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Fans are eagerly tuning in to watch WNBA players this season, with Nielsen reporting an impressive average of 1.2 million viewers across ESPN’s platforms—an incredible 70% increase from last year. The huge surge can be attributed partly to the excitement surrounding Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, who captivated audiences during their college rivalry and are now being cheered on in their journeys with the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever. However, some fans have crossed the line, sharing racist and sexist remarks about the players on the internet and setting a troubling precedent of hate within the league.
Connecticut Sun all-star Alyssa Thomas brought attention to the pressing issue on Sept. 25, following the team’s 87-81 victory over the Indiana Fever. The 6-foot-2 forward said she had never “experienced the racial comments (like) from the Indiana Fever fan base” throughout her 11-year career.
“It’s unacceptable, honestly… there’s no place for it. We don’t want fans that degrade us and call us racial names,” Thomas added, stressing that the league should take action to prevent hate on social media and other internet platforms immediately. “It’s uncalled for, and something needs to be done, whether it’s them checking their fans, or this league checking it. There’s no time for it anymore.”
Later that evening, the WNBA released a statement denouncing the hatred being expressed by fans across the web. In a lengthy statement, the league said they would not tolerate racist, derogatory, or threatening comments made about players, teams, and anyone affiliated with the league. The organization also vowed to monitor “threat-related activity” and “to take appropriate measures, to include involving law enforcement, as necessary,” if the uptick in hate persisted.
Angel Reese spoke out about the racism in the WNBA.
The action plan came a little too late for Angel Reese, who claimed she had faced racism from fans online over the “last two years” of her career. The former LSU player asserted that the media “benefited from my pain” in order “to create a narrative” about her personality.
Reese, 22, recently launched her Unapologetically Angel podcast series, where she opened up about some of the challenges she faced during her rookie year. The star said she created it in part to take her “voice back” and to create change in the league for other players of color.
“I’ve never in my life had privilege, but I definitely know the power I have through my platform. That didn’t come overnight. I grew that on my OWN. With that being said, I will continue to use my voice in the right way & say what’s right even though it has backfired on me to be this ‘villain.’ I won’t stop!!” she added in a follow-up post.
This isn’t the first time that racism, particularly against Reese, has been brought to light within the league. Former WNBA star Val Whiting shared several disturbing messages sent to her by Reese’s mother, Angel Webb, in which a fan of Clark referred to the 6-foot-3 Chicago Sky player as “ratchet,” a “thug,” and a “Black b****.” Whiting penned on July 9, “Angel Reese gets a lot of racially motivated hate. I believe she gets this more than any player in the league.”
Caitlin Clark condemned the racism.
During an interview with James Boyd of The Athletic this week, Clark called out internet “trolls” for spreading hate about players from the league online.
“Nobody in our league should be facing any sort of racism, hurtful, disrespectful, hateful comments and threats. Those aren’t fans. Those are trolls,” she said before urging fans to celebrate all of the powerful stories and successes of the women in the WNBA.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert caught flak.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert missed a key opportunity to showcase leadership in combating the abusive discourse players encounter on social media during a CNBC interview on Sept. 9. When questioned about addressing the “darker” aspects of social media, including the racist insults aimed at Reese and other Black players, she deflected the issue and chose to focus on the popularity of Reese and Clark’s rivalry instead.
“You need rivalry, that’s what makes people watch,” she told reporters.
Several members of the league said they were disappointed by Engelbert’s failure to address the issue.
“I just think it’s doing a disservice to the majority of this league in not talking about the part that it’s consumed and played by Black women,” Chelsea Gray of the Las Vegas Aces told ESPN “And to basically be like, ‘Yep, we push it under the carpet that racism is OK.’ So not being direct and handling that, I think she did a poor job of doing that.”
Clark stated that Engelbert’s response was a “missed opportunity” to condemn racism, misogyny, and homophobia in the WNBA—issues the league’s players have been actively fighting against for years, the New York Post noted.
Engelbert issued an apology later that week.
“I regret that I didn’t express, in a clear and definitive way, condemnation of the hateful speech that is all too often directed at WNBA players on social media,” she said according to a statement obtained by ESPN.
