For Argument’s Sake

Is Candace Parker the savior of the WNBA?

I’m sure that most of you know who Candace Parker is. She’s the only player in women’s professional basketball history to be drafted number one as a junior in college. She’s already won two NCAA championships at Tennessee and her overall skills are mind-blowing. She’s 6′4″ and has the ball-handling skills of a point guard. She’s improved immensely on her outside shot and her library of post moves is growing more and more each day. She can turn left, shoot right and vice versa. She can get you up in the air and slide under you for a layup. She’s incredibly basketball smart and it shows on the court. Oh yeah, she can also dunk.

On Sunday, Parker became only the second woman in WBNA history to dunk during a game. And last night, she did it again.

Point blank: Parker is the best player in women’s professional basketball. Diana Taurasi is incredible, yes, but she can’t dunk. And while some may argue that dunking the basketball isn’t necessarily a skill, it certainly attracts attention. But can it attract enough attention?

The WNBA is struggling. According to Wikipedia: the WNBA has not had the monetary success of the NBA, though it did make money in 2007. The NBA has provided annual subsidies of approximately $12 million dollars to cover operating losses. The average attendance of WNBA games, league-wide, is roughly half the average attendance of NBA games. As of the agreement signed in 2003, WNBA players who had up to three years of experience were capped at $42,000. By comparison, $385,277 was the minimum salary of an NBA rookie. WNBA rookies earned $30,000 per year. The maximum salary for a WNBA player in 2007 was $100,000. Many WNBA players choose to supplement their salaries by playing in European or Australian women’s basketball leagues during the WNBA off-season.

So can Candace Parker help turn the tide? Can she help attract the audience and recognition the WNBA so desperately needs with dunks and incredible talent?

My argument is this: One player won’t be able to do it alone. Sure, Parker is amazing to watch. And yes, I tune in whenever I know she’s playing. But, I also tune in when Taurasi is playing. And as great and as marketable as Taurasi is, the public still wasn’t swayed be her play alone. Though the talent of WNBA players is constantly improving, the WNBA needs more players who can “throw down” like Parker before they start getting the respect they deserve.

I do think Parker has already attracted a new wave of fans and supporters but, as I said before, she won’t be able to “save” the WNBA all by herself.

The results of the Tiger Woods poll are in! The question was: Was it worth it for Tiger Woods to play the U.S. Open now that he’s out for the season?
The majority of you believe that it was his greatest win to date.

For previous editions of For Argument’s Sake, go here.