You Should Be Watching the WNBA

 

Right off the bat, I will admit that I only started watching WNBA games with any degree of regularity because I had placed some just-for-fun bets on some of the games.  As I was tracking my five dollar bets, though, I found myself really and truly enjoying the games themselves and the brand of basketball that these women are playing.   The cliche is that the women play a game "below the rim" so there are no monster dunks, and a there is a greater reliance on speed, passing, defense, and shooting.  Often times, cliches become cliches because they state an obvious truth.   When you watch a WNBA game, you will see all of those qualities and skills come into play.  Also, the games are fast paced and lively.  Somehow, a game played in four ten minute quarters, seems to go much faster than a college basketball game played in two 20 minute halves.

I am not saying that these games are "better" than NBA games or high level college games.  It would be foolish and stupid to suggest that the games played by Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo are inferior.  No one is saying that the Seattle Storm could beat the Milwaukee Bucks.  The women's game is different, to be sure, but the skills of the players are no less impressive than those exhibited by their male counterparts relative to the competition on the floor.  I mean, did you watch Brittney Griner dominate the Japanese women in that Gold Medal game in the Olympics?  That was a remarkable performance.

The WNBA games are on TV, but they are not easy to find there.  For example, tonight, August 17, there are five games on the schedule. Two are on the CBS Sports Network, one is on NBATV, one is on Prime, and one is on Facebook (?).  Two top teams, the Seattle Storm and the New York Liberty face each other on Wednesday and Friday nights this week. One game is on CBSSN and the other is on Prime.  

I would highly recommend that you seek out at least one of the Seattle games.  They are the defending League Champs, they feature perhaps the best player in the league, if not the world, in Breanna Stewart, and feature two other players who were on the Olympic team, Jewell Loyd and the great Sue Bird.

Stewart, Bird, and Loyd of the Storm

So give the WNBA a try.  I'm pretty sure that you will enjoy the basketball that you will be watching, even if you don't have a wager on the outcome!