Times They Are Changing.

I recently read an article on espn.com in which David Stern speculated about the possibility of women playing in the NBA. I don't want to seem sexist but I don't think it would happen unless it was the perfect situation. To clarify myself I'll outline my idea of the perfect situation where a women could play competitively at the NBA level.

This women would have to be fast, not only fast but also have great endurance so she can keep up with the flow of the game in the NBA. The last thing you would want to see as a fan of basketball if this happened would be a woman struggling to keep up with everyone else. That would just be embarrassing to everyone associated with the league.

She would have to be a great shooter. And when I say that I mean lights out, doesn't miss, shovels snow off of her driveway to shoot 100 threes a day good. This is the one area in basketball where woman can undoubtedly keep up with men. If she can shoot just as well or better than the big boys, then she could play with them.

She would have to be the scrappiest freaking girl you had ever seen. As in balls to the wall (pardon the irony), diving for loose basketballs, crashing the boards every shot. If someone is doing this every play and is successful even every few times, any critic should and will be silenced. Playing with fiery passion would probably be the most important aspect of her game.

Having said all of this I acknowledge the fact that in a "perfect storm", the right woman could play in the NBA. However I don't think it will happen because of several undeniable truths about the NBA.

1) These guys are freaks of nature. They are superheroes. I recall reading a post about whether the NBA is the most popular it's ever been and why. The reasoning was that watching stars today is like watching Batman and Superman duke it out in adult form. Every athlete in the NBA looks like a jacked up figure you would see on Saturday morning cartoons. They do things that we can't even wrap our minds around trying to accomplish. Look at this clip of 5-9 Nate Robinson if you have any doubts about this. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjDmyW4RJ64)

2) A fan base would be in uproar if it was for the wrong reasons. If this were to ever happen, I would hate it to be as a publicity gimmick. If it happens it needs to be for the right reasons and because they think this woman could make them better. The young lady would have to contribute immediately and show that she could improve. This is extremely hard for any rookie coming in to the NBA, let alone someone who would have to deal with so much potential adversity and criticism.

3) The men playing against her are going to play shut down defense. No one in the NBA is going to want to be that guy who was lit up last night by the new girl in town. Everyone is going to do their best to make sure this doesn't happen.

4) This is one I had to think about writing. It's true though. A lot of NBA player's (gulp) are not going to want to play against women. Think about a botched defensive rotation featuring Dwayne Wade/Kobe Bryant being left posted up on a woman down low...well this is awkward. How about this scenario? This "perfect woman" happens to be 6-3 and posts up on a smaller NBA guard...Now this just got really awkward, especially for said guard. Hmmm lets see, he fouls her, he looks like a jackass. He swats her shot, he looks like a jackass. He gets backed down and she scores on him, he looks like a huge jackass. No prideful NBA player is going to want to be in that position. There, I said it, thank God that's over.

Having said all this the leagues reigning MVP has made some interesting comments on the subject. Lebron doesn't think it will happen in the next ten years. I think the only way it could happen in the near future is if this woman was everything I mentioned above and put on an athletic young aggressive team. On a team like the Hawks for example, she could throw alley-oops and assists, run point (potentially), and have her teammates set picks while she shoots perimeter shots and then crashes the boards.

Do I think it could happen in a perfect world...Yes

Do I think it will happen in the near future with the fast pace of the NBA...Probably not, but it is a very intriguing idea.