WNBA condemns racism after Fever-Suns series: ‘We don’t want fans who bring us down’

Uncasville, Connecticut. — Shortly after the Indiana Fever was eliminated by the Connecticut Sun WNBA During the playoffs, players and coaches expressed their opinions about the racism and harassment they faced during the first-round series.

“I think in my 11-year career, I’ve never encountered racial slurs (like that) from Indiana Fever fans… Honestly, it’s unacceptable and there’s no place for it,” Alyssa Thomas said. “We’ve been completely professional, but I’ve never been called the things that I’ve been called on social media, and there’s no place for it.”

Thomas called for someone to intervene — whether it be the Fever players themselves or the league as a whole — noting how difficult it has been to witness the vitriol online.

“Basketball is moving in a great direction, but we don’t want fans that are demeaning us and saying racist things to us,” Thomas said. “We already see what’s going on in the world and we have to deal with that aspect. We come to work to play basketball and it’s fun, but we don’t want to go to work every day and have a social media uproar about things like that. It’s inappropriate and something needs to be done, whether it’s investigating their fans or the league. Now is not the time for that.”

In the midst of the postgame press conference, the WNBA released an official statement, stating that the league “will not tolerate racist, derogatory or threatening comments about players, teams or anyone associated with the league. League security is actively monitoring threat-related activity, and will work directly with teams and arenas to take appropriate measures, including involving law enforcement as needed.”

This statement comes just a few weeks after Cathy Engelbert’s statement. chose not to condemn When asked about this on CNBC, the same hatred came out. WNBA players and the players union Engelbert’s decision condemnedand he later apologized Post to Twitter/X“There is no place for hate or racism of any kind in the WNBA or anywhere,” she said.

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

“I think what disappoints me the most is that we — I say we because I’ve worked in television as well — but we in media have to do a better job of preventing trolls on social media from becoming the story,” White said. “I think we’ve allowed trolls on social media to dictate the story, and that’s unacceptable. That’s unacceptable, and we have to do a better job.”

Though White didn’t specifically state which media narrative she was referring to, since Game 1, a major point of discussion The question was whether Carrington had deliberately struck Clarke in the eye, which both players agreed to. shut downStill, it’s hard to ignore the fact that when searching Carrington’s name, articles about that incident appeared above her on-court performance or even her Most Improved Player award.

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

Fever head coach Christy Sides also discussed the online abuse her players have faced this season.

“I’m proud of the adversity these guys went through, the expectations that were placed on us at the beginning of this season, and what people thought we should do, and the outside noise that these guys had to endure from Game 1 until now,” Sides said. “There’s a lot of hurtful, hateful things going on. And, it’s unacceptable. It’s unacceptable for any of these guys. It’s basketball, and it’s their job, and they’re doing the best they can. When it gets personal, to me, that’s just — I mean, there’s no reason for it. And these guys have to listen and watch social media. Social media is their brain, that’s what they do.”

Sides gave the example that some people online had said he had previously received a technical complaint for saying “F you” to officers, which he said was wrong.

“We’re in this new world and when it gets personal for these guys it’s not acceptable,” Sides said. “So, they handled it and kept coming into our locker room and kept finding ways to get better, got to the playoffs even after starting 1-8 and that’s an incredible story to talk about.”

White concluded his statement by urging the media to avoid believing online stories at the expense of players.

“I applaud our team for maintaining their professionalism — not just our team, a lot of teams in this league. There are a lot of athletes, not just our league, who get attacked in this way. 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 very reason, it’s to protect my peace, but I also realize it’s a privilege for me.”

“I encourage everybody to take a step back and think about whether this is your sons or your daughters or your nieces or your nephews or your kids, for goodness sake, because if my kids were being harassed in this way, I’m not sure what I would do. I’m not sure what I would do. We have to get back to keeping the main thing the main thing, and I’m not talking about the criticism, because that comes with the territory. That’s it. It’s part of it. I understand that. But the narrative doesn’t need to be controlled by people who are just at their keyboards, spewing hate and negative toxicity everywhere.”

He reflected on how the incivility the players have faced this season reflects a broader national trend.

“We’ve seen too much racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia in our country,” White said. “Sports is no exception, and honestly, it’s unacceptable.”