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Chicago Sky security staff diffused a situation Wednesday when a man confronted the players, specifically guard Chennedy Carter, as they were getting off a bus outside a Washington, D.C. hotel, general manager Jeff Pagliocca said Wednesday night.
A video that appeared briefly online shows Carter followed by a man repeatedly asking questions about Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark, who was on the receiving end of a widely discussed flagrant foul from Carter during a game four days earlier. Sky forward Michaela Onyenwere wrote on X that the video had been edited to exclude the man harassing the staff and using profane, racist and misogynistic language regarding the players and the WNBA.
“We are not about to normalize things like that,” Onyenwere wrote.
Pagliocca told the Chicago Sun-Times that police weren’t called because team security had the situation under control.
“It was over as fast as it started,” Pagliocca said. “I’m very confident in our security always making our players feel safe. Today was a great example of how critical they are to our team.”
The Sky play the Washington Mystics on Thursday. The team did not immediately respond to questions from The Times.
A number of Sky players addressed the situation on X.
“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,” rookie Angel Reese wrote. “this really is outta control and needs to STOP.”
Forward Isabelle Harrison wrote: “WOW!!! Thank GOD for security. My teammate being harassed at our hotel is insane! Couldn’t even step off the bus!!!”
“Getting harassed at our hotel is where the line needs to be drawn,” Onyenwere wrote. “Some ‘fans’ have NO CHILLLLL.”
Forward Brianna Turner, who said she was not present when the incident occurred, posted a lengthy thread that was reposted by multiple teammates. “Didn’t realize that when we said ‘grow the game’ that would be interpreted as harassing players at hotels,” she wrote.
In subsequent tweets, Turner stated: “Yes we (thankfully) travel with security, but the absurd headlines recently has certainly created an unstable environment for our safety. I’ve been called every racial slur imaginable lately and my teammates have had it even worse,” Turner wrote.
“No. I will not accept racism as ‘part of the game’. No I’m not sensitive. And no I won’t simply ignore the ignorant takes I’ve seen. The majority of you commenting could care less about the success of the WNBA and are only concerned with division.”
Carter has not addressed the incident publicly. She told reporters Monday that she had no regrets over hip-checking Clark late in the third quarter of the Sky’s 71-70 loss to the Fever. That foul looks to have been in response to the preceding play, during which Clark appears to have thrown an elbow toward Carter and Harrison during a rebound attempt and then turned and said something to Carter.
“I’m seeing a lot of things — players, fans not understanding who I am as a player,” Carter said Monday. “You have to understand me as a person, too, and don’t just look at one tape and form an opinion about me. I’m truly a passionate person about the game, and I’m genuine. You can ask all my teammates; they’ve gotten to know me. They know the real Chennedy Carter. So I’m just saying, don’t form an opinion off of one little clip. And you didn’t even see the whole game and/or the play that led to that.”
