#2023 WNBA Regular Season

[doublescribble]

Azurá Stevens and Cheyenne Parker 2023 WNBA Regular Season

[bucketbueckers]

I'D RATHER PRETEND

CHAPTER ONE

tags: @angryflowerwitch @avvwritesstufff | lmk if you want to be added! wc: 7.1k notes: see masterlist for content warnings. buckle up, here we go 🙂‍↕️

'South Carolina Basketball Star Tess Kennedy Hits Rock Bottom'

On March 31, the South Carolina Gamecocks went head to head with the Iowa Hawkeyes in the heavily anticipated Final Four match-up. For South Carolina, this was their two-peat season, coming off of an electric championship win back in April 2022 against the formidable Connecticut Huskies. For Iowa, this was their underdog season. Their last Final Four appearance was back in 1993. With powerhouses such as Kamilla Cardoso, Aliyah Boston, and Tess Kennedy, South Carolina was a fan favorite to win, but Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes would prove to be a wrench in the plans.

Late in the third quarter, Tess Kennedy fell to the ground clutching her knee as Clark drove past her. To those on court, the injury was obvious. She was carried off in a stretcher. We would later receive the news that Kennedy had officially tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her left knee and would undergo surgery within the week. Kennedy would have the entire offseason and most of the regular season to rehab and hopefully return for the 2023-2024 season, but onlookers quickly found that would not be the case.

April 9 marked the beginning of what was taunted as the "Tess Kennedy Destruction Tour." It had simple beginnings - a Twitter reply here, a heated Instagram argument there.

[IMAGE TRANSCRIPTION: USER GAMECOCKS4LIFE33: "TESS KENNEDY YOU SUCK, THANKS FOR THROWING OUR BACK TO BACK SEASON, I HOPE YOUR ACL NEVER HEALS!!!" | USER TESSKENNEDY25: "I'M PRAYING THAT YOUR WIFE HAS AN ABORTION. I'D STRANGLE MYSELF WITH MY OWN UMBILICAL CORD IF I CAME OUT OF THE WOMB AND YOUR FACE WAS THE FIRST THING I SAW." END TRANSCRIPTION.]

As recovery progressed, Kennedy soon frequented a local bar nearby the University of South Carolina campus. Kennedy would spend nights there, often inebriated and starting arguments outside. Her nights out would only end when other members of the South Carolina women's basketball team came to rescue her. They have all declined to comment at this time.

Kennedy's supporters have gone online with desperate cries for anyone at all to get Tess Kennedy the help and recovery she needs. South Carolina has been unnaturally quiet regarding their star player's self-destruction. Kennedy has expressed that she wishes to enter the WNBA draft after her senior year, and considering that an ACL tear often makes or breaks an athlete's career, it does not surprise us in the least that Kennedy is having a difficult time with her injury. The only question remaining is if someone will pick her up, or if Tess Kennedy will be left to her own devices and continue to sink.

-Penelope Lancaster, Bleacher Report

MAY 3, 2023

“You can’t be fucking serious.”

The silence in the conference room is palpable. Tess is currently battling a migraine, though she’s not sure if it’s from her hangover or the absolute bullshit her manager just subjected her ears to. She’s surrounded by Amaya, the aforementioned manager, Diana, her publicist, Coach Staley, a counselor from the university’s counseling and wellness center (though she’s already forgotten her name), Paige Bueckers, for whatever fucking reason, and two other unfamiliar people.

When Amaya called her to schedule a meeting, Tess didn’t know what it was for. Amaya didn’t say and Tess was too shitfaced to argue, especially when Amaya was yelling at her bright and early at 7 am. The regret pools low in her belly and she tells herself for the millionth time that she should have skipped this meeting.

“Tess, we’ve brought you in today because everyone is worried for you,” Amaya states. “Frankly, we should have done it earlier. That has been a critical error on our end. Your teammates have told us that you either lock yourself in your room for hours on end or go out and get plastered. I’m sure you’re familiar with what the media is calling the ‘Tess Kennedy Destruction Tour?’”

Paige, quiet from the other end of the table, raises a brow while Tess scoffs. “I feel like that’s a little excessive,” Tess says.

Diana frowns. “Since your ACL injury, you’ve been in several arguments online. You frequent bars and are at risk of a severe alcohol addiction. We know you’re not rehabbing nor are you taking your medication.”

And, at the heart of it, Amaya and Diana aren’t wrong. Maybe when Tess is a few drinks in and she opens Twitter and sees what all the trolls are saying, constant repeats and barrages of Tess Kennedy sold South Carolina’s game – she deserves so much worse than an ACL tear and South Carolina made a mistake in recruiting her, maybe she responds to them, because why wouldn’t she? She’s a college athlete, she understands trash talk and competitiveness, but everything that is said about her is downright cruel. She loses all of her inhibitions when the tequila flows through her veins – making the trolls feel just as bad as she does is one of the simplest remedies she could offer. The alcohol makes her forget about her injury, about the guilt of costing her team the game and the championship. It’s simple. So what if she drinks a little more lately? She’s not addicted. She’s just trying to forget.

Her avoiding rehab and her medication were just unfortunate casualties of war. Her injury was too fresh on her mind for her to fully commit to attending, even though Kamilla tried her best to get her to the physio’s office. Her medication was a different story – she had to be weaned off of her lexapro for a couple days before her surgery so she could safely be anesthetized for it. Then she wasn’t allowed to take her medication for a few days post-surgery given the nature of her painkillers. It all spiraled from there. She was off of her rhythm in multiple ways, and the last thing on her mind was her anxiety medication.

“We know you won’t listen, so we are not giving you options,” Amaya says firmly, forcing Tess back into the moment. She resists an eyeroll. “You’re at risk of killing yourself, Tess. You’re at risk of losing your basketball scholarship because your grades have slipped after finals – you’re lucky enough that your GPA was high enough from the past two years to cushion straight C’s this semester. Your brand deals are inches away from dropping you entirely. So, we are going to fix that. Three times weekly, you will meet with a trainer for mandatory physical therapy. Once a week, you will meet with a psychologist for your mental health and alcohol dependence. And during this off-season, we’ve made the decision that you and Paige Bueckers will be in a fake relationship so you can repair your images.”

Which brings us to where we are now.

“You can’t be fucking serious.”

Tess’s eyes nearly fall out of her head. Paige seems equally as shocked from across the table, jaw slack, though her expression hardens with indignance as Tess demands, “Why her? What is fake dating going to do about any of this?”

“Your brand deals are at risk of pulling away from you because you are destroying your image,” Amaya says again. “You’re too volatile. Paige’s brand deals are at risk of pulling away from her because…” Amaya struggles to find the words.

“I’m not ‘family friendly’ enough,” Paige supplies, fingers raised in air quotes.

At that, Tess snickers. “And by that, she means she sleeps around too much, people are noticing, and her conquests are bitter.”

“Why the attitude? Jealous I ain’t sleepin’ with you?”

“Oh, sure, because I’ve always wanted an STD.”

“At the rate you’re destroying yourself, you might be closer than you think.”

“Enough,” Amaya snaps. Tess and Paige close their mouths. Paige at least has the decency to look a little ashamed while Tess glares. “But yes. Paige’s brand deals feel as though she’s too… all over the place. Having a fake girlfriend will placate her brands and consumers who are upset with them for not taking action. The two of you together will show that Paige is not a womanizer and that Tess is not a flight risk.”

“I don’t agree with this,” Tess states.

Amaya hums. “I’ll take your grievances into consideration.” She pauses for a moment, tapping her chin dramatically as if thinking hard, before smiling. “Okay, I’ve considered. You and Paige will fake date. You’re going to go to all of your appointments and you are going to try to get better. Your doctors said you would be able to play again depending on your recovery. Why are you trying to destroy yourself? Why are you making this harder on yourself than it needs to be?”

Tess doesn’t have an answer for that. At least, not one she’s going to admit in front of her Coach or Paige Bueckers. Paige got lucky – she tore her ACL and she’s almost fully healed now. The chance that Tess might not be able to, no matter how slim, fills her with indescribable envy. Taking her destruction into her own hands gives her some semblance of control that she otherwise doesn’t have. She wasn’t in control when her ligament tore. She wasn’t in control when she was in surgery for hours and the doctors were meticulously replacing it.

When she doesn’t respond, Amaya sighs. “Paige flies back to Connecticut on Saturday. I want you two to take this week to get to know each other and soft launch – how you do that, I don’t care. We just want the public to know you’re seeing each other currently.”

After some more fine-tuning between Amaya, Diana, and Paige’s manager and publicist, the meeting concludes. Tess doesn’t waste any time before she’s hauling herself to her feet. She grunts as the pain shoots through her leg, gripping the table to stabilize herself. “Tess, hold on,” Coach Staley calls. “I need a word with you.”

Tess resists a sigh. No matter how fucked up she might be, she’s not going to be the one to test Coach Staley. The conference room filters out, though Tess doesn’t notice Paige’s lingering gaze as she leaves. “I know you probably feel a little trapped right now,” Coach says. “That we’re forcing you into this. Which we are – I mean, I won’t sugarcoat it. I know basketball is your dream and you feel like it’s all slipping away because of your injury. Let me be the first to say that the Tess Kennedy I know wouldn’t let this stop her. I don’t know what’s going on with you. I don’t know why you’re spiraling, but I do know that our team is a family and we are always here to support you if you’d just let us in. You are an amazing player, an asset on and off the court. Please give this your all, if not for me, if not for your teammates, but for yourself.”

Tess can feel the tightness in her throat and the slight sting in her eyes. Part of her knows that Coach is right – she always is. The other part of her is so overwhelmed by her grief that it’s hard to fully absorb it. “I’ll try, Coach,” she says softly, feeling more sober than she has in weeks. Coach Staley squeezes her shoulder, walking out of the room. After wiping the tears pooling in her eyes and taking deep breaths, she walks out, too.

“Hey –”

Tess nearly jumps out of her skin, a hand over her chest. “Jesus fucking Christ, Paige.” The blonde guard can’t help but snicker, crossing her arms over her chest. “Not funny, dude. You’re an asshole. I can’t believe people line up to sleep with you.”

“They do that?” she asks, smiling smugly. “Didn’t know.”

Tess rolls her eyes in annoyance. “Do you have a reason to be talking to me or are you just trying to make me start drinking at 9 am?”

Paige shoves her hands in her pockets. “Amaya told me your first PT appointment is in an hour. She wants me to go with you, help you out and shit.” Paige must recognize the look on Tess’s face because she huffs. “Look, I wanna be doing this as much as you do. But work with me a little. I wasn’t this insufferable when I tore my ACL.”

At that, Tess’s gaze turns into a hard glare. “Fuck off. You don’t know shit about my injury.”

She scoffs. “I know more than you think I do, and I think that’s why you’re all pissed,” she says, voice low. “Yeah, you’re in pain 24/7, but it’s the mentality that fucks you up. You’re scared you’re never going to play ball again and you’re taking it out on other people. You’re taking it out on yourself, Tess; you’re literally killing yourself over an injury you can bounce back from. It’s hard and it’s scary and it’s fucked up. And as shitty as it sounds, tearing your ACL is something that only happens to other people, right? It wasn’t supposed to happen to you.” Tess’s mouth morphs into a guilty frown, watching as Paige shifts her weight to her healthy leg unconsciously. “So, face it. You tore your ACL. You trashed your reputation to cope with it and now we gotta dig each other out of the mud. But your recovery is up to you. Commit to it, follow the PT, do what you gotta do – or you’re never playing on that court again.”

Despite her harsh words, Paige’s eyes are soft with understanding, not pity. Tess was used to seeing the commiseration on her teammates' faces. They didn’t understand; understanding an ACL tear came with the fact of having one, and as mad as she was at the world right now, Tess would never wish something like that upon her teammates. Do what you gotta do – or you’re never playing on that court again. Paige’s words run around her head on repeat. Tess isn’t surprised that it makes her angry. She is surprised to find that the anger isn’t directed at the blonde herself, who she’s about to be stuck with for months on end. Tess is pissed at herself. Her actions may have just cost her weeks, if not months of extra recovery time. She was so lost in what-ifs that she didn’t focus on the things that were actually around her.

Tess would work on it. That is as much as she could promise herself.

Unable to fully process the genuine culture shock of Paige’s rant, Tess swallows thickly and looks anywhere but the blonde’s blue eyes. “Do you, um, wanna grab coffee before PT?” she asks forlornly.

Paige’s jaw ticks, but she seems to recognize the invitation for what it is – an olive branch. “Yeah. Sure. You should swing by your apartment and grab your crutches, though.”

Tess almost rolls her eyes at the mother-hen tone of Paige’s voice. “I don’t need them anymore,” she retorts. “Doctor said 2 to 3 weeks post-surgery. I’m very much 2 to 3 weeks post-surgery.”

“Pretty sure 2 to 3 weeks depended on good behavior,” Paige states. “You did literally the opposite of that. Plus, I saw you wince when you stood up. Go get your crutches, Tessa.”

“Okay, first of all, Tess isn’t a nickname,” she gripes, but she leads Paige towards the athlete apartments. “Tessa is not on my birth certificate. Second of all, don’t boss me around.”

Paige hums. “Okay,” she concedes, which shocks Tess enough that she turns around. Paige has a solemn look on her face, but the look in her eye tells Tess all she needs to know. “According to Amaya, we’re girlfriends now. That means I gotta look out for you. So lighten up, ma. Get your crutches and let me buy you a coffee so you don’t get cranky in PT.”

Tess wrinkles her nose. “Do not call me that either.”

“Okay, Tessa.”

“You’re actually so fucking annoying, it’s unreal.” Tess turns around again, leaning on her right foot to take the pressure off her left knee. She clasps her hands together, trying to distract herself from the way Paige smiles smugly at her, eyes bright. Tess suddenly feels stupid for not realizing any sooner that Paige was just fucking with her. The worst part about this whole situation was how Paige’s banter did manage to chip away some of the guilt and anguish that slowly frosted over her heart. She’d never admit that much to the blonde, though – her ego is already the size of Jupiter. “Don’t call me ma. Don’t call me Tessa.”

“So what’s actually on your birth certificate?” Paige asks when Tess starts walking again.

“Tess Kennedy.”

“Middle name?”

“Why do you care?”

Paige scrunches up her face. “We’re girlfriends –”

“We are not girlfriends,” Tess interrupts.

“Okay, what the fuck ever,” Paige gripes. “Middle name. We need to know stuff about each other. Mine’s Madison. You might as well just tell me anyways ‘cause I’m pretty sure it’s on your Wikipedia.”

Tess heaves a sigh. Paige has to get off on being an annoying fuck – there’s no other reason why she’d be harassing her right now. “It’s Alessandra. Tess Alessandra Kennedy. I was named after my mom.”

“Tess Alessandra,” Paige repeats. Her name sounds far too good rolling off her tongue and Tess gets mad all over again. Paige is a woman of many talents it seems, although it’s unfortunate that shutting up is not one of them. “Cute. Is that Italian?”

Tess softens at the genuine interest in her tone, realizing she's being an asshole. “Yeah. We moved here from Italy when I was seven. I grew up in New York, came down here for ball…the rest is history, I guess.”

“Can you say the thing?” Paige asks with too much glee.

Tess glances at her warily. “What thing?”

“You know, the ‘Ay, I’m walkin’ here!’”

“Jesus Christ,” Tess mutters. She and Paige exit the athletic facility, and the South Carolinian guard leads her on the short path back to the athlete apartments. “You’re the most annoying person I’ve ever met. It’s impressive.” 

“I like setting the standard.” Tess glances at her. Paige looks comfortable – too comfortable – sporting an easy-going smile, as if being perpetually on Tess’s nerves is enjoyable for her. Tess isn’t sure what to make of her. “So, what was coming to the States like?”

The shorter of the two shrugs. “It was an adjustment. My English was decent, but I struggled to make friends. Basketball made me feel like I belonged here, although it reminded me of home, too.”

“You still consider Italy home?” Paige asks softly.

Tess mulls it over, humming. “Home is a feeling,” she states. “I never had to second guess myself in Italy – whether or not I was using the right words or doing things the ‘American way.’ I feel at home when I play ball. I never doubted myself there, either; it’s what my brain is wired for.”

“And now that you can’t play, it feels like leaving everything you’ve ever known?”

Tess’s lips curl into a half-smile. “Something like that.”

Paige makes a noise in the back of her throat that sounds vaguely like understanding. “No wonder you went on a destruction tour.”

Tess rolls her eyes. “And the moment’s over.”

“Nah, I was being for real!” Paige defends. “I’m just sayin’ – I get it. Basketball means something different to everyone, right?”

Tess softens. “Yeah. Guess so.” She opens the door to the athlete apartments, leading Paige to the elevators. She pushes the number three and the elevator closes. She sighs, leaning against the wall, and lifting her leg slightly. “So what about you?”

Paige glances at her. “What about me?”

“Your ACL. What was different for you?”

Paige wiggles her leg. “Well, I’m still recovering. Want to be 110% before I’m on the court again.” She stares at her reflection in the elevator mirror before her eyes look anywhere else. “It was tough. It is tough. I felt useless for a long time but my teammates and family pulled me out of my slump before I let myself sink. It just took me a while to let them in.” At that, Tess feels hot all over, looking down at her feet and not at the blonde next to her. “I just wanna play,” Paige admits. “But it just feels like every time I get into a groove, there’s something that benches me. I don’t like letting my teammates down.”

“You’re not,” Tess states, surprising herself.

Paige looks up, meeting Tess’s eyes, lips curling into a solemn smile. “Aren’t I?”

The ding of the elevator saves Tess from having to answer. She frowns, but heads in the direction of her apartment. She hopes that Kamilla and Bree are out. Walking in with Paige Bueckers attached to her hip would be an uncomfortable conversation. Tess sticks her key in the door, opens it, and nearly drops her lanyard in surprise at the sight in front of her.

“Tess, what the fuck? I woke up this morning and you weren’t here. I thought –” Kamilla’s rant slows to a stop as Tess walks in, Paige in tow, who suddenly looks like she wants to be anywhere but Tess’s apartment.

“Good morning, Kamilla,” Tess says guiltily. “Say hi, Paige.”

The blonde waves. “What’s up, Kamilla?” Kamilla blinks at the two of them. “Uh, I can just wait outside.”

“Stay,” Tess says, her words coming out like a demand. Paige nods, shoving her hands in her pockets. “Um, I had a meeting with Amaya. I’ll tell you about it later, Kam, I promise, but I have PT in like, 45 minutes, so I really need to go.”

Kamilla doesn’t say anything as Tess hobbles to her room and exits with her crutches in tow. The two roommates stare at each other for a beat before Tess inches forward and wraps her arms around Kamilla, who freezes in shock before returning the hug. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a jerk,” she whispers. “I’ve been an asshole to you and Bree. You guys didn’t deserve that. Thank you for trying to take care of me when I didn’t want to take care of myself.”

“Hey, we’ll talk later,” Kamilla says softly. “We love you, okay?”

Tess’s eyes burn with unshed tears. “I love you, too.”

Kamilla releases her with one last lingering look, smiling softly before glancing at Paige. “Best behavior, Bueckers,” she says coyly, much to Paige’s amusement, who raises her hands in mock surrender. “See y’all later.”

Paige, as if sensing Tess’s inner turmoil, allows her to lead them to the on-campus Starbucks in silence. It’s not too far away from the athlete dorms. Tess and many of her teammates would frequent it over the years, seeking caffeine for study sessions, though she’s aware of how different the situation is now. When they walk in, Tess is thankful to find it relatively empty. The two baristas on duty hardly offer them a second glance. Paige settles a tentative hand over the small of her back. “What d’you want, ma? You can sit and I’ll get your coffee.”

Tess is less bothered by the nickname the second time around. “Vanilla sweet cream cold brew. Please?”

Paige nods. “Got you.” She walks up to the counter while Tess grabs a spot at a booth out of sight. Tess pulls out her phone as she waits, having it on Do Not Disturb for the better part of the morning. She feels guilt all over as her notifications are full of missed calls from Kamilla and Bree and countless text messages. She clears them out and sends another “i’m sorry” to their group chat, to which both Kamilla and Bree quickly respond with heart emojis. Tess texts her parents back, who’d been blowing her up with reasonable concern after her media escapades. She tells them she’s doing better but doesn’t wait around to see their response. Tess has countless other messages she needs to get around to, but settles for silencing her phone again, promising to get back to them later.

Paige returns to their booth with their coffees in hand. The blonde passes her a straw and Tess quietly thanks her. “How much was it? Let me pay you back.”

Paige scoffs. “Bro, get outta here with that. I told you I was buyin’ so you don’t get cranky.”

“I’m already cranky, Paige–”

“That’s just your personality.”

Tess cracks a smile, the first genuine one all morning. “I’m serious. Let me pay you back.”

“You can pay me back by workin’ with me on this,” Paige says. She takes a long sip from her coffee, humming at the flavor.

“I’m good now,” Tess grumbles. “Trust.”

Paige snorts. “Trust?”

Tess nods solemnly. “I was kind of a jerk earlier. I’m sorry for calling you a whore.”

Paige blinks. “We don’t gotta talk about that, Tess, really –”

“No, just hear me out, okay?” Tess says. “I’m sorry. That was wrong of me. Your business is your business. I shouldn’t have used that against you.”

“I shouldn’t have used your ACL against you, either,” Paige concedes, “when I said I wasn’t insufferable when I tore mine.”

Tess smiles weakly at her. “I kinda deserved that one, to be honest.”

“Well…” Paige trails off, grinning menacingly, and Tess rolls her eyes. “Hey, we’re cool now. We’d be even more cool if you’d answer my DM, but it’s whatever.”

“I ghosted a lot of people, you’re not special,” Tess gripes.

“I am,” Paige insists. “We’re ACL buddies now. ACL girlfriends if you wanna be real. Two knees, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona–”

Tess buries her head in her hands, unwilling to let Paige see the smile on her face. “We are not girlfriends. And what was that? Did you just compare our knees to Romeo and Juliet?”

“We’re star-crossed lovers, ma; you more than me since Caitlin crossed you up and snatched your ankles,” Paige jabs. At that, Tess can’t help the laugh that rips from her mouth.

“I actually hate you,” she says, but the words lack bite. She takes a sip from her coffee, too. “Okay. How do we want to do this?”

“Amaya wants it, like, obvious that it’s us, right?” Paige says. “You could post a picture of our coffees on your story. Don’t gotta show my face but you could keep my chain in the photo.”

Tess glances at Paige’s collarbones, where her necklaces rest delicately. There’s a chain with a silver cross on it and her signature #5 chain right next to it, albeit it’s a smaller, less loud version of the one she wears for hype videos. Tess knows the online fans are freaks with how they notice things – they’d instantly clock it. “You could post me at PT,” Tess offers. “Like holding my crutches or something.”

“Or something,” Paige agrees, eyes lighting up with mischief. “You trust me?”

Tess eyes her warily. “Not particularly, no,” she admits. “But it’s your story and your soft launch. It’s your call.”

“Bro,” Paige sighs. “We’ll work on it.” She adjusts their coffees then fiddles with the chains around her neck. “Look good?”

Tess tries not to focus too much on the way Paige’s collarbones protrude slightly, the fairness of her skin. “Mhm,” she says noncommittally, readying her phone. Paige reaches for her own phone, angling it just slightly so the edge of her purple case is in view. Satisfied, she takes the photo, flipping the screen to show Paige, who nods. She sits for a moment, pondering the caption, before typing out, ‘and a new day will bring about the dawn.’ She shows Paige again. “You like?”

“Frank?” she asks, smiling when Tess nods in confirmation. “It’s a little cheesy maybe. But it shows, like, you’re optimistic and shit. That you’re getting better.” Tess makes a noise of agreement, centering the text to her liking. Paige lays a hand on her wrist before she has the chance to post. “We should set some rules before we do this.”

Tess sighs. “Really, Paige?”

“Yes, really,” Paige retorts. “We’re lying to millions of people right now. Gotta make sure we got our shit straight or we’re fucked. When did we start talking?”

���You DMed me after my injury,” Tess offers hesitantly. “Offered support.”

“Lotta help I was with you spiraling for a month straight,” Paige grumbles.

Tess smirks wryly. “A little bit of truth in the lie goes a long way, right? You messaged me, I didn’t want to accept help, but you still tried – maybe you flew out to surprise me? You’re here now.”

Paige pauses, swirling the straw in her drink. “That works. We bonded over our ACLs, realized we had other shit in common. I pulled you out of the deep end–”

“And I got you to settle down.”

Paige raises a brow. “Oh, so that’s where we are now? You won’t even friendzone me but I’m settling?”

Tess rolls her eyes. “You’re literally on my last nerve.”

The blonde smiles smugly. “Alright. How open are we being with the media?”

Tess shrugs, chewing on her straw. “Maybe just be all coy and shit? We’re in different states so our options are limited. Repost couple-y stuff on TikTok, get active in each other’s comments, that kind of stuff. Maybe in month or so I can fly up to see you and we can hard-launch?”

Paige nods. “Works for me. Let me know when you’re thinking and I can pick you up from the airport or something.” They fall silent for a moment. “I feel like we’re media-trained enough that we don't need to overthink it. Just don’t invent an anniversary.”

“Agreed.” Tess stretches out her leg, rubbing her knee with a sigh. “You wanted rules?”

“Mhm,” Paige hums as she opens the notes app on her phone. At #1, she writes COMMUNICATE in uppercase, bold letters. Tess can’t disagree. “We have to make sure we do this right. If either of us gets uncomfortable, we need to talk about it and fix it or end it. I’m sure there’s community service or some shit to show we’re redeemed people. For public appearances, we gotta, you know…kiss and stuff to sell it.” Paige’s cheeks flush red as she says this. “Uh, we can talk about it later. If you want.”

“Yeah,” Tess agrees awkwardly. The thought of having to kiss Paige leaves a stirring feeling in her chest that she can’t quite place. At #2, Paige writes No seeing other people on the DL. “That’s pretty self-explanatory. You sure you can handle it?” she teases.

Paige rolls her eyes but she has the decency to look guilty. “Contrary to popular belief, I am not a womanizer, Tess Alessandra,” she sasses.

“I believe you, Paige Madison,” Tess retorts.

At #3, Paige writes Nobody can know. “My teammates have big mouths,” Paige states. “But also I feel like it adds to the story.”

Tess frowns. “Well, I kind of already promised to tell Kam and Bree. I owe it to them after being a shitty person for a month straight.” Paige stares at her for a beat before adding, Nobody can know, except Kamilla and Bree. Tess nods, satisfied. At #4, she writes, NO CATCHING FEELINGS. She blushes as she writes it and Tess raises a brow. “Is that a concern of yours?”

“No!” Paige says a little too quickly for Tess’s liking. “I can do casual,” she adds, voice lower. “Ion know about you. But you can’t fall in love with me. That would ruin all of this. We can’t let this get out of hand, you know?”

“Sure,” Tess agrees. “But you can’t fall in love with me, either.”

Paige’s jaw ticks. “You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Good.”

They fall into a brief silence. “You wanna add anything else?” Paige asks.

Tess shakes her head. “Shake on it?” Their hands meet in a crisp dap and Tess finally hits post on her story. She closes the app immediately, knowing that her notifications will explode. Paige finishes off the rest of her coffee, eyeing Tess curiously. The blonde has an unreadable look on her face – Tess isn’t quite sure what she’s thinking, and it rattles her. She glances at her phone, noting the time. “You ready?”

Paige nods, collecting their empty cups and tossing them in the trash. “Lead the way, ma.”

Tess settles into her crutches, feeling uncomfortable as they dig into her arms, but relieved as they take the pressure off her knee. Tess leads Paige back to the athletic facility, listening to the blonde’s rant about something Azzi said to her. She wonders how much of Paige’s brain is basketball stuff and how much is the random shit that apparently floats through there. Tess has only spent maybe an hour and a half one-on-one with Paige Bueckers, but she’s convinced the inside of her brain is a Where’s Waldo picture. Sure, they’ve chatted after games – okay, it’s probably more accurate to say they trash-talked after games, especially after South Carolina kicked their ass in the championship last year, though it was all in good fun – but getting to know her on a personal, less basketball-focused level is different.

They reach the physio’s office just in time for the start of Tess’s PT session. Craig, the trainer, greets her warmly, saying, “I’m glad to see your days of skipping PT are over, Tess.”

The South Carolinian guard rolls her eyes good-naturedly. “Don’t worry,” she says. “I have an enforcer now.”

“Present!” Paige chirps.

Craig begins with a preliminary check-up, asking a few questions that Tess is tempted to sugarcoat if not for Paige’s convincing glare. Admitting that she hasn’t done much outside of skipping her PT to Craig’s face makes her feel embarrassed all over. The overall lack of proper rest and elevation coupled with overuse is expected to tack on another two months at most to her recovery, Craig estimates, but the idea that she still has a chance does enough to quell some of her worries.

With the questioning out of the way, Craig leads her through a couple of stretches and exercises. Paige joins in, working on her knee, and it makes Tess feel less silly about herself. It’s a strange thing to say. People always advise you to do it scared when you’re worried about trying new things, but Tess has come to find that the issue isn’t being scared – it’s doing it alone that makes it so difficult. She’s slightly ashamed to admit how much easier this whole process has become with Paige sitting next to her, extending her knee and breathing through the pain.

When Craig steps out to grab something from the storage area, there’s sweat beading at Tess’s hairline from the exertion of working her knee productively. She lays an ice pack over it, breathing through the slight pain and regretting everything that’s led her to this moment right now. “I’m never guarding Caitlin Clark again,” she mutters, half-serious.

Paige breaks out into infectious laughter. Tess has to fight back a smile at the sound. “You gotta get your lick back,” she says. 

“Trust, I’m working on it,” Tess says. “I’m gonna get better out of spite and break her ankles next season. Though she’ll probably drop a three on my head right after. That’s ball, baby.”

Paige reaches out, dapping her up and agreeing, “That’s ball.” Then, she pulls out her phone. “Soft launch time?”

Tess groans. “I know I said it was your call but please don’t do anything weird. I can’t handle it after this PT session.”

Paige rolls her eyes. “You gotta trust me, ma,” she chides. She readies the camera and reaches out for the ice pack, swatting away Tess’s hand. Her right knee bumps into Tess’s left thigh as she scoots ever so slightly closer, pressing the ice pack onto her knee. “Get your bracelet in there.” Tess does as Paige instructs, inching her hand closer in frame. Her bracelet is silver with a few notable charms, though the one that stands out the most is her jersey number, 25. “This okay?”

They look like a couple, Tess has to admit. Their proximity is one thing – you could say that’s just being friendly, but the fact that Paige is icing her knee feels weirdly intimate. “Yup,” she manages to get out. “All good.”

Paige takes the photo wordlessly, handing the ice pack over to Tess once she’s 100% satisfied with the way the photo has come out. She ponders the caption for a moment until she settles on the female doctor emoji and an ice cube. Tess snorts as she hits post and immediately silences her notifications. “You’re so creative.”

Paige rolls her eyes, but a smirk tugs at her lips regardless. “My bad. Next time I’ll use a cheesy ass Frank lyric.”

“You said it worked!” Tess exclaims, much to Paige’s amusement. She doesn’t get the chance to say more as Craig walks back in with the supplies he’d gone out to find. He wraps Tess’s knee and secures a huge ass brace around it. Given that she fucked up so much of her early recovery, he advises her to wrap her knee every morning and ice her knee on and off each day for about a week. Craig tells her to keep strenuous movement to a minimum and to use her crutches at all times – basically, everything her doctor told her to do in the first place. She nods along, promising to follow Craig’s instructions, but after a long day of PT and general emotional realizations, all she can think about is getting back to her room and taking a long nap.

Craig finally releases her from her session, reminding her to show up at the same time on Friday. Tess doesn’t fight him on it. He gives her one last gentle smile before she and Paige take their leave, walking back to Tess’s apartment in a comfortable silence. Paige scrolls on her phone before chuckling at something, nudging Tess, and showing her the screen. Her messages are full of questions from her teammates, with Nika Mühl’s sticking out like a sore thumb, reading, ‘I KNOW you didn’t seriously cancel on me and Lili this week to play doctor in SC!!!’ Tess can’t help but laugh out loud at that one. “The articles are crazy, bro, look,” Paige says, closing out of her iMessage and opening Instagram, where Overtime has shared pictures of both of their stories with the wide-eyed emoji. “‘Fans are speculating that Paige Bueckers flew out to meet up with South Carolinian shooting guard Tess Kennedy amidst controversy and Kennedy’s recent ACL injury,’” Paige reads.

“‘Amidst controversy’ is crazy work,” Tess huffs. “It wasn’t even that bad.”

Paige snorts, scrolling down. “We got detectives and shit,” she comments, showing Tess her screen. An Instagram account called ‘wcbbupdates’ has shared both of their stories again, having marked Paige’s chains and phone case and Tess’s bracelet in bright red circles. Paige narrows her eyes at a comment as she reads it aloud to Tess. “‘They are not slick, this is the hardest soft launch I’ve ever seen. I always knew Paige and Tess had sexual tension. Do you guys remember the regular season game in Paige’s freshman year where she was all up on Tess?’ Bro, what the fuck?”

Tess glances at Paige knowingly. “Something you want to share with the class?”

Paige scoffs. “I was not all over you,” she says. “We call that playing good D around here.”

Tess rolls her eyes. “You’re such a fucking liar,” she grumbles. “Just wait until I’m healthy again. I’m gonna cross you up so bad you have to retire from college ball or you have to take a super senior season just to fix your busted stats.”

The blonde smirks at her. “Oh, yeah?”

Tess doesn’t like the goading in her tone, nor the insinuation in her response. “You’re so –”

“Annoying?”

“So fucking annoying,” Tess confirms, much to Paige’s delight. 

“I love when you say nice things to me,” Paige croons.

Tess rolls her eyes, not responding, which draws a quiet laugh from Paige as they continue walking. Once they make it back up to Tess’s apartment, Paige lingers behind Tess, as if she’s unsure what to say for once in her life. The South Carolinian guard turns on her heel, leaning against her crutches and watching Paige carefully. 

“You’re here until Saturday?” Tess asks noncommittally, although she knows the answer. Paige nods. “You, uh, wanna come to PT on Friday, too?”

Paige shoves her hands in her pockets, giving Tess some sort of half smile. “Yeah. I can do that. Could get coffee or something.”

Tess studies her, lips quirking, but not giving anything away. “Or something,” she agrees. “Just text me. We can figure it out later.”

The blonde unlocks her phone and hands it over to Tess. She punches her number in and saves her contact. “Don’t ghost me this time?” Paige asks coyly, taking her phone back.

Tess snorts. “I’ll see what I can do,” she says gently. “See you later, Paige.”

Paige gives her one last fleeting smile. “Later, Tess. Be good for Kamilla.”

At that, Tess rolls her eyes, waving goodbye to Paige and finally inching inside her apartment. The door shuts with a click behind her. Tess sighs, leaning her head back against the wall, feeling the pressure of a migraine building behind her eyes. She doesn’t think Amaya is fully aware of what she’s asked both of them to do. Tess is struck with the realization that she’s in way over her head with Paige, with their silly little fake relationship, with her busted knee, and all of the mending she has to do over the next few weeks.

Tess takes a seat on the couch, propping her leg up on the coffee table in front of her. She turns the TV on and flips through various shows until she settles on her weekly rewatch of 2 Broke Girls. She makes it through the first episode before a knock at her apartment door forces her to get up. There’s nobody on the other side, but when she looks down, there’s a Chipotle bag and a drink on the ground. Confused, she picks it up. Her name is on it, but the cherry on top is the note attached to the receipt. 

Realized I took you to PT on an empty stomach. Hopefully I got your order right. You seem like a chicken and veg kinda girl. Sour cream and guac’s on the side. Lemme know if you don’t like any of this and I’ll order something else so you don’t bite Kamilla’s head off. See you Friday!

Tess barely registers half of the note. All she knows is that she’s well and truly fucked.

[20-22archive]

highly requested gayitlin masterpost its gonna be Very Long so

i wanna just skip over to junior year cause thats when i feel like the evidence is most damning lol

flirting or being extremely comfortable with female journalists esp during march madness?? (more on this later when she joins the league too)

some with autumn johnson (x1 x2 (same one but with ss) )

the infamous one with arielle chambers (x1 & x2 )

whatever this was with monika

her instagram activity

this could have a whole post dedicated to itself cause jfgbdfgd

okay okay first off we all know she follows out/gay people like the bellairs, olivia ponton, kristie mewis, pinoe, kehlani, tobin heath, etc. she doesn't follow her now but she did follow mikaelatesta who, like ponton, is very ig baddie type if that makes sense. and lets just be real alot of her posts are very suggestive bfgbd

also her likes on just posts with gay couples in general?? there's these three on candace's ig, arike's engagement post, kmewis & sam (this and this and this and this too lmaoo), and coach rania's post with her wife even going as far as commenting couple goals (did it AGAIN on her anniversary post) pics of the bellairs AND sue/megan stuff (third one, fourth, fifth, sixth basically a shit ton of content of them tgt you get the gist)

pride posts like preath's pride merch drop and both of olivia ponton's pride posts (honestly doesnt take much scrolling to she that she likes her posts on the regular) , kehlani pride post

and kinda random but her liking this sydney sweeney post & these posts from kayla nicole lolol

not much in her senior yr but i WILL say that this is when she got more comfortable with kate and you can find all of that in the katelin or work wives tag i think

also the whole lore with tatianna & bridget (bridget posts she's liked/commented: one two three and its more 2023 off season to mid senior season) and caitlin has liked practically every tati post from aug 2023 to lmao but a few shes commented on (one two three )

and then theres THIS which idk what the hell is supposed to mean ??

ok so onto her rookie season: very similar to post/end of junior year for the first half of the season at least

more flirting with/eyeing interviewers

caitlyssa thing is self-explanatory and you can find most of that in the caitlyssa tag

flirting with her fav interviewer ari chambers

checking out a'ja at wnba all-star

following chelsea cutler on ig who is a pretty lesser known but openly queer artist (also notable that another iowa alum kathleen doyle posted herself going to one of her shows and monika who is queer also follows)

ummm idk i guess thats all? theres also just the fact that theres a pattern of her being super close with the gays on her teams (monika/kate we all know abt that, nalyssa for like the first 2/3rd of the season, erica earlier on) and ones who arent (liz kitley now and georgia before they fell out)

[tchaikovskaya]

can you explain whats going on w wnba/caitlin clark effect? I don't follow sports and I'm not American but I am nosy

lol i adore this message actually. yes im happy to explain. but im terrible at keeping it brief so get ready lmao: (tldr at the end)

caitlin clark is a women's basketball player who played in college for the university of iowa. she graduated back in may and this is her first season in the WNBA. a few months ago, during her senior season at iowa, she broke the all-time record for points scored in her college career, for both men's and women's basketball. she's very talented, she makes these crazy 3-point shots (idk how much surface knowledge you have of basketball so i dont wanna sound condescending by overexplaining stuff but yeah a regular basket is worth 2 points and if you shoot from beyond the big semi circle drawn on the court around the hoop, that's worth 3 points bc it's much farther away).

last year, in april 2023, the university of iowa made it all the way to the finals of the national championship tournament. they played against LSU, who ended up winning by a huge margin. caitlin clark was (and is) a bit of a trash talker, like taunting the players on the opposing team during a game etc. and thats fine, it's part of the sport, it comes with the territory of being a fierce competitor. but when LSU won, the star of LSU's team, Angel Reese, went up to Caitlin before the game was officially over (like the game clock was still running and the players were still on the court) and did this little hand wave gesture that caitlin had done to one of Angel's teammates. basically rubbing her face in the fact that they ended up winning and they beat caitlin and her team. VIDEO to clarify lol idk how much sense that made.

okay thats the backstory, so NOW the shitstorm starts.

there was a TON of media attention given to that one moment. it broke into mainstream news media, not just basketball fans or even sports fans in general. Angel Reese is a black woman from Baltimore, Maryland (which has a reputation for being very poor and there being a lot of gang violence and crime, etc). Caitlin Clark is a white woman from Iowa. People made that moment into a huge Thing, saying Angel is classless, she's a violent thug, she's arrogant and rude, basically everything negative you can say about a black person without outright calling them a slur but everyone knows what you really mean. By contrast, Caitlin was made into this poor fragile victim in the situation. just an innocent white Midwestern girl being picked on by this big mean scary """Thug""" (wink wink). naturally, the reactionary far right made this a huge thing of identity politics and culture war. "Caitlin is a Victim who did nothing wrong and everyone hates her because she's white in a black-dominated sport and she's more talented than them and they just can't handle it." that kind of shit.

so the next year is both caitlin's and angel's senior year. caitlin broke several scoring records during that season (good for her, she's talented) and women's college basketball was getting more attention than ever, thanks in large part to the publicity boost the whole Angel vs Caitlin encounter got. they didn't play each other, since Louisiana and Iowa are in different regions of the country they really were only going to meet in the national championship tournament. and they did, in the semifinal round. Iowa won. everyone framed it as Caitlin's Revenge, of course. Right wing bigots, who have practically made Caitlin their mascot for white supremacy in sports at this point, had a field day with that and said some of the most vile racist and sexist shit possible. Hardly surprising but still very upsetting to watch.

a couple months ago, Angel and Caitlin both joined the WNBA. the way the draft works is that, to keep the league mostly balanced and competitive (so theres not one team with every star player and every other team has nobody and sucks ass lol), the lowest ranked teams from the previous season get the first choice of new players. naturally, caitlin was the first one to be picked lol. the media attention focused on her in college has followed her to the WNBA, but she has not been nearly as successful there. she was kind of a big fish in a small pond in college, and now she's been plopped into the ocean. her fame is way out of proportion with her actual athletic performance in her first few weeks of professional play. also, professional basketball is a lot more physically aggressive and rough than college basketball, and Caitlin is getting roughed up by the other teams' players regularly. this happens to every rookie, it's not new and it's also not personal. but the brigade of weird ass right wing losers who have made her their Aryan Princess has insisted that the other players are targeting her on purpose because they want to humble her and they're jealous of her talent and fame and they're being unnecessarily violent (again with the racist dogwhistles) and they have a vendetta against caitlin.

anyway tl;dr

the "caitlin clark effect" is basically like. this huge surge in attention that womens basketball has gotten, and CC is given ALL of the credit for it, despite the sport having been steadily growing for years now. thousands of people come to games, millions tune in to the games on TV, etc. but...... it's only for games caitlin's team (the Indiana Fever) is playing. yeah the attention has brought new fans in who otherwise wouldnt notice womens basketball or care about it at all, but for the most part the new fans are not basketball fans, they are caitlin clark fans.

This post is an example of how weird it all is and how the fans act.

and now the newest controversy is that she wasn't named to the US olympic team, despite her being huge for TV ratings and public hype/attention for women's basketball. the reality is that she simply was not good enough to be a better asset to the team than any of the 12 women who were selected. and this USA team is one of the best teams ever put together. it's not a popularity contest, it's not about TV ratings or ticket sales, it's about winning. but instead, her not being picked is being called a "snub" and has added fuel to the "poor caitlin everyone is so jealous of how much of a star she is and they're retaliating against her for it!" narrative.

her popularity and fame are propelled by some very dark political currents, and it has become part of this huge american cultural split that right wing extremists are making from mainstream society. she's Special because she's talented in a sport that's been historically dominated (or, lets be real, built) by black women, and there's the angle of gender non-conformity there too (female athletes regardless of orientation are already seen as like "butch lite" and need to be super feminine to compensate) and homophobia (lots of lesbians in basketball lol) and she's seen as this figure who is [nobly] disrupting the status quo of that subculture.

[female-buckets]

Griner, the June WNBA Cares Community Assist Award recipient, is the second consecutive Mercury player to win the honor. Mercury forward Brianna Turner received the award last season.

Since rejoining the Mercury in February 2023 after being wrongfully detained in Russia, Griner has focused on two service initiatives: Bring Our Families Home (BOFH), a campaign comprised of families of Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained overseas that advocates to spread awareness about their cases and safe return home; and the BG Heart & Sole Shoe Drive, which supports unhoused individuals in the Phoenix community.

Throughout the 2023 WNBA season, Griner teamed up with BOFH to tell the stories of wrongfully detained Americans abroad. The campaign launched in April with the unveiling of a mural at the Mercury’s home arena, Footprint Center, that featured the face of Griner and more than a dozen detained individuals. The 30-foot-wide painting features a QR code that directs to www.BringOurFamiliesHome.org, educating fans about the mission and how to get involved.

Griner and the Mercury hosted families and friends of wrongful detainees at Mercury games in Phoenix and around the country when the team visited other markets, and incorporated in-game PSAs and social media content to keep the names and stories of those detained top-of-mind. Additionally, the BOFH logo was affixed to the Mercury’s home court the entire 2023 season.

As part of the partnership with BOFH, the Mercury set up a letter-writing station at every regular season home game for fans to draft handwritten notes of hope and encouragement to those detained and calls for action to elected officials to continue to work to bring individuals home. Other WNBA teams also participated in the letter-writing campaign at their home games against Phoenix.

Griner founded the BG Heart & Sole Shoe Drive in 2016 to provide new and lightly used shoes to unhoused individuals in the Phoenix metro area. In partnership with the non-profit Phoenix Rescue Mission, Griner’s initiative collected and distributed nearly 3,000 pairs of shoes this season, in addition to other necessary items such as shirts, backpacks, hats and hygiene products.

Additional highlights of Griner’s efforts in the community during the 2023 WNBA season are included below:

BOFH awareness for families: The Mercury content team, on behalf of Griner, elevated the voices of families of several currently detained individuals including family of Zack Shahin, Emad Shargi (returned home in September 2023), Morad Tahbaz (returned home in September 2023), Luke Denman, Austin Tice, Eyvin Hernandez and Alexandra Forseth (co-founder of BOFH campaign).

BG’s Heart & Sole Shoe Drive: Before Phoenix’s first home game of the season, a Mercury season-ticket holder inspired by Griner’s commitment donated 452 pairs of shoes that had been collected in the offseason. On May 26, Griner participated in the first shoe distribution of the season, at a soup kitchen in downtown Phoenix. On Sept. 6, the Mercury hosted its second distribution event at the St. Vincent de Paul Washington Street Shelter in south Phoenix.

The WNBA Cares Community Assist Award is awarded monthly during the season to the player who best reflects the WNBA’s passion to make a difference in the community. In recognition of Griner’s commitment to the community throughout the 2023 WNBA season, the WNBA will donate $20,000 to be split among charities of Griner’s choice: Bring our Families Home and Phoenix Rescue Mission.

[98percentofthewnbaisgay]

Breanna Stewart finishes the 2023 WNBA regular season averaging:

23.0ppg - 2nd in WNBA + career high

9.3rpg - 3rd in WNBA

3.8apg - 17th in WNBA + career high

1.5spg - 8th in WNBA

1.6bpg - 4th in WNBA

2.3 3pm - 12th in WNBA + career high

46.5%FG - 19th in WNBA

[misterjt]

An Accounting of 2022

family ties

I got invited to no funerals this year. Those nearest and dearest to me were healthy. In a year packed with tragic deaths in the news, it feels important to acknowledge that the grim reaper did not come this way. 

My family, in general, had a stellar year. Team Toney remains booked and busy. My mom has opted to shift her career away from touring and more events closer to home and US-bound. 

Dom's dog, Duke, has become our regular houseguest, and we love it. He seems to love it, too. Has his visiting scratched the itch for us wanting our own pet or just enhanced that desire? 2023 will tell.

I worried about my grandmother's arthritis, for which her complaints (and concerning mishaps) increased over the year, but she is otherwise doing fine. And continues to defend herself against giving up her independence despite the desires of her children.

Get Sun

This year, travel was increasingly back on the table with work trips to Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, and New York. Not quite back to my old and desired schedule of about once a month, but once a quarter—with colleagues also coming to LA several times—is a move in the right direction.

We also went to Greensboro, Minneapolis, Chicago, and San Luis Obispo, but more later.

Beyond that, though, I got out of the house! I saw live music for the first time in two years, with the Smoking Grooves festival on my birthday and a Hollywood Bowl show featuring Flying Lotus, Hiatus Kaiyote, and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson. We will close out the year with The Roots at Disney Concert Hall.

Friends came to town to visit. There was lunch and brunch and birthday get-togethers. I was back to doing many things I did before the pandemic began. I even went to relatively packed movie houses (though I'm much more of a matinee person now than before). 

We outside! 

ENERGY

Included in being outside was being inside for basketball. If meaningful women's basketball was being played, you could make a pretty good bet in 2022 that we were there. Those trips to Greensboro and Minneapolis were for the NCAA Women's basketball tournament regionals and Final Four -- the first I have ever attended. It was an outstanding experience that I'm confident we will do when the locations and timing allow it.

We upgraded to courtside seats for the Los Angeles Sparks in 2022. Unexpectedly, that meant sitting a couple seats down from Leslie Jones. Jones is a brand new Sparks fan who was encouraged to attend by the ultimately short-tenured Liz Cambage. The comedian also became our basketball friend throughout the season. I sat next to Tacko Fall, Carmelo Anthony, Cedric Ceballos, and a WNBA player agent. We got thanked by Kenan Thompson for giving up our seats so that he and his little girls could sit next to Ms. Jones the day before he got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Sparks had a dreadful season, but the upgrade was a delightful splurge that was well worth the cost.

We also made our way to Chicago for the WNBA All-Star game. It was the first time we'd gone to All-Star where the location was more of an attraction than the festivities. The game was tremendous, and WinTrust is an excellent arena but our touristy Saturday away from all that was outstanding.

Over Thanksgiving break, we made an impromptu trip up the coast to watch the Gamecocks play Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. Despite all this travel, neither of us attended the University of South Carolina. Such is the pull of Dawn Staley and the program she's built.

It also reflects the importance of basketball—women's basketball, particularly—as a joy maker in our lives. Good things happen when we say yes to hoops.

BREAK MY SOUL

It feels weird to say it was a challenging year at work because so much of it was about progress and growth, but it was. I went through a couple months where Beyoncé's lead single from Renaissance was the mantra for the day. I felt him when Russell Westbrook came into a press conference early in the season like this. 

Part of what made the back half of the year hard was that I got promoted to VP in March. Title changes don't always mean new responsibilities and expectations, but, in this case, and at this Company, it very much did. At this point in my career, figuring out what it means and how to pivot is on my shoulders. No guidebook was coming. So I was uncomfortable, frustrated, and unsure for six months.

I still have those moments now but far less frequently. Something clicked in October. I shifted my approach, allowing me to find the path. I ended the year far more confident about where to go next than those days in August and September humming about people working my nerves.

I'm very proud of the work we accomplished this year and the value it provides. It's corny to say so, but I like what I do, who I do it with, and what we do it for. I have a very sober view of corporate work and the entertainment business, but I like this shit. Even when it's hard. It could be, especially when it's been hard, and I can see the fruits and growth of doing the hard things. 

About Damn Time

I quit Twitter. It's been nearly two months, and my brain is recalibrating. I'm a person who has focus. I no longer feel that twitch to scroll aimlessly. I have much more time than I thought I did. There's time for french lessons, letter writing, reading, walks, meditation, and planning.

There's also time for doing nothing. Like, for real, idle brain nothing.

Since probably 2017, I have felt the nudge to get off the bird app, but I was addicted to the dopamine rush. Musk buying the joint and following through on his trollish personality to make terrible choices was the push out the door I needed. 

I'm no longer seeking a replacement for the Twitter experience. I don't need it, and it's about damn time I realized that.

Thanks, 2022! It's been real! On to the next!

[janehsan005]

WNBA HOPES STELLAR ROOKIE CLASS REVIVES REGULAR SEASON ATTENDANCE

The 2023 WNBA season delivered record-breaking TV viewership numbers, including the most-watched regular season in 21 years, the most-watched Finals in 20 years and the most-watched All-Star Game in 16 years.

Full vedio

[kicksaddictny]

Phoenix Mercury Point Guard Sug Sutton Joins Moolah Kicks Team

Fresh off her debut season with the Phoenix Mercury, Sug Sutton is stepping into a new role as a brand ambassador for Moolah Kicks, the premier women's performance basketball brand designed exclusively for female ballers.

Drafted by the Washington Mystics in 2020, Sutton quickly made her mark in the WNBA. After joining the Phoenix Mercury in 2023, she showcased her talent, averaging a career-high 8.2 points per game (PPG). Notably, Sutton made history by recording the first-ever triple-double in Mercury franchise history during a regular-season game against the Las Vegas Aces. A proud graduate of the University of Texas, Sutton earned All-Big 12 honors in consecutive seasons.

Joining forces with Moolah Kicks, Sutton will stand alongside WNBA All-Star Courtney Williams of the Minnesota Lynx and University of Connecticut standout Caroline Ducharme to promote the brand. Together, they'll engage with fans, provide valuable product input, and showcase Moolah shoes throughout the 2024 season.

Reflecting on her partnership with Moolah Kicks, Sug Sutton expressed her enthusiasm: "As a professional athlete, having top-notch equipment is crucial for maximizing performance on the court. Moolah Kicks offers premium products tailored specifically for women, making it the perfect fit for me. I'm thrilled to join the Moolah Kicks family."

Natalie White, Founder and CEO of Moolah Kicks, shared her excitement about Sutton's addition to the team: "Sug brings a wealth of talent and passion to our growing Moolah Kicks family. As we continue to lead the women's basketball revolution, Sug's involvement further solidifies our commitment to providing premium products for female ballers. We're proud to have her on board."

Stay tuned as Sug Sutton and Moolah Kicks collaborate to elevate the game and empower female athletes worldwide.

[discoverybody]

WNBA schedule 2024: 12 games you really must watch

The WNBA has revealed its 2024 schedule, which has fans excited for the next 28th season. The regular season will begin on May 14, with each team playing 40 games, evenly split between home and away fixtures. The Commissioner's Cup championship game on June 25 and the WNBA All-Star Game on July 20 are both major events. After the All-Star break, the regular season will continue on August 15 and end on September 19.

Several teams are facing uncertainty as they prepare for the upcoming season. Some notable free agents include Jonquel Jones, DeWanna Bonner, Brionna Jones, Satou Sabally, Elena Delle Donne, Natasha Cloud, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Nneka Ogwumike, and Kiah Stokes. Candace Parker's future is likewise questionable following a foot injury that held her out of the 2023 season.

While rosters might change, there are presently 12 must-see games in the regular season. Matchups include New York Liberty vs. Washington Mystics on May 14, Indiana Fever vs. Los Angeles Sparks on May 24, and Seattle Storm vs. Minnesota Lynx on June 9.

Overall, the unveiling of the WNBA's 2024 schedule has sparked interest and excitement among fans as they look forward to the commencement of the new season.

The WNBA offered fans a holiday treat on Monday when it released its 240-game 2024 calendar, sparking excitement months before the league's 28th season in mid-May.

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Tianna Hawkins and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu 2023 WNBA Regular Season

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Lynx Ace the Draft, Wolves Implode but Win, and Why the Gophers Lost

How the @minnesotalynx aced the 2023 WNBA Draft, why the @timberwolves imploded but won, and why the Gopher men's hockey team needs to change its approach.

We discuss how the Minnesota Lynx aced the 2023 WNBA Draft, the Timberwolves’ wild end to the regular season, and why the Gopher men’s hockey team needs to change its approach. Listen here. Watch here. Lynx Ace the 2023 WNBA Draft Round 1, Pick 2: Diamond Miller, Maryland Potential to play point guard in the WNBA, especially with Cheryl Reeve as her coach Reeve made me look a fool when she…

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"The whole point of playing sports is to play for something and tomorrow we have a lot to play for," Mercury guard Diana Taurasi said. "I think that's exciting for everyone in this gym, for the coaching staff, for our fans, for the whole organization."

The Mercury will be without All-Star guard Skylar Diggins-Smith who is missing Sunday's game against the Chicago Sky due to personal reasons and Taurasi remains sidelined with a quad strain.

It's been almost two weeks since Taurasi sustained the injury and she said her timetable to return to the court is three to four weeks.

"The timing's not great. Obviously, I'm going to try to push the envelope as much as I can on my end to get back on the court," Taurasi said. "It's tough watching. You want to be out there, obviously. The WNBA's tough because you have an eight-month offseason and then these four months go by really quick. If you have an injury at the wrong time or an extended injury, the season's pretty much gone. So, it's been frustrating in that sense but I'm proud of this group."

The 40-year-old said she'll take time in the offseason to evaluate if she'll return in 2023. Last month, Taurasi watched her good friend, Sue Bird, celebrated during her final regular season game in Phoenix but DT admitted she'd feel uncomfortable being honored by every WNBA team farewell season.

"At this point in my career nothing matters but being in position to win a title," Taurasi said. "I still think at 40 and after playing all these years I still feel like I can get better... And I still like to come and compete and be in the gym."

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15+5+5 To Watch

15 TO WATCH/5 SPORTS TECH/POWER OF SPORTS 5: RICK HORROW’S TOP SPORTS/BIZ/TECH/PHILANTHROPY ISSUES FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 14

with Jacob Aere

A single tweet from Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey escalated into a geopolitical crisis, pitting the NBA's progressive brand against the influence of Chinese money. According to CNN Business, all of the NBA's official Chinese partners have now suspended ties with the league in the wake of Morey’s provocative (and soon deleted) tweet about Hong Kong freedom last week. And months after paying billions of dollars to extend its streaming deal with the NBA, Tencent Holdings has "suspended all reports/streaming of Houston Rockets." Notably, nearly 500 million people in China watched the NBA on Tencent last season. The New York Times further quoted a source who stated that “China’s punitive response could cost the Rockets around $25 million this season,” and Yahoo Sports last Wednesday reported that “at least five unnamed teams fear that the $116 million salary cap projected for the 2020-2021 season could drop by as much as 10-15%.” Obviously, the NBA has significant business interests in China. At the same time, it has positioned itself as the most progressive of mega American sports leagues by supporting social activism. Will those values be upheld now that the league's bottom line is at risk?

Last Sunday was the final day of the MLS regular season, which means the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs bracket is officially set. After an almost two-week break (which many claim is way too long), the 14 MLS teams advancing to the playoffs return to the pitch coast to coast on October 19-20, covered by MLS’ national broadcast partners ESPN, FOX Sports, and Univision. In other top MLS end of season news, LAFC Captain Carlos Vela set the new single-season MLS scoring record with 34 goals, breaking Atlanta United Josef Martinez's record of 31, which he set last year. (Vela and his LAFC squad have a first round bye and then face the winner of Minnesota-LA Galaxy match on October 24.) And Inter Miami has the No. 1 pick in the MLS Expansion Draft on November 19 after winning the "Expansion Draft coin flip” in New York. The team has "first dibs" over fellow 2020 expansion team Nashville SC and also has the No. 1 pick in the college Superdraft in January, according to the Miami Herald.

Elsewhere in MLS, DC United has ended their broadcast deal with subscription-based streaming service FloSports after less than a year. The four-year local media rights deal, which was only signed in January, was worth a reported $12 million, according to the Washington Post. The team’s final regular-season home game of the year, against FC Cincinnati on October 6, was made available to all fans for free through a live stream on DC United’s official website. The move brings to an end what proved to be a problematic deal for DC United. Fans of the franchise were initially unhappy at having to pay between $5.99 and $8.99 per month for FloSports, which was compounded when the streaming service suffered technical difficulties. DC United’s draw against New York City FC in March, for example, was marred by interruptions. The partnership never fully recovered and now the club is on the hunt for a new local media rights partner in time for next year.

The Washington Mystics overcame the Connecticut Sun to win Game 5 of the WNBA Finals and claim the franchise's first championship. The win delivered long-awaited titles to the WNBA's best player, Elena Delle Donne, as well as its all-time winningest coach, Mike Thibault. League MVP Delle Donne, whose sponsors include Nike, Gatorade, and Christiana Care Health System, put up 21 points and 9 rebounds in 37 minutes, while Belgian sensation Emma Meesseman finished with a team-high 22 points and became the first bench player to ever win WNBA Finals MVP. The victory also marked the second time in 16 months that a D.C. sports team had won its first title (after the Capitals won the Stanley Cup in June, 2018), and the second time in two days that a D.C. sports team played arguably its most memorable game, after the Nationals beat the Dodgers to advance to the NLCS last Wednesday. The Nationals hold a 2-0 advantage over the St. Louis Cardinals in the league championship series, and have to win at least 6 more games, including the World Series, to reach the Mystics’ lofty heights.

The XFL locked in its player draft to take place on October 15-16. According to Cynopsis Sports, player selections will be announced on XFL.com, @xfl2020 on Twitter, @xfl on Instagram, and through the social media channels of the eight XFL teams. Over the two-day draft, each XFL team will populate a 71-man roster by selecting players from a set of positional groupings. One quarterback will be assigned to each team prior to a five-phased draft, phased with 1) Skill players 2) offensive line 3) defensive front seven 4) defensive backfield, and 5) an open draft of all positions. The draft pool will include approximately 1,000 professional football players, all of whom accepted a Commissioner’s Invitation and passed a standard background check.

ISC exec Grant Lynch drives into sunset. Sunday's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 1000 Bulbs 500 at Talladega Superspeedway marked the final race of Rick’s friend longtime track Chairman Grant Lynch’s tenure, and ISC put out a video thanking him for the 26-year run. Lynch joined the track in January 1993, and over the years he has become one of NASCAR's most well-known and respected track executives, influential behind the scenes and constantly doing media appearances. Lynch is retiring after this year and is set to be replaced by Talladega's vice president of marketing and sales Brian Crichton. Daytona International Speedway, the flagship track of Talladega’s parent company, ISC, released a montage Sunday morning with several senior executives sharing their memories and thanking Lynch, including NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton, ISC President John Saunders, and Chief Innovation and Development Office Craig Neeb. Alas, we won't know the outcome of Sunday's playoff race until Monday, as rain delayed the race's conclusion. Talladega also unveiled their new $50 million infield renovation this past weekend – which will serve as a lasting legacy to Lynch.

SoFi sees new Rams and Chargers home as an efficient way to market. For a reported $400 million over 20 years, SoFi, a financial startup that provides student and personal loans, was awarded the naming rights to the Los Angeles stadium that will soon be home to the Rams and Chargers, two teams that relocated to Los Angeles within the past three years. The stadium is set to open in 2020, and AdWeek went behind the scenes to investigate why the young tech company made such a significant investment there. As AdWeek noted, the partnership guarantees that SoFi will be associated with the 2022 Super Bowl, the 2023 College Football Playoff, and the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2028 Olympics, all of which will take place at SoFi Stadium. It also doesn’t hurt that the stadium is only three and a half miles from LAX, guaranteeing SoFi free additional advertising from every flight in and out of the city.

The Los Angeles Chargers are struggling to sell personal seat licenses at SoFi Stadium. One high ranking team executive told JohnWallStreet that Dean Spanos’ organization is roughly $350 million short of their initial $400 million target. While it’s not uncommon for large scale construction projections to be slightly off, off by nearly 87.5% is an abnormally wide miss. An initial study conducted by Legends subsidiary CSL suggested that the market could support $1 billion worth of PSL sales (Rams: $600 million, Chargers: $400 million). When the Chargers stumbled with CSL’s suggested pricing, a second study was done and the team’s sales target was lowered to $150 million. But Spanos’ club isn’t even close to reaching that number. A source said that while the Rams are nearing $500 million in PSL sales, the Chargers have sold only $50 million worth. Rams owner Stan Kroenke is understandably upset about his tenant’s inability to move PSLs. Those revenues are supposed to go towards the new venues’ constructions costs (about $5 billion) and Kroenke is responsible for the difference. The Chargers’ second class citizen status in L.A. has also made it difficult for them to sell high-priced products.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced a four-year deal with FIFA to promote healthy lifestyles through football globally. According to SportsPro, the agreement includes multiple areas of collaboration, including: Advocacy to promote a healthy lifestyle through football; Policy alignment to ensure tobacco-free environments at FIFA events; encouraging national football federations to adopt tobacco-free policies, including at stadiums; and enabling WHO to provide technical advice to FIFA on health matters; Building on FIFA events to institute lasting improvements in health and safety; Joint programs and initiatives to increase participation in physical activity through football, in line with WHO guidance, as well as working with national associations and networks of WHO goodwill ambassadors, football players, coaches, and volunteers to increase physical activity through football. While we continue to take smoke-free sporting environments and related health initiatives for granted in the U.S., that’s not the case in much of the rest of the world. The new WHO-FIFA tie up can make inroads in these policies that benefit all sports fans.

A lawsuit is holding up redevelopment of the Oakland Coliseum site, and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred threatens relocation. According to JohnWallStreet, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf confirmed last Tuesday that MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has threatened relocation of the Oakland Athletics if the city fails to drop a lawsuit filed to prevent Alameda County from selling its stake in the land on which the Oakland Coliseum sits to the team; the city wants the county’s 50% share, but lacks the funding necessary to make the purchase. A’s owner John Fisher intends on redeveloping the 155-acre site to help pay for a new $850 million “privately financed” waterfront ballpark and mixed use space. It should be noted that “many people believe the most logical solution is to build a new ballpark - much less expensively - on the Coliseum site.” Manfred has made it clear, however, that construction of the Howard Terminal ballpark and the Coliseum redevelopment project (which does not include construction of a new sports venue) are a package deal. Unless the lawsuit goes away, the city risks losing the A’s to Las Vegas, just as it lost the Raiders.

What’s the hottest New York City Marathon training meal? Pizza! Last week, TCS New York City Marathon footwear and apparel sponsor New Balance mapped out plans for its 2019 marketing campaign, unveiling an integrated campaign that not only includes runners, official footwear, apparel and accessories, out-of-home advertising, and digital/social engagements, but also a pop-up activation in the NB Pizza Co. The initiative was opened to the public on October 11 and will be open through marathon weekend, November 2-3. Runners from around the world can join the “Miles for Pizza” Challenge,” log miles and cash those in when they arrive in New York. Andy Downin, New Balance Head of Global Running Marketing, briefed Cynopsis Sports about the concept. “Our goal with the NB Pizza Co. pop-up location is to expand upon the Runway Pub that our London team executed this past spring as a part of their London Marathon marketing campaign,” Downin said. “The NB Pizza Co. pop-up gives us the chance to celebrate the sport of running with the world around the TCS New York City Marathon, the largest marathon in the world.” Just call it a big slice of marketing genius.

U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee relaxes Rule 40 guidelines. The guidance relates to Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter, which restricts the use of athletes’ names and images for advertising purposes. U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes will be able to thank personal sponsors, appear in advertisements for those sponsors and receive congratulatory messages from them during next year’s Tokyo Games under guidance released last Tuesday by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Official partners will maintain exclusive use of Team USA and Olympic Games logos and imagery, but athletes’ personal sponsors will be permitted to run generic ads. The same brands will no longer face a deadline to put a campaign into market prior to the Olympics and will have more freedom on social media. The loosening of marketing rules gives athletes more freedom to benefit from sponsors they deal with directly, rather than limiting advertising to official partner companies of the USOPC and IOC. Are you listening, NCAA?

AdWeek shows how the NFL connects television, advertising, and American culture. This month, AdWeek notes, network TV “returns once more with a shiny slate full of fall debuts. It’s an annual ritual of foreordained failure, with the vast majority of shows unlikely to survive to see a second season. Only one form of broadcast programming really matters anymore, economically for the media industry and existentially for American culture: sports, broadly—and the NFL, specifically.” Some of the metrics are obvious: 19 of the 20 highest-rated broadcasts in TV history have been Super Bowls. More than a billion people reportedly tuned in for the 2018 World Cup final. Other stats are more surprising: At peak, 93 of the top 100 rated shows in a single season were sports programs. Tellingly, through Week 5 of the 2019 season, over 142 million people tuned into an NFL game, with each game averaging 16.7 million viewers across TV and digital, a 6% increase over last year. Streaming is up 51%, and all 20 of the top 20 highest-rated TV programs this season are NFL games.

Snapchat enables in-game purchases for first time in new campaign with Adidas. Adidas has launched a new, interactive campaign on Snapchat which, for the first time, will enable users to purchase a product via a game in the app. Through the game, players will also be able to purchase the latest Adidas cleats, the first time such capacity has been expanded to a game, and a significant step in Snap's eCommerce efforts. This new campaign from Adidas is not part of its Games platform as such, but it underlines Snap's push towards gaming, as it seeks to maximize its appeal and keep its users in-app for longer. It will also help boost Snap's combined gaming and advertising ambitions, and ideally, its appeal to the gaming market. In itself, Snap Games offer new advertising potential, but the addition of a new game/product tie-in process, with in-app purchasing, could provide another way for brands to create engaging, immersive campaigns.

Finally, the Los Angeles Times answers a question that’s been bugging us for years – where do football teams store the giant American flags that can cover the entire field during the National Anthem? The Times’ Sam Farmer “did some asking around,” and here’s what he found out. Some teams, the L.A. Rams among them, rent their giant flags for special occasions. Others, such as the Minnesota Vikings, own their flag and assemble it about four times per season – it comes in six huge sections held together by hidden Velcro seams. The Vikings’ flag is stored in six separate carts similar to large laundry bins. The field-size flags weigh about 1,100 pounds and cost about $42,000 to buy and $6,000 to rent according to a company that manufactures them. And NFL Films, in a feature on the 300 foot flags, noted that each stripe is 11 feet wide, each star is 7 feet tall, and teams use about 150 volunteers to properly display the flag before games. So keep that in mind as the 2019 football season, and all those giant flags, continue to unfurl. 

Top Five Tech

Technology, in the form of social media, has caused chaos for the NBA in China. The NBA’s troubles in the world’s most populous country began when Houston Rockets team manager Daryl Morey took to Twitter in support of Hong Kong protesters. His tweet, which has since been deleted, included an image that read, "Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong." Days later, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that he supported Morey "in terms of his ability to exercise his freedom of expression," including on social media, which sparked outrage in China. NBA China lists 11 wholly-owned Chinese companies as its official partners in the country on its website, all of which now say they have halted business with the league. There's a lot at stake for the NBA. The Chinese market makes up at least 10% of the league's current revenue, and could reach 20% by 2030. By sending out one tweet, the entirety of the NBA’s future is China is in jeopardy. It may behoove the league to begin focusing more intently on India moving forward, as we discussed last week.

Rugby World Cup gets 360 degree social media. According to SVG Europe, International Games Broadcast Services is a team of four that is creating a variety of content, including 360-degree videos, quick video clips, stats and facts, hero-worship content, and more for delivery via Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The 360-degree video is captured using GoPro 360-degree cameras, and there is no need for someone to manually stitch together video streams, making the process much easier and faster. Top clips this year include the New Zealand Haka in 360-degree and a Wales hero-worship piece. Additionally Japan, the Rugby World Cup host country, had a huge upset against Samoa which set its own record in TV viewership at this year’s Cup. By combining older media platforms such as TV with 360 degree video for online, the Rugby World Cup has been on the cutting edge of advancing sports broadcasting.

F1 and Complex media group team up for content series with rapper-host A$AP Ferg. The new series will be called “The Pit” and feature Formula One themed challenges. According to SportsPro, the online series aims to provide a greater insight into the global motorsport series and will feature current Formula One drivers, including Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo, and 2007 champion Kimi Räikkönen. The show originally premiered on October 4, followed by weekly episodes until the U.S. Grand Prix on November 1. This partnership will bring rap, F1, and pop culture fans to an intersection where they will be able to share their passions and be introduced to new sports and cultures to grow fan bases in all three categories.

The NFL expands its OverTier game pass deal to 181 countries around the world. According to Variety, the NFL has consolidated nearly all international-streaming operations for its Game Pass premium subscription service with OverTier. Since 2017, OverTier has held the rights to operate NFL Game Pass in Europe, covering 61 countries in the region. The new agreement expands that to more than 100 additional countries and territories, including Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, Mexico, and South Korea. Those regions had previously been managed by DAZN’s parent company Perform Group and powered by Endeavor Streaming. To date only the U.S., Canada, and China are served online games from different sports media companies. Under OverTier’s new multi-year pact with the NFL, it will distribute all live NFL matchups on Game Pass across 11 platforms, including iOS, Android, Apple TV, PlayStation, Xbox, Amazon Fire TV, and Samsung and LG smart TVs. OverTier has driven up viewership and subscriptions for NFL Game Pass significantly in Europe over the past two seasons and now looks to expand the NFL’s influence to countries around the world. 

The PGA Tour will show every shot hit by every player LIVE on its Players Championship broadcast in 2020. According to Golf Digest, The PGA Tour announced this media milestone last Monday ahead of the 2020 Players, which is set for March 12-15. The new way of keeping golf more action packed will only be available if you subscribe to PGA Tour Live, the tour's digital streaming product, on either NBC Sports Gold or Amazon Prime. Viewers will be able to select which players they want to watch during the tournament's four days. The tour hopes this is the next step in bringing this type of coverage to all of its events. PGA Tour Entertainment and NBC Sports will show more than 32,000 shots over four days at TPC Sawgrass thanks to 120 cameras positioned around Pete Dye's Stadium Course. The tour also announced the launch of its revamped TourCast product, which will allow people to follow the action with shot trails of every ball hit. Golf is getting full techie and allowing for fans to have more consistent content, better analytics, and live feeds from the course to personalize what they see from the green.

Power of Sports Five

Merging Vets and Players (MVP) charity teams up with the Atlanta Falcons to reduce military and veteran suicides.  According to KOAM News, the MVP charity aims to bring together combat veterans and retired professional athletes to help them adjust to life outside their professions. The organization has set up chapters in four major U.S. cities, and the Atlanta branch is working closely with the Atlanta Falcons. MVP was founded by FOX's NFL insider, Jay Glazer, and Nate Boyer, U.S. Army Green Beret Veteran and former NFL athlete who played for the Seattle Seahawks in 2015. After recently running some physical activities as a group, MVP coaches run “The Huddle” – a 1:15 long support group where participants are coached to be proud of their scars. Some of MVP's ambassadors include former NFL players Michael Strahan, Olin Kreutz, and Chris Long, who have struggled with retirement. By crossing the interactions between NFL and combat veterans, both ex-players and veterans can help express their emotions and struggles in a positive way.

The Sacramento Kings will reward fans with CryptoTokens that contributes towards charity. According to CoinDesk, the Sacramento Kings are the first U.S. pro sports team to develop a crypto token for fan rewards. “Kings Token” will pair with a predictive gaming platform the team has developed in anticipation of the legalization of sports betting in California. Last year, the Kings became the first pro sports team to mine cryptocurrency, setting up a program called MiningForGood that donates the funds to charity and now they are even donating to loyal cryptocurrency to fans. Kings Tokens will exist within a token wallet added to the team’s Golden 1 Center app, which tracks the engagement and accumulated points. Fans can earn rewards through the predictive gaming platform and redeem those points for access to unique events, signed merchandise or courtside tickets. This initiative is getting fans involved with current tech advancements in crytocurrency while also helping the MiningForGood program which donates the funds to charity.

Rugby’s newest league is for those with learning disabilities. According to the BBC, Craig Thomason and his brother Oliver wanted to create a game for people with disabilities, like Oliver, who lives with Down syndrome. Craig works as disability development manager at the Warrington Wolves Foundation, where the idea of the learning disability rugby league originated. A 12-team program was fielded this year with about 160 players taking part, and there are already plans to expand the number of teams in an effort to reach more people in more cities. There are also hopes that players will become more involved in the clubs they represent by going on volunteer for them; each week, for example, Oliver helps deliver rugby league sessions at a youth club, and he is a learning disability coach in a local school. The non-contact league plans for even more accessibility sessions for those who may struggle to play rugby and also wants to add a program for dementia patients.

The NBA’s San Antonio Spurs Silver & Black Giveback program awards $180,000 to local nonprofits. According to News 4 San Antonio, the $180,000 in facility grants have been given to three local nonprofits whose programs serve the youth of San Antonio and support SBGB’s mission to empower youth through service and sports. Grant recipients include Rise Recovery, the San Antonio Zoo, and Good Samaritan Community Services. Rise Recovery aims to help teens, young adults, and families overcome the effects of drugs and alcohol while also partnering with the community in education and prevention and were granted $100,000 to provide furniture, fixtures, and equipment for the sport court and surrounding outdoor educational classroom at their new campus. Meanwhile, the San Antonio Zoo will use the $75,000 Operation Renovation facility grant to renovate the San Antonio Zoo Education Center, which hasn’t been renovated since it was first occupied in 1984. Lastly, Good Samaritan Community Services was awarded $8,222 to purchase two evaporative cooling units for outdoor basketball courts. The SBGB program will help to keep youth in San Antonio active, educated, and comforted.

New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis turns “Man of God” headband violation into an act of charity. When the NFL tried to go after Davis for his headband with its religious message, he won an appeal of the $7,017 fine handed to him by the league and stated the money will instead go toward the cause he has been promoting. According to the Washington Post, Davis picked up support from a New Orleans-area Catholic school, where children created their own versions of the “Man of God” headband that garnered the NFL’s scrutiny. All of the $7,017 from the fine will now be donated to St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi, where Davis grew up. Davis’s mother worked at the hospital while he starred in high school, before he went on to become a third-round pick by the New York Jets in 2012. Sales of headbands emblazoned with “Man of God” and “Woman of God” picked up after the NFL informed Davis he would be fined for wearing one during a September game and raised an additional $30,000 for the hospital.

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Kahleah Copper and Chelsea Gray 2023 WNBA Regular Season

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Sabrina Ionescu and DeWanna Bonner 2023 WNBA Regular Season