Why isn't it Called the MNBA?

I feel like the world with the most gender inequality, is sports. Women and men play separately in both soccer and basketball and the NFL has 0 female players. Today we're just gonna focus on the WNBA and NBA.

I went online and asked why there weren’t any women in the NBA. All the answers basically said “ A woman could play in the NBA but none of them are good enough.” For almost half a century, men have told women that they’re not as big, fast, or strong as men. Most of these men have probably never heard of Ann Meyers Drysdale.

Ann Meyers Drysdale was the first, and only woman, to sign a free agent contract with the NBA.

She played for the Phoenix Suns. Bill Russel once said “Anne was one of the best basketball players ever, I didn’t say male or female. I said ever.” Anne Meyers Drysdale carved the way for women in sports. Now she’s vice president of both the Phoenix Suns (NBA) and Phoenix Mercury (WNBA).

I would have no problem with the WNBA if their players were treated equally to the NBA’s players. But they’re not. The WNBA has approximately 14,909,000 less viewers and it’s players get paid about $6,328,365 less than NBA players. You’re probably thinking that that makes sense. Less tickets sold, less money for the players. There’s only one problem.

The WNBA makes a revenue of about 60 million every year and 20.5% of that is given to the players. Meanwhile, the NBA makes a yearly revenue of about 7.4 billion and 53% of that is given to the players.

Kelsey Plum, 26-year old WNBA player and winner of 13 awards in her career, says “ I’m tired of people thinking that us players are asking for the same type of money as the NBA players. We are asking for the same percentage of revenue shared within our CBA. NBA players receive around 50 percent of shared revenue within their league, whereas we receive around 20 percent.”

This brings us to the real question: Could women play in the NBA? Well, one anonymous debate.org user said “ No way in hell Women can't compete with men in physical sports. NBA players are taller, heavier, faster, stronger and WAY more athletic than WNBA players., hence the reason there are no women in the NBA. There is a reason for the WNBA , WOMEN SIMPLY AREN'T GOOD ENOUGH TO COMPETE WITH MEN, and quite frankly, never will be.”

That seems a little extreme, doesn’t it? I of course think this dude (I’m assuming this is man but I’m not saying it couldn’t be a woman) is wrong. But we have no way of knowing. These women work just as hard as the men and are at the top of their game. The only woman to ever be on a NBA team was Anne Meyers Drysdale and she made it into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame despite the fact that she was playing against men. If we at least try letting women in the NBA maybe they could play just as well as the men and get paid a higher salary. It’s true that some women have been invited to NBA training camp and declined. But I know why.

I play basketball everyday at my school with 8 other boys and one girl. There are games where the ball never touches my hand. Although I’m about 3 inches taller than all of them I’m never passed to. And every time I make a mistake I receive a huge amount of criticism compared to the male players. At first I thought I wasn’t trying hard enough but the truth is they immediately assume that, as a vagina-haver, I can’t play as well as the rest of them. Although the physical evidence suggests otherwise.

Britteny Griner was almost drafted to the NBA in 2013. She’s a looming 6’8’’ and the highest paid player in the WNBA. So why wasn’t she drafted. Good question. It’s probably because the men knew they wouldn’t pass to her very often and she’d be benched most often.

In this political climate, from trolls on the internet to sexists in real life, it’s hard for a woman to join the NBA. My hopes for the future are that by 2030 either the WNBA is just as loved and gets paid just as much as the NBA, or there are at least 10 women in the NBA who play as well as the other players and are respected by their teammates. There’s a reason the NBA’s not called the MNBA. There is no gender on it. It’s for anyone who plays basketball and dedicates their life to it, no matter their sex.

Sincerely,

Flora