John Wall expresses support for WNBA and female athletes: 'They deserve more than what they get'

Chris Cwik
·Staff writer
Updated
Members of the Washington Mystics celebrate after defeating the Connecticut Sun.
The Mystics are coming off their first championship. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

The Washington Wizards are big fans of the Washington Mystics. That much was obvious during the WNBA Finals, when members of the Wizards showed up and cheered on as the Mystics brought home a WNBA championship.

Wizards guard John Wall has been a fan of the team for quite some time, and believes the Mystics — and all female athletes — deserve more than they currently get, according to The Athletic.

“I feel like they deserve more than what they get. I had a lot of girls writing me on Instagram talking about appreciating me for supporting the WNBA, but I got to. It’s like, ‘Y’all deserve more than what y’all get.’”

Wall made sure to clarify he wasn’t just talking about the WNBA and women’s basketball. He believes women in all sports should have the opportunity to play professionally.

“That’s a thing I don’t respect that I speak on, because if you look at women, what’s the difference for them going through high school and then getting a scholarship to go play softball, volleyball, tennis, whatever, basketball, whatever — but why don’t they have a lot of professional sports for them? That’s taken away from them,” he said.

Wall is far from the only Wizards player who supports the Mystics. Bradley Beal wrote a piece at The Players’ Tribune on Oct. 6 talking about his love of the WNBA and the Mystics. Beal also expressed a desire to see women in the WNBA “get paid.” Guard Jordan McRae is also a big Mystics fan — more specifically, he loves watching Emma Meesseman play.

A number of NBA players have come out in support of WNBA players making more money. WNBA players only get around 25 percent of the league’s revenue, according to a 2018 article at Forbes. By comparison, NBA players receive 50 percent of the league’s revenue.

WNBA players such as Brittney Griner, Skylar Diggins-Smith and Diana Taurasi have spoken out about the issue. The WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement is set to expire in just a few weeks. WNBA players opted out of the agreement last year, meaning the current CBA expires Oct. 31.

Expect the players to argue for a bigger slice of the revenue pie during those negotiations.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik

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