As we within the WNBA family know, its various social media accounts (including ours) that are dedicated to all things WNBA, women’s hoops and women’s sports in general are a force to be reckoned with.
As we have seen first-hand, there certainly is a welcoming culture within the WNBA family that may not always be seen within the social media realms of other sports fandoms.
There also is a unifying feature of WNBA Twitter where we all have our issues with how the W conducts its business, but is ready to attack with ferocity if anyone even dares to come at the league or its talents.
But how much is Twitter a critical element in how the game is to be expanded? As it turns out, very critical indeed. And this is not only seen in how social media is used vociferously by WNBA players when advocating for social justice.
Take into consideration the recently completed WNBA draft, one that was a wild draft given it defied the expectations of many who made mock renditions prior to the real thing. Take also into consideration the drafting of Kysre Gondrezick, who was selected fourth overall by the Indiana Fever.
A sizable portion of the country had yet to hear of Gondrezick prior to the draft, but when she got drafted, the replies began pouring in.
LET’S GET IT 👊@KysreRae x #FeverDraft pic.twitter.com/iwTp4s0DIj
— Indiana Fever ⛹️♀🏀 (@IndianaFever) April 16, 2021
with the fourth pick in the 2021 wnba draft … pic.twitter.com/LfG2QagjUM
— Kysre Gondrezick (@KysreRae) April 17, 2021
And while she is not the first WNBA hooper to receive rave reviews the nanosecond a broader audience were introduced to her (see: Skylar Diggins-Smith and Liz Cambage among others), it speaks at an element of broadening the women’s game that we know is important in its overall reach.
There are few leagues that have been more embracing of social media than the WNBA (along with its NBA counterpart). After all, in recent seasons, a select number of WNBA games were even available for air via Twitter. And the Twitter Sports account has had no problems hyping up the W whenever big events happen – whether it was last year’s Finals, or the recently completed draft.
But the beauty of social media is that it allows for its many athletes to create their own platforms and expand their own brands. Gondrezick is only one of many women’s ballers who have successfully done this over the years. WNBA players are becoming household names outside of what they do on the court in large part because of their interests away from it.
The textbook example of this is the Los Angeles Sparks’ Te’a Cooper. All one has to do is look at her Twitter and Instagram accounts and see why she has been so effective at establishing a following as a social media influencer.
Another great example of this is Aerial Powers, one of the Minnesota Lynx’s signings in this past year’s free agent period. Powers, as we all know, is an avid gamer, and has parlayed that passion for video games into her own brand and video game stream she has on Twitch.
In today’s day and age, where social media has allowed us greater access into the lives of athletes than ever before (albeit not always for the good), there is a greater appreciation for when athletes are their authentic selves as opposed to speaking through a PR filter.
One thing that we at Beyond The W have discovered by being around luminaries such as Renee Montgomery, Teresa Weatherspoon, Liz Cambage, Skylar Diggins-Smith, A’ja Wilson and others is that these athletes are simply like us everyday folk. They just happen to have more hoops talent than us and will dust us easily on a game of HORSE even if every shot they had to take was from half-court.
Remove the basketball from it and many of them are into the same foods, same clothes, same kicks and same shows as us. In 2021, we do not want a manufactured version of a Diggins-Smith, a Cambage or a Wilson. We want the real Skylar. The real Liz. The real A’ja. Social media has done that and the Skylars, Liz’s and A’jas have no problems presenting that side to us.
In a time where we appreciate realness from athletes, and in a time where social justice advocacy is much appreciated, the WNBA will look back at how its athletes fully embraced this medium and say that it was far ahead of the curve.
