Unlike the NBA, where a player can get drafted after a year of college or, as we have seen in some cases, straight out of high school, the female players, on the other hand, have to wait a full four years in college before turning pro. It might seem like an outdated rule, especially since the league's inception in 1997, but many have questioned if it should continue that way in a generation breeding top female athletes.
Four-year rule
Unlike its male counterpart, the WNBA has only 12 teams and 144 roster spots. It also has only 36 draft picks, all of whom don't even get the chance to play in the league after four years in college. The draft pool is small, but players enter the league as mature players.
Without the four-year gap, hundreds of promising young athletes might come into a league with so few available spots. With no safety net like the NBA's G League, many would go undrafted, leaving players in a tough spot.
"I feel like for us, our league is just, I don't want to say old, but we are very mature," voiced A'ja Wilson. "And it's like you can get into [the NBA] and also have the G-League for the NBA, so you have a league that can develop you to get ready for that next level. Versus us [the WNBA], we don't have that. So it's like when you enter the league, you got to be ready."
The WNBA has yet to expand since 2010 (when the 12-team league was introduced), so the number of spots available has stayed stagnant despite the rise of talent in women's basketball.
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Longer waiting time
It's a challenging situation, but until the league grows, it's a matter of supply and demand. More players than ever are ready to go pro, but with only 144 spots, there's simply not enough space to take a gamble on unproven talent straight out of high school or college underclassmen.
According to the league's rules, players must be at least 22 years old to declare for the Draft and either have no remaining college eligibility or be willing to give it up. Even a young star dominating the college scene still has to wait it out, unlike the NBA, where top talents can get drafted after just one year.
Players like Caitlin Clark , Aliyah Boston, and Angel Reese , who were WNBA-ready playing in college, had to wait. And currently, there's Juju Watkins, who just wrapped up her freshman year by averaging an insane 27.1 points per game and leading USC to their first-ever Elite 8 appearance. A performance like that in the men's game would put her as a top NBA draft pick without question. However, she still has three more years of college ahead of her before the WNBA.
Wilson pointed out this difference during an episode of "ALL THE SMOKE," even if she agreed that WNBA players need time to develop; good prospects should get the same fast-tracked opportunities as their NBA counterparts.
"I feel like our easiest way into the league is literally college," the Aces star added. "I say at least two years [for WNBA players to stay in college], but then I look back at my two years in college, and I would've stayed all four cause I needed it."
All this can change if the league expands and continues gaining momentum. Compared to last year, viewership shot up by a massive 211% in the first month of the season.
With numbers like that, it raises the question of expanding the league and creating more opportunities for talented players — and it might come soon.
Related: A'ja Wilson on the additional changes that need to happen in the WNBA: "It would have to be storytelling"
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