ESPN's Elle Duncan Shocked To Learn Women's Basketball Teams Practice Against Men...Because It's Tougher Than Playing Other Women

ESPN's Elle Duncan had absolutely no idea women's basketball teams don't just practice against themselves.

From high school all the way through the WNBA, it's incredibly common for men to come in and practice against women basketball players.

The reason why is incredibly simple. Male basketball players are significantly more talented, bigger, stronger and faster than their female counterparts. Practicing against guys forces the women to play at a higher speed against much bigger competition.

When it shifts to playing other women, in theory, everything seems slower and easier. You can see this on any major college campus in America, at the pro level and in any high school gym with a women's team that takes itself seriously. I know because I've done it myself and know plenty of other guys who have been asked too as well.

South Carolina's women's team practices against men, and many other teams do the same. (Photo by Jay LaPrete/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

Elle Duncan surprised South Carolina's women's basketball team practices against men.

That was news to Elle Duncan. She was with ESPN at South Carolina talking with head coach Dawn Staley and was visibly confused as to why men were on the court with the women's team.

Staley, who seemed confused by Duncan's confusion, made it clear the men are in the gym to help the women win championships.

You can watch the interaction between the two-time national champion coach and Duncan below, and definitely shoot me your thoughts to David.Hookstead@outkick.com.

This applies nicely to Clay's WNBA bet.

I'm sure many of you are finding out this information for the first time just like Elle Duncan did when visiting with Dawn Staley.

Good women's teams practice against men, and yes, the men on the court are almost always better. In fact, I'm not sure I personally know of a specific situation where the men practicing weren't significantly better. That's not by accident. That's by design.

Dawn Staley explained to Elle Duncan that her team practices against men. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

The coach of the women's team wants the best guys they can find in order to make the competition as tough as possible. Now, it's important to note these practice settings are highly-structured and scripted to some degree. No women's coach is just cutting loose five dudes on their team to run up the score.

However, this situation does prove that despite all the banter and debate, coaches know male basketball players are better than women on average. Clay recently offered the Las Vegas Aces $1 million to play an elite high school boys team.

So far, the Aces haven't responded, and it's because they'd likely get smoked. A former D1 coach told me the top team in Florida would be favored by upwards of 40. Having four five stars would make it a comical mismatch.

You learn something new every day, and Elle Duncan now understands how elite women's team practice. The more you know!