June 27, 2024
Locked On Women’s Basketball: Commissioner’s Cup, WNBA media discussion with Dexter Henry
By The Next
On Minnesota's big win and the role of Black women in WNBA coverage
Dexter Henry and Gigi Speer were both at Tuesday night’s WNBA Commissioner’s Cup final, a Minnesota Lynx win over the New York Liberty. But they are also witnessing a media moment for WNBA coverage that, in Henry’s view, is de-emphasizing Black women’s voices at a time the space needs them.
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The two discuss exactly how Henry has gone about working to increase coverage of the league, both in his role at the New York Post and in his independent work. But first, the duo talked about what went wrong for New York on Tuesday night.
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“So that game, you know I think was disappointing for the Liberty fan, right?” Henry said. “We were both in the building that day at UBS and shout out to the fans that came out there, Gigi. Look, the Liberty, they were flowing in the first half. And then they were not. And one of the key things was the turnovers 21 turnovers that led to 27 Minnesota Lynx points. So that was a disappointing thing.”
After the Commissioner’s Cup rundown, the two also delved into the ways the 2024 WNBA media coverage is disappointing to many. Henry’s belief is that there is a direct correlation between how long someone’s been covering the league and how deep the coverage can be that comes from that reporter.
“I love women’s basketball. So it only made sense to talk about it,” Henry said of his inclusion of WNBA topics and reporters on his New York Post digital show. “And I also thought there were a lot of women in the space that covered the sport that weren’t getting their voices seen and amplified. And I’m proud to help to do that. And be part of it, to talk with people who know the sport so well. Even people who’ve covered it longer and know better and deeper than me.”
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