Time March 2–9, 2020SHE SCORES Diggins-Smith during a WNBA preseason game in 2018; she later said she played the whole season pregnantAthletes of the WNBA
FIGHTING FOR A FAIR SHARE
By Enes Kanter
a dream came TrUe When i Was
drafted into the NBA a decade ago. I
never thought of anything more than
putting in my best work and helping my
team win. For the talented athletes of
the WNBA, it is a different story. After
making it professionally, they continue
to battle for equitable pay, balanced
media portrayal and fair treatment.
They have to fight two battles—one on
the court, and the other off court.
This is about more than pay; it’s
about recognition for their hard work as
athletes. One of the reasons we’re even
talking about equal pay in sports today
is because of the courageous fight of the
U.S. women’s national soccer team. It
took winning the World Cup for their
voices to be heard. As former WNBA
president Lisa Borders has said, sexism
is behind this problem, as “people do
not believe that women can be superb
professional athletes.”
The conversation about pay equality
in the WNBA got a jolt in 2018 when
star player A’ja Wilson tweeted that
LeBron James’ salary “must be nice.”
I remember her catching so much
heat from that tweet. For speaking
up, she was criticized. But in January,
less than two years later, the WNBA
and its players’ union reached a new
collective bargaining agreement (CBA)
with improvements in pay and benefits.
Before the CBA, female athletes
received less than 30% of revenue-
sharing and lost half of their salaries if
they went on maternity leave during the
season. During the off-seasons, many
players went overseas to China and
Russia, where the pay is six to 12 times
more than WNBA salaries. These
women are leaving their homes, their
country, their friends, their families,
working twice as hard and still getting
paid less than male players do.
Michael Jordan’s “flu game” is fa-
mous for so many reasons, yet Skylar
Diggins- Smith’s playing her entire 2018
season pregnant only led to her getting
flak for taking the 2019 season off, be-
cause of postpartum depression, so she
could return mentally and physically.
In the NBA, we adopted a rule in the
2019–2020 season to have a mental-
health professional on staff. The WNBAdoesn’t have this rule. Here are these
women, playing the same sport we are,
receiving less than we do. And not just
in pay—it’s about being seen as an ath-
lete, regardless of gender.
Pay disparity isn’t only a women’s
issue; this is a human-rights issue.
These women are our peers who, just
like those of us in the NBA, inspire the
next generation. I’m sure most of those
who criticized Wilson have never even
watched a game. Kobe said it best: there
are women “who could play in the NBA
right now.” I think Diana Taurasi, Elena
Delle Donne and Breanna Stewart could
play in our league.
I applaud A’ja Wilson’s courage. Her
decision to speak up led to change. But
I believe the rest of us, including myself,
can do more to show our support for fe-
male athletes, so that they can get the
respect and fair treatment they deserve.
As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “We
cannot walk alone.” The more we all
voice our support for women, the more
united we will be as people.Kanter, who founded the You Are My
Hope campaign to fight against human-
rights violations in his home country of
Turkey, plays for the Boston Celtics50