A Word: WNBA Finals: Shooting Beyond the Stars

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Slate Podcasts

News Commentary, Politics, News

4.5 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 11 October 2024

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The New York Liberty face the Minnesota Lynx for the championship in what has been a remarkable year for the WNBA. Attendance, attention and viewership skyrocketed. But throughout the season, superstar players Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese were dogged by toxic fans and coverage that was often sexist, racist, and just plain wrong from male sports journalists who knew little about the sport. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson discusses the issues with sports writer David Dennis Jr. of Andscape. They talk about how the action on the court was often overshadowed by off-the-court drama, and what the league can do better next season. Guest: David Dennis Jr., senior writer for Andscape and author of The Movement Made Us: A Father, a Son, and the Legacy of a Freedom Ride. Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola Want more A Word? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/awordplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is a word, a podcast from Slate.
0:03.0	I'm your host, Jason Johnson.
0:05.0	After a dramatic season, the W-MBA final series is set.
0:09.0	The New York Liberty will face the Minnesota Links.
0:12.0	But the most talked about players in the league,
0:14.2	Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, aren't going to be there.
0:16.7	Is that going to be a problem for the league?
0:18.6	If you are a new fan of the W&BA, right?
0:21.5	And you say, I want to watch Caitlin Clark and you say I want to watch Caitlin
0:24.4	Clark play basketball. Watch a Brandy Unescue. Watch her shoot those
0:28.4	threes and I'm telling you you're going to get that same sort of feeling
0:31.7	that you have when you're watching Clark.
0:34.5	The WMBA finals and the League's future coming up on a word with me Jason Johnson.
0:39.8	Stay with us. Welcome to a word of podcast about race and politics and everything else.
0:47.2	I'm your host Jason Johnson.
0:49.1	In many ways, 2024 has been a blockbuster year for the W MBA and for women's basketball.
0:55.0	Different platforms have recorded exponential growth in audience with games on
1:00.2	CBS and ESPN drawing an average of more than a million viewers and a 170% increase
1:06.5	for E-SPN over the audience just last year in 2023 and while the viewership victories are continuing through the playoffs when compared with earlier years,
1:15.8	the numbers have dropped off since the Indiana Fever and their star player,
1:19.4	Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark, were ousted in the first round and credible estimates find
1:24.1	that no W MBA playoff games have top 1 million viewers since then and Clark's
	...

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