Leftist dogma requires adherents to assert that men can become women and should be treated as such. That wouldn’t work out so well for WNBA players.
On Monday, conservative talk show host Clay Travis offered the Las Vegas Aces the chance to win $10 million — with a catch. He wants the Aces, the reigning WNBA champions, to play against a state champion high school boys’ team of his choosing. The winner would receive the cash.
“This will be the most money ever paid to win a single basketball game,” Travis wrote on X. “A modern day battle of the sexes.”
That’s a lot of money, including for WNBA players. This year, the salary cap for each WNBA team is $7 million. But it’s unlikely the Aces will take Travis up on his generous offer. They didn’t respond to my request for comment and haven’t said anything publicly about it.
The reason is obvious. Elite high school boys’ basketball players are significantly more athletic than top WNBA players. At the recent WNBA All-Star Game, Seattle Storm player Dominique Malonga became the ninth WNBA player to dunk. She wasn’t the ninth woman to dunk in that game. She was the ninth woman to dunk in the 30-year history of the league. In contrast, Cleveland Cavaliers star Evan Mobley dunked nine times in a single game last season.
Travis didn’t make this offer to insult women. He made it to expose the rampant hypocrisy among the left generally and the WNBA specifically.
In a July profile by ESPN, Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham said she wants to keep men out of women’s sports. “I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men,” Cunningham said.
Despite the predictable outrage from the left, Cunningham didn’t back down. After the ESPN piece came out, she called her position “common sense.” This incensed many of those involved in the WNBA. On Sunday, Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve wore a shirt proclaiming “Trans Kids Belong” when her team played the Fever.
Last week, before her team played the Fever, Storm player Stefanie Dolson wore a shirt that read, “Trans Rights are Human Rights.” At that game, Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton berated two teenage girls who attended with signs supporting Cunningham. Keaton reportedly called them “f—ing insane.” The WNBA did suspend and fine Keaton. In 2022, the WNBA players’ union declared it “will fight for trans youth across the country.”
“Sports is about belonging. It’s about inclusivity,” Golden State Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said. “It’s about allowing everyone to be their authentic self,” which “includes trans women.”
The WNBA exists because women, in general, don’t have the physical attributes necessary to compete against men at the highest levels. This used to be so obvious that it didn’t need to be said. Now many involved with the WNBA support biological men competing in women’s sports. If that happened at scale, many female basketball players wouldn’t make the cut.
Travis’ proposal cleverly exposes the WNBA’s inclusion delusion.
Victor Joecks’ column appears in the Opinion section each Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Contact him at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.
