To increase the number of dunks in the WNBA and to make the league more interesting, Shaquille O’Neal had suggested last year that the WNBA should lower the height of the rim from 10 feet to 9 feet. According to Shaq, if the rim is lowered, then WNBA players will be able to slam it down hard and more frequently, which will excite the fans and boost the ratings. However, this suggestion had irked many female athletes, who believe that it is not the height of the rim, but economic factors, that determine the WNBA’s ratings.
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In a recent interview on Point Forward with Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner, US Soccer Legend Megan Rapinoe urged people to not compare men’s and women’s sports solely in terms of ratings. In the process, she also debunked the notion of lowering the rim to boost WNBA ratings. For Rapinoe, if we lower the rims to increase dunking, then it would simply result in a “weirder, lower dunk”.
She then brought up a perceptive analogy regarding the muddy expectations centering on lowering the WNBA hoop. The 38-year-old believes that, it won’t mean that 5’10” Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd will turn into an athletic phenom like 6’2” Ja Morant overnight and have the same impact. “It’s not like all of a sudden Jewell Loyd is gonna become Ja Morant,” Rapinoe added.
For the soccer superstar, regardless of such suggestions, the capital flow into women’s sports is going to determine the success of the sport. Therefore, she pointed out the flaws in Shaq’s suggestion despite not consciously addressing him. She lamented that, unlike men’s sports, women’s sports haven’t gotten “well over billions of dollars of public funding”. For her, this is a “caveat” that renders the comparisons men’s and women’s sports invalid. The resource-advantage overwhelmingly belongs to men’s sports, which also explains its massive growth.
These comments must resonate with the 3x WNBA champion, Candace Parker. In 2021, the 2016 WNBA Finals MVP shot down Shaq’s idea of lowering the rim in his face. O’Neal had stated that “to make it equal” the WNBA can lower the rim from 10 feet to 9 feet. “You think if we just lower the rim so y’all can dunk like we dunk. Give y’all more oomph than you already have,” Shaq suggested to Parker. X account Gifdsports posted a clip of the exchange between Parker and Shaq on Inside the NBA.
Parker instantly gave a firm “Naw”. O’Neal then argued that while the women can do the “stepbacks and pull-backs”, their game is missing slam dunks. To which Parker replied, “No. Lailaa [Parker’s daughter], she’s into dance, but my next child will be drop-step dunking. I promise you.” Whether Candace Parker’s next child drops a Shaq-esque dunk or not, the future of women’s sports looks promising.
Will women’s sports see a spike in revenue?
In February 2022, NBA.com reported, Mickey Arison and Nick Arison are going to invest $75 million in the WNBA. Mickey Arison spearheads the world’s largest cruise operator Carnival Corporation. He is also the owner of the Miami Heat since 1995. His son Nick is currently the chief executive officer of the franchise, which has won three titles under his father’s ownership. Apart from Arson, various other high-profile investors, such as Michael and Susan Dell(Dell Corporation), have also declared investments.
Former NBA players Baron Davis and Pau Gasol also pledged the flow of money into the marquee women’s basketball league. In 2023, Golden State Warriors majority owner Joe Lacob and executive chairman Peter Guber announced a $50 million investment for a WNBA expansion team in the Bay Area. These events validate Rapinoe’s argument about increasing high-budget investment in the women’s leagues.
