Elizabeth Williams has everyone’s attention and is using it to help change the WNBA

Elizabeth Williams’ leadership in the WNBA has been a progression.

Although the way she commands the attention of rooms with profound and direct messages about issues the league needs to address seems effortless, believe it or not, it’s taken Williams time to find her voice.

Williams’ involvement in the players -association began as an alternate player representative during her second season in the league in 2016. The following season she was the Dream’s primary player rep. In 2018 Williams was elected to serve on the WNBA Players Association executive committee as secretary, becoming the first player to hold the singular position. Before 2018, the position was a joint position with treasurer.

In December, Williams was elected for her third term.

“When Terri [Jackson] came on [as the WNBPA executive direction], she knew I was pretty active on calls, paying attention, and she said, ‘You should think about being part of the executive committee,’” Williams told the Sun-Times. “Coming in, I didn’t really know anything about unions or any of that kind of work but I’m really glad I got into it.”

On Sunday, Williams used the Sky’s pregame media availability as an opportunity to address one of the most pressing issues the WNBA faces: travel. By halftime of the Sky’s 104-85 victory over the Mercury, her words had been shared by the players association and members across the league.

Williams jokes that her job as the WNBPA’s secretary can be summarized as a “glorified notetaker.” Upon a more serious evaluation, Williams elaborated on her responsibility to maintain documentation of league meetings and also to be a conduit between the players association and all of its members.

Although she doesn’t characterize her role as another full-time job, she is always available to her teammates and players across the league to answer questions and document concerns. 

Sunday’s address by Williams was originally planned to take place during every team’s media availability, but her voice carried the message across the league.

During her first few years in the WNBA, Williams acknowledged she didn’t feel entirely comfortable speaking up on issues impacting the league. She recalled when the Liberty were fined for wearing black warm-up T-shirts in 2016 and noted how four years later Black Lives Matter decals were added to WNBA courts to emphasize the player-led changes that have taken place over her nine-year career.

“Even within my career, there’s been an enormous shift and it started with players who were willing to take that risk when I was younger,” Williams said. “That inspired me to speak up more now.”

Two players Williams specifically credited for helping her establish her voice are Sparks guard Layshia Clarendon and WNBA MVP (2016) and WNBPA President Nneka Ogwumike. Williams acknowledged Clarendon’s intensity in speaking on LGBTQIA+ rights, Black Lives Matter and kneeling for the national anthem as sources of inspiration in her latter years.

Ogwumike, Williams said, is the perfect president because of her concern and care in ensuring every player in the league is taken care of, not just those at the top.

“She does a great job speaking up and being unafraid,” Williams said. “We’re both Nigerian, too, and we talk about what comes with that and just embracing that mold, too.”

“Representing is a big thing in our -culture, representing your family, who you are and where you come from. So, we always talk about that and making sure we’re examples to everyone else.”

Williams has been acknowledged by countless in the WNBA as not just an -example but a presence that commands the everyone’s -attention on and off the court. Both are qualities that her peers feel contribute to her success on the WNBPA’s executive committee. 

“E is a staple,” teammate Courtney Williams said Sunday. “Not only for our team but for this league. I tell her all the time, ‘When you talk, people listen.’ There are a lot of things this league could do better. We just have to keep moving in the right direction. So, whatever she says, I stand with her.”