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Dear WNBA, please put numbers on the front of the uniforms
Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

Dear WNBA, please put numbers on the front of the uniforms

You're sitting at a WNBA game, or maybe watching it on television, when a player manages a sweet steal. She takes off, making a fast break and then finishes off with a layup before her opponents realize what even happened. You want to cheer her on. You want to tweet about her great moves. You want to buy her jersey.

But if you didn't see her at the correct angle, you may not even be able to find out her name. Was that Diamond DeShields? Natasha Howard? Jewell Loyd?

WNBA uniforms have the name and number of players on only the back. Much like in the Premier League, WNBA uniforms have large areas for sponsorship on the front of jerseys, with the team logo appearing somewhere near the sponsor's name. Last names and numbers go on the back.

Having the names underneath the numbers helps them to be more easily seen on players with long hair, but sometimes that doesn't work. The Chicago Sky's Jantel Lavender, for example, has braids that extend to her waist. In the past few games, she's worn her hair tied up, and her name and number can be seen more easily, but it still doesn't help if she's not facing the correct way.

This problem might seem trivial, but for anyone trying to identify players on the court, it's not. Photographers, journalists, broadcasters and, most importantly, referees need an easier way to identify the players. In some cases, referees must turn players around to see their numbers before reporting fouls. Fans who may not know every player on sight are hoping players will turn around with the camera still on them.

The solution is simple. Players' shorts have ample room for numbers on the front, so put them there. Sponsors logos won't suffer from being shrunk down, team logos will still be visible, and fans won't be forced to wonder who that star is coming off the bench to drop 15 points.

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