Women seek social equality in exactly the wrong places

Thursday, February 26, 1998

Women seek social equality in exactly the wrong places

COLUMN: Professional WNBA career not worth skipping college
degree

Seeing as how we are fast approaching March, National Women’s
History Month, I would like to salute one of the champions in the
ongoing women’s struggle.

Niesha Butler, a high school senior from New York and one of the
top college prospects in women’s basketball, is truly a pioneer for
equal rights.

She is striving to prove that female athletes can be just as
stupid as their male counterparts.

Heroic Niesha wants to be like Mike. And Stephon. And maybe even
Kobe.

Not even enrolled yet at Georgia Tech, she wants to leave
college early, or at least have that choice. She would even like to
be able to skip college all together.

That is why she and her family are considering suing the WNBA,
one of the two women’s pro leagues.

You see, the leagues have this crazy idea that they want their
players to be well-rounded young women and polished players before
turning pro. To that end, they have established minimum
requirements that a young woman must either: (1) have a college
degree, (2) completed her college eligibility, or (3) be 22 years
of age.

Gee, what are those guys smokin’, huh?

In a special article for ESPN SportsZone, Niesha compared the
issue to Roe v. Wade, stating that "This is a simple issue of a
women having the right to make a choice and not having to abide by
rules that need not apply."

It’s a basic question of equality, she claims. Men can do
something that women cannot.

Let’s not convene the Supreme Court on this one quite yet, OK,
Niesha?

Now, I’m not even going to get into the "Rah-Rah, College is a
Fun and Life-Changing Experience" argument that usually results
from any discussion about leaving early for the pros. I don’t need
to.

The bottom line is that women’s professional basketball is not
currently in the same position as the NBA. It may not be fair,
Niesha, but that’s the way it is.

To start, let’s look at the money involved.

According to the WNBA’s sliding pay scale, the top three picks
in each year’s draft receive $37,500 per season, while those in the
fourth round take home $15,000.

How are women, as you said, going to "provide more financial
security for (their) children" (one of the reasons you offered for
leaving early) on 15 grand, minus taxes? The answer is that they
won’t without another job. And what kind of job can someone without
a college degree, whose main skill is putting a ball through a
hole, get? Does the expression, "Would you like fries with that?"
ring a bell, Niesha?

The American Basketball League is more generous, with an average
salary of $80,000; good money. But would it be enough to live off
of for the rest of your life should you blow out a knee? Without a
college degree, it might have to be.

Added to that is the serious possibility that those paychecks
may come screeching to a halt very soon: it’s hardly unthinkable at
this point that one or both of the leagues could fold in the next
few years.

The ABL, widely considered the better and more talent-rich of
the two, lost $5 million dollars last year, according to an article
in the Miami Sun-Sentinel. This was largely the result of a paltry
3,536 average attendance, with only 4,500 showing up for playoff
games (in comparison, UCLA men’s basketball has drawn about 10,500
this year).

In other words, the league is struggling to survive, and the
WNBA isn’t doing much better. At this point, they need polished
players who come in ready to contribute from the get-go.

They simply cannot afford the waiting period usually necessary
for younger talent to reach its potential. They don’t need Jermaine
O’Neal (apparently a Niesha favorite); they need Tim Duncan.

Players that might be great in five years don’t help the leagues
if they fold in the meantime.

And if they both folded, where would that leave you, Niesha?

Equality is wonderful; it’s the ideal that we as a society
should strive for. But is the behavior of the men and society’s
treatment of them really something worth copying, in this case?

According to a weekly online diary written by Niesha, that is
what’s happening. High school girls are starting to get the same
treatment as the boys: national media attention at age 15, hype and
awards based on promise rather than accomplishment, and gifts/perks
unavailable to the average student.

This week she wrote about getting free tickets to the NBA
All-Star game "from a source which shall remain nameless." What’s
next, Ford Broncos and marijuana suspensions?

Does equality mean that women need to blindly make the same
mistakes the men do?

For every Stephon Marbury (another of Niesha’s favorites, and a
player who shares her N.Y. and G. Tech roots), who leaves early for
the fame and riches of the NBA, there are two Scotty Thurmonds.

Remember him? Scotty was the high-scoring shooting guard who,
along with Corliss Williamson, lead Arkansas to the a national
championship in ’93-’94 and the NCAA final the next year. Then, he
gave up his final year of eligibility, hired an agent (effectively
burning his college bridges) and opted for the NBA draft.

Don’t bother scanning the box scores for Scotty; you won’t find
him. Passed over by all 29 NBA teams (even the first-year Raptors
and Grizzlies who just needed warm bodies), he slunk off to the
CBA, minus the millions he had envisioned.

I think he’s still there; that is, if he hasn’t been banished to
Europe or to slinging Slurpies at a 7-Eleven somewhere. Thank you,
Scotty. Come again.

If you don’t remember Scotty Thurmand, how about Victor Page? Or
Reshard Griffith? Or hundreds of others?

With her demands, Niesha is threatening to make the same mess
for herself and women’s basketball that the men now wish they could
get out of.

You know, it’s funny that the address for her weekly diary is
www.gettingreal.com, because that is exactly what Niesha needs to
do.

Kariakin is a fourth-year student. You can e-mail responses to
[email protected].