In the Paint | Becky Hammon and Teresa Weatherspoon Interview

oh man this is this is cool cuz I get to kind of pick her brain in a way that um that way we've been that way from your first I was just going to say what was your first like uh reaction to me she just said them bangs she already gave me the answer that's what it was we all said it look at this kid this kid coming here with these Bangs She wants to play with us this is what we thought when you came in bangs the bangs what she about to do it was a great awning though like the rain would come wouldn't even hit my eyes nothing it's like having a brim like a hat them bangs I got rid of them it took me I was they were gone by year two it had to be had to be you're changing you were you know what I had I earned friends that told me the truth them bangs got to go a whole lot about us had to go too it wasn't just you buddy it was us all of us we love of bangs come on man we love of bangs about you doing that bang that bang that's all I cared about it I remember one time she came and asked me she's like like where do you want the ball I was like right where you're putting it every time right here in this pocket bam it it well that was important to me I want to know exactly where you wanted and how quickly you could get it off and it didn't take much be it didn't take much all you needed was just a little bit of time and if someone stepped off didn't matter how tall you were what your length was it did not matter if you didn't have that hand up yeah it was dangerous yeah I knew I was going to get the assist so you know missing out on this one I was good with that I'm coming to you first of all I I love you I loved you from day one I loved your your desire your strength your fire your your will and your want to uh and you wanted to show people that you belong and that's something you showed me cuz I made sure every day I walked in she's going to show me that she's in my Foxhole every day I came in I'm coming at you and you know I did I came after you every day VJ we both came at you every freaking day but there was something about you that we l so much that the last fall we both looked at each other and said that's it don't touch her no more won nobody else touch her again when you got up off that floor I was like man that's us that's our family I love you love you from day one no matter what you say about how much how many times I knocked your ass over I knew who you were you showed me every day I I think though the the tough love first of all we're in New York yeah like you guys had an EST an established team and you know they had no intentions of keeping me yeah right and that had nothing to do with you that's just organization right right you know um but you guys practiced just as hard as you played in games yeah and I think for me as somebody coming in like who had to get better it wasn't just about making the team I needed to get better and and and keep growing and I think what I appreciate is you know um you remember we had a couple other players in there who were getting hit hit and they snap back up and start talking I was like I I was like girl don't say anything just just take it take it down harder just take it yeah they going to come harder and it did and and I think there's there's um I I almost looked at it just as like I knew my place I knew my place and I knew my place had to be earned and I was okay with earning it you know I'll come in and but there was definitely a point where it was like all right you guys were done I I she's tough enough we're rolling with her and um that that made all the difference in the world too I just think with our chemistry because it wasn't like we had all the talent right there was a lot of talented teams our chemistry was a separation factor and it kind of always has been because of that um really the culture that that you VJ um Sue Wix was a great teammate Kim Hampton you know Rebeca like it was it was it felt like family for sure and that that's key and and for everybody to know this too Becky that every day after practice you know we went four heart hours yes four heart hours we like what the heck are we doing four hours in here but we're going four heart hours but nobody knew what was happening behind those closed doors of you back on the floor doing more work to prepare yourself to stay in the line with us you were doing more work after so when I saw you doing more work I said heck I'm staying in with her I'm going work with her because she wanted that bad yeah nobody saw that yeah I recognized it that says a lot about who you are what you wanted and you wanted to be there you want to show us all I belong this is this is this is home this my dream this is it I remember putting that Jersey on with y'all like in Madison Square Garden yeah like it's just it's crazy and and at that time you know we're selling out the garden yes yes we're selling out the garden this girl is she got the whole city on fire I just the energy was just amazing contagious really special time to me in women's basketball and when you start looking at the the growth um and all these people you know and now we have people like your player Angel Reese and um Caitlyn Clark and my even my player Kate Martin like th this this push but there's been so many seeds in foundations laid beforehand that have kind of made this all possible and I you know there was a time where the W was really cool and then it kind of took a dip for a while it became cool to bash women and not support women and then all of a sudden now it's it's unacceptable again to to to disregard or not value women in the work that they put in and I just I really love the tide turning but you have these moments that are kind of tipping points right and tipping points in society what you don't understand in people that are new to the game yes is that somebody's been filling up that that that picture for a long time it's right back and setting it up and so now when the the Caitlyn Clarks and the angel Reese's and uh the Cameron Brinks and you know Ria Jackson all these younger and and there's more coming that's right there's more coming I mean some of these younger underclassmen Paige uh ju guu like Helo from not me they're coming but somebody has been filling this cup when no one was looking or watching that's it and now you get the the the the Tipping effect and that has been cool not only to be a part of as a player and as a fan and as a spectator when we stepped away but also now now we're back in it and to get to see it absolutely pour over it's pouring over pouring over you can't forget who was filling that picture up Y and sometimes I think be where I kind of have a problem with that is that you lose sight of those who who poured their heart and soul into it for the next Generation to have correct and I think sometimes it's overlooked yeah and then that's where some some players feel like oh there's a level of disrespect because I I worked my butt off for it too yep but it can never be forgotten ever be forgotten of that Foundation that's been laid for the Next Generation to come and and I don't care if if the the whole thing whatever Walk of Life you're coming from or uh organization You're Building or the business You're Building yes you better know your history yeah you need to know your history what do they say otherwise it's bound to repeat itself it's bound to repeat so know your history know the ones that came before and honestly I got to say this this younger generation Angel Reese Caitlin Clark I think they've been very vocal about recognizing the greatness that came before them and I give them a lot of credit for that uh it's pretty cool to have be self-aware like that like oh man a lot of people put in time um not only in my inner circle right like the coaches and your teammates and High School coaches and AA people and your family who have dumped all this time into you there was people laying the groundwork for you that never even knew your name never even knew you existed but you just about your work every day every day every day that's well said right there well said it's been cool to see aart it is it's excellent to see aart and it's going to continue to grow back like you said all these other names who are coming this thing is going to be even better they can ball it's going to be better they can ho I'm just glad to be a part of it yeah I don't want to play against them and I think too as you no I'm done I'm good I can show you how I don't want to like that's it I'm done on a board I don't want to get out there on the court show you how anymore but um the skill set you know and I think that's the other thing that really is super cool cuz um the evolvement of the game the difference of how people are playing it in today's and if you look at it people will be like the scoring like all these scoring records all this this is going to get blown up the water because of the style of play has switched and also um just the I was lucky cuz you guys were professional like you took care of your bodies year round like those were the examples but feel like it's another level for these ladies cuz they have the tools much more than we did much more than we did I mean we were still going to like the local fitness center to get a lift in get a lift in that's it I mean and we went we did our work um but it it was they just have more access and more at their fingertips than gosh than what we had and they're utilizing them you know keep them as keep their bodies going as much as they possibly can but you know beggy sometimes it just depends on you too you're not going to always be around say after season what are you doing what the what is the work that you're putting in and some of these kids they have people that they work with um but who are you working with are they are they putting you through the things you need for this team or they just putting you through it what is it that you're doing that's necessary to be ready to play for the team and what you play for for sure so some big stuff and I think that's you know coming from the NBA a lot of times there's too many chefs in the kitchen absolutely this guy got his workout guy this guy has this workout guy and it's really hard to create culture when you have different voices in in your athletes ears all the time yeah and um I think one thing I know I appreciate about my squad is just we have a practice facility now that we have a a Player Development guy like that's kind of unheard of in the W yeah and to continue to raise that bar of yeah this is the standard and if you want to you got to get with it to keep up and so these practice facilities all these little things that um you can keep a player now here they don't have to go overseas because they can make money the exposure but then they can get better yeah you know cuz of the development piece and I know you were in development with New Orleans yes tell me about that I I enjoyed it so much uh because I felt like at that time the Player Development piece was the most important thing I was trying to kind of sharpen up the skill to be able to play in The X andl sure so the Player Development was was probably the most important thing for me uh to be a part of I learned so much by just the guys themselves you know just learning so much from them for sure you learn so much from them you know you got to allow them to use their voice let me hear what you know let me see how I can guide you to even be better I learned so much just from listeners to them yes and it kept me being Innovative and creative sure because of the things that they would say and do I loved every minute of that Player Development loved every second of it every second and that has prepared me for this prepare me for this there's no doubt because your player development in in in Pro Sports it's really like recruiting in in college it's it's your bloodline yes yes it's your bloodline and I think espec especially you know teams that may be playing smaller markets you're not in a small Market I'm not in a small Market but when you talk about the NBA New Orleans would be a small Market absolutely you have to keep retain and improve the talent that you bring in and that's that's tough to do it's very hard that's tough to do it is very very hard I want you to know this I want you to know this that all the things that we've ever accomplished and then the individual accomplishments none of it for me would have been possible without you none of them we can leave it I could I could say the same thing that's cuz we love each other I can say the same no no appreciate you bro love I said bro love you too bro that's how we that's how that's how we roll around here