Kyrie Irving is speaking out about an issue within the basketball community. The Brooklyn Nets superstar spoke about the WNBA fighting for the right to use chartered flights in the 2023 season.
“We’ve got to get something done,” Irving said. “I’m with them, no matter how much it costs, per se, I think we can all collectively come together and make something very doable happen. We want our ladies to have peace of mind while playing.”
Irving became the latest NBA star to publicly back the WNBA in the fight for chartered travel in the upcoming season. Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant also said he wanted to help pitch in financially.
count me in 🙋🏽♂️ https://t.co/00RzXwTK2v
— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) January 23, 2023
WNBA teams currently travel using commercial flights more times than not. For special instances, like the WNBA Finals, teams take chartered flights.
Over the past few seasons, some more high-profile and taller players have had to pay out of their pocket to upgrade their ticket from coach to first class. The players are also getting recognized and stopped by fans while traveling due to the league’s increasing popularity.
This upcoming season, the league faces the risk of its most famous player ever, Brittney Griner, navigating public airports and flights. Part of Griner’s notoriety stems from being behind bars in Russia for nearly 10 months.
“They don’t need to be overseas all the time,” Irving said. “They need to be here playing in front of their families every single day doing what we do. I think there’s a lesson learned right now of how we can attack this as a family because the W and the NBA are a family, and I think things will be figured out before the season gets started, so I’m very optimistic about that.”
Majority team owners around the league like Joe Tsai of the New York Liberty, Larry Gottesdiener of the Atlanta Dream and Mark Davis of the Las Vegas Aces all have publicly shared their desires to have more of a say-so in deciding and paying for their teams’ travel.
League says you can’t fly charter because different owners have different financial circumstances. I’m working with Commissioner Englebert to find a charter sponsor. Conversations with airline CEOs going well. They get the idea of equity for women athletes.
— Joe Tsai (@joetsai1999) October 2, 2021
