Ex-LSU standout Alexis Morris is offering a mea culpa to WNBA veterans after calling for their retirement to make way for incoming rookies after she was cut from the Connecticut Sun earlier this month.
“To the veterans of the WNBA, please accept my sincerest apologies,” she wrote on Instagram Thursday.
Morris was drafted 22nd by the Sun shortly after helping LSU win the national title but was cut during training camp.
The W Has Too Few Spots And Too Many Talented Players
Just 15 of the 36 selections from the 2023 WNBA draft appear on opening day rosters. Joining Morris on the cut list were Final Four participants Iowa’s Monika Czinano, South Carolina’s Brea Beal, Virginia Tech’s Kayana Traylor, and LSU teammate LaDazhia Williams.
WNBA rosters have a 12 player limit, so veterans and rookies are going to feel the squeeze in the coming years unless the rosters expand. The league and WNBPA just agreed to a new CBA in 2020, so this won’t change until the next agreement.
After being cut Morris was clearly upset and took to Twitter to voice her frustrations in a since-deleted tweet.
“The vets got to know when to cut the net, and pass the torch bro,” Morris tweeted.
As a part of her apology Morris asked the vets to “empathize and find it in your hearts to forgive me.”
“I never thought joining the W family would be easy, but now I understand just how hard it is to do that. My energy would have been better served directed toward league executives who have a say in expansion and other logistics,” Morris said. “I will continue to work hard in hopes of joining you all one day soon.”
The Reality Of The Business
Expansion is an option and WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said it’s in her plans. The league has narrowed the list of expansion cities down to 20 and she said expansion and potentially increasing roster sizes are all options on the table.
“We’re often asked about that roster size question. We think today our rosters are the right size,” said Engelbert to Just Women’s Sports. “I think for now, the roster sizes are set for this season into next. But that’ll be for sure a discussion in the next round of collective bargaining, as will a variety of other issues. And I think with expansion on the horizon, my personal view is to give 12 to 24 and hopefully more roster spots will be something obviously that expansion will afford us.”
All positive news but none of this is going to happen within the next year or two. We’re looking at at least a three- to five-year horizon. Especially with expansion.
“To fans of the WNBA, I apologize to you as well. Please don’t let this mistake be a representation of our league or as an indictment against my character moving forward. I ask for your forgiveness and support as I attempt to raise more awareness about some of the issues the league is facing,” Morris said. “It needs your support now more than ever. While I’m one of many to be affected by recent cuts, I understand that the issue is bigger than me.”
While the W has grown in popularity, that needs to continue and the revenue also needs to increase in all areas so that the business case for adding more teams can be made. While fans love basketball and don’t think about the business side, the league must. Getting billionaires to fork over millions for a team that will lose money is not going to help get expansion done.
