With a new episode of Tea with A & Phee dropping Thursday, Just Women’s Sports is here to recap some of the best moments from A’ja Wilson and Napheesa Collier’s debut season. While recording inside the WNBA bubble, the All-Stars mixed light-hearted moments with deeper conversations regarding life and basketball.
Narrowing down this list was hard, so be sure to check out the entire first season — and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss a new episode!
The Great Banana Bread Debate
In the very first episode, A’ja and Napheesa discuss their respective quarantine experiences, including their attempts at baking. At the 19-minute mark, Collier asks Wilson if she got on the banana bread wave, and needless to say the two had pretty strong opinions about the delicacy.
“That’s disgusting,” Wilson says. “I’m not a person that mushes things together. Like it’s bananas, it’s bread. It’s fruit, it’s vegetables. Like people put fruit in their salad. Those don’t belong together. Banana doesn’t belong in bread.”
Wilson adds that she’s never actually had banana bread.
“I can forgive you because you’ve never tried it,” Collier says. “If you still have this opinion after you’ve tried it, I think this is our one and only podcast.”
This debate continued through the rest of the season, with the hosts asking each guest for their opinion on banana bread.
Spoiler alert: Steph Curry likes it.
Speaking of…
Steph Curry’s commitment to growing the women’s game
At 15:05, the three basketball stars discuss Curry’s Unranked basketball camp, which includes girls.
“You don’t really see NBA players highlight women’s basketball in a way to where they invite girls to their camps,” Wilson says.
Curry says he wants to create an opportunity for kids who are flying under the radar (as he did as a prospect), while also giving young girls the resources to make it to the next level.
“It’s just growing the game.,” Curry says. “It’s sad, but it is a learning curve for a lot of people how good the women’s game is, especially at the grassroots level.”
In the second year of Curry’s camp, more girls participated than boys.
“A lot of it is just investing in the game from both sides,” Curry adds. “They’re skilled, they know how to play.”
Elena Delle Donne on the player she hated to play against
Elena Delle Donne might have sat out of the 2020 WNBA season, but that didn’t stop her from spilling the tea on her least favorite player to face in the WNBA. At 37:40, Delle Donne names Tamika Catchings because of her physical style of play.
“She was horrible to play against,” Delle Donne says. “Like her muscles, her upper body. I would just be thrown all over the court with her.
“I remember my rookie year she gave me this forearm that I died inside. Like, I lost my soul.”
During her 15-year playing career, Catchings racked up a number of accolades, including being the all-time leader in scoring, rebounding and steals in the WNBA playoffs. You can now add “Elena Delle Donne’s worst nightmare” to the Hall of Famer’s resume.
That time Saweetie was late to the podcast
The hosts didn’t hold back when rapper Saweetie was late to her appearance on the podcast. Rather thandelay the start, A’ja and Napheesa decided to rib Saweetie for her lack of punctuality.
“I dunno why you want to do glam, ‘cause we look like two thumbs over here. I just came from practice,” Collier says as Wilson laughs in the background. “A’ja looks cute in her high bun and glasses, but she’s definitely not glammed up.”
“I just got out of practice and showered,” Wilson adds. “And then, here it is, 4:50 and Saweetie is on Instagram Live.”
“She’s doing a makeup tutorial herself,” Collier says.
“Listening to Slow Jam,” Wilson notes. “I’m digging the playlist and the music.”
“I’m not digging the lateness, Saweetie,” Collier quips.
Saweetie finally joins about nine minutes into the show and they begin with a conversation about the role of social media in the life of a celebrity. Naturally.
Candace Parker calling out her fellow commentators
Candace Parker’s appearance was nearly twice as long as those of A’ja and Napheesa’s other guests. That meant twice the amount of tea, and it was all piping hot.
At roughly 40 minutes in, the three All-Stars got to talking about on-air talent in basketball and how commentators can sugarcoat bad plays.
“Sometimes when somebody makes a dumb— play, just say it is a dumb— play. Because as fans and as viewers, you see that it’s a dumb— play,” says Parker, who works as an NBA analyst for TNT. She adds that trying to sugarcoat things does not help: “It makes it look bad. Honestly, that’s the biggest thing.”
“People that keep it real, and obviously there is a fine line between attacking somebody’s character — I disagree with that — but when somebody doesn’t make a good play, you have to say it,” Parker says. “I think that goes along with growing the game of basketball. Us as players getting better and more skilled… as well as commentators.”
She then draws a comparison between the NBA and the WNBA.
“They would never have a terrible commentator commentating the best basketball in the world,” she says. “Like, that wouldn’t happen in the NBA.”
If it isn’t good enough for the NBA, it isn’t good enough for the WNBA either.
Other moments we loved:
- At the 3:50 mark of the episode with Saweetie, the two spill the tea on the New York Liberty remaining in the bubble after the regular season ended — even when they knew they had zero chance of making the playoffs.
- At the 12:45 marker in the episode with tea legend Candace Parker, the three discuss CP3’s daughter’s bubble business that turned out to be a valuable lesson in equity. Eventually, the 11-year-old decided to run a partial non-profit, with some of the proceeds going to St. Jude’s. Lailaa, a true businesswoman in the making.
- During Tea Time Trivia, at the 28:15 marker, Kevin Durant reveals that he had “Umbrella” by Rihanna on his MySpace page. In addition, he rattles off the 2013 WNBA MVP (spoiler alert, it’s CP3) and the all-time WNBA leading scorer when quizzed. Light work for a man who invests in women’s sports.
