On this special women’s sports edition of “Listen In With KNN” sports talk radio show and podcast presented by Fox Sports Radio 1340 AM/96.9 FM, executive producer and host Kelsey Nicole Nelson welcomed special guest, WNBA star guard for the Washington Mystics and entrepreneur Ariel Atkins to the show.
To start the conversation, Nelson and Atkins talked about the Mystics recent victory in Indianapolis and how it felt for Atkins and the team at large. On July 10, the Mystics defeated the Indiana Fever, 89-84. Atkins said bringing home the win brought her teammates closer and motivated them for future games in the face of adversity.
“We’ve had numerous people out for different things,” she said. “We’ve had injuries, sickness, all these types of things. We’re really just rolling with the punches and taking it day by day.”
Nelson mentioned the fifth-highest attended regular season game in WNBA history at Capital One Arena on June 7 in Washington, D.C. and asked Atkins what it was like to be part of history. She said she enjoyed being in that moment and more people looking at the WNBA in a different aspect.
“As a kid when you’re playing sports, that’s what you dream of,” Atkins said. “You dream of playing in these crazy sold-out arenas, people heckling you left and right, people cheering.”
With a lot of new fans looking at the Mystics and the WNBA as a whole, Atkins gave some pointers to new fans for future games.
“I think so many people think players that have been in the league are so upset about the rookie class and what they’ve been able to do,” she said. “I can speak for myself and a few others—no one’s upset. Everybody’s super excited.”
The two continued shifting to highlighting the Mystics’ rookies, in particular two players, Aaliyah Edwards and Julie Vanloo. Nelson said in the beginning, Edwards received criticism for having a slower offensive start. But over time, citing how she became more confident on the court, in her placement, and bonding with her teammates, to really become a leader in this year’s rookie class
Also giving praise to Vanloo’s fellow rookie classmate Atkins said on Edwards, “She has grown every single day. I mean she puts in the work day in and day out. She takes care of her body, she’s a pro.”
With Julie Vanloo, Nelson noted she’s close to breaking Atkins’ record for most 3-pointers by a rookie in franchise history. Despite that, Nelson asked Atkins to shed light on Vanloo as a teammate, since she doesn’t get talked about as much in the conversation with this year’s WNBA rookie class. Atkins said she would love to see Vanloo break the record because records are made to be broken.
“I think her story is so inspirational because she’s always wanted to play in The W,” Atkins said. “She never gave up, she continued to fight.”
Looking ahead to the Olympic break, Nelson asked Atkins her thoughts on Team USA’s women’s basketball team this year as a previous Team USA Olympian. Atkins said she’s excited for the members who’ve been chosen to compete and wishes them the best.
“As much as it is a dream come true, just remember to enjoy it because it goes so fast, and it’s something that we’ve all probably dreamed about since we were little,” she said.
In addition to the Olympic break and getting to rest her body, Atkins was looking forward to visiting Bard High School Early College DC for the 3rd annual KidBizCon. KidBizCon is a conference for teens to explore entrepreneurship and the creative economy through workshops, pitch competitions, a marketplace, and topics from financial literacy and art to e-commerce. Atkins was a special guest judge for the pitch competition.
This partnership came about when Atkins talked with some kids at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington. She asked them what they wanted to see and learn.
“We’re talking about accountability, vision boards, and all this,” she said. “They’re like ‘Yeah yeah. You gonna teach us how to make money?’ And I was like ‘Okay!’”
Atkins told her manager, who told 2k Foundation, which connected them to the Young Entrepreneur Institute (YEI), the host of KidBizCon. That conversation with the Boys and Girls Club, she said, made her rethink how she wants to get involved in the community.
“Some of the things that I want to bring to them are things that they can actually take you further on. There are so many people in this city that want to help them grow and so being able to do that and being able to be a part of it is super important.”
Atkins also mentioned what she learned from KidBizCon and entrepreneurship in general.
“Both my parents worked for themselves as I was growing up. It’s always been that if you want something, you have to go get it.”
To hear the whole conversation, listen to the episode below!
