January 26th will be the tip-off date of the inaugural season of Athletes Unlimited Basketball in Las Vegas – and the upstart league has announced a partnership with one of women’s basketball’s most respected journalists for the upcoming season.
Khristina Williams, founder of Girls Talk Sports TV and one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for 2021, has partnered Athletes Unlimited for its upcoming month-long season. Williams will be part of AU’s opening weekend and will create content for its website.
This new partnership not only shows how important it is to invest in women’s sports, but also what can happen when you empower those telling the stories.
–Khristina Williams, Girls Talk Sports TV (press release)
Athletes Unlimited will also partner with other well-known curators of content for the upcoming season – including Jasmine Baker and ESPN’s Terrika Foster-Brasby as well as Greydy Diaz and Victoria Jacobi.
Williams spoke to Beyond The W about the partnership and highlighted how it displays an investment in independent Black content creators who wish to tell stories from, not only a basketball perspective, but a cultural one.
I feel like it’s super important, especially when we talk about the investment in women’s sports, to not only invest in the athletes, but to invest in those that are telling these stories, especially people of color.
–Khristina Williams, Girls Talk Sports TV
She praised Athletes Unlimited for being friendly and easy to work with on collaborative content ideas. Williams believes that it is a different sort of arrangement from most partnerships where those that establish said partnerships already have in mind what sorts of content they want to put out, but that this will be a truly cohesive effort.
Just being in tune with those who are a part of building the culture in women’s basketball. I think that’s super important. I think as a content creator, as a fan of women’s sports and women’s basketball I feel like one of the things that have been lacking … seems to be the culture part of it. And I feel like Athletes Unlimited … partnered up with the movers and shakers, those who are in tune with the culture, I think that’s going to be a win-win for everyone.
–Khristina Williams, Girls Talk Sports TV
Williams has without a doubt established herself among the premier content creators in the women’s sports realm. Not only has she broken plenty of news relating to the WNBA and has also collaborated with many teams on digital projects (such as the New York Liberty’s TikTok video teasing its 2022 schedule), she also is the host of “Women’s Sports Wednesday” on Spotify Greenroom.
The partnership that Athletes Unlimited has established with her as well as Diaz, Jacobi, Foster-Bradley and Baker, Williams says, is another opportunity to expand the reach of those gifted content creators as well as to create buzz for the first season of the league.
Not only does it put us as content creators on a bigger platform to be able to showcase our gifts, our talents and what we’re able to offer this industry, but it also connects AU with the culture. It gives us power to be able to tell the story of the athletes – something that we preach so much about in women’s sports. Being able to tell our own stories and being able to tell them in fresh, new and unique ways. And so I love that Athletes Unlimited has given us the creative control to be collaborative with them and bringing fresh new content for their inaugural season.
–Khristina Williams, Girls Talk Sports TV
Williams says she is excited to get back on the floor and on the sidelines. She says she is planning to provide that floor coverage in addition to hosting a live watch party as well as exclusive player interviews for Athletes Unlimited’s first six games.
I feel like there’s no better destination than to be in Vegas – it’s becoming such a sports city and have embraced women’s sports. We know the Aces – they are there in Vegas, but also the WNBA All-Star Game was in Vegas as well. And so, Vegas is really becoming a destination for women’s sports. And, so I’m so excited to see this thing launch and grow.
–Khristina Williams, Girls Talk Sports TV
According to Williams, many an entity delivers a lot of silver-tongued lip service on the subject of investing more money into women’s sports, but Athletes Unlimited is putting its money where its mouth is.
Investing in women goes beyond just saying it on social media or (in) statements. It starts here and now with partnerships like this. And so, I’m very grateful for AU for choosing me to be a part of their inaugural season and the Girls Talk Sports TV platform.
–Khristina Williams, Girls Talk Sports TV
For Williams, a return to Sin City is not only an opportunity to take that next step in her quickly ascending career, it also is a chance for her to press a refresh button away from the hustle and bustle of big city living.
I’m from the east coast, I’m from New York City. So, whenever I have a chance to go literally across the country to reset and chill, that’s my go to thing outside of sports.
–Khristina Williams, Girls Talk Sports TV
She says one of her favorite things to do in Las Vegas, outside of work, is meet up with Jada Brown, who played for Kansas until 2017 when she graduated. Brown also collaborated at one time on Girls Talk Sports TV projects with Williams.
Williams believes that with the rise of professional sports in Las Vegas, including the rapid ascent of the Aces, that more and more are getting to realize that Sin City is more than just casinos and all-around decadence.
I feel like people get this, kind of, misconception because people think that Vegas is only the Strip, but there’s just so much more to the city of Las Vegas.
–Khristina Williams, Girls Talk Sports TV
Athletes Unlimited will hold a draft on January 23 and players will be divvied into four teams – Team Orange, Team Blue, Team Purple and Team Gold. In fact, drafts will be held weekly led by four team captains that will change week-by-week. It will be based off of a points system that takes individual and team effort into account. At the end of the season, the player with the most points, per the points system, will be named the end of season champion.
Really, this league gives the players the power in terms of how it’s going to go.
–Khristina Williams, Girls Talk Sports TV
It really motivates you as a player to be able to do your best, to show your best game every week.
–Khristina Williams, Girls Talk Sports TV
Among the facilitators brought in to help the new league? Former WNBA coach Pokey Chatman, whose duties will include helping run practices. Each of the teams will play three times a week.
A host of names familiar to WNBA fans are among those that will be participating – including Kalani Brown, Lexie Brown, DiJonai Carrington, Essence Carson, Natasha Cloud, Sydney Colson, Kiki Harrigan, Isabelle Harrison, Tianna Hawkins, Jantel Lavender, Imani McGee-Stafford, Kelsey Mitchell, Mercedes Russell, Odyssey Sims, Courtney Williams and Ty Young.
Williams believes an opportunity Athletes Unlimited has is to bring in new fans to the game and make them more familiar with who they may see on its circuit. Those fans could then translate into WNBA fans who could follow the talent of Athletes Unlimited in case they were to be signed to WNBA contracts.
I feel like this league, when we talk about introducing, not only women’s sports fans but also men’s sports fans to the women’s game, I think that this league could be a starting point for new sports fans who – they want to get into watching more WNBA or more women’s sports, but not necessarily, knowing (what) team or where to start. I feel like Athletes Unlimited could be a prerequisite for that. Like, ‘Hey, if you just tune into this.’ You have players like Ty Young or Courtney Williams, (players) that they can follow into the WNBA season.
–Khristina Williams, Girls Talk Sports TV
In previous seasons, many of those players would also be playing around this same time of year – but not in a stateside offseason league. They would have most likely signed offseason contracts with overseas teams to make additional money that dwarfed the salaries they made as WNBA players.
But while the money for women’s basketball may be more prominent overseas, such as nonstop travel schedule can be taxing on the body and mind. This was one of the aims of the WNBPA when it inked its CBA with the league at the start of 2020 – prior to the pandemic. Williams sees this as another advantage of Athletes Unlimited.
I think that this league is a great step forward when we talk about giving opportunities to more women stateside to be able to play the game that they love.
–Khristina Williams, Girls Talk Sports TV
For some players, it is an opportunity to re-acclimate themselves with basketball after taking time off from the sport. McGee-Stafford is pursuing a law degree at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. Harrigan recently had a baby three months ago.
Williams was let go by Atlanta after a viral video of she and Crystal Bradford in a physical altercation surfaced. Kalani Brown was also previously let go by the Dream.
The league has also inked deals with CBS Sports Network, Fox Sports and Bally Sports for its upcoming season with international deals to still be announced.
It’s definitely going to change the game.
–Khristina Williams, Girls Talk Sports TV
Get ready for AU. This is just the beginning of what is going to be amazing.
–Khristina Williams, Girls Talk Sports TV
