#BWHM: ‘GOATs Aren’t Born, They’re Raised’ — Sheryl Swoopes Anchors WNBA’s 30-Year Power Play
A new ad starring Sheryl Swoopes showcases both the past and future of the league. The post #BWHM: ‘GOATs Aren’t Born, They’re Raised’ — Sheryl Swoopes Anchors WNBA’s 30-Year Power Play appeared first on MadameNoire.
Black News 
A new ad starring WNBA icon Sheryl Swoopes illustrates the league’s heightened visibility in its 30th season.
Called “Raising GOATS,” the ad shows Swoopes surrounded by actual goats, with highlights of players from the league’s three decades flashing by.
“Goats aren’t just born, they’re raised,” she says, picking up one of the animals.
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Swoopes, 55, was the first player drafted to the WNBA in 1996. She became a three-time MVP and four-time champion with the Houston Comets, ultimately landing in the Hall of Fame. She, along with teammate Tina Thompson and L.A. Sparks’ Lisa Leslie, are among the league’s early superstars.
Though the Comets folded in 2008, they’re returning to the league in 2027.
The Nike ad nods to the tensions the league experienced when Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese competed against each other in the 2023 NCAA women’s championship, which became at that time, the most-watched women’s basketball game ever.
Clark’s University of Iowa team fell to Reese’s LSU team, 102 – 85, but the increased visibility sparked greater interest in women’s basketball which followed through to the ’24 WNBA draft.
The #1 pick, Clark went to the Indiana Fever, while Reese went to the Chicago Sky with the seventh pick. From that moment, Clark became the most scrutinized player in the league, setting off both attendance records and the ire of some of the league’s icons, including Swoopes and others who felt their contributions weren’t properly recognized.
Reese and Clark are credited with leading the league into an era where they were able to sign a historic collective bargaining agreement, which resulted in the highest pay raises of any league in modern sports history.
The post #BWHM: ‘GOATs Aren’t Born, They’re Raised’ — Sheryl Swoopes Anchors WNBA’s 30-Year Power Play appeared first on MadameNoire.
