Women Supporting Women

I embraced that idea as a coach and an administrator at Kansas, and I'd like to see more of that from the players in the WNBA.

As I say in my autobiography, FIERCE: My Fight for Nothing Less, Caitlin Clark is a phenomenon who has brought an unprecedented spotlight to women's basketball. But there's so much negativity among the sport's players and coaches we're taking away from the moment.

This is an opportunity for the WNBA and all the players in it to shine. It's not a time to argue about who got us here. There's a positivity missing despite the filled arenas and chartered flights. I'd like to see veterans mentoring rookies, and rookies learning from veterans. When the game is over, I'd like to see players working together to promote a league that has its roots in Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes, and of course, Dawn Staley. And the roots go deeper than that. My own Adrian Mitchell and others such as Ann Meyers and Pearl Moore played in the WPL, the Women's Professional Basketball League.

As I was writing my book, I reflected on how many times I struggled to find support from other women, especially during my five years as the director of KU women's athletics striving to implement the inaugural women's athletic program after the passage of Title IX. It was obvious from the beginning that I wasn't going to get much help from the men in the athletic department. I had hoped I would find encouragement from women within the department and on campus, but back in the 1970s, often I went about what I had to do alone.

When I signed a kid from Wichita named Lynette Woodard, I hoped the rest of the players on the team would be as excited as I was. I had never seen a woman handle the ball as effortlessly as Lynette. But it was not an easy transition. The upperclassmen didn't like my freshman receiving so much attention. Her name was in the newspapers and back then, it was almost always the only name from KU as Lynette was usually our high scorer. There was jealousy, and I recall her not even wanting to go into the locker room once at halftime because she had scored so many points.

It took some doing, but my Lady Jayhawks, as they were called back then, gelled when the players welcomed Lynette. They were better with her. We were better with her. We were one team.

The WNBA is full of outstanding talent, names that include A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Brittney Griner and Alyssa Thomas. Like many others, I would like to see more of today's top stars receive notice from the media. I would like to see commentators educate themselves about what's past and take a balanced approach to coverage. I'm hopeful that is coming.

But as long as jealousy and infighting dominate women's basketball news, the WNBA isn't in nearly as good of a place as it should be.

For that to happen, we need one cohesive WNBA — women supporting women for the good of each other and the game all of us love so much.