The WNBA was the surprise hit of the summer, sports-wise — but did a wave of “new fans” bring in a wave of racism?
That’s the claim that was made by Brittney Griner, the 10-time WNBA All-Star and Phoenix Mercury center, a day after her team was eliminated from the playoffs on Wednesday night. While she isn’t the only player saying there’s an unsettling racial undercurrent to the sport’s newfound fanbase, she became the biggest name to publicly assert racism was being openly aired at WNBA games.
Griner’s claim was met with intense skepticism online — including many who noted that, in our smartphone-centric age, such abuse would likely have gone bad-viral had it happened.
The Mercury star, perhaps best known off the court for being held prisoner for 10 months in Russian prison on drug charges in 2022, made the statements on Thursday after No. 7-seeded Phoenix fell to the No. 2 Minnesota Lynx 101-88, losing the best-of-three first-round series 2-0. Lynx star Napheesa Collier tied a WNBA playoff record with 42 points in the win.
However, the headline became Griner’s allegations of racism from WNBA-come-latelys, presumably drawn in by a rookie class that included the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark and the Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso.
“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,” Griner said Thursday after the Mercury’s season ended.
“They don’t deserve that, so I don’t appreciate the new fans that think it’s OK to do that,” she added.
“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 my best opponents but those are friends too.”
Brittney Griner on players facing racism from WNBA’s news fleet of fans in 2024. pic.twitter.com/Uhw7rp8umO
— DANA (@iam_DanaScott) September 27, 2024
Do you watch the WNBA?
Griner also made clear that she wasn’t blaming the rookie class, merely the fans.
“But I do appreciate the new fans that respect the game, that are here to grow our league, bringing in people that may have never watched the W to a WNBA game so we can grow more fans. I do appreciate them,” Griner said.
“I appreciate the players that came in with the spark that they have playing at the level that they’re playing at. We need more players coming in ready to put on a show and ready to give a good product to keep growing each year. So I’m happy about where the game is now versus when I came into the league.”
She isn’t the only making this claim; five-time All-Star Alyssa Thomas said that the abuse she received during her Connecticut Sun’s two-game sweep over Clark’s Indiana Fever was unlike anything she’d previously experienced: “It’s unacceptable, honestly,” she said, according to Reuters. “There’s no place for it.”
Part of the tension has arisen around the fact that Clark, the league’s Rookie of the Year, is white in a sport where a significant portion of the star players are minorities.
Earlier in the week, the WNBA released a statement also condemning non-specific racist actions by fans.
“The WNBA is a competitive league with some of the most elite athletes in the world. While we welcome a growing fan base, the league will not tolerate racist, derogatory, or threatening comments made about players, teams, or anyone affiliated with the league,” the statement read.
“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.”
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 26, 2024
However, the specific incidents of abuse — or the prevalence of them — have only been referred to in vague terms by both Griner and the league’s statement, leading to some measure of skepticism in a smartphone-centric era where almost every public act of intolerance can and will be caught on camera.
“Nobody is screaming racial slurs at a WNBA game. You have to be brain damaged to believe this nonsense,” said Daily Wire pundit Matt Walsh in response to Griner’s statement.
Nobody is screaming racial slurs at a WNBA game. You have to be brain damaged to believe this nonsense. https://t.co/e6ZRhbIUdJ
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) September 27, 2024
Others echoed similar sentiments:
Can anyone provide a video of these “racial slurs” y’all always playing victim it’s WILDDDD
— Tyler (@ZzMurphzZ) September 27, 2024
Nobody is yelling racial slurs.
— Troy McClure’s Ghost 👻 (Parody) (@GhostofTroyMc) September 27, 2024
Lol …… please can they start pointing these people out instead of creating completely false narratives …. This has gotta be the most pathetic league in the world..
— Ray Mullins (@SlyPseudonym87) September 27, 2024
She’s lying….No one is yelling racial slurs in an arena surrounded by all those people. That’s Societal Suicide, that person would be cancelled like no one’s ever been cancelled before…Their face would be plastered EVERYWHERE…..
Now calling her a Man? Yea I can see that
— The Black Truther🤞🏾 (@EvilBrady5959) September 27, 2024
Indeed, while numerous sources reported on the allegations made by Griner and Thomas, as well as the league’s statement, none of three sources reviewed by The Western Journal — The Arizona Republic, Fox News and Reuters — provided a specific example.
However, several alleged examples of bigoted behavior at WNBA games could be found on social media, although none involved anyone directly yelling racial slurs.
In one, allegedly taken at one of the games between Connecticut and Indiana in the playoffs, a woman with cartoonishly long fingernail extensions is wearing a shirt that said “BAN NAILS” on it, a reference to Connecticut Sun player DiJonai Carrington’s accidental poke of Clark’s eye during their playoff series (Carrington sports long, lavish nails).
In another, the very same Carrington uploaded an email she reportedly received with the topic line “Worthless n***** b****,” along with an unprintable threat hoping that someone would sexually assault and kill her.
(The screenshot, posted by Carrington herself, is here and cannot be independently verified, but it contains extremely graphic language and reader discretion is strongly advised.)
However, provable evidence of widespread racist behavior apart from a handful of individuals brought in by the game’s newfound popularity was not necessarily in evidence on social media — but that didn’t mean the league wasn’t looking to nip whatever problem it has, however widespread it is, in the bud as its popularity grows.
Clark herself weighed in on the controversy, saying that the league ought to do their best to uproot these “fans.”
“Nobody in our league should be facing any sort of racism, hurtful, disrespectful, hateful comments and threats,” Clark said. “Those aren’t fans.
“Those are trolls.”
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