The travel woes mark the latest in a series of issues the league has faced regarding commercial travel for teams.
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After a 79-76 victory over the Mystics on Sunday, members of the Sparks’ traveling party were forced to sleep in the airport after the team’s flight back home to Los Angeles was canceled.
Sparks star Nneka Ogwumike took to Twitter to discuss the travel issues in a video to her followers.
“So we are rooming in the airport,” Ogwumike said. “It’s the first time in my 11 seasons that I’ve ever had to sleep in the airport. ... It was only a matter of time. Half of us are sleeping in the airport and half of us are in a hotel. There weren’t enough rooms after our flights were delayed, delayed, delayed and then canceled at 1 a.m.”
Ogwumike further noted that the Sparks were slated to leave DC at 9 am ET on Monday morning. The Sparks play a home game against the Sun on Tuesday night.
Players and coaching staffs around the league have been lobbying for charter flights for years, but commercial travel is still the default method of movement for WNBA teams. Because of this, teams around the league tend to have issues with travel no less than a couple times a season.
The canceled flight for the Sparks and the need to sleep in an airport is the latest example of the league’s owners coming up woefully short in support of their respective teams and their travel needs.
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