{"id":2514202,"date":"2025-11-24T20:19:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T01:19:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wnba-star-admits-that-elite-8th-graders-could-probably-beat-wnba-players\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T20:21:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T01:21:11","slug":"wnba-star-admits-that-elite-8th-graders-could-probably-beat-wnba-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wnba-star-admits-that-elite-8th-graders-could-probably-beat-wnba-players\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA Star Admits That Elite 8th Graders Could &#8216;Probably&#8217; Beat WNBA Players"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwnba-star-admits-that-elite-8th-graders-could-probably-beat-wnba-players%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2514202&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Brooklyn Nets player Michael Porter Jr.caused controversy after comments made during a podcast episode of &#8220;Ball in the Family,&#8221; where he discussed former NBA player pat Beverley&#8217;s claim that a top WNBA team could defeat NBA bench players. Porter asserted that even as an eighth-grader, he could easily compete against WNBA-level players, citing his experience playing against his sister&#8217;s University of Missouri team, which included future WNBA athletes such as Sophie Cunningham. Porter expressed frustration that this debate persisted, considering it common sense that male players, even young ones, could outperform female professionals due to differences in size and strength.<\/p>\n<p>Porter&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/feminists-nightmare-harrison-butker-nfl-womens-jerseys-sell-out\/\" title=\"Harrison Butker NFL Women&#039;s Jerseys Sold Out, a Feminist&#039;s Dilemma\">remarks triggered backlash<\/a> from several WNBA players and commentators who accused him of misogyny.Though, Sophie Cunningham, one of the players Porter referenced, responded differently on her podcast, agreeing that <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >elite male athletes<\/a>, even at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bill-to-ban-dudes-from-girls-sports-teams-fails-in-ohio-state-house-despite-gop-supermajority\/\" title=\"Bill to Ban Dudes From Girls&#039; Sports Teams Fails in Ohio State House Despite GOP Supermajority\">eighth-grade level<\/a>, generally have physical advantages over female players. While Cunningham and her co-host took some issue with Porter&#8217;s tendency for controversial statements, she acknowledged the biological differences that contribute to male athletes&#8217; edge over female athletes in most cases.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Brooklyn Nets star Michael Porter Jr. stepped on a veritable hornet&rsquo;s nest when he appeared on an NBA-centered podcast.<\/p>\n<p>Appearing on the Nov. 18 episode of &ldquo;Ball in the Family,&rdquo; brothers Lonzo and LiAngelo Ball joined Porter to speak on a number of topics, including the Nets forward&rsquo;s childhood and career trajectory.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=45KflANqlpk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">conversation<\/a> moved to dissecting comments made by former NBA defensive stalwart Pat Beverley, who went on his podcast and claimed that the best WNBA team could beat a team comprised of NBA benchwarmers.<\/p>\n<p>Co-host Lonzo offered the first response to Beverly&rsquo;s claim: &ldquo;I mean this as respectfully as possible, but 9th grade Lonzo Ball in the WNBA? He&rsquo;s going crazy.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The eldest Ball brother noted that by 9th grade, he was already dunking the basketball &mdash; something that most WNBA players can&rsquo;t do in-game.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;mma go, uh, probably 8th grade,&rdquo; Porter said. He then argued that he had &ldquo;real experience doing this,&rdquo; because he once played against his sister&rsquo;s University of Missouri team at that age.<\/p>\n<p>That Missouri team featured future WNBA players, like Indiana Fever standout Sophie <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wnba-punishes-teammate-came-caitlin-clarks-defense\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cunningham<\/a> (more on her shortly), and Porter claims that he had an easy time against them when he was either a 7th or 8th grader.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I wish this would stop being a conversation, because it should be common sense,&rdquo; Porter said.<\/p>\n<p>To the surprise of nobody, Porter&rsquo;s remarks didn&rsquo;t stop the conversation &mdash; it ignited it.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple WNBA stars and pundits came out to lambaste Porter and his perceived misogyny.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Angel McCoughtry goes off on Michael Porter Jr., telling him to come to a WNBA practice to really see what&rsquo;s going on<\/p>\n<p>She says NBA players load-manage for headaches, while WNBA players deserve credit for being able to drop 40 on their period, come back to play after pregnancy,&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SXbRRJpszj\">pic.twitter.com\/SXbRRJpszj<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheDunkCentral\/status\/1991992921583694143?\">November 21, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>But one WNBA star who didn&rsquo;t dog pile on Porter? The aforementioned Cunningham.<\/p>\n<p>Cunningham broached the viral topic on her own podcast (yes, pretty much every athlete has their own podcast now), the &ldquo;Show Me Something&rdquo; show:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Sophie Cunningham, who Michael Porter Jr. claims he beat in a Mizzou basketball practice in 8th grade, reacted to MPJ&rsquo;s recent comments:<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I mean, it&rsquo;s probably true. I think, if you are a professional [athlete], if you&rsquo;re in that elite level group, yea you should be able to&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/pVbrxyYShV\">pic.twitter.com\/pVbrxyYShV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Courtside Buzz (@CourtsideBuzzX) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CourtsideBuzzX\/status\/1992666783627833612?\">November 23, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think, and this is my personal opinion, if you are a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/s-d-governor-launches-national-coalition-to-challenge-policies-on-transgender-participation-in-womens-sports\/\" title=\"S.D. governor launches national coalition to challenge policies on transgender participation in women\u2019s sports\">professional football player<\/a>, basketball player, really any sport&hellip; but let&rsquo;s just take basketball since that&rsquo;s where we&rsquo;re both at,&rdquo; Cunningham began. &ldquo;To me, if you&rsquo;re in that elite level group, yeah, you should be able to beat the girls. Like I&rsquo;m not surprised by that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I just don&rsquo;t get why it&rsquo;s continuing to get brought up. If women are saying, &lsquo;He couldn&rsquo;t beat them&rsquo; &mdash; yeah, he could. Any NBA star or player can beat a female in high school.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Now, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/furious-indiana-fever-coach-wants-big-changes-caitlin-clark-gets-flattened-knew-going-happen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cunningham<\/a> and co-host Conrad Wilson did take a few shots at Porter, whose penchant for saying off-kilter things is well-documented.<\/p>\n<p>But the actual point being made by Porter, at least in this instance? Cunningham couldn&rsquo;t find an issue with it.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Do you think&hellip; a group of elite 8th graders could beat a WNBA team?&rdquo; Wilson asked.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I mean, if they&rsquo;re future pros? It just depends on how big they are,&rdquo; Cunningham began. &ldquo;In the majority of the time, if they&rsquo;re going pro, unless you&rsquo;re a late bloomer, you&rsquo;re already pretty big.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>After the two co-hosts agreed that there are some massive 8th grade boys, Cunningham admitted, &ldquo;I would say that&rsquo;s probably true. I mean it&rsquo;s probably true. I don&rsquo;t want to be unrealistic or delusional. Men are just stronger, bigger, athletic &mdash; like they just are a different build.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;So yeah, if you put them up against females, yeah they&rsquo;re gonna win. Duh.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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On the Nov. 18 episode of &#8220;Ball in the Family,&#8221; Lonzo and LiAngelo Ball joined Porter to discuss various subjects, including his upbringing and basketball journey. The talk eventually shifted to comments by former NBA defender Pat Beverley, who claimed the best WNBA team could defeat a group of NBA bench players<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2514203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2025-11-24T191047.856.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[7142,9503,33416,7188,46009],"class_list":["post-2514202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-basketball","tag-competition","tag-female-athletes","tag-wnba","tag-youth-sports"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2025-11-24T191047.856.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2514202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2514202"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2514202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2514206,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2514202\/revisions\/2514206"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2514203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2514202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2514202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2514202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}