By Nikhil Chandran on November 13, 2024

Posted and updated December 16, 2024

Last updated May 12, 2025

Picture this: You’re sitting at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Fever, in the middle of a sellout crowd of 17,274. The score is tied, 88–88. With :0.01 seconds left in the 4th quarter, Caitlin Clark nails a three-point shot from the middle of the court to give the Fever a 91–88 win. Aliyah Boston envelopes her in a hug while the crowd cheers in celebration. This is exactly the excitement and camaraderie you would expect from a women’s basketball game.

For the players, it’s a chance to show their most passionate fans that hard work and dedication do pay off and to send a message to young girls and women that they can do anything. Speaking as one fan, I am constantly inspired by the stories I read on the internet about how these women are changing the face of basketball.

And since we’re talking about fans, approximately 400,000 of them attended WNBA games from May 14th to May 31st, according to a June 10th press release from the league. That’s just the start of the season!

Today, I’m going to share with you three reasons why you should join these fans in watching this exhilarating game between some of the best women's basketball players in the world.

First, let’s talk about how dedicated these players are. 

Many of them started on their basketball journeys as little kids, sharpening their skills at junior leagues and at home. When they go to school, they usually have to balance practice with their schoolwork; this develops time management skills, which can significantly affect their dedication. This skill is usually what leads them to become successful in the WNBA and beyond.

There are two players who exemplify the values of dedication. One of them is Caitlin Clark.

According to a February 6th, 2024 article from the Associated Press, Caitlin was so advanced in basketball that her parents signed her up to play on boys’ teams. Because of this, she was sometimes a challenge to work with, according to former coach Kristin Meyer. Nevertheless, her stubbornness was successful, as she ranked #4 on the Iowa high school five-on-five career scoring chart with 2,547 points.

Overall, this dedication has led to her setting two University of Iowa records for most points scored in a season (1,055) and most assists in a season (327), according to Iowa House Resolution 110, which was passed unanimously on February 22, 2024. Her ability to score from anywhere on the court and thrive under pressure in big games shows that she’s a dominant force to be reckoned with.

Another player who exemplifies this trait is local legend Candace Parker.

Fearing that she would not match the level of play of her brother and father, Candace chose to focus on soccer. But it wasn’t until the 8th grade that her family convinced her to play basketball. Her father, a former collegiate basketball player for the University of Iowa, constantly pushed her to work hard and improve her skills.¹

This coaching later proved to be successful for Candace in high school, when she averaged 22 points and 15 rebounds per game as a sophomore for Naperville Central, according to a February 1, 2021 article from the Chicago Tribune. Her ability to lead her high school team to victories carried over to the WNBA, where she guided the Chicago Sky to its first ever championship.

Next, let’s talk about how these players “show up” for their community.

In addition to excelling on the basketball court, WNBA players are interwoven within the fabric of their communities and are constantly using their platform to advocate for change within those communities and elsewhere. Many of them feel the need to do this because they themselves come from communities that are facing the same problems (racial inequality, gender discrimination, economic disparities) as the affected communities.

One player that used her platform in a time of need is Maya Moore.

Even though Moore didn’t grow up in poverty, she knew a wrongfully convicted person who did. Jonathan Irons was only 16 when he was convicted of burglary and assault with a weapon in 1998, according to a July 2, 2020 article from CBS Sports. Little did he know that a four-time WNBA Finals champion was listening and believed that he was innocent.

This champion first met Irons in person at the Jefferson City Correctional Center in 2007, before starting her freshman year at the University of Connecticut, according to a July 1, 2020 article from NBC News. Twelve years later, she announced that she was stepping away from basketball to help with the case. As she dug deeper into it, she found that there was no evidence connecting Irons to the crime, according to the CBS Sports article. Knowing this, she continued to fight, and, after more than 20 years in prison, Jonathan Irons was officially released from prison. Because she was able to overcome difficult situations in basketball, she was able to persevere through the Jonathan Irons case and eventually win with justice, showing that even the best WNBA players bounce back — literally.

Another player that uses her platform to help people in need is A’ja Wilson.

When she was a sophomore in high school, A’ja found out that she had dyslexia (a learning disability that makes it hard for people to read), according to a July 2, 2021 article from the Olympics. She initially thought of this as a weakness she didn’t want to share with anybody, but South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley thought otherwise. She encouraged her to be more open about her disability and helped her manage it by making her read passages from the Bible before each game, according to that same article.

Now, she’s passing on the baton given to her by Staley by helping and supporting children affected by this learning disability. Her foundation, the A’ja Wilson Foundation*, provides educational programming, workshops, camps, and grant opportunities to children with dyslexia. A’ja herself uses her platform to raise public awareness about the disability and advocate for better support systems in schools and communities. Playing basketball while living under the pressure of dyslexia has contributed to her athletic successes both at South Carolina and the WNBA; both are worthy to watch.

Finally, let's talk about the game itself!

One of the things that makes WNBA games so memorable is their ability to keep you on the edge of your seat. This is due to the fast rate of play and the many good shots the players make. Additionally, the games are very competitive, often being decided in the final minutes or even seconds.

Recently, it seems as if the games are getting faster.

For example, according to an August 6, 2020 article from FiveThirtyEight, the Connecticut Sun, in 2019, played at a pace of 78.7 possessions per 40 minutes, with approximately 30.5 seconds during each possession. The following year, they increased their pace to 83.2 possessions per 40 minutes, with approximately 28.85 seconds during each possession.

This is a good trend for the WNBA to have because it provides more opportunities for teams to gain possessions per game, which can lead to higher-scoring games and higher attendance numbers.

Moreover, as already discussed, the games can be very closely contested.

According to a July 24, 2024 article from worldmetrics.org, the average margin of victory (the difference in points between the winning team and the losing team at the end of the game) is 9.7 points.

This statistic shows that the teams are more evenly matched, ensuring that any team has a fair chance of winning on any given night. This increases the anticipation for fans, as each game becomes a thrilling and unpredictable contest between the real queens of the court.

I’ve given you three reasons why you should support these incredible women’s basketball players.

Now, let’s join these 400,000 fans in watching this exciting game during one of the most important times in women’s sports history.

As Isaiah Thomas of the Phoenix Suns once said, “If you don’t respect women’s basketball, you’re a joke. You’re a joke, man.”

¹-Summarized from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candace_Parker.

*-denotes a source that was not part of the original MLA sources I used for this blog post