WNBA continues to receive high marks for diverse hiring

Photo Credit -- AP/Jessica Hill

Some leagues talk the talk on the topic of being progressive-minded. The WNBA actually walks the walk – and that is what is what a new report from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports indicates.

Because of its commitment to hiring women and minorities for front office jobs, the W scored a 97.6 in TIDES rating system – the highest ever recorded since it began issuing report cards in 1988.

Dr. Richard Lapchick at the University of Central Florida told the Associated Press that a huge reason for its high marks was that it started later than other leagues – including the NBA – that are rated.

If you’re starting from ground zero, and you can hire that way from the beginning, then you’ve got a better head start.

–Dr. Richard Lapchick to the Associated Press

The WNBA has continued to press that as a priority, and I think the effects have been remarkable but also consistent.

–Dr. Richard Lapchick to the Associated Press

It scored a 95.5 rating in the same report card that was issued in 2016. A key caveat to its report that year was the WNBA’s selection of Lisa Borders as league president.

Borders, of course, has since left the league to head the Time’s Up organization, leaving the WNBA in the midst of a find for her successor.

The TIDES study referred to it as the ‘most diverse league in professional sports.’ Fifty-two percent of its position are held by women and nearly 30 percent of those are occupied by people of color.

It also saw that 14 women and 11 people of color were in team ownership positions.

TIDES did ding the W on the fact that were only three head coaches of color. In the latter part of the season, the Dallas Wings fired Fred Williams after a well-publicized spat with CEO Greg Bibb while the team was in the throes of a losing streak that nearly cost them a playoff berth.

The Chicago Sky also got rid of its former coach and general manager in Amber Stocks after two seasons following the departure of Elena Delle Donne to the Washington Mystics. The Sky went 25-43 during a Stocks era which also saw the team move from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont to Wintrust Arena in Chicago’s South Loop.