Sports journalist Michelle Smith, a 2025 Naismith Hall of Fame nominee and the recipient of this year's Curt Gowdy Print Media Award, had harsh words for NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and the league's treatment of the Golden State Valkyries during NBA All Star this year.
Though in a lot of ways it seemed that the event was a success (at least in terms of participation by the Valkyries, though there were plenty of complaints about All Star in general this year), Smith said in an interview with the "Locked on Women's Basketball" podcast published last week that logistical problems made it tough for the Valkyries in town to make it to the event.
Tiffany Hayes almost missed the dunk contest due to traffic
"You couldn’t get there and you couldn’t get back," she said. And though traffic in the Bay Area is notoriously tough, it wouldn't have been unreasonable to assume the NBA was making sure athletes and coaches traveling back and forth between San Francisco and Oakland would have plenty of time to do so.
"Tiffany Hayes ended up in the car an hour and a half to go three miles because the Valkyries sent her out to do like a community appearance," she continued. "And when they were trying to get her back in time for the All-Star Weekend festivities, she rolled in right before the dunk contest, which we know is the last event of the night."
Smith also criticized the NBA for putting the Valkyries "where nobody can get to"
The NBA also "a mess in multiple ways" for the Valkyries and the WNBA, Smith also said. "Putting that two-by-two tournament way over at City Hall where nobody can get to when you’ve got W players in the mix… putting the W and the Valkyries a little closer to the center of gravity at Chase or even at Oracle would have been great. And neither one of those things really happened."
The 2x2 tournament was hosted by A'ja Wilson and featured Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young against DiJonai Carrington and Arike Ogunbowale and was hosted at San Francisco's Civic Center Plaza. Though the plaza is only 2.8 miles from the Chase Center, where the NBA All Star events were held, different times of day can make traveling between the two locations especially tough.
The NBA might have been giving the WNBA what the league wants
Despite those disappointments, it's possible the NBA was giving the WNBA what it wants: room to highlight their own athletes in their own way at the WNBA All Star this summer.
Hayes herself said as much in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle published during the event. "I think we’re doing a good job with our All-Star as well," Hayes explained.
"I don’t think we should always only keep it in-house or anything, but it’s fun when we do our own thing, too. I think saving our special things for our All-Star is nice. We love the guys and love to come watch them and have fun."