it.
Speaker: Like it's, it doesn't, it doesn't make me mad.
Speaker: You know, I'm like, I like it.
Speaker: You say Navelle and I think it sounds very classy.
Speaker: Like, Ooh, Ashley Navelle.
Speaker: I like it, but it's Ashley Neville, like Neville Longbottom or like the Neville brothers or yeah.
Speaker: But I like Navelle.
Speaker: Like I think I'm going to have to put in a request to add like a,
Speaker: What is it like an accent mark right above the last name?
Speaker: I'm going to have to put in that request.
Speaker: I think I'm going to change my last name.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: But you know what?
Speaker: You can call me whatever.
Speaker: You could say Ashley, Ash, Neville, Neville, whatever you want.
Speaker: When I get to that last name, I'm like, oh, Neville, Neville.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Same thing.
Speaker: Same thing.
Speaker: Same difference.
Speaker: I let it slide because I like it.
Speaker: I think it's actually better than my name as it is.
Speaker: And then things I have going on right now.
Speaker: I have a couple things in the books, a couple things lined up potentially with some interviews.
Speaker: As I said, interviews are pretty hard to book right now during the regular season.
Speaker: But
Speaker: Yeah, a couple things.
Speaker: So you got to stay tuned.
Speaker: And you can stay tuned.
Speaker: We know your Instagram.
Speaker: What about Twitter, any other platforms you want, Twitch or I don't know, like, not Snapchat, TikTok, Clubhouse.
Speaker: You should be doing Clubhouse chats.
Speaker: I know.
Speaker: There's a lot I need to do.
Speaker: I swear, you give me new ideas every day.
Speaker: But let's see, I do Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter.
Speaker: snap i do have last name ashley neville yeah very simple snapchat i don't always tell people because it's kind of just like my little like just people i know that's my private i mean i have like people who follow me on there but like i usually just you know post to my close friends for the most part depending on what it is um i don't like sharing my life with everyone um but
Speaker: some people and then yeah I do have a tech talk but I haven't posted on it I'm trying to figure out the best way to approach it because I want the I want every post I make to be something meaningful something that is either like funny exciting or it's my basketball stuff it has to be I'm not just gonna like post a post you know like I'm very strategic and what I do at least now wasn't always like that but now I'm pretty strategic I'm like I don't want to post this I want to post that
Speaker: So I think TikTok is definitely up next.
Speaker: But yeah, I do have some other interviews lined up that I'm like really excited for that I can share with you after we get off the call and we can FaceTime and I'll let you know everything I have going on.
Speaker: But for everyone else.
Speaker: Who don't know you, who gonna want to follow you and see more about your life.
Speaker: That's all.
Speaker: Oh, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker: What is some words of inspiration or encouragement you can give the people that's going to be watching and listening in this moment?
Speaker: Go for it.
Speaker: never take no for an answer.
Speaker: If you want something, you want something bad enough, you can get it 100% no matter what and I know exactly what I want in my life.
Speaker: I have everything written down, manifest in it.
Speaker: And it's slowly but surely happening, believe it or not.
Speaker: It's crazy.
Speaker: So write down your goals, write down everything that you need to do to get those goals and never give up on yourself ever.
Speaker: Ashley, thank you.
Speaker: You're amazing.
Speaker: and be safe keep winning keep living and um let's see go sons baby in the finals okay believe that everything all right thank you have a good one we'll talk soon thanks love you bye so there it is ashley neville she said she likes the bell oh it's neville neville but anyway check it out let's go up on my page appreciate you guys for joining in another
Speaker: edition of BiggerTalks baby women in sports, the NBA season and work ethic and what it takes to be a producer and reporter.
Speaker: Thank you, Ashley.
Speaker: You guys be great.
Speaker: Hug yourself, love yourself more tonight.
Speaker: Forgive, live, be, and do what you gotta do.
Speaker: I'm out.
