“I didn’t have a whole bunch of female role models growing up…I ended up watching the Gary Paytons of the world, Antonio Lee Davis, [Demetrius] ‘Hook’ Mitchell.

Those were the guys that I looked up to, and I watched, and I emulated … so it’d be great to have some females that these young ladies can look up to and just feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves.”

“I’m grateful for this opportunity and excited to help bring a WNBA team to Oakland.

The AASEG has done an incredible job of getting us to this point and has garnered tremendous support from influencers in the local community. I am hopeful our vision, passion and collective efforts will lead to the return of professional basketball to Oakland.”

“Oakland has a long history with social justice, and the WNBA is one of the leagues where we really have seen strong support for social justice.

The WNBA and its players have expressed great support for these movements for social justice and racial justice particularly, so I think it’s a very good match with the community in Oakland.”

“From the Black Panthers being born here to the Black Lives Matter phrase being created here, Oakland has played a huge role in social justice reform and advocacy throughout its entire existence…Curt Flood, who helped change free agency in baseball, to Bill Russell, they’re all from Oakland.”

“We feel like the WNBA is the sports league that [has been] most active in that area, particularly during the 2020 social justice and economic movement.”