NBA star Draymond Green is calling out female athletes for more or less being all talk and no action about equal pay.
Seemingly straggling both sides of the fence, the Golden State Warriors power forward is also blaming virtue-signaling corporate America for failing to do enough to resolve a gender salary gap and apparently wants to shame them into writing some checks.
During a remote interview with NBC Sports reporter Kerith Burke that followed up a series of his tweets on the subject, Green suggested that women in sports need to change their tactics, even while acknowledging that in the current marketplace, men’s sports generate far more profit.
“I’m really tired of seeing them complain about the lack of pay, because they’re doing themselves a disservice by just complaining,” Green said about female athletes. “They’re not laying out steps that they can take to change that.
“And so, it’s coming off as a complaint because the people that can change it, they’re just going to continue to say, ‘Well, the revenue isn’t there…so if you don’t bring in the revenue, we can’t up your pay.’ They’re going to keep using that, but the reality is, as true as that is, it’s an excuse,” he added.
“Because everyone says, ‘We support women. We support women empowerment. We support women in the workplace. We do this for women. We do X for women. Blah, blah, blah. And everyone uses it to their advantage; yet these women are not using these people that are saying those very things to their advantage. So then it just becomes a complaint that falls on deaf ears,” Green continued.
Green then went on to recommend that activists and athletes call out corporations — which, according to him, just pay lip service to women empowerment — specifically for an alleged failure to put “a single penny” into the WNBA” or “towards these women athletes. But yet plastered all over your website is women empowerment…”
“Let’s not continue to toss out this battle cry…And if we’re specific in what we’re asking for, and who we’re asking for it from,, well then, let us see them publicly turn us down,” Green said.
Watch Draymond Green’s comments embedded below and form your own conclusions:
Thanks to those who've taken an interest in this issue. I wanted to post the second half of this interaction with @KerithBurke & Draymond. He says women need to call out companies/entities who aren't valuing female athletes (they have been). Men with power need to do it too. pic.twitter.com/uz3nEoLNvk
— Kylen Mills (@KylenMills) April 5, 2021
The average annual WNBA salary is reportedly about $100,000 as compared to the approximately $7 million that NBA players bank. Even with the NBA losing popularity because of its social justice advocacy and other reasons, viewership, and thus cash flow, is still significantly higher in the men’s league. The top-tier NBA players, of course, make far more than that.
In any industry, moreover, a certain level of unfairness and arbitrariness occurs when it comes to hiring, promotion, or pay. Since 1963, pay discrimination on the basis of sex has been illegal in the U.S., however.
Various researchers have challenged the gender pay gap as advanced by the left from Joe Biden on down. They say that when controlling for factors such as type of job, type of industry, experience, tenure, hours worked, and so forth, the pay gap largely disappears.
At the risk of oversimplifying, comparing the pay of a man (or woman) who works on an oil rig, for example, with a woman (or man) who shuffles papers in an office is seldom an appropriate measure.
Anti-Trump, gold medalist soccer star Megan Rapinoe recently visited the White House to lament that she is paid less than men who do the same job (even though women’s soccer is apparently far less popular than its male counterpart.)
Time to ‘cash in wokester’! Critics say NO excuse for Rapinoe’s complaints about unequal pay under Biden admin https://t.co/fQGAIuTZHr pic.twitter.com/QERqdt5gdn
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) March 25, 2021
Some social media users suggested that Draymond Green has a point. Here is a sampling:
He was legit giving them solid advice on how to get paid more. Did you even listen to the interview or just went with the response you thought was best based off the other people who clearly didn't listen?
— Odinson (@Odinson899) April 2, 2021
All sports pay is dictated by the size of the tv deals its hard to get paid a ton if u don’t have a huge tv deal
— Drt (@drt1983_drt) April 1, 2021
In essence he saying complaining without taking the steps to address the revenue reduction or using leverage with people in powerful positions to increase the league’s revenue is not helpful. I agree with his perspective.
— Maya ♥️s Olynyk (@RowdyMaya) April 1, 2021
I mean…. from what I’m hearing he’s plenty informed. He’s literally telling women what they need to do to make their voice heard
— Fieldsisbetter (@kwok_mason) April 1, 2021
Draymond isn’t wrong… How yall gonna get paid more when you not drawing NBA level revenue? It’s just empty complaining… Put in the advertising and get eyeballs watching
— Tim (@Tim78462169) April 1, 2021
Hard to take, but he’s right about revenue not being there. It’s not. It’s a good product but it’s a different product than the NBA. Hopefully, someday people will pay the same for it but we are not there yet.
— OhReally? (@OhReall01615109) April 1, 2021
I hate #NBA but this dude is 100% correct, if #WNBA wants more money (advertising, marketing) they need to increase their popularity & get more fans/TV ratings. Why should #WNBA be subsidized by NBA/Owners? “Just because” it’s “fair”? Nope. Cut ’em free & see what happens.
— EclipseCloudF0475 (@CloudF0475) April 2, 2021
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