The paths to the WNBA and how we can cultivate home-grown talent to expand the league’s reach
There are, generally speaking, just a few common paths to playing professionally in the WNBA. A successful high school athlete usually looks for scholarships to play at the college level. They would then hope to perform well on the national stage and catch the eyes of professional scouts. Subsequently receiving an invite to the draft, getting picked, and then hopefully making the roster.
Players overseas might join professional or pro-affiliated clubs at a young age, sometimes competing at lower levels at first. A few of these athletes may end up choosing to attend an American university on scholarship. Others may continue on to play professionally in their respective home country or in other leagues. Note, the WNBA minimum age requirement for domestic players is 22; international players must be a minimum of 20 years of age, unless they play collegiately, in which case the minimum is also 22.
In recent years, Overtime Elite (men’s pro league for ages 16–20) and similar women’s Pro-Am leagues have garnered some recognition. These leagues offer young American athletes the option to play professionally straight out of high school. While some on the men’s side are opening their eyes to these alternatives, for the most part, we’ve yet to see much traction on the women’s side.
NIL has brought opportunities for women’s collegiate athletes to make some money. Alongside some of the best competition and comfortable living situations, college is generally the preferable and most common route to the pros for young women.
On the other hand, Overtime Elite and G-League Ignite (men’s pro developmental team) salaries are now competitive enough for young men to increasingly choose these routes over the collegiate route.
There are only so many scholarships that each collegiate team has and only 144 spots on WNBA rosters. Alex Azzi wrote a great piece detailing these realities back in April 2022. Every year, just 36 players are selected in the WNBA draft. More shockingly, in each of the last five years, an average of 13 drafted rookies were waived prior to the first game of the season. Azzi also cites, from Basketball Reference, that nearly half of each year’s draft class plays just one season in the WNBA.
There are many talented American women that are not invited to the draft or that remain undrafted after an invite. As Azzi wrote, in recent years we’ve even seen many fresh WNBA draftees fizzle out of the league. For the most part, these players end up signing overseas to keep their hoop dreams kicking.
It’d be careless to not mention Rebekah Gardner, a 31 year old rookie last season, who became a vital piece for the elite Chicago Sky. She is the rare case of an American having success overseas over the years and eventually making it back to the WNBA.
What goes unnoticed is that having to go overseas, away from your family and all you know, causes burnout for many great women’s basketball players. While not always the case, some may even retire from the game early.
This is a pitfall in the history of women’s sports in America. Talented female athletes have fewer opportunities to keep playing their sport beyond college. If we can build and grow Pro-Am and women’s developmental leagues in America, we can offer great athletes another opportunity to continue to play.
Men’s developmental leagues in America allow players to make a liveable salary in their home country and still have their eyes set on the NBA. In a similar vein, a better American women’s basketball farm system could actually grow the prestige of the WNBA. It would allow more players the opportunity to continue to develop. It would allow the hidden gems to keep their WNBA dreams alive and for more talent to filter into the WNBA.
It is yet another long-term vision to strive toward for our country. To continue to give love and support and to allow women’s leagues to thrive. If only the NBA and WNBA partnership could have worked out, WNBA teams could use the existing infrastructure to set up a women’s developmental league. The reality is, WNBA franchises are now on their own, at the mercy of their owners’ wallets. It would be on the WNBA owners to come together to understand this vision, and to invest in this “women’s G League” for the betterment of women’s basketball in general, and for years to come.
Realizing this vision won’t happen overnight. One step that the WNBA and its owners can take is to set up a yearly WNBA Draft Combine. Similar to the NBA Combine, teams and scouts could measure, interview, and individually work out certain draft prospects. As another alternative, or in addition, the WNBA could set up a summer league, pitting draftees and players with 0–2 years of WNBA experience in some preseason matchups.
It is a crucial step in talent evaluation that is currently lacking in the WNBA. Surely teams have scouts traveling across the country to see talent in person. Yet some players develop with time, and judging how collegiate performance translates to WNBA performance is not always easy. A proposed draft combine and summer league gives teams a chance to more accurately evaluate talent. In doing so, the best young talent has more opportunities to garner recognition.
A hot-button issue in the next year or two for the WNBA, will be the notion of WNBA prioritization. The WNBA knows that most of its players have overseas commitments in the offseason. The issue is that the WNBA does not want to be seen as a “side gig.”
To try and amend this, the WNBA included some new rules in the most recent collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Starting in 2023, players will be fined 1% of their base salary for each day of training camp they miss. They must report to their WNBA team by the start of the regular season or are otherwise suspended. Starting in 2024, all players must report by the start of camp or May 1st, whichever is later, or are otherwise suspended. Note that these rules do not apply to players with 0, 1, or 2 years of WNBA service.
We have yet to see how these new rules will impact the WNBA. While the current CBA goes through 2027, it is most likely that one side opts out, ending the CBA in 2025. WNBA salaries are increasing but the story is the same. We will continue to have this issue of overseas season-end dates overlapping with WNBA start dates.
The WNBA cannot just hope that overseas leagues will change their schedules. The league cannot just pray that players suddenly have a change of heart. Money talks. So until then, maybe the WNBA can explore things like a draft combine, summer league, or “women’s G League”. This way, we can aim to cultivate our home-grown talent and grow the prestige of the WNBA. Rather than waiting around for WNBA salaries to eventually be competitive with those overseas, we can ensure the light shines on the WNBA so brightly that players choose to prioritize their WNBA jobs.
WNBA Collective Bargaining Agreement & Salary Cap Information from HerHoopStats
