The Rise of the WNBA, focusing on the impact of prominent athletes like Caitlyn Clark and how the media helped change the public’s perception of women’s basketball. According to the author, the WNBA has been around for 28 years but has only recently begun to truly grow, which typically takes 30 years for many sports leagues.
The WNBA’s recent breakthrough can be seen in the fact that Caitlyn Clark’s NCAA women’s games were broadcast on ABC, a much more popular network than ESPN. The author argues that this decision was not accidental but rather reflected a growing audience demand for women’s basketball, which allowed the WNBA to gain a wider reach.
The author compares Clark’s impact on the WNBA to the emergence of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird in the NBA in the 1970s. Before Magic and Bird, the NBA did not have a large audience and reruns were often broadcast at midnight. But it was these two players who lifted the NBA out of obscurity and into one of the top sports leagues.
Likewise, the author argues that Clark was the “Magic and Larry” of the WNBA, helping the league reach a larger audience. Thanks to her and other athletes like Paige Beckers’ social media presence, women’s basketball has attracted more attention and become a compelling commercial product.
However, the author expresses frustration with some individuals in the women’s basketball community, especially Candace Parker, for not giving Clark the credit she deserves. The author suggests that Candace Parker and others are reluctant to acknowledge Clark’s influence, perhaps because Clark is white.
The author notes that, rather than honoring Clark for raising the profile of women’s basketball, these people downplay her work and argue that the WNBA had evolved before Clark. This, the author argues, is not only unfair but also inaccurate, as Clark’s prominence helped to increase public interest in the WNBA and facilitate the league’s rapid growth.
In addition, the author criticizes the way some individuals have dismissed the role of male sponsors in helping the WNBA survive its difficult years. In the author’s view, the WNBA is a “charity league” that consistently loses money and survives on the financial support of male investors, who “sacrificed” financially to keep the league afloat despite losing millions of dollars each year.
The author argues that some people do not express gratitude for this contribution, but instead view the WNBA as a success entirely due to the efforts of women, ignoring the support from men. According to the author, the development of the WNBA is not only due to the efforts of the athletes but also depends heavily on the support of male investors.
The author also extends his argument to a larger social issue, arguing that this lack of gratitude is not only happening in women’s basketball but is a common phenomenon in society, especially when it comes to the contributions of men.
The author argues that in many fields, the contributions of men are often overlooked, and many individuals do not recognize their sacrifices. Instead, many people believe that the successes achieved are entirely due to the efforts of women. The author encourages women to express gratitude to men, because this can help build more sustainable support from men, creating conditions for women to achieve more lasting success in various fields, including sports.
