A’ja Wilson And The WNBA Are Calling Out An ‘SNL’ Skit From This Past Weekend That They Think Is ‘Trash’

Not every skit on Saturday Night Live is a winner, and one that aired on Saturday has drawn plenty of ire from sports fans and athletes alike. The most recent episode of SNL saw Idris Elba host the sketch show, and one skit took aim at the differences between the NBA and WNBA.

Elba starred in the sketch along with Keenan Thompson and Chris Redd — three men dressed up in 70s-style clothes and looking to hook up with WNBA players. The “Gold Diggers Of The WNBA” sketch tries to invert some of the traditional gender roles of a stereotypical situation like this, presumably women trying to meet highly-paid athletes and reap the benefits of their wealth.

The “joke” here, though, is that the highest paid WNBA players pale in comparison to the big contracts their male counterparts get in the NBA. This isn’t news — even players in the NBA’s esports league make more money on average than WNBA players. But here, that disparity — and the luxuries a WNBA salary is perceived to afford its stars — is played up for laughs about mid-sized sedans and stainless steel appliances.

As OutSports pointed out, the episode is likely trying to call attention to the wage gap between the NBA and WNBA, which is a significant point of criticism. But as often is the case with skits on Saturday Night Live, the simply calling attention to something is where the joke begins and ends. Nothing significant or thoughtful is said beyond that. It’s become a hallmark of SNL sketches as of late, such as the show’s Deal or No Deal sketch about the border wall and the government shutdown where the punchline was a notable figure from the shutdown debate merely appearing on screen.

And the skit plays into many of the long-held stereotypes of women’s sports, those that critics smugly fall back on when criticizing its athletes and teams. The most unfortunate example of this is how the men are rebuffed — because the WNBA player now has a girlfriend, played by Kate McKinnon. Redd’s character asked what the odds are she leaves with another woman, and the response is “9 out of 10” and “a huge chance.”

The skit didn’t get much attention when it aired, but on Sunday negative reaction to the skit began popping up online. And as actual athletes saw the segment, including those in the WNBA, the segment was widely panned. A’ja Wilson, the reigning Rookie of the Year and an athlete who has been unafraid to make note of the wage gap in interviews and on Twitter, called out the skit a number of times on Monday.

She also retweeted a video of the skit calling it “trash” again.

Other WNBA players, and the league account itself, called out SNL for the sketch.

Other employees of the league and journalists found fault with the skit as well.

There’s been no word from SNL about the skit, but it certainly is starting to get the wrong kind of attention. No one seems to be disputing the wage gap between the leagues, and it’s certainly something worth discussing. But reinforcing all the stereotypes people use to dismiss women’s basketball in the process of shedding light on one of the league’s biggest issues seems to be the wrong way to go about it.