They got next Essay -- essays research papers

They Got Next On April 24, 1996, women’s basketball announced â€Å"We Got Next† as the NBA Board of Governors approved the concept of a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) to begin in June 1997. Since that day in 1996 there have been many firsts for the WNBA: Val Ackerman -- the first president of the WNBA; Sheryl Swoopes -- the first player signed to the WNBA; Cynthia Cooper -- the league’s first Most Valuable Player; the Houston Comets -- the first WNBA Champions; Lisa Leslie -- the first WNBA player to capture all three MVP awards (regular season, All-Star and Championship) in one season. The WNBA deserves the same attention and respect equal to the NBA due to its equal entertainment value, competitiveness, and their rights to compete and be seen, and get paid just as much. Critics say that the WNBA isn’t really entertaining because the game is just about running up and down the court shooting lay-ups and making free throws, that there is always one team dominating, and that the game is boring because none of the ladies can dunk. Well, the slam dunk is no longer a move reserved for Vince Carter, Kobe Bryant and the other high-flying guys of the NBA. Lisa Leslie of the Los Angeles Sparks made history on July 30, 2002 when she did a one-handed slam dunk in a game against the Miami Sol. Leslie's history-making move should pave the way for more women to try slamming the ball during WNBA games. Lisa Leslie is just one of the women making the WNBA more exciting and entertaining. Although Leslie was the big story for the league in 2002 becoming the first WNBA player to capture all three MVP awards in the same season, joining NBA greats Shaquille O’Neal, Michael Jordan and Willis Reed as the only pro hoopsters to accomplish that feat. In 2001, The WNBA welcomed its 10 millionth fan prior to game 2 of the WNBA Championship at the Staples Center. The Seattle Storm won the first pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft in the inaugural WNBA Draft Lottery held in New York. Things got even more entertaining when the top ten picks included four of the most exciting college players coming from the same team that won the National Championship that year. They were Connecticut Huskies Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Ashja Jones and Tamika Williams going 1st, 2nd, 4th and 7th in the draft. Now two years after Cash was drafted to the Detroit Shock, and after going 9-25 in the 2002 season... ...0 per season, while the guys (even those that play only a minute or two) rake in $4.5 million on average. The situation is so bad that many of the women are forced to play a second season in Europe just to make ends meet. The NBA and the WNBA are owned by the same management and says that women can’t have more because their league is still losing money, as most startups do. The men’s side didn’t turn a profit in its early years either, but the players weren’t shortchanged. Decent salaries were considered an investment in the future of the league. Besides, the women aren’t asking for those mega-millions. They just want a raise. And one way to get it would be to adjust the money formulas. NBA players get close to 60 percent of revenues back in salaries. The women get a pathetic 15 percent, and are prohibited from the lucrative endorsement deals the men enjoy. Even though the WNBA is still a young league, it is showing great strength that the women are hear to stay and they are not just going to knock on the door to prejudice they are going to kick it down in order for them to be seen as real professional athletes who are just as entertaining and competitive as the men of the NBA.