True equity in women’s basketball starts with women at all leadership levels in the sport: Lauren Jackson

SINGAPORE – There has never been a better time for women’s basketball.

Headlined by the likes of former college stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) games in the 2024 season drew a record of over 54 million unique viewers.

Game attendance in its 28th regular season was at its highest in 22 years, with 154 sell-out games compared to the previous season’s 45; an increase of 242 per cent.

This explosive growth has continued into the current season, with 1.7 million viewers tuning in to watch the Las Vegas Aces’ 89-81 win over Clark’s Indiana Fever on ESPN on June 22, the third most-watched regular-season WNBA game on the network.

Despite these impressive figures, there has been a decline in girls’ participation in basketball in the United States, the Associated Press reported in December 2024.

To ensure that the development pipeline for girls’ basketball remains solid, three-time WNBA Most Valuable Player Lauren Jackson believes that women should be given the same opportunities in the sport’s leadership positions as their male peers.

“It’s making sure that through all of the pathways in sport, in basketball, there’s women at all different leadership levels making decisions for women and girls. And I think that is the first step to true equity,” Jackson told The Straits Times in an interview on June 25.

The 44-year-old Australian is in Singapore as a guest for the June 25-29 NBA Rising Stars Invitational, a regional high-school tournament at the Kallang Tennis Hub featuring Under-18 teams from the Asia-Pacific.

Widely considered to be Australia’s most outstanding women’s basketball player, Jackson won two WNBA championships while turning out for the Seattle Storm from 2001 to 2012.

Thanks to factors such as social media, on which the WNBA reached almost two billion views on videos alone last season, she believes this is an exciting time as the league goes from strength to strength.

The popularity of young players, particularly those joining the WNBA out of college, has also been pivotal in drawing attention to WNBA games. In 2024, viewership for the national college women’s basketball championship game between the Louisiana State University (LSU) Tigers and the University of Iowa Hawkeyes peaked at a record 16 million. 

Fans of Iowa’s Clark, who was selected by the Fever as the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, and LSU’s Reese, who was drafted seventh by the Chicago Sky, continue to follow the duo in the WNBA. On May 17, the clash between the Fever and Sky peaked at 3.1 million viewers.

Historically, the WNBA has always received much less attention than their male counterparts, which has translated into how they are remunerated. The average salary for a National Basketball Association player in the 2024-25 season was US$11.9 million (S$15.2 million), while the average annual base salary of a WNBA player in 2025 is US$102,249, with the highest earners getting about US$250,000.

Jackson is hopeful that this increased interest in women’s basketball will result in more equitable conditions for players, particularly as the WNBA is in the process of negotiating their next collective bargaining agreement. 

“The athletes deserve it. They’re playing more games in a season. Obviously, there’s so many more eyeballs now on the game,” she said. 

The increased attention is a double-edged sword, especially for newer players just stepping into the league. Clark has received strong criticism for a slump in her shooting form. The 23-year-old has also been involved in on-court skirmishes which resulted in players being fined. 

Jackson views it as part of the coming-of-age process for players entering professional women’s basketball. 

“The women are passionate and they’re strong, and they’re competitors, and they compete,” she said, pointing out that Clark’s experiences are highlighted due to her popularity. 

“It’s very cut-throat in America,” she added.