Sexism In Sports: Improper Compensation

For  my  final  project,  I  chose  to  write  a  paper  on  sexism  in  sports especially in particular  with  basketball. I wanted to bring awareness to the unfair and outdated compensation going on within the women’s league. Basketball is my favorite sport and my two favorite female ballers are Maya Moore of the Minnesota Lynx and Elena Delle Donne of the Washington Mystics.  Both  of  their  salaries  combined don’t even match up to what my favorite player Lebron James makes in the NBA. When A’ja Wilson, on the Las Vegas Aces made a tweet  about the  recent  signing  of Lebron and his hefty contract  in comparison to the players in the WNBA, with the proper research you’d see she was not exaggerating. Not one WNBA player has saw a $1Million Dollars while Lebron alone is now currently playing in his 1^st year of a 4-year $154 million dollar contract.

Maya Moore(Left) Vs Elena Delle Donne(Right)

 I think the blame here should be properly placed on owners and the league rather than the players from either league and I can see how numbers like this can be a slap to the face for women athletes in basketball and other sports around the world. In 2018, on a list that was compiled of  the highest paid athletes around the world that included 23 countries, not woman made the cut, and prior to that year, in 2017, only one woman made the cut and she happened to be Serena Williams.  I feel the only way to combat this issue, is to continue the talks surrounding it, especially as a male being that sports are so male dominated. As we talk and acknowledge the problem, hopefully it can be come the starting ground to seeing a real solution. I think women should be encouraged to do sports as much as men and it seems like male athletes feel the same way. Lebron has supported his baller sisters in their fight for better pay as well as other players. Steph Curry received a letter from a young girl baller who felt his shoes didn’t represent girls like her and his response was the type of example that I think all men should take when changing how we view women in sports. Deep down inside I have faith that women in sports will get their dues given to them, and I stand by them one hundred percent.

List of References for Paper

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/12/06/for-the-wnba-business-isnt-as-bad-as-it-looks/?utm_term=.af7103fcb11b

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/storm/more-money-would-be-good-but-wnba-nba-wage-gap-is-about-economics-not-gender/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/plamonier/2018/07/02/the-business-of-being-a-wnba-player/#e81260a5af12

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2017/06/15/full-list-the-worlds-highest-paid-athletes-2017/#4cacba8ed583

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidberri/2018/06/24/yes-wnba-stars-should-be-paid-more-than-nba-referees/#3b6eaf346db1

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/women-in-sports-the-ugly-paradox/article4285973/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2018/04/20/adam-silver-one-of-the-wnbas-problems-is-that-not-enough-young-women-pay-attention-to-it/?utm_term=.738bc05ebe68