AN interesting comparison being passed around the social media in the wake of the Los Angeles Lakers’ victory in this year’s National Basketball Association championship raised some uncomfortable questions about the persistent disparity between men’s and women’s sports at the professional level. I don’t have as much time as I’d like these days to flex my rusty sportswriting skills, but this topic ultimately merges into my usual business-and-economics lane and is important enough that it deserves some attention.

The comparison in question, presented in the form of an infographic, put the two biggest stars of the NBA and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) – the Lakers’ Lebron James and the Seattle Storm’s Sue Bird – side-by-side. Both are 17-year veterans of their respective leagues; both won their leagues’ championships in 2020, which was the fourth championship for both of them.

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