Today, even the most casual of WNBA fans have watched some of the league’s biggest stars talking trash on the court. But while the snarling convos look heated, most of the time, they are good-natured, competitive fun.
Still, we wondered, who are the best trash talkers in the game? Which players over the years have turned talking smack into an art form? Let’s explore.
Read MoreDiane Warren remembers working with Snoop Dogg. Well, actually, at the time, he was going by Snoop Lion. It was the 2010s and the Long Beach, California-born rapper was in his reggae phase. And for his new album, he’d sought out Warren’s help. It was a smart move by Snoop. Warren is one of the most decorated songwriters of all time. She’s penned tracks for Celine Dion (“Because You Loved Me”) and LeAnn Rimes (“How Do I Live”). She’s a living legend who boasts more streams than Minnesota.
Read MoreWhen you look at a sunset, what do you see? How about a poppy or a panting dog? Or even a wildfire? When Bonnie Bloomgarden, frontwoman for the ethereal rock band Death Valley Girls, sees these things, they speak to her. They share mysteries, melodies. Ideas. For Bloomgarden, her power is in hearing music, lyrics in nature. And somehow, the stuff she makes from these inspirations turns into portals and incantations for the rest of us.
Read MoreJamie Malonzo got there early, one of the first players to arrive. He knew this was a different thing altogether. He knew the 55,000-capacity Philippine Arena was something else.
Read MoreIf you’ve been watching music award shows recently, chances are you’ve seen one of the biggest names in the art form do a backflip off some high-up ledge only to land on his feet, puff up his chest, and fill the room with song.
Read MoreAfter practice, George Gervin wanted to go home. He was a rookie playing for the Virginia Squires of the upstart American Basketball Association, and the sleek, Detroit-born hooper didn’t yet know what being a pro quite meant. He didn’t know that the real workouts often started after practice. But his teammate Julius “Dr J” Erving quickly showed him the ropes.
Read MoreIf you ask professional athletes, they’ll tell you. Losing is no fun. But in Major League Baseball, losing big can be especially tedious.
Read MoreWhen the Seattle SuperSonics left the Pacific Northwest in 2008, the NBA franchise’s sister team, the Seattle Storm, nearly went with them to the Oklahoma dustbowl. But thankfully for basketball fans in the Emerald City, a group of local women stepped in and bought the team, keeping it in town.
Read MoreFor Jason Terry, everything changed in 1997. It was the night before the NCAA national championship game and Terry’s Arizona Wildcats were set to take on the University of Kentucky. Terry shared hotels rooms with teammate Mike Bibby on road trips and the pair understandably had trouble sleeping before the biggest game of their lives so far.
Read MoreFran Harris remembers a late-night dinner in Sacramento. Her Houston Comets squad had just dispatched the lowly Monarchs by 10 points. To celebrate, she and a few teammates, including Cynthia Cooper, Tammy Jackson and Kim Perrot, decided to grab a bite. Cooper had scored 44 in the 25 July 1997 contest, and her talents dazzled even her dinner companions.
Read MoreOut crabbing, Les Claypool and Sean Ono Lennon sprang a leak. The longtime friends and musical collaborators were taking a break from the studio, from working on their new album, The Great Parrot-Ox And The Golden Egg Of Empathy (out today), and water started to fill up their boat. But that’s the fun of life, right? Adventure.
Read MoreIt was the night before the 1980 Women’s Professional Basketball League draft in New York City and the Dallas Diamonds had the No 1 pick. But the team’s top brass was split. Coach Greg Williams wanted to take the 6ft 5in Danish star Inge Nissen, and the team’s GM Nancy Nichols prized Nancy Lieberman, the American point guard people called “Lady Magic”.
Read MoreWhen the Golden State Warriors drafted Chris Washburn with the No 3 pick in 1986, it should have been a dream come true. Instead, it might have been the worst thing that could have happened for the 6ft 11in NC State prospect.
Read MoreThe following excerpt is taken fromThe Chief, a new memoir by Robert Parish with Jake Uitti. Below, Parish talks about his time with the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls, acclimating with the team, which included the likes of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and coach Phil Jackson. Parish, who is a Hall of Fame center who won three championships with the 1980s Boston Celtics, had the time of his life with the Windy City franchise.
Read MoreToday, words like “legendary” and “iconic” are used in just about every other sentence. But while we may feel surrounded by all-time cultural figures now, do we ever stop to ask the question: What’s the point of being a legend?
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