Brooklyn Nets superstar Kyrie Irving has helped his squad take hold of the top seed in the Eastern Conference, but basketball is far from the only thing on the mind of one of the most free-speaking individuals in the game.
While the men’s NCAA tournament is getting underway in Indianapolis, the women’s tournament in San Antonio is also properly starting up. However, the two tournaments differ wildly in terms of amenities, which is just another example in a very long line that shows how much more the NCAA cares about their male athletes and neglects their female athletes.
Photos surfaced on social media showing that while the men’s players were handed a cornucopia of clothing, towels, gift bags, and even a copy of John Thompson’s book, the women’s players received more skincare products than anything else, save for one shirt and a towel. Irving was not going to let an opportunity to rip the NCAA pass him by.
Irving lashed out at the NCAA for treating their “queens” in this fashion, claiming that players “deserve more” than the half-hearted amenities they were given when compared to the luxury being afforded to the men’s teams.
Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving is a champion of women’s basketball
Irving, who is averaging 27.6 points and 5.8 assists per game this season for the red-hot Nets, has long been a supporter of women’s basketball, even donating $1.5 million to the WNBA to provide financial stability amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He puts his money where his mouth is frequently, and his support of women’s basketball is no different.
Irving has to be appalled when looking at one of the most blatant Title IX violations we’ve ever seen. In addition to swag bags that showed a huge disparity in quality, the men were given a complete makeshift workout room, while the women’s team was given a tiny hole in the wall without any heavy weights for lifting.
The men’s teams were allowed to partake in a delicious buffet that featured steak, shrimp, and macaroni and cheese. The women’s teams were given a plastic container that featured mashed potatoes and some mystery meat that looks more like a repurposed roof tile that was drowned in gravy.
Either the NCAA is so incompetent that they were unaware of this or, more likely, they did know and didn’t care. Good on Irving, players in the tournament, and social media for calling the NCAA out, as the inequality on display is shocking in how blatant it is.