What if I told you that I had put together a plan to build a new sports league that would feature one of the most-popular games in the country, but at a lower talent level? And that the new league would play at a time of year that is opposite of the time all other levels of the sport are played? And that the thing the league would be most-known for is the political and cultural arguments that people look to get away from while enjoying sports?
Some of you would tell me, “You won’t make a dime with that business plan!” And those people would be 100% correct. Those more familiar with the entire professional sports landscape in the US would probably tell me, “You don’t need to form a new league like that, we already have one!” And those people would also be 100% correct. The name of that league is the WNBA.
Now in its 30th season, “The W” is finally getting the national attention it always claimed it deserved. Unfortunately, it is not for amazing plays on the basketball court, but rather for the treatment of its most-popular player by almost every other player in the league, a near strike over player salaries, and vitriol directed toward everyone associated with the league based on their stance on transgender athletes in women’s sports. Let’s just say there is a lot to unpack here.
For the first 27-years of its existence, the WNBA operated on the fringe of the sports landscape. ESPN carried some games to fill open time between the NBA and NFL seasons, and highlight packages would air late in SportsCenter each night. But three years ago, the league was handed a Golden Goose in the form of Caitlin Clark, a player who garnered national attention as a collegian at Iowa for her long-distance shooting prowess and flashy style. If you were to look up the most-watched games in women’s college basketball history, the top three are all Iowa games featuring Clark.
It was assumed that her legion of fans would follow her directly to The W, and so far that has played out. After being drafted by the Indiana Fever, that team saw a huge spike in season ticket orders. Road games featuring Indiana also sold out. ESPN scheduled a large number of Fever games for national broadcasts, and even led SportsCenter with their highlights. For the league, it was the biggest boost in popularity it had ever seen.
You would think that everyone associated with the WNBA would be ecstatic with this new-found exposure. But there was (and still is) one group that is not that happy, and that would be the WNBA players themselves. Many bristled in interviews when asked about what Clark would mean for the league. They would often point to other players like A’ja Wilson, Brittney Griner, or Breanna Stewart as being better players and deserving of more recognition. Outside of Griner (who gained worldwide attention for being arrested and imprisoned in Russia for trying to sneak drugs into the country), Wilson and Stewart could likely walk through any airport terminal or mall in America and not get a second look from passersby–while Clark would be mobbed.
And rather than allow Clark to be the free-wheeling star that she was in college, it was almost like the rest of the league decided that she was going to be physically abused every night. There were as many highlights every game of Clark being knocked to the floor by hard fouls, getting knocked to the floor by hard picks, getting poked in the eye, and otherwise physically challenged by opponents as there were of her making 3-pointers from just inside the half-court line. That physicality was explained away as “making her earn it” or “it’s a more-physical style here in the ‘W’ and she’ll have to learn that.” It would only lead to injury-plagued first and second seasons, and not the stats a lot of fans expected.
That abuse has continued into this season, and that has fans and pundits wondering (rightly) if it’s more than just rookie hazing–and that there is something more systemic in play here. Back in June, Alyssa Thomas–on a loose-ball situation–took the opportunity to throat-punch Clark while she was lying on the floor. No foul was called on the play, but after video of the incident was played ad nauseum on the sports networks, talk shows, and everywhere on social media, the WNBA issued a flagrant foul against Thomas and suspended her for a game.
In an unbelievable response, Thomas claimed the throat-punch was not intentional (even though the ball was nowhere near Clark at the time) and that people should instead be asking if she is “okay” because of the “mental stress” the incident was causing her. Fever Head Coach Stephanie White added fuel to the flames by saying it was the officials’ fault for not calling a foul at the time–then defended Thomas’ actions and saying that fan backlash was unfair.
An extenuating factor in all of this is that Clark is white, and the vast majority of WNBA players–and those delivering the physical blows to her night after night–are Black. I’ve seen interviews with both Larry Bird, his own teammates, and other NBA players from the early 1980’s where they talk about the resentment among Blacks when the media crowned Bird as the “savior” of the league early in his career. They readily admit (even his teammates) they tried to physically intimidate him those first couple of years. But, Bird torched those clowns every night–trash talking them the entire time. So far, the WNBA isn’t allowing Clark to do the same.
While it was Clark that was bringing new eyes and attention to the league, it was all the other players that felt entitled to reap the benefits. It just so happened that the collective bargaining agreement expired during the last off-season, and the players association demanded a huge jump in salaries. This might be a good time to mention that in its 29-seasons the WNBA has NEVER turned a profit. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in 2021 that the W lost about 10-million dollars a year since its inception. Last year, the Washington Post reported total losses for the league were 50-million just for the 2024 season alone.
Despite those numbers, the players donned t-shirts during pre-game warmups saying “Pay us what you owe us”. When asked to explain what was “owed” to them, the players maintained that they had “earned” the right to get the same share of revenues (obviously not profits) as NBA players get as part of their collective bargaining agreement. For a good portion of the winter and spring, it looked like there may not be a season, but in a continuing act of charity, league owners agreed to give up 20% of revenues. NBA players get 50%.
Right now, I think many of those same owners and league officials would have taken the strike over the way things have played out this season. In addition to the continual physical abuse of Clark, the league is now embroiled in a never-ending doom loop of gender identity issues.
Multiple players have used social media platforms, t-shirts, and post-game press conferences to defend transgender participation in female sports–originally in response to Trump administration executive orders. Then, Clark’s teammate–Sophie Cunningham–did an interview with ESPN in which she spoke out about her opposition to biological males in female sports. That led to considerable backlash–not just from some WNBA fans–but from other players, coaches, owners, and league officials–including her own coach, none other than Stephanie White, again.
Every Indiana Fever game since then has become a protest/counter-protest with rallies outside the arena supporting Cunningham and groups trying to shout those fans down. Girls are coming to games with “Thank you Sophie” signs. At a Fever game in Seattle against the Storm last month, girls wearing XX-XY Sports t-shirts walked past the owner of the Storm–Celeste Keaton–and she tried to trip one of them. What is this, 3rd grade? Keaton also profanely berated girls carrying signs supporting Cunningham–drawing a five game suspension and an undisclosed fine by the league.
Cunningham was in the center of another controversy last week when Chicago Sky player DiJonai Carrington clotheslined her during a breakaway layup–leading to a flagrant 2 foul being called, and Carrington being ejected. Moments later, Carrington took to social media–while in the locker room–to post “White privilege”–leading to even more backlash against the league. And who was there to make it even worse? Stephanie White, AGAIN, as she used her post-game press conference to defend Carrington and to claim that she “didn’t see the play in real time”–even though there are photos of White looking directly at the play from the sidelines.
Things got ugly at the next Fever home game, as Indiana fans booed White for refusing to back up her players in multiple incidents. In her post-game press conference White launched into a tirade about how “love is a win” and “grace is a win” and wrapped up by saying the fans “can go to hell”. That is exactly the message you want to deliver to your paying customers at a time when you cannot avoid negative headlines.
And then there is WNBA Commissioner Cathy Englebert, who was heavily criticized by players during collective bargaining negotiations, and has been mealy-mouthed at best about all of the issues and incidents I’ve mentioned before. Last month, she told the Dan Patrick Show that she would do an interview with them while the radio and TV show was broadcasting from a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe. After the crew and hosts set up to record the interview, Englebert didn’t show up. Two hours later, her PR folks let the show know that she was not showing up because she has “other matters to attend to”. That came as everyone on the set could see Englebert hitting shots out of a bunker and practicing putting on the golf course.
The trans athlete debate took a turn for the absurd this week, as two former NBA players–Enes Cantor and Royce White–started trolling the league by declaring their intentions to enter the WNBA draft as they now identify as “women”. White even donned a wig for a TV interview. In response, WNBA officials convened a task force meeting on Wednesday to set parameters for gender identity and eligibility to play in the league. However, the meeting ended up with no parameters being set–kicking off another round of criticism for not being able to define a “woman”.
For 27-seasons the WNBA demanded to be taken seriously and to get the same media coverage and exposure as men’s sports. Now that they have it, all they seem to be able to create is bad press and division among players, coaches, officials, and the fans themselves. It would not be hard to imagine attendance at games breaking down not into fans of the home team and the road team, but rather who thinks trans athletes should play against women versus those who think they should not, and those there to cheer on the Black players versus those who come to root for the white players–regardless of which team they are on.
In the short term, all of this chaos is actually paying off. A Fever-New York Liberty game this week drew two-million viewers on ESPN. How many were tuning in to see Caitlin Clark play and how many were tuning in to see if protesters stormed the court and glued themselves to Sophie Cunningham, we can’t tell for sure. But relying on culture wars, and racial animus is no way to build a sustainable sports product. It’s a shame that Jerry Springer died a few years ago, because he would make the perfect commissioner for this circus.
