What the NBA can learn from the explosion of women’s basketball — and vice versa

South Carolina’s championship win over Iowa was watched by an average of 18.7 million viewers on ESPN, the most viewed basketball event since 2019.

If you’re reading this and did NOT watch the women’s NCAA championship game between South Carolina and Iowa on Sunday afternoon — what were you doing?!

Over 18.7 million people tuned into ESPN on average, with a peak of 24 million, to see the South Carolina Gamecocks complete their undefeated season with a win over Iowa and take home the championship. Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks played an elite 40 minutes of basketball, beating out superstar Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes and going 38-0 in their season.

It was the Gamecock’s second national title in three years, and Staley’s third as head coach of the program. Her three season record now sits at 109-3. Yup, she’s the GOAT.

Even the Toronto Raptors media room, as we waiting for tip-off between the Raptors and Washington Wizards, was tuned in. I don’t know for sure, but I hope it was also on in the locker rooms too.

The Final Four game between Iowa and UConn also broke ESPN viewership records, which beat the record set last Monday during the Iowa vs LSU Elite Eight game. The hype around the women’s tournament this year seemed to go more global than ever this year. Every Tik Tok, tweet, and instagram post I saw about basketball over the last week about about the women’s tournament.

That excitement will be rolling into the WNBA season in just one short week, when the WNBA holds it’s draft in Brooklyn and Caitlin Clark goes number one overall to the Indiana Fever.

So, what does all of this have to do with the NBA? Well, I think the NBA can learn a few things from the growth of women’s basketball. In the reverse, I think women’s basketball (and its fans) can take a few things from the men’s game too.

Women Can Sh*t Talk Too

I’ll start with something the women’s game can take from the men’s…

One main thing that women’s basketball viewers need to do is learn is that the sport is better when the outdated views of being “ladylike” are thrown out the window. It’s exhausting to see women’s athletes being berated for being passionate, trash talking, and even getting into it a bit during games.

Admit it, trash talking makes sports BETTER. We love the drama. Why do you think WWE wrestling is so popular? The DRAMA!

Sure, we don’t want these women actually fighting and getting hurt, but a little trash talk never hurt anyone! It raises the stakes! It boost the rivalries already present in the WNBA.

Women are badass athletes, and they need to be treated as such. If you’re mad when Caitlin Clark trash talks, or players get heated on the court, or Diana Taurasi gives rookies a little more smoke — especially if you’re reasoning is because they are women — you need to get with the times.

Passion makes sports better. You see it everyday in the NBA, these players talk their sh*t and everyone loves it. Let women’s basketball players do the same, and don’t give them techs for it while we are at it.

Advocacy On and Off the Court

The NBA does a good job at advocating about some topics, but generally has a pretty weak stance on a lot of topics. It’s often disheartening to see players and teams remove themselves from the topics that effect their communities.

Women’s sports, but women’s basketball in particular, are the opposite. These women are advocates first. They wear their opinions on their sleeve, speak up for their communities, and for other communities as well. They participate in activism, politics, and constantly give back.

One example of this is the WNBA’s in-season tournament being completely centered around donating to charity. At the beginning of the season, each team picks a charity local to their team and every time they play a game that’s part of the in-season tournament, donations are made based on the result. In the end, money is donated to the winning team’s charity as well.

The NBA could use a similar model, and use it to possibly stir up more excitement about things like their own in-season tournament or the All-Star Game.

Another example of this was Dawn Staley’s press conference this weekend ahead of the championship game. A reporter came into the presser, asking Staley about her thoughts on transgender women participating in women’s sports, to which Coach Staley replied that she supports. Despite preparing for a championship game, Coach responded calmly to an off-topic question, still giving an insightful and supportive answer.

Often, NBA teams and players avoid things like politics and advocacy because they don’t want to upset people. Sometimes, it has the opposite effect. Appearing neutral may help you be more marketable to everyone (especially in America), but taking a stand on topics that matter to your fans builds authenticity and stronger community.

NBA players especially are incredibly influential, and their advocacy on things like LGBTQ+ rights, politics, domestic violence prevention and more would have substantial effects on people effected by those communities.

Back to Basics (Bring Fundamentals Back to the NBA)

I had a friend who was watching the women’s March Madness tournament for the first time this year talk to me about wanting to learn more about the women’s game in general. That happens to me a lot, and it’s fun to teach people about the exciting landscape of women’s basketball.

One thing these people always notice first, is how clean women’s basketball is. How these players are so solid in the fundamentals of basketball. it’s one of my personal favourite things about watching the WNBA/women’s ball over the NBA.

You can say “but they can’t dunk” all you want (and actually, some of them can), but the women have mastered what really matters about basketball. It’s rare that a women’s basketball player doesn’t have a good handle on the basketball, or doesn’t have the bare minimum if passing ability.

At the very least, women’s players are skilled in every aspect of the game. At most, you have Paige Bueckers, who is technically a guard, but stepped into a “point center” role for the UConn Huskies at one point this season because Aaliyah Edwards was out with a broken nose. You have Breanna Stewart, who operates just as well at five-feet from the rim as she does from three-point range. You have two-way players who crack down on defence and are back scoring points on the next possession, like South Carolina’s Raven Johnson on Caitlin Clark this weekend.

Women’s basketball is exciting, show-stopping, and thrilling — but it’s also just good solid basketball.

The explosion of women’s basketball into mainstream media seems to be here to stay, and both sides of the sport can learn a lot from each other.