The WNBA has ruled the Las Vegas Aces will take a loss for not playing after a 25-hour travel nightmare and many people are surprised by the decision.
The women's basketball team was on its way to Washington D.C. last week for a game against the Washington Mystics when a series of flight delays and cancelations resulted in a relatively short trip turning into an ordeal that lasted more than a day.
The team did not arrive in Washington until 4 hours before the game's start time. The players decided as a team to cancel the game and apologized to fans.
Full statement on tonight's canceled game in Washington. 👇 pic.twitter.com/SBCypeCav8
— Las Vegas Aces ♦️♠️ (@LVAces) August 4, 2018
The WNBA ruled on Tuesday that the Aces would not be allowed to make up the game and would have to take a loss for missing the game. The penalty could hurt the team's chances of being in the playoffs.
The decision has sparked conversation about how women players are treated versus men.
Professional men's teams take chartered flights. The women's teams are forced to fly commercial. The NBA contract also prevents men's teams from being forced to play the same day they cross 2 time zones.
Professional women basketball players are also paid much less than men.
President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach Bill Laimbeer sent the following statement after the decision:
Our entire organization has the utmost respect for the very difficult decision our players made, and we stand with them. We are disappointed with the league’s decision, but our focus is now on winning as many games as we can in our drive for our first playoff appearance.
