WNBA President Laurel Richie defiant in the face of NBA lockout – Basketball News
The first year Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) President, Laurel Richie is adamant that the NBA lockout will not affect the women league. While talking to reporters on Tuesday, Richie said WNBA teams owned by NBA franchises would continue to play and take part in the WNBA season.
The teams that are owned by their NBA counterpart franchises are Indiana Fever, New York Liberty, Minnesota Lynx, Phoenix Mercury and San Antonio Silver Stars. There are 7 other teams in the WNBA which are privately owned and the NBA lockout will be of no concern to them.
Richie however did not specify how the WNBA teams will continue functioning financially, if the NBA franchises enter the lockout mode. Richie was also not willing to give her take on the whole NBA labour dispute; rather she was more interested in talking about the WNBA,
“I’m hoping that all the [related] issues — that it all gets resolved in a way that’s good for all involved,” Richie said. “But my goal right now is getting to know our teams and our players, our sponsors and our fans.”
The NBA is geared towards a lockout, as the dispute over a new CBA does not look like getting resolved any time soon. Finances and player contracts in the NBA are governed by the CBA or Collective Bargaining Agreement. The current CBA comes to an end on June 30 and if the owners and players do not reach an agreement over a new CBA before then, the league will enter a lockout.
The dispute has been going on for quite a while now and the two sides have met extensively over the past month to try and reach a solution. However, they remain far apart on key issues and the lockout now seems set to begin on 1st July.
In that case, the future participation of the five WNBA teams owned by NBA franchises in the WNBA season could come under serious threat. If the parent franchises shut down, how can the subsidiary teams continue to play?
Richie however was in no mood to jump into that discussion. The President is presently on a tour across the USA, going from one WNBA team to another was focused solely on the task at hand, and perhaps the only matter she could effect change in.
Richie has extensive experience in marketing and she seems to be concentrating on that aspect in her new job. Ritchie is of the view that the WNBA had great potential in marketing terms and she was ready to take it to the next level,
“Loving the fact that I have a great product to sell this time around. I do not have to work on the product at all. It is fabulous and beyond my wildest expectations, so in some ways that shifts the onus off of the players and onto me, but I’m kind of ready to do that.”
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