The Phoenix Mercury Are Looking for a Few Good Men

Fair or not, female basketball players will always be compared to their male counterparts. Some bristle, other choose to ignore the pointless comparison altogether, but the head coach of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury isn’t shying away. He thinks that having his women going against men in practice could prove beneficial.↵

↵↵Later this month, the Mercury will put together a 15-man squad to practice and train with the team. It’s also helpful to the team because the compensation of the practice squad consists of basketball shoes and tickets to the Suns and, of course, the Mercury.↵

↵↵⇥“I encourage any man who thinks he is on the same level or even thinks he can outplay the women from the Mercury to put his skills to the test and tryout for the practice team,” said Mercury head coach Corey Gaines. “The men who are able to stay on pace at the tryouts will definitely be helpful to my players.”↵↵↵Hmm. Amusing though the concept may be, I don’t know about this. On one hand, it could be a decent confidence boost for the Mercury players to beat up on some guys who think they can take them on the court. And men, for the most part, are stronger, so having an all-male practice squad could give the team a consistent physical challenge that facing women could not. On the other, I can’t help but think that this is just taking an opportunity away from female basketball players. Surely there are enough competent women in need of an outlet for their game to help push the Mercury players in practice. Or is the charge of playing against men that one last bit of pressure that could closely replicate the feeling of actual competition?↵

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