Ms. Basketball is one of the most influential women in the sports space in Atlanta. She was a former hooper herself, even playing semi-pro ball, but now Ms. Basketball is commissioner of the AEBL Women’s league. She dropped by rolling out to talk all things basketball.
Why do you go by Ms. Basketball?
Years ago, it used to be this whole stereotype about what female basketball players [were] supposed to look like, and I would be the girl that would go in the gym and have my cute little ponytail and my little lip gloss and my nails, and the other girls would be like, Who [is] the cheerleader? What am I supposed to look like? What does a basketball player [look] like? And at the time, it was this whole you gotta have braids, pants, saggy, oversized clothes, like no there are females, [i.e.] me, who enjoy being feminine, who enjoy being a lady, right? And being able to go out there and do what I do. So I took it upon myself to start really leaning into that.
How did Juju Watkins’ injury affect your March Madness bracket?
I had her and her team winning. Um, but don’t get me wrong, she got some dogs on her team. It’s not just Juju, but Juju carries the team. She brings that energy. One game, two games ago before she got hurt, baby girl hurt her ankle and was down on the court, she got back in, came out of bounds, came back in bounds, they passed the ball to her. She’s still hurt, baby girl shot it and made it. That’s how she is. Because she is a dog. It’s so disappointing and heartbreaking because she was having such a dynamic, such a great season.
What has Angel Reese done to transform women’s basketball?
Well, what I love about Angel first is the fact that she’s her true, authentic self at every single turn and when adversity strikes, when people try to say she’s something that she’s not, she doesn’t mind getting behind this mic and speaking on it. [Cause] some people will literally say some stuff and really try to discredit what she does or who she is, and then the other people will say, You shouldn’t defend yourself. Now you’re defending yourself, you look way worse. No, I’m [not]. I love the fact that she does not mind defending herself and really being truly like, Hey, that’s not what it is. This is what it is. And [I’mma] show you. And as we saw this past season, she dominated. I don’t care if y’all said her shot was unorthodox. The way she got her rebounds, you can’t deny the numbers. Numbers don’t lie.
