NPR Laments WNBA/NBA Pay Gap

CLAY: NPR yesterday sent out this tweet, Buck:

It was a story about Brittney Griner and why she was in Russia in the first place. How quickly do you think every NBA player would start voting Republican, Buck, if they said, hey, you’re all just playing basketball, all men’s and women’s players, NBA and WNBA make equal salaries?

BUCK: That would be fascinating.

CLAY: It would be amazing to see how quickly all of these NBA players would say, “Wait a minute! The reason I’m getting paid is because way more people would like to watch me play basketball than would like to watch women play basketball.”

BUCK: This was like left-wing woke hero Rapinoe of women’s soccer who was complaining about this as well, and when they actually crunched the numbers, women’s soccer, based upon their draw — as in how many people go to watch and their revenue and the TV, women’s soccer — is overpaid — women’s national team soccer — and is in fact subsidized by the men’s team. But it is still unfair, in their minds, they should be making the exact same amount of money. I do think some of the tennis — the sport I probably know best. Some of the tennis majors pay men and women the same prize money now.

CLAY: Yeah.

BUCK: So there is a trend moving in that direction. But it would be fascinating. And also what’s the explanation, Clay? Why shouldn’t LeBron James take a much lower salary so all of the women in the WNBA can be paid equally? Why shouldn’t he?

CLAY: It’s a really funny question. But, I mean, the fact they’re trying to argue it’s based on inequity as opposed to interest, talent, market, and basic business.

BUCK: Just to be clear, we think it’s crazy that they would be paid the same, but the point is, Democrats do not, actually. They think that this is the way it should go.

CLAY: And remember Megan Rapinoe — who got the Presidential Medal of Freedom yesterday from Joe Biden — said transgender athletes should be able to play in high school, and you should get used to your high school daughter’s team getting wrecked. They don’t really matter that much. Also, the U.S. women’s soccer team lost to a team of 15-and-under boys in Dallas, Texas, that played against them. These women’s soccer players in America win at such a high level ’cause most women around the world don’t even get to play soccer because they don’t have equality in their countries. That’s why our women’s soccer dominates compared to our men’s, frankly.