Gaming It Up with the L.A. Sparks

I have a professional poker player. Yeah. Gotcha, shocked you. Yeah. I love it. I love it. Like this is my poker face. Oh, okay. What does it look like? Welcome to Young Hollywood. What's up, guys? Leslie Robbins here at the Staples Center. Young Hollywood has taken over the warm-up of the LA Sparks. They are getting ready for a big game tonight, and we are bringing you all the behind-the-scenes actions of this WNBA team. WNBA celebrating 15 years. Where were you 15 years ago? Tell me.

15 years ago, I was 10.

Tell me about your road to get here.

Well, my road started on a dirt road. Living in Oklahoma at the time. So, yeah. I was just being bored out of my mind. Just being a little ten, bad ten-year-old all day. Many, many miles away. Maybe 2,000 and some change miles away in a small town, where back then it was like a thousand people.

How did you, uh, take that boredom and say, "I'm going to be a pro basketball player"?

Um, it was my dad, you know, he was just like, "You're getting kind of tall. I think you just, you know, just try it out. See how, see if you like it." And then, you know, I fell in love with it and then been playing ever since. This is my 14th season, so I've been in the WNBA for a long time too, almost from the beginning. And it's great, uh, for, uh, young girls to just know that if I could achieve it, you know, if we are living our dream, they can too. I've been here in the league now for 13 years. This is my 13th season. I've enjoyed myself thoroughly and I look forward to what the future holds.

I was actually thinking, I'm like, a team of women. Do they wear makeup when they play? Your face looks gorgeous.

Oh, thank you. I mean, we wear clothes on the way here, so, you know, you put a little makeup on because you just casual to come to work, and then, you know, I just keep it on. But, uh, at the end of the game it's all off.

We play a, not a man's sport, but, you know, it's a physical sport that's usually associated with men. But you can still have a feminine touch and flair to it. What do you do to maintain that?

I think that, uh, for me, myself, I like to put a little mascara on, you know, accentuate the eyelashes, and, uh, put a little lip gloss or Vaseline or something on your lips. Don't just go out looking rough and dry and just decrepit-looking. You know, you can still go out and make sure you put a little powder on your face or whatnot, and still be physical and fierce and glamorous at the same time.

So, what do you do, like, as a passion that someone say, "I can't believe she actually has that as a hobby"?

I paint in my off time, yeah.

You paint?

Yeah, yeah. I paint. I do oil paintings. I'm a sleeper.

Girl after my own heart.

Yeah, I'm a sleeper. Like, you know, I just like to sit at home, watch sci-fi all day. I have a professional poker player. Yeah. Got you. Shocked you. Yeah. I love it. I love it. And I cook, like as, like, gourmet like. Not just to fried, died, lay to the side, but, you know, I cook gourmet, and, you know, me and my husband we have a good time at home. Like this is my poker face. What do you look like? Could you tell if I was lying or not? Besides that, shopping in the movies. Yeah.

What are you shopping for?

Um, I mean a girl can't never have like enough shoes. So, like, you know, I am 6'3", but I do like to wear my high heels, and as long as I'm not taller than my husband, I'm good to go.

Let's talk about your workout regime. I mean, me, I'm yoga, Pilates and dance class. Kind of. You're a major, tell me about your workout routine. What you do at the gym outside of the basketball court, because it must be awesome.

All right. Um, no yoga, no Pilates. You know what, I'm actually not flexible at all. I can't touch my toes. I know that's, that's weird, but I can't touch them.

Let me see you try. Touch, go, go, go, go, go, touch, touch, touch. That's it. Okay. That's it. We'll, we'll keep you on the team.

Okay, yeah, thank you. Thank you.

And then I also like doing, um, Bikram yoga, the hot one. She likes yoga. I definitely know. I definitely know who it is. I don't know why. You laughed at my yoga. Right. Dini, can I touch your toes? She's probably the most un-flexible person I know, so she definitely does not come to yoga with me. I mean, I have to ask if I can get personal for a second. What's it like maintaining a relationship being on a pro team that travels everywhere?

It's definitely interesting. You have to, you have to have a, a guy who's understanding, um, of what you do, and they have to be very supportive and kind of have a flexible schedule because you want them to come. They have to be able to come to some games on the road sometimes and, um, just be able to support you and, um, have your back 100%, not complain about you being gone all the time. It's tough. But thank God for internet, you know, these days. I remember when I first started playing and I was overseas a lot of times, you know, I still remember being in college and writing and putting the stamp and sending, uh, letters to my family. These days, you can just turn on the computer, turn on Skype and, uh, text message, telephone. There's so many ways to communicate these days.

You're a newlywed. How's it been?

Yes, I'm a newlywed. It feels good. You know, two months in, so, so far, so, just been perfect.

So how do you guys, uh, communicate when you're not together?

Um, we usually have a, like a webcam. We talk on Skype. Just, you know, give you that massage when you get home from a long road trip. You know, somebody who's just lovey-dovey and, you know, want to cut up.

Did you hear that? That's what she's looking for. Can you show me how to dribble that basketball please?

You want to learn how to dribble?

I really do. I don't know what to do with it. I won't beat you, I promise.

There you go. Oh. That's called a crossover. A little bit more time, you'll be able to do it like so.