PHOENIX, ARIZONA – AUGUST 31: Skylar Diggins-Smith #4 of the Phoenix Mercury handles the ball against the Chicago Sky during the second half of the WNBA game at the Footprint Center on August 31, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury defeated the Sky 103-83. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Skylar Diggins-Smith put the WNBA on blast for unfavorable traveling conditions.
On Wednesday, the Phoenix Mercury Star criticized the league for scheduling road games on consecutive days. Following Tuesday’s loss to the Washington Mystics, the Mercury went on a flight today to face the Indiana Fever later this evening.
“Flying in the same day as the game will never sit well with me!
Back to back away games should never be scheduled, considering we fly commercial (with no security),” Diggins-Smith wrote. “The W wants quality/high level basketball, but doesn’t (seem to) value quality of life for the players.”
Those circumstances don’t sit well with many WNBA fans.
“How [do] you expect a good product flying in same day and playing a game?” one fan questioned. “They don’t even do that in college.”
“The WNBA could be a great league but those in charge don’t REALLY want it to be,” another wrote.
“If you’re going to have a professional women’s league, you could at least treat them like professionals,” another fan said.
The league’s state of travel has dubiously made news before. Earlier this year, Howard Medgal of Sports Illustrated reported that the WNBA considered terminating the New York Liberty franchise because their owners charted flights for players.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert later said the league isn’t in a financial position to get players out of commercial.
“It would be more than $20 million a year to fund charter flights for an entire WNBA season,” Engelbert told ESPN’s Mechelle Voepel. “So this is something that we’re not going to jeopardize the financial health of the league and be irresponsible about. If we can get it funded by sponsors and supporters, great, but that’s not where we are. We do not have that.”
After Wednesday night’s game at Indiana, Diggins-Smith and the Mercury will have to take another flight to Texas for Friday night’s matchup against the Dallas Wings.
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