Brittney Griner has faced racism, sexism, homophobia, and death threats from basketball fans long before and after she entered the WNBA in 2013.
She isn’t the only one.
But as the WNBA has reached an all-time high in media exposure and ticket sales, the level of harassment against players also has risen, much of it in the form of hate speech on social media and at games. The Indiana Fever’s Rookie Of The Year, Caitlin Clark, has been a big reason for the spike in the WNBA’s popularity, drawing new fans. But that phenomenon also has fueled an underbelly of racial hostility among a segment of fans.
Griner addressed this unprecedented level of harassment toward players during the Phoenix Mercury’s end-of-season interview media availability on Thursday, after the team’s playoff elimination by the Minnesota Lynx the day prior.
“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. “They don’t deserve that, so I don’t appreciate the new fans that think it’s OK to do that.”
Griner made clear she was not criticizing the majority of the league’s growing fanbase, or the heralded 2024 rookie class led by Clark, Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese, and Los Angeles Sparks’ Rickea Jackson.
“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.”
Her response came after the WNBA’s statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday to denounce the fans’ repugnant actions toward players.
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“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 said.
The league’s statement continued, “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.”
The statement was posted by the league on X (formerly Twitter) within hours after the Connecticut Sun’s first-round sweep of Indiana at home on Tuesday.
After the Connecticut-Indiana series-closing Game 2, Connecticut All-Star Alyssa Thomas sat alongside the team’s 2024 Most Improved Player award winner Dijonai Carrington and told the media that in her “11-year career, I’ve never experienced racial comments from the Indiana Fever fan base,” called it “nonsense” and “unacceptable” after such comments surfaced in the series.
Connecticut coach Stephanie White talked about Carrington getting death threats and harassed after her unintentional eye poke on Clark while she guarded her in Game 1.
Like many players and fans, Griner feels the league’s statement was delayed, and that the league should’ve done more for the protection of its players.
“Quick action, not waiting to put out a statement that is way overdue,” Griner said. “There are definitely things that you can do over social media. I do it on my page where you can limit some of the things that are seen, putting in keywords that if somebody puts in a comment that should not be on a page because it doesn’t reflect what we stand for where we are as a league.
“But it’s just all up and down the W’s page, removing those. But I get it. It’s all about likes, the number of comments, no matter how good or bad those comments and likes are. I don’t think it’s right, but just being swift with it, making a statement, making a stand. Fans that come out to games and they want to show out the wrong way, well, they don’t need to be in there, and that should be around for everybody, not just certain arenas for certain players.”
Clark condemned racism from fans during the Fever’s exit interviews and media availability Friday as well.
“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.”
