Prof Points – What’s bugging me about sports this week: the WNBA

When the WNBA debuted in 1997, the founders of the league had high hopes. The league’s promotions featured big names, Olympic gold medalists and, most importantly, likable stars like Rebecca Lobo, Sheryl Swoopes and Lisa Leslie. It even had a clever tag line: “We Got Next.”

Thirteen seasons later, the WNBA is not even close to being as popular as the NBA. One of the main reasons is lack of star power. While there are many extremely talented players on all thirteen teams, only a few can be recognized by people unfamiliar with the league, as opposed to the countless members of the NBA who can be recognized almost immediately.

The WNBA thought they had fixed this problem with the emergence of Candace Parker during her 2008 rookie season. Parker had much success during her three years with the Tennessee Lady Vols, and won two consecutive NCAA championship titles. But it would be her MVP and Rookie of the Year winning season with the Los Angeles Sparks that made her the unofficial “savior” for women’s basketball. Things were looking up for the WNBA – they had found their Lebron. That is, until Parker announced she was pregnant and wouldn’t be able to return to the Sparks until mid-July of the 2009 season.

Instead of marketing other superstars like Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi or Alana Beard, the WNBA is continuing to draw attention to Parker, who hasn’t played in a competitive game in roughly 10 months. Parker was on the cover of “ESPN The Magazine” seven months pregnant in March, where she talked about balancing motherhood with the upcoming season. She is seen on the sidelines, in the stands or in the broadcast booth during several of the televised games this season, and participated in other interviews with the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times and others.

The WNBA has had a habit of promoting pregnant players or new moms ever since its first season, thirteen years ago. After the high profile pregnancies of league stars Leslie and Swoopes, most of the media attention focused on whether the stars would return fast enough to help out their teams and how they would cope with being away from their newborns. While there is nothing wrong with sending a message to women that it is possible to be successful in a job you love and have a family, I think that this practice is actually hurting the WNBA. By focusing solely on Parker, it is as if the league is saying that she is the only reason worth watching the games – which are seldom televised anyway.

Yet, the league wonders why it hasn’t caught on with the public and has had several franchises fold. Instead of promoting players on the sidelines, the league needs to market players who are actually on the court. Yes, Parker is the best player in the league. Yes, she is undoubtedly the face of women’s basketball. But at age 23, she will also be playing in the WNBA for many seasons to come, so why don’t we give other players a chance in the spotlight while she is on maternity leave? Maybe then, the league can garner some more attention for what is happening on the court, not off it.