The WNBA Finals begin Sunday as the Washington Mystics take on the Connecticut Sun, with each team looking for their first championship trophy. Soon after the last confetti falls and the champagne showers subside, both teams will join the rest of the league in an offseason that could reshape the future of the WNBA.
A key goal: mental health care coverage similar to that of the NBA. The men’s league made changes to the policy to increase mental health resources for its athletes in August after players lobbied for new mental health care coverage in their collective agreement.
Agreement between WNBA Players Association and women’s league ends in October, after union chose to withdraw In November 2018.
Days after the NBA’s August announcement, Las Vegas Aces star Liz Cambage posted an article in The Players’ Tribune describing his own anxiety and how it affected his life and career. She praised the NBA’s new rule, saying it deserves “a ton of credit.”
“But at the same time, I won’t lie: I find it disappointing that we praise someone for ‘progress’ when so many women are excluded from it,” she wrote. “I mean… doesn’t the WNBA deserve this same program?
Access to mental health care in professional sports is far from equal. Each league has different policies, and often individual teams do too. More sports governing bodies are being asked to develop their own plans as more professional athletes speak out, normalizing what remains a stigmatized subject.
In the WNBA, there is no standard of care for mental health. On the same team, players may have access to several mental health professionals. When traded, players can join a team without the same resources. And because players travel often, even if they find a provider or practitioner they trust, it can be difficult to make regular appointments or even fill prescriptions that require frequent check-ins.
That’s what Imani McGee-Stafford found out when she was traded between the Chicago Sky, Atlanta Dream and Dallas Wings.
“There is no benchmark as to what is provided to you or what you must provide in terms of mental health services,” McGee-Stafford said. “It’s definitely something our league is missing.”
Los Angeles Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike pushes for change as president of the WNBA Players Association.
“We just want to make sure that every player on the W has access to the same professional resources from team to team,” Ogwumike said. “As we seek to improve mental health in sport, and particularly for women in sport, the ideal would be simple: we would have the same resources as men. »
When asked for comment, the WNBA emphasized its current resources and upcoming discussions during the offseason.
The success of these programs will depend on athlete satisfaction, said Dr. Victor Schwartz, chief medical officer of the Jed Foundationwho works with both the NBA and WNBA, “A great mental health program for a sports league should be like a great program for any community, in that it is tailored to specific needs, challenges and resources of a particular population. »
Players expressed hope that the tailored program would accommodate their chaotic schedules while being sensitive to the fact that a single mental health professional cannot meet the needs of all players.
“The problem with social media and pop culture is that we see a specific image of a victim or someone struggling with mental health issues or mental illness,” McGee-Stafford said. “The more stories we see, the more we are able to help break the stigma. »
Former WNBA star Chamique Holdsclaw has opened up about her depression and bipolar disorder. Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson shared his battle with anxiety before the 2018 Super Bowl. The Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps discussed his depression and in 2018 became the face of the online therapy provider Discussion area. NBA star DeMar DeRozan spoke about his struggle with depression, as did Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star forward Kevin Love in The Players’ Tribune.
As WNBA players continue to push for mental health care in the workplace, McGee-Stafford hopes they can do more than inspire change among their fellow professional athletes.
“If our sports leagues have initiatives around mental health care and mental health, we hope that can trickle down to the real world and to people with day jobs,” she said.
