A mishandled moment at the WNBA Finals offered a window into a larger dynamic, according to interviews with nearly 20 reporters and officials around the WNBA.
Members of the Las Vegas Aces speak in a news conference last month after Las Vegas defeated the New York Liberty in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals to clinch its second straight championship. When the New York Liberty’s Courtney Vandersloot sailed a three-pointer wide of the hoop with the clock ticking down, a thrilling Game 4 of the WNBA Finals ended, and the Las Vegas Aces emerged as back-to-back champions.
The league, reporters said, often falls short of making itself more accessible to the media, even as its leaders rebuke the media for a lack of coverage,. Just two years ago, the Phoenix Mercury declined to speak to reporters after losing in the Finals. “Women’s sports is at a tipping point,” said Lindsay Schnell, a reporter for USA Today who has covered the WNBA. “People are watching. They want stories behind the scenes and information about the players.
“There have been times as women athletes where there’s this idea that our accessibility is taken for granted,” she said. “But you know you have a responsibility. It’s part of our job, and I think at times you have to square what that means, as a professional and a woman.” “I hear from everyone in town — Bears, Blackhawks, all the teams — about our coverage, but I’ve never had reporters be targeted like the Sky reporters have been,” Sun-Times sports editor Chris De Luca said.
Nancy Armour, a columnist at USA Today, put some of the blame on the NBA, which launched the league and owns 50 percent of it. They said players are being done a disservice by those around them when reporters try to write stories that pull back the curtain but struggle to get buy-in.
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