WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert is backtracking after declining to condemn abusive language from fans supporting Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
In a recent interview on CNBC, Engelbert was asked about the intense online trash talk between the two fan bases that have frequently degenerated into racist and sexist language.
Engelbert said she felt the rivalry between Reese and Clark was healthy for the league.
“Well the one thing that’s great about the league right now, we do sit at this intersection of culture, and sports, and fashion and music. Like, the WNBA players are really looked at now as kind of cultural icons,” she replied. “And when you have that, you have a lot of attention on you. There’s no more apathy. Everybody cares.
“But the one thing I know about sports, you need rivalry,” she continued. “That’s what makes people watch, they want to watch games of consequence between rivals. They don’t want everybody being nice to one another.”
This did not sit well with WNBA star Breanna Stewart and others, who condemned the commissioner for failing to use the question as an opportunity to condemn online racism.
“I was asked a question about WNBA rivalries and the dark side of social media and race, and simply put, my answer missed the mark, and I’m sorry.”
“I regret that I didn’t express, in a clear and definitive way, condemnation of the hateful speech that is all too often directed at WNBA players on social media. This is a teachable moment and one that I embrace with humility. There is absolutely no room for racism, misogyny, homophobia, and other forms of hate in the WNBA or anywhere.”
“I know many of you have been dealing with it for a long time. I want us as a league to do our part to change the too often toxic and abusive nature of social media discourse.”
The overture seemed to appease Stewart, who responded favorably.
As Breitbart’s Warner Todd Huston has pointed out:
“Many in the left-wing sports media are raising the alarm over the ‘racism and homophobia’ of fans who are flooding social media with attacks on black and/or lesbian players because of their constant efforts to cause physical harm to the white, heterosexual Caitlin Clark. The rising tide of heated rhetoric has many black players claiming that they feel “threatened” and that their safety is at risk in their private lives.
Naturally, these sports media leftists are utterly ignoring the reason that so many people are putting the black players in the cross hairs, and the media are acting as if all of a sudden WNBA fans have turned into foaming-at-the-mouths haters.
“Few of these attacks from fans would be occurring if a growing number of WNBA players and personalities including Angel Reese, Chennedy Carter, former player Sheryl Swoopes, and others, had not been doing their level best to destroy Clark both on and off the court — and attempting to cause her both physical and mental distress.
“These supposedly ‘racist’ fans are not coming out of the blue with their attacks. They are reacting to what they perceive as unfair and even injurious treatment of Clark.
“Still, the provocation aside — which the critics are ignoring — there is no excuse to engage in racist or homophobic rhetoric.”
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