Sports
Young women’s college basketball players may sue to join WNBA earlier, Fever GM predicts – The Athletic
WNBA
Lin Dunn has watched a lot of basketball throughout her five decades in the sport. At the college level, she was the head coach at Austin Peay, Ole Miss, Miami and Purdue. In the WNBA, she held the same role with the Seattle Storm and Indiana Fever.
Now, as the Fever’s general manager, Dunn has witnessed something while watching this college season she hasn’t observed before.
Advertisement
“Have you ever seen this many freshmen this strong, this early?” she said on the most recent episode of “The Athletic Women’s Basketball Show.” “I can’t remember it.”
Throughout the college season’s first third, a number of debutants have starred: Texas’ Madison Booker, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, Arkansas’ Taliah Scott, South Carolina’s MiLaysia Fulwiley, LSU’s Mikaylah Williams, USC’s JuJu Watkins. The list could continue.
The college game is presumably in good hands as a result. Though Dunn believes it’s possible some might go pro sooner than expected. The reason?
“I’ll tell you what I think may happen,” Dunn said. “One of these freshmen is gonna file a lawsuit and say: ‘I’m ready to turn pro. Why can’t I? The men can. Why can’t I?’ Because they’re that good enough.”
Watkins has already broken a Trojans record for most 30-point games in a season by a freshman with five.
“Wow, her body, her skills, her mental toughness,” Dunn said. “I think she may be ready for the pros right now. It’s gonna be an interesting time to see if some of these freshmen don’t wanna wait, especially if the salaries pick up and they can take their NIL money with them, we’ll see. It’s great (that) Title IX is paying off for us.”
WNBA Draft rules stipulate that college players must be 22 years old during the year of the draft, have graduated or will graduate within three months of the draft from a four-year university, or have gone to a four-year university where her original class would have graduated or will graduate within three months of the draft.
GO DEEPER
Caitlin Clark isn’t WNBA Draft eligible, and even when she is, she may stay longer at Iowa
A potential lawsuit would be historic in the WNBA, but not in professional women’s sports. In July 2021, the NWSL and 15-year-old Olivia Moultrie reached a settlement in an antitrust lawsuit allowing her to play in the league “unless and until” a collectively bargained rule stated otherwise. The NWSL previously did not permit players under 18 to sign with teams, and Moultrie had signed a three-year contract with Portland at the time of her lawsuit.
Advertisement
That all could change how drafts look down the road for Dunn and fellow general managers. For now, however, the Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer is more focused on the present. Indiana enters Sunday afternoon’s draft lottery with the best odds of any of the four participating teams. The Fever hold a 44.2 percent chance to claim the No. 1 pick.
Last December, the balls bounced in their favor, and the franchise received its first top selection. Indiana drafted South Carolina star Aliyah Boston, who went on to unanimously win the 2023 rookie of the year award.
“It was our turn (last year),” Dunn said, “but there’s no reason why you can’t have two turns.”
The Fever, Phoenix Mercury, Los Angeles Sparks or Storm could have the chance to draft Iowa star Caitlin Clark at No. 1, if Clark decides to go pro.
The 2024 WNBA Draft Lottery presented by @StateFarm is almost here 👀
Tune in to ESPN on December 10 at 4:30pm/ET to see who will get the #1 pick! pic.twitter.com/4q8DwJP3oP
— WNBA (@WNBA) October 31, 2023
When Dunn coached the Storm in the early 2000s, the franchise won consecutive lotteries, selecting Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird with their two top picks. Similar to last year, Dunn said she will “bring out the lucky charms because you want to make sure every base is covered.”
One, she said, is from her Storm days and will be on her body somewhere because it’s brought her good luck in the past. But Dunn declined to share the specifics of others. “They’re a little confidential,” she said.
The Fever have set a goal to reach the playoffs in 2024, wanting to continue building on last year’s campaign that saw them record an eight-win increase. Dunn hopes this year will be the Fever’s last lottery for the near future. “We’d like to get to the point where we don’t have draft parties,” she said.
Advertisement
If, and when, that’s the case, she’ll sit back, relax and just enjoy the show and all the college stars in action on a day that will shape WNBA history.
(Photo of Sue Bird, left, and Lin Dunn: Ron Hoskins / NBAE via Getty Images)
Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try a week on us.
Ben Pickman is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the WNBA and women’s college basketball. Previously, he was a writer at Sports Illustrated where he primarily covered women’s basketball and the NBA. He has also worked at CNN Sports and the Wisconsin Center for Journalism Ethics. Follow Ben on Twitter @benpickman