Caitlin Clark continues to be at the center of a conversation she didn’t ask for, a divisive political discourse that NBA commissioner Adam Silver said is “incredibly unfair to her.” At CNBC’s Game Plan Summit at Fanatics Fest on Thursday, Silver depicted the discussion around the three-time All-Star Indiana Fever guard as “political ping-pong.”
Earlier this month, legendary UConn head women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma commented during an appearance on Richard Deitsch’s “Sports Media Podcast” that Clark involuntarily became “a cause” and the fouls against her aren’t “a referendum on America.” The latest that drew ire was a retroactively assessed flagrant 2 committed by Phoenix Mercury standout forward Alyssa Thomas, who remarked that she and her family faced death threats and racial slurs in the fallout of her June 24 foul, one-game suspension and $1,000 fine.
That online harassment triggered a meeting scheduled for Tuesday that player leadership initiated, according to a Friday report from The Athletic’s Annie Costabile. WNBA Players Association leaders are poised to congregate with league leadership, namely commissioner Cathy Engelbert, to discuss digital persecution, which has grown in scope this season as the league keeps expanding and, in turn, touching new parts of the world, including the gambling sphere.
“It’s literally a temperature check of everything from the first half of the season,” New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, also the WNBPA vice president, said, per The Athletic.
“The security and the negative effects from sports betting is really hitting home for a lot of people and definitely not what you want. But it happens when the sport gets bigger and bigger.”
The WNBPA’s executive committee and the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee will reportedly be part of the impending meeting. Outreach was made even before the W administered Thomas a one-game ban, Chicago Sky center and WNBPA secretary Elizabeth Williams told The Athletic, per its report.
That suspension, which Silver reportedly convinced Engelbert to issue, came after Thomas pushed on Clark’s throat while standing up after Clark lost her footing and the ball last month. A foul wasn’t called in the moment, and the play wasn’t reviewed amid the Fever’s home setback, much to Indiana’s dismay. Eventually, Thomas was given the flagrant 2 for her “reckless” contact with Clark.
Thomas, a 13-year WNBA veteran and six-time All-Star, described the incident as a “complete accident” on June 30. At the time, she also called out the W and Engelbert for their silence on the matter despite the abuse Thomas and other Mercury players were navigating. Thomas wasn’t arguing against the suspension she was handed. Rather, she was expressing how she feels the league wasn’t protecting her and others off the court.
“It’s unfortunate, but, as usual, she remains silent,” Thomas said then, via PHNX Sports. “That’s unfortunate when our lives are being threatened.”
Hours later, Engelbert released a statement noting that the league and its security team had been in contact with the Mercury and that “the WNBA vehemently condemns any and all forms of hate.”
In the wake of Thomas’ foul, Clark spoke out against the online harassment players deal with in the W.
“The harassment, the hate, none of that is OK,” Clark said on July 3. “That goes for the opposing team we play. That goes for my teammates. That goes for my coaches. There should never be question of character.
“None of that is OK, and I don’t want anybody to ever experience that.”
Williams reportedly said a goal for Tuesday’s meeting is to push for a more proactive response from league leadership in instances similar to the one involving Clark and Thomas.
“Things are always addressed after the fact,” Williams said, per The Athletic. “It takes controversy or a little bit of heat before statements are made or before things are addressed.
“Early on when [Engelbert] first joined, she was a little bit more proactive and that helped build her relationship with players. And now it doesn’t necessarily feel that way.”
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