Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) dribbles the ball against Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) during the second half of a WNBA basketball game at T-Mobile Arena.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) dribbles the ball against Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) during the second half of a WNBA basketball game at T-Mobile Arena.
The WNBA might be facing major growing issues, but long-time women’s basketball reporter Jeff Goldberg says that at least the league is actually in a much better position than the NBA was at the same point in its history.
The WNBA is celebrating its 30th season amid a lot of attention, while the league’s popularity has also brought controversies and challenges of its own. Goldberg thinks that comparing the league with the NBA at the same point provides an important perspective.
Speaking to Basketball Network’s Brenn Allen Flores, Goldberg said:
“You look at the WNBA now and you know obviously in some ways it’s never been more popular, but in other ways, they’re having some serious growing pains and difficulties in the game right now. Then you think back, well, where was the NBA at 30 years? That was like the late 1970s; that was the darkest period for the NBA.”
“The NBA was a nothing league in it when it was like 30 years old, and then Magic and Larry showed up, and even then, it still took a couple more years. But by then, 1984, they play each other in the finals and boom, and then Michael Jordan is a rookie, and the NBA goes into the stratosphere.”
“It took them (NBA) a while to get there. Women’s basketball, it’s taking a while, but their trajectory is at least going up, but they’re on a different kind of timeline, ’cause they started later.”
Goldberg highlights how difficult it was for the NBA before becoming a global powerhouse.
Actually, during the late 1970s, the NBA was struggling with major declines in TV ratings and attendance, as it struggled to keep relevancy in American sports.
The situation was so concerning that numerous Finals and playoff games were shown on tape delay from 1979 to 1981, and sometimes they did not air until close to midnight.
Despite stars such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Julius Erving, the league was also having major image problems, especially with the widespread drug use among players.
Eventually, everything changed when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird came into the league. The rivalry helped create new interest in professional basketball, which ended with the Lakers and Celtics meeting in the 1984 Finals; at the same time, Michael Jordan entered the league that same year, which brought another new chapter.
The WNBA, in its 30th season, is not searching for relevance. It is experiencing a massive wave of attention, as several young stars have shown that they can take the league even further.
The league therefore has something that the NBA was searching for during the tough 1970s period: a generation of young stars who can attract and retain new fans.
The challenge is now converting this activity into long-term growth.
The current controversies are not helping. But all this does not mean the league cannot develop. The NBA’s old days remind us how quickly things can change, and the WNBA has the potential to change the picture.
And in its 30th season, the WNBA has its own problems. Unlike the NBA at the same stage, the WNBA is trying to manage an explosion in popularity rather than searching for it.