If it is a day ending in y, some Brad or Chad who was a benchwarmer at their local Rec league is coming up with all sorts of reasons why the WNBA is not their thing.
We get it. The WNBA is not for everyone. Just like the NWSL is not for everyone. The same applies to the PWHL. The same applies to the NBA.
The same applies to MLB, NFL, NHL or any sports league.
But it continues to amaze us how folks who proclaim to be “basketball fans” say they would not watch a minute of women’s basketball (whether it is WNBA, NCAA, international, Athletes Unlimited, etc.) and probably could not name one women’s player other than a certain Iowa Hawkeye who wears No. 22.
These “basketball fans” (many of whom claim to be Girl Dads) will spew the same tired arguments about the W that have been heard for years.
They claim the WNBA is an unwatchable product. They claim the WNBA is boring. They claim they are not into women’s basketball because of the lack of dunks.
We all know the real reason – women partaking in an activity (sports) tabbed as “masculine” by larger society makes a lot of these Brads and Chads and Girl Dads reveal their own insecurities.
Unwatchable?
Hmmm…about that NBA All-Star Game from last night.
Anyone who has seen what today’s NBA has resembled could see this coming. The men’s Association went back to the traditional East vs. West format and the result was a game where a team scored 200 points.
Yeah…the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference by a final score of 211-186. Damian Lillard was named MVP as he dropped 39 points.
And in this, the NBA just provided WNBA aficionados like ourselves with the perfect counter to when these Brads, Chads and Girl Dads attempt to throw shade the W’s way.
Women’s hoopers don’t dunk often? Well…NBA players seemingly do not play defense anymore.
Look at the results of NBA games nowadays. The final scores of many an NBA contest resembles that of All-Star Game results from 15 years ago. And these are not for games that are going into overtime.
Regular season NBA contests nowadays are seeing teams score 110-130 points on a nightly basis. In today’s NBA, 120 is the new 90 and apparently 200 is the new 150. At least in the WNBA (and the women’s game overall) there is still emphasis on fundamentals and defense.
To be fair, a big reason as to why scoring is up in the NBA is because teams have placed more emphasis on guard play and are centering their offensive schemes around the 3-point shot. We can thank the greatness of Stephen Curry for that.
So…the women’s game is “unwatchable” because of the lack of dunks yet the men’s game seemingly has no defense anymore? Yeah…this has nothing to do with dunks (it never did) and everything to do with the lack of XY chromosomes.
By the way…let us remember one thing about the All-Star Game. It is an exhibition in the same way every sport’s All-Star Game is.
All-Star Games are not supposed to be competitive. They are a half-week break in the midst of a grueling regular season where the top players earn an additional paycheck and have the chance to kick it with their other celebrity homegirls and homeboys.
Anthony Edwards is absolutely correct. Why should we want an All-Star Game that resembles Game 7 of the Finals knowing it is only an exhibition? Some sportswriters simply want to have something to complain about and write about to get their clicks and kicks on Route 66.
Many others have made an excellent point as well in regards to All-Star Games. Imagine if the game was uber-competitive and it results in someone suffering a serious injury that sidelines said player for the rest of the season.
And imagine if said player happened to be a key piece in a team making a postseason push. Teams would not want their players in these games anymore. So All-Star is much better off resembling a pickup game at Rucker Park rather than resembling Game 7 of the Finals or the Gold Medal Game in the Olympics or FIBAs.
One more thing in regards to dunks…women’s hoopers at all levels do indeed dunk. Brittney Griner dunks. Ashlyn Watkins dunks. And WNBA fans now have a new way to dunk on fugazi fans.
