Elena Delle Donne on WNBA players' voices: 'Why can’t we just be heard?'
Don’t bring that kitchen talk into Elena Delle Donne’s house.
The Washington Mystics star spoke to Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks about finding her voice and the overall treatment of WNBA players, and she had a clapback for the insensitive folks who tell her to go back to the kitchen.
“At least say ‘order Postmates or something,’” Delle Donne said.
She talked about the ways in which female basketball players are treated differently, starting with how “female” is always in the description.
“Do you have to say that LeBron is a male basketball player?” she said. “I don’t understand why you have to do that. We’re basketball players. We play basketball.”
Though Delle Donne said she appreciates NBA players such as LeBron James following and promoting the WNBA, she believes it is unfair that NBA players have to talk about their league in order for it to be legit.
“Why can’t we just be heard?” she asked.
Delle Donne has been outspoken about making sure the WNBA receives its fair share of treatment in comparison with the NBA. She has called out NBA commissioner Adam Silver for his comments on the WNBA’s popularity, and is supportive of the league’s “rebranding” for this upcoming season.
The 2019 season appears promising for the league, which signed a deal with CBS Sports Network to air 40 regular season games, in addition to its contract with ESPN.
The 29-year-old Delle Donne is entering her sixth season and third with the Mystics. She said that when she first entered the league, she kept her opinions close to the vest. But that wasn’t doing her or anybody else any good.
“I want females to be empowered and to be strong,” she said. “I want to leave this game better than I came into it, and hopefully inspire the young ones to speak their mind and keep pushing.”
More from Yahoo Sports:
