While most people know who NBA star Blake Griffin is, you'd be hard-pressed to find as many people who could even name one current player in the Women's National Basketball Association. So when Blake Griffin appeared on Broad City on March 30, the Los Angeles Clippers power forward tried to remedy this injustice by talking about how excellent the WNBA truly is. Griffin's main scenes in the episode "B&B-NYC" were between him and Ilana in the bedroom, but once they were done with their creative and hysterical sexual exploits, they had a chat about the WNBA.
After Ilana commented that she wishes there was a basketball league for women so that she could play, Griffin politely corrected her that there is already one that exists (and has existed since 1996) — the WNBA. He followed with saying, "I mean, they are so good. I literally steal moves from them all the time." In response to Ilana's surprise, he continued saying, "Some of the moves they do, I can't even — like — I can't even think of in my head. It's just like the best version of basketball there is." Ilana says, "That's women for ya," and Blake in reply says, "Always making stuff better."
Like with many things Broad City, this exchange is so smart, hilarious, and poignant on so many levels. First off, you've got Griffin and Ilana munching on pizza in bed after their ridiculous sexual escapades. Not to mention they have swapped shoes for the scene so Ilana is dwarfed by Griffin's size 17 sneaker while his toes barely fit in Ilana's size four/four-and-a-half shoe. (Thankfully, we know Ilana's shoe size due to her and Abbi's bowling alley excursion during the March 23 episode "Philadelphia.") Then you have Ilana so oblivious to the fact that the WNBA even exists, countered by Griffin, one of the NBA's most notable players, giving high praise to this fellow sports organization that has never earned the respect it so greatly deserves.
Of course, these words from Griffin were written by "B&B-NYC" episode writers Paul W. Downs (who plays Trey) and Lucia Aniello. Yet, compliments toward the WNBA coming from a powerful figure in the professional sports world has got to make a least a little bit of an impact on the amount of attention that female sports get. And, if you don't think there are vitriolic comments about the WNBA coming from both men and women, a simple Google search will prove you oh-so wrong. (A particularly painful read that will make you want to start watching the WNBA even if you don't now comes courtesy of Debbie Schlussel, who has made it part of her life's work to tear down the league.)
Griffin overpraising the WNBA may seem like satire, but since his comments were on Broad City — the single most feminist show on television today — you know his praise was meant not only to be funny, but also to bring awareness to this league of crazy talented athletic women. Not that a man's praise should mean anything more than the women who have been talking about the league for ages, of course, but it was nice to hear the WNBA get the shoutout they deserve. #HeForShe and all that.
And, thanks to Griffin being down to laud the WNBA, he is the kind of athlete that I want to see more of outside of the court. Because of his confident discussion about the WNBA, it's almost no wonder that Griffin could make any man feel confident carrying around his shoe as a murse.
Images: Comedy Central
