Make no mistake about it, women’s basketball has come a long way.
Some of the biggest stars in basketball today are women and the women’s game is enjoying unprecedented popularity and attention. However, the fight for respect continues.
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Female hoopers continue to face questions and uncertainty about media coverage, viewership, pay and whether or not women’s basketball is getting the respect that it deserves.
With the rise of stars like Caitlin Clark, A’ja Wilson, Paige Bueckers, and Angel Reese, the discussion about how the women’s game is treated feels like a modern one, but truth be told, it’s been going on for decades, even way before the WNBA first tipped off.
In fact, in the late-70s, one of basketball’s biggest stars actually went to bat for women’s basketball.
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Wilt loves women’s basketball
As narrated by Dave Kindred of The Washington Post Service, Wilt Chamberlain pulled up to a women’s basketball game between the University of Maryland and Wayland Baptist back in 1978 and it came as a shock to the journalist, who felt that women’s basketball lacked the excitement that the men’s game had.
When asked what he was doing watching women’s hoops, Chamberlain revealed that he was a fan.
“I like basketball, my man. This is tremendous, these girls can play. This is as good as watching the Lakers,” Chamberlain stated. “If I’m going to watch the Lakers, I’ll watch this.”
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For Kindred, it was quite surreal to hear Chamberlain, who has candidly spoken about his conquests with women, also put women’s basketball in such high regard.
“I don’t see why they don’t fill it now,” said Chamberlain, who was reportedly bothered by the many empty seats in the venue. “They will, soon as you give them the press they deserve.”
“If they could have the quarterfinals of the men’s tournament on television, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t get the semis of the women’s on. You can’t tell me that wasn’t an exciting basketball game tonight,” added the two-time NBA Champion and four-time MVP.
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The two players that impressed Chamberlain the most that night, Tara Heiss and Kris Kirchner, both went on to become Maryland legends. Heiss was even inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame back in 2003.
It just goes to show that even decades ago, the game’s biggest stars had already been lobbying for women’s hoops to get the recognition they deserved.
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Support from the stars
While it’s possible that Chamberlain wasn’t the first big basketball star to publicly advocate for women’s basketball, he also wasn’t the last.
Over the succeeding decades, especially with the creation of the WNBA, more and more big names have vouched for women’s hoops, and continue to do so to this day.
Perhaps one of the biggest was the late, great Kobe Bryant, who became one of the most passionate and vocal champions of the women’s game, especially after his retirement in 2016. It also helped that his own daughter Gianna was on the path to basketball stardom before their tragic and untimely death in 2020.
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Stephen Curry has also been a staunch advocate of women’s basketball and has publicly called for women’s equality and bridging the pay gap between men and women.
Other stars like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul have also heavily supported women’s basketball by supporting the call for women’s equality and putting women’s stars in the spotlight.
Even Shaquille O’Neal, who appeared on WNBA star Angel Reese’s podcast a few years back, agreed that there’s no reason for the W’s biggest stars to be earning less than players that he called ‘bums’ in the NBA.
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This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Aug 12, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
