NBA Commissioner David Stern said in 2009 that the league was likely to have a female player take the court for an NBA team within 10 years.
That was 16 years ago. Now, there isn’t a female player seemingly even close to fulfilling Stern’s dream that he said should have already happened.
Why?
Stern’s prediction and what has unfolded certainly opens the door to the question of why it hasn’t transpired, a woman donning a jersey for the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves or any of the other teams in the NBA.
The NBA has seen one woman drafted into the league: Lusia Harris, selected in the seventh round of the 1977 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Jazz. Harris declined a spot with the Jazz and never played in the NBA.
Yet at the time of Stern’s 2009 comments, NBA legend LeBron James put it “mildly”:
“Ten years? That’s like right around the corner. I’ll be 34 and I’ll still be in the NBA. I think 10 years is a little pushing it. I love all sports. I love watching the girls, especially in the Olympics and in the WNBA. They’re great and there are a lot of great players.”
Related
James wasn’t wrong. A female player in the NBA very well may, as I said 16 years ago, struggle. The level of speed, strength and quickness in the NBA as opposed to the WNBA is, frankly, not close at that elite level.
Yes, 10% is not close.
Athletes in individual sports like track and field record speed and strength levels that clearly display a significant difference between male and female athletes. Male world records in running, jumping and strength are higher than female world records in every category:
9.1% difference in the 100-meter dash
11.2% difference in the 200-meter dash
9.8% difference in the shot put
14.3% difference in the high jump
Elite male athletes are stronger, faster, quicker and can jump further and higher than the best of female athletes, and that’s by a significant margin.
The rise of opportunities in the WNBA
With that said, the question of why no women have made an NBA team roster, or even come close, can also be attributed to the expansion of the WNBA and the opportunities that the league presents.
As financial opportunities in women’s leagues expand, interest in joining any men’s league will naturally decrease.
When Stern made his comments in 2009, the WNBA was a shadow of its current self. The league at the time averaged 269,000 TV viewers for a regular-season game. The WNBA Finals that year averaged just over a half-million viewers.
Related
Last year, the league saw an average viewership of 1.2 million people for a regular season game, up about 500% from 2009. The Finals averaged 1.6 million viewers per game, according to ESPN.
That’s a massive leap, and it represents a shift in attitudes and opportunities.
When Stern made his comments, WNBA players earned an average of only about $100k per season. In 2025, it’s about $148k. Yet that doesn’t include the increase in interest for WNBA players to earn endorsement deals and other income, as players monetize the increased interest in the league.
Of course, these numbers are well below the earnings of NBA players.
Still, the WNBA is on the rise, so the interest amongst female pro basketball players to take a shot in the NBA — that very well could fall flat — has likely decreased.
When will we see a female player in the NBA? Despite Stern’s prediction, it may not happen in my lifetime.
As opportunities expand in the WNBA and other women’s professional leagues, that’s less a comment about female athletes’ ability and more about society’s fast-growing interest in women’s sports.
Subscribe to the Outsports newsletter to keep up with your favorite out athletes, inspiring LGBTQ sports stories, and more.