The WNBA’s best player is here to fight for women’s equality whether you like it or not

She won’t say officially whether she is coming back to the United States, but here is an open lobby to keep Liz Cambage from fleeing across the pond.

We need her candor.

Little girls, moms of little girls, women who don’t have children, listen to the best women’s basketball player on the planet. If you want to hear about how things really are, listen to the Dallas Wings center.

Not that many of you know it, but Cambage came back to the U.S. and the WNBA this season to play for the Wings. Their season ended in the playoffs on Tuesday night against Phoenix; the shame is that not enough people not only did not watch her play, but listened to her speak.

Her voice is bigger than her game, and she led the WNBA in scoring and finished second in rebounding.

Her speak is simple: Girls, the gap is big not just in the U.S. but all over the world. The only way the gap shrinks is if people like Cambage run her mouth 24/7.

Girls, keep b-------.

“I was raised by a single mom, who is now a CEO (in Australia); I grew up watching her flourish and hearing stories about men getting paid more even though she was doing the exact same thing,” Cambage said in a phone interview. “It’s frustrating, and it’s world wide. With the power of social media, some of these issues are starting to surface. Sports is a different conversation, but it’s the same thing. We realize the NBA brings in much higher revenue, and we are not fighting for equal pay (in the WNBA) but the same percentage. It’s things like that.

“Every time I use my voice I am fighting for women, for people of color and for the little person growing up.”

Keep talking.

Start with this disparity: Cambage made about $110,000 this season as easily the best player in the WNBA. She could jump to Europe, or return to her pro team in China, and more than triple her salary.

Because of money, she has hinted that she will not return to the WNBA next season, although in the immediate moments after the Wings’ playoff loss on Tuesday she sounded like a player who wants to come back.

Hours before the game she said that decision was not thinking about that, which, politely, is a lie; any time a player tells you they are not thinking about their next deal, they’re full of it.

As someone who has traveled the world, I wanted to know if she thinks females in the U.S. are now judged more for what they do, and how they are, as opposed to how they look.

“I really don’t know but I know times are changing, and the vision of beauty has changed,” said Cambage, who is 6-foot-8. “Especially growing up, I never saw anyone who looked like me. Different skin conditions, and heritage, and a different body type, I never saw it. Now, there is a market for everybody. There is somebody else out there who looks like you.

“I had an eating disorder as a teenager. I was pushed into the athlete stereotype to have a six-pack stomach. I wasn’t the same as my skinny, blonde teammates. I am thicker and taller than average. I think I have carried myself well. I’ve always had my shoulders back. The most important thing is to know you were born into this body, and in this life, to be you. If you have different things you are beautiful and you should love your differences. They make you who you are, that is powerful and beautiful. That was something I never believed in myself but I very much do now.”

Please don’t go.

This story was originally published August 22, 2018 at 6:00 PM.