'Iron woman' Tangela Smith on retirement: "two, maybe three years from now"

As reported by others previously, Washington Mystics guard Alana Beard and Phoenix Mercury center Tangela Smith are currently doing a management internship with Jamba Juice in Emeryville, California. Both have visions of owning their own business after their basketball careers and are getting their feet wet doing everything from washing dishes to going over PNL models with the CFO.

I had a chance to chat with both Beard and Smith on the job today and discussed the experience and their aspirations after basketball. For Smith, who already holds the WNBA record for games played, life after basketball could begin in the next couple of years.

"I think I'll retire in two, maybe three years from now," said Smith during a chat over a smoothie and oatmeal at the store where she has been training. "I don't know - two. I'm like the iron woman. I mean, I don't want nobody to catch that record."

But aside from adding some cushion to her record, Smith has a bigger goal in mind for the final years of her career after a difficult loss to the Storm in the Western Conference Finals.

"I felt like we should've won that game," said Smith. "Next year we can try to compete with them. And of course, everybody is going to wanna to take that away from them like they did from us earlier. And everybody is going to play against them harder and harder just because they're the champions. Other teams want that now.

"I want to win more -- as many as I can before I retire."

More to come about Beard and Smith at Jamba Juice next week.