Women seek social equality in exactly the wrong places

Published: Thursday, February 26, 1998

Thursday, February 26, 1998

COLUMN: Professional WNBA career not worth skipping college degree

Seeing as how we are fast approaching March, National Women's History Month, I would like to salute one of the champions in the ongoing women's struggle.

Niesha Butler, a high school senior from New York and one of the top college prospects in women's basketball, is truly a pioneer for equal rights.

She is striving to prove that female athletes can be just as stupid as their male counterparts.

Heroic Niesha wants to be like Mike. And Stephon. And maybe even Kobe.

Not even enrolled yet at Georgia Tech, she wants to leave college early, or at least have that choice. She would even like to be able to skip college all together.

That is why she and her family are considering suing the WNBA, one of the two women's pro leagues.

You see, the leagues have this crazy idea that they want their players to be well-rounded young women and polished players before turning pro. To that end, they have established minimum requirements that a young woman must either: (1) have a college degree, (2) completed her college eligibility, or (3) be 22 years of age.

Gee, what are those guys smokin', huh?

In a special article for ESPN SportsZone, Niesha compared the issue to Roe v. Wade, stating that "This is a simple issue of a women having the right to make a choice and not having to abide by rules that need not apply."

It's a basic question of equality, she claims. Men can do something that women cannot.

Let's not convene the Supreme Court on this one quite yet, OK, Niesha?

Now, I'm not even going to get into the "Rah-Rah, College is a Fun and Life-Changing Experience" argument that usually results from any discussion about leaving early for the pros. I don't need to.

The bottom line is that women's professional basketball is not currently in the same position as the NBA. It may not be fair, Niesha, but that's the way it is.

To start, let's look at the money involved.

According to the WNBA's sliding pay scale, the top three picks in each year's draft receive $37,500 per season, while those in the fourth round take home $15,000.

How are women, as you said, going to "provide more financial security for (their) children" (one of the reasons you offered for leaving early) on 15 grand, minus taxes? The answer is that they won't without another job. And what kind of job can someone without a college degree, whose main skill is putting a ball through a hole, get? Does the expression, "Would you like fries with that?" ring a bell, Niesha?

The American Basketball League is more generous, with an average salary of $80,000; good money. But would it be enough to live off of for the rest of your life should you blow out a knee? Without a college degree, it might have to be.

Added to that is the serious possibility that those paychecks may come screeching to a halt very soon: it's hardly unthinkable at this point that one or both of the leagues could fold in the next few years.

The ABL, widely considered the better and more talent-rich of the two, lost $5 million dollars last year, according to an article in the Miami Sun-Sentinel. This was largely the result of a paltry 3,536 average attendance, with only 4,500 showing up for playoff games (in comparison, UCLA men's basketball has drawn about 10,500 this year).

In other words, the league is struggling to survive, and the WNBA isn't doing much better. At this point, they need polished players who come in ready to contribute from the get-go.

They simply cannot afford the waiting period usually necessary for younger talent to reach its potential. They don't need Jermaine O'Neal (apparently a Niesha favorite); they need Tim Duncan.

Players that might be great in five years don't help the leagues if they fold in the meantime.

And if they both folded, where would that leave you, Niesha?

Equality is wonderful; it's the ideal that we as a society should strive for. But is the behavior of the men and society's treatment of them really something worth copying, in this case?

According to a weekly online diary written by Niesha, that is what's happening. High school girls are starting to get the same treatment as the boys: national media attention at age 15, hype and awards based on promise rather than accomplishment, and gifts/perks unavailable to the average student.

This week she wrote about getting free tickets to the NBA All-Star game "from a source which shall remain nameless." What's next, Ford Broncos and marijuana suspensions?

Does equality mean that women need to blindly make the same mistakes the men do?

For every Stephon Marbury (another of Niesha's favorites, and a player who shares her N.Y. and G. Tech roots), who leaves early for the fame and riches of the NBA, there are two Scotty Thurmonds.

Remember him? Scotty was the high-scoring shooting guard who, along with Corliss Williamson, lead Arkansas to the a national championship in '93-'94 and the NCAA final the next year. Then, he gave up his final year of eligibility, hired an agent (effectively burning his college bridges) and opted for the NBA draft.

Don't bother scanning the box scores for Scotty; you won't find him. Passed over by all 29 NBA teams (even the first-year Raptors and Grizzlies who just needed warm bodies), he slunk off to the CBA, minus the millions he had envisioned.

I think he's still there; that is, if he hasn't been banished to Europe or to slinging Slurpies at a 7-Eleven somewhere. Thank you, Scotty. Come again.

If you don't remember Scotty Thurmand, how about Victor Page? Or Reshard Griffith? Or hundreds of others?

With her demands, Niesha is threatening to make the same mess for herself and women's basketball that the men now wish they could get out of.

You know, it's funny that the address for her weekly diary is www.gettingreal.com, because that is exactly what Niesha needs to do.

Kariakin is a fourth-year student. You can e-mail responses to sports@media.ucla.edu.