It can’t be said enough – Ann Meyers Drysdale should be on all of your basketball Mount Rushmore’s.
The Basketball Hall of Famer and 2024 Kobe and Gigi Bryant WNBA Advocacy Award recipient caught up with Brad Cesmat to talk all things hoops.
As the WNBA Draft approaches on April 15, a generational talent in Caitlin Clark will be taken with the first pick by the Indiana Fever.
Being one of the only players ever to have an idea of the attention Clark has been getting, Ann’s perspective carries weight.
“It’s a different time,” Meyers Drysdale said. “Social media and so forth. I’m so happy for Caitlin Clark and Iowa and what they’ve done…I think a lot of it started with Iowa and LSU last year…There’s no question that Caitlin Clark has raised that bar and I think somebody like Dawn Staley out at South Carolina has done a tremendous job as far as bringing attention to the women’s game and the players…the talent on the college level is so good that we need more teams in the WNBA.”
While NIL is a step in the right direction in athlete empowerment, Ann believes the differing treatment of men’s and women’s sports programs is still glaring.
“The NCAA is probably still not in compliance with Title IX for women’s sports,” Meyers Drysdale said. “The weight room thing that Oregon brought out but also lunches and dinners that the Final Four’s get – compared, the men to the women. It’s disproportionate. We just keep fighting… You look at ESPN… they could show more women’s games, they could show more highlights… They are a little bit more but nothing like that do for the men, but it’s getting better.”
Clark joining the ‘W’ leans into the passing-of-the-torch storyline from one dominant guard in Diana Taurasi to another in Clark like we’ve seen in sports so many times before.
“You look at someone like Diana Taurasi, who’s probably in her last year and will hopefully make her sixth Olympic team, I feel so blessed to get to watch her every game of her career since I’ve been in Phoenix…what a joy to call her games and see her work ethic. I’m excited about the WNBA season and the Mercury this year.”
Ann didn’t go without talking Suns, and namely, Kevin Durant, who has averaged over 28 points this season.
“His preparation. Watching him before games – how hard he works, how focused he is. I see that in Devin Booker too. The great players are like that. Every time [Durant] takes a shot, I never expect it to go out…He’s underrated as a defensive player… With this team still trying to find the niche… He’s very much a team player. He shares the basketball…Sometimes we see with the Suns that they over-pass sometimes…Kevin Durant is a phenomenal player. He’s so much fun to watch.”
The 37-27 Suns have three games in five days, starting with the Cavaliers tonight.
