Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Washington, D.C–
Delays, delays and more delays and cancellations for WNBA players.. seems like a broken record right? Well after the Los Angeles Sparks defeated the Washington Mystics, their return trip was less than victorious. Several delays and then a cancellation left half the team in a hotel and others to sleep on floor of the airport something that didn’t sit well with star Nneka Ogwumike, who has won a WNBA MVP award, been named an all-star seven times and earned a championship ring. She took to Twitter today to express her disappointment in the system that has again failed the players.
(1) Nneka Ogwumike on Twitter: “First time for everything @WNBA https://t.co/w3PSHxCcJk” / Twitter
“Yeah, so, we are roaming the airport,” she said. “First time in my 11 seasons that I’ve ever had to sleep in the airport. … It was only a matter of time. So half of us are sleeping in the airport, half of us are at a hotel. There weren’t enough rooms after our flight got delayed, delayed, delayed, delayed and then canceled at 1 a.m. So it is now 1:44 and we’re here till 9 a.m.”
We all have been delayed this summer at some points. Just a couple weeks ago, American delayed our flight from Miami to D.C three times and then finally cancelled it leaving us to scramble to get on a last might flight to Baltimore and then at 1150pm. Then upon arrival, we had to find a Lyft that could take us back to the parking garage at Reagan National Airport at 1230am. The frustration is real for all of us, but the treatment for these WNBA players is absurd.
Earlier in the season, Mystics player Natasha Cloud first spoke out about the travel woes and asked the owners to step and make something happen. Several teams have threatened to be fined by the league if they put their team on a private charter to games.
Come on WNBA, it’s time to make a change. This is the WNBA, not an AAU team. Unfair advantage is a team sleeping on an airport floor at 1:44am when they decide that to cancel a flight. Do you want to continue to paint the I don’t care attitude and we are doing our best for players and teams? Let’s see owners step up as some have offered to do. Let them be the change and stop putting players second.
Stayed tuned on the travel woes, we are sure this more than likely won’t be the last time, however the league stated that for playoff games they will begin to use charter accommodations.
