“The difference currently between men and women is that women have…

Par Adiel Kalonji | NBA Editor

For many years, women’s basketball was in the shadow of men’s competitions. This trend is starting to reverse, particularly in the NCAA. A veteran of the league therefore tried to explain what conditions this phenomenon.

To mark the end of March Madness, orange ball fans were able to enjoy two choice posters. Some watched the victory of the Connecticut Huskies against Purdue (75-60), others preferred to turn on their screen to see Caitlin Clark’s last match, which unfortunately ended in a defeat for the Iowa Hawkeyes against the South Carolina women’s team (69-71).

That being said, it should be noted that more people opted for the women’s basketball final rather than the men’s. Throughout the season, we could see that the media coverage around the university players was more important than that of the men’s championship. Unsurprisingly, the number of viewers gathered to watch the women’s match was much higher.

NCAA players more popular than men?

Wow. ????

(Via @FOS ) pic.twitter.com/B3j52xTsFM

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 9, 2024

While women’s sports have long suffered from a lack of media exposure, this trend is starting to change, at least when it comes to college basketball. How can we explain this historically unusual disparity? Some analysts have tried their hand at the task. In a recent episode of Mind The GameJJ Redick gave his point of view to his friend LeBron James:

Here is a list of names of college basketball players, many of whom have won the MVP title: Candace Parker, and some of them have won it more than once, Maya Moore, Brittney Griner, Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson, Aliyah Boston, Sabrina Ionescu, Kelsey Plum, Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Juju Watkins, who is at USC. To name just a few.

Despite the fact that I have a particular consideration for the collective aspect in basketball, it is clear that the difference currently between men and women is that women have more icons in the NCAA.

This plethoric list set out by the former Clippers is actually quite telling. And with Caitlin Clark as a potential future figurehead, perhaps the WNBA will enjoy such popularity as well.

If men’s basketball has often attracted more fans than women’s, the trend is reversing when it comes to university competitions. According to JJ Redick, this phenomenon is simply due to a greater number of female stars in the NCAA today than among the men.