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Transcript: Swin Cash on the New Orleans Pelicans podcast presented by SeatGeek – April 13, 2020

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Vice President of Basketball Operations & Team Development Swin Cash on The Pelicans Podcast
April 13, 2020

On how she and her family are holding up:
Swin Cash: We’re doing good, just using this time to really focus on things we need to get done around the house. Saint has been cooking with me a little bit, so that has been kind of fun…and just trying to make the best of the time that we have together.

On her Easter weekend:
Swin Cash: Yeah we had our own little concert series in our house. We were streaming on Instagram…Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith had different guests on. Yolanda Adams was amazing. We streamed our church and worship service, so we were able to dance and kind of have a lot of fun with that. Just enjoying – just trying to play a lot of different music. Our activity time is really (passed) by dancing and celebrating though, and that’s why we’re trying to stay active as much as we can in the house.

On her go-to Easter candy:
Swin Cash: I really don’t have any. I love jelly beans, I will say that. I am a jelly bean girl. I love jelly beans. It’s funny because my son doesn’t like a lot of sweets, so the Peeps – he just looks at it and I kind of put it to his mouth, and he was like, ‘Yuck!’ and took off running. So I don’t know whether to laugh at that or actually be really happy, as I’m told it’s a good thing if your kids don’t really like sugar that much – which he hasn’t had a lot of since he’s been little. I would say I’m a jelly beans girl and now I’m eating my son’s Peeps because he’s not eating any of the candy we got him for Easter.

On how she staying busy with work while spending this time at home:
Swin Cash: Obviously engaging with the players, checking in with them (and) their families, seeing how they’re doing. I love seeing our guys active on social media and interacting with the fans; that’s always great. And also preparing: obviously we have to continue business as usual, and so (we are) just getting really familiar and watching back some game film and different things of that sort is always something that can occupy the time…just making sure your preparation is there whenever things are needed. So that’s what I’ve been doing a majority of the time.

On staying in touch with the players and their families during this time:
Swin Cash: I think a lot of it is text. Some calls, but a majority is texts, very similar to the season, but we just don’t have those interactions face to face. Usually I’m at practice, at games, so I get that time I need with the guys. So now it’s just more so – you want it to be organic. I’m not a believer that you should just be checking boxes and every week at this time check in on a player. I think it has to be organic. I think relationships are built on just caring about people, also just giving them their space and their time. Everybody’s dealing with this quarantine in their own way, and some people need to be checked on a little bit more than others. You know that by the relationships that you build and others are just in tune and locked in with their families. You know they’re doing well and you just want to make sure (to be there) if they need anything, support. Our medical staff – I give a shout out to Aaron Nelson and his whole team – they’ve been doing a great job of just making sure that our players have the stuff that they need while they’re in quarantine to prepare themselves just in case we get that call to come back for the season. I think that’s the biggest thing: just making sure that we have the support that they need on all fronts.

On some of the things she and Ramon Sessions have been able to provide the players and their families with during this time:
Swin Cash: I think for me when we look at the over-arching team development aspect, we really focus on the standpoint of making sure that we are not only communicating with the guys, but if there’s any information that’s out there in regards to this pandemic and the Covid-19 virus that we’re making sure they’re abreast of that. Also, keeping them in tune on our business side. We’ve launched #HomeTeamTV and I think that’s been important for our guys to understand what that means, not only for the fans but also the community of New Orleans…just sharing a little bit of themselves with them. Also, making sure they’re in the right mental space. If they need to talk about anything, we try to be that resource there. Ramon and I – and Alex (Kaufman) is also part of our team – we are meeting twice a week on Zoom calls to make sure if there’s any new information – any concerns we have, anything we need to kind of dig into a little bit more – that we are taking care of that. I think that’s part of our whole team development department, making sure that our players have resources, they have information. Also, a lot of them want to learn how to support. Some guys have been very public in regards to their contributions. There’s players that have done certain things privately that some of the people don’t know about. So I would just encourage our fans and other people that are out there to understand that some people give publicly, some people give privately, some lead in different ways…but all of our players are just trying to figure out how they can contribute (and) how they can help, whether it’s here, whether it’s in their hometowns. I think that’s where our team development department really comes in and tries to be that resource for them.

On how it feels to have so many players wanting to contribute and give back during this difficult time:
Swin Cash: For me, it just really warms my heart. I say it a lot, even around the guys I say it at different times, to whom much is given, much is required. That’s what I kind of lived by throughout my career, playing and then professionally. I try to always let the guys understand that they have a platform, but I’m very respectful of how they want to do things. A lot of times teams only want players to – we have to tell the media, we have to tell the story. Well, there’s always a time and place to tell the story, but some people love to serve in different ways and I’m very respectful of that, just making sure that there’s a happy balance by people knowing. Even when we don’t make it public, I’m able to use my platform and let people know that our players are doing really really amazing things. We should be very proud of this team, because even though they are young – the team that we have – they are understanding in this pandemic and in this moment, truly taking on the pulse and heart of New Orleans. That, to me, is what it’s truly all about.

On what the city of New Orleans has meant to her and her family during her time with the Pelicans:
Swin Cash: It’s a city that has embraced not only the team, but myself. Whether I’ve been at a supermarket, jogging down the street, or walking, it’s been amazing to me to have so many people just say, ‘I’m happy you’re here. I’m happy for the Pelicans. You guys are doing an amazing job.’ It’s just the encouragement and the heart of saying, ‘Hey, we’re happy that we have people that want to be here in New Orleans. We want you to be a part of our city.’ That inclusiveness, to me, has been very warming to not only myself, but also my family. My husband, Steve, who travels even for business himself and as an entrepreneur – his level of embracement with this city has been there for a number of years. So I’m finally getting to experience it every single day, whereas he would experience it in-and-out for a lot of different conferences and events that were here. So thank you to New Orleans. Thank you for embracing my family. Thank you for embracing our team. We’re going to continue to get through this and stay together because this is what New Orleans does. It rises together and I feel that every single day.’

On the future of her podcast ‘She’s got time’ during this hiatus:
Swin Cash: Yeah. So we’ve been talking and kicking it around. What I have done before even relaunching the podcast is, every Wednesday night at 9 p.m. central, you can go to my Instagram page @SwinCash, and we have a ‘She’s Got Time’ live session where people just come in, I go live with some of our fans, some of the people that have been following me for so many years. I bring on different friends with different perspectives, different backgrounds that work in different industries. It’s people getting an opportunity to talk about how they’re dealing with this quarantine, learning new ways, new information. For me, I think the biggest thing with, ‘She’s Got Time’ live at 9 p.m. on my IG, it’s really about community. I wanted to have a place and space where people could see (that) I’m going through the same exact thing that you’re going through and we are going to get through it together. So, really just putting positive vibes and affirmations out there to the universe. So, people can go like I said to my IG page @SwinCash and definitely catch that. It’s kind of funny you brought it up because I was talking to Nico (Nicolò Melli) and anybody – if you’re not following Nicolò Melli you should probably follow him on Instagram. He does these ‘IG lives’ where he’s talking I swear in like three or four different languages. So, I finally text him, and I said Nico, I’m following, but you know I cannot understand what you’re talking about and you have guests on. And so I was like, ‘There needs to be some subtitles or something.’ It is so funny because he literally was like, ‘Okay.’ I said ‘Well, you’re going to jump on my ‘IG live’ and ‘were going to talk. We’re going to speak English with people in New Orleans who have questions for you.’ So, I’m hoping either on the Pelicans or my IG, we’re going to be able to get Nico on and have him talk a little bit. But, he’s hilarious. So this is the stuff that I see, and just interacting with our guys, it’s so fun, and I’m glad that their sharing this experience on social media, and like you said, the podcasts and other platforms. Our guys have been active. They’re out there, and the ones that aren’t are spending a lot of time with their families and just preparing mentally and physically to get back out there on the court.

On Tamika Catchings being recently inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame:
Swin Cash: I was super excited. Catch (Tamika Catchings), and I have been friends for a really, really long time. (We’re) really close. And so, the first thing I could just think about was just tears of joy. You think of times being spent through highs and lows, battling with the union, new CBA’s. All these different things just kind of stream to your mind. She’s been one of the players that has not only been phenomenal on the court but also off the court. I mean the things that she’s been able to achieve and continue to inspire so many of the youth that are out there. So, I was truly, truly happy for her. Once we’d text back and forth, she was just like, ‘I know you’re going to be there.’ And, I said ‘Absolutely, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.’ To be able to stand there and not only support her but an amazing class that really is kind of my era and playing with so many of those players and being around a lot of our guys at USA basketball. So, this is going to be a great class. We’re definitely going to have our hearts in a very delicate place because Kobe (Bryant) won’t be there. But I know his family, I know Vanessa and his family will definitely be there in support. We’re just really blessed to see a lot of great friends, great athletes, and coaches go into the ‘Hall’ this year.

On your favorite Kobe Bryant memory:
Swin Cash: It’s so many different basketball memories. I think for me, it’s more the interactions. I think more the interactions than USAB. I think it’s more of the interactions with Kobe even during the finals when I was in Detroit, and the Pistons were winning their first championship against the Lakers. I mean, he’s just a student of the game. He was so professional on every level, and the thing that people don’t know about Kobe is that Kobe was watching the women’s game before – so many of the different NBA players talk about, ‘All the NBA guys, they’re watching the women now.’ The guys have been doing that for a long time, but Kobe was such a big support of Lisa Leslie, WNBA, even back in the day when he was young and we all were coming in together. So, I’m just going to remember my interactions with him, with Vanessa. I’m going to remember one interaction with him. I can’t really talk too much about it, but him and Vanessa and seeing them at MJ’s (Michael Jordan) birthday party. I think it was MJ’s 50th at All-Star. And, I remember we were all there listening to some great music and just kind of chopping it up. It was really a blessing to just be able to see life after sports, and all these different things happened for him. And just definitely want to continue to send my condolences out to his family. Our prayers are always there. And, V (Vanessa), she’s so strong, and the girls are going to get through all of this together.

On what to expect tonight from Pelicans Playback:
Swin Cash: Yeah. I think what you can expect is just to hear me giving some insight about the game at a very kind of basic level. A lot of times, I feel like people are watching a game if you’re not a student, you don’t know kind of what DHO’s are and this, that, and the other. I try not to talk over people’s head, but just try to give people exactly what I see and kind of insight behind it of how we like the play, why this is important, why the timing is important. So I have a lot of fun with it. I think it’s a pretty cool, JJ Redick…there is one play you guys are probably going to see in the game that I thought was hilarious because it’s definitely a play that I would have done especially being a ‘vet,’ or I like to say, ‘seasoned player’. So, shootout to JJ. I can’t wait for the playback tonight. But, our team was awesome. I really enjoyed watching this game back. You guys are going to see some insight tonight, and I hope you guys will join us.

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