The WNBA's Timeline Problem: A System Setting Players Up to Fail

Image Credit to USA Today 

There are many key differences between the WNBA and the NBA that the media tends to highlight—often in ways that make the WNBA seem less serious or somehow easier. Examples like the smaller ball size and the shorter game length (by eight minutes) are frequently mentioned, but these comparisons barely scratch the surface of the real disparities between the leagues. In recent years, however, with rising stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese drawing more attention to the WNBA, some of the deeper, more unfair differences are finally starting to come to light.

This isn’t just about the pay gap or media recognition—it goes beyond that. One of the most significant, yet often overlooked, disparities is the difference in scheduling and expectations between the two leagues. Despite the WNBA’s growing viewership, its timeline for incoming players remains shockingly compressed compared to that of the NBA.

Take the 2025 season, for example. The NBA regular season is scheduled to end in April 2025, with the NBA Draft set for June 25, 2025 . Meanwhile, the NCAA Men’s National Championship took place on April 7, 2025, giving prospective NBA players more than two months to rest, graduate, train, and prepare for their transition to professional basketball.

In contrast, the WNBA Draft was held on April 14, 2025 —just eight days after the NCAA Women’s National Championship game on April 6, 2025 . That gave draft prospects like Paige Bueckers hardly any time to recover before flying out for the draft and immediately starting training camp. Bueckers, who led UConn to a national title on April 6, left her victory parade on April 13 to attend the draft. She and many other draftees now have less than six weeks to join their new teams, learn new systems, adjust to the professional level, and prepare for their first preseason games starting May 16, 2025 .

In an eight-month span, Paige Bueckers will have won a national championship, been drafted first overall by the Dallas Wings , graduated college, and completed an entire WNBA season. By comparison, Reed Sheppard—a third overall NBA Draft pick in 2024—played his last college game on March 21, 2024, and was drafted on June 26, 2024 , giving him more than three months to rest and prepare for the higher expectations and intensity of the NBA.

Critics of the WNBA often pointed out Caitlin Clark’s rocky transition into the league during the 2024 season. They noted her struggles to adjust to the WNBA’s speed and physicality and to develop chemistry with her Indiana Fever teammates. But what many fail to consider is that these difficulties are, in part, the result of an unrealistic and compressed transition period. It’s already being predicted that Paige Bueckers will face similar hurdles in Dallas. Though she’s projected to be the Wings’ primary ball handler—which may alleviate some pressure compared to her college scoring role—she still has only four weeks to adjust before stepping into a leadership role on a professional court.

Ultimately, the conversation around the WNBA needs to shift away from surface-level comparisons like ball size or game time and toward the deeper structural differences that directly impact players’ performance, development, and well-being. The current timeline forces WNBA rookies to make an impossible leap from college to the pros with barely any rest, recovery, or preparation—physically, mentally, or emotionally. This isn’t just unfair; it’s unsustainable. While NBA rookies are given time to train, adjust, and transition into their roles, WNBA athletes like Paige Bueckers are expected to immediately carry the weight of leadership and production with less than two weeks of breathing room. These structural imbalances don’t just make the game harder—they put these athletes at a disadvantage from the start.

If we’re serious about supporting women’s sports, then the system needs to change—not the players.

By: Addison Darlak