Recently, in the Knoxville area there has been a buzz concerning the upcoming WNBA season. Several may be surprised to know the league has yet to fold, but most here in East Tennessee hear news from time to time on the league due to the success of Pat Summit’s national champion Lady Vols’ program, and the players the program has sent to the Women’s National Basketball Association.

Much of the recent buzz has been created by the emergence of the star of this past season’s Lady Volunteer squad, Candace Parker, as the new face of the league. She became the first woman to become an early entrant into the WNBA Draft (she was a medical redshirt her freshman year, so she still has a year of athletic eligibility despite already completing her degree.), she was the #1 overall selection by the Los Angeles Sparks, and she is now being featured in commercials promoting the women’s league (video below). With this recent commotion, I am once again forced to take a step back to wonder why the league still exists.

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Some may argue the WNBA is a purer form of basketball (as is stated in this article, originally from the L.A. Times, that focuses on Parker) than its NBA male-counterpart. However, if throwing up bricks (the leading team in field goal percentage in the NBA is five percentage points higher than the WNBA’s leading team) is a purer form of basketball, I don’t want to see it. While it is true this could possibly be attributed to dunks in the men’s game, those dunks show the extra athleticism showcased over that of the women’s game. And I’m sorry but Candace Parker’s two hand-touches-the-rim-on-a-layup/dunks a season will not be able to make up for the lack of athleticism in the WNBA.

It’s been around for ten years, and the league is worse off today than it was in the beginning. (ed.: Although, there was a quality article in Sports Illustrated last week on some changes, including Parker and ownership changes, that could have a positive impact on the Sparks and the league as a whole.) The WNBA seems to be nothing but a drain on the men’s version, who has enough marketing issues of its own.

I know there are some followers of the WNBA in places like Knoxville, Storrs, CT and other cities that have successful college teams, but does that really justify the prolonged existence of this bore?

When will enough be enough, and the WNBA can go the way of the XFL?

Heisman

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