Clay Travis on the WNBA

He made a few coins in the sale of his show a few years ago. Still he knows the WNBA would never take him up on his offer so his show gets great coverage.

 
What's the flex, Clay Travis? 

If that champion boys high school basketball team you pick dominated every other boys high school basketball team to get there, does it mean boys high school basketball isn't worth watching?

Is the WNBA taking money out of your pocket, Clay? 

Don't know the guy, so I clicked on his feed and he was categorically wrong on multiple things in the first :30 of scrolling.   

 
I am sure he still thinks this with Clark in the league, but it is amazing what she has done so far for the WNBA. I never paid attention to the WNBA. I never watched women's basketball until this year's NCAA. I am at least reading articles about the WNBA now and checking box scores...maybe highlights. Too bad so many players are being petty about Clark.

 
I don't know who this guy is.  Never heard of him.  So I don't care about his bet.

But I have heard of the WNBA and been to games live in person and also see them when it's on TV

The WNBA ball is smaller.

The WNBA 3pt line is just a half foot longer than HS boys distance.  And it's 2 feet shorter than Men's College 3pt line.  Which is also shorter than the NBA.

However, despite some differences, it is fun going to WNBA games and super cheap for a night out of entertainment !  These young ladies are skilled, talented and tough.  But I will also include that more than half of these WNBA players are hot and sexy !!!

Yo, I don't understand or appreciate a tool like this guy and he clearly doesn't like or respect the woman's professional game as it is..... Entertainment, skill and talent.   

He sound like a fool.  These games and this league (WNBA) has come a long way. 

Who cares if a HS boy or college kid can beat a professional woman, like Serena Williams, in Tennis? Or win on the golf course? Or on the hardcourt?  

Just enjoy it like me (women's sports) or watch something else.

 
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nic said:
Too bad so many players are being petty about Clark.
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They're being petty because she hasn't done anything. She has the potential, which is why ESPN updates every basket she makes, but she's a nobody in this at this point and the other players are feeling (rightly) disrespected that this newcomer is getting all of the attention.

 
brophog said:
They're being petty because she hasn't done anything. She has the potential, which is why ESPN updates every basket she makes, but she's a nobody in this at this point and the other players are feeling (rightly) disrespected that this newcomer is getting all of the attention.
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Sure. Kinda. Rookie hazing is a tradition even for less hyped players in all sports. But they absolutely benefit from the attention and flat-out money Clark is bringing to the entire league. Double team her and make her play through bad stats and losses. If you want to send a message, the cheap shots tend to backfire. 

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
Sure. Kinda. Rookie hazing is a tradition even for less hyped players in all sports. But they absolutely benefit from the attention and flat-out money Clark is bringing to the entire league. Double team her and make her play through bad stats and losses. If you want to send a message, the cheap shots tend to backfire. 
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Ehhh, if they were really smart about it, they would do like what the guys in the NBA have all (secretly) agreed to do.  No hard a$$ fouls, don't knock dudes to the floor or go after their heads...score score score score score.  Shoot 3's, from deep.  Get that scoring UP.

I don't watch WNBA but I have seen a few clips of CC getting mugged, stop it.  Score, out score her.  Right now, she does even more for that dreadful money pit of a league if she scores 35 a game as opposed to getting knocked down on the ground and then the players from the other teams refusing to answer questions about her.

Market CC and Reese and make sure they score tons of points.

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
But they absolutely benefit from the attention and flat-out money Clark is bringing to the entire league.
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She has the potential to bring a lot more money to the league, but they haven't signed a new TV deal since she joined. They're hoping to double their current deal, and that's at least partly based on the exposure she brings.

teachercd said:
Ehhh, if they were really smart about it, they would do like what the guys in the NBA have all (secretly) agreed to do.  No hard a$$ fouls, don't knock dudes to the floor or go after their heads...score score score score score.  Shoot 3's, from deep.  Get that scoring UP.
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The best example in the men's game is how the NBA re-energized itself when Magic and Bird entered the league. Their rivalry really created the NBA as a money making entertainment vehicle. Magic won the title his rookie year, Bird won 61 games that year and the title his second year.

New fans to the WNBA can't turn on the television and see Clark with 3 points on a 2-9 team and the league hope to leverage that into a massive new TV deal.

 
brophog said:
She has the potential to bring a lot more money to the league, but they haven't signed a new TV deal since she joined. They're hoping to double their current deal, and that's at least partly based on the exposure she brings.

The best example in the men's game is how the NBA re-energized itself when Magic and Bird entered the league. Their rivalry really created the NBA as a money making entertainment vehicle. Magic won the title his rookie year, Bird won 61 games that year and the title his second year.

New fans to the WNBA can't turn on the television and see Clark with 3 points on a 2-9 team and the league hope to leverage that into a massive new TV deal.
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Yep!  I won't watch the games, ever, I just don't.  But the need to make sure she shoots tons of 3's and scores tons of points.  

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
Are you sure you've been watching the NBA?
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Through February average team scoring was at a record pace, above the record from just the year before. The biggest reason it slowed somewhat late this season because free throw attempts came down.

It hasn't been this easy to score for 50 years. A huge reason for that are defensive rule changes this decade that were designed to promote free movement and to help promote scoring. A second reason for that is teams have fully embraced the analytics, recognizing that it's an alternate possession game so efficiency is what matters and 3 pointers and free throws are more efficient point per possession than 2 pointers.

 
brophog said:
Through February average team scoring was at a record pace, above the record from just the year before. The biggest reason it slowed somewhat late this season because free throw attempts came down.

It hasn't been this easy to score for 50 years. A huge reason for that are defensive rule changes this decade that were designed to promote free movement and to help promote scoring. A second reason for that is teams have fully embraced the analytics, recognizing that it's an alternate possession game so efficiency is what matters and 3 pointers and free throws are more efficient point per possession than 2 pointers.
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I was responding to Teach's impression that NBA players have secretly agreed not to hard foul anymore. Anyone who has watched virtually every NBA game stop for slow-motion Flagrant 1 and 2 reviews knows that's not true. Cheap shots still abound. One of the takeaways from the send-a-message Caitlin Clark knockdown is that the WNBA is resembling the NBA more than ever. 

The defensive rule changes have definitely made a difference, and I'd argue for the better. I fast-forward through free throws if I can. Although it's harder to play defense, the best teams still play the best defense, a team-wide commitment that comes from the coach. You can no longer be a sharpshooter at one end and get torched on the other, or you'll get benched. And while the 3 point revolution isn't going away I think the pendulum is swinging back to more in-the-paint scoring with more traditional (but more versatile) big men. Every year some team gets exposed in a live-by-the-three, die-by-the three strategy. Could be the Celtics this year. Celts get a lot of credit for their defense, too. 

Back in the '80s, playing by the same rules, a Denver Nuggets team would average 125 points a game while a Detroit Pistons team would average 89. Even today, some teams can simply choose to play a different pace. 

Just looked up the 50 highest scoring teams on NBA history, and only 8 were in this century. 

 
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