"WNBA or MNBA?" — Woman Reveals New Way to Annoy Male NBA Fans, Goes Viral
"He knows the answer isn’t a good one."
Published July 8 2024, 10:28 a.m. ET
TikToker Nesil (@izilium) shared with the world a brand new way to annoy men in a video that has blown up — 3.4 million views and counting. The video features a fun exchange between her and her boyfriend off-camera in the other room with the text overlay, "Unlocked a new way to annoy men."
Nesil posed a question to her boyfriend: "But what I'm asking is for the NBA how do you know whether they're talking about the WNBA or the MNBA? Like when you say NBA... how do you know if it's WNBA or MNBA?" Her boyfriend, off-camera, responds simply, "Because..."
After a long pause, he continues, "Because usually people just say 'the league'." Nesil then giddily fires back, "The league? But then when they're talking about both the WNBA and the MNBA..." to which the man responds, "Babe, the thing about it is..." and is at a loss for words.
Nesil follows up with, "But is the MNBA and WNBA seasons happening at the same time?" Annoyed, her boyfriend responds, "No." Nesil counters, "So people can just tell which one you're talking about based on what time of year it is," to which her boyfriend gives up, "Umm sure but babe--" as the video cuts off.
Many women took glee in Nesil's comedy. One wrote, "I am no man’s peace." Another quipped, "Motion to always refer to sports as 'regular' or 'men’s'. Is it regular soccer or men’s soccer?" critical of the word "regular."
A third had a laugh at the man's expense, "He knows the answer isn’t a good one... this is perfection!" A fourth took it up a notch, "Totally going to go 'what NBA? The women’s or men?' — oooo this is gonna rattle them lol."
For reference, men often call the NBA the "regular one" most likely due to viewership numbers.
The NBA's regular season games averaged 1.6 million viewers per game. During the playoffs, this number increased significantly, with an average of 5.47 million viewers per game. The NBA Finals saw even higher numbers, with an average of 11.64 million viewers, peaking at 17.88 million.
In contrast, the WNBA's regular season had over 36 million total unique viewers, but the average per game viewership was significantly lower than the NBA's. The WNBA All-Star Game averaged 850,000 viewers, peaking at 955,000.
This comparison speaks directly to the substantial viewership gap between the NBA and WNBA, with the NBA attracting significantly larger eyeballs.
To put it in perspective, the NBA's average viewership per game during the regular season is approximately 104.76% higher than the WNBA's average.
The NBA playoffs' average viewership per game is approximately 146.20% higher than the WNBA All-Star Game's average. The NBA Finals' average viewership is approximately 172.78% higher than the WNBA All-Star Game's average.
These numbers explain why the NBA is often referred to as the "regular" league in casual conversations, reflecting its higher popularity and viewer engagement.
Nesil's hilarious pokes fun at sports jargon and the sometimes “confusing” overlap between men's and women's leagues. Her wise-guy questioning and the subsequent responses from her boyfriend had many viewers rolling, especially women who could relate and, frankly, received a new idea of how to annoy the men in their lives.
While the statistics clearly show the viewership gap between the NBA and WNBA, Nesil’s interrogation highlights the casual yet significant differences in how these leagues are talked about.
And it appears that Nesil has capitalized on putting her husband in an uncomfortable situation, putting him in a position to state the obvious — that the NBA existed decades before women's division games were televised, or that the WNBA has yet to turn a profit.
And no one wants to be the guy who is putting together a meme compilation of embarrassing play fails and showing that kind of thing on a TV for a comparison/contrast session.
In the end, this one was a win for Nesil and women who enjoyed the prank. Wanted to annoy your man? Mission accomplished.