Welcome back, loyal listeners of the Stacking Slabs podcast to season two, episode nine of the WNBA card podcast.

My name is Caitlin. I'm your host today. I go by coldlunchcards on the Instagram machine and everywhere else on the internet. And I'm joined by my amazing co host Brett McGrath at Stacking Slabs.

And we're excited to continue delivering collector driven community focused content to wherever you're listening to today's podcast. We're super excited to be here today.

Brett, how are you doing? I'm well. Excited to be here. There is a lot to talk about. I know we were talking about football season starting, but then on the other side of it, WNBA season is getting to the most important point.

So it'll be fun in this episode, I think, to start previewing that and start talking about that and how that might impact, our overall collecting. But, yeah, I'm doing well. How are you doing?

Oh, I'm doing well too. I I'm really excited. Like you said, I've got my two favorite sports with their overlap of seasons right now with the WNBA and the NFL. My Packers are looking good. I'm wearing my Packer gear today, folks.

I'll make sure to make sure I'm wearing WNBA next week, but just super excited, to have my fandoms crossover, both poised to do super well, and just excited for this playoff push, not only for my Minnesota Lynx.

I'm hoping that they get a little bit of rest here now that they've clinched the one seed, but just excited to see how the the standings pan out and who we're gonna be competing against and who I'm get gonna get to see in person, hopefully.

I'm planning to make a few trips to Target Center throughout the playoff push. So just anticipating that right now.

It's just all anticipation building up. It it it might be the fever. We might have to we might have to endure this through a playoff series. At least at this point, I'd be hopeful to be a fan of a team in the eighth seed, but we'll see.

Hey. It's never say never. The the fever beat us in the commissioner's cup on a night when I was kicking up my feet and saying, oh, this should be fun, and then we got our asses handed to us.

So never say never, Brett. There's hope. We'll we'll see. And, yeah, I'm excited to get into it. Yeah.

Before we get into it today, let's shout out our sponsor, Great Lakes Trade Trading Co in Saint Paul off Randolph. I I shout out to the owners, Chris and Spencer, for continuing, to support the WNBA card podcast throughout season two.

And as a quick plug, by the time this comes out, I think it'll be the neck the following weekend will be, the card show at the Saint Paul River Center where Chris and Spencer in the shop will be set up, and I'll be, loitering around their table.

So if anybody's gonna be in the area, be sure to check it out.

It should be a good show. I think it's about, 300 plus tables minimum, so it should be fun. Excited for that. Are you, Caitlin, are you looking are you more mostly looking for cards to pick up, sell, both?

Like, I actually got a DM from a listener who was ask asking me if I was going to be attending the the show. And I kindly said, I I wish I had that flexibility in my life right now, but, unfortunately, I won't be.

But, what is your plan regarding that show right now? My plan is not laid out. Usually, I try to have, like, a pretty prescriptive idea of what I what my goals are because otherwise, I just wander aim aimlessly.

But this show feels a little bit different. I feel like I'm at, like, peak fandom, so I'm not really looking to supplement any sort of, like, grief of losing with cards or trying to fill any gaps.

Right now, I'm pretty content with what my collection looks like, and I think we'll talk about, like, the the trend of the market right now, and we've been talking about how strong it is.

And I'm not really, biting to just, like, buy the biggest cards in the room. So my plan is gonna be to, meet people, talk to people.

That's always goal number one for for card shows. And then maybe move out of I have a Caitlin Clark, Bowman University, first year orange out of 25 that, no longer really suits my collection that I'm building.

And I'm looking to replace it with a different Clark and maybe a maybe a little bit smaller and maybe a Paige.

So just coming in with pretty much one card in my code lunchbox, in my lunchbox and figuring out what I wanna do with it. You mentioned Paige. Quick comment. I was watching her play last night.

And, that first play of her just taking the jumper, It was like full confidence. Like, I'm going to take it. I'm going to put it in because I am the player on this team who everyone else should be following.

And it's so fun to watch these star players evolve as the season goes. You know, I remember the beginning finding of the footing play, Paige maybe being a little more timid than we're used to seeing her. Same thing happened with Clark.

Yeah. But now it's completely opposite. It's like, you know, I scored 44 points in a game. Like, look at me. It's like, it is very apparent that Paige Beckers is the wings, and she is starting to really show that.

And I love that, and I love the evolution that a player can go through. She's been good the whole year, but I feel like the command she already has in year one is is amazing.

It's nuts. It's the command both of, like, the ball and, like, scoring, but also the command that she has with veterans around the league of just the respect that they have for her even though she's so young.

I've just been so impressed, and I saw somebody put in our WNBA card, podcast group chat to talk about the page step through on Nafissa Collier, reigning defensive player of the year. So here's that time, black hat for calling that out.

It was very impressive to do that on the the reigning defensive player of the year is is pretty impressive. And, yeah, as as long as, Paige isn't beating us, I hope she has the best games. She's so easy to root for.

She's also Minnesota grown, so it's it's hard not to to root for her. Yeah. We'll just be sitting here waiting for her rookie cards. Yeah. Exactly. Okay. Why don't we get into it before we go off on that tangent? Yeah. Okay.

So the primary theme of today's conversation is going to be, playoffs And we're I'm this is gonna be fun because I'm gonna ask Caitlin about some players and who she thinks based on teams projected or, you know, right on the brink of the playoffs who we should be thinking about from a collectibility perspective.

But before we do that, I wanted to talk about winning and winning versus other factors. I think about, Terraci. I think about Bird.

I think about, Asia. Obviously, multiple championships combined in those three. But those players also, like, are very highly collected in the hobby in comparison to some of the others. So I'm not here to disregard winning.

Winning will always matter in the hobby, and winning will always matter, in WNBA cards and collecting. But I wanted to maybe explore with you, Caitlin, some of the other components outside of winning because it's not linear.

It's not like a player goes out and, you know, has a 44 game or goes out and, you know, is the player of the week or player of the month in their card prices, like, suddenly rise up and it's that way forever.

Like, there's a lot of other factors at play.

So that's what I wanna do. And maybe before I dig into the factors, I've got a question. And the question is, does winning equal hobby interest, or do you believe there are other forces at play as well?

I 100% believe that there's other forces at play, and that's not to say that's right or wrong, but I I definitely believe that for myself in my in in how my PC represents itself and and continues to, grow, but also how I see other people collecting.

It's not just winning.

I wanna maybe ask you a very personal question about your collecting, and I don't wanna make things I know it's storming right now in Saint Paul, and I don't wanna make things super dark and dreary for you and to even put this thought into your brain because you know it won't register well.

But, like, in this era, like, you love the links, and you collect the links. You love feet. You just, like, are her ultimate fangirl.

Do you think you would still be collecting your links collection and you would have your fee aspiring six pack if maybe five years, ten years from now, the links never quite rose to the top of that mountain and got that championship that you're expecting.

Do you think that would change your collecting at all? It's hard to say. Let me just say that because I have never thought about that ever. But I I do think, like, to let's just, like, throw out a football analogy here, folks.

The the bears still have a lot of collectors and they don't win shit. So I think it would be proof that I I would still collect and it would probably be more nostalgia driven than currently driven, like, not not as many active players.

But I wouldn't write them off completely, but it would definitely it would feel weird, and I don't think I want that at all. Like, that's not something that I'm looking forward to or hoping for.

And but I think it's there is proof across the hobby that winning not winning, doesn't mean that there's no collectors. There's there's still out there. I love it. Shots fired week one from a Packers fan to a Bears, Bears nation.

So all those Bears WNBA crossover fans, we're we're getting geared up. Alright. So let me let me let me share some factors, and there's certainly more of these factors. But these are the ones that came to my mind.

And what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna run through these, and then, Caitlin, I would love to get your reaction. So outside of winning, here are some things based on my time in the hobby that I've observed that people appreciate.

It is star power and personality. So do they have a standout persona that connects with fans? Are they visible on social and interviews or pop culture? I think market size and fan base certainly matters.

You know, whether it's big markets, New York, Chicago, LA, like, how that how those legacy fans or fans that have been watching those teams in those big markets, how they've, you know, been attached to that brand for so long, I think, plays a role in their overall collecting and collectability.

Highlights or memorable moments. I am so much a believer that moments matter than anything else in the hobby.

It's like when we close our eyes, how certain players make us feel and what we remember them by. Rewards and recognition, obviously, MVPs, rookies of the year, all star nods, that sort of thing.

There is narrative and storyline. I feel like that is a big component of, especially, these younger WNBA stars as they're entering the league, scarcity around cards.

So, you we, as a, podcast, talk a lot about, well, if you compare the allocation and the distribution of WNBA across its entire run-in two other sports, the supply is certainly limited.

And I think as collectors, limited supply is great. And especially when a category is on fire like WNBA, demand goes up, which naturally means higher value for our cards.

And then just cultural impact. So what the cultural impact to me maybe is, like, a smaller sliver of the pie because I judge it very, I I judge it.

And I I just like I think of Taurasi. I think of Sue Bird. Those are, like, the types of players that come to my mind when we're thinking of cultural impact.

And I think about, like, if Taurasi or Sue Bird never won an NBA championship, would they still be collected? And I I think they I think they certainly would.

Maybe their prices wouldn't be as high as they are now, but I just think they have done, their fair share in a lot of different ways to kinda shape women's basketball and culture. And I think people wanna collect their cards for it.

So, Caitlin, I just laid a lot out there, and you don't maybe need to agree with everything or you can disagree or just add your flavor, but just kinda wanna get get your reaction just based on all of those elements that are maybe not tied to winning a championship, but might be other factors that contribute to the overall collectibility of players in the WNBA.

Yeah.

I think the overarching kind of, like, point that I gathered from this is that I think these are all really good frameworks or lenses to put on, when examining either, like, identifying what PC you're going to build or or looking at somebody else's PC.

I think it's a good perspective to take on to understand beyond just like the immediate obvious fandom, what drives a collector's, build, I guess, like what they're building.

And I don't think it's a one size fits all approach, like you just said and what you invited and the question was dissent or disagreement or a different flavor.

And I think that, you know, like you introed in this part of the segment is is this is not all of the factors.

These are the the ones that just stand out to us. And I think that, you know, you may disagree like the listener, you guys may disagree with some and you may be like, wow, you're missing the one thing that's driving my collection.

And I think that's so cool. And I think that's the best part about collecting is you get to define these factors and kind of rack and stack them in the priority order of how it flows through your PC.

And I just wanted to call out one thing, which was you talked about highlights and memorable moments, and I think that has always been a thing.

The moments are what what bring us to collecting and what makes us want to, I suppose, continue to remember it through some sort of physical, tangible, collectible.

But I I wanna say I think it's been almost exacerbated and and the the idea of moments have become even more important as we shift culturally into a short form content driven hobby where, you know, there isn't a lot of room for nuance in, in a lot of the content that's being made.

It's very short form, easy to digest, easy to understand. And I think that that kind of has also drive the importance of moments in the hobby.

And you see that in the production of instant cards or now cards. You see that in the photography that's chosen on cards. You see that in subsets where there's subsets of just moments.

I just think it's so interesting. I think if you look back, this has always been a thing. I mean, even if you look back to vintage baseball, I'm thinking about the Willie Mays catch and that's on a card from like a long, long time ago.

This has always been a thing, but I just think it's growing in importance. And what might have been maybe a little bit lower on the ladder of different, factors, it's it's just climbing to the top.

That's such a fascinating, thought experiment. And it has me thinking about this from a couple different perspectives.

And I don't know. Like, I think if you think about mapping those moments to cards and then also marrying that with the consumption of media and how things are coming at us, like, don't get me wrong.

You're list if you're listening to the WNBA card podcast, my thought process is is you're likely a long time collector who, loves to build your collection, and you have the space to listen to about an hour conversation of two people talking, about WNBA and WNBA WNBA collecting.

And and don't get me wrong. Like, I think about this all the time and, like, the fact that, like, we have your attention for this amount of time, it is not lost on me.

But I think about that in comparison to the majority, and a majority of people are just doom scrolling reels nonstop and just constant like, when I do that, I I stop myself because I'm like, I can't take, like, the what am I doing?

I, like, have to stop myself. But I think about, what you said, and it's we do we have a short attention span, and a lot of collectors are being introduced to the WNBA through clips, through clips on x, Instagram, TikTok.

And I will never say that it's a bad thing to bring in new people to a category I love. However, it's being done, but it has me thinking a lot about, okay.

Well, if individuals are introduced to Paige Beckers because of a buzzer beater she hit that they saw on TikTok, what does that mean for the way they they are going back?

New age collector is going to be thinking about the cards. Like, likely, their thought process is, well, I like Paige Beckers.

I'm getting to know her. I'm following on Instagram. And you know what? I I want a card that represents that moment that brought me in, which I don't know fundamentally, how that's all going to play out over the course of our history.

I don't think anybody does, but it certainly has me thinking about moments in the way that it can shape not only us as fans, but just the way, you know, we consume media just in general.

Right. And and this kinda goes towards the point that I made at the beginning, which is that each of these factors, is a lens.

Put it on over what you're currently thinking I don't think it's everything, though, especially if you're I think it it comes back to this idea of these are all factors that are the backdrop to winning.

Right? And so I I do think, you know, it can only be so memorable to the point where if you still lost the game, like, that's not that's not great. But but that was just one of the factors that stood out to me.

The other factor that I kinda wanted to touch on was cultural impact. And you brought up Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, which to me are two of the cultural icons of the WNBA. And I grew up on Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi.

Right? Like, they were when I was young growing up playing basketball, poorly playing basketball, but attempting to play basketball, and I love the sport, those were the people I was looking up to.

And now I just look at how much that has grown. And when I hear cultural impact, the first person, it's not even a doubt in my mind the first person that comes to my head is Asia Wilson.

It it feels like when we talk about how to build a brand and how to build, kind of that cultural impact.

I think Asia Wilson is the walking example of how to do that, and and I think we see it not only in her cards but also in her fandom.

I think if we were watching the the Atlanta Dream Game at Atlanta when AJ came into their house and, you know, after the game, she had won the game and she signed the mod draft. Rhinetime didn't like that at all. No.

No. Ryan didn't like it at all. But that is the the exact Yes. Result. Great, girl. Icon is you can travel across the country and there's gonna be people waiting for you and that look up to you and want your autograph and want a photo.

And, you know, I just think when I think of cultural impact, I think that is also moving up the ladder of factors as we continue down this road of social media and same thing of moments and clips.

I just think that these are two factors that have always held weight, in somebody's kind of equation or or, I suppose, yeah, they're waiting of their PC importance.

And I think these two just keep climbing and climbing, both personally for me and in how I see it see it for others.

I love it. That was, a lot of fun digging in, and I'm sure we could even go further. But I wanted to definitely make sure we had some space and time to dig into kind of a team by team breakdown of I've got nine teams listed, Caitlin.

Obviously, only eight will make it. Some of these teams have already clinched. You already mentioned your links, have clinched the the one seed.

Congratulations on that. I'm I'm looking at and this is this is what I can't stand about, like, apps and WNBA. The way that it is shown on where teams are at from a playoff perspective is never exactly how I want it on an app.

So I had to, like, dig in. But I'm gonna read as the time of recording where we're at, and then we're going to dig through each of the those teams and talk about players to watch, and then maybe a reason why.

But right now, we've got the links with the one seed and the aces at the two seed.

The aces were c one dead to right. So then talk about us. Wait. I mean, if there that's like there's not a more, bipolar team this year, I think, than the aces. If we hit we can dig into that.

But I'll also say, for the record, I picked the aces to win the championship at the beginning of the year. So just wanna keep that out there. We've got the dream at three, Mercury at four, Liberty at five, the, Liberty at five.

At six, the Valkyries. Seven, my fever. And then eight, the storm, and we have the sparks at nine. On the outside looking in. Although, like I mentioned, we got, like as we're recording this, we got about four or five games Yeah.

A piece. So there's there's still time to move, but let's kick it off with the links. It's only right. Yeah. It's only right. And they've earned it. So they they've earned it.

So let's talk about player to watch, and what I want, like, what I want to get listeners to maybe understand, not go out and buy these players and these cards, but just like with collecting and just, like, if these teams are doing well and if these players are doing well, like, these are maybe some players to focus in on.

But the floor is yours to talk about your, Minnesota links. And, Caitlin, I'll just preface this by saying we don't have, like, a half hour for you to just go Broadway on how much you love the links, but I'm just kidding.

Talk about your links. Who who are we watching and what Yeah. I'll keep it short and sweet. And before we get into each of the teams, I wanna say some of these answers are obvious and seem obvious, and I think that's that's okay.

And some of the other answers are a little bit more nuanced. I also provided a backup for each of these teams.

If you're not satisfied with one that I present, talking to the listeners here, maybe the second option will be better suited. So for my Minnesota Lynx, I I think it would be, a miscarriage of justice to not say Nafissa Collier.

I think that, you know, she's a pre Panini 2019 rookie now in her prime looking to secure her first ring, and and to tie it back to some of those factors we talked about. She has the storyline.

It's ready to go. This is revenge tour season. It's been a business plan since the end of last year that this is how it was gonna go. They just set the record for most franchise wins, which I did I did indeed bet on folks.

I bet the over on that because I believed when Nafissa Collier said that we're gonna go win the championship, that we're gonna go win the championship. And so I bet the over on that, it's happening.

And I just think that, you know, a a ring is the final thing that puts a bow on top of Nafissa Collier's tremendous, first run as as a Minnesota Lynx. I think the rich history of the franchise contributes to her collectability.

And if she can just, beat out what I think are the, like, kind of the the three horsemen of of our era, which is Aja Wilson, Nafissa Collier, and Brianna Stewart, I think this really cements her in that top three without a question.

I think if we tie it back to the cultural impact of it, I think, you know, this is the woman who created a new league, and is, you know, really forging the path for a new a new era of pay in women's basketball and women's sports in general.

And I think that her proving that with a win, with a championship, with a deep playoff push, could only help her cards go up.

And I will be buying the Fuscoilier cards no matter what, but I really do see her being the the player to watch.

The setting of the table from losing last year to the whole path to where we're at today, it there is not a more, it's the the plan is being executed.

The question is, will the story be finished? Is basically where we're at because this last year for fee has been, one of the ages. Yeah. Yeah. So It's been incredible. Yeah.

And you don't as you're talking about it, I got football in my mind, but I'm thinking a lot about, like, the the Bills and Josh Allen in comparison where that it's like he gets knocked down and then he comes back and then he loses again.

He get and it's like and my my question like, it's so obvious that the links and fee are the team who should win this year. It's like, what happens if that doesn't happen? And we don't need to get into that.

But if I'm betting that's who that's the team I'm betting on because I've watched enough basketball and watched her that it just seems like the links are here to blaze a trail and get the trophy and just how it all shakes out.

There's no doubt that they're the strongest team right now, and I I don't think there's an argument to be made anywhere else at the moment.

That's not to say it couldn't happen, but I really do think Fia is the player to watch. The backup option that I gave was D'Shaney Carrington, which I think is a little bit of a a sleeper pick.

New ad, meaning that she already had fans all across the country at different places including Connecticut and Texas, and now she's in Minnesota.

If she can get a ring, I think that, you collectors would would be drawn towards that, especially if she has a a major role in winning the championship.

I think that players would become attached quickly to her. Alright. Let's move over to the Las Vegas aces sitting at the two spot. Hey. Impressive. I gotta give my flowers to Asia Wilson, who's my player to watch.

I I am I am so impressed. I'm floored by her performance to bring her team up to the two seed. I said the only way, I would consider her even in contention for the MVP is that she brought the aces up to the two seed and she did it.

So, if you think AJ Wilson is the MVP, I I think that that's a valid take. I wouldn't be voting for her with the number one overall vote, for MVP, but she would be my two and it would be no question.

So just really impressive. And I think once if we talk about a deep playoff push and impressive statistical performances and maybe even a ring, we're getting into the conversation ends here about goat status.

Becky Hammond, in a press conference talked about how we need to start being thankful that we're watching Asia Wilson play every night because this is not normal.

And I think that that's so true. I think we're gonna look back and we're gonna really think to ourselves, we were watching the golden era of women's basketball.

I think Asia Wilson is the person leading the charge. And, if she can make another another championship run, I would be so impressed.

And I think that something interesting here is that before the national, I came on the podcast and I also said to some folks online that, you know, it was the time to buy Asia Wilson.

Everybody was looking at Nafisa Collier and thinking, fees coming up, she's playing well.

People don't know who this is, like, mainstream. And AJ kinda took the back seat for the first time, I feel like ever, is she took the back seat in in at least the market.

And, you know, I went and bought a huge AJ Wilson card for huge to me, like not huge to other people, but huge AJ Wilson card.

And, you know, the market is is responding exactly how I predicted, which I'm very impressed by myself with because usually I don't get those things right.

But she's had an amazing rebound on this, second half of the season and is playing like an MVP level player. Just incredible to watch. Yeah. I got and I have no words.

I just watch her do her thing and and continually impressed. And I've I watched a lot of aces a lot of aces early, and I would even with Wilson at the helm, based on the lack of chemistry and the lack of production and the defense.

I would just never have guessed that they are here, but here they are. Yeah. Hey. He's his fan. Thanks thanks to, Melissa Smith. Right? I feel like that's when things turned around and enjoying the team.

Oh, the fuck. We maybe, hey. There'll be a we need a again, we need a documentary of this, wings page, year one, everything that transpired. I mean, you're the beneficiary as a Linx fan.

There's a lot that we could dig into with that story. That's for sure. Before we move on to the dream, my backup for the aces was Jackie Young. I think that she's usually the player feeding, AJ Wilson and creating space for AJ Wilson.

They're also just a stacked team. My my final point on the ACEs, Brett alluded to this earlier that he picked them for the championship and this was the expectation folks. Let's not forget that.

They were second in, odds for the championship and AJ was what one or two for MVP odds. I just think that this was the expectation. They've got three or four Olympians on their team, and hopefully, they can execute.

I I I think that Aces fans have very high expectations, and AJ seems to be delivering right now. I always have this thought process when I watch Jackie Young do her thing.

And it's what if Jackie Young wasn't playing in the shadow of Asia Wilson? What would that look like? That's always the question. Ask Kelsey Plum. Ask Kelsey Plum what that's like. Touche. Alright.

Move over to the dream. Who are we watching? I know who I'm watching, which is Alicia Gray. I think that this is a player that could pop off into the mainstream. I think this is a player that people could look at and say, who is that?

If they haven't been watching the dream, which are a smaller market team, smaller in terms of also just like their stadium size, just a team with a very dedicated fan base, very passionate.

And Alicia Gray is, in my opinion, I would put her fourth in MVP voting if I was a voter, and I think that she's really just a killer. She can get downhill into the hoop, but she's also a sharpshooter.

I think this is just an impressive, player that has not only the fun play style that attracts card collectors, which is shoot from far away and get downhill and be a little flashy at the rim, but she's also a great personality with lots of fun things off the court as well.

So I think all the ingredients are there for Alicia Gray to make a run-in the in the card hobby space.

And I also think that, you know, she could elevate her team. She's already elevated her team to the most franchise wins in history for the dream and and I don't see it stopping, especially if they can stay healthy.

This is a team that I out of all of the teams, I'm gonna say right now, probably top two that I'm scared of as a Lakes fan that I don't wanna be facing anytime soon.

They are they are really good. New coach, a lot of new players. I wasn't expecting this, but here we are. Yeah. Exactly. My backup for the dream is Ryan Howard because I love Ryan Howard.

I think that if Ryan time happens, that's a moment. She is a walking moment. If if she can have Ryan time happen once or twice in the playoffs to send the dream fans into a a tizzy, I think that that would be big. Alright.

Let's move over to the another team who looks a lot different this year for the better than they did last year, and that is the Phoenix Mercury. Okay. I just said the dream where my, like, one to two I think this is the number one.

This is the team I do not wanna be facing is the Phoenix Mercury. They scare me a lot. They've got a three headed monster in AT, Kalia Copper, and Sato Sabli, and my player to watch is AT. It should come as no surprise, folks.

This is my third in MVP voting if I'm the person filling out the MVP card. And I just wanna say something about her consistency, which is that she was fifth in voting last year, second in 2023, fourth in 2022, and ninth in 2020.

Assuming a top four finish this year, that's five top nine voting appearances in the last six years for league MVP. It doesn't get more consistent than that.

I think that that is a demonstration of greatness. I think that doing it on two separate teams is also very impressive, especially on a team that, like you said, has so many new moving parts and new members.

And I think that, you know, this is a play this is a player that hasn't really had that respect translated to prices or to, collecting fandom. I think that a win in the championship, category for AT would propel her, quite far.

And I think that, you know, with a dedicated fan base like Phoenix that has a long rich history of idolizing and really just, like, putting players, holding players in high regard like DT and BG and the list goes on and on.

I think that AT has a lot to benefit from a strong push. She's also just a fun player to watch it. It's a it's a scary type of basketball when, both your arms are basically broken and you still are scoring at an unprecedented clip.

She's just fun to watch. There's not a better player in the WNBA that if you showed a picture of her to someone who doesn't watch the or casually watches the WNBA would not know her name or who she is, which is she's the ultimate yeah.

It we disrespect is the is the term that is constantly paired with Alyssa Thomas, one of my favorite players to watch. Yeah. You've been on the AT train for a long time. My backup to AT is Satou Sabli.

I think that the international factor here and her youth would contribute, to her being on the rise in the card market with a win. Alright. Let's go to your second favorite team, which is the New York Liberty.

Cut that. Editor, cut that. No. I'm just kidding. Okay. The Liberty, it pains me to say I think it's Sabrina. I think that she is the sweetheart of the modern WNBA market with the entrance of her Prism rookie card in 2020.

I think that people have a lot of high expectations baked into her prices because of that. And I think that, she won she won a she I cannot say she did win a championship last year, and they won it without her help.

So I think that this a second championship back to back years, if she has a big role, would erase some of those, haters talking points about Sabrina and her cards would I think they would skyrocket.

I think people would would begin to play place her in a different segment than the other rookies 2020 through 2025.

She I I have not thought about this, but if that did happen and Sabrina was a big reason for that to happen, like, back to back, Her I'd not her cards would go absolutely nuclear.

Yeah. That's crazy. I hadn't thought about it like that. I just think that she has the most to gain, but I also think, we haven't talked about this, but I think she has the most to lose.

But, anyways, my backup for the Liberty is Leonie Fibich for similar reasons to Satu Sabli, which is the, international factor in the youth of it all, having a recent rookie year.

That would be my backup. Alright. We're moving over to my squad. It feels very much like a season on the brink right now, especially as we record this. The Indiana fever. I'm taking Aliyah Boston.

I think that the numbers are there. I think she's a leader on the team, and removing Caitlin Clark from the equation, forces fans to really come to terms with the fact that this is also a number one overall pick who's very impressive.

I think my my backup option is what people would probably say, which is Kelsey Mitchell.

But I I think that they people have already discovered Kelsey Mitchell, and they understand. Like, the numbers are hard to refute, with the the number of 25 plus point games she's had.

I I don't think that a playoff push would necessarily propel her as much as it would for Aliyah Boston who, you know, has that recent rookie card that is just waiting to be, to explode, I suppose.

I got a text from my dad, earlier this week, and he's just like, hey. Please forget everything I've ever said negatively about Kelsey Mitchell.

I'm right there with you, dad. Alright. Let's move over to the storm. Okay. This is probably my favorite team, or my favorite pick of player to watch, which is Dominique Malonga.

We talked about her on a on a very recent podcast episode. And I think that the reason I'm picking Dominique Malonga as a favorite player to watch in the playoffs is that this the team that she's on, the Seattle Storm, are very old.

At the beginning of the season, they were the oldest roster by average age, in the league. I don't know if that changed with the move of Alicia Clark, who is the oldest player in the league, going to the Mystics.

But nevertheless, it's an old team. And when you're looking at the team, you see a lot of familiar faces. You see Skyler Diggins, you see Neco, you see Gabby, you see all these players.

And then in the middle of your screen, there's this huge lanky French 19 year old running up and down the court, putting double doubles in the stat book at each and every week.

I just think that there's a lot of good factors here, for a good storyline.

And, you know, if if Paige isn't gonna be in the playoffs, a rookie has and Sonia and Kiki are in the playoffs, this is a rookie that could stand out. I think that, you know, we talked about moments. This rookie has the ability to dunk.

If that happens and they win, I think that's massive. And that's that's a reach, and that's just one tiny little five second moment. But I think that could that Dominique's, play style could really benefit from that.

The fever have done pretty well against the storm this year, but there was a funny moment in the last game where Natasha Howard got the ball down low and was getting ready to be Natasha Howard and do what she does down low.

And Mohonka just, like, behind her, just, like, just put the heads up. And it was like, she went up and, like, right as she was going up, she was like, oh, shit.

Just got just, yeah, blocked. So that she special especially on the defensive end of the floor, I think she's got the ability to do something that not very few can do, which will be fun to watch progress.

Absolutely. Before we move on to the Valkyries, my backup for the storm is NECA.

I think that, we would have to have some conversations about greatness, very quickly if NECA were to have another another ring. Alright. The Fran, the expansion team, I guess. The new team, the Valky's.

Valky's going I'm going Veronica Burton. I think that, you know, it's interesting. I was talking I was talking about this with somebody and I said the Valkyries, you know, Kayla Thornton went out and then they just grew another one.

They just grew like another most improved player, and they just keep coming and coming.

And I think that, you know, this is a young player coming with the 2022 rookie class, and I think that the expansion team in it all is the it factor.

I think if they can, make a strong playoff push and these new fans, can credit it to a certain player having a key role in that push, they're gonna be idolized and they're gonna wanna be collected.

And I think that, you know, if a brand new franchise makes that deep run, they're gonna be remembered forever. And so that that would be my my pick for the Belks, and my backup is Janelle Salon.

Awesome. And the last one is the Sparks. Tough one. This is probably the hardest one to pick somebody out because I feel like they have a roster full of potential superstars, both on and off the court.

With Cam Brink still in her recovery minutes, I don't think that that's a name that you could, justify right now.

But I just am putting that out there that I'm recognizing that I think Cameron Brink is going to be very, very good, but she's not my pick for this. My pick is Rekia Jackson. I think that she's putting up in crazy impressive numbers.

She's fun to watch, And I think it's crazy that, you know, she was kind of marketed as the sleeper rookie of her class. And if you've been watching since Tennessee, there's nothing sleeper about her.

She was the most WNBA ready player in that class, and I think she's really performing at a high level. Add in the backdrop of the factor of being in LA, big market, rich history of winning in LA for the Sparks.

I think she'll get started get talked about a lot if they make a push. And my backup is Kelsey Plum. Kelsey Plum. Alright. Who is who is the odd team out here? I think it's probably the Sparks.

I hope I hope so. Sorry. No disrespect, Sparks. No. It's it's no disrespect. I just I I think that, you know, they've got a lot of injuries looming similar to the fever, and that that was the other team that I was debating.

And one, I don't wanna hurt your feelings, Brett, but it's gotta be one of those two teams in my head.

Alright. That was fun. Hopefully, it was good to talk about players, teams, and it'll be kinda the real deal by the time we record next week.

I we're gonna move we've got limited time here, so we're gonna move. We don't I we both don't have any pickups this week.

Right? No. Sadly not. Hopefully, next week. Let's let's move on to collector showcase. Yes. Let's spotlight our collector of the week. This week, it's at card underscore collect underscore her.

This is an awesome account with impeccable taste. We talk about the Mercury being the scariest team for me, and this is a Phoenix Mercury season ticket holder and what I will label as the AT for MVP campaign organizer. Okay?

So if you guys aren't following them, be sure to go give them a follow. Not only that, I just wanna say the presentation of this account is very impressive. It's very nice grid that's laid out nicely with great photography photography.

And this is a frequent listener of the podcast. So shout out to you for contributing to the mailbag and WNBA Wednesday each week. If you guys don't follow Card Collect Her, go go give her a follow follow.

Awesome. Mailbag time to close this out? Yeah. I think we gotta really cut this pretty short here, but I think we have three questions. We'll try to go rapid fire.

The first one comes from Big John Collectors Cards. I think we talked about this and touched on this throughout the pod, but I would just wanna make sure that they feel heard, which is, are we overlooking the greatness of Asia?

And I think the answer is, we were. And, she's making sure that that's not possible, moving forward. Brett, do you have anything to add about that question?

I just think I still which is gonna sound crazy, but when you compare Wilson's cards and prices to a lot of other newer faces in the WNBA, I think it's easy to say you overrate her greatness.

I I still believe that there is time to get on the Asia Wilson card collecting bandwagon at a rate that likely will look a lot different.

I think she's easily one of the greatest players ever, and her card prices will eventually reflect it. I don't think we're at the peak at this point.

Oh, I love it, Brett. Okay. Second question from d sun cards. To the point you guys made on new fans missing out on rookies last podcast, any thoughts on how that's also a huge miss with league expansion?

This question is coming from a VELKS fan that wants his VELKS in their proper uniforms. So they've been overpaying for Panini instance.

And we have two more teams coming next year. Any thoughts? I have not even thought about that. But now I'm putting myself in the shoes of a Valks fan and collector, and that must be painful for sure.

And a lot I don't collect this way in WNBA, but with football card collecting, most of it is based on my team, and that would drive me absolutely crazy.

So, yeah, I don't wanna do a part two, and we're not gonna do a part two, but maybe we could do an entire part two based on this. So I, you I I empathize with with this.

This this sucks. Yeah. I echo the same. This is just like so concerning. I think that, if this was me, it would be an exercise in patience which I lack a lot of and I think that I would fail miserably at.

So, you're holding it together very well, Dyson's cards and I hope to see some of those Panini instance you're picking up. That will be what's available, and I know that you're collecting it.

So, just curious to see how that pans out long term as well. Okay. And then we're gonna round it out with a non listener question. I'm hijacking the mailbag, and I have a question for you, Brett, which is we're nearing the NFL season.

As listeners may or may not know, Brett and I are both huge NFL fans as and WNBA fans, and you cannot put collectors into a single box. We we live outside of the WNBA, and we live outside of the NFL. We we we like both leagues.

And so I wanna hear your comp, your NFL comp for your Indiana fever. My so so okay. So it's I'm picking the a fever comp with an NFL team. Yeah. Okay. If you wanna twist it, twist it, Brett. So I was yeah. Well, I can do this.

I would say I would probably say it would be probably, I'm I'm just gonna go Homer to Homer. I'll comp it to, the Indianapolis Colts. You're kidding. You're comping it to the Colts. Yeah. I am. For Indiana fans, folks, this is sad.

This is why. Because of the injuries. Just the plaguing of the injuries. The, the Colts are always just one of the most injured teams. It's every year I'm like, what's wrong with you strength and condition coaches?

All these guys are hurt, and there were so many injuries during the, the the preseason. We were just talking about Justin Wally who was a rookie out of Minnesota in your region. Very high on him.

Everyone was high on him, tore his knee up. And look at what the fever. There has been no team more injured than the Indiana fever, so I'm just I'm going easy. Well. I'm comparing them both, and it's not for a positive reason.

It's because of freaking injuries. What's your That is so sad. I'm sorry, Brett. And I'm sorry to any of our Indiana listeners who root for both the NFL and the WNBA team in Indianapolis.

That is Can I can I also just remind everyone this is coming off of Tyrese Halliburton in game seven of the finals? It we're cursed here now. And and Notre Dame. Yeah.

A lot. Okay. Okay. Okay. Move on. Let's There's a lot going on here. Maybe I'll finish on a higher note, which is that, I'll I'll I'll share my comp as well if the listeners are interested, which is I think the links are the Packers.

I think Brett mentioned the Bills as well, but the Bills, haven't won too much. They really haven't won too much.

And I think that the Links, their rich history deserves a better comp than that. With the Bills winning what or losing four back to back, you know, I just don't think that that's respectful to the links.

So I'll give me the Packers. Give me Links Packers, rich history, great franchises, and hopefully, making a run this year for both leagues. That was fun.

Good episode. Make sure you follow us, w m b a card pod, on Instagram. Anything else from you, Caitlin, before we get on out of here? No. Guys, happy playoffs. It couldn't come soon enough. Very excited to see how all of our teams do.