C.J. McCollum, Trail Blazers Call Out NCAA For Lacking Conditions In Women's Bubble

Several Trail Blazers are among millions outraged by inequities experienced by women's players in the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Add several Portland Trail Blazers to the growing number of basketball fans across the globe appalled by the wildly disparate conditions in separate NCAA Tournament bubbles for men's and women's teams.

The controversy erupted on Thursday, when University of Oregon forward Sedona Prince posted a video to TikTok from inside the women's bubble. The designated fitness equipment for women included a single tower of dumbbells weighing up to 30 pounds. Men's teams, as Prince made clear in her video, were treated to an entire conference room full of Olympic lifting stations, free weights, barbells, exercise balls and more.

Even the NCAA's statement justifying the women's ridiculously substandard fitness equipment didn't stand up to passing scrutiny. The lack of space, not money, the NCAA said was cause for the discrepancy was a lie. Prince's video ended with her panning from the women's practice floor and weight tower to thousands of unused square feet that could have been used for a proper indoor fitness area.

The resulting outcries of sexism have transcended the sports world, with a few Blazers helping draw attention the NCAA's flagrant inequity.

C.J. McCollum made his thoughts on the "trash" situation clear, retweeting criticism from Ducks legend and New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu. 

That’s 🗑 they gotta do better https://t.co/IDSQ5pxPLn

— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) March 18, 2021

Anfernee Simons called out the NCAA for being a "joke."

NCAA a joke... smh https://t.co/t8WNiDkN1l

— Anfernee Simons (@AnferneeSimons) March 19, 2021

Nassir Little went at the NCAA, too, noting that money couldn't have played a factor in unfair conditions of the women's bubble.

The NCAA brings in a BILLION dollars bruh. 😂 there’s no logical excuse for this https://t.co/VtnMHmnBjZ

— Nassir Little (@2ez_nassie) March 19, 2021

The NCAA's sexism doesn't stop at fitness equipment, swag bags and pre-cooked meals, though. University of Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma told reporters on Friday that COVID-19 tests performed on women's players aren't just different from those being given to men's players, but are also of the less accurate variety.

The NCAA is making an even bigger joke of itself, in the process further spotlighting institutional misogyny surrounding women's sports. Kudos to McCollum, Simons and Little for using their platforms to draw attention to it.

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