Reporters should be able to play the sport they are reporting on. Feat A’ja Wilson and @nike
Summary
A straphanger sparks debate with a hot take: reporters should be able to play the sport they cover. She argues it's "egregious" for someone to report on something they've never played, though she softens her stance slightly by suggesting reporters should have at least played *a* sport to understand the locker room culture. Kareem pushes back with a doctor analogy that doesn't quite land. The conversation veers into WNBA tea ("not drama, but tea"), why there's no reality show about women's basketball yet, and a passionate argument about pizza ratios. She's team crust. Kareem wants extra cheese and sauce. They disagree strongly. The episode wraps with her showing off her A1's, A'ja Wilson's Nike signature shoes, and Kareem jokingly demanding she hand them over since they're both size 13.
Full Transcript
So, what's your take? Reporters should be able to play the sport that they're reporting on. 100% agree. I think that it that that it's egregious, if that's a word, that somebody could report on something that they've never played before.
Never played before. It's crazy. And we can maybe dull it down and be like not necessarily play the sport, but at least a sport like sweat a little bit. So, if if you've played basketball, you could maybe report on baseball.
Yeah, cuz you've been in that element. Even in that locker room, you understand the feeling a little bit and then you just learn it. But to play no sport at all, but yet have everything to say about it, it's kind of crazy.
I agree. I mean, if you're a doctor, right, you've probably been operated on, right? You've been a patient.
Yeah. You've been in a hospital. You've experienced it. And I think the best doctors have really good bedside manner, right? Because they've been a patient. They've been in the other shoe. They know it. Whereas, if I'm reporting on the athletics, I think I'm not going to do as good of a job.
You were honest with that. And I feel like a lot of them aren't honest and want to believe that they're not honest. They're salacious. With the exception of fanatics. If you know the numbers, if you know the players, if you know the lore, the history, the drama.
I heard the WNBA has a lot of drama. We have some tea.
The tea. Not drama, but tea. It's like a grand soap opera. Maybe a reality show. Maybe like not housewives, but yeah, it's a little bit.
Why haven't they made a reality show yet? I don't know. I think that maybe something we can look into.
Anything else you've been thinking about? I'm a ratio girly and I feel like too much cheese on a pizza ruins the pizza.
100% disagree. I get extra cheese. Ew, that's disgusting. The ratio is so off.
No, the ratio is fire. I like yes. I like more sauce, more cheese, less bread.
No, you're losing the whole purpose of the pizza. The crust is the most amazing thing. Oh my goodness. The crust is is essentially a spoon for cheese. I love extra sauce. I love extra cheese.
Not at the same time. I'm not judging you. I promise I'm not judging you.
It's okay if you are judging me. You know, we're we're we're all our own individual person. Yeah, but that's nest.
What kind of shoes are you wearing? My A1's.
We need to get you a pair of A1's. What size are those? 13 and 12.
Okay, great. Let me have them. Um, I'm a 13 and a half as well. Oh, that's fine. We can talk about it later, though. Just give them right now. We're good. Let me get them real.