[WBB] Comments that don't warrant their own thread 2011-2021

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Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
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#91
You fail to understand why it's ridiculous that professional athletes have to have a second job? You fail to understand why it's ridiculous that athletes that play in the best league in the world, in their respective sport, have to leave the country to make any money?

They couldn't schedule a parade, because it couldn't be arranged for the day after. And, for many of these women, within forty-eight hours after the end of the WNBA season, they have to report to their paying jobs, overseas.
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
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#93
Potential upset alert: Nigeria leads USA at halftime, 40-26 in the Olympic qualifying tournament. United States were held to 6 points (and only one FG) in the second quarter!

Second half can be viewed via ESPN+.
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
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#95
In a bit of super petty WNBA free agency news, restricted free agent Astou Ndour signed an offer sheet with the Atlanta Dream. Chicago, the team which held her rights, matched the offer within 30 minutes, then turned around and traded her to Dallas, for the 9th pick in the upcoming draft.
 
#98
You fail to understand why it's ridiculous that professional athletes have to have a second job? You fail to understand why it's ridiculous that athletes that play in the best league in the world, in their respective sport, have to leave the country to make any money?

They couldn't schedule a parade, because it couldn't be arranged for the day after. And, for many of these women, within forty-eight hours after the end of the WNBA season, they have to report to their paying jobs, overseas.
Yes to all.

Look, I know you‘re hot on the WNBA, and I very much enjoyed it too when the Monarchs were in SAC and attended many games over those 13 seasons, but you’re not being realistic when asking these questions.

It’s by no means ridiculous. Their salaries are commensurate with the interest and revenue their sport is able to generate.

If the WNBA were more popular, played more games, drew higher attendance, and generated more media coverage and sponsorships — the league would generate a lot more revenue thus their athletes and coaches would be able to negotiate a lot more compensation.

Even so, the average WNBA salary is reportedly 130K. Not exactly chump change or absolutely necessitating a 2nd job, unless they’re living in downtown Manhattan. Minimum salary was around 42K (don’t know if that increased with the last CBA or not) which could certainly require a 2nd income depending upon the city/state the player resided in but certainly far from destitute.

The problem is that many are incorrectly and unfairly comparing WNBA salaries to NBA salaries when they are in fact independent businesses/leagues with numerous different circumstances dictating different earnings (nobody compares the CFL or XFL to the NFL or complains about those disparities do they?)

First, the NBA has more than twice the amount of franchises and plays an 82 game regular season, or more than double the WNBA‘s 34 games. And the average attendance of those games is also more than double (’around‘ 18K compared to ‘around‘ 8K). The average ticket price is also much higher.

None of this is even factoring in media and sponsorship revenue, which, w/o researching, likely has an even higher disparity.

Would I like to see the WNBA grow and generate more revenue so the players could earn more money? Absolutely. But is it unfair or ridiculous that they don’t? No. Because they are currently earning salaries commensurate with what their product is able to generate.

That’s why I fail to understand the outcry.
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
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#99
First of all, you are incorrectly conflating average with arithmetic mean, which is a mistake a lot of people make, especially when it comes to athlete's salaries. The average WNBA player is not making particularly close to $130,000. The arithmetic mean (which you mistakenly call average) is skewed by the fact that a quirk in the old CBA made it so that something like twenty-five percent of the league got paid the previous max salary, based on seniority.

Second of all, it is absolutely ridiculous. You say, "Their salaries are commensurate with the interest and revenue their sport is able to generate," I say that the salaries of the best women's professional basketball league in the world should be commensurate with the salaries of competing women's professional basketball leagues in the world. There are women's leagues around the world where the level of play is far inferior to the WNBA, where the women are paid more money; that's why they have to go overseas, in the first place.


Even so, the average WNBA salary is reportedly 130K. Not exactly chump change or absolutely necessitating a 2nd job, unless they’re living in downtown Manhattan.
Your tone seems to be quasi-facetious, but there are twelve cities that host WNBA franchises, and the cheapest one to live in is Indianapolis. And the one thing that you seem to have a blind spot to: athletes don't just get their direct deposit, and get to pocket all that money. WNBA players have most of the same expenses that their male counterparts do, and many of the ones who have children often have more. But ten grand in expenses hits differently when your takeaway after taxes is sixty-five thousand than it does when it's twelve million.

You asked before why they couldn't just schedule a parade, and what's going over your head, here's what's going over your head: they can't schedule a parade because there's no point in scheduling a parade, if the players aren't going to be there. Why aren't the players going to be there? Because they all had to go clock in at their second job, most of which are outside of the country. Why do they have to get a second job? To answer that, let's go back to your erroneous understanding of the players' salaries: the "average" WNBA salary is probably closer to 80K than the arithmetic mean of 130K. And sure, if you are so inclined, you can look at that number and be like, "So, what's the big deal? They're getting paid eighty thousand for four months of work!" And this ignores two things:

  1. They still have to pay bills all twelve months out of the year, and
  2. The bill collectors don't stop showing up, when their playing careers are over.

You're also forgetting that professional athlete is not a fifty-year job, , and having a couple hundred thousand saved when you've reached the end of your future earning potential is a different proposition than being in the same situation with a couple million. And ex-players transitioning into coaching/general manager/analyst jobs happens much less frequently for women than it does for males, partially because there are fewer job openings in women's sports, and partially because even those jobs tend to be dominated by men. Which means that they have to build up their savings, as best they can, while they can still cash in on their most marketable skill. That means playing overseas, because that's where the money is. That means less time in the US during the offseason, which means no time for a parade. Do you at least get why it's ridiculous that a league champion doesn't get the bare minimum celebration for winning that all league champions get, because they had to go to their second job? Like, I still don't understand how you don't see how that's ridiculous?

Also, the women that get drafted into the WNBA each year represent the Top One-Half of One Percent of women's basketball players in the nation and, for most of them, because of the focus and time and dedication that they have to commit to basketball, their degrees end up being just as useless as their male counterparts. They're generally not going to be able to retire from playing basketball, and walk into a six-figure office job because, even if their degrees aren't worthless, nearly everything that they learned in college is going to be obsolete, by the time they retire from playing, and they're going to be trying to get a job at the only other thing they ever learned how to do besides playing basketball, with no relevant work experience, in their mid-to-late thirties. I'm sure that'll all work itself out, easy peasy!
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
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I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the greatness of Ticha Penicheiro. No particular reason and, frankly, I resent the question.

rassum frackum Courtney Vandersloot...
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
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In more WNBA Free Agency news:

  • G/F Kayla McBride (LVA) to Minnesota
  • F/C Cheyenne Parker (CHI) to Atlanta
Something interesting about these moves: both Parkers (no relation) and McBride are clients of SIG Sports. According to SIG Sports' website, the leading Agent, and Director of their Women's Basketball division is... our very own former Sacramento Monarch, Ticha Penicheiro.

#PowerMoves
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
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More WNBA Free Agency news, as yet another SIG Sports client, Alysha Clark (SEA) is expected to leave the defending champions, and sign with the Washington Mystics.

And, in the first major move not involving a SIG client, Chelsea Gray (LAS) is expected to sign with Las Vegas.
 
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