I grew up watching women's basketball. My sister played the game for ten years and being her baby brother, I loved going to the games and cheering her on.
It also taught me the game, just from watching, and let me tell you: these girls were mean and tough.
Often times, you'd see them hard fouling while driving into the lane or scratching each other while going for the ball. Truth is, their type of game was much more brutal than any basketball game I have seen or played.
For some reason, the WNBA does not reflect this. The games are about as entertaining as watching golf. The production isn't entertaining at all; The announcers usually are monotone, ruining the exciting moments of the game.
A lot of this has to do with little money for production, but it doesn't seem that they have even made an effort? Other than the announcing, the games themselves are just boring when you watch it from a TV. So, it can be very slow and uninteresting.
It makes sense that the game loses some of it's excitement from the fact that there is little dunking (which often is followed by a grown man screaming and beating his chest to pump up the audience), but that doesn't explain why it can be unbearable at times.
If you really watch, most of it is perfect basketball.
Pick and roll's make up most of the offense, they play unselfishly, passing the ball to create more space, and their defense is well run at all times.
In my opinion, the game of basketball in the WNBA is played better than the NBA. So, why is the WNBA so boring to watch?
I was greatly confused, because I knew that women's basketball was not like this.
I had watched my sister play during the time she did, so I knew how exciting and entertaining it was.
Firstly, the WNBA is younger than all of the team sports in its class. I was about a month old when the WNBA was founded on April 24, 1996; it is younger than the NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, and the NHL.
It is hard for any business, especially one like a sports organization, to get rolling after 20 years.
I mean, the NBA was founded in 1946-47 and about 10 years in, you were just starting to see the first real 'superstars,' such as Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlin, and the NBA logo Jerry West (who wasn't even drafted until 14 years after the league was created).
Keep in mind, the NBA didn't have to compete with a well established multi-million dollar league either.
My point is, we need to give the WNBA more time to develop and make a name for itself. Secondly, the way the game is played makes it obscure for its audience.
As I said, most of the offense consists of pick n rolls and passing. While it is beautiful to watch if you really know and appreciate the game of basketball, most of the fans can't relate to the way it is played unless they have played it themselves.
My final explanation relates to the second one. The fact that the way it is played makes it hard for many to relate affects how much coverage the league gets. Right now, the WNBA is one of the last things put on TV at sports bar's and is rarely talked about in the sports world.
This has a lot to do with it being tough to relate to, but I think a better effort by the WNBA, NBA, NFL, and other big name sports leagues could help change all of that. This is something that we are starting to see more, as the NBA just recently released a commercial promoting the WNBA.
There is no doubt in my mind that the WNBA will get more popular, but it will require us to start watching it and the media to begin covering it.
If the WNBA never reaches the popularity of the NBA, we should, at the very least, appreciate the work these women put in to make it where they are.
After all, they are doing this without the fame and fortune of the big-name stars we know and love.
