The spotlight on the WNBA has never been more significant than this season — and that’s a win for the nascent league.
But what was supposed to be a watershed moment for the league has turned sour over the last several weeks as the discourse surrounding the WNBA has evolved from the mass recognition of women’s basketball ability to the treatment of a single player: Caitlin Clark.
Clark is the biggest reason for the league’s rise right now. The attention she gained during her four years at Iowa has helped catapult the league.
There are cases to be made that there are other key drivers for the league’s success—which has been trending up over the last few years—including other rookies like Angel Reese and Cameron Brink. But Clark is still the fulcrum for the rise in popularity of the league and women’s basketball.
Many of the players and media who cover the league have acknowledged this. ESPN’s Chiney Ogwumike, who was the WNBA’s top pick in 2014, said herself that Clark is responsible for the “lion’s share” of the league’s rise.
Related: All sides of the WNBA’s Caitlin Clark jealousy narrative
But that hasn’t stopped many in the media to believe that Clark has been mistreated by WNBA players, with some assuming that her colleagues are hating on her. The issue was highlighted after the Chicago Sky’s Chennedy Carter hip checked Clark in the third quarter of the Indiana Fever’s win on Saturday, June 1.
The ruckus has gotten so drastic that Indiana congressman Jim Banks even sent a letter to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert about what he called an “excessive attack” on his city’s prized women’s basketball star.
On Wednesday, the Sky players claimed they had been harassed as they were exiting their bus in Washington D.C. after arriving for their game against the Washington Mystics scheduled for Thursday evening.
finding out our teams hotel to pull with a camera as we get off the bus and put it in my teammates face & HARASS her is NASTY WORK. this really is outta control and needs to STOP.
— Angel Reese (@Reese10Angel) June 5, 2024
A short video of the incident is circulating on X (formerly Twitter) as a reporter asks Carter if she has “gotten a chance to reach out to Caitlin” as she is walking. It is unclear whether the video captures the entire incident which the Sky players described as veteran Isabelle Harrison said the team “couldn’t even stop off the bus.”
WOW!!! Thank GOD for security. My teammate being harassed at our hotel is insane! Couldn’t even step off the bus!!!
— Isabelle Harrison (@OMG_itsizzyb) June 5, 2024
Whatever the case may be, it’s another sign that WNBA players are starting to get sick of the media circus that has come with this turn.
Brianna Turner, another veteran on the Sky, wrote on X that she didn’t think that the growth of the women’s game came with this type of harassment.
“Didn’t realize that when we said ‘grow the game’ that would be interpreted as harassing players at hotels,” Turner wrote.
I wasn’t present for the interaction from earlier, but what occurred isn’t acceptable. Didn’t realize that when we said “grow the game” that would be interpreted as harassing players at hotels. You are free to have your own opinion but consider if this happened to someone u know.
— Brianna Turner (@_Breezy_Briii) June 6, 2024
But the Sky players aren’t the only ones showing fatigue over the narrative.
Breanna Stewart, last year’s WNBA MVP, showed some signs of frustration after answering a question about the league’s physicality after she and the New York Liberty faced the Sky on Tuesday, June 4.
Stewart tapped the table and gave an sarcastic grin before speaking.
“This is the best league in the world,” Stewart said. “No one is going to give you anything easy. The fastest, the strongest, the quickest — that’s why this is the WNBA. Continue to kind of pay attention to what we do. Understand that we’re trying to bring our best basketball … but knowing that as a collective, we’re continuing to bring this league to a better place all together.”
Related: Pat McAfee apologized to Caitlin Clark, then said a similar phrase on TV again hours later
But the Sky players aren’t the only ones showing fatigue over the narrative.
WNBA players are reaching a boiling point
Breanna Stewart, last year’s WNBA MVP, showed some signs of frustration after answering a question about the league’s physicality after she and the New York Liberty faced the Sky on Tuesday, June 4.
Stewart tapped the table and gave an sarcastic grin before speaking.
“This is the best league in the world,” Stewart said. “No one is going to give you anything easy. The fastest, the strongest, the quickest — that’s why this is the WNBA. Continue to kind of pay attention to what we do. Understand that we’re trying to bring our best basketball … but knowing that as a collective, we’re continuing to bring this league to a better place all together.”
Breanna Stewart on physicality and her message to the newer fans of the WNBA:
“This is the best league in the world. No one is going to give you anything easy. The fastest, the strongest, the quickest – that’s why this is the WNBA. Continue to pay attention to what we do” pic.twitter.com/G0d4BVKL58
— New York Liberty Videos (@SNYLiberty) June 5, 2024
More Women’s Basketball:
All sides of the WNBA’s Caitlin Clark jealousy narrativeThe harsh reality behind the shockingly low WNBA contractsWNBA Commissioner has big plans for the league’s next media rights deal
Two weeks ago — before the incident between Clark and Carter — Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon and two-time MVP A’ja Wilson also addressed all the media chatter.
“We love Caitlin Clark,” Hammon said. “I think she’s amazing … and our league loves her. We’re just doing our job
Wilson laughed, shrugged and said, “we get it,” as Hammon spoke.
The two also went in support of Clark as she deals with the entire media circus with Hammon recognizing just how young Clark is as she players in her first year in the league.
“She’s a 22-year-old woman with a lot of pressure,” Hammon said. “She’s not perfect, she’s a rookie in this league. Back off,” Hammon said.
From a player’s perspective, Wilson also pointed at Clark’s youth and how difficult it must be for her as a rookie to navigate it all.
“She’s learning and growing just like everyone else,” Wilson said. “These questions are only annoying because it’s like, she’s young, she’s a rookie. You all keep asking us these questions as if she’s a grown ass woman that’s been in this league for years. No, she’s doing her job, we’re doing ours. And at the end of the day, that’s how we grow, it’s when we get better and we do things like that. Yeah, I’m just exhausted over the conversation cause I know she’s exhausted. I can only imagine.”
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