The WNBA’s feckless condemnation of fan hate is too late for a participation trophy

The WNBA does not get a trophy for doing the bare minimum.

The WNBA took more than four months to stand in solidarity with its players over repeated harassment, but it finally issued a statement Wednesday denouncing bigoted and threatening comments. It was the bare minimum and long overdue.

As much as the 2024 season should have been solely about basketball, it wasn’t. More fans meant more eyes, and with more eyes, the ugliest parts of humanity — racism, sexism, homophobia and learned ignorance — were amplified at the league’s front door. While the WNBA seemingly handled its previous fan growth spurts well, the intensified harassment of players highlighted a lacking support system that took nearly a whole season to receive performative duct tape.

For months, the league publicly sat on its hands while players endured abuse from fans, including death threats (Warning: NSFW language) and being followed to homes and hotels. The online conversations and in-person confrontations were so glaring, so unhinged that WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert was asked to explicitly address them in an interview with CNBC. Engelbert fumbled the opportunity and later apologized once it became clear her words didn’t meet the moment. However, a new statement from the league Wednesday, in light of more fan abuse, reflects how loudly the WNBA is failing its players.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DAXSA5fRNCf/?igsh=eHhzOGpxcXo5dnRt

Here’s what the WNBA shared:

“The WNBA is a competitive league with some of the most elite athletes in the world. While we welcome a growing fan base, the WNBA will not tolerate racist, derogatory or threatening comments made about players, teams and anyone affiliated with the league. League security is actively monitoring threat-related activity and will work directly with teams and arenas to take the appropriate measures, to include involving law enforcement, as necessary.”

Why did it take more than four months for the league to put out the bare minimum to denounce what has so clearly impacted its athletes like Angel Reese, Breanna Stewart and Alyssa Thomas throughout the season? Why did nothing happen until after one of the league’s other stars, Caitlin Clark, was met with in-person fan harassment during her first playoff series?

I don’t have the answers to those questions; Engelbert and WNBA leadership would have to explain the exact reasoning. But releasing the statement now reeks of cowardice and is almost entirely unserious, especially when players have been speaking out on it.

A professional league with a decades-long reputation as a socially aware entity cannot be this delayed and outwardly obtuse. Beyond the jerseys are people who deserve better from the folks they have entrusted to support them at their jobs.

When we start normalizing vitriol as everyday discourse, the bar for morality and humanity is in the basement. Anyone can tell you not to feed into the “trolls” and the “bots.” However, simply “ignoring them” is a privilege many athletes don’t have.

In some ways, the sports world has become desensitized to hate hurled at athletes, and if that doesn’t change and boundaries aren’t established, the consequences are potentially dangerous.

The WNBA doesn’t suddenly get credit because it decided to have a spine and speak out in defense of its players. There is no participation trophy for showing common decency; it’s the expectation. Ultimately, this rests at Engelbert’s feet, and if she and the league’s leadership won’t do what’s right, the safety and well-being of players across the league could be at risk.

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