Levels to This with Sheryl Swoopes and Terrika Foster-Brasby

On this episode of Levels to This, hosts Sheryl Swoopes and Terrika Foster-Brasby are joined by veteran play-by-play analyst Cindy Brunson, who heard "no" for seven straight years before the Phoenix Mercury finally let her into the booth. By then she'd hosted WNBA Studio at ESPN, taught herself play-by-play "in the dark" at the Pac-12 Network where nobody could find the channel... and watched NBA guys with no W experience get handed the jobs she was chasing. The trio discuss the evolved landscape of WNBA broadcast coverage and why this year’s Finals will mean so much.

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On this episode of Levels to This, Sheryl Swoopes and Terrika Foster-Brasby break down the opening weeks of the WNBA season, starting with the devastating news that Rickea Jackson is out for the year with a torn ACL, and what that means for a Chicago Sky team that's been one of the early surprises at 3-1. They get into A'ja Wilson's 45-point masterclass against the Sun (she missed three shots, period), why Kennedy Carter has the Aces looking scary, and the case for the Washington Mystics as the most underrated team in the league. Then they get into the fun stuff: way-too-early picks for MVP, Rookie of the Year, Sixth Player, Most Improved, and a champion — and Sheryl makes it very clear that if anyone wants the trophy, they're going to have to go take it from A'ja.

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On this episode of Levels to This, Sheryl Swoopes and Terrika Foster-Brasby were joined by Clare Hamill, Interim President of the Portland Fire. We're running this one back because the Fire just returned to the floor for the first time in over two decades this past weekend as one of two new WNBA expansion franchises in the league's 30th season. They're off to an explosive start, setting a new WNBA attendance record for an expansion team opener! Listen back to the conversation that laid out the vision.

Original run-date: August 21, 2025

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On this episode of Levels to This, Sheryl Swoopes and Terrika Foster-Brasby take the show live to the Sigma Gamma Rho Boulé in Springfield — Terrika's home chapter energy on full display, and Sheryl one year into her own neo season as a new soror. With a room full of sisters in the audience, they  break down what spring cleaning really means: clearing out old clothes, old ideas, and maybe even some old "friends." Especially the friendships where only one person is building the bond. Sorors on the mic bring the bars too — including one line that needs to be a t-shirt: "your disrespect is my closure." Sheryl and Tee close it out with what's worth making room for on the other side of the cleanout.

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On this episode of Levels to This, Sheryl Swoopes and Terrika Foster-Brasby continue their live conversation at the Lighthouse with Flagrant and Funny co-hosts Cari Champion and Jemele Hill. The four get into who actually gets the credit in women's sports media — and why the reporters who've been on the ground for years keep getting passed over when the big news breaks. Jemele calls out the double standard directly: men can openly admit they know nothing about the WNBA and still get a platform, while outspoken Black women get scrutinized for having opinions rooted in decades of institutional knowledge. The crew also breaks down their favorite and least favorite WNBA free agency moves, from Chicago's Baddie Bunch to questions about Golden State and Portland's direction. They close out with a raw audience Q&A on pivots — Cari on trusting your body when it's time to move, Jemele on the real cost of entrepreneurship and leading people into a burning building, Sheryl on staying ready when teams keep saying no, and Terrika on what it means to bet on yourself when nobody else will.

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On this episode of Levels to This, Sheryl Swoopes and Terrika Foster-Brasby are joined live at the Lighthouse by Flagrant and Funny co-hosts Cari Champion and Jemele Hill. The four break down the 2025 WNBA Draft — from Azzi Fudd going first overall to the Dallas Wings, to the implications of Raven Johnson landing in Indiana alongside Caitlin Clark. The conversation shifts to the backlash against the UCLA women's basketball team after their NCAA championship run, and what it really means to interrupt a narrative when you're not who people expected to win. All four women get honest about the specific, grinding ways Black women in sports media are pushed to be something other than themselves, and what it looks like when Black women in the same space actually choose to go to bat for each other.

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On this episode of Levels to This, hosts Sheryl Swoopes and Terrika Foster-Brasby are joined by Dr. Bettina Love, renowned public speaker, educator, and New York Times bestselling author of Punished for Dreaming. Dr. Love breaks down why "reform" is a word Black and brown communities should be skeptical of, and why America's racial inequities aren't a crisis — they're a continuation. Dr. Love brings real joy to the conversation, breaking down what black joy actually means: the spades table where nobody's thinking about white folks, the sundress that needs no explanation, the McDonald's money question that transcends generations.

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On this episode of Levels to This, Sheryl Swoopes and Terrika Foster-Brasby break down a packed NCAA women's Final Four weekend in Phoenix, starting with the South Carolina–UConn semifinal — a defensive masterclass that had a lot of people expecting more offense. They get into Geno Auriemma's postgame meltdown, the classless exit, and the two apologies that followed, including why failing to address Dawn Staley by name said everything. From there, they cover UCLA's first-ever national championship, Lauren Betts's standout performance, and what Cori Close's patient program-building should mean for how we talk about coaching. The duo also pivots to the WNBA offseason, touching on Angel Reese's move to Atlanta, Satou Sabally's uncertain future in free agency, and what the new CBA means for the wild player movement already underway.

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Connecticut team president Jen Rizzotti joins Sheryl Swoopes and Terrika Foster-Brasby to break down how the move happened, what's coming up for fans in this emotional season, and what this means for the league more broadly.

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On this episode of Levels to This, Sheryl Swoopes and Terrika Foster-Brasby break down the new WNBA CBA and what it actually means for players — from the historic salary increases and charter travel to the pregnancy consent provision that protects players from being traded without their knowledge. Sheryl speaks to what the deal means for former players too, including a one-time retirement payment for league veterans who built the foundation these gains are standing on. The duo also gets into the importance of award voting now that bonuses are tied to results — and they don't let the media off the hook. They also turn their attention to the women's Sweet Sixteen, running through upsets, coaching hot seats, and their Final Four picks heading into the weekend.

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