Liz Cambe is the type of superstar that every growing sports league in the world needs. THE The 6’8 Dallas Wings star set a league record by scoring 53 points in a game, and his name was pronounced by Drake in a song from Travis Scott’s album, Astroworld. But that’s only part of what makes it so important.
Not only is Cambage one of the best basketball players on the planet, she’s also the loudest – about everything. This includes being deported for telling a referee to “open your eyes” among other profanities, Instagram videos of her dancing while eating hummusimpromptu question-and-answer sessions about anxiety and depression that kept him away from WNBA for four seasons, and everything in between.
Cambage is raw, accessible and not afraid to speak her mind about the good, the bad and the real all the same. In a recent interview with SB Nation, she said she was ready to advocate for change, even if speaking out cost her sponsorships in her native Australia.
And in his mind, the WNBA needs a lot of change. So much change that she’s not even sure she’ll come back in the league after this season.
She is not alone. WNBA stars have become increasingly vocal about their desire for better salaries and better conditions for players., and for good reason. The Players’ Association and league have set a Nov. 1 date to opt out of their current collective bargaining agreement, which many on the players’ side believe are unfair. The opt-out would take effect after the 2019 season.
How might the WNBA be different if Cambage was in charge? Here is the list :
Pay players more
Cambage, his teammate Skylar Diggins Smith, and the rest of the league’s stars do not expect to receive the same salaries as their NBA colleagues. Yet they know there is a huge difference in the percentage of revenue paid to players in the WNBA versus those in the NBA.
The wage gap within the WNBA has been at the heart of the player’s public calls for change at the upcoming CBA. Currently, WNBA players only get 20 percent of the league’s revenue, while NBA players share about 50 percent.
The maximum salary in the WNBA was $113,000 in 2018, and salary is calculated regardless of earnings. Each year, the maximum salary only increases by $2,000, unlike in the NBA, where the maximum salary increases with league revenue.
This is why most members of the league travel to Europe, Asia and Australia to earn the bulk of their salaries. There, young players can earn three or more times their WNBA salary, while stars can earn 10 or 15 times that salary. Athletes play almost all year round without interruption. Some even miss WNBA training camp if their overseas teams qualify for the playoffs.
“We’re signing million-dollar contracts in Asia and Russia and being treated like royalty,” Cambage said during a WNBA conference call in July alongside Diggins-Smith. “But when we are here in America, we are in the back of the plane and play back to back.”
The pay gap is at the forefront of players’ concerns.
“Considering we do everything except clean the gym afterward and don’t get paid, yeah, it’s frustrating to see (NBA) bench players making 8-figure deals, and the last man on the bench making deals. 7-figure deals when we work our butts off every day,” Diggins-Smith said on the call.
Diggins-Smith referenced the fight by the league’s pioneers to get things off the ground 22 years ago. Players using their voices this season – like Cambage – are following in their footsteps.
“This allows us to do our part, just like the women before us did their part for us to even have a league,” Diggins-Smith said. “To support this league for our girls and give them something to be proud of to want to represent.”
Market stars like real stars
In Cambage’s mind, the problem goes deeper than the salaries of top players like her. They are also not promoted as stars in the same way as their male counterparts.
“I don’t think our game is marketed the way it should be,” Cambage said during that July call. “I don’t think we’re being treated the way we should be. The WNBA is consistently considered the best league in the world, but we are not treated like the best athletes in the world.
Cambage told me about a young fan who had been bullied at school and contacted her on Instagram. She made a connection with the boy, who in return showed up to the WNBA All-Star Game in Minnesota wearing her jersey.
However, Cambage is not there all year round to meet American youth. Because she must continue her career playing abroad, she will only stay in the United States for less than four months. This limits opportunities to meet Wings fans and for the league to get its face out there.
She has seen how successful female athletes can be if they are financially able to stay home, which makes the situation even more frustrating. His teammate, Diggins-Smith, is supported by both Puma and Bodyarmor Superdrink, giving him the income to not have to play overseas. She used this platform to become one of the biggest celebrities in women’s basketball.
“(Fans) want to be able to see their favorite players at offseason running camps like Skylar does,” Cambage told me. “That’s why she has such a big following. She stays and she makes connections.
“The rest of us disappear for another eight months. We can’t be here in the offseason because we’re going to make our money elsewhere,” she added. “I should turn on the TV to see more marketing for these girls. No more announcements. But we don’t have time to engage because we’re not there.
Cambage said she plans to bring Diggins-Smith to Australia for camps.
Market teams as real teams, not billboards.
“Look at this thing here,” Cambage told me as she picked up a teammate’s jersey. She pointed to the front of the uniform, which is dotted with sponsor labels.
“Who wants to buy this with a huge American Fidelity sign?” » she asked rhetorically. “Where does it say Dallas Wings on it?” How do you plan to market this? Who wants to buy this?
The jersey she listed is the only one that is customizable on her team’s website for fans to purchase. It looks like this:
“And if you want people to buy it, they have it with people’s names on the back. Nobody wants to represent that,” Cambage said.
“It’s little things like that. By having the right symbols on the jersey, people want to represent their city. They want to see Dallas Wings. They want their favorite players’ names on the back.
Better travel conditions
The hottest CBA-related topic within the WNBA is the issue of travel. THE The Aces of Las Vegas lost a season-ending match against Washington Mystics after experiencing 25 hours of plane delays and cancellations due to mechanical problems. They landed in Washington around 3 p.m. ET for an 8 p.m. ET tipoff, choosing not to show up and accepting the loss.
Although the Aces’ problem is extreme, it is common for WNBA teams to face travel issues because teams are only allowed to fly commercially.
Inside the ABC of the NBAthere is language that helps players with travel issues, and they fly chartered planes:
No team shall be required to play a scheduled match on the same day that it has crossed two (2) time zones, except in unusual circumstances and unless the players’ association consents, which consent shall not be withheld unreasonably.
“I empathize with these girls,” Cambage told SB Nation. “I was stuck in an airport overnight and we were just trying to get back to our hometown. It was when I was playing in China. But when they have canceled flights, when they have nowhere to stay, it wears you down. It wears you out and I fully support them. There’s no way they’re going to touch the field after 24 hours like that.
Cambage isn’t advocating for chartered planes, but there are still ways to more modestly improve travel conditions. She explained the differences between her flights in the Chinese Women’s Basketball Association and her travels in the WNBA. Although they still fly commercially in China, the team makes sure everyone has reserved exit lines. If the flight lasts more than three hours, the team travels first class.
In the WNBA, Cambage said the team tries to reserve seats in the exit rows, but they aren’t available to everyone. This sometimes requires him to squeeze his 6’8 frame into a coach seat.
Space out the schedule
Because the WNBA plays during the summer months, it must condense its schedule every two years to accommodate the Olympics or FIBA. world Cup.
This season, with the World Cup set to begin Sept. 22, the WNBA was forced to cram the same 34 games it always plays into two fewer weeks. For Cambage’s Dallas Wings team, that meant playing 34 games in 93 days. Toughest stretch: Four games in seven nights across the country from New York on a Sunday, home to Texas on Tuesday, Los Angeles on Thursday and Seattle on Saturday.
“See how many ACL injuries have happened this season? Cambage asked me. “It comes from fatigue. Injuries come from fatigue, especially injuries like this, and it’s proven.
So far, four players have lost their season due to knee injuries, including Angel McCoughtry, Atlanta Dream All-Star.
“This season is crazy, I think it’s like 34 games in 90 days,” Cambage said. “This is our third game in a row. If you want the best from us, you can’t treat us like that. If you want this game to be at the highest level, you have to treat your players like they are at the highest level.
It’s also a problem in the NBA, although the league has made progress in reducing its back-to-back schedule. The teams will average a record 13.3 each this season, and the grueling stretches of four games in five nights have been completely eliminated.
This year, the WNBA has its fourth-fewest number of consecutive games, at two per team. For comparison, Cambage said his teams in China don’t play back-to-back at all.
Whether Liz Cambage stays in the WNBA or takes another break, she has already made a major impact on the league. She is one of the best players in the league and has used this platform to express the growth of the league.
The WNBA has only been around for 22 seasons, which is why it is experiencing growing difficulties. Cambage and his colleagues are doing their part by expressing what needs to be improved.
WNBA fan?
Check out SB Nation’s women’s hoops blog!
