It's time for the WNBA to reinvent itself

by Dennis Justice
Published on December 31, 2008 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)

The state of minor league basketball for 2008 can best be summed up by the Women's National Basketball Association. The other credible minor leagues outside of the NBA Development League have issues, too, but the WNBA is the big story of the year. The stunning demise of the WNBA's Houston Comets should be a wake-up call that the league is in serious trouble. The fact that the NBA could not find a buyer for arguably the flagship franchise of the most visible women's sports league in the world is highly troublesome. But let's not blame the Comets' folding on "economic conditions." That would be a weak cop-out. The truth is the WNBA has had problems for years.

I support the movement of women playing competitive sports. I support Title IX, and even advocated installing artificial turf at high schools to bring in sports boys and girls can participate in with equal and fair access. I followed the Women's United Soccer Association and supported our local women's football and soccer teams in Asheville, North Carolina, when we had them. I want to say I support the WNBA, but I just can't. The product is nearly unwatchable. I wouldn't be surprised if they gave out tons of free tickets for the games, a tactic that never works.

With all the money the NBA is losing each year on the WNBA, you'd think the players would be paid more. Their pay is disgraceful. I have heard some top players make more in Europe than they do in America, and with the FIBA rules, play is much better, fans are far more excitable. Whether the WNBA pays the players more, or at least offer team bonuses for wins, something has to change.

You know, it does get tiresome seeing WNBA commercials trying to shame us into watching. I rarely, if ever, see such commercials from the WTA, or the LPGA. I don't see tennis and golf show the type of commercials over twelve years trying to remind us "hey, women can play, too." What I see are commercials that promote the stars like Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Paula Creamer, and Michelle Wie. Even the NCAA's promotions for women's basketball don't play the shame card. They promote their rivalries. The WNBA needs to get off political and social commentary, improve the game, and promote its players.

Also, if I wanted to see low-scoring basketball, I could watch that at many high school games in my hometown. The truth is tweaking around the rules, or making rules worse - allowing six personal fouls inside forty minutes, like they had done in the past, just made the game too physical and low-scoring - won't get the job done. They could go to straight FIBA rules and at least stay on top of the world and do that.

Making the current game "NCAA-lite" mixed with the NBA style of playing music incessantly during the game is boring. Basketball is supposed to be a finesse game. Who cares if there were two or three dunks in WNBA history? Whoop-tee-do. The game should be more open and free, with more fastbreaks. I'd make the WNBA a 4-on-4 league. Yup, I said it. It at least will open things up and make the games more exciting.

It's not that radical, either. Iowa high schools used to play 6-on-6, which really was 3-on-3 since half only played offense, and half only played defense, and from what I saw the games were pretty high scoring. Women's tennis is different than men's in that they play three sets instead of five. Women's golf has a closer teebox than with the men. What is so wrong with suggesting a new way to play the game of basketball if it will make it interesting?

But the NBA's biggest problem is they don't have all the teams supporting the WNBA. If more than half the NBA teams don't care about the WNBA enough to have a team, why should we care? Right now, it's more likely every team will own a D-League team of their own than own a WNBA team, and the D-League hasn't been around as long. I agree with the need for player development for NBA teams, but come on now, that's a disgrace to a league that supposedly touts women's sports. Either every team needs to be on board, or the league is losing money for no good reason.

Part of the WNBA's problems comes from its economic formula. Here's what I would propose:

1. Make every NBA team own a WNBA team. (David Stern persuades his own "Title IX.")

2. Have only a 14-game regular season (Four divisions in two conferences).

3. Games are dual-round robin (home and away).

4. Top four teams in each division enter a single elimination tournament.

5. Rotate home court advantage for the conference and league championships. Keep it simple.

Yes, it's fewer games, but at the way this economy is going, fourteen games are better than zero, which is what the WNBA will have before too long if they don't change. And at least each game will mean more, and at least with every NBA team participating, there will be more jobs for players even if they did go 4-on-4. If the WNBA is not willing to admit the problem is their product, not "bad economic conditions," they will have nobody else to blame when the rest of the teams go out with the Comets.

Women's National Basketball Association Stories from December 31, 2008

• It's time for the WNBA to reinvent itself - OSC Original by Dennis Justice

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.