Peters addresses challenge facing women’s basketball
Summer is a time for most to sit back, relax, and enjoy the increased heat and vibrant sun. And Devereaux Peters did just that, going to Hollywood, visiting the Grand Canyon, and spending time with her family and friends.
Peters was out of the WNBA, but the challenges facing the league and women’s basketball remained close to her heart — prompting her to call attention to them on social media.
Then, somewhat out of the blue, Phoenix Mercury coach Sandy Brondello called Peters to join the team after the AllStar break.
Peters’ official return to the WNBA came Tuesday night with the Mercury in the first quarter of a game against the Seattle Storm. Peters entered the game wearing a brace to protect her left knee, which has undergone seven different surgeries.
Once the game resumed, she quickly found her role: defending, rebounding and doing the little things.
She finished with four rebounds in her first 14 minutes of play since 2016.
“It’s always hard to come in late into a season,” Brondello said. “You have to learn all these new plays, all these players. For her, I thought she had solid minutes. I mean she’s had two practices, an hour each, so I thought what she gave us is what we’re looking for. She’ll get better with more time.”
The 28-year-old has a consistent experience on her resume: winning. Peters was drafted into the Minnesota Lynx’s organization, where she won two championships. Her pedigree is what Brondello was fond of.
“Well, she’s played in the league before and won a championship,” Brondello said. “There’s not a lot of depth out there. So, I thought it was important to bring a veteran in because they pick up things quicker maybe than a rookie. She has experience, so why not give her a go?”
But Peters’ return to the league doesn’t come without some controversy.
Just last week, she critiqued WNBA referees on Twitter, calling them “hot steaming garbage” this season. She clearly didn’t know she’d be contacted for a job this late into the season, but nonetheless, she’s employed and back on her assessment.
“I say what I want to say. I’m not going to delete tweets,” Peters said. “If you follow me, you know that’s how I am. You know I’m very outspoken. I don’t feel any type of way, I say what I wanna say with my chest, it is what it is. I mean if they feel some type of way, that’s fine. I don’t think I lied.”
Back in July, she gained attention for calling out men who think they can beat her one-on-one in basketball because she’s a woman.
“You know, it just happened to happen to me one day,” Peters said. “I honestly didn’t think it was going to be that big of a deal to be serious. Like, I really didn’t. I just tweeted it, like I just talk sometimes, and it’s just what it was, and it just blew up out of nowhere, obviously because a lot of us have the same experience. We’ve all experienced that, especially as professional players. That’s the first thing they say to us almost every time. I guarantee you everybody in here has had that experience where some man has been like, ‘Oh, I bet I can beat you.’”
Peters’ discussion of her Twitter rant become a live monologue, eventually drawing in teammate Brittney Griner.
“We’ve all experienced it, we all know,” Peters said. “So, I think because it was so relatable is why it blew up. We’ve all been through it, really just women athletes, in general, I feel like that’s just something we have to deal with.”
Griner nodded in agreement, saying “... ain’t nobody going to Serena saying, won’t go ‘I’d beat you in tennis.’ They just love to f--kin’ hate women’s basketball. I don’t know what it is about women’s basketball.”
Peters said women’s basketball players face the harshest criticisms.
“We’re for sure the worst, for sure the worst, absolute worst,” Peters said. “I don’t know what is about us that we’re so disrespected, but the thing is it’s never coming from people that are good at basketball. It’s always the people that are like trash.
“It’s funny because when I tweeted it everybody’s like, ‘Oh, you think you can beat LeBron (James)?’ No, I don’t, and LeBron would never talk trash about people in our league because he knows better. He knows that this league is good. The people that actually know basketball think we’re good. The people that are janky and didn’t make their high school varsity and made JV who are still reliving their glory days, those are the ones that are, ‘Oh, I know I can beat you.’ “
To her, it’s about getting increased representation for women, big or small, including in video games like NBA Live 19, which added the ability to create female players.
“I think it’s awesome,” Peters said. “I think representation is so big. Like so big for little girls to be able to see and play.
“I mean it’s 2018, we should’ve been there. The league’s been here long enough, I feel like at this point people need to catch up.”