It was just tough. And he's someone that people are really celebrating because we did go without him for a year and a half. Informations c That’s something I've learned, not only from being around Kobe, but being around Candace Parker or Carmelo or Kyrie, they all have this supreme knowledge that you just don't get access to. She was rookie of the year two years ago. We wanted to try to bring that to the forefront and bring more awareness to not just their game, but who they are as people. Bazzell: The women's side is another unique story. Like it's great to look up to a Kyrie or a Trae Young or LeBron, but to actually be able to look up to someone that looks like you and talks like you, I think that's extremely relevant and extremely important is what quite frankly, it's just missing from the sports world. You mentioned with Through the Lens, growing the women’s game was your No. In her second season last summer, the 6’1” forward averaged 6.1 points per game and ranked third in the league with 9.0 rebounds per game. How tough was it to build the platform after learning of his passing? And I think that's important for young girls to have that same perspective. Conor and Jenny revisit Conor's most bold predictions, right and wrong, from past segments of the Weak-Side Podcast. She was rookie of the year two years ago. Even if you're not the most talented, you can sometimes outsmart your opponent. Comment? The bride-to-be, of Creve That was the one that I played the most for the longest, until I started basketball. It’s just really interesting. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. So whether it be ball handling, or like I said, I've worked a lot on the mid-post, things like that. The WNBA side is just as relevant with me as the NBA side. Let us know at [email protected], Photo credits: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images. My fiancé [Napheesa Collier] actually plays in the WNBA. I think we had more fun doing it than people did even listening to us. I really didn't mind the Bubble. 50.4k Followers, 1,278 Following, 147 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from dearica marie hamby (@dearicamarie) Bazzell spoke to Sports Illustrated about the launch of the platform, his relationship with Kobe, working with Carmelo Anthony, and why growing the women’s game is so important. MMQB discuss Watt leaving the Texans, the potential for Wentz to go to Indianapolis, and how Russell Wilson is exerting more influence in Seattle. On his own part, Jennifer’s spouse is a loving husband and caring father who always makes out time for his family, even with his busy schedule, he always puts family first. Napheesa Collier has awed parents, Gamal Collier and Sarah Collier by her success in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). It's really physically taxing, and that's what you expect going to college. She played at UConn. The level of focus is so high that, at first, it's really hard—and I struggled with it my freshman year. It's really just a deep dive into basketball. Harris: You work with some of the best WNBA players, Candace Parker and Sabrina Ionescu, to name a few. Bazzell: Kobe Bryant basically took me under his wing. In terms of just working on this project, the biggest thing is that these athletes have entrusted in me is a name, and a name is more important than any check that they can write or any posts they can put out. Stewie AND..... Phee. So it’s just what we had to go through and sacrifice and how much work we put into it to play this sport that we love. I actually just downloaded the Peloton app, and it's awesome. Bazzell, who has called Kobe Bryant his mentor, used to train Bryant’s daughter, Gigi, up until the tragic helicopter crash a year ago. Collier has also been improving her strength and conditioning with Enhance U St. Louis trainer and St. Louis local Ro Thomas. NBA and WNBA skills coach Alex Bazzell is one of the most respected trainers in the business and has worked with some of the most skilled players in the sport such as Carmelo Anthony, Candace Parker, Trae Young, Kyrie Irving and developed a close friendship with Kobe Bryant before his passing. And obviously, once January happened, the accident happened, I took a step back cause, Kobe’s loss was extremely tough for me, but what was tougher was I worked with not only Gigi [Bryant], but Alyssa [Altobelli] and Payton [Chester], who are two who were on the flight as well. 9 and now Alex’s ex-wife Cynthia Scurtis, 46, is speaking out for the first time about the news. There’s 2 players in the WNBA in the top 15 in pts, reb, stl, blk, fg%, 3pt%. Melo, like the fact that it was it's just straight through the lens or the eyes and the minds of the best people in the world. We had a bunch of different ideas thrown out there. I am David Dodds (That's 50 percent Ds for those counting at home). I work with Alex a lot. I played a bunch of different sports growing up: soccer, softball, volleyball, I ran track. PlayerMaker collects and analyzes numerous technical and physical metrics for individual players and can map out tactical data such as spacing and passing networks when worn team-wide. I co-own Footballguys.com with Joe Bryant. She played at UConn. I continue to hone my skills in the daily space having won money every season I have played. How involved was he in the process of building the program? I think it brought us together a lot closer than if I would've joined him at the peak of his career or early in his career when things were going well. There's such a wide age range as well, so it felt like I was back in college in the dorms, living with my teammates, so I like that. In fact, Gianna began training with Alex Bazzell, Young’s trainer during the offseason, as well as with her famous father. Bazzell, 30, played college hoops at Missouri-Kansas City and then at Lindenwood University before playing a year of pro ball in Germany. “It’s really nice to be a professional now. And I was just trying to figure out the best way to do that. Like I said, I've just been really blessed with the coaching that I've had. Bazzell: We have a very unique relationship. Check out … The company’s signature product, SKEO, is an analytics app that launched in December. She has been back in St. Louis training with NBA skills trainer Alex Bazzell, who also happens to be her fiance. I was really lucky and blessed with the coaching that I had, starting from my very first coach, Kay Foster. We kind of always aligned with our thought process of women’s basketball and also just training in general. That means more than, you know, really anything. We wanted to give that portrayal of the company name should be exactly what that is cause it's great to learn from a coach or a trainer or someone that's close to the situation, but nothing's better than learning directly from the source. There are players, and there's going to be announcers—just everyone in the basketball field. It just comes from his brain. The two noticed there was a disconnect but it was Collier’s fiancé, Alex Bazzell, an NBA/WNBA skills coach, who gave them a solution. So even without that they could tell you know how hard you're working. Raised up in a genuinely fascinating Afro-American family, her father visits every game she plays since her high school years. Kobe's legacy is cemented and whatever I do is not going to change his legacy but being around him, learning from him and being mentored by him, I felt this responsibility to at least pull my weight and what that looked like was trying to pull everyone together for this common goal of, This is what needs to be accomplished. I thought it was actually pretty cool to be around my team so much. I followed her a lot, and then Kobe was a person that I modeled my game after a lot. Because I know how valuable that name is, especially when it relates to basketball. I dipped my toe in the water on a lot of different things. So forming that relationship at a level to where we felt like we were kind of in this dog fight together. When we set out to build Through the Lens, obviously again, Kobe being a huge mentor of mine, I always believed in the way he was able to inspire me from afar and up close. We met through a different source and I kind of met him at the lowest point of his career. Most recently, the 24-year-old native of Jefferson City, Mo., joined her skills trainer, Alex Bazzell—who is also her fiancé—in developing a new subscription-based basketball video app, Through the Lens, that aims to be like a MasterClass for the sport. Categories: Sports. So that formed that unique relationship that not a lot of people ever get to experience. Get them daily in our morning newsletter. Read More. I gained so many life lessons from him before I even knew him. So about a year and a half ago and it really started getting expedited back in February and that kind of led us to where we are at now. Whereas when you're in the prime of your career, you get a lot of people that love you and a lot of people that hate you, but he's kind of at the point of his career where now he's trying to give back. So learning from Kobe, women’s basketball is a huge part of my life every day. People have lives. She was really fun to be around. We bring on different players and talk about what's going on the bubble and what we're experiencing and stuff. So hopefully we’ll make some decisions on that soon. Will Stephen Curry Outperform, Harden, Durant and Giannis Next Season. WNBA’s Napheesa Collier: Learn the Game ‘Through the Lens’ of Pro Players. That's why he's been so dominant and why UConn has been so dominant, because of the excellence that he expects from his players. Other clients of Bazzell’s featured in the app include NBA stars Carmelo Anthony and Trae Young, and WNBA stars Candace Parker and Sabrina Ionescu. !loop_time && ! He just saw training was not going the way it should, so he thought it'd be a great thing to make an app about it. —in developing a new subscription-based basketball video app. Question? © 2021 ABG-SI LLC. Knight has joined a group of PWHPA players who are traveling around the U.S. and Canada to raise the profile of women’s hockey. Napheesa Collier with her fiance, Alex Bazzel. So that was kind of our mission when we set out to start this thing, I started the blueprints of it last year. He does a great job of breaking down your game. But I think it's really cool because people like Candace Parker and Carmelo Anthony—who are legends in the league, All-Stars who are going to go into the Hall of Fame—are sharing their secrets and the things that they've learned along the way. We kind of just did it because we knew that we were two young up-and-comers in the league, and you don't necessarily hear our point of view very often. How did that connection happen? Bazzell, 30, played college hoops at Missouri-Kansas City and then at Lindenwood University before playing a year of pro ball in Germany. This all … “Put simply, my goal is to leave the game better than how I found it. Usually, you have a rep or two reps on each team, and they make decisions for the team. Home » Alex Bazzell. We just thought it'd be cool to talk about topics from our point of view and how we saw it. All Rights Reserved. He was very tight with Kobe, but that's not how we met. Marco and Julia Biggs of Edwardsville announce the engagement of their daughter, Kelsey Biggs, to Alex Bazzell, son of Rob and Diane Bazzell of St. Charles. So it helped me heal in a way that I knew I had a responsibility to try to do just because of all the conversations that we had. It's one of the main narrative devices in Al Davis vs. Harris: You mentioned that Kobe Bryant was a mentor of yours. She's the one that actually introduced me to Kobe. 1 Ash Barty in the Australian Open, earning first Grand Slam semifinal berth. En ce jour de Saint-Valentin, on célèbre l'amour chez Swish Swish avec quelques belles histoires sur fond de balle orange. The NCAA Student-Athlete Well-Being Study examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on athletes during spring and fall 2020. So that news kind of took me away from everything, training, anything work-related for probably a month and a half. A big central thing throughout everyone's packet is obviously to practice. Join the Nation!