Women are not explicitly prohibited from playing in the NBA but no female player has quite made it to the level of the men playing in the NBA in terms of skill and physical ability. With the continuing increase in participation in amateur (primarily NCAA) Basketball as well as professional ball (such as the WNBA) and consequent increased skill from improving level of competition in women's basketball it is conceivable that a woman may play in the NBA in the not to distant future.
-However-
Even if some women make it onto NBA teams it is unlikely they will ever make up a very large part of the teams because statistics are against them:
- On average, basketball players are taller than is average for men and the average height difference increases when compared against women. This is important because greater height and reach give basketball players an advantage over shorter players and players with less reach. Statistically far fewer women are likely to fall in the height range that would give them this advantage.
- Being muscular (up to a point) is an advantage for basketball players when it comes to jockeying for position for rebounds, posting up defenders, setting screens, etc. Very skinny basketball players are at a disadvantage compared to the more muscular ones. On average men tend to be more muscular than women so statistically fewer women will have the muscular build necessary not to be at a disadvantage.
- At present this skewing of muscularity in favor of men also seems to give them an advantage in jumping and speed although whether this is inherent or biased by environmental factors is not quite so clear as it is for height and muscularity.
- Statistically the odds against a boy growing up to make it into the NBA are astronomical. For the above mentioned reasons, the odds are even worse for girls.
The same factors are also reflected in the lack of women in other major sports. While there are girls and women who have played on some high school and even college teams with boys and men in football, basketball, and Baseball (not sure about hockey), none have quite been good enough yet to make it into the top professional leagues.
