WNBA ALL-STAR GAME

July 9, 2022

Nneka Ogwumike

Jonquel Jones

Alyssa Thomas

Team Stewart - Media Conference

Q. Alyssa, Kahleah Copper, if you watched her growing up. I know you were a couple years older but she was starting to come through when you were a senior in high school and then some of the games between Rutgers and Maryland or the AAU circuit, what did you see of Kahleah coming up to where she is now?

ALYSSA THOMAS: Of course I had heard about her, but never -- I don't think we ever played against each other. But I knew she was going to be a great player, and I followed her, her career over the years, and I'm just so happy and proud of where she is. There was no doubt that she was never going to be an All-Star, but she's a great player.

Q. Nneka, being out here in Chicago, what has the experience been like for you? And is this something that you could petition to the commissioner as far as having an All-Star Game in Los Angeles at some point?

NNEKA OGWUMIKE: Man, I've been asking that question since I started. I love it when we are in new cities. I think it brings a fervor and an energy and a spotlight on the WNBA for people who may not know about it, for people who are avid fans. I think it's great to continue to keep the attention on the WNBA, given that the championship was won by this city last year. It's kind of like a perfect way to keep that energy going.

I mean, I'm going to keep petitioning for it to be in LA. I'm always going to keep petitioning for that. I would love -- my dream is to for All-Star to be a thing for players who aren't immediately a part of it to come to, and I think we can definitely get there.

But so far Chicago has been great. The weather has been lovely. I think that's always important. But the city, you can tell that they care about the Chicago Sky here and they have people that really want to know more about the W, and the business can grow.

I look forward to also having next year's All-Star be announced earlier so brands can activate.

Q. The W is at this kind of moment, a transition era in a way. We have so much momentum around the league. How do we keep that going, keep eyeballs on the sport? What do you want the league to do next?

NNEKA OGWUMIKE: First of all, I'm very happy that you framed it in a way in which you asked what we want the league to do next because for so many years people have asked us what we need to do. I feel like we just need to go out there and hoop. But you're right, we're kind of on the precipice of something that can really turn into something big.

You know, it's a sport. It's a business. There's so many intersections to what we do and what we're involved with.

I think the magic word is expansion, and in order for that to happen, we have to continue to seek investment, secure investment, continue to have open markets in which we haven't had big events such as the All-Star in cities like Chicago, and then really just ensuring that players are first, because that's really where the business starts.

If we're not happy, it's going to show. And then fans won't like to watches players that aren't happy. I think that really has to be the perspective moving on, and not saying that it hasn't been, but continuing to collaborate with the league in order for us to grow the business in a way that can be as robust as we envision it to be.

I don't know if there's a general answer, but that's kind of where my mind is at, you know? Yeah.

Q. Nneka, I'd like to expand upon this question and ask you a little bit about the W's pop cultural footprint and how we're looking at this evolution. For example, there was a WNBA New York Liberty documentary at Tribeca Film Festival and there was an entire segment about Joan Jett and how she was in the front row with a voodoo doll. What I want to know from you is, where have those types of celebrities gone and where has that energy gone, and what is sort of the journey to getting that back, if that makes sense?

NNEKA OGWUMIKE: That is an excellent question, and honestly, it's something that we in LA have been trying to figure out, because I've seen our organization change in a lot of ways. I was just talking to someone the other day about how we used to have Faith Evans, all these performances, and not so much anymore, not to say that it's like good or bad, but there is a lot to be said when it comes to cultural capital.

Cultural capital is very, very important, and as you said, the W in pop culture, it can take off with the investment. We bring the culture, just by being ourselves. We bring the culture being ourselves.

Being able to be on platforms and being able to be in commercials in which -- I told J.J. this morning she got that herself because she tweeted about it. It shouldn't have to take -- athletes will advocate for themselves but they shouldn't have to depend on it, is basically what I'm saying. The cultural aspect of that can only take off if we have investment behind it, but the cultural capital is really important, especially as we're in a time not just in sport but also in the world in which everyone is paying attention to like what you eat, what you wear, what you say, what you post, who you're affiliated with, who you're voting for. These are all things that are very important, and it sways millions, it sways thousands. As athletes, we are walking advertisements. We're a walking brand.

For us to be able to capitalize that on a collective level is really important, and that's kind of where the investment backing can shoot that pop culture and that cultural capital where it needs to be for us to be where we know our league can be.

Q. Jonquel, this is Sylvia Fowles' last All-Star Game. I'm curious having gone up against her for a few years, is there anything you can tell us about what Syl is like on the court? She's like the nicest person outside of it. Does she talk trash? What is it like going up against her?

JONQUEL JONES: She does her thing. Syl is Syl. I don't think anything rattles Syl or gets Syl out of who Syl is. For me, she was that center that I looked forward to playing against, and she's just been so dominant, and yeah, she's been Syl her entire career.

I've been saying it the whole time I've been doing media this entire All-Star is just, I'm happy to be able to say that I'll be playing in what will probably be her last All-Star, her and Sue, and what they mean to the league and all their contributions to the game of basketball. It can't be -- you can't overstate it because they've done so much.

I'm happy to be a part of that. But yeah, Syl is a legend, her and Sue, and I'm happy to be a part of this.

Q. For whomever it is that wants to answer, in recent years there's been more that has been done as far as -- do you feel more has been done as far as making All-Star more of a weekend event as opposed to just a standalone? And second part, among everybody on your team, who would you have to say is going to have the best All-Star fit?

JONQUEL JONES: I definitely have seen the growth in it. I feel like two years ago in Vegas All-Star was amazing. They went above and beyond. It was a great experience. I feel like the pandemic kind of hit and some other things kind of hit that kind of got us out of our groove in terms of making All-Star what it's supposed to be.

I feel like I've seen both. I've seen it be amazing and then I've seen it kind of like, oh, it could be so much better. I think we just have to continue to just grow and allow it to be better and get more performances, get more things for athletes. Like Nneka said, get it to the point where we have other W players and other people wanting to be a part of All-Star because that's what it's about. Like she said, we are the culture, we create the culture. The more people we have engaged in this and the more we have people wanting to be a part of this, the better it's going to be for the league.