Kyrie slams NCAA for treatment of women's players

Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Kyrie Irving slams NCAA for treatment of women's players at NCAA Tournament

By Erin Walsh | Last updated 3/19/21

Kyrie Irving has always been one of the biggest supporters of women's basketball. When players elected not to participate in the WNBA's bubble last summer due to COVID-19, the Brooklyn Nets star donated $1.5 million to help pay their salaries through his KAI Empowerment Initiative.

On Friday, he sounded off on the NCAA for the differences between what was provided to the men's teams versus what was provided to the women's teams at the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

Kyrie Irving not pleased with NCAA’s mistreatment of women’s basketball. pic.twitter.com/1jAlJBu6WP
— Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson (@ScoopB) March 19, 2021

The men's teams were given large care packages and a large training facility to work out at during the tournament. The women's care packages were much smaller, and their weight room was a disgrace compared to the men's gym.

Men on the left. Women on the right.

Social media posts have shown differences in the size of swag bags for Men & Women basketball players at the NCAA Tournament.

This would be a great time for other big name companies to step up & create new swag bags. #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/oKWmcudbcx
— Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson (@ScoopB) March 19, 2021

Let me put it on Twitter too cause this needs the attention pic.twitter.com/t0DWKL2YHR
— Sedona Prince (@sedonaprince_) March 19, 2021

Other professional basketball players also slammed the NCAA, including Stephen Curry, Ja Morant, Sabrina Ionescu, Rudy Gobert and Sue Bird. The players called the NCAA a disgrace, among other things.

After countless hours of backlash, the NCAA vowed to correct the disparities between the men's and women's facilities inside the tournament bubble.

"We fell short this year in what we've been doing to prepare," NCAA vice president of women's basketball Lynn Holzman told reporters on Friday, via the Washington Post.

She also said the NCAA was "actively working" on improving the women's facilities, including exercise facilities and food, after a call with coaches and team administrators.

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