If you follow the Storm, you already know what an eloquent, inspiring woman Sue Bird is. Seattle loves her and it’s not just for her bringing home the gold: it’s because she is a role model both on and off the court. During her off court time, Bird writes for The Players Tribune, and this week she took on a pretty big topic: the disparities between the WNBA and NBA. The topic is even bigger this year because of the changes in tournaments, ESPN coverage and the 20^th anniversary of the WNBA.

Bird discussed how, when searching for the player they thought led the WNBA in charges drawn with some friends, came up short when she entered the terms for the search online. In fact, she was corrected by the web browser, which asked if she really wanted “charges drawn NBA.” She went on to say that not only was the different immediately glaring, but that even an obscure search for an NBA player cross referenced with sources would yield thousands of results while something so simple had no results in the WNBA.

So many people are focusing on how much the WNBA needs more coverage to become more mainstream, but Bird has a point: without the vital stats that every sport has, how are fans supposed to rally around players in the first place? Bird writes, “Data helps drive conversations, strategy, decision making. But data on its own isn’t terribly interesting. It needs context. It needs a storyteller. Data helps tell the story of a player, a team, an entire career.”

Bird also points out that men are often more interested in stats, and that 70% of the Storm’s fan base is women. Is that the reason why stats are so often ignored in regards to the WNBA? She went on to talk about when Elena Delle Donne had a record-setting season last year, barely anyone covered it until after the fact when it was in progress all season long. And when women’s teams do set or break records, as Bird reminds us, they are delineated with an asterisk to show that it was a woman’s team or player who did it, as if it doesn’t really even count—or matter.

What did you think of Bird’s thoughtful commentary? Do you think that having the games more televised this year will help raise interest in the sport, and how should the WNBA help promote player stats and scores?

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia