Commissioner Stern Believes that Women Will One Day Play in the NBA

According to www.realgm.com, Commissioner David Stern of the National Basketball Association believes that one day women will be playing alongside men within ten years. This is not a big surprise to diehard basketball fans because he has also predicted the league expanding to several countries in Europe. The idea of a women playing in a basketball league full of 250 pound men seems a bit outrageous, but it will eventually happen within twenty years or so and not ten. Stern is very well known for being critical about the NBA's declining image, but also accused for making it "softer" as well. With the WNBA watching its own ratings drop, the possibility of a woman joining the NBA may not a bad idea at all. Sure women are physically smaller than men, but can they be as quick some of them? I sure think so because a female point guard could outrun slower players during a fast break play. Point guards, regardless of gender, are well known for being the fastest players on the court. Women could take advantage of that particular position since it mainly requires playmaking abilities rather than shoving larger players or dunking the basketball.

I think David Stern's prediction can be considered a possibility, but many players around the league strongly disagree. LeBron James, for example, believes that ten years is pushing it, but does not rule out the possibility. Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson thinks that women do not have shot because the men in the NBA evolve as the years go by. I kind of agree with Jackson's answer because players in the NBA have become more athletic and much stronger. If women were to survive the rigorous 82 game schedule, then they may have to pack on some muscle to endure the countless shoves/fouls. Even though I see a woman playing in the NBA at least forty years from now, she will have to be incredible gifted in the playmaking department to catch basketball fans attention. You can't really blame the individuals who disagree with Stern's comments since women are indeed physically smaller. I do not see it as a sexist remark because many do believe a woman can last at least eighteen minutes during a regular season basketball game.