For anyone on a career path — whether an athlete, a reporter, an electrician or an entrepreneur — it’s important to know and understand their chosen field. No one wants to be running full steam ahead without a clue as to the future landscape.
But that feels especially true in sports. How can a college basketball player, who wants to play professionally, develop the necessary skill set without knowing what’s needed in the league? How can players know what to expect if they haven’t studied the league and its teams?
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In another installment of our anonymous women’s college basketball polls, we decided to tackle this issue head-on to get an idea of how much players think about the next level. During the Seattle and Greenville Super Regionals, The Athletic reporters took advantage of the open locker rooms to ask more than 85 players questions about which players they emulate to model their games. We didn’t specify whether those players must be in the WNBA. We also asked how much of the WNBA season players actually watched. We granted players anonymity so they could openly speak, and they shared some fascinating insights.
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Not all of the players who answered these questions are headed to the WNBA; in reality, very few are destined to play in the league because of roster restrictions. But, for an exclusive group of players competing at an elite level in March, these answers provide insight into how players see the see WNBA and its players, and truly, how much they’re paying attention.
After which professional player, if any, do you model your game?
| Rank | Player | Team | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Candace Parker | 12 | |
2 | Elena Delle Donne | 5 | |
2 | Skylar Diggins-Smith | 5 | |
4 | Sue Bird * | 4 | |
4 | Kevin Durant | 4 | |
4 | A'ja Wilson | 4 |
* = retired
• Receiving three votes: Steph Curry, Chelsea Gray, Damian Lillard, Breanna Stewart
• Receiving two votes: Devin Booker, Rhyne Howard, Sabrina Ionescu, LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, Arike Ogunbowale, Chris Paul, Diana Taurasi, Courtney Vandersloot, Jackie Young
• Thirty-eight others received one vote.
• Twenty-five players said no one.
More than 120 players responded to this question with roughly one-fifth saying they don’t model their game after any player and another quarter of them naming an NBA player. Some players specifically asked whether they had to pick a WNBA player, to which our reporters said they could choose any player from any league.
Candace Parker, who recently joined the Aces, led the way among college players’ answers as they mentioned aspects of her versatility. “I’d go with Candace Parker because she’s like a big guard,” one player said.
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“I like to pass, and I like bigs that can incorporate that into their game,” added another.
Watch Candace Parker’s eyes on this dime👀
🎥 @SportsCenter | #NoCeilingpic.twitter.com/2xAFczYZzk
— The Athletic WBB (@TheAthleticWBB) August 20, 2022
One player looked at Skylar Diggins-Smith as more than just a role model on the floor. “I love Skylar Diggins-Smith, not even just basketball-wise but how she carries herself,” she said.
How much WNBA do you watch?
| Rank | Amount of games | Percent of answers |
|---|---|---|
1 | Not much | 26% |
2 | Half | 17% |
3 | Almost all | 14% |
4 | None | 13% |
5 | Three-fourths | 11% |
5 | One-fourth | 11% |
7 | Only playoffs | 8% |
How we roughly defined each amount (based on last year’s 36-game regular season):
• Not much = two to six games
• One-quarter of the season = seven to nine games
• Half the season = 10-18 games
• Three quarters of the season = 19-28 games
• Almost every game = 29+ games
This was perhaps the most interesting question in our anonymous polls series, if only because it was the one question many players seemed to feel as though there were a “right answer.” Several players said something along the lines of, “I want to lie and say more …” or, “It should be more, but …” Players, especially those in the majority who watched less than half of the games, understood the potential irony in women’s college basketball players not actually watching much of the WNBA.
More than 90 players answered this question. The responses revealed most college players watch the WNBA sparsely: A combined 39 percent of players said they watch the game not at all or not much. If players who watch only the playoffs are included in that tally, that makes up 47 percent of our respondents who aren’t very tuned into the W. More than a quarter said they only watched two to six games a season.
This wasn’t all necessarily out of disinterest. Multiple players cited their lack of viewership as a result of not having a League Pass and not knowing when games were happening or how to watch. “It’s hard to even find it sometimes,” one player said. Added another: “I feel like I would watch more if it was more accessible.” Multiple players said they only watched the playoffs, and they did so because those games were on a more obvious schedule and on ESPN’s main channels.
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The interesting contrast here in these responses was not a wide gap between players who watched almost every game during the WNBA season and players who watched none, and a tie took place between those who watched three-quarters of games and those who watched one-quarter of games.
(Photo of Candace Parker: Kamil Krzaczynski / NBAE via Getty Images)
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