- How do you want the everyday basketball fan to view the WNBA?
- Badass.
Right?
Do you have to say that LeBron is a "male basketball player"?
Like, I don't understand why we have to do that.
It felt like so much of my life was hidden
from even members of my family.
- I'm on my way to D.C. to link up with Washington Mystics forward Elena Delle Donne.
Bouncing back from an injury, she has a lot to prove this season.
But she's already proving why more people need to take notice of the WNBA.
- Hello. - Hi, it is so good to see you!
- What's up, how are you?
- Long time, no see. - I know.
We gotta do, like, a side by side, gosh.
- We're old now. - Yeah, what happened to us?
- [Announcer]: 19-for-19,
and no one has been better in the history of the league.
- You have been called the best free-throw shooter in pro basketball.
Are you the best free-throw shooter in pro basketball?
- I don't know. - [Laughing]
- I mean, maybe. But, um– - I think you know the answer.
- It's not, like– it's not a title I would, I like, take.
I just know that I have kinda just figured out what works for me
and the simplicty of the shot and not letting my mind get too involved
cuz free-throw shooting is so mental.
- So what does work for you when it comes to shooting free throws?
- Making it the same and keeping it very simple.
So, like, I literally get a 90 degree angle with my arm
and then lift and flick.
And that's really it.
You'll see players, like, get up there and
spin the ball, or, like, put it behind their back, or between their legs,
and when you do that, so much can go wrong.
Like, you will be thinking about that when you take your shot,
and that's just your routine.
Like, why should your routine affect the shot?
- [Announcer]: Just— - Whoa. Oh, whoa.
- It was wide right. - Oh, whoa. Oh my goodness.
- Which do you prefer to be described as, "basketball player" or "female basketball player"?
- Basketball player.
Do you have to say that LeBron is a "male basketball player"?
Like, I don't understand why we have to do that.
Like, we're basketball players. We play basketball.
- How do you want the everyday basketball fan to view the WNBA?
- Badass. Right?
- Badass basketball. - Badass basketball.
- How does the everyday basketball fan view the WNBA?
- I think the true fan, or someone who has played basketball and truly knows the game,
loves it.
I mean, you hear the NBA guys talk about it.
They watch our games. They study our games to learn stuff from us.
It's those high school has-beens that think they can still play
and for some reason hate that females might be better than them at something.
They're the ones who struggle to jump on board.
- [Announcer]: Natasha Cloud, going right, going left. At the horn!
- [Cheering]
- When someone says that women's basketball is fundamental basketball–
- Mhm. - How do you view that term?
- Fundamental, that word just is a little boring.
It's almost like they're kinda just simplifying our game and saying, like,
"It's very fundamental" and, you know, "It's way different than the NBA."
Like, we can't just jump over people and dunk.
Like, a lot of times we have to get to the rim and get real creative
and all different finishes, so the game is different.
But I don't think there needs to be that comparison all the time.
And even just the small little naysayers who are constantly, like, on us,
like "Go back to the kitchen, go back to the kitchen."
- What is it with the kitchen?
- Like, what is the kitchen comment? - What time are we living in?
- Cuz I can't cook. Yeah. - And I can't either.
I mean, at least say, "Order Postmates" or something.
- Right, more accurate. - Yeah.
- You talked about the marketing of WNBA players,
and I know that last year you called out Adam Silver for not investing
enough marketing dollars into the game.
- You can't make a business plan 20 years ago and keep it the same for 20 years.
You know, it's gotta change as the times have changed.
And now is the time where, you know, women are at the forefront of so much,
and women are so powerful and motivational.
So I think the W can be something that women can look to for that inspiration.
- There's this idea, though, that if we talk about anything that has to do with a woman,
we almost do it in comparison to a man.
- That's, like, something I've always struggled with.
There's been so many NBA guys talking about the WNBA, and it's
frustrating that they have to talk about it for us to be legit.
And people do listen when they talk, and unfortunately, people aren't listening as much
as when we talk. Why can't we just be heard?
- What NBA players really do support the league?
- I mean, LeBron,
even during our playoffs. Like, I was able to meet up with him
cuz I was doing the barbershop.
He was just, like, spitting out stats and all this stuff,
Like, "In this game, at this minute, why did this happen? You need to do this.
You need to speak out. Like, it was great.
And it was just, like, normal basketball talk.
And I was like, "OK." Like, you truly watch.
- [Crowd] Demand excellence!
- What does gender equity look like in the WNBA?
- We're not asking for NBA money.
We know that our league is not generating the dollars that the NBA is.
But we do deserve more than we get.
The more and more we get marketing dollars behind it, we get to be on TV more.
That's when we can continue to grow and salaries will continue to grow.
- So for someone who says,
"OK, well, maybe you guys don't get enough because not enough people watch,"
what would your response be to that?
- The WNBA playoffs were on ESPNews.
So, like, who's really able to watch?
Like, I've always said the WNBA fans are probably the most loyal fans there are
because, you have to be able to sign up for League Pass to be able to watch most of the games
or follow your favorite team. Or, like, say you wanna buy a hat.
A lot–a lotta times there's one hat you can choose from.
Like, you can't rock really cool hats.
- That has to be so frustrating. Cuz even when you talk about it, you're like,
"And they can't– They don't even have hats!"
- Yeah, you can't even get a hat! - Yeah.
Or like, they can't even get a kid's size jersey at times.
That's the stuff that's frustrating. But I have seen a little bit more of a shift
with the Women's World Cup coming up. Like there's a lot that is about to happen this summer.
- How did it feel for you to see, like, all the Women's World Cup stuff and
the soccer players saying, "OK, we're gonna take a stand against this."?
- It's inspiring to everybody else looking up to them,
and seeing, like, "You know, this is wrong." Like, "Let's fix it."
They just had the game where they wore a female that inspires them.
Beyonce was on a jersey.
Like, Lorde was on a jersey,
and then there was Delle Donne. I was like, "Wow." Like, "This is pretty cool."
- If you were to wear a jersey, whose name would you put on the back?
- I think Pink.
She's just constantly spoke her mind and done what's right,
and even if it has hurt her at times, like, she didn't care.
She always just kinda did the right thing, and
she's just so powerful and so important to women.
- So you live in D.C.
You can't really get away from the politics being here.
Has being in this environment forced you to be less silent about political things that you feel matter?
- I think just what's going on in politics right now has forced me to really try to speak up.
Who we have in office is a little frightening at the moment. What's going on
and just, I don't know, the hatred that is being brought up is scary to me.
- Yeah. - We've got to speak up, and I know it gets tiring
every day something new to kind of say "No, stop. This is wrong."
But we kinda just gotta keep pushing.
- You've been in the news a couple times.
You had a disagreement with Adam Silver. You wrote a book.
What inspired you to just be more vocal?
- Truly, just meeting Amanda, my wife,
made me feel at home and she's just helped me grow up and kinda just be who I am
and not be apologetic about it.
When you first meet her, she like, comes off as, like, very serious.
Sometimes she'll have– I don't know if I should say this,
but, like, that resting bitch face. - [Laughing]
You can say it. - OK, the resting bitch face.
- Yeah.
- But she truly has one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen.
And for those she cares about, she goes above and beyond.
Like, she runs all my businesses. She's doing the renovations.
- So tell me what that process has been like. - Whew, that's been, uh, quite fun so...
We decided to buy this house, and we knew it was gonna take some, like, fixing.
Basically, Amanda kind of had the vision. She was all over Pinterest,
and was like, "Do you like this? Do you like this?"
I was like, "Yes, yes,"
and worked with the contractor to get it done.
- Now, Amanda, your wife told me you are the boss, you're in control.
So I wanna know what it's been like to lose control of your house for all these months.
- Terrible. We're living in our basement with our two dogs,
and they're not small dogs, so there's that.
And I like to think you put in some– - I said you would show me Pinterest, and then
I'd say yes or no.
- That was the process. - Yeah, it’s that simple. Yes or no.
- It’s simple! - [Laughing]
- It was really amazing to hear Elena talk about you–
- I said I was the goofy one and you're the dry humor one.
- Yeah. You're weird. It's not a bad thing. I think it's great to be weird.
Actually, people don't really know her. I think they've gotten to know you better
through Instagram. Because I love just recording her
so people can see what she's really like cuz she's–
I think you're funnier, for sure.
- Thank you. I will take that one.
Growing up and being a lesbian and not really understanding what was going on,
not really having a role model to look to and just feeling like I had to keep that hidden
was really tough.
It felt like so much of my life was hidden from even members of my family.
And then when I met Amanda, it just all kind of changed.
- Cheers to the Delle Donne's! - [Cheering]
- We do a segment with every guest.
I'm gonna tell you about a time or a moment,
and you're gonna take me to that time or moment.
- OK. - Alrighty.
Take me to when you met your dog.
- Oh, I was in Chicago, and the breeder brought him.
He got out of the little car and he's, like, floppin' around.
His ears were huge, His paws were huge.
It was love at first sight.
- [Baby-talking] What you doin’? Come here. Come here. Come here! You a good boy!
- Take me to your TV guilty pleasure.
- OK, so I love "How to Get Away with Murder." But then I love MTV "The Challenge."
So I think that's definitely my biggest guilty pleasure.
- You're a Shonda Rhimes fan, cuz when we first met, we were talking about
how much we love "Scandal." - Exactly.
- Yeah. - Anything Shonda's got out, I'm for it.
- Take me to the time you realized, "Hey, I'm tall."
- Oh my goodness. When I came out of the womb?
No, I'm just kidding.
I think when I, like, was in school, and we started doing, like, school plays.
You know how you do, like, one a year?
And, like, I was always in the back row for singing parts with, like, all the tall boys,
and then me.
And then even, like, when we could watch the videos back
and, like, watch what we were doing in the dances, I was like,
"My goodness, I am really tall."
- Now you mentioned some accommodations with the house because you are a tall person.
This light? Tell me about the light.
- So this used to be, like, a drop-down light,
And, like, right when I first came into the house it was like, “Pew.”
I would've knocked myself out so, I'm not gonna get concussed walking into my home anymore.
- Perfect.
Lots of stuff's happening in here, We've got paint.
Did you guys ever think about doing the painting yourself?
- It's simple, but its a headache, and it's tedious.
- Yeah.
- When you paint yourself, you see all of the things that, like, you didn't do perfectly.
- Mhm. - Where, like, I don't see that,
and I'm sure they paint better than I do. - Yeah, I think we can leave it to the professionals.
- Yeah, just let them do that.
- So now that you feel you have found your voice,
- Mhm. - What do you want people to hear?
- I want females to be empowered and to be strong.
And if I can say something to inspire, you know, the next coming up,
then, I've done my job.
And if I just, you know, kept going the way I first started the game
where I was just, like, just "Elena the basketball player:
I don't have opinions," that wasn't doing me any good and
it wasn't doing anyone else good.
So I wanna leave this game better than I came into it
and hopefully inspire the young ones to speak their mind and keep pushing.
- Gotta find the good light. - The right angle.
- See, girl, you know I do. - OK.
- Just wrapped up with Elena Delle Donne,
which, that’s such a great name.
- Thank you. - Like, it's Italian?
- It is. - OK, so how do we say it, like—
- Dell-ah DON-nay. - [Italian accent] Dell-ah DON-nay!