What’s Wrong with the WNBA?
Sue Bird in Dime #5I can’t say I’m a full-fledged WNBA fan; I know less than half the players by name and I’m not in any WNBA fantasy leagues (yes, they have those). If it existed, I wouldn’t spend my money on WNBA League Pass. But I am the only man in the Dime office, and one of few amongst most guys I know, who admittedly has some respect and somewhat appreciates women’s basketball.
I have no problem saying Candace Parker, Tamika Catchings, Cheryl Ford and Cappie Pondexter, among others, can ball and would destroy most of the rec-league males who insist they can’t. I’ve been to a handful of WNBA games in-person and caught my share on TV, and more often than not found the product at least watchable.
That’s not to say I’m buying what the popular pro-WNBA arguments are selling. You won’t convince me that the women’s game is a better example of fundamental basketball than the NBA, not when I’m seeing so many missed layups, air-balled jumpers and gross turnovers. Maybe the women’s game relies more on basketball IQ and technical execution, but it’s not more fundamentally sound.
As far as the standard anti-WNBA argument — that the women don’t dunk — that’s not a big deal to me. Erick Dampier and Brendan Haywood can dunk, but I’d much rather watch Dawn Staley or Sheryl Swoopes play than those two.
I’m not trying to stump for the league or convert anyone into a fan. But for a lot of guys it’s not enough just to ignore women’s basketball and let it be (kind of like you would the Travel Channel or “Jim Rome is Burning”), there’s an extra layer of disdain involved. They don’t just dislike the WNBA, they detest it, and rarely pass up an opportunity to make fun of it. If that sounds like you, let’s discuss this: What is your problem with the WNBA?
May 19th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Juanito says:
Why you gotta blast Big Shitty (Haywood) for no good reason? Rofl
May 19th, 2008 at 10:06 am
40the boss says:
I a male who plays ball but my girlfriend is a junior getting d1 looks and i can watch her games just as easily as a knicks game and the wnba doesnt bother me a bit because basketball is basketball and if your not playing it the next best thing is to watch.
May 19th, 2008 at 10:13 am
GEE...first impulse was to run up on you and do a Rambo.. says:
Dang AB I got to give yo props for taking your Rosa Parks stand in the DIME office as the only dude respecting the ladies lol.
Anyway I don’t have a real problem with it and I think it has it’s place. I think as time goes on we will see a more watchable game as skills and evolving continue.
If I did have a problem, I would say the games are just to long for my taste. Being that it is less entertaining as a NBA game I would rather see a shorter game with the ladies, College and WNBA wise.
Still wonder if WNBA could beat AND 1 dudes?
May 19th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Craig says:
i dont know about anyone else, but since parker’s in their now, ima watch a lot more sparks games haha
May 19th, 2008 at 10:21 am
hahns says:
the way football has hard hits and physicality, basketball has its elite altheticism, quickness, and fast game tempo that makes it fun to watch.
the reason why damp and haywood arent fun to watch is because they dont have the athleticism to be engaging. and is the same reason why monta ellis, chris paul, lebron james, dwight howard, kobe are stars. they combine the athleticism and talent that keep ppl interested. i think basketball players require the most athleticism out of any sport, although is defintiely debatable.
players in the wnba are defintiely very talented, but they just dont have the athleticism that the men’s game offers.
May 19th, 2008 at 10:22 am
SayItAintSo says:
There is a great deal to be said about ‘the evolution of the game’. We’re so used to watching the high-flying, run-n-gun, show-stopping action of the NBA that the WNBA just looks old. I mean, if you were to reenact an NBA game from a few decades ago…bring back the short shorts, and jumpshots, very few people nowadays would be interested because the game has evolved into this showcase for freak of nature-athletes. The WNBA is still VERY VERY young and while they have the NBA to model after…they’re going to have to evolve a great deal before they can become mainstream entertainment. It’s as simple as that.
May 19th, 2008 at 10:24 am
kobeef says:
the WNBA needs someone like MJ to get the average joe to watch the game. They need a star that is bigger than the game and Candace Parker could be that player.
Before MJ came along the NBA was a basketball fan’s game. Now you have people who watch NBA because it is part of popular culture. MJ did that.
May 19th, 2008 at 10:31 am
bobby stew says:
I am learning to appreciate the woman’s game more and more, especially with Candace Parker in the WNBA! I’m learning that if you truly love the game you will appreciate it no matter who’s playing (kids, women, men). You can always find something entertaining and meaningful when watching people give there all on the court. Of course the men can jump higher and are more athletic but that’s not everything. I hope the WNBA is around for a long time.
May 19th, 2008 at 10:41 am
kobeef says:
The WNBA does not promote its superstars the way the NBA does.
The WNBA needs to make its stars into household names. That will not be an easy task because you can’t compete with the biggest, fastest, strongest angle of the NBA. Also, it would help if they could convince women to watch the WNBA which doesn’t seem to be working.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Prof. TX says:
They might get more respect if they converted to NBA rules. Right now they have a smaller ball, a closer 3-point line, and shorter games. They’re not huge differences, but they give it a perception of having less skill.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Gary Lee says:
I just caught Candace Parker playing and DAYAM . . . she is legit . . it doesn’t hurt that she’s pretty hot too! GO SPARKS!
May 19th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Austin Burton says:
There’s a Catch-22 with the WNBA and media coverage. SportsCenter doesn’t show WNBA highlights, their rationale being that “Nobody cares.” And then nobody does care because not having your highlights on SportsCenter is a good way to say, “This sport isn’t worth caring about.”
May 19th, 2008 at 11:16 am
srb says:
SUE BIRD IS HOT.
TARAUSI IS A MAN.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Sam I Am says:
Am I going to be the only one who posts saying Sue Bird looks AWESOME & FREAKIN HOT in that pic…
WOW mmm lovn the firey look
May 19th, 2008 at 11:19 am
BxBaller says:
I’m just not interested in watching girls ball, I don’t know it’s just boring to me.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:20 am
BxBaller says:
Oh yeah I cosign Sue Bird looks awesome in that pic.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:24 am
MoxWestCoastRep says:
Is this a serious question??
I’m trying not to laugh…
I’d rather watch the Meerkat Manor than the WNBA.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:37 am
GEE...first impulse was to run up on you and do a Rambo.. says:
Bx I cosign on the cosign then.
Dawn Staley is my all time favorite.
Girl had game. Her in her prime with Candace… That would be sick.
I like And 1 better than the WNBA.
I think if the game is more physical with fights and different things that will gain exposure. Like TNT people love Drama and WNBA needs to know it.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:45 am
turambur says:
I rarely go out of my way to watch ANYTHING on TV. The only real exceptions are the NBA playoffs (and especially the finals), the All-Star game, and maybe one or two key games a season (like Cavs vs. Lakers). That being said, if I have no plans on a 100 degree Saturday afternoon, so I’m just at home flipping channels, I’ll pick WNBA over baseball 100% of the time.
Like Bobby Stew said, it’s still basketball, and that makes it better than 90% of the dreck on TV by default.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
DaPro says:
The thing with the WNBA is marketing and appeal.
I am a fan of all things basketball but I’d be damn if I have to be subjected to many of the women in the WNBA.
Market Candice Parker and the attractive females.
It sounds shallow but most guys don’t want to watch the “tranny league” its cold but thats what my boy calls it lol
May 19th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Tim says:
Sue Bird looks really good there…
Candace Parker would look pretty good too. haha
May 19th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Auston says:
The idea of the WBA is great, it’s problem is that it’s
marketed like women’s feminine products
May 19th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Blue says:
i think the WNBA would do good to not try to compare itself to the NBA. a couple different rules might benefit the league. a smaller ball would be cool to see. i think that would add to ball control (not that these ladies don’t already have handles), but you would probably see more spectacular plays. it just looks kind awkward to me because the women have such small hands, but the ball looks huge. and maybe..MAYBE..shorten the rim a bit. i’ve seen pieces of WNBA games and it looks kinda sloppy. but i do give big ups to the ladies that can ball like that! i wouldn’t challenge any one of them to a 1-on-1.
btw, who else thinks sue bird looks like Kat McPhee in that pic?
May 19th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
GEE...first impulse was to run up on you and do a Rambo.. says:
Ok I know this is totally crazy. What if they lowered the rim so the ladies can dunk more? About what 3 of them probably can dunk (some barely)?
I would enjoy seeing a woman cram on another and yell I promise i would be an automatic all the time fan.
Austin does Naomi (since she is the only female I have seen put a couple of comments down) like the WNBA? Granted you said you the only dude, but do the women in the office even like it?
May 19th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
DO says:
talent level.
i don’t even like watching college basketball because it looks sloppy.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Lady Luck says:
I watch the WNBA but admittedly am not as faithful and diehard a fan as I am with the NBA. I think this has a lot to do with the age of the league but mostly just not knowing when the games are on. If I happen to catch one, I will definitely watch. I saw most of the game on Saturday and Candace Parker is the real deal. There are many more lady ballers who have real game. They just don’t get the respect due. I think that the WNBA has tried to market the league as different than the men, but are trying to get people to see that Yes these are ladies, and NO no all of them are butch (that’s why we have pics of Sue Bird this way) because men want something good to look at when watching women. If the NBA were to thrive on looks alone, it would be a struggling league too(cuz there are some real FUGLY ballers out there). I think the WNBA needs to survive because there are professional women’s leagues all over the world, and since America is where it started, we need to have a league of our own for our high level players to compete. ESPN does need to show more highlights, premier match-ups need to be showcased, and the marketing needs to be geared to show that these ladies have real skills, not that they are so sexy and hot. Their game can stand on it’s own if the GAME becomes the focus and not the player. Then you can market individual players who are the best….get them their own shoe and gatorade commercial and other endorsements. Where is Jordan Brand? He came out with some Lady Jordan’s in the past…CP3 needs her own shoe…then he will have the male and female CP3.
Gee, I guess the only way to get on SportsCenter is to show the highlights, and since no one wants to see good ball movement, or a perfect pick and roll as a highlight, basketball NEEDS the dunk for excitement. With that being said, lowering the rim to serve this purpose might be a good idea.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
GEE...first impulse was to run up on you and do a Rambo.. says:
Lady Luck that is the only reason I suggested it. Look at the Spurs. People hate them, they are boring, little to no emotion and not a lot of flash…yet they win (cept for tonight lol).
So unless you are a fan of the Spurs or the Spurs are playing your team people ain’t really looking for them on T.V.
I will admit I look to see who Wince has dunked on before I care what’s going on with the Spurs.
Same with the WNBA they need something to add to all of the excellent fundamentals. I am not saying necessarily And 1 it out. I am just saying between dunks or something, they need that excitement factor!
I am just sitting here wondering like what would it be to have women tossing oops, blocks off the backboard, catchin stuff off of the rim. Wooo! Yea I would most def. watch them. The only way I could see it is to lower that rim some.
I agree they do need their own shoes drinks and clothes and what not, but first they have to nail down that market for them so they can sell.
May 19th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
hahns says:
i agree with putting them on espn bc i was watching highlights of the mercury sparks game and parker and pondexter (w00t go rutgers!) were ballin. anybody who appreciates the game at all would get excited watching some of the hoops they were making.
but making the ball even smaller, or lowering the hoops is just plani stupid. and the players would never go for it. it would be a blatant admission that their game is hands down inferior to the mens game, and im guessing no one in the wnba would be willing to admit that.
but ill also agree that they have to market their talented/good looking players more…its a horrible truth..but in the early stages of the wnba, thats the best way to get arrousal for the league. pun intended. sorry.
im gona go ahead and admit…ive been paying a lil more attention to womens ball bc candace parker is pretty good looking
May 19th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Chaos says:
Man, the WNBA is watchable but its not interesting. i love and will watch whatever game is on, even the overseas game that make it on the nba channel. anyway, its just not as interesting. They are still young so people are hesitant to watch them. and not cuz they arent skilled but because people dont know what they are gonna get. they are no marketing of their stars…right now is the time to market the players because their is a bonafide superstar that has come into the league in candace parker. especially if the players are hot as hell (cant market a group of female tyrone hills and sam cassells). and they need to pay sportscenter to get some highlights shown. seeing anyone get crossed up iverson style is worth being seen.
May 19th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
MSkittle says:
No athleticism in their games. They’re much slower.
May 19th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
daquest?on Im Regularly Irregular says:
the problem is most of the women are ugly…. if they have finer women like candice parker and sue bird and that white girl thats always on the nba all star weekend legends challenge that girl is beautiful soo yea if they had more beautiful women id watch no prblem
May 19th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
daquest?on Im Regularly Irregular says:
get some playboy bunnies and teach them how to play basketball. if they do that id buy the league pass in a second
May 19th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
karizmatic says:
I am not a WNBA basher, but aside from the obvious lack of athletic ability, there is nothing in the women’s game that separates it from the men’s game and when you compare the two you’d just rather watch the men play. It’s a better game. Even though the ladies play in the offseason it becomes difficult to watch, when you just got finished watching the NBA Playoffs, which is the best basketball anywhere. In addition, there is not a compelling, dominant, and yes attractive player. My favorite was Dawn Staley, but isn’t she retired now? Doesn’t she coach or something? After looking at Candace Parker’s stat line from opening night though, I’m hoping she’s the one that can carry the women’s game. Apparently the WNBA is hoping the same thing. They also need to stop trying to make the women the female something or other. Swoopes was the female Jordan, forget that. Let them be their own women and own personalities.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Desrat says:
Time is an issue. I do not have the time to be a sports fanatic, too much other crap in my life. I may watch some of the Dance in March and will try to catch my alma mater a few times a year, but I would rather watch the NBA because it is better basketball. The WNBA is not a better fundamentally. If it was possible to make all the players equal physically most NBA teams could still beat WNBA teams.
When I was a kid I played ball with a lady that was in “the first pro womens L.” She was like 5′2” and could PLAY. I had a lot of fun picking her and wathcing her tear teams apart, but that was cause she praticed and took it seriously. The men in the NBA do that too, and there is never going to be a woman that can physycally compete like that
May 19th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Diego says:
I’d like to see them wear tight, sexy outfits like college and olympic female volleyball teams (I’m not talking about beach volleyball here). I love good female team volleyball. Sex sells–particularly if it otherwise is an inferior product–, which the WNBA is.
When the tip-top women hoopsters struggle to do a basic one-hand dunk (and then there is big hoopla when it happens), it just doesn’t cut it. (In this regard, I do think that someday there will be some 6′3” woman who will REALLY be able to get up and throw it down–e.g., windmills–and that will be pretty cool.)
I do like the idea of shorter rims for the women.
May 19th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
GEE...first impulse was to run up on you and do a Rambo.. says:
Diego love that first one you came up with. Co-sign that.
I think the women themselves will have to start acting a fool some too lol. Not so much acting a fool but showing way more emotion.
Face it. Duncan can be better all day long than KG, but a lot of people love all the scowling, chest bumpin and talking to his alter ego or something. Ladies need to start yellin, doing the complicated daps, scowling, and just bringing more excitement.
While we at it, I would like to see a female And 1 squad. I might be the only one watching, but it would be entertaining (with lower rims of course) at least.
May 19th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
boogey banger says:
This is all I have to say abotu women’s b-ball. I went to school with a girl who was all state, she scored damn near 100o points. She got very little pub because Rebecca Lobo was in the area torchin hs girls. One day before track practice I was ballin in the gym and this girl called me out ans said I was doin too much clownin. She wanted go 1 on 1 in front of the track, tennis and baseball teams. I’d be lying if I say that my pride wasn’t on the line. I ate her up. Girls play a different brand of ball. I got where I wanted when I wanted. So me who’s probably couldn’t be the 12th man on my d2 squad on my best day ate up a girl who had multiple d1 scholarships. it wasn’t even close. I’m not tryin to toot my own horn here, but the girls game is too slow and not physical enough for me. With that said the nba is becoming more and more like the wnba. I remember when a hard foul going to the rim was expected and now it gets people’s mama’s comin out the crowd.
May 19th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
daquest?on Im Regularly Irregular says:
@boogey banger i want to see u go up agaisnt candice parker see if u can get n e where u want to
May 19th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Chaos says:
Boogey banger i co-sign to that…i saw way too many punk calls. every damn hard foul going to the rack was a flagrant-1 or 2 when it should have just been a shooting foul (unless it was a blatant clothesline from hell..thanks ronny “papa shango” turiaf)….i seen some ill female players but its just not fast enough, especially for people these days that have the attention span of a fruit fly
May 19th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
tjack says:
you guys are so stupid. for one, candace parker is NOT cute at all. with that jacked up weave she’s been wearing. she always has that dumbass snarl on her face like her shit don’t stink.
secondly, those girls play hard every night. that’s saying more than the nba wih all those who collect these big paychecks and feel like they are entitled to everything in the world. they only work hard during the playoffs. that is garbage.
third, trust me, there arenot too many attractive nba players either. so whoever made that stupid cmment about marketing the pretty ones needs to shut their stupid mouth. because if that were the case, some of those men do not need to have their pictures shown on tv. period.
oh and to all those idiots out there thinking that the wnba has a lot of lesbians, think again dumbasses…THE NBA HAS JUST AS MANY GAY MEN…THEY ARE JUST IN THE CLOSET. so please stop with that bullshit and open your stupid minds.
there are women out there that can actually school a lot of men on the court. so don’t get it twisted.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
daquest?on Im Regularly Irregular says:
@tjack u must b on something if u dont think candance parker is cute.. id be with her in a second shes the perfect woman pretty, rich and can play ball
May 19th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
daquest?on Im Regularly Irregular says:
becky hammon is the hottest girl ive seen ball in the wnba then again i dont watch it but shes pretty fine
May 19th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Jeffrey says:
I have no beef with the wnba. Maybe the brother teams (teams in the nba) should have at least some if any involvement with the wnba. I haven’t watched a wnba game in a while and thought it was very cool having candace parker there. They really should get that league more exposure and change the theme song from superwoman by alicia keys to supawoman by amanda diva. It was on the boondocks mixtape At best, it’s the 5th sport in america behind hockey. NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, WNBA. That’s the top 5 in my eye.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
doc says:
WNBA is a great summer sport.These pricks just haters
June 20th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Big Freeze says:
I’de watch the WNBA if they played in bikinis. Well, only a select few in bikinis.