Roger Grossman
News Now Warsaw
You know that I love and very much have been a fan of women’s sports.
So, you also know how excited I have been for the infusion of energy that transferred from women’s college basketball to the WNBA when Caitlin Clark went from playing in the national championship game for Iowa to being drafted by the Indiana Fever and then playing for them in a span of about a month.
A lot of people were excited about the bright spotlight that was about to shine on women’s sports, particularly basketball, and how it felt like the American sports fan base was ready to at least give the concept of women’s basketball a chance.
But they are blowing it in a spectacular way.
The last two seasons of professional women’s basketball have been underwhelming.
The storylines that seemed to be aimed at interpersonal rivalries and the changing of the guard from the dominance of the Connecticut pipeline to a league more represented by players from across the land turned into discussions of racism and dirty tactics.
Then add to that the fact that when the WNBA Finals end this week, so will the current collective bargaining agreement. And let’s be perfectly clear: you will not find the word “peace” anywhere in the discussions about the near future of this league.
The angst really began when Clark declared for the “association”, and the tough talk from those in the league and around it began in full throat.
It started with former Connecticut players like Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi boldly predicting that Clark wouldn’t find the competition as friendly and the success as free-flowing in the “W” as she had it in college.
There was already bitter hatred shown in college by LSU star Angel Reese.
And all of those messages were sent before the 2024 season ever started.
Then the play began.
With the whole world watching, the women’s game—known for its freedom of movement and flow of play—became like watching the NBA of the 70s and 80s. What made the highlight shows at night was not the passing and execution, but the fighting and rough play.
The game was plagued with ladies throwing other ladies to the floor, running each other into the backboard supports and unsportsmanlike conduct that was greeted by cheering and laughter from the offending teams’ benches.
Play became slower because players weren’t sure where the hard contact was going to come from, but they knew it was coming, and their heads were on swivels trying to figure it out before they got their teeth knocked out.
The officiating in the league seemed to “miss” much of it. They didn’t call it, they enforced only part of what actually happened, and favoritism was clear and undeniable.
Players brought the subject of officiating up in the media, the league fined them for it, and nothing changed.
So when Napheesa Collins, one of the league’s best players, used an end-of-season press conference to “put it all out there,” the challenge was extended.
Her biggest claims are these: the league needs a new commissioner, the officiating needs to rise to the level of the quality of players, and bettering the product in every way needs to be the primary goal of every person who is involved with the league.
But the WNBA has a commissioner, and her name is Cathy Engelbert.
I will confirm for you that she is a massive part of the problem.
Englebert’s response to the players’ complaints can be summarized by this paraphrase: “The players should be grateful that I gave them a league to play in the first place, because without me they’d have nothing.”
She’s been the commissioner of the league since 2019, but the league is 29 years old. Do the math.
While you know my opinions on WNBA salaries — that the women’s players are going to ask for an unrealistic amount of money from a league that isn’t paying its bills without the help of its NBA brethren — tossing out harsh comments leading into negotiations is not only not helping the cause, but it’s malpractice on Engelbert’s part.
She’s done nothing to help clean any of this up, and her stance is not one of a good lead negotiator or a good leader … period.
With the league ready to blossom, its players and commissioner have sprayed a whole container of Roundup on it.
The good news is, they have until February to get into a room and get this figured out.
The bad news is, I don’t see how the people who are supposed to be in that room will ever be able to sit together, let alone talk to each other, or find common ground with each other, and get a deal done.
The worst news is this: when the dust settles and everyone is ready to get back to playing basketball again, they may find that the fans they had drawn have disappeared … and won’t be back.
