Ep. 2475 - Sophie Cunningham Responds After a Co-Owner Attacks Her Fans
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How did the WNBA's history and marketing strategy lead to its current identity crisis?
Well, let's say you ran a sports league and you had two choices in how to market that sports league. First choice, all-American, fun, inspiring, generally normie. Second choice, militantly lesbian, trans, anti-white, and the players bet on their own games. Which would you choose? Well... The NBA seems to be making its choice every single day. Yet another WNBA scandal today, and it's precisely what you think it is. We'll get to all that. Plus, Anthony Fauci taking the fifth, Iran's economy collapsing, and the best-selling musical genre in America is country. This is The Ben Shapiro Show.
So I am an NBA fan. My son is an even bigger NBA fan. Back in the 70s, we probably wouldn't have been NBA fans. Most people were not back in the 70s, and there were a bunch of reasons for that. First off, the NBA was broadly perceived as a kind of thuggish, drug-infused league. They had no national TV coverage because of that perception. In 1977, a player named Kermit Washington for the LA Lakers nearly killed Rudy Tomjanovich in the middle of a game by punching him in the face during a scrum. A fan assaulted an actual ref during the 1976 NBA Finals. The ownership groups were totally mismanaged. The amount of blow and hookers wading through the NBA in the 70s, extraordinary. The NBA was kind of plodding.
They didn't have a three-point line. The ABA, which was its big competitor and had its own financial problems, they at least had three-pointers and dunks. The NBA had serious problems. So the NBA decided to solve that problem. They did so with a bunch of measures. First, the Celtics drafted Larry Bird, the Lakers drafted Magic Johnson, and then the entire league was built around them. They'd been huge, high-wattage college stars. Bird, of course, was white, and Magic was, of course, black. The NBA also integrated the ABA. They essentially bought them out and took them along. And stars like Dr. J entered the NBA and the NBA decided to change its style. They added the three point line in 1979. By 1982, NBA games were now live, not tape delayed.
And by 1983, the NBA had decided to pursue a pretty serious anti-drug policy to wipe out the cocaine problem. The NBA also decided to put serious focus on policing on and off court violence and behavior. They were fining players and suspending them. And the NBA mostly decided to protect its stars. And of course, it still does, which is why a lot of people will complain that stars in the playoffs get all the calls. Now, listen, this is how you build a league. That's what you do. Now, let's turn to the WNBA. So the WNBA is the subsidized little sister of the NBA. It has lost money every single year it's been in existence. Ever, including this year. The NBA basically pays its bills. Its quality of play, well, it ain't the dudes.
Here's some of the all-star game highlights from this year in the WNBA.
Stewart tips it alive. Williams from four-point range.
Ty Young almost subbed him in when we were down by 11. She threw that up. She knew she wanted to pass it.
John Quell up to 10 points.
Howard takes it right back.
What a pass from Nika. Asia Wilson can't finish it. Clark gives it underneath and then we'll see. You haven't isolated on Caitlin at all for a blow-by yet. Is that coming? Five seconds left in the third. Coppers jump. Unable to hit that one. As Clark went for the steal on A.J. Reese.
Asia Wilson. Angelina, look at the speed. Look at the athleticism. And then saying, hey, I wasn't even trying to there. Wide open at the other end. Wow. And now Angel goes down. Oh, no. Angel goes down now. And Asia Wilson has to pick her up.
Oh, good Lord. Come on. You're what? You're two feet from the basket. How do you airball a shot two feet from the basket? Okay. Honest, honest to goodness. There are like men's suburban 40 plus basketball leagues that play better basketball than was played in the WNBA all-star game. And again, that'd be one thing. But its brand is even worse because the brand for the WNBA has become militant lesbians who are kind of like OK at basketball by female standards, certainly not by male standards, and are simultaneously obnoxiously insistent that the only reason people won't watch them is racism and sexism.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
How did the WNBA's history and marketing strategy lead to its current identity crisis?
0:00–13:42
2
Why did Caitlin Clark's arrival spike WNBA viewership and what backlash did it trigger?
13:42–26:46
3
How has Sophie Cunningham become a viral figure and why did her politics spark controversy?
26:46–44:33
4
What happened when Seattle Storm co-owner confronted teenage fans wearing XXXY shirts?
44:33–1:03:58
Speakers
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