I have to be honest with you. I really had a tough time writing this piece. There were so many different angles to explore, so much information to find. I mean, do you watch women's basketball on a consistent basis? I will be the first to tell you I don't. Personally, I cannot stand it. What some call pure, I call dull, dry and boring. The word pure, to me, sounds like an excuse for the low attendance and poor ratings problem. The word pure, to me, sounds like an excuse for lack of evolution of a game I hold dear to my heart. Every one of the aforementioned statements would have a perfect fit in the new WNBA commercials, which are targeted at male sports fans. The only problem is, I believe everything I just wrote, and in case you haven't noticed, I'm a female. (Ed. Note - It's true; she is.)
The WNBA rolled out their new marketing scheme during game three of the Orlando-Detroit playoff series, featuring the new face of the league, Candace Parker. She lists a few reasons why some men say they do not watch women's basketball, and the premise of the whole campaign is that she's supposed to be a "typical male sports fan." Well I've got news for all the "suits" at WNBA headquarters, it's not just men who think the game is boring, there are plenty of women who don't care for the game too. Maybe I'm alone in this assumption, but I doubt it. Look, the point of this piece is not to go bashing the WNBA or women's basketball in general, but rather to provide one simple solution to the problem. Stop advertising a product you cannot deliver and find a way to fix it by lowering the rims in women's basketball to nine and a half feet
First, allow me to address the problem. The WNBA using an attractive Candace Parker to lure in male sports fans would be akin to using Kobe Bryant to represent a league full of Sheldon Williams (sorry Candace, but you get my point). Any blind man will tell you Candace Parker is easy on the eyes, so kudos to the WNBA for capitalizing on that aspect. Almost every male sports fan I know loves her, half because she's attractive and half because she can dunk. The league would be fools not to exploit her good looks and unique ability. However, it is more than unfair to present her in front of a legion of male sports fans as if her kind are a dime a dozen in the league. I do not blame the marketing execs for attempting to lure in more male viewers with Candace Parker and her perfectly gelled baby hairs, but please, present the other side as well. Tamika Catchings and Sheryl Ford is a start, but let's be realistic, Michelle Snow, Simone Agustus and Ivory Latta are more accurate accounts of the league's population.
So, with any problem there is a solution, and even at times a solution has flaws. However, in this case, and my solution, those flaws are minuscule in comparison to the potential outcome. By no means am I insinuating that lowering the rims is going to be an easy, inexpensive or widely accepted task. I am merely suggesting a resolution to what I believe the WNBA has finally acknowledged as an issue. Through the introduction of their new commercials, it is more than clear they are attempting to expand their market. However, I feel the approach is all wrong. Lowering the rims half a foot would increase the revenue, excitement and give them a product they can use to back up the promise.
I know that not only is lowering the rims in women's basketball going to have a negative effect on their game and cause an increase in injuries; but it will also be costly, labor intensive and unrealistic. With the rims six inches lower, each player is going to have to adjust their shooting. Every shot will be too long because of the years of routine shooting on a ten foot basket. There are some women who have been playing the game for well over 15 years, and lowering the rim could ruin their game. Along with adjusting their shooting would come a spike in injuries. Due to the lack of ability to land correctly mixed with the obvious genetic differences, women tend to suffer more knee injuries than men. The number will likely increase due to the increase of women putting their body through a stress that is not normal for them. Also, in order for women to dunk more frequently, every single basket on a competitive court must be replaced with adjustable rims. This feat will be very costly and extremely labor intensive. The money spent on new baskets and labor should be put to a better cause. It is absurd to change the height of the baskets to ruin basketball in its most fundamental form. John Wooden said himself, "Women's basketball is basketball in its purest form." Women's basketball prides itself on its ability to play the game the way it was meant to be played and does not need to be flashy to be exciting.
As convincing as all of those arguments against lowering the rims may sound, I need the current state of women's basketball like I need to fall in the potty because someone left the seat up. Keeping the current way in which the game is played is a detriment to the game of basketball. Although it may be considered absurd and costly, the excitement and revenue alone outweigh the bad.
First, let me address the fact women would have to adjust a game they have been playing practically all their lives. I don't know about you, but that's a risk I'm willing to take. Look, I played basketball for many years and I know the affect of playing with a men's ball in the middle of a season just to get some games in. For a little while my shot was off, but it was just a matter of time before my game was back to normal. That’s the exact same thing that would occur in women's basketball. Their shots would be long at first, but there is just a matter of time before all would be restored. Also, let us not forget there has already been a change to the game to suit women's body types. Women currently use a smaller ball than the men to accommodate for their smaller hand size. Why not lower the rim to accommodate their jumping ability (or should I say lack there of)?
Next is the injury issue. There is this guy I know. He smokes cigarettes daily, I mean packs of them. I always try to get him to quit and he always tells me, "By the time I feel the effects of smoking, medical advancements will be so enhanced I won't even have to worry about it." I know this sounds a bit crazy and you must be thinking what does this have to do with basketball. But think about it, he's correct. With all the technological advancements in treatments and the enhancements on preventative methods acquiring an injury is cake compared to years ago. Candace Parker tore her ACL and went on to dunk three times after that. Kobe Bryant is playing with a torn ligament in his shooting hand right now. The bottom line is this, injuries come with the territory. You play the game you are bound to get hurt. That is just the nature of the game. We should just be thankful that now the advancements have allowed us to bounce back from these injuries and in some cases better and stronger than before.
Next is the monetary aspect. Of course it does not sound cost efficient to adjust every rim at every level. However, the added revenue women's basketball will gain will counteract the cost and some. Almost every basket in every gym already moves vertically to make room for other functions that share the same space. Therefore, it is not a matter of replacing every single basket as it is adjusting the length in which the baskets travel. This would obviously be more cost efficient than manufacturing new adjustable rims and installing them in gyms across the world.
Along with the change of the game comes what could easily be considered the most popular (and absurd) argument: lowering the rims would ruin the purity of the women's basketball. As my whole introduction previously stated, pure equals boring and boring doesn't sell seats. David Carter, executive director of the USC Sports Business Institute, seems to agree with me. In a recent LA Times article he is quoted saying, "nobody pays $3,000 for a courtside seat to see Kobe make a perfectly placed bounce pass." It's not only David Carter who agrees, the coach of UNC's basketball team Sylvia Hatchell openly admitted to setting up the dunk by Charlotte Smith in 1994. She spoke to the opposing coach and two days later Smith slammed one down, the first to do it since the 80's. "So we set it up. Two days later, she dunked in a game. I set it up on purpose because I was trying to market my player,'' Hatchell said. "Again, it's marketing our sport. Anything that can bring attention to the game, I'm all for. I think you're going to see more and more of it as athletes become stronger, faster and more skilled so that's great.'' Pat Summit herself has gone on record to say that the dunk brings a lot of attention to women's basketball and fans go to Tennessee games wishing Candace would dunk. Any vote for maintaining the "purity" in women's basketball is a vote against change, excitement, and increased revenue.
Also, introducing the dunk in women's basketball would garner just as much attention as that Youtube video of Kobe jumping over that Aston Martin. There will be more media coverage, more fans, more sponsorships and more money. The WNBA could lengthen their season, introduce a dunk contest at all star weekend (I know this a stretch but bear with me) and play in front of sold out crowds on a much more frequent basis.
I can count on my hands the number of straight, beautiful women currently in the WNBA, but who am I to judge? My only issue is the WNBA marketing a baby haired Candace Parker as the face of a league when there are no more than ten girls of her quality. It is unfair to try and trick men into watching women's basketball thinking there will be a whole bunch of Candace Parker's running up and down the court throwing down dunks on every fast break because that is not what's going to happen. With the introduction of these new WNBA commercials, they are advertising a product they can not provide. Women's basketball can remain pure for as long as it wants to, but do not ever think its going to garnish fans that way. The times have changed and this era is all about Youtube videos and Sportscenter highlights. The marketing savvy NBA took full advantage of this new Sportscenter era and the WNBA should follow in their footsteps. This purity the league is trying to maintain will be the death of something with the potential to be very amazing. Lowering the rims is the first step towards a huge leap for not only women's basketball as a whole, but the endless marketing and revenue possibilities. The WNBA needs to exploit the likes of players like Candace Parker and Candice Wiggins because, after all, at the end of the day, this is a business. I'm sorry, but no men want to watch a whole bunch of women who look like men that cannot jump as high, run as fast or be as strong as the men they already enjoy watching. You want to get the men to watch? Flood the league with good looking women who can dunk. And you'll have all the fans you need.
Photos Courtesy of knoxnews.com, nba.com, espn.com, respectively
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