San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Untapped potential
As women’s basketball makes strides, much still remains to be done
Becky Hammon ran her own huddle again Friday night, but the next time she does it figures to be more lucrative. Instead of waiting to fill in when Gregg Popovich gets ejected, she’ll soon be paid $1 million per season to coach in the WNBA.
Her hiring by the Las Vegas Aces was a positive step for women’s basketball and there have been plenty of them lately. TV ratings are up, sponsorships are sold out and the NCAA — against all odds, learning from its unforced flub last year at the Alamodome — has acknowledged that the trademark “March Madness” does not require a Y chromosome.
But not every woman in the sport was happy about Hammon’s seven-figure deal, which highlighted a glaring issue with the way the WNBA’s biggest stars are compensated. And at a time when one of the most troubling basketball stories of the year has made some ask why female players ply their trade overseas, the answer is all too familiar.
As far as women’s basketball has come in this country, it still has a long way to go.
There is much we still don’t know about the scary predicament of WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner, the 31-year-old Houston native and former Baylor standout who reportedly has been held by authorities in Russia since being detained at an airport in mid-February. Details on her case have been sparse and what complicates matters is that, per multiple reports, those close to her are reluctant to speak out because they’re worried about exacerbating the situation.
What’s clear, USA Today reported (citing interviews with 15 experts, agents and people familiar with the matter), is that Griner could face “substantial prison time” after being accused of carrying cannabis oil in her luggage.