The pros and cons of male athletes lending support, appreciation to their female counterparts
It was just about this time last year, during the NBA playoffs, that Sports Illustrated did a profile on Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green.
In an unsolicited moment, Green declared himself an admirer of WNBA basketball.
“In the NBA, there’s always a guy who is only around because he can jump,” Green said in the interview. “He doesn’t have a clue about the fundamentals. I learn more from the WNBA. They know how to dribble, how to pivot, how to use the shot fake.”
The organic appreciation was, in turn, appreciated by WNBA players and those who follow the league.
Having an NBA player, an All-Star with an NBA championship ring, acknowledge the women in a genuine way was an antidote to the times when the league is literally used as a sitcom punchline, or ridiculed by some sports-talk radio host with delusions that he could beat Maya Moore in a game of one-on-one.