WNBA calls out racism after Fever-Sun series: ‘We don’t want fans that are going to degrade us’

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Shortly after the Connecticut Sun eliminated the Indiana Fever from the WNBA playoffs, players and coaches alike sounded off about the racism and harassment they said they faced throughout the first-round series.

“I think in my 11-year career, I’ve never experienced the racial comments (like) from the Indiana Fever fanbase… it’s unacceptable, honestly, and there’s no place for it,” said Alyssa Thomas. “We’ve been professional throughout the whole entire thing, but I never been called the things that I’ve been called on social media, and there’s no place for it.”

Thomas called on someone to intervene — whether the Fever players themselves or the league at large — noting how difficult it has become to see online vitriol.

“Basketball is headed in a great direction, but we don’t want fans that are going to degrade us and call us racial things,” Thomas said. “We already see what’s happening in the world and what we have to deal with in that aspect. 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 and something needs to be done, whether it’s them checking their fans or the league. There’s no time for it anymore.”

In the middle of the postgame press conference, the WNBA released an official statement, noting that the league “will not tolerate racist, derogatory, or threatening comments 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.”

That statement came just weeks after Cathy Engelbert opted not to denounce the same hatred when asked about it on CNBC. WNBA players and the player’s union called out Engelbert’s decision, and she later apologized in a post on Twitter/X, saying “there is absolutely no place for hate or racism of any kind in the WNBA or anywhere else.”

Sun head coach Stephanie White urged the media to do a better job of ignoring the trolls.

“I think the thing that frustrates me the most is that we — I say we because I worked in television as well — but we in the media have to do a better job of not allowing trolls on social media to become the story,” White said. “I feel like we have allowed trolls in social media to frame the narrative of what the story is, and it’s unacceptable. It’s unacceptable, and we have to do a better job.”

While White didn’t specify exactly what media narratives she was referring to, since Game 1, a major point of discussion was whether Carrington’s eye poke on Clark was intentional, which both players shut down. Still, it’s hard to ignore the fact that when searching Carrington’s name, articles about that incident showed up higher than her on-court performances, or even her Most Improved Player award.

“I realized that everybody’s job is predicated on what’s read, what’s clicked, what’s watched,” White said. “But I also feel like we have a responsibility to be better when it comes to what we’re representing, when it comes to — I don’t want to say protecting, because these women don’t need protection, but when it comes to making sure that the narrative is about what we do, and it’s not about who’s being attacked, how they’re being attacked, and we make that newsworthy.”

Fever head coach Christie Sides also addressed the online vitriol her players faced this season.

“Just proud of the adversity that these guys went through, just the expectations that were insane for us to start this season, and what people thought we should be doing, and just the outside noise these guys had to endure from Game 1 until now,” Sides said. “It’s a lot of hurtful, hateful speech out there that’s happening. And, it’s unacceptable. It’s unacceptable for any of these guys. This is basketball, and this is their job, and they’re doing the best they can. When it gets personal, to me, that is it just when — I mean, there’s no reason for it. And these guys have to listen and watch the social. Social media is their mind, this is what they do.”

Sides gave the example that some online had stated she previously received a technical for saying “F you” to the officials, which she says was false.

“It’s just this new world that we’re in, and it is just not acceptable when it gets personal for these guys to have to deal with that,” Sides said. “So, they handled it, and kept showing up in our locker room, and kept finding ways to get better, got in the playoffs after we started 1-8, and that is an incredible story to talk about.”

White concluded her remarks with a plea to the media to avoid buying into online narratives at the expense of players.

“I applaud our team for maintaining their professionalism — not just our team, it’s a lot of teams in this league. It’s a lot of athletes, not just in our league, who are attacked like this. So I applaud their professionalism. We continue to encourage them to silence the noise, control what they can control. I don’t go on social media for that reason, it’s protecting my peace, but I also realize that’s a privilege for me.”

“I just encourage everybody to take a step back and think about if it’s your sons or your daughters or your nieces or your nephews or your children, for goodness sakes, because if my children were being harassed like this, I’m not sure what I would do. I’m not sure what I would do. We’ve got to go back to keeping the main thing the main thing, and I’m not talking about criticism, because that comes with the territory. That’s what it is. That’s part of it. I get that. But the narrative doesn’t need to be controlled by people who are just on their keyboard, spewing hate and negative vitriol everywhere.”

She reflected on how the vitriol players faced this season is reflective of a broader national trend.

“We’ve seen a lot of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, throughout the course of our country,” White said. “Sport is no exception, and it’s unacceptable, to be quite honest.”