On this week’s edition of Luxury Tax, Azura Stevens joins the show. In a catch-all interview, she discusses with Andrew Haubner and Chauny her return from injury and how she spent her time during the All-Star and Olympic break. After that, the three dive into Stevens time at UConn, her father’s food truck in North Carolina, her thoughts on whether or not young players should go overseas and so much more.
You can listen to the podcast here or check out the full transcript below.
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Andrew Haubner, No Cap Space WBB: So it doesn't happen often that we get this Olympic break. The last time that happened for you guys, it was kind of wonky with COVID occurring. In your first true WNBA/Olympic cycle, what's three weeks off kind of life for you?
Azura Stevens, Los Angeles Sparks: It's a long time just to not be in a practice environment and not have games. So it was nice to have a little break. I was injured, obviously the first half of the season, so I didn't really play much. But toward the end of the break that we had before we all had to be back, I took a little vacation. I went home. I'm from North Carolina, so I have a good team of people there, a couple of trainers, a strength trainer. I have a physical therapist there that I work with. So I hit them up as soon as I knew the break was coming. I kind of got my schedule set and I just kept sort of building on the work that I had already done to get myself back onto the court prior to the break. So it was still nice to be around my family. I have a little orange tabby cat, so it was really nice to see him too because he's at home with my parents right now. But mentally it was nice just to sort of be in the comfort of the familiarity of my house and stuff. But physically, I still kind of kept up with my same routine that I have out here in LA.
Chauny, No Cap Space WBB: You played with Liz Cambage and Skylar Diggins on that Dallas Wings team and [this was] 53 point Liz and I know y'all were pretty cool. Then you go and play with Candace Parker eventually in Chicago and win that title. So being able to play with those two type of vets and what they've done for the league, what were you able to take from them?
Azura Stevens, Los Angeles Sparks: Liz was like my big sister. She still is; we're still very close. But my rookie year especially, it was hard. It's hard for these rookies coming in. You have literally no break. So being able to just learn from her and just spend a lot of time with her on and off the court helped me so much to get through that season. And then Skylar, I learned so much from her as well. Just the way that she leads, the way that she approaches the game, and just being a pro I was able to just watch and I loved playing with her too. She was one of my favorite guards that I played with. And then I went to Chicago and before Candace was there, I played with Jantel [Lavendar]. She was a really good vet for me. She wasn't physically there in the bubble, but we were connected a lot, just calling and texting, and she was always giving me advice. Cheyenne [Parker-Tyus] was a great vet for me too. I loved playing alongside her and then I would be so remiss not to mention Sloot (Courtney Vandersloot) and Ali [Quigley], because I love them so much. Theyreally have become like my family. So I learned so much from them over the course of my three seasons there, just in the way that they approach the game.
Chauny: Fast forward to today, where you're still young for the earth and you're still a young team. But like, you're kind of one of the elder statesman. You've been around the league, you've seen some things. What do you kind of feel your role is in all this?
Azura: I'm one of the leaders. I know that just, you know my age, but also my experience.I mean, I won in this league. Not everybody can say that and there's a lot of experience that comes from it. And we do have a younger team but I think, even looking at our roster, it's not super old. We have some older players, but it's still a lot of young vets like my age and around my age. Then we have — we're all kind of younger — but I think in that I am one of the leaders. I try to lead by example more than talking. I'm not gonna say a bunch directly in practice but I really like to build relationships. So I've taken the rookies under my wing. I love them both so much, and even the younger players, like Zia [Cooke] is one of my closest friends on the team and we will be friends for life. So that's kind of my angle on how I try to lead is just building relationships, because it's bigger than just playing, you know? One day we're not going to be playing but these types of relationships that will last beyond the court. And every place I've been, I've built life long friends. So I try to just turn around and do the same thing.
Andrew: So let’s talk rivalries since you had a few at UConn. What was the first moment you had where you're like, ‘Oh, I really don't like Notre Dame?’
Chauny: Yeah, bring us to the hate!
Azura: We played them in Gampel and we weren't really playing good. I don't know if people really remember those games but they were insane. It was like, 11 pros playing in those games when we played. It was crazy but we were down, I think, and then we started coming back. And Gampel was always loud and a sell out. But that day you could not hear in that arena because it was just so packed. Everybody was just so hyped up. And it was like at first we weren't playing good and then we started coming back. So then all of us were just getting more and more into it. And I remember the specific play. Marina [Mabrey] had the ball and she was trying to drive on [Napheesa Collier]. She was about to and she traveled. So she held the ball up like this, and she was making a face. And Phee went and just grabbed it out of her hands! It was so epic. Because Phee is quiet and she doesn't want smoke, but she wanted smoke in that moment and then we all got fired up after that. It was so cool.
Chauny: So wait now that we're here, since we're still in that line of thinking, and you brought up Zia. I'm from South Carolina so I'm a Gamecock fan. I grew up watching UConn. That was the first team that when you learn basketball [you think] dynasty, right? Uh, lately, we've had the upper hand just a little bit!
Azura: I can't even lie, you guys have and I loved Dawn [Staley]. Like, I love Dawn. I met her when I was playing on the USA team a long, long time ago and I always loved just how down to earth she is and how she really has a special relationship with players. And then she's just such a good coach on top of that. So it's just really awesome. I have a lot of respect for her. And that's why I don't go too hard on the Gamecocks! I'm like, you know, Dawn is doing her thing down there!
Chauny: Look, I got nothing to say. But honestly, y'all was smacking the taste out of our mouth at first. We had to do something to balance the scale. Right now, where you're looking at it, you know, we have the defending champions coming back. Y'all still got Paige [Bueckers] and Azzi [Fudd] and something to prove. Would you say that it's grown into a rivalry? Would you call it a rivalry yet?
Azura: I think for sure. I think for sure, over the years, we've seen the evolution of South Carolina. But just being against Connecticut it's always a pretty good game. It's been so fun just to watch the college girls. Honestly, I don't usually always watch too much in the regular season but I always watch almost every game of the tournament just because it's so exciting. It's so exciting to see, to be on this level and see the passion and fire that's still building in youth women's basketball. It’s special to see that. And I'm sure that, for the the super older veterans, it's awesome to see that too because that's what you play for.
You play to give somebody else a dream, somebody that's coming up. Like you want them to look up and see, ‘okay, I can do that too.’ So to look back and see so many young girls still wanting to play. It's awesome. And they're really good too. Like, that's the part I like the most about it is they're very skilled. They're very fundamental. It's not just like, ‘okay, they're playing’, but it's like, ‘these could be game changers. Legendary type players.’ So it's really cool just to see that. And I'm excited for this season, honestly. I can't really say too much but I'm definitely not going overseas so that that's like a little prelude to something that might be happening soon. But I'm gonna be coming to some college games.
Andrew: Okay, I'm glad you mentioned the overseas thing, because you've been over there a lot. You benefited from it a lot. And I think the big discussion right now has been, especially in the wake of the Olympics, just how many good players are out in the world. Is it interesting when you go over there and you see and are exposed to just how good the talent is?
Azura: I honestly love going overseas. So it's hard for me sometimes with different conversations that have been had in the past from the league and players about, like, ‘oh, it sucks going over there.’ I personally enjoyed going over there. I have a couple seasons where I didn't. There was some teams that weren't the best but the older I've gotten, I've learned how to adjust more to playing over there. And I always benefit from it, playing and getting confidence just playing a European style. I really like the way that the game is played over there. And even just, the older I'm getting now, GMs [have] asked me what players do I know. So being able to go over there and see different players, or play with different players, I'm able to come back and share some of my experience of playing with this player, or let's give this girl a chance.
But I think it was so awesome to see the Olympics, how competitive it was on both sides, but particularly the women's side. I think historically, it hasn't been as competitive. But this year the games were all really good. Nigeria did incredible. And I know they lost a ton of players, so to see them still be able to rally was like, really, really cool. Australia did really good. Belgium, I loved watching them. I'm really close with Julie Allemand. I'm really close with Emma [Meeseman]. So I was cheering for them. And I know everybody on Twitter knows that Gabby [Williams] is like my sister so I was watching all of France's games. Literally, doesn't matter what time it was. I was tuned in, and I was so sad that they lost in the end. Of course, I'm USA, but she played incredible and it was just awesome to just see her thrive on that type of stage. I've always been a believer and have known that she's capable of that but just for me to be able to watch that and everybody else, just in her home country with her family there. It was really special just to witness that.
Andrew: As the game has grown, I have never in a sport, been around so many discussions about ‘what does it mean to be a new fan? an old fan? How do you adequately support? How do you adequately reign and change?’
What is that discussion been like among players? Because I would imagine there, there has to be, on a human level, at least a feeling of missing the window, right? Because kids are coming in with NIL and TikTok and all this other stuff. How do you guys, as players, navigate those discussions? Like, what does it mean to you to be a proper steward for your next generation? And for two rookies on your team, for instance, that have insane aura, as the kids say right now.
Azura: Yeah, I think, I think it's incredible. Honestly, I think it's so cool just to see the attention in general that the sport is getting. It's really like a prime time right now for women's basketball on multiple levels. Not just us, but even college like I mentioned earlier, I think it's really cool. It's special just to see. I tell Cam and Rickea all the time, I'm so proud of how they handle all of this pressure. Because we were coming up and there was no press. There was pressure to perform in this but it wasn't the whole media aspect. There wasn't Twitter and Instagram and Tiktok and everything. Sports betters. There was none of that. That's a whole other thing. They have a lot of pressure and we all have it now, but it's particularly them. They have the pressure of adjusting to this league and then they have the spotlight on them, the camera on them.
I mean, Angel and Caitlin. It's insane the amount of pressure that they have on them. And I think about that a lot. I mean, I think they both handle it really well. But they're human at the end of the day like, all of the rookies are, we all are. So I think it's just crazy, honestly, just the type of pressure they have on them. But I mean, we're all playing a sport that we love, so at the end of the day there's no pressure. You just go out, you play, you compete, you keep getting better, and let the naysayers be the naysayers, you know? But I think it's really funny, and it's cool to see, like, they all have little fan bases that are just…one has her fan base. Angel has her fan base. Rickea has her little army. Cam has hers. It's funny to see that because I don't really think it was like that either. I'm sure with Diana and stuff, it was probably like that. But they didn't have Twitter, so it was different but now it's like, we have the general fan bases and then they all have their own fan bases. So I think that's really like cool to see too. And I don't know how much they real
