The WNBA’s explosive growth has delivered great success for the league, its players and fans. However. that growth has also exposed the ugly side of sports that many try to ignore yet has always existed.
Racism.
Earlier this week, as the Connecticut Sun faced off against rookie sensation Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, that ugly side emerged overtly as racist fans verbally attacked Black players both on and off the court.
The Sun’s DiJonai Carrington posted a threatening email on her IG story that she received, which included racist language, and threats of death and sexual assault. Someone even created a disgusting meme of George Floyd and replaced his face with Carrington’s as murderer Dereck Chauvin kneeled on his neck.
“The Indiana Fever have the nastiest fans in the W. ew.,” posted Carrington.
Other players addressed the incident, including the Phoenix Mercury’s Brittney Griner.
“I don’t appreciate the new fans that sit there and yell racial slurs at myself, my teammates, and the people that I play against because, yeah, those might be opponents but those are friends too,” said Griner.
Carrington’s teammate, Alyssa Thomas, spoke out against the incident and about the hate she’s witnessed specifically from Indiana fans.
“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,” Thomas said. “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.”
Many feel that racists have emerged without hesitation due to the arrival of Caitlin Clark. While Clark has nothing to do with these ignorant fans or their vitriol, they have used her as a vehicle to drive their hatred against Black players, especially when it comes to Angel Reese or any player who dares to touch Clark.
This summer, Clark spoke out against these types of fans.
“Everybody in our world deserves the same amount of respect,” she said in June. “The women in our league deserve the same amount of respect, so people should not be using my name to push those agendas.”
Unfortunately, they continue to employ Clark as a symbol to rally their hate around. That was evident in Indiana based on their verbal assaults levied against Black players.
It even affected the Indiana Fever.
Coach Christie Sides addressed the “hurtful, hateful speech” her team suffered through during the season. Forward Aliyah Boston even deleted her social media accounts due to the hateful messages she received earlier this season.
Despite these incidents, the league failed to issue a strong retort.
WNBA commissioner whiffed in her response when asked about the issue during a CNBC interview. She chose to focus on the rivalries that have been created between teams and players instead of addressing the ignorance. She later apologized after players and fans ripped her for it.
On Thursday, the league issued a response about the recent wave of racist incidents.
“The WNBA is a competitive league with some of the most elite athletes in the world,” wrote the league. “While we welcome a growing fan base, the WNBA will not tolerate racist, derogatory, or threatening comments made about players, teams and anyone affiliate with the league.”
It was a strong response that could have been even stronger without the first sentence.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time that the league has had to deal with racism.
After George Floyd’s murder, when players donned “Black Lives Matter” shirts, racist fans erupted with their “shut up and dribble” racist trolling. When members of the Atlanta Dream fought to have former owner Kelly Loeffler ousted, they did it again with the tired cries of “stick to basketball!”
Even when the league first started in 1997, players had to deal with racist and homophobic slurs, so this isn’t new.
To their credit, WNBA players have never hesitated to take action and speak out. After the most recent events, players are voicing their feelings about the issue and forcing the league to take notice.
“We already see what’s happening in the world and what we have to deal with in that aspect. And we come to play basketball for our job and it’s fun, but we don’t want to go to work every day and have social media blown up over things like that. It’s uncalled for,” said Thomas.
Hopefully, teams and the league take punitive action against the few who are ruining it for others so that we can return to enjoying the excitement players are bringing to the game.
