As players gather in Florida to pick up where they left off for the 2019-2020 basketball seasons, the WNBA began to make headlines after a video of a dingy laundry room in the WNBA bubble surfaced online.
Earlier this week, Kayla Johnson of ESPN took to social media to share the clip with her following.
“Just got this video from one of the laundry rooms inside the WNBA “bubble” and couldn’t be more disturbed. this is not ok,” Johnson wrote on twitter as a caption for the uploaded clip.
In a second clip, living conditions appeared to be even worse as a worm is seen crawling on the floor.
“What appears to be a worm found on the floor of one of the rooms,” Johnson stated.
She continued by uploading a picture of the food being served to players.
“This was a meal option served to some WNBA players. I don’t think they would have agreed if this is what was advertised,” she added.
Television personality #StephenASmith even spoke out about the conditions, criticizing the NBA for the differences in amenities for the NBA and WNBA.
“I’m hearing a lot of rumblings, a lot of people have reached out to me over the last 24 hours talking about how the NBA players themselves are treated vastly different than WNBA players,” Smith stated in a new episode of ESPN’s ‘First Take.'” A lot of people in the WNBA — I’m hearing some noise about the treatment that they’re receiving. The hotel rooms might be fine, but the laundry facilities and things of that nature, it’s considerably less than what NBA players are being treated like.”
He continued by stating that the NBA and WNBA should be receiving equal treatment.
“These kinds of things will be very problematic for the NBA because when you say WNBA, it’s not like people are going to separate that from the NBA when it comes to something like this. It’s going to be all intertwined. So the NBA might need to be aware of that and make sure they address that quick, fast and in a hurry, because there are rumblings that are proliferating,” Smith added.
According to ESPN, players have complained about several issues, including a broken bed, faulty plumbing, and marginal food.
So far, the league has sent out a survey to players regarding their experiences so far and are attempting to address their concerns.
The WNBA also released a statement to address the horrible conditions.
“We have been working closely with IMG and the Players Association to address issues players have expressed about one of the housing locations on campus,” the WNBA said in an official statement released on Tuesday. “IMG is accommodating all player requests regarding these issues, including moving players to other accommodations.”
this was a meal option served to some WNBA players. i don’t think they would have agreed if this is what was advertised. pic.twitter.com/C9PjykUd3l
— Kayla Johnson (@klajohnson) July 7, 2020
What appears to be a worm found on the floor of one of the rooms pic.twitter.com/WRZYTxdbGo
— Kayla Johnson (@klajohnson) July 7, 2020
just got this video from one of the laundry rooms inside the WNBA “bubble” and couldn’t be more disturbed. this is not ok. pic.twitter.com/6FC10jlcql
— Kayla Johnson (@klajohnson) July 7, 2020
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