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FILE – Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving reacts in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies, Monday, Oct. 24, 2022, in Memphis, Tennessee.
AP Photo/Brandon Dill, file
Kyrie Irving seemed to indicate there could be good news on the horizon in WNBA players’ fight to secure charter flights after the Nets fell to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night.
Irving, who is vice president of the NBA Players’ Association, said he was “optimistic” that a change in the WNBA rules could come in time for the 2023 season. , WNBA teams are prohibited from traveling on charter flights and clubs can be penalized if caught doing so.
“As vice president of the NBPA, we discussed a series of these things, and I wish it were as simple as getting it tomorrow, but business requires a little patience, and our W ladies have been patient for a long time. That’s enough,” Irving said. “We absolutely have to do something, and I’m with them no matter how much it costs. I think we could all come together and make something very achievable , and we just want our ladies to have peace of mind while they play.
The New York Liberty was fined $500,000 and team manager Oliver Weisberg was removed from the WNBA executive committee for violating the league’s travel policy during the 2021 season. The issue of charter flights has only gotten worse since Sports Illustrated first revealed the story of the sanctions levied against the Liberty and it will likely be a focal point moving forward as WNBA players work to close the gap in how they are treated.
The topic of travel is also expected to play a big role in WNBA free agency this offseason as teams attempt to woo Breanna Stewart. The former WNBA MVP is would have carried out charter flights a key part of free agency this year and the league will have to deal with the problem if Brittney Griner plays this season since she would have would need private travel for security reasons.
Griner was arrested at a Russian airport last February after a small quantity of hash oil was found in her luggage. She was wrongly detained for nine months before her freedom was guaranteed by the Biden administration in a prisoner exchange.
“(WNBA players) don’t have to be overseas all the time. They need to be here playing in front of their family every day and doing what we do,” Irving said. “So I think it’s a lesson learned now about how we can attack this as a family because the W and the NBA, we’re a family. And I think things will be worked out before the season starts. I am very optimistic about this.
