Welcome to another episode of the Adrien  Ross Show, where sports and culture  connect. I got to tell you, I don’t ask  for a lot. I don’t ask for a lot. And  all I asked for on Wednesday night, last  night, was for the Dallas Wings to beat  the Los Angeles Sparks. Yes, I’m in the  situation that many fans are in that  even teams in the WNBA are in, and that  is we are finding ourselves rooting for  teams we never root for and focused on  games we wouldn’t have cared about until  recently. That’s because we are winding  down the regular season and the  standings, unless you’re way up here or  way down here, the standings are so  super tight.

So, as an Indiana Fever  fan, I just need some of these teams who  seem to bring their aame whenever  they’re playing Indiana to do the same  when they are playing in a game that  will help Indiana. I don’t like being in  this situation. You always want to be in  the situation where you are in total  control of your own destiny as a team.  But at this point in the season, you  need to win games. And unfortunately,  you need other people to win games. And  Dallas  dropped the ball last night.  And Paige Beckers  choked at the end of this game. And I  can hear it now.

People are going to  say, “What do you mean Paige Becker’s  choked?” Paige Becker scored 44 points  in the game. doesn’t sound like choking  to me. I’m telling you that in spite of  the 44 points, and kudos to her for the  44 points, which is exactly why I say  she choked at the end. Now, before I get  to showing you some of what happened at  the end of the game when Dallas had an  opportunity to beat the Sparks and help  the Indiana Fever and didn’t,  I got to listen to the commentators. And  you probably know  sometimes it’s best to turn it down. I  mean, listening to the commentators,  sometimes it’s like I feel like  somebody’s taking syrup and they’re  pouring it all over everything.  when they’re talking about Paige  Beckers.  Uh Mary Murphy does the game did the  game along with his name is Rashan Hlock  or something like that. He especially  just oozing with Paige Beckers this  Paige Becker’s that Paige Beckers is  everything. Everybody thought Paige  Beckers would be oh my goodness. And  she’s just a rookie in Paige Beckers and  hey 44 points big time. She was big  time.

She was on fire. I can’t I cannot  take that away from Paige Beckers. I  mean, could she miss? And I was like,  “Yes, Paige. Yes. She went to Yukon.  Don’t usually cheer for Yukon. People  to Yukon.”  I I I just have to give it to her.  Seriously, all seriousness, 44 points  major. What I didn’t like, I will  insert, is that they pointed out one  that this was the most total points in  the 2025 WNBA season by a player, any  player. He also pointed out too, this  was tied for the most points by a rookie  in WNBA history. The other player to  score 44 points as a rookie was Cynthia  Cooper. And instead of just giving  Cynthia Cooper her props, Cynthia  Cooper, whom I still call the GOAT, it  was and is I mean, was Cynthia Cooper  really a rookie? That’s what Mary Murphy  said. The rookie record for most points  in a game, Cynthia Cooper, year one of  the WNBA, but 44 points. Was Cynthia  Cooper really a rookie?

No. But anytime  you mention her, you’re talking about  royalties. Was Cynthia Cooper really a  rookie? Do you have to downplay Coupe to  lift up Paige Beckers to push the whole  Paige Beckers is better than everybody,  especially Caitlyn Clark narrative?  Really? Yes, Cynthia Cooper was a  rookie. Yes, Cynthia Cooper had played  overseas. Yes, Cynthia Cooper was in her  30s, but Cynthia Cooper was a rookie in  the WNBA. And that’s how the stats work.  Unless you want to start stripping stats  from other people who came into the  league in the first season as well.

Come  on. Don’t have to diss Cynthia Cooper to  lift up Paige Beckers. Anyway, I just  had to put that in there. I’m sure Coupe  with her signed my signed cards with  Coupe and my picture with Coupe and my  picture of Coupe with my team and all  that stuff team I coached. I’m sure  she’d appreciate that I’m standing up  for the truth. All right, I gotta calm  down. Let me get to the point  of the choke. Paige Becker’s the way she  was cooking. I’m like, she might hit 50.  But I’m going to say it again. She  choked. So, we’re going to go over to  the end of the game. Hopefully, I get to  show you some of this footage without  YouTube giving me a trouble, giving me a  problem with the copyright stuff. So,  let’s see how this goes. WNBA league  pass. At this point of the game, you’re  going to see the time in a moment and  the score, but I’m just going to tell  you at this point, end of the game,  fourth quarter, it’s 7979.  Tight game. Dallas needs to win this  game. Not just to help the Indiana Fever  out.  Remember, the Indiana Fever is close  with a lot of teams and the Sparks,  the Sparks own the tiebreak. So, we need  the Sparks to be losing. Well, we don’t  want to be tied because we’re going to  lose that. We lost the tie break. So,  7979  end the game.

Dallas needs the game to  uh to stay in the hunt for the playoffs.  Although, let’s be honest, they weren’t  going they weren’t going to make it to  the playoffs anyway. But Sparks also  fighting for a playoff spot. Not out of  it by any by any stretch of the  imagination. But while it’s 7979 and  every point matters, Rakia Jackson of  the Sparks loses her head and decides to  throw the basketball at a member of the  Dallas Wings. Like, would you think,  please, you have a game on the line and  you’re trying to make it to the  playoffs, but I didn’t mind cuz she got  teed up. And like I said, I’m rooting  for Dallas because I want Fever to have  every opportunity to get to the  playoffs.  You see that right there? You see her  throw the basketball at one of the Wings  players. That results in a technical. So  with it being 79 Dallas, 79 Sparks with  one minute and three seconds remaining,  Paige steps to the line. She’s already  got 43 points when she steps to the  line. And there you have it. She takes  the shot. She makes the shot. 44 points.  Paige Beckers.

The Sparks then take a  timeout because now they are down. It’s  80 79  63 seconds remaining in the game. I  think right here Jerica Hamby ain’t  going to say nothing to Rakia Jackson,  but she’s giving her the side eye like  what is wrong with you? Actually, she’s  probably not, but I would. So when Paige  hits that technical free throw, that’s  her 44th point and Dallas goes up one.  So it’s now 80 Dallas 79 Sparks with 1  minute and 3 seconds to go and it picks  up with a jump ball between Jackson and  Geisel Solder. Now Jackson is not going  to win this tip. Geles Solder wins the  tip. She tips it. It’s grabbed by Hines  Allen and you think the ball would go in  the hands of Paige Beckers who is on  fire. It doesn’t go that way because  defense said not. So, so let’s look at  exactly what happens here.  Okay. So, right here, Hines Allen has  it. You want to get it to Paige? Nope.  Because Ray Barrell is on page and says  no. So, Hines Allen, she says, “Well, I  better bring the ball up the floor.” So,  she does. Now, does she get it to Paige?  No. Still doesn’t get it to Paige. So,  she begins to drive the basketball.  Drives it right off her foot and out of  bounds.  That was just good defense from Rakia  Jackson. But Hines Allen is looking at  the officials like, “Where’s the foul?”

There was no foul. Okay, so the Sparks  then take a timeout and obviously  they’ll get to advance the basketball.  So here the ball is about to be  inbounded. You see my pointer here and  what happens? Ball gets inbounded  and then it gets reversed to Kelsey  Plum. Kelsey Plum. Now she gets a screen  and then there’s a switch. So now you  have Geisel Soda on Kelsey Plum and  Kelsey Plum passes off to I think her  name is Alamond  and then she gets it back. So Kelsey  gives it up to the left, gets it right  back and now she’s going over to the  right side. What does she do? Make a few  moves and then puts up a three and it  rims out.  Rebound  Dallas again.

Dallas 80, Spark 79. Right  now on the rebound, 35.2  seconds on the clock. Obviously, 24  seconds on the shot clock. No, Dallas  does not call a timeout. I’ve shared  before I probably wouldn’t in situations  like this either. I just had a timeout.  So, I already discussed what I would do  when we get the rebound. So, Paige has  the hot hand. You want the ball in  Paige’s hand. I think this is James with  the basketball. And so she brings the  ball up the floor. And here’s Paige.  Paige is right here.  Okay. So now she’s looking like she  wants to get the ball to Paige. So Paige  pushes off, gets the ball in her hand.  Now it is 29.7 seconds on the game  clock. 19 seconds on the shot clock. 80  Dallas, 79 Sparks. So, because you have  19 seconds on the clock, you know that  the Sparks will get an opportunity to  get the ball back. So, you absolutely  have to score here. If you’re Dallas,  you have to score because if the Sparks  get the ball back, they’re able to have  final possession and win the game. So  obviously you want the ball right here  with Paige who has 44 points in the  game. And if you’re Paige, you want the  ball in your hand. So you got the ball  in your hand.

What are you going to do  with it is the question. Well, let’s see  what she does. So here’s Paige. She  squares up.  She starts to drive.  And then what does she do?  She passes the ball to Isaiah James  who shoots it and misses. And now the  Sparks have the rebound.  This is a huge choke on Paige Becker’s  part. I already showed you that there  were 19 seconds on the shot clock. 19  seconds on the shot clock. There it is  right there. And she has the ball in her  hand. Why in the world is Paige Beckers,  the rookie they’ve been talking about  all night long, the one who has 44  points, why are you passing the ball in  this situation when there’s a game on  the line and your playoff chances? I  don’t understand. This is a choke. Okay.  Now, for those of you who say, “Well,  she’s just a rookie.” No, no, no. You  can’t have it both ways. And this is not  a rookie mistake. This is what people  have been saying, what I even heard Gino  Orama say. Do you want to be that player  or not? Do you want to take the big  shots in big games? Because here with  all the time that you have, how in the  world do you not create something? She  didn’t even wait. It’s like she wanted  none of that. So, here she is with the  ball in her hand.  16 seconds now.

14 seconds. Plenty of  time on the shot clock for you to  create. So, you got defense on you. Make  a move. Step back. Step back. Call for a  screen. Something. There’s plenty of  time in the game so that you can make  that shot. At least take the shot. You  haven’t been missing in like a long  time. Why are you passing the ball off  to the right corner? Here’s the thing.  Paige has 44 points in this game. You  know who shot that ball? James. You know  how many points she had? Four. So, the  player who had 44 points passes off to  the player with four points and played  17 minutes.  Huge choke. What is going on with that?  passes it up. She had space to create.  She had time to create. When she passes  the ball, there’s 12 seconds left on the  shot clock. What are you doing, Paige?  Choking. That’s what she’s doing. Okay.  So, rebound  goes to the Sparks.  And now they’re not calling a timeout.  They just had a timeout. They already  discussed what they’re going to do when  they get the rebound. So, the ball is  coming up the floor. You can see Plum  right here.

There’s 17.1 seconds on the  game clock. No shot clock because there  aren’t 24 seconds left in the game. So,  now Dallas has to get back and play  solid defense. Dallas is up one. Play  solid defense. So there’s Plum with 14  seconds on the clock and they’re  fighting for their playoff lives.  Dallas, you’re fighting to stay in the  playoffs, but as far as I’m concerned,  you’re helping fight for the Fevers  playoff chances. So here we go. There’s  Plum. Plum’s reading the ball up. She’s  patient. 10 seconds on the clock. She’s  got defense on her, but watch now. You  see Derka Hamby who’s coming over. She  sets the screen and then there’s the  switch. So now we have the same  situation we had before when Plum had  Geisel Soder, if I’m saying it right, on  her switch. So you’ve got a smaller  guard in Kelsey Plum being defended by a  taller, bigger, slower player. It’s  exactly what she wants. So what does she  do? She turns the corner and now Geel  Soldier is behind her. But fear not,  if you’re Dallas, you know, you’ve got  to help with penetration because there  was, let me back this up a little bit.  There was quite a bit of space in here.  You see this space in here, right? And  so does Kelsey Plum. So, she turns that  corner. And so, well, I’m not going to  worry.

I’ve got help right over here on  this side of the floor. So she steps in  over here so she can stop the dribble  penetration cuz Geles Solder is already  beat. But what does she do? Instead of  staying to help stop ball, she retreats  back out to Alam.  Forgive me if I’m saying that wrong. I  think it’s Alam. She retreats back to  the three-point area. So in a game where  you are down one point where one basket  can beat you, you’re worried about this  player over here to the point that you  don’t stop penetration. Rule number one,  stop ball. So she kind of like goes in  that direction,  right? She just kind of throws her hand  out there and then what does she do? He  goes back in the other direction which  leaves Kelsey Plum open. And what does  Kelsey Plum do? Hits it off the  backboard.

Game over.  And that wasn’t an easy shot at that  angle with that little floater runner  off the backboard from the front of the  rim. Not easy. But Dallas dropped the  ball in this defensive situation.  Once again,  when Kelsey turns that corner, you’re  you can’t just show your hand and then  go back. She’s behind her. And there’s  all this kinds of all this room. You  have to stop ball and then retreat to  your to your man. So, no, you go back  like Kelsey is not wide open once she  turns that corner and gets in the paint.  and she is horrible, horrible defense.  And it cost them a game. They’re out of  the playoff run.  And of course, the Sparks have the tie  break against Indiana, so they didn’t  even help my team.  But just really bad right there down the  stretch. And it wasn’t just that. Like I  said, on the other side of the floor,  you have Paige Beckers with 44 points.  Can hardly miss. She’s got 44 of her  team’s 80 points, more than half the  points. And she is that player  everyone’s talking about rookie of the  year. And just a little bit earlier,  they were talking about, well, she’s  really got the best one cuz Cynthia  Cooper wasn’t really a rookie. and and  and all the thing if you listen to it,  you know, all the molasses poured out  all over all the syrupy sweet page  stuff.

And when it comes down to the  wire, you have to want the basketball in  your hand, especially on a night like  that. That is a huge absolute choke.  Big time choke. Dishes it off with 44  points to a person with four points. You  got to want the basketball. We had just  seen where you pushed off to get the  basketball and now with all the time  left. 19 seconds is a long time in  basketball  world.  But instead, you passed it off. Didn’t  call for a screen, nothing like that.  Just gave it to the player who scored  four points in the game. You’re big time  or aren’t you? Big- time players make  big time decisions. And then on the  other end of the floor, the team, the  defense looked horrible and Kelsey Plum  picked them apart, which means we had to  hear her in the postgame courtside  interview, which deserves its own video.  So stay tuned for that. Oh my goodness.  All right. Well,  like I said,  Sparks fighting for playoff lives. They  got the job done. Not without the help  of Dallas. Dallas didn’t help Dallas  because Dallas is now officially done.  So Dallas is out. Connecticut’s out.

Chicago’s out. And there are a whole  bunch of teams fighting to be in  position to get into the playoffs. And  Dallas gonna help my fever.  Obviously  kind of joking around a lot in this  video, but I’m still serious.  Huge, huge drop of the ball from Dallas  and Paige H. Well, Indiana will take on  number one Minnesota scheduled for  Friday night. I’ll catch you next time,  God willing. God bless you, abundant.  You got it.