Does the WNBA Hate the NBA Finals?

Last summer, I had a vision of love. More accurately, I went to rip-roaring WNBA game between the Seattle Storm and eventual champs, the Phoenix Mercury, and realized that this league had much to offer the NBA fan. I wrote a column on my experience, and it got a ton of positive feedback (I had no hand in its title, incidentally). A later encounter with Lindsay Whalen convinced me that the league could be every bit as gutsy as it is skilled.

As far as crossover appeal was concerned, 2009 proved to be something of a banner season on the WNBA. The Mercury-Fever Finals caught the eye of many NBA fans, receiving coverage on outlets like Yahoo!'s Ball Don't Lie and creating a buzz that made many longtime observers feel like the floodgates had opened. The broadcast ratings surged, a sign that interest was growing outside of the traditional demographics of women and little kids.

Of course, some WNBA fans would prefer the sport stay separate from the men's game -- more on that later -- but it was a vindication for anyone who felt the W deserved wider recognition. Suddenly, July didn't just seem like a time to watch second-rounders miss jumpers in Vegas.

You would think that the eternally embattled WNBA would embrace new fans like me, or at least take a shrewd interest in getting us to tune in. Instead, it schedules games at the same time as the NBA Finals.



Share How did I come to be the possessor of such dark knowledge? It all happened innocently enough. My wife and I had planned to go to more Storm games this summer -- in Seattle, it's really the only pro basketball game in town (more on that later). Except as it turned out, she'll be gone for the next few months. Scanning the schedule, it turned out there was exactly one home contest we could make.

The good news: It was against the Mercury. The bad? It fell on June 6th, which unless these two series go 20 games each, will be a Finals day. Tip-off is 6 p.m., an hour after Game 3 of the NBA Finals gets going.

Here, I'll spell it out for you: I can either watch the NBA Finals or attend a Storm game against the W's defending champs, and arguably its most entertaining team.

For many of you, the choice is an obvious one. I really have no interest in keeping you updated on what my wife and I decide to do, but suffice it say that my DVR has already screwed up recording one playoff game this year, and it totally cropped off the end of The City last night. Plus, it's the NBA Finals. Watching it on delay is not exactly the height of professionalism -- nor what someone who swears by this sport wants to be doing.

But there it is. The Storm host the Mercury, and only people with no interest in the NBA Finals are invited. We're not talking about the first round, or even a conference finals. This is the NBA freakin' Finals, when anyone who cares anything about men's basketball tunes in -- unless they believe the NCAA is the last true blood left on the planet or, I suppose, are holding out for all to fall to the WNBA. If this sounds spiteful, it's because I'm angry, annoyed, and getting over a mild case of food poisoning.

I understand that the WNBA needs to have an identity apart from the NBA; the ads comparing players from the two leagues that we've seen during the playoffs suggest that its finally comfortable enough to start whispering "NBA" without fear of falling into second-class citizenship. This is extremely competitive, exciting basketball played when there's nothing else to do as an NBA fan. It should be an easy sell, now that the product has evolved to such a high level.

Storm-Mercury would be better than plenty of regular season NBA games you took three hours out of your life to watch; it's exactly the kind of play that NBA fans fall over themselves for. Don't even get me started on men's college ball vs. WNBA. There's no contest.

Except here we have what's either a grievous, stupid oversight, or a calculated move that does nothing but 1) keep NBA fans away 2) alienate people like me even if I do end up going. I understand the WNBA's desire to not continually cow-tow to the NBA's schedule. Teams shouldn't have to make sure their every game is off where NBA fans will have nothing better to do.

At the same time, it's reasonable to say that the Finals are the exception. The Storm players probably want to watch the Finals. I know much of press row will be tuned in. If ever there were a time to defer to the NBA without losing face, this would be it. If the President can work around Lost, I think the WNBA would be okay here.

Oh, and in case you forgot, the NBA is in charge of the WNBA's governing body, and owns some franchises outright. It's a lose-lose, a vicious cycle of fan-ibalism. Granted, the number of spectators at stake represents a drop in the bucket. Regardless, it's making a statement that doesn't need to be made anymore. In fact, the W should probably be going in the opposite direction, saying -- as it has with those commercials -- that it welcomes NBA diehards.

Then again, this is Seattle. Ever since the Sonics left, there have been those who swear that the NBA is dead to them. They conveniently overlook the NBA in WNBA; the point is, men's pro ball is too painful. We also have to give the identity politics folks their due, as well as anyone convinced that the NBA is a bunch of overpaid scumbags who make bad role models. Those folks are in a minority and in some ways, a league that thumbs its nose at the NBA is tacitly advocating for them.

If that's what the WNBA is after, fine. Ghetto-ize yourself as a league and see how far it gets you. There's no sell-out or compromise involved in bringing your product to a wider audience, just thinking for one second before you make up the schedule.

It also makes no sense for some teams, such as the Storm, to ignore the NBA because it doesn't affect them locally, while those in other markets do. It's about having a unified message to stay on. As is the apparent disconnect between the WNBA ads during the playoffs and this kind of scheduling.

I'm guessing it's too late to raise a fuss and start a petition to get the game moved to that Sunday afternoon -- a time that's good enough for the NBA much of the season. Nor should the WNBA care what one grouchy writer thinks. But after last summer, I don't think I'm the only one out there who would feel this way.

Here's the paradox: If the league does want to grow and eventually become its own, er, person, then it's going to have to reach out to NBA fans first.