Michael Porter Jr. Under Fire For Comparing WNBA Players To Professional Ping Pong Players And Suggesting To Lower The Rims For Popularity Purposes

Michael Porter Jr. was the latest guest on The Pivot and has made some serious waves for his comments on the WNBA. 

Complex - "I see from both sides. I know these females want to get paid more, and they’re very talented. But so is a famous ping-pong player," Porter says. "Like, the best ping pong player is just as talented as the best NBA player. That doesn’t mean that they’re going to get paid the same because it’s what the people wanna watch."

He continued:

 "As much as I understand females wanting the same treatment as men basketball players, it's a different sport. They're not packing out the arenas, obviously, their TV deals aren't the same. So as much as I advocate for women and kind of the equality of the respect of their craft, I mean, you can't pay them the same thing," he continues. "But I do feel like there should be a little way to make a little bit more money because they are very talented."

Now MPJr. is not the first to talk about WNBA pay on a podcast, but just thanks to not a lot going on and how the algorithm works, his comments rose to the top of Twitter this morning. As they say, there's one main topic talked about every day on Twitter….and the goal is to never be that topic.

Some were not happy with Porter Jr. calling WNBA players "females:"

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The first part of this tweet is important to acknowledge while discussing this topic. WNBA players are not asking to be paid the same as NBA players, but instead, they want to be paid the same percentage amount of the revenue. I would assume this has something to do with the CBA and the disparity is present thanks to the WNBA for not being around as long as their counterpart. 

NBA players have a 50% revenue share, while the WNBA players have just a 23% revenue share. Last year, the NBA made over 10.7 billion dollars in revenue, while the WNBA made $200 million. With only making $200 million per year, it could be possible the 77% the WNBA keeps is vital to keep the business alive, while the economics of the NBA are a little different.

Oftentimes, you will hear people say the WNBA is subsidized by the NBA. Whether that is true or not is a little confusing. In 2002, the NBA announced they were no longer subsidizing the WNBA. However, in 2018, Adam Silver said that the WNBA loses on average 10 million a year (this was 5 years ago, and no update since). On top of that, back in 2003, David Stern said the WNBA would get a $12 million yearly allowance from the NBA. I believe 5/12 WNBA owners are also NBA owners, which could count as a form of "subsidizing."

A lot of this is not public, which may be intentional by the NBA. However, one thing is clear and that's that the NBA wants the WNBA to stick around. New franchises are being introduced to the league and the popularity of women's basketball is on the rise. In regards to revenue share, that's a question that will have to be answered when the next CBA is negotiated.