Throughout the 2024 WNBA season, media attention was centered around Caitlin Clark. Fanning the flames of racism, misogyny and homophobia.
There is no denying the vitriol took a toll on Angel Reese, who was frequently the subject of social media attacks, and the players throughout the league.
To be clear, racism in the WNBA is not new, as recently pointed out by former WNBA basketball legend, Sue Bird. Nor is it Clark’s fault.
Bird cautioned:
The things that have held back women's sports are racism, sexism and homophobia amongst other things. But that is the starting point, and that is the lens with which you have to look through a lot of these things.
But it isn’t just the media or the companies doling out endorsement deals that are contributing to the problem. Why have the WNBA and its Commissioner Cathy Englebert failed to address the escalating problem? And even gone so far as to make matters worse?
Appearing on CNBC on September 9th, Commissioner Englebert was asked about the Angel Reese/Caitlin Clark rivalry and the darker, more menacing turn focused on race and sexuality, that has taken on social media. Not only did the Commissioner fail to condemn the racism, misogyny and homophobia, she emphasized that rivalries are necessary to bring viewers, marketing opportunities and greater corporate sponsorship.
It appeared as if Englebert dismissed the serious problem the WNBA is facing because it was making money for the league.
That is certainly how the players interpreted Englebert’s answer. Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty star forward, quickly spoke about her disappointment with Engelbert’s comments. Stewart noted the WNBA is race and gender inclusive, and the Commissioner should have made that clear, particularly in light of the increased vitriol that came along with the exponential growth of the league this season.
Stewart was not alone. Numerous players spoke out, including Connecticut Sun guard DiJonai Carrington and Reese’s Chicago Sky teammate, Brianna Taylor, to register their disdain for the rampant hatred and Englebert’s refusal to reign it in.
Shortly thereafter, the players collectively issued a statement through their union, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (“WNBPA”), condemning Englebert for her failure to call out that there is no place in sport (or in life) for racism, misogyny and homophobia in an effort to “fuel a business model.”
In the wake of the enormous backlash, the Commissioner attempted to walk back her comments. How? VIA A TWEET! A tweet. She should have gone on a massive media tour. Nope. Just a tweet.
It’s no wonder that nothing has changed. And the hateful situation continues to get worse.
Days later, during game one of the series between the Connecticut Sun and the Indiana Fever in the first round of the WNBA Playoffs, DiJonai Carrington was defending Caitlin Clark and poked her in the eye while closing out in an attempt to block Clark’s shot. As has become the norm, there is an uproar any time Clark is fouled. This time, however, it was taken to a new level, particularly given “it was very clearly a basketball play that wasn't intentional.” And both Carrington and Clark said as much.
Cue USA Today Reporter, Christine Brennan, who had been covering Clark all season for the purpose of writing a book, one she no doubt would benefit financially from, fanning the flames. Brennan interviewed Carrington, and asked her if the incident was intentional and whether she and teammate Marina Mabrey were laughing about it later in the game.
Anyone who watched the game (and I did!) knew that Mabrey and Carrington were celebrating Carrington’s three-pointer with less than two minutes left in the game. You can see the celebration here. Brennan, as a sports reporter covering women’s basketball, knows that the celebration was a Camelo Anthony signature three-to-the-dome. Not to mention the foul against Clark occurred at the very beginning of the game.
At best, Brennan’s reporting and interview questions were reckless.
The WNBPA issued a statement calling out Brennan’s unprofessionalism. They specifically noted “the so-called interview in the name of journalism was a blatant attempt to bait a professional athlete into participating in a narrative that is false and designed to fuel racist, homophobic, and misogynistic vitriol on social media.” Mic drop!
But wait; the USA Today doubled down. Roxanna Scott, the Executive Editor of USA Today Sports responded "Journalists ask questions and seek truth. At USA TODAY, our mission is to report in an unbiased manner. We reject the notion that the interview perpetuated any narrative other than to get the player's perspective directly. Christine Brennan is well regarded as an advocate for women and athletes, but first and foremost, she's a journalist." This completely missed the mark as Brennan knew the narrative that fueled her question (and the flames of hate) was false.
Suffice it to say I cancelled my USA Today subscription.
However, it was not just Brennan and the USA Today. The LA Times published an article about the incident initially titled “Caitlin Clark suffers black eye. It was caused by player who mocked and called her out in June.” Are they kidding with this?
As a result, Dijonai Carrington received death threats and more. She even shared a screenshot of an email she received that included a racial slur, a death threat and calling for her to be raped. Think about that for a minute.
Her teammate, Alyssa Thomas, noted:
It’s been a lot of nonsense. I think in my 11-year career, I’ve never experienced the racial comments (like I have) from the Indiana Fever fan base. I’ve never been called the things that I’ve been called on social media, and there’s no place for it. Basketball is headed in a great direction. But we don’t want fans that are going to degrade us and call us racial names.
Thomas called on the WNBA to do something to keep the fans in check.
Suns Coach, Stephanie White, added her thoughts that “online trolls had shaped the narratives of the league and that she hoped the media who cover the league could reframe the focus on the game itself.”
The WNBA finally spoke out, issuing a statement:
While we welcome a growing fan base, the WNBA will not tolerate racist, derogatory, or threatening comments made about players, teams and anyone affiliated with the league. League security is actively monitoring threat-related activity and will work directly with teams and arenas to take appropriate measures, to include involving law enforcement, as necessary.
However, the WNBA statement, again issued via tweet, was not made until a day later AFTER the Suns eliminated the Fever! Too little, too late.
Why did they wait? Holding out hope that the Fever would advance? It is clear that current WNBA leadership is not equipped and/or is unwilling to meet the needs of the players and the game at this critical moment.
In an interesting twist, after the season ended, Stephanie White, who stated at the time “We’ve seen a lot of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia throughout the course of our country. Sport is no exception, and it’s unacceptable to be quite honest,” was named the Coach of the Indiana Fever. Yes, Stephanie, sports are imitating life. In her new position, we would expect White to take any actions within her ability to effectuate change. It is hardly a secret that the greatest vitriol comes from Fever/Clark fans.
In fact, after the Fever were eliminated and following the initial “no one is going to watch the WNBA now that Clark is done,” the hateful rhetoric decreased significantly. To be clear, the hate was not eliminated completely – with Breanna Stewart’s wife receiving homophobic death threats after Stewart missed two free throws and a lay-up at critical moments in the NY Liberty’s Game One loss in the WNBA finals.
There simply is no place for this. In sports and in life.
So where do we go from here? We will examine that in Part 4.
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