Storyline: Should rims be lowered in women’s basketball? It’s debatable … some agree while others don’t. My take: keep the game the way it is.
It seems like women in the sporting world have to keep fighting and fighting for equality on the field of play.
Courtesy: teamfenom.com
WNBA’s Chicago Sky forward Elena Delle Donne raised eyebrows when she suggested that the women’s rims should be lowered from 10 to 9 feet. That would make the rims more accessible for dunking in the WNBA. Delle Donne feels that lowering the rims would bring a “whole different aspect to the game and bring viewership as well and show the athleticism of our women.”
Monique Currie, a guard for the Phoenix Mercury, agrees with Delle Donne. “When you watch a men’s basketball game there is usually a dunk almost every other play and fans love it! They want to see players defy gravity. Fans want to see athletes do the impossible, do something that they most likely cannot do themselves and that is dunk the ball!”
UConn head coach Geno Auriemma feels the same way about the college game—and he said so as far back as 2012: “What makes fans not want to watch women’s basketball is that some of the players can’t shoot and they miss layups and that forces the game to slow down. How to help improve that? Lower the rim.”
Only a handful of women can dunk the basketball. West Virginia’s Georgeann Wells registered the first dunk in women’s college basketball. The year was 1984. In 2002 Lisa Leslie of the Los Angeles Sparks became the first woman to dunk during a professional game. Other WNBA dunks have been slammed home by Michelle Snow, Candace Parker, Sylvia Fowles, and Brittney Griner.
Courtesy: espn.go.com
Candace Parker shared her thoughts about lower rims via Instagram. She posed a video of her dunking with the caption:
“#Dunk #WhyIsntThereABallDiscussion #SinceWeMakingThingsTheSameWhyCantWeMakeMenPlayWitCramps #BarefootAndPreggoInTheKitchen #Equality #10Feet8FeetDontMatter #Controversy.”
Parker brings up a strong point with the hashtag, “Why isn’t there a ball discussion?” The men’s ball is 29.5″ in circumference while a woman’s ball is 28.5.” The men’s ball weighs 2 ounces more than the females. Some use a “small ball” argument to contend that the women’s game is inferior to the men’s versions. Can you imagine what they would say if rims were lowered, too? Some feel that the WNBA is already a joke.
All nets are the same height when you’re young and go to the park to play basketball. Boys would always doubt girls’ talent; they wouldn’t play tight defense the way they would if defending a male. It’s frustrating. Now, imagine what might happen if WNBA nets get lowered and a young girl walks up to a scrimmage of boys playing basketball at a park. They’d probably tell her to go find a lower rim.
Think about this, too. UConn WBB recently won their fourth consecutive NCAA March Madness championship. But the team received a fraction of the recognition of the men’s championships. So imagine the reaction with lower rims?
Courtesy: twitter.com
And, to be clear, not all women’s basketball stars are in favor of a possible shift. Diana Taurasi, an Olympic gold medalist, currently playing in Russia, said if they lower the nets, they”might as well put us in skirts and back in the kitchen.” Taurisi feels that rim-lowering would promote increasing inequality with the NBA.
Syracuse coach women’s coach, Quentin Hillsman, whose team made it to the NCAA finals this year said he hadn’t really given the concept much thought, but he likes the game the way it is. He wants “the opportunity to play the game on a level playing field with men’s basketball and it’s definitely becoming that.”
Oregon State WBB coach, Scott Rueck–another Final Four coach in ’16–refers to himself as a “purist” who loves the way the game is played. Rueck said: “You know, every park in America has 10-foot hoops, every driveway, every gym in America has a 10-foot basket. And I don’t know exactly how we would be able to change that, and so for that reason, it’s pretty easy for me to dismiss.” ESPN’s Kate Fagan concurs: “When it comes to sports, taking shortcuts almost always leaves you further from your destination.”
So what do I think? I don’t think nets should be lowered. Why?
To honor that young girl who walks up to a court to play a game of basketball with boys…
To reduce the prospect that women athletes will be viewed as inadequate to their male counterparts…., and
To honor Elena Delle Donne, one of the world’s best basketball players.
