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I’m a WNBA player. Men won’t stop challenging me to play one-on-one (WaPo)

Piecake

Piecake

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Oct 27, 2017
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MOD EDIT: The subject of this article, and the accompanying thread, is the sexism Devereaux Peters experiences being constantly challenged by men and expected to prove herself over her sport. To immediately punt this topic to the territory of men being stronger and "more athletic" than female athletes is not only off-topic, but proves her point.

Stay on topic.

A few weeks ago, as I was walking down the street to my car, a man stopped me to begin a conversation about my height. Here we go, I thought. He asked the usual questions, prodding me about my basketball career, and then there it was: "Let's play one-on-one. I bet I could beat you."

It was far from the first time. I'm a tall woman at 6-foot-2, and almost everywhere I go, people notice me. The first question is: Do you play basketball? When they find out I'm a professional player, some are just impressed and want to know more about the life of a pro athlete. Most of the men I talk to, though, ask me to play one-on-one.
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If you've ever had that impulse, let me stop you here. I'm not going to play you one-on-one. I'm never going to play you one-on-one. I have been playing basketball my entire life, and for just as long I have been challenged by men who think they are better than me. I had to prove my skill in middle school against the boys who thought girls couldn't play basketball. I had to prove my skill in high school when the guys' egos were hurt because the girls basketball team was more successful and more popular than theirs. I had to prove it in college when grown men started challenging me to one-on-one games because there was no way this college woman was better than they were. Time and time again, I have trounced men — far too many to count. Now I have nothing to prove.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/outl...ory.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.d4d645c78e3c
 
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Biestmann

Biestmann

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Derrick01

Derrick01

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KrangBakesaTurtle said:
When will one hit the nba. Seems like a shooter or pg would be possible
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lol.

It's hard to say this without seeming sexist in this day and age but men and women are different physically. It's like a national story when a wnba player can manage to (barely) dunk whereas in the nba just about all of them can dunk, and easily too. They're just stronger, faster and more athletic. I mean sure she could take me but we're talking about the nba which is the best of the best in skill and athleticism.
 
Deepthought_

Deepthought_

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Probably dudes who were ballers in high school and never Went further then that

Like damn homie in high school you was the man homie wtf happened to you lol
 
Drksage

Drksage

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Oct 30, 2017
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in term of power levels:
NBA>WNBA>>college basketball>People that play basketball on a non profesional level
 

Deleted member 5359

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Basketball is one of those sports where an inordinate number of people think they're super good at it because it's accessible. I've heard so many normal ass people say they could take an NBA player and it's kind of pathetic. Add sexism into the mix and I imagine it's twice as bad for WNBA players.
 
dyst

dyst

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Oct 27, 2017
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If I saw Lebron James, I'd ask him to play a game of basketball too. Might even trash talk a bit thinking I could score a point, knowing full well I would get crushed. I'd probably do the exact same thing with a WNBA player. But for me it would be all in good fun.
 
Ether_Snake

Ether_Snake

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Oct 29, 2017
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"Most of the men I talk to challenge me to a one on one basketball game", is she living in the world of Pokemon or something?

"One McChicken with fries and a coke please"
"Only if you beat me at a game of basketball!"
 
HStallion

HStallion

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Oct 25, 2017
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dyst said:
If I saw Lebron James, I'd ask him to play a game of basketball too. Might even trash talk a bit thinking I could score a point, knowing full well I would get crushed. I'd probably do the exact same thing with a WNBA player. But for me it would be all in good fun.
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The problem becomes when a lot of dudes do this all the time even if its just for "good fun" and then a lot of them do it for less savory ideals and reasons. Now take this as a woman who has to deal with sexism in every other aspect of life and then having to deal with random dudes that are less impressed with her talents and more about trying to defeat them to show how good they are instead.
 

AnotherDayAnotherDollar

The Fallen
Oct 31, 2017
5,632
Drksage said:
in term of power levels:
NBA>WNBA>>college basketball>People that play basketball on a non profesional level
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Team USA would get smoked by a D1 college team, let alone a regular WNBA team. I think you guys are underestimating the inherit advantages that males have when it comes to physical attributes. IIRC some time ago the US soccer WNT (best team in the world) played a game against the U-16 MNT and got smoked.

Sanjuro said:
Out of the major four sports, the NBA is the only league where women could simply not compete.
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Humm no. Women would also not be able to compete in hockey, baseball, or football. That's not saying they are inferior or a lesser athlete. However, there's a reason for weight and gender separation in sports. Even in table tennis where someone I talked to from USATT as recent as yesterday was extremely upset that some states don't have gender specific leagues and it's all open because it discourages women from continuing in the sport.
 
Sanjuro

Sanjuro

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Oct 25, 2017
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AnotherDayAnotherDollar said:
Humm no. Women would also not be able to compete in hockey, baseball, or football. That's not saying they are inferior or a lesser athlete. However, there's a reason for weight and gender separation in sports. Even in table tennis where someone I talked to from USATT as recent as yesterday was extremely upset that some states don't have gender specific leagues and it's all open because it discourages women from continuing in the sport.
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Humm yes.

We already have had a woman play in the NHL. Being a pitcher or kicker is not out of the realm of possibility. Male pitchers are already essentially a weird group of freaks.
 
WhateverItTakes

WhateverItTakes

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Oct 25, 2017
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It must be so tiring for female athletes to always have the comparison to male sports pop up. Like we all already know the answers, can we move on? Athletics seems to avoid this but I suppose that comes with women's sport having a longer history where they were always alongside the men.
 
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