{"id":861579,"date":"2026-08-17T17:56:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T17:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/861579\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T17:56:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T17:56:09","slug":"wnba-experiencing-growing-pains-as-it-navigates-added-attention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/861579\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA experiencing growing pains as it navigates added attention"},"content":{"rendered":"

The WNBA is \u201cfar from the sports version of a startup\u201d in its 30th season, but \u201clike a plucky, undervalued company that suddenly becomes a boom stock, the league is experiencing growing pains as it adjusts to its newfound au courant status,\u201d according to Christopher Gasper of the BOSTON GLOBE. The product on the court has arguably \u201cnever been better or better received.\u201d WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced at the All-Star break that \u201cattendance was up\u201d 16% and \u201ctwo-thirds of the 15 teams are drawing 10,000 fans or more per home game.\u201d Gasper: \u201cIt would behoove the WNBA to develop thicker skin. Big girls don\u2019t whine. But it would also behoove the league if it were more proactive in boxing out those who want to appropriate the WNBA product for their culture crusades.\u201d The league is \u201cwalking a fine line between courting widespread appeal and protecting the loyal audience and inclusive principles that crafted its ethos.\u201d The WNBA is \u201cin the big leagues now\u201d (BOSTON GLOBE, 8\/15<\/a>).<\/p>\n

CANNOT IGNORE: The AP\u2019s Doug Feinberg wrote it is \u201cdifficult to ignore the conversations that are swirling around the WNBA.\u201d South Carolina women\u2019s basketball coach Dawn Staley said, \u201cAll the big pieces and all the things that are happening from a racial standpoint, from an officiating standpoint are great. They\u2019re great because the NBA went through it — the NBA went through all of it. So this is just badges of honor. Will we get through it? We will get through it.\u201d Feinberg wrote \u201cpolarizing views have become a major topic of conversation\u201d across the league. WNBPA President and Sparks F Nneka Ogwumike said that she feels \u201cawful for the transgender fans who have supported the league for so many years.\u201d Ogwumike said, \u201cIt really breaks my heart to think about how these conversations may be affecting people who have supported us for so long.\u201d Staley said, \u201cIt\u2019s an incredible product that we\u2019re missing out on because we got distractions every time. There\u2019s something great happening, there are always distractions placed in your life, but you got to be able to handle them.\u201d (AP, 8\/15<\/a>).<\/p>\n

GOOD INVESTMENT? Former WNBAer Diana Taurasi said, \u201cDo you want to believe in the chaotic, toxic side of it that\u2019s going sideways? Or do you want to believe in, man, look at these arenas are packed, the visibility, games are on TV, people are taking notice, we\u2019re talking about it.\u201d She added, \u201cYou watch games, everyone\u2019s putting up a hundred points. The league, from a stylistic standpoint, is what we\u2019ve wanted for a long time: free flowing. People can actually show their skill and the things that they\u2019ve worked on, their footwork\u201d (ESPN.com, 8\/14<\/a>).<\/p>\n

FROM THE TOP DOWN: Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said, \u201cIt really pisses me off. It\u2019s disappointing. This is a great league, we\u2019ve got great players with great stories, great rookies, great teams.\u201d He added, \u201cWe\u2019ve just spent so much time talking about the wrong stuff, and I don\u2019t know why that happens in our league, it\u2019s disappointing. I don\u2019t know who can help change the narrative. Is it the coaches or the players or the media?\u201d (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 8\/15<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The WNBA is \u201cfar from the sports version of a startup\u201d in its 30th season, but \u201clike a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":861580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[461,49,48,82,630,4143],"class_list":["post-861579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-basketball","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-wnba","tag-womens-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=861579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}