“Making even more men look bad” - WNBA fans berate reporter for "dumb" take on nomenclature

Amid the ever-increasing popularity of its top players, the WNBA is projected to experience an unprecedented viewership surge this season. Nonetheless, NBA reporter Ethan Sherwood Strauss recently suggested the league rename all its teams to gain more fans. His opinion earned him scathing reactions from WNBA fans.

The league is already coming off a viewership spike last season. The 2023 regular season reportedly "reached over 36 million total unique viewers across all national networks." That marks the highest since 2008 and a 27% increase from the previous season.

However, according to Strauss, the WNBA's team names are holding it back from reaching its full potential. On "The Bill Simmons Podcast," he suggested that all the league's teams should have the same names as their NBA counterparts in the same cities/states.

Strauss noted that this would make it easier for the league to attract NBA fans. He provided an example of the Indiana Fever adopting the Indiana Pacers' moniker.

"The one they should’ve done — and maybe there’s still time to do — that they didn’t do from the outset, is just use the same team names," Strauss said. "Like, why force people to learn about the Fever? Why not just have the W-Pacers? I think that makes it so much easier to just resonate."

Bill Simmons likened the proposal to men's and women's college basketball teams sharing the same name.

However, WNBA fans on X/Twitter weren't so keen on the idea, with many taking offense, accusing Strauss of sexism and ignorance.

"I genuinely 100% mean this when I say that this is singlehandedly one of the dumbest things I have ever heard/read in my entire life," @JoshReynolds24 said.

"I question every day why do people like him have a job as a reporter for the NBA," @Br0nToLA23 said.

"Dude is making even more men look bad. He is single-handedly setting us back 70 years at least," @hughart_michael said.

"I would hope if you’re a WNBA fan of a team, you’d know the name of your team," @WigginsWick22 said.

In addition to WNBA fans taking offense with Ethan Sherwood Strauss' idea to rename the league's teams after their NBA counterparts, some questioned his logic.

The WNBA only has 12 teams, while the NBA has 30. Meanwhile, three of its 12 teams (Connecticut Sun, Seattle Storm and Las Vegas Aces) don't share city/state names with NBA teams.

Furthermore, as several fans highlighted, learning the names of 12 teams shouldn't be that difficult for sports fans.

"You’ve learned the names of 30 NBA teams and probably even more sports teams. I’m sure you can learn the names of 12 more WNBA teams," @automaticnba said.

"Ahhh, yes, the Las Vegas W-," @FatKermit said.

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2024 WNBA season tips off on Tuesday

The 2024 WNBA regular season tips off on Tuesday, with excitement growing for many high-profile rookies to make their debuts. Among the most notable is Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark, who is coming off a dominant four-year college career with the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Clark averaged a nation-leading 31.6 points per game during her senior season, finishing as the NCAA Division 1's all-time leading scorer (3,951 career points). Her historic college career resulted in the Fever selecting her No. 1 in this year's WNBA draft.

Many expect her to become the league's next face, with ticket prices soaring for Fever preseason games. Other prominent college stars transitioning to the WNBA include Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese and center Kamilla Cardoso and LA Sparks forward Cameron Brink.