A Movement, Not A Moment

This WNBA season feels different. 

Sold-out arenas. Charter flights. New eyes. More attention. 

On paper, 2024 is shaping up to be the culmination of the advocacy and labor we as players have put in for decades. It has taken all of us and our Union to push to ensure that progress was not a moment, but a movement. We are still pushing. Not just for what we are due on the court, but also against the challenges we face off of it. 

In 2016, players and teams took a collective stand for Black Lives Matter in the face of League fines. In 2018, we partnered with Rock the Vote. In 2019, we began our ongoing partnership with Everytown for Gun Safety. And then there was 2020 — when we used our proximity to each other in the Bubble to come together to continue our support for Black Lives Matter, and to uplift the Say Her Name campaign and the memory of Black people killed by police like Breonna Taylor. As the world grappled with grief and unrest, we did as well. In the Bubble, at protests, and within our League. 

Together, we institutionalized this work within our Union on the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee to ensure player voices are never compromised, and jointly created the Social Justice Council with the League to encourage innovative collaboration over resistance and rigidity. In the years since the formation of the JEDI Committee and the Social Justice Council, we have focused on bringing home our sister BG and other Americans around the world who are wrongfully detained, and have drawn a spotlight on the need for greater attention and resources for women’s mental, maternal, and reproductive health, as well as better cancer research and awareness. 

Our work has always been bigger than basketball. And it does not stop with greater protection of our health and safety when traveling, something we’ve always advocated for, nor does it stop with more games on television. In fact, just the opposite. None of these marks of increased professionalism change the fact that members of our League, along with millions in this country, have bans on their bodies. Like we said in 2021, our bodies are our instruments. Our livelihoods. Our craft. Control of — and over — our bodies, both on and off the basketball court, is about much more than athletic performance, earning potential, or personal politics. Reproductive Rights are Human Rights. Family Planning is Freedom. 

Our work remains unfinished. We will not be deterred from using our voices as we see fit, regardless of what others threaten or amplify. 

This season, the WNBPA is partnering with Rock the Vote to ensure that our viewers have all the information they need to prepare for local, state, and federal elections — and we are working with The Players’ Tribune and TOGETHXR to bring these topics to light. But that's just the beginning of what we are building.

Because our bodies are on the ballot this year.

Get prepared to make your voice heard with us.