Ari Chambers from Bleacher Report and HighlightHER on the WNBA

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Skylar and Brian chat with Ari Chambers from HighlightHER and Bleacher Report on the start of the WNBA season. They talk about the teams and players that have impressed them the most, an exciting rookie class, best fits and shoe games, Wubble life, and how Ari develops relationships with WNBA players.

Full Transcript:

Brian Bosche:
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to High Tea Hoops. This is Brian Bosche at the Duke of Hoops, that's our nickname now Ari, we have a basketball accounts, and the Duchess of Hoops Skylar.

Skylar Smith:
Hello.

Brian Bosche:
And today we're so excited to have Ari Chambers from HighlightHER and Bleacher Report. What's up Ari?

Ari Chambers:
What is up? We need a horn, where are my sound effects?

Brian Bosche:
That's post production. I'll put it up. I'm just learning Garage Band. We'll get it in there, but thank you so much for coming on and just to start with, with our audience, if you want to give a quick background on your role at Bleacher Report and Highlight-Her a little background on your experience, we'd love to hear who you are.

Ari Chambers:
So I actually made the brand or helped build it. Well, I completely built it from the ground up, Highlight-Her, it's the female brand of House of Highlights, where it's empowering women, showcasing them doing dope things on and off the court, on and off the field. We don't discriminate which sport, we don't discriminate the level of play. The whole goal is to have a community of women celebrated. So that's what it is. And Bleacher Report gave me that opportunity specifically under the House of Highlights umbrella. And we just intend to keep growing.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah, it's been really fun to follow.

Skylar Smith:
It's so cool.

Ari Chambers:
Oh thank you.

Skylar Smith:
Yeah definitely follow, Highlight-Her. It's a great follow. So Ari let's get into the W and the Wubble. So what have been your impressions of the Wubble so far? We got off to a shaky start you'd say. We saw some of the accommodations for the women compared to the NBA players. And so we got off to a little bit of a shaky start, rebounded a little bit. What have been your impressions thus far?

Ari Chambers:
I think it's unfair to compare it to the NBA. It's like apples to oranges, just because it's like the same accommodations because they have more money. That's just that basically [inaudible 00:00:02:02]. That's what it boils down to. But WNBA, what they've done, they've created the best out of a situation, that isn't Disney. Now the first few days are always going to be bumps in the road. And I really encourage people not to focus on that type of thing. Especially because the players are past it. So I feel like if the players are past that we should be as well, but their villas, their lodges, those hotels, the options, they can golf, they can go to the pool. The campus seems really nice. And I love when they film their villas and take us on what the MTV Cribs type tour. the Minnesota Lynx to a private beach.

Brian Bosche:
They went to a beach day. The WNBA beach day.

Ari Chambers:
Yeah. And it's like in their contracts that they're all allowed one vacation per team. Live it up.

Brian Bosche:
It's part of their bubble.

Ari Chambers:
Yeah. They're trying to be as safe as possible. So kudos to them to try to make the best of experiences they can for the women.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah. Because it's their whole season that's a clarifying point. It's not just like a restart, maybe you're kicked out. It's the whole season they have to for that.

Ari Chambers:
That's why a lot of people don't realize. For the men it's eight games, and then they go to playoffs. The women is 22 games and then you go to playoffs. So in this schedule you need that type of release, and you need that type of leisure to balance-

Skylar Smith:
For sure. Yeah.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah. And looking at the Wubble itself, what have you thought of the game presentation? Skylar and I are the fans of how they've presented everything. It looks really good on TV. What are your impressions of that?

Ari Chambers:
Moving forward I think it looks clean. I love the Black Lives Matter on it. I love that I can hear players cuss each other out. I don't think there's a missing element of noise. I don't know about anybody else, but I don't see that there's much missing with the broadcast. They're saying everything that needs to be said. But other than that the noise is fine to me, I like hearing the players, even though they try to beep them out I love hearing that game day intensity.

Skylar Smith:
I personally love hearing every single word Candace Parker is saying to those refs. I love it.

Ari Chambers:
I was joking. The thing about Candace is it's so funny because every time she gets a foul, it's like, she's so shocked every single time.

Skylar Smith:
She's like me?

Ari Chambers:
Me, I could not... No. That one that they called the tech on her. I'm like, uh-uh (negative).

Brian Bosche:
We talked about this on the last pod where we're like, all we want is Candace Parker and Sue Bird arguing and joking with each other. Do not call technicals on that. It's unbelievable.

Skylar Smith:
Do not take that away from us.

Ari Chambers:
I throw in DT, that will make it extra spicy.

Skylar Smith:
Yeah.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah it always does.

Ari Chambers:
Extra spicy.

Skylar Smith:
Yeah. So what teams have, been impressing you so far? It's a really weird experience. And so I don't think we're seeing what we would expect out of all of these teams. So what teams have you watched that you've been really impressed with the way that they've come together in the Wubble and the way that they're playing in the Wubble?

Ari Chambers:
Well, I've been impressive with a lot of players individually, but as far as teams, I would say the Mystics coming together and gelling, like nobody thought. Everybody was like, "Oh my God, Elaina's not playing it and Tina's opting out. So we can't even see the potential in that. So they're doomed. They're not running champions." And so what my Coach T did, he was like, "Okay" he always has a way of turning the underdogs or the overlook players into stars.

Ari Chambers:
And that's what you see right now. The man knows how to coach. He just does. That's fun to see. And Chicago's doing exactly what I thought Chicago would do and gel at the right time. So I think they're ranked first right now, 1/1. So I just love seeing them together and their chemistry on and off the court. It's just really dope. They have a different energy. So those two teams in particular have been really impressing me. Atlanta's been impressing me, even though their record doesn't necessarily reflect that, but they're holding their own. But again, individuals are stepping up and showing you like, "Hey, we holding it down."

Brian Bosche:
Are you intentionally not bringing up the Seattle Storm Ari?

Ari Chambers:
I feel like everybody else talks about them enough.

Skylar Smith:
You can leave that to us.

Ari Chambers:
But we already know what the Seattle Storm can do. They're getting back all their missing pieces. They're obviously going to finish top, if not championship year for them definitely. Super. It's making me very sad because Sue Bird she's not immortal. But yeah. I love that electricity from Jordin Canada, who's playing with a chip on her shoulder that she's been listening to people who have been doubting her and you see her really holding her on, standing her own in the absence of Sue Bird and then with her as well. So Seattle is doing Seattle things. They're doing exactly what I thought they would do, but as far as who's impressed me, who's like defied what I thought was going to happen. It's definitely the Mystics. There's your Seattle gas. There's your-

Brian Bosche:
Thank you. I appreciate it. Yeah. Being in-

Skylar Smith:
You have to do it at least once every podcast is gas up the Storm.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah. We have to.

Ari Chambers:
I mean, I don't mind it. I'm a huge, huge, huge Jewell Loyd fan. I think she's not talked about enough. And I think they have a really well rounded team.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah. They're fun to watch. Natasha Howard, they're all really fun to watch.

Ari Chambers:
Oh yeah. Natasha Howard.

Brian Bosche:
And it's funny because well, in Seattle we'll see them walking around. So Breanna Stewart, because she's six, four, right. Six, three, six, four. But, she has the longest arms I have ever seen of anyone. I think what her wingspans, she has more than LeBron. It's unbelievable. Okay. Thank you for the Storm shout out. We appreciate it. And then on the player side who stood out to you really before Sabrina going out with the sprained ankle, which was awful, but who is it?

Ari Chambers:
You knew Sabrina would do great.

Brian Bosche:
Yep. We talked about it in the last pod. At least she got her blow out performance in there where she put up 33 and 7 and 7, went out on that. But who else has impressed you from an individual player standpoint?

Ari Chambers:
We have Myisha Hines-Allen. And again, going back to, nobody was even talking about her. Nobody really even knew her name. I covered her in college, so I knew what she was capable of. And thank God Coach T saw that as we drafted her. I love the intensity she brings. I love just her spirit in general. She has such a light spirit, but such a tough, competitive nature, and her mix with Aerial Powers, I mean, come on. Then you have Dewanna Bonner, who's playing the best basketball for life.

Brian Bosche:
It's crazy.

Ari Chambers:
And it's getting downplayed a little bit because Connecticut hasn't won a game yet. The other night when Brionna Jones got her career high, that was great. I love seeing players hit these new milestones and get these opportunities because in the absence of JJ, she's able to fill those shoes. There's a lot of cases of that this year. Chennedy Carter that's my little favorite. She takes control of what she wants to take control of. Monique Billings I think that her rebounding ability is very, very underestimated. I think that her efficiency in the paint is underestimated. So yeah, Seimone Augustus. We see the big hoo-ha on the off season thinking like, "Hey, she's not worth this amount." And she comes out of nowhere, just Money Mone. Angel McCoughtry we haven't seen play in two years. It's like the year of the come back or the year of the underdog that had to step up.

Brian Bosche:
You're right. It's like the veterans like Bonner, what is 10 years I think in the WNBA or she's been in for a long time and she's leading the league in scoring. And so you're right. It's a comeback to step up, next person up type mentality of the younger players on the team.

Ari Chambers:
I love all the guys. It's not your typical superstars. And it's not your typical superstar that you're going to. And you're like, "Oh, this person is automatically going to drop 30." No, you have this person who, "Hey, I didn't play much in my rookie year, but I'm stepping in and I'm showing out."

Brian Bosche:
It seemed for the Phoenix Mercury, it's like they have the big three, but then Bria Hartley's stepping up and she's taking on as they struggle. So it's been fun to see these teams come together, especially when DT gets really upset in turning these games.

Ari Chambers:
Bria Hartley 27 points. Shout out to her.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah, that's pretty amazing.

Skylar Smith:
Justice for Bria Hartley, everyone doubted her. So you mentioned-

Ari Chambers:
She'd never been in a place where she's been needed like that. She's never been in a place where she could utilize her skill set to be needed if that makes sense.

Skylar Smith:
Yeah, totally. You brought up Chennedy Carter. There was a lot of hype around this class of rookies, Sabrina, Chennedy, Satou Sabally. there's a lot of really great players this year. And there was justifiably a lot of hype around them. I want to know what you think about this new pressure on rookies. We're seeing the same thing and we saw it with Sabrina. There's so much hype around them when they're so young like 19 to 22, basically.

Skylar Smith:
And then they come in and they have some really great performances. Then a lot of them ended up getting hurt really quickly. So do you think we're putting too much pressure on these rookies for how young they are, and who is your rookie of the year this year? it's a pretty small sample size thus far, but who is your initial thought?

Ari Chambers:
I would get the new sample size because it's the most rookies that I've seen play because older players are opting out. But I don't think it's too much pressure because their generation has grown up to be hyped up from eighth grade on. So they know nothing else. We are looking at this didn't happen. We didn't have the social media platforms that blasted the select top 10 players from 13 years old until your pro career.

Ari Chambers:
So I think that because of the popularity right now and how they were brought up, it's no extra pressure. This is just what they're used to. And I think that you have players that thrive under that energy of like, "Oh you know I'm good. Let me show you that I can be better." You see this, I want to say like Diamond DeShields, her freshmen class, when those five women at UNC, they knew that they were good. They were hyped up and they delivered. And now you see that Diamond still has that confidence. I think that confidence is like really, it radiates in a lot of the younger players just because they've been gassed their whole life. They know nothing else.

Ari Chambers:
My rookie of the year, hands down, is going to be Carter. She's a dog. She knows she's a dog. That whole team is better off with her. And that's what I look for with a rookie of the year. It's like, how do you help your team and how do you do it individually? Both of those go into play, and I think that she has the greatest potential to get her team farther. And then her style play works really well with the rest of the team. And then her attitude matches a lot of her teammates' attitudes. So I love the Chennedy Carter let's push her forward thing.

Brian Bosche:
Did you give a shout out Ari that House of Highlights is helping develop young talent, so they're more ready for the league. What was that?

Ari Chambers:
Several platforms that are holding it down. They're focused on high school and the ones gen Z and younger. That is not necessarily my beat.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah. You start interviewing 10 year olds who are already five 10. And you're like, okay, we have a little track going here.

Ari Chambers:
One of my friends does it and she does it really well. And that's why she's so successful.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah. You got to source the talent. Following up on rookie of the year, well, who is your MVP so far? We're so early, but it's kind of like- Who?

Ari Chambers:
Technically what we might need to do is... Would be like right now DeWanna but her team has not won at all. So it's just like, what can you do?

Brian Bosche:
Let me rephrase that. Who's the player of the week? That's Bonner?

Ari Chambers:
Yeah. I mean, I would say DeWanna, DeWanna did it for me. She has done it for me, she had to put the team on her back, despite it's not really coming through. Something's missing with Connecticut with chemistry wise and it's just, something is just different about the energy of that team this year. Hopefully they can get it together, but it's sad because it's a shortened season. Only two games so they're five games down, cuts one fourth of your season on your time.

Brian Bosche:
With your interviews with players, talking to players before the season started, I know I listened to Rapinoe and Bird on their Instagram lives and their different podcasts they were on. They were pretty unsure if the season was even going to start or they were going to come back pretty deep in the summer. What have you seen from players where maybe they weren't quite ready to play, or we talk about some of these chemistry issues. Was the uncertainty of factor in them coming back and maybe some of these injuries, or maybe some of this team chemistry issues? Was it a surprise to them that this season was coming in and that they were actually going to go for it?

Ari Chambers:
I don't think it was the surprise of the season that was coming. I think that it... When you haven't been playing basketball because of quarantine, it's impossible to stay in basketball shape. And then also you don't have the training camp, the extended training camp, like the normal time allotted to blend with your team, to pick the best puzzle pieces for your team. Basically, the teams were designated by the players who said, "Yeah, I want to play," or, "No I don't want to play." So we didn't have that luxury of picking from the wide pool because there wasn't a wide pool.

Ari Chambers:
So I think the injuries come because the games were every other day, and they haven't had proper time to get in proper basketball shape. Their training camp was two weeks, and their bodies have been off for a record time. A lot of these players said, "This is the longest time I've been at home. I've been with my family. I haven't been playing basketball." That mixed with the schedule is what's happening. Why you see them dropping like flies. And it's just like, dang, stage the whole gym because what are we going to do? Because the protocol if they were to fly people in then you're supposed to take a... Supposed to be 10 days, but four to 10 days.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah, and you see that in contrast to NBA where they were at the end of their season. So they had played for almost an entire season together. They had the scrimmages, they had a lot more lead up time, and I think a lot of them knew they were coming back. I think when we get to the playoffs, we'll see teams gelling a lot more, and the basketball shape back. So I'm excited to get this lead up time to the playoffs at least.

Ari Chambers:
Yeah. I mean, NBA's not my thing, but for the W and hopefully they won't have them any more injuries and they'll get it together, team chemistry wise, but shout out to Chicago who has it all figured out, team chemistry.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah. There's actually a lot of UK Chicago Sky fans.

Ari Chambers:
Why?

Brian Bosche:
I don't know.

Ari Chambers:
Why Chicago? You would think that would be something like on the East Coast.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah. I think there's maybe like one person who likes it, so started a fan account and that's how it grows. So yeah, I'm really interested.

Ari Chambers:
I have seen those WNBA, bring it, Chicago. I have seen it. There are a couple of UK accounts over there.

Brian Bosche:
Yeah. It's interesting. It's like, all right, one person and they can grow the audience with just that one person interested. But that's why Twitter is amazing.

Ari Chambers:
I'm just thinking like, I mean, all the French to go for Phoenix because Bria.

Skylar Smith:
There you go.

Ari Chambers:
Go after it. I don't know anybody from the London area that would be playing in the W and stuff.

Skylar Smith:
So you're known to have a really good relationship with a lot of the WNBA players. We just saw your incredible interview with Jessica Breland a couple of days ago where she was... She's not a player who's known to sit down for long form interviews like that. And she was talking about a really hard subject in her cancer. But she seemed really at ease with you. I'd love to hear a little bit about how you think about your relationship with the players as a member of the media, and how you go about building that trust with them so that they trust you to tell their stories.

Ari Chambers:
I don't think I actively go about building trust with players. I think that I just approach things like, "Hey, you're a human, I'm a human. If you want to have a conversation, I'm not going to pry. I'm just going to try to guide you through whatever you're trying to tell me." And then a big thing about doing interviews is listening to them. I know people that over-prepare and they have a list of questions for the players and they're like, "Okay, what about this, and what about this?" But if you really listen to their responses and you listen to what they're saying, then you're able to get something much deeper, because you pick up on keywords. She was telling me about how she was surrounded by positivity. And I was like, "Was there anybody in particular that said something to you?" And then she was like, "Well, actually this is a tattoo that I got."

Ari Chambers:
It just leads to things when you actually just pay attention to what they're talking about. Before I started in media, my friends growing up, played basketball on a very high level, so I traveled them and I met a lot of people there. And then my best friend played at Wake Forest. And so naturally I knew other players from that. It's little things like that it just it pans out. And because I'm around so much, you got to realize when I first started, there was five of us covering the league. So when you see league members who have been on since you were in college, of course, you're going to be like, "Oh, what's up?"

Ari Chambers:
I don't think it’s rocket science, any magic behind it. It's just treating them like humans, knowing that their stories matter, actually caring about her stories, and yeah, Jessica Breland and Tierra Ruffin-Pratt both nine one nine. They went to the Seattle. It's just very easy, especially when you're an ACC baby, like me. A lot of people ACC make it to the league. I mean the power conferences are it and I really, I want to say when you first start out where they put in the effort, I remember I would like spend my last dime trying to get... ESPN used to have national media days. I would spend my last dime to get Bristol, Connecticut just to cover these women, when they're in college. I would go to Final Fours, have to start a Go Fund Me to get there. And that was so embarrassing to me, but I need to be there.

Ari Chambers:
And this is before I had anything, before I was with a company or whatever, but I ran off of passion. When you run off of passion the players know that you're doing this for the right reasons, I mean, why wouldn't you want to help and support somebody like that? So they've been really great to me. And I've been really great to them, so it's just a mutual respect from both.

Skylar Smith:
It ends up being a win-win for everyone. The players are the most comfortable they can be. They're talking to someone they like. You're getting a good interview. You're providing great content. And fans can tell when the players are comfortable with the person who's interviewing them. So it's really a win-win for everyone.

Ari Chambers:
And that's my struggle a lot. That's why you don't see me break news a lot. I know things that go on, but it's a thin line with some of my friends who tell me things. I have friends in the league, then I have people that I interviewed that I'm just really at good interviewing them. Do you know what I mean? So it's just like, I try to stay away from breaking news or having a drop off, because you see what happens when I drop things, even though I'm known by the players. But I try to stand in that the lane that I've chosen for myself, and my goal is to tell their stories, and that's what I love to do. I'm just thankful that they allow me to tell them.

Skylar Smith:
Yeah, totally.

Brian Bosche:
And Skylar, do you have any other questions before I go to our last one for the fans?

Skylar Smith:
Yeah. We got one tweet that I really wanted to hear your opinion on. So I love keeping up with like NBA walk-in fits. I just love paying attention to the fashion of the players. So we got one tweet that was, "Who do you think in the WNBA has the best shoe game?" And I'm going to add on. Who do you think has the best fits in the WNBA?

Ari Chambers:
I think Simone Augustus has hands down the best shoe game. I don't know if you all seen her closet. It's unreal. So Simone Augustus does this in general has the best shoe game ever. Te'a Cooper probably has the best shoe game in the Wubble because nobody else is. Shout out my favorite style. I'm a model. So I be judging. I think that Diamond DeShields is, I'm obsessed with Diamond. Like it's unhealthy. I think that her style's impeccable, but to me she can do no wrong. So maybe this is me through a bias lens, but she's not Diamond. No, I think that she's completely established and Sydney Colson has a really good style.

Skylar Smith:
Yeah I'm so excited to see Sydney back and be able to keep up with her once again.

Ari Chambers:
Funniest team ever.

Brian Bosche:
All right. Last question for you. A lot of UK fans don't get to see the WNBA that much and it's an introduction to them. So what would you want to tell UK based fans about the WNBA and about the league because for many of them, it's at the same time as the NBA, it's amplifying the message a little bit more when the games are on. So what would you want to tell UK fans about the WNBA? What do you want to leave them with?

Ari Chambers:
On the court you're going to see some great dunks. I just feel like the dunks are underrated in the WNBA.

Brian Bosche:
The Taurasi no looks are just unbelievable.

Ari Chambers:
It's not just the passes. It's just the way she runs away from it before she even sits down. But it's a great style of play. I don't like chaos. That's why I don't typically watch the NBA. So I like the pace of the WNBA. So if you like a slightly slower pace where you can actually follow the game, go WNBA. Off the court these players are amazing. They're hilarious. If basketball's not your thing, follow them on TikTok, follow them on Twitter. Fricking hilarious. Most of them don't really use Instagram like that. They're like cute little fashion pics, but like TikTok with the players. They blog so you can really get to know their stories online.

Ari Chambers:
So yeah, my biggest suggestion, because I know that UK audience isn't really that big on basketball yet, fall in love with their personalities first and then follow their team. Some teams win more than others. Still love the player. You still love them. I'm a Sparks fan. That's how I've been since Lisa Leslie. So I love Lisa Leslie, because she wore a ribbon in her hair and that was 11 year old me like, "Oh my God, love her," because she's super girly, and back then I was too. That's something as basic that can lead you to loving the game.

Brian Bosche:
Great. Well thank you so much for coming on. We appreciate it.

Skylar Smith:
Thanks Ari.

Ari Chambers:
Thank you guys.