After sparking controversy with his comments on the pay gap between men and women athletes, Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green is clearing the air.
Green, who has long been an advocate for women’s empowerment and for efforts to better promote women’s sports, got himself into some hot water with recent advice on how women can better close the gap. A number of top women’s athletes spoke out against his statement, saying it missed the mark, and Green is now responding.
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Green Called Out
During the women’s NCAA basketball tournament, Green took to Twitter to share his thoughts about how to close the pay gap between men and women at the highest levels of the game. He noted that the NBA was not always the global game it is today, that it took hard work to build the platform and market the individual players. Green said he believed this was lacking in the women’s game.
“Who’s building up y’all platform?” he tweeted. “Who’s telling the individual stories of how great y’all are? Building the interest and transforming women’s basketball into a global game?”
‘AT THE END OF THE DAY, WHAT MEGAN WANTS AND WHAT I WANT IS THE SAME THING’ @Money23Green responds to @mPinoe criticizing his comments on women’s sports.
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This week, U.S. women’s soccer great Megan Rapinoe called Green out for the remarks, saying it was unfortunate for someone in his position to still have an uneducated opinion. Rapinoe added that Green should not have directed the remarks to the famous women’s basketball players he tagged in the comments.
“We know all this, about all social movements and all people who are marginalized, whether it’s by race or gender, religion, sexuality, whatever it is, it is not just their job to be the ones fighting oppression,” Rapinoe said, via ESPN. “We need all of the other people as well. So to have someone who does know what it is like to be oppressed, in many ways, to heap that all back on female players, or people who play female sports, it is just really disappointing.”
Green Says Comments Misunderstood
The Warriors big man responded to Rapinoe this week, saying that he shares the same goals as her and hopes that they can ultimately work together toward the goal of having equal pay for women.
“It doesn’t really matter to me how you get there,” Green said, via Yahoo Sports. “What does matter to me is that we get there. I’m not going to sit here and condemn her comments back to me or what she’s done. I’m in full support of what she’s doing to help get to that end goal, because that’s what I want to see happen.”
Green has long been active in seeking to empower women and address issues of equal rights, though his approaches have sometimes generated controversy. Back in March, he took to social media to say he decided against making a post in celebration of International Women’s Day. Green, who has taken part in a number of team-sponsored efforts to celebrate International Women’s Month, said that he did not agree with the idea of boiling it down to a single day rather than taking efforts throughout the year to address equality issues.
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Warrior Draymond Green Clears the Air in Spat With Women’s Soccer Great