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The WNBA experiencing a massive growth period over the past couple of years is an undoubtedly good thing. In fact, there’s a case to be made that it could not have come at a better time for the league, given that the players’ association is currently in negotiations with the WNBA league office for the next Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
If women’s basketball hadn’t experienced this boom in popularity (which is largely owed to star players like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Paige Bueckers entering the WNBA and thriving), it’s hard to imagine that WNBA players would get the vastly increased salaries they’re going to receive as part of a ratified CBA; or at least their salaries wouldn’t have increased to the same degree.
But this new attention on women’s basketball isn’t wholly positive. With so many fans flocking to the sport, this has brought a lot of negativity among select players, especially on social media. Much of the discourse around teams, players, and rivalries (with the most notable being that between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese) breeds a lot of nastiness and tribalism on social media that players are thrown in the middle of.
Stephanie White’s Stance on ‘Toxicity’ Around WNBA Speaks Volumes
Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White was the guest on a December 5 episode of Bird’s Eye View, which is hosted by WNBA legend Sue Bird. White was asked what changes she’d like to see in the WNBA at one point and delivered a poignant message.
After speaking about how the WNBA has become mainstream in the past couple of years, White said, “Some things I’d like to change, I’d like to change the toxicity around our league. I know that’s not really a controllable factor. I love the fact that the women in our league are always at the forefront of social change, and sports in general is. But women in particular.”
“I think we want to continue to expand the footprint, to look to make the season longer,” White added. “It’s tough with the calendar. It’s tough with everything we have to compete against. But these women deserve the opportunity to have this as their only job, number one, and to be able to play a true season and to have an offseason to their bodies can recover.”
“And hopefully we won’t see the same amount of injury we’ve seen recently,” she added.
White is speaking for all true fans and members of the women’s basketball community when calling out the toxicity surrounding the league in this way.
