WNBA Agrees To End Disparity Between Men’s, Women’s Fines

NEW YORK—In a landmark move to address longstanding gender inequities in professional basketball, league officials announced this week that the WNBA would now fine players just as much as their male counterparts in the NBA. “For too long, women have received financial penalties that are only a fraction of those received by men who break the very same rules,” said commissioner Cathy Engelbert, calling the new equal-opportunity fee structure a long overdue victory for the players, who despite being maligned and grossly under-compensated had brought enormous growth to the women’s game in recent years. “Effectively immediately, WNBA players will be given the exact same fines, whether it’s $50,000 for wearing a shirt emblazoned with profane language or $25,000 for retweeting a post criticizing referees. This is a huge step forward for fairness in the sport. From now on, it doesn’t matter if you’re LeBron James or an Indiana Fever rookie making $66,000 a year, because everyone will be treated as equals when their league is seeking punitive damages. These women were not being shown the respect they deserved when they were receiving a mere $200 in fines for a uniform infraction, but I’m proud they’ll finally be recognized as the world-class athletes they are.” Reached for comment, WNBA players said they did not have time to talk because they were in the middle of a shift waiting tables.

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