In basketball, there are some lines you often don’t cross, and Raven Johnson recently learned it the hard way. Competing in her senior year, Johnson has been able to mirror much of her image in the headlines, thanks to her leadership on the court for South Carolina, but her latest take on men’s and women’s basketball has sparked a frenzy among fans.
The controversy stems from a recent interview where Johnson asserted the women’s game is superior to the men’s in one specific, yet crucial, aspect of basketball. Her reasoning, centered on teamwork versus individual play.
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“I feel like we put our blood, sweat, and tears just like men put their blood, sweat, and tears into their sport,” she said. “I think that people are respecting us how they should respect us. If you asked me, I think that women’s basketball was more skilled than men’s basketball. I think so.”
“We watch NBA, I feel like it’s a one-man show but for women’s basketball you’re watching people compete or you’re watching 5 on 5, you’re watching skilled basketball. So that’s why I think that women’s basketball is like better than men’s basketball,” she added.
For starters, women’s basketball performance on the court has been consistently improving over the past decade or so. From players like Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, to Kelsey Plum and Napheesa Collier, and now to Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, the landscape is changing only for the better. Yet despite that, has it grown so much that it surpasses men’s basketball?
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It’s, of course, a subjective topic, and Raven Johnson has favored a side that’s not a popular one in the hoops community.
The men’s basketball vs. women’s basketball debate has existed perennially since both spectrums came into existence. In these debates, there are often dynamics that work against both sides. Johnson, though, leaned more towards teamwork and skill set that does have its own say for women’s basketball, but Johnson’s overall stance didn’t sit too well with fans.
Raven Johnson’s Men’s vs Women’s Basketball Sees Usual On-Court Dynamics Take Center Stage
“More fundamental…… not skilled,” wrote a fan.
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“More then 70% of NBA players can dunk how many bunkers are in the WNBA until we start seeing windmills and 360s, it’s not even close,” commented another.
In debates over men’s and women’s basketball, the arguments often come down to hard-nosed scoring on the court and physicality vs fundamental skills. Men’s basketball often takes pride in the first. Be it scoring through precise three-pointers or dunks, it’s men’s basketball that takes center stage. For instance, in 2023, women’s basketball saw 35.6 three-pointer attempts in the NBA, while in the WNBA, it accounted for 24.5.
In a similar vein, the NBA has seen around 11,664 dunks in the 2022-23 season alone, while at the start of the 2025 season, there were only 38 dunks in WNBA history. It clearly reflects the physically demanding nature and relentless agility that men’s basketball demands. On the other hand, women’s basketball also has some silver linings, including a better structure and more fluidity and precision in playmaking.
Dec 29, 2024; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks guard Raven Johnson (25) attempts a three point basket against the Wofford Terriers in the second half at Colonial Life Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images
“Absolutely not !! Never has been and never will be!” stated a fan.
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“dumbest **** I ever heard women’s hoop is just more emotional and team oriented,” chimed in another.
Team orientation is one of the major elements on the court, a staple of women’s basketball. The playmaking concept, which is generally measured by assists, is dominated by women’s basketball: 67.5% assists percentage in the 2023 WNBA, compared with 60.5% in the NBA. The latest stats aren’t available yet. But the assist percentage is one area where women’s basketball has perennially dominated and is embedded in their playing style.
On the other hand, as Raven Johnson said, the NBA has some iconic players who define the game in their own way, like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kevin Durant, and Nikola Jokic. Yet despite this small positive edge in teamwork, fans aren’t buying into Johnson’s assessment.
But Johnson isn’t even the first of her generation to find herself amidst this heated exchange. Her former Iowa counterpart, Caitlin Clark, faced the same fate a couple of years back. While CC didn’t speak much about women’s basketball as a whole, her angle was more about college basketball. “People are more excited about the women’s side than the men’s side,” Clark said in an interview, which eventually led her to the firing line of the fans.
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“Y’all be so full of delusions. She wouldn’t even survive on a NBA team w/ Men,” summed up another.
The comment, yet again, is a subjective take, but it does have some merit. Firstly, there’s no reason to downplay Raven Johnson in this debate as she’s undoubtedly one of the best point guards in the market and can see her footing in the WNBA for the upcoming season. She is an elite playmaker and scorer, and as far as we’ve seen of her, it can be said that she can score a basket against any sort of team.
But then the argument narrows down again in terms of physicality, raising questions about whether women’s basketball players like Johnson can compete in a more athletic environment that is the bread and butter of the NBA.
All in all, there’s no comparison between men’s basketball and women’s basketball. Statistically, men’s basketball often leads to more intense, fiery competition than women’s basketball, and even overall, men’s basketball has always taken precedence. But none of it undermines the trajectory of the women’s landscape, which has grown exponentially, in its own right, not in comparison to men’s basketball.
