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Bad Night For The WNBA

about 1 month ago

Mahorn: Peacekeeper or pusher in WNBA fight?
Candace Parker in middle of WNBA brawl.

Those were the lead headlines this morning from USA Today.com's entertaining Game On column. The WNBA finally made it above the fold last night, courtesy of a much-talked about brawl that erupted with less than five seconds remaining in Detroit's 84-81 victory over Los Angeles. Four players were ejected, including Parker, the marketing face of the league and soon-to-be U.S. Olympian. The WWE theatrics started with the Shock's Plenette Pierson and Parker battling for position a free throw attempt. Tensions were running high at that point after Detroit's Cheryl Ford had previously tore the ball from Parker's grip. (Parker walked toward Ford and both players had to be separated.)

Parker fell following the free throw attempt and the two players were tangled. After Parker got up, Pierson walked menacingly toward Parker, and the two began jousting. The Detroit Free Press reported Parker appeared to throw a punch. The benches cleared and in the middle of the chaos, Los Angeles center Lisa Leslie fell down while Shock assistant coach Mahorn (perfectly cast with his "Bad Boys" background) was trying to restrain her. That prompted the Sparks' DeLisha Milton-Jones to hit or punch Mahorn in the back. (Parker, Pierson, Milton-Jones and Mahorn were ejected; the Shock's Deanna Nolan and the Sparks' Shannon Bobbit received technical fouls).

The video went viral fast, and last night ESPN and ESPN Radio discussed the WNBA in more detail than they have in years. It was also debated this morning by Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith on ESPN2's First Take. (Looking forward to those two discussing Cambodia's border confrontation with Thailand.)

So now we ask: Is this good? Is any publicity good publicity? Don King and Bob Arum would surely say yes, and clearly the WNBA's television ratings (which are up this year, though still at subterranean levels) could use the jolt. ESPN Radio overnight host Jason Smith, in more thoughtful tones than most sports radio jockeys, argued last night that it was one of the best days the WNBA has ever had.

I disagree.

The WNBA doesn't sell itself on overt physicality, nor on fights between the players. It sells itself on the spendid skills and athleticism of the players. It's a niche league struggling for eyeballs and while the short-term effects of this will be tons of publicity, I fear the long-term effect will be nothing more than a punch line for a wise guy sports blogger or mainstream writer. Pierson goaded Parker into the fight, but it's never good when your league's marquee talent is opting for punches over pull-up jumpers. Lost in all this was Shock forward Cheryl Ford, attempting to play peacemaker, suffered a sprained right knee while trying to restrain Pierson. She was wheeled off the court in a wheelchair. Ford was the MVP of the All-Star Game last year. Imagine if Paul Pierce got hurt trying to break up a fight between Kevin Garnett and an opponent? Celtic fans would be apoplectic.

Commissioner Donna Orender needs to send a message– including to golden girl Parker. The players should be suspended for multiple games. Mahorn will probably get suspended, too, but from every angle I saw – and ESPN Doris Burke made this point smartly last night – he appeared to be in a peacemaking position when Leslie approached him. "It's just really sad that this happened," Leslie said last night, looking teary-eyed. "This is not the way I want to represent myself. I'm a mom…We'll probably make some highlights but this is not the way we want to get attention."

Agreed. Bad night for the WNBA, even if they are the talk of the sports world today.

-----------------------------------------

I asked SI.com staffer Nina Mandell - a longtime follower of the league - to weigh in with her thoughts below:

When the WNBA made Candace Parker the face of the league, the unspoken charter was this: Don't screw up.

Parker, with her grace, dunks and overall dominance of the court, has had game-changing performances this season. She has set rookie records and made headlines for dunking. So when she made a different sort of headline last night in the middle of an all-out brawl at the Palace, as a sports writer and fan of the WNBA, I had one thought: She should have known better. They all should have known better. Lisa Leslie, the face of USA Basketball for so long, should not have to be separated by an assistant coach from a brawl.

Rarely does the WNBA make headlines for all the good that goes on in the league. It did last night. I hope that instead of looking at the unfairness of the publicity, Parker, Leslie and league officals will look at last night's images and at themselves. I hope they are thinking today: "I'm better than that."

Because they are.

Comments (43)

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I have not watched this yet, but I have heard that some players were trying to pound on mahorn to ultimately no avail.

I can see how this would be good, because this would be the first time a WNBA rivalry could be talked about in the same way the Colorado/Wings, Yankees/Boston (been some good brawls there) and other rivalries started. Not pretty, no, but if you are going for pretty, is that sports. Emotions make sports interersting, and emotions will play a large role in defining this moment for a long time.

Biggles | 07/23/08, 01:20 PM

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