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Sports journalist Rob Parker said women should more actively support the Women’s National Basketball Association and other women’s sports at a Harvard Institute of Politics forum on Tuesday.
Moderated by Ken Miles, the Executive Director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Inclusive Innovation and Technology, the event featured Parker, WNBA player and President of the WNBA Players’ Association Nneka C.V. Ogwumike, and Travis County, Texas, Assistant District Attorney Amber K. Goodwin.
During the panel, Ogwumike commented on gender disparities within the sports industry, saying that women must rely on endorsement deals rather than playing their sport to make a living.
Parker pushed back, arguing that “women have not supported the WNBA and some of these sports enough to me.”
“Females, have you ever taken your boyfriend on a date or your friend or whoever to a WNBA game?” he added. “Most of the women will tell me they’ve never been to one.”
The two engaged in a back-and-forth, with Ogwumike asking Parker to explain why he thinks this phenomenon persists.
“I have no idea why women won’t support each other,” Parker said.
Parker interrupted Ogwumike several times during the exchange, prompting her to retort, “I wasn’t finished with my thought.”
A member of the audience also jumped to her defense, yelling at Parker from the back of the room to let Ogwumike finish.
Goodwin, founder of the Community Justice and Community Justice Action Fund, then offered an explanation, pointing to the existing structures within athletics that prevent women from participating more fully.
“Men set up the system that probably is precluding women from being able to be a part of all those systems,” she said.
Ogwumike also highlighted how systematic inequalities contribute to women’s “loss of interest” in female athletics — rather than women refusing to support women.
Young girls have been told, “‘You can grow up and have a great family or you can grow up and find a good husband,’” she said, rather than, “‘You can grow up and play in the WNBA.”
During the forum, the panelists remarked on several specific cases of athletes standing up for equality.
Parker spoke about the exploitation of Black athletes, pointing to Donald T. Sterling — the former owner of the NBA team Los Angeles Clippers — who was caught on audio making racist remarks about players.
After the recordings were released, players threatened to boycott future playoff games, after which Sterling was banned from the NBA for life.
“Stop the money,” Parker said. “Stop allowing people to make money off of people who look like us without being held accountable.”
Ogwumike also pointed to the case of Kelly L. Loeffler as further evidence for the power of collective protest by players. Loeffler, who ran for U.S. Senate in Georgia in 2020, faced heavy criticism for racist aspects of her campaign and was removed from ownership of the Atlanta Dream.
Many WNBA players wore “Vote Warnock” shirts in support of Loeffler’s Democratic opponent, Raphael G. Warnock, who went on to narrowly win the election in early 2021.
“Let’s demonstrate how important it is to elect people that represent our values,” Ogwumike said.
The panelists stressed the importance of working together to fight for more equality in American sports.
“Players have the ultimate power in this country,” Parker said.
Ogwumike also pointed to the need for collaboration across identities.
“Feminism is not exclusive,” Ogwumike said. “It takes advocates that are men.”
