The WNBA is heavily scrutinized, but what are the problems with this league? This video covers the major issues of the league and solutions to fix them. (more videos are on the way so stay tuned). Twitter: / jheckjr21
The biggest story to come out of the WNBA in over a decade is a player going to prison for smuggling drugs into another country. That, sadly, says a lot about the product.
Meanwhile, college softball gals get on the Sportscenter Top 10 for their athleticism and skill. Why aren't they a major sport with a big pro league again? They're skilled as heck and amazing to watch at times (some of those pitchers are just ridiculous). As a guy, I think they'd get three times the male fans (beyond the obvious increase in women) and they'd be a great alternative to communities who either don't have MLB playing near them that day or lack a major sports team in that season of year (think Birmingham, Omaha, Portland, Charlotte, etc.). The woke WNBA is an utter joke that needs put down for the sake of sports and to allow better women's athletics to rise professionally.
@johneveryman6296I hope there is a MLB league for women, it'll be a great chance for women to have a platform to show case their skills! Also in addition to this it would be more entertaining than the WNBA, I hope thr MLB considers this.
@@RefRed_Kinguhhh females can play in MLB and always could Stop pretending like every major American pro sport hasn't been open to females for countless decades MLB isn't a men's league it's an OPEN league They could be playing in it now and putting their $ where their mouth is Just like in the NBA NHL NFL MLS etc etc
They can lower the rim, put on skirts and whatever; I ain't watching. The behavior of those who represent the league has been appalling, and I would be happy if the NBA just quit keeping the WNBA afloat.
Rhonda Rousey said it best whenever she was asked about "equal pay". The NBA just needs to quit giving the handouts they give and let the WNBA figure it out for themselves. Let them see that after a year, when they disappear, they had everything and bit the hand that fed them. These womens egos need to be checked and they need to realize they're not all that and a bag of chips. Their top plays consist of layups and 3 point shots. Those aren't entertaining and those aren't bringing in fans. People are only fans because they feel bad for them. We're not obligated to watch and even with all the guilt tripping they've tried, they still can't get any fans. We just need to treat the WNBA like the Disney movie Frozen and let it go.
Sounds like a well thought out and accurate statement. Many of the wnba players demand status that they can not command.. the wnba is only afloat because the NBA is that great and the NBA believes in inclusion.
Their league would be in a better place if they would call out the lack of female support instead of alienating the little male support they do have and it’s even crazy how they are big advocates for the lgbtq community and they don’t even come out in droves to support the league but they want to constantly blame the men.
Nah, why should women be expected to watch an inferior version of a sport. Just because someone is a girl doesn't mean she isnt going to see the difference between mens basketball and womens and be like... Nah, thats lame. Women don't support the WNBA for the same reason men don't... Nobody wants to watch shitty basketball.
I was at a bar watching the game where LeBron dunked on Jason Terry and when that shit happened the WHOLE bar fucking EXPLODED! People where high fiving and shit. I could say with complete confidence the wnba has NEVER created a reaction like that in the entire time its been around.
I get this, but what about players like Steph, Kyrie, Harden, whose strong points or highlights aren't based around physicality? They bring their own brand of hype. I don't think this is the problem
Let me get this right, they have a smaller ball then the men, their 3 point line is closer, but lowering the rims is just out of the question 🤷🏿♂️. Please, make that make sense.
Because a smaller ball and barely closer 3pt line is easy to overlook. A 9 foot rim is super obvious. They want the advantages of making it easier, just not the appearance of it.
They would say yes if the change came with a money bag. Funny thing is that they will make more money if they lower the rim. I've watched women's international Netball and they already made these changes. The pace, aggression and accuracy that the Netball women play at is incredible to watch!
1 inch on ball, 1 foot in on 3 pt line , yeah 1 foot lower is all they need just ignorance... even at 9" they ain't gonna be tomahawk it like LeBron 😂😂 or Shaq it 2 handed , or Dominique, Shawn Kemp, Dr J, Carters reverse 360 , MJ & Kobes dunks..
The ball is smaller, so shouldn't they make the diameter of the rim smaller to match? The fact that on a per minute basis the wnba can't score more points despite having a greater chance of the ball going in just tells you the vast difference in skil, talent, and athleticism between the NBA and wnba
You would think that these ladies should make more shots with a smaller ball and the same size rim as the NBA. But they still miss so many shots, and layups.
bottom line is that league and it's players need to decide whether or not they wanna be activists or a profitable business. they can't do both obviously. bad attitudes, bad image of being a league of unathletic lesbians (a perception they do nothing to combat, seemingly they do everything to conform if anything) and some generally stupid rules such as an insanely high draft age of 22 (20 would be fine) among other things just shows the management of this league is in poor hands.
The commentary from the WNBA players seems to miss a key point... the league doesn't exist so that the players can enjoy the game and get rich; it exists so that the *audience* can enjoy the game. Lowering the rim is one option, sure. It's not the only way forward though. Heck, if WNBA teams would pass like the 86 Celtics, I'd watch the *hell* out of it.
Yeah are we playing basketball to dunk, i am not sure. B* we are watching basketball to see people dunks ! If they want better pay, they have to understand, they need to make people want to watch them play ! How can't they get that ?
@@bertrandronge9019 I've always said that the WNBA doesn't need a Lebron type dunking all over the place, they need a Stef Curry type dropping 3s from halfcourt and carving up their opponents with sick dribble moves. Then ppl would watch.
Those deep 3s are harder for women though. Much of the control on a shot comes from drawing power from your jumping so you don't have to use your arm muscles as much and can instead use you arm muscles to aim. WNBA players just simply lack the strength and athleticism to consistently shoot outside of maybe 15 feet. So can see it in their shot form, many have an odd kinda hunched over kinda push shit and some even push with 2 hands like a kid to make up for a lack of jumping strength, you see it a ton in high school and college from girls, especially the frumpy girls who are playing center because they have a lie center of gravity and big butts.
Man, Brittany went for the dunk and that other player just backed out of the way. Unchallenged. Then when she missed, didn't even hustle to go back and get it
Tmac wasn't trying to be condescending, he just gave a great idea on something that could help popularize their league more from a business perspective and she immediately took it personally and didn't bother listening to the message. It's ok to have weaknesses, you need to mitigate these things in a way that you can be more successful, instead of being hardheaded and overly prideful. And for some reason every damn player has this same mentality, they must only communicate with each other or something.
Yeah, you may be onto something here...because EVERY WNBA player who gets asked about this has the same reaction Breanna Stewart had. And as you said, TMac wasn't being condescending at all, just offering an idea to help bring more fans in...The one thing I'd say about lowering the rim (which i think is a good idea, btw) is that, does all women's bball then lower the rims? You kinda have to right, if the highest level professional league does it?
You know damn well you wouldn’t start watching the WNBA if they lowered the rim so that the women could dunk. If they lowered the rim you could dunk why would you want to watch women do it?
@@lakoncers13 I damn sure wouldn't because I barely have the time to watch NBA games as it is. But you can't tell me it wouldn't do anything for their popularity.
My sister played basketball growing up. We watched the 1996 Olympic Women win a gold medal, and she was excited when the WNBA first started. Even she stopped watching the WNBA after its first season.
The WNBA will never succeed until the management & players humble themselves. They will need make any changes that will bring paying fans to the arena.
Best thing for the WnBA is to downsize, eliminate another of the teams that don't fill in the arenas. That right there is going to allow teams to get better at the expense of others mainly because some of the players on the teams leaving the league join new teams and bolster their squads. This will reduce travel and also allow the league to hopefully start gaining actual traction to making money organically. The first city to go should be Atlanta. I live in this city and have for a long time. Hawks have Trae and don't even sell out. It's a football and baseball city. The other team to cut is Connecticut. New York has the population and Connecticut doesn't. Its not a big cannibalizing effect but, whatever. Finally a relocation of Indiana to Toronto. Toronto is a top 5 city in regards to population in the continent and has way more people than Indianapolis. Easiest way to get a team with butts in seats is to cater to the largest population possible. This is why Chicago, Washington and New York can at least get some sort of semblance of filled arenas. This is also why Tulsa moved to Dallas. Tulsa has no one living in it. DALLAS has a massive population. It's also why San Antonio didn't last.
@@z0tw I live a few minutes from Atlanta and you're spot-on. Contraction would actually help the WNBA(the NBA, too). Yes, The Dream need to go. Also, like you said...players/(Spokeswomen)for that league need to learn to humble themselves and stop trying to compete with Men. Also; stop the adversarial BS with NBA guys(regardless of the exponential levels of 🍆 envy many of the players seem to have). It's really off-putting. The Lesbian aspect? I think that's also a huge factor in the low attendance(quiet as it's kept). I'm sure many Parents aren't ready to see their kids see that(let alone explain it to them).
@@z0tw Connecticut is one of the WNBA's best markets actually....they have a pretty good fanbase, because women's basketball is big in that state because of Uconn. I don't hate your idea of downsizing, but Conn is not the team to cut.
@@z0tw Also, Washington's attendance is terrible....They play in a 4,000 seat arena and never sell it out...They used to play at the Verizon Center and lost TONS of money playing there (I've been to games there....they'd get 5,000 fans if they were lucky), so that's why they moved to the tiny arena they play in now. Chicago also used to have pretty terrible attendance as well, but now it's better since Candace Parker has been there & the team is a contender. NY's attendance is middle of the road (they averaged like 5300 fans per game in 2022), but not great. Just because you're in a big market, doesn't mean you'll draw big numbers. Dallas also has terrible attendance...they play at UT Arlington, a low D1 college in an arena that holds 7,000, and they draw under 4,000 fans per game. So yeah, big markets doesn't mean you'll draw fans
What I don't get is they are here dissing the idea of lowering the rim like it's bringing them back to the 1930s or something yet nobody ever mentions the disparity in other women's sports. The top men and women get paid the same prize money in Tennis on the preface that it's all about equality and men and women are equal but yet they play best of 3 sets and the men 5. Why? This whole thing in sport in general is ridiculous.
The reality is the WNBA uses the mens league as their provider just like a housewife uses her husband as a provider (except she may give something back in return unlike the WNBA) - they basically force attachment to a men's league and then force it to pay for their crap. That's the way so many women's sports leagues operate. It's pathetic and nothing for women to be proud of. People are just scared to call it out for the obvious leeching it is. The funny thing is many men wouldn't even care about subsidizing a womens league - but when so many in that league are intent on spitting in men's faces in general that's another thing altogether.
Clearly you don’t understand the sport of tennis if you believe pay has anything to do with number of sets played! With the exception of FOUR majors, every other tournament has men and women playing best of three! Also, most matches, even at the majors do not go five sets! The pay is based on entertainment value. Many people would be happy to watch or buy tickets to a Serena Williams match over a “thrilling” five set match between two no-name European men! I am a huge fan of both basketball and tennis, and I have NEVER watched a game or match based on a player’s salary!
If they were open to improving the game they could- lower the rim, play as hard as the nba, which they could do, and just play an exciting style of play. They won’t listen to ideas that could help, so they should shut down the league.
I loved Shaquille O'Neal's idea of lowering the rim of foot. That way the women could make longer shots like the famous Steph Curry which attracts so many people and more women could make slam dunks and even put a little skill to it.
If they lowered the rim, the average, every day person would be able to dunk on that rim, and it would not be interesting at all, to watch some woman dunk on the rim that you could dunk on yourself. And if women were capable of shooting like Steph Curry it would’ve happened by now no one has even come close. The WNBA has been around for more than 20 years.
@lakoncers13. You are HIGHLY overestimating the athleticism of the average everyday person. They cannot dunk on a 8 foot rim let a lone a 9 foot one. And yes, to the general public, seeing women dunking far more often on a o foot rim would be way more exciting then the EXTREMELY rare times when a women gets one on a ten foot rim. They are usually not very exciting either, because they are extremely basic and wide open dunks that barely get over the rim anyways. Women dunking on eachother and in traffic on 9 foot rims would absolutely be more exciting and bring in more views.
If you don't want to lower the rim, then play with the NBA game ball not the smaller one, move the free throw line back to where the NBA one is. They're making like lowering the rim is insult but have made other changes to the court
It would take a week to get used to a lower rim at most. It’s like the difference between throwing an accurate pass to a 5’9” person and then adjusting to throwing a pass to a 6’9” person. You would adjust nearly instantly.
Wtf. I watch the video and expected to see several hundred thousand subscribers afterwards. Keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll get big. Subscribed.
It would not take long to get used to a shorter rim. As kids we played on lower rims all the time. And it took a few shots to adjust. And it was the only chance I had to dunk. Everything becomes easier with a shorter rim and it's not that hard to adjust when conditions are easier to play in as opposed to harder.
Shooting isn't easier. I was a knockdown shooter as a teen and i couldn't shoot well on shorter rims. It has to do with the angle the ball comes in at and it's harder to get that 45 degree angle drop at the rim the closer your head is to rim height. That's a part of why many taller players have trouble shooting and why you see many guys over 6'9 or so not really jump much when they shoot so their release point is similar to where a jumping 6 foot player releases from.
@@bpdmf2798 shooters adjust. Period. I could shoot on a 9 foot rim just as easy as a ten foot. Just need a few shots to adjust. And if they grew up on shorter rims then they'll naturally grow up to be adjusted to a shorter rim.
@@AnthonyWW68 OBVIOUSLY if they change it for the WNBA they would have to change it at ALL levels of women's basketball. College would have to work in conjunction with the NBA to change the standard. All other leagues will have no choice but to follow suit.
video finished and i scrolled down to sub, then i saw the 80 subs. damnn thought i was wtaching a content creator with over a hundred thousand subs. great stuff dude, keep posting and youll blow up eventually
The game is slower, less athletic, and frankly, less entertaining. I doubt the best WNBA team or players would be able to stay on the court with average NCAA men's teams. Maybe even top HS boys teams. They just aren't as big and fast as the dudes. Bill Burr put it best; if people (women) want the WNBA to excel, they need to watch it, go to games, buy merchandise, etc. It's not sexist for guys to not watch it. It's simply acknowledging it's a lower level of the sport.
My problem with it is that if you took a good high school boys player and put him on one of those teams he could dominate the game. Why should I pay to see that level of play?
I think lowering the rim is a start to making the WNBA exciting, but I don’t know how much that will really do. There are way more reasons why the league is failing. I heard it mentioned somewhere, and I agree, if the WNBA wants to be a viable league, then it will take women getting into it. If women were into it, buying tickets and merch, more guys would also be into it for obvious reasons. However, I know women that also make fun of the WNBA, so there isn’t much hope there. I also find it odd that women’s March Madness is taken pretty seriously. It’s not the men’s bracket honestly, but it’s taken seriously and not made fun of like the WNBA. They gotta take a page out of college basketball there.
Lowering the rim does nothing. The thing that makes dunking exciting is the explosion; and since, the avg vertical jump for a WNBA player is 10 inches lower your not going to see dunks like the NBA. The WNBA biggest problem is marketing. The WNBA should be marketing to male basketball fans (Bill Burr is wrong) because men are the ones who spend money on sports. If most of the league looked like Didi Richards, Aj'a Wilson and Skylar Diggins or they marketed those players more, the WNBA would be more profitable.
women's basketball is underrated tbh. it gives women opportunities to play sports that men usually play. it's just the entertainment value isn't the same when it comes to the NBA. i think this is really different to women's volleyball. because rules in both men and women are modified to each category. making the game more entertaining to watch.
Women’s volleyball is really popular in some countries in Europe and other countries like Puerto Rico and Japan. Some investors including Kevin Durant are working on a professional women’s volleyball league to launch next year. I actually like women’s basketball but I think women’s volleyball has a better chance of being successful, popular and profitable.
There is far more to the game than dunking, and if you are watching just for dunk, then you don't really like basketball, you like dunking. Lack of skill is the main reason no one watches. Perhaps reducing the number of teams would help increase the talent level, competitiveness and interest some. However, nearly every level of men's basketball is superior to the WNBA, and many high school boys teams are too. Bottom line, people aren't interested, because it's an inferior product.
Dunking wouldn't solve all of the problems, but it certainly would help. It just takes away an entire element of the game (both offensively and defensively) because takes just don't expect any dunking 99 percent of the time. There are basketball formations made specifically to set up and defend against dunks, but the WNBA defaults to a constant need for layups. It's just boring to watch.
The issue is that with basketball and many women's sports is that if the viewer wants to see that level of athleticism and competitiveness, they can go watch a boy's game at the local high school.
Did any wnba players or execs ever make a suggestion to improve the games' quality? All I ever hear is "more people should watch it", "should be on TV more", "need to get paid more"...which never addresses the problem people just aren't interested. Does anyone ever acknowledge this and offer ways to improve? Instead of just shutting down any suggestions (yes, shorter rims would be good; ball's already smaller, etc...so why not?). Is there any voice from the WNBA not saying it's a big conspiracy and instead saying "yeah, we need to improve and here's our idea"? I'm genuinely asking
They complain about money while making the league none (negative money actually). I wish I could play basketball for a living even if I only made a very modest 30 or 40 grand a year (most WNBA players make 50 to 200 grand). I can't imagine playing a game for a living and having the balls (or ovaries) to complain that I'm not paid enough when the real entertainers (the NBA players) are the ones making my league all its money and my earnings are like a handout so I can pretend to be an NBA player for a living.
Hey Folks. I mentioned this before but I guess I’ll have to mention it again. Here is one of the the MAIN reasons why the WNBA has been struggling, is struggling, and will continue to struggle in the future. The WNBA highlights their “CAUSES” and not their TALENTS. I like watching Candace Parker and Skylar Diggins-Smith play. What I don’t enjoy is watching the women who choose to look like, talk, and walk like men. Also, many people won’t have a problem supporting breast cancer, child abuse, or homelessness. But basketball is supposed to be a game for entertainment NOT a Social Justice exercise!!! You don’t have to put on a skirt and get back in the kitchen; just play ball like a Lady and leave the “body art” to the men. PEACE ✌️
People don't really control how the talk, walk, and look. To an extent they do but a 6'5 lesbian is gonna walk and talk and look like a man because that's what big people walk talk and look like. You don't see too many highly feminine 6'5 females. What you're saying is like saying that midgets should stop acting so small.
@@bpdmf2798 Okay so let me see if I’m understanding what you’re saying. IF you’re saying that a person male or female can’t control how they look, then “HOUSTON” we have a problem!! First, the body art are Not birthmarks which means they were not born with them. Second, I understand that people walk the way they walk but I personally know many very tall women who don’t walk like men and don’t want to be one either. Third, like it or not, the WNBA is a business. It’s entertainment. If the guys in the NBA played a feminine style of basketball and looked like women, the public would not watch. I personally think that ladies have the potential to play beautiful basketball. Finally, just remember this. If I wanted to see a masculine, fast, powerful type of basketball game, I would watch the NBA.
Even though this will NEVER happen, I honestly think WNBA teams play the top high school basketball teams in the state. I would love to see the Indiana Fever play a team like Indianapolis North Central. We already know that Indiana University or Purdue would win by 150, but the WNBA would be taken seriously if they beat mens high school teams. I know it’s just a pipe dream.
This is laughable. A losing record high school boys team will beat a wnba team. A group of preteen boys took down a national women's soccer team in blow out fashion.
Ill logic. They’ve been using the same height rims since middle to college but different balls since that time. I agree the rim should be lowered but your logic in that statement was off.
On the topic of lowering the rim, I disagree. The rim for all other levels is 10ft. Lowering it creates a barrier to entry as not only would the current players have to adjust for the lower rim (which would hurt Shooting%) but most new players would also have to make the same adjustment as they would have to adjust to a lower rim than the one they’ve grown up with. I agree something needs to be done to make WNBA interesting, I just don’t think changing the rim height is it.
They constantly complain about low attendance and low pay but whenever someone suggest something that could help they immediatley act like a woman scorn and become offended and nasty. So people have stopped caring. In order to grow a business you have to be open to constructive criticism and listen to what the fans want or at least try it. What would be the harm? Nothing else has worked up until this point so why tf not 🤷🏾♀️. Nobody wants to watch a game full of layups.
It would be nice to see Stephen A Smith, Shannon Sharpe, and Skip Bayless talk about their favorite WNBA players and debate which team is the best, because the only times they talk about the WNBA is over social issues like equal pay. It would also help if NBA Superstars (the 5 or 6 of them) were more supportive to help promote the WNBA. With sports gambling becoming normalized, bettors may also pay more attention to WNBA games. And as far as quality, this video can disingenuously compare NBA highlights to WNBA lowlights, but we've all seen Shaqtin' a Fool. Yes, NBA players would beat WNBA players in a game. Just like a top heavyweight boxer or MMA Fighter would beat Floyd Mayweather, Connor, & Khabib who each weigh the same as a high schooler, but we still watch them. Promotion and Marketing matters.
@@MessiasAlves Promotion and Marketing matters. The average viewership of an NBA game on ESPN was 1.2 million last year. That's less than 90 Day Fiance on The Learning Channel. Huffington Post reported that ESPN is the big loser in the $24 Billion TV deal & why they lay off a hundred employees every year. The Brooklyn Nets operated at a loss of $50 to $100 million last season. Without revenue sharing, the Indiana Pacers & their mostly G League lineup would be nowhere. And when China banned NBA games for a week, Team Owners freaked out & one said that the salaries they pay NBA players is based on projections and expectations that depend on international viewership. But you didn't know any of that, because the marketing tells you otherwise. THAT's the new business of the NBA: Hype and promote until a network overpays for your tv and streaming rights and then pray they'll renew it at the end of the term. BTW, I'm not a girl lol
NBA players like Steph Curry & them are ALWAYS promoting the game and doing commercials to the NBA. Don't you remember those embarrassing commercials they made the NBA players do pretending they learn so much from watching WNBA games? The WNBA is more promoted than hockey, tennis, volleyball, NASCAR, and tons of other sports in this country. You wake up everyday and see WNBA players on First Take & NBA Countdown. You'll see a WNBA player on ESPN before you see athletes in 100 different sports and yet it's still been an unprofitable league for 25 years. The problem they have is that they want to push a political agenda more than they want to entertain fans, which is a shitty way to do business.
@@thelowesttreeshavetops3541 NBA teams are some of the most valuable franchises in all of sports. The Knicks are worth like $5 billion. You think all these billionaires would sink money into The NBA if it was a bad investment? Yeah, individual teams do lose money, but the league itself is a money generating machine. Donald Sterling bought the Clippers for $20 million and sold it for $ 2 Billion. . . .The Clippers for $2 Billion. Imagne what he would've gotten for The Lakers.
*3:28* "You're only playing basketball to get people to watch, and you've been failing at that for the history of the wnba, so it's time to try something different. I suggest lowering the hoop so the players look more capable, what do you suggest?"
Why are people surprised they don't want the rim lowered. Classic athlete pride right there. It's like asking judges in Africa to give up those colonial era wild they wear. They won't.
Agreed they should get paid more...not the players but the referees, water boys, the sweepers, cameramen, and specially the team mascots. They keep supporting an organization that's been on life support ever since it was born.
Honestly for the WNBA to become the household name that it should be, they need those stars that change the game . The NBA was going to go bankrupt until Bird/Magic brought it back to life . People say “we want to see dunking” when the NBA is literally going away from dunking . It’s an excuse to bash the league . The real solution is finding out of this world talent to represent the WNBA
Most female basketball players are 5 foot 4 inches to 5 foot 9 inches in high school and College that is why they need to lower the rim. Lowering the rim is not just about the WNBA but all of the thousands of girls playing high school and College basketball.
People don’t say that about tennis, volleyball or figure skating. In ballet… women are the stars… men are props. Female models make way more than male models. This is just the way it is… you cannot change human nature
Literally the most iconic moments in basketball history. Is literally dunks and them being basketball players and they don’t know how much it would do for league. Just let’s uk how hard headed they are
Lowering the rim would be a bad idea for the WNBA. Other leagues play on 10ft rims so WNBA players would have to mess with their shot and muscle memory etc, and then go and try to readjust for international competition and other professional leagues that they play on.. not to mention players coming up from lower age groups that aren't using the lower rim. It would isolate the WNBA even more...
