Do you watch women's basketball?
They're not terrible, but I cannot respect their game as long as they are given a smaller basketball. It looks rinky-dink, and really is an insult to their capabilities.
shareNo, I don’t watch it.
But WNBA players are way smaller physically than NBA players, so giving them a smaller ball to play with makes sense.
Don’t LPGA golfers play from woman tees? Same idea.
The average height of a WNBA player is over 6'. Many great male stars in college and pros have been UNDER 6'. When I was in high school I watched the girl's team play very well with the same ball the boys used! So IMHO I think there is no need to demean their skills by giving them a "toy" basketball to play with. Now, if they would proportionally reduce the circumference of the hoop, I would say that now the genders face equal challenges and the achievements of the fairer sex are comparable to the men's. But they don't do that, though it could in fact easily be done with an adjustable hoop--instead they in effect give the women a crutch which they don't really need and which demeans their game.
Re golf: I don't know golf at all, but are you saying that women's tees are different from men's? It's just a stand to set the ball on--how can they alter that?
WOMEN'S GOLF CLUBS ARE A THING.
shareFrom my quick research, the average height of a WNBA player is 5'11", while the average height of an NBA player is 6'6''. That's a pretty significant difference.
I'm sure many woman players could do well with a standard size ball, but consider, the WNBA isn't very popular as it is. Giving them a smaller ball to work with increases their ability to create exciting plays and boost scoring in games, which is what fans want to see. That should only help to grow the sport.
I think it's a good thing and personally don't see anything demeaning about it.