It's the year of women's basketball. Someone tell Michael Porter Jr.
South Carolina's recent win over LSU drew more viewers than any NBA game that night. Caitlin Clark brings in record attendance numbers for Iowa's road games. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. The college game is heating up with March Madness just a month away, and so is the WNBA with free agency drama and the 2024 draft around the corner.
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In a newly released episode of "The Pivot" podcast, though, Porter called women's basketball "a different sport" than men's basketball and questioned WNBA players' fight for pay equity.
The 25-year-old Nuggets forward has two sisters who played basketball in college, a sister who plays in high school and his mom was named Iowa's "Miss Basketball" in 1983, as he discussed with Boardroom in January. He is known for wearing Stewies, Breanna Stewart's signature Puma sneakers.
Yet on the podcast, Porter was asked about the pay difference between the NBA and the WNBA. Naturally, pingpong came into the conversation, to the chagrin of a number of WNBA players and fans.
this wasn’t advocating for women’s hoops at all smh it’s actually insulting https://t.co/bwbJDLixIe pic.twitter.com/NArMYhzTvJ
— alexis (@alexisfromvegas) February 3, 2024
"I see it from both sides. I know these females want to get paid more, and they're very talented, but so is a famous pingpong player," Porter said. "The best pingpong player is just as talented as the best basketball player, that doesn't mean they're gonna get paid the same. It's what the people want to watch.
"So as much as I understand females wanting the same treatment as men basketball players, it's a different sport."
The Denver player also discussed the possibility of lowering the rims in women's basketball to increase slam dunks after the podcast hosts called women's basketball less exciting than the men's game.
To put it simply, the comments did not go over well with WNBA stars, including reigning Las Vegas Aces star and reigning WNBA Finals MVP A'ja Wilson.
Also among the commenters: Aces guard Kelsey Plum, who has corrected misconceptions around WNBA players' campaign for pay equity in the past.
“We’re not asking to get paid what the men get paid,” she said in 2022. “We’re asking to get paid the same percentage of revenue shared.”
I need to see the whole interview before I spazz 😂😂 cause ain’t no way he said we the equivalent to ping pong playerssssss https://t.co/tzyDNXVoHX
— A'ja Wilson (@_ajawilson22) February 3, 2024
And it had to be a Puma athlete smh…
— Skylar Diggins-Smith (@SkyDigg4) February 3, 2024
the player that has taken almost 900 threes in the last 2 seasons wants to see US dunk more? pic.twitter.com/I6oOLF4ZR0
— Lexie Brown (@Lexiebrown) February 3, 2024
@thepivot what’s up yall, let’s chat 😜
— Kelsey Plum (@Kelseyplum10) February 3, 2024
