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The 2022 WNBA season is formally in its stretch run, and there are 4 groups vying for the eighth and last spot within the playoffs which are at present separated by only one recreation within the standings. A kind of groups is the Los Angeles Sparks, who earned an exhilarating victory over the Washington Mystics, 79-76, on Sunday in DC to maintain their playoff desires alive.
Sadly, it’s what occurred after the sport that’s drawing headlines proper now.
The Sparks have been set to fly again to Los Angeles at 1 a.m. Their flight was reportedly delayed a number of instances earlier than being postponed till 9 a.m. on Monday morning. There weren’t sufficient resort beds out there for the gamers and workers, so a few of them needed to spend the night time within the airport. That features former WNBA MVP Nneka Ogwumike.
Ogwumike and her youthful sister Chiney — who you additionally may know from her function as an ESPN NBA analyst — took a video from the airport the place they spent the night time. Watch the video right here:
Right here’s what Ogwumike stated on the video:
“We’re roaming the airport. It’s the primary time in my 11 seasons that I’ve ever needed to sleep within the airport.” “However primarily based on journey … It was solely a matter of time. So, half of us are sleeping within the airport. Half of us are at a resort. There weren’t sufficient rooms.”
Ogwumike can also be the president of the WNBA Gamers Affiliation.
A Sparks assistant coach tweeted this picture:
WNBA groups fly on business flights, whereas NBA groups and most high-major faculty packages constitution flights. Journey has been an enormous ache for gamers within the league for years. Earlier this summer time, Las Vegas Aces star Kelsey Plum stated the airplanes have been her hardest competitors this season:
Wnba reporter: “who’s the hardest competitor you’ve confronted this season?”
Me: the airways, simply brutal
— Kelsey Plum (@Kelseyplum10) July 18, 2022
Final season, the New York Liberty have been fined $500K for offering constitution flights to video games as a result of the league seen it as an unfair aggressive benefit.
That is one other black eye for the league. Think about an NBA group needing to sleep in an airport earlier than a recreation that might determine their playoff destiny. It will by no means occur.
The Sparks host the Connecticut Solar on Tuesday night time in Los Angeles. Journey will proceed to be an enormous downside for the league till it lastly addresses it.
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