WNBA Player Nneka Ogwumike Reacts to Draymond Green’s Comments on Pay Gap

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green posted a series of tweets touching on the pay gap and lack of media exposure to women’s sports. He called on women to fix the problem rather than push companies and leagues to give them more. The Los Angeles Sparks forward, Nneka Ogwumike, was one of six players Green tagged in his tweet sharing “some thoughts.”

She was asked her thoughts on the tweets:

“To be honest, I feel as though comments like that — which were kind of followed a few days later from Shaq’s comments to Candace [Parker] about lowering the rim — I think what I’m feeling is a lot of miseducation and ignorance. I’m always careful about using the word ‘ignorance’ because I think we’ve grown up to believe that it has a negative connotation when it really doesn’t. And it’s great to know that there’s allies out there that are seeking to see the women’s games better and the women’s business be better in sport. But I do think that a lot of that education and dispelling of the ignorance that we experience just on an individual level, it can really be kind of dissolved by us having conversations.

“So with that, I’m very, very, very, very tired of people attacking each other, especially on social media. And I want a lot of people to understand that cancel culture and exclusivity is something that is not helping us move in any direction. Although we’re in a time now where we need to make space for people who are directly experiencing the inequities and also allowing those who have the power to understand how they can use their power to see things move forward.

“When that comes to women in sport, I do appreciate Draymond coming out and using his platform to talk about it. I would like to take it a step further and say hey, let’s continue the discussions, even if they’re offline, for us to really figure out how we can really move forward in a way that’s not just helpful for women in sport, but also for everybody because it helps everyone when those who aren’t getting the most attention or most space, rise.”

Women have consistently asked for more money, but in reality,  it’s all about revenue.  If there’s more revenue, then there could be more pay. Everything is relative.

Men’s basketball creates more revenue,  so they make more money. It’s really that simple.


Welcome to the game outside the game! Follow us on our Sideaction Twitter handle, Instagram, and Facebook for the latest on sports and pop culture news across the web!

More from Side Action

More News & Stories