We’d call this a hot take but actually it’s a warmed-over take from back in March, when Jemele Hill wrote in The Atlantic that “Brittney Griner’s plight says more about America than Russia.” And what did it say, precisely? “Russia wouldn’t be a tantalizing option for America’s best women’s basketball players if they could earn more at home and be treated with the same professional respect as NBA players,” Hill wrote. See, if the WNBA paid more, Griner never would have been in Russia.
We had to check to see if Hill had rewritten her piece for MSNBC, but no, it’s someone else. But it is a repost of a piece from March, so we don’t know who copied whom.
If it weren't for a maddening pay disparity, Brittney Griner almost certainly would not have been in Russia. https://t.co/N5DHJTquh1
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) December 8, 2022
Dave Zirin wrote:
Sue Hovey, former ESPN executive editor and co-author of Brittney Griner’s 2015 memoir “In My Skin: My Life On and Off the Basketball Court” sent me this note via email:
“Brittney’s detainment in Russia also once again shines the spotlight on an unfortunate truth: that the vast majority of WNBA players earn their living overseas. A lot of casual sports fans still don’t know this, which kind of blows my mind. But that just shows you how much more work needs to be done when it comes to raising awareness around equity issues in women’s sports.”
…
Whether we are talking about oil or women’s basketball, the question comes down to what we, a country of 300 million people, are willing to support and what we are willing to sacrifice. Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. had been happy to get cheap Russian oil as much as the WNBA was fine with seeing the comparatively meager salaries of their players subsidized by traveling overseas. Now that the global climate has changed, it’s time to restructure our economic decisions and investments.
“Investments?” Is the government supposed to pay WNBA players higher salaries?
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) December 8, 2022
Recommended
Check total revenue for the NBA vs WNBA and get back to us. Morons.
— Sound the Dread Alarm (@_ThisJustin_) December 8, 2022
The biggest problem is lack of interest. Her supporters will all buy WNBA season tickets now though so hopefully she’ll be able to afford food soon.
— 🫃🏼💉🇺🇦Hollaria Briden, Esq. (@HollyBriden) December 8, 2022
https://twitter.com/VERBAL_CHANCLA/status/1600921281167171584
Can the author of this piece, Dave Zirin, tell us which team he supported with his WNBA season tickets?
— InTheRightColumn (@TheRightColumn) December 8, 2022
Bring back the concept of earnings being tied to value, please, and stop these inane harangues about "disparity".
— Cindy Cooper (@CindyCoops) December 8, 2022
No one watches Women’s basketball at a professional level or an amateur one. It’s completely subsidized by the NBA and contains a level of talent that would be dominated by most men’s community colleges.
— WM (@APTeacher1754) December 8, 2022
I imagine an elite boys' high school squad would give them a good run around the court.
— George From NY (@GeorgeFromNY1) December 8, 2022
She's….she's complaining that the men of the NBA didn't give her a big enough allowance.
I think I have that right since there would be no WNBA if the NBA didn't subsidize it.
— Marie Arf 🇺🇸 🇮🇱 🇨🇦 (@schwingcat) December 8, 2022
Markets. How do they work??
— The Pro From Dover (@GermanShepher10) December 8, 2022
Math. “Maddening”. Only for clowns. Honk.
— AnnaZ (@AnnaZ) December 8, 2022
Watching women’s basketball is worse than watching grass grow
— Reaganette (@Ezinger44) December 8, 2022
I think the funniest part about this article is that it's not parody.
— Plague Doctor Zakk (@ZakkOsborne) December 8, 2022
https://twitter.com/FearTheFloof/status/1600977477303607297
So we, the American people, are to blame for not supporting the WNBA, forcing players to go to countries that are unfriendly to LGBTQ people, putting them in even further danger.
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Related:
Jemele Hill didn’t know there were so many experts on hostage negotiations on Twitter https://t.co/ABOaFaGaym
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) December 8, 2022
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