AN INCIDENT AT A WASHINGTON HOTEL BRINGS TROUBLE FOR THE SCARY WNBA
A man with a camera wanted to meet Chennedy Carter, who hip-checked Caitlin Clark, and a league is lost in thuggery that makes America look awful amid the emergence of an ugly presidential election
The election year is producing more evidence. This is a sick, disheveled country. Of all places for fear and danger to surge, it happened Wednesday in Washington, a walk from the White House, where the President should be interested. The Chicago Sky were checking into a hotel. Among the players was Chennedy Carter, who played dirty when she hip-checked Caitlin Clark and, stunningly, received a standing ovation three nights later at her home arena.
Armed with a camera, a man wanted to meet Carter. The act would be known as harassment when, according to players, he put the lens near a teammate’s face. Only a few months ago, road security wasn’t a focal point for most WNBA franchises. The Sky were fortunate to have officials who separated the man from team members who heard racist and misogynistic comments.
What was he doing there? How did he find them? The camera, the mean words? And at what point will the league commissioner summon a pause to the hostile proceedings, such as an immediate threat of long-term suspensions and ample fines for players exacerbating tensions? The Sky were victimized. They also contributed to the strain.
“(F)inding 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,” posted Clark’s rival, Angel Reese, who cheered Carter’s smash-up. “(T)his really is outta control and needs to STOP.”
“Getting harassed at our hotel is where the line needs to be drawn. Some “fans” have NO CHILLLLL,” Michaela Onyenwere wrote. “It’s still extremely weird & crosses the boundaries meeting us right when we get off the bus.”
“WOW!!! Thank GOD for security,” Isabelle Harrison posted. "My teammate being harassed at our hotel is insane! Couldn't even step off the bus!!!”
Posted Brianna Turner: “Didn't realize that when we said 'grow the game' that would be interpreted as harassing players at hotels....Yes we 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. 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. … It’s troubling to even speak out. I know half the responses will be filled with slurs.”
What possibly is next for a league that has allowed violence to escalate in a nightly horror? It started when two-time MVP A’ja Wilson said Clark’s rookie season is about a White star entering an ugly space — Black players might want to blast and body slam her. “A lot of people may say it’s not about Black and white, but to me, it is,” she said, adding, “That’s why it boils my blood when people say it’s not about race because it is.” When Carter took her cheap shot Saturday, someone made creepy plans to see her. This is beyond Clark making more than $30 million in endorsements when veterans make an average of $113,295, with a high of $241,000.
Racism is explosive, seeping into our lives because Clark became a national hero at Iowa and was exposed to vicious bitterness. Consider the concerns of Geno Auriemma, the coaching avatar of women’s college basketball, who said of Clark: “She’s also being targeted. … I don't remember when (Michael) Jordan came into the (NBA), guys looking to go out and beat him up. I don't remember when (Larry) Bird and Magic (Johnson) came in the league and elevated the NBA, them getting targeted and getting beat up just because of who they were and the attention they were getting. Appreciate the fact that now's the time (for the WNBA). I get it. It's long overdue. Why are you blaming that kid? It's not her fault, because you would trade places with her in a minute, but you are not there. You're not her. So, you're (complaining) that she's getting what she's getting.”
When the Washington stories appeared online, Wilson was clobbered in the face three times by Dallas players, requiring a bandage for her bloody nose and knocking out a contact lens. She grew angry at an official, saying, “It's frustrating. You just want the right call. And we didn't get it, and that's OK. We're gonna keep playing, keep pushing. But one thing about our locker room and who we are, we're not gonna back down. I don't think we've got refs that swung our way in a minute, so we're not expecting to get anything. We have to go out there and take everything.”
“She’s bruised from head to toe,” said Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon, whose title team won behind Wilson’s 36 points, 12 rebounds and 6 steals. Every day brings more provoking stories for commissioner Cathy Engelbert and her influential media partners, including thoughts from Cameron Brink to Uproxx.
“I will acknowledge there’s a privilege for the younger white players of the league. That’s not always true, but there is a privilege that we have inherently, and the privilege of appearing feminine,” said the Los Angeles rookie, who is White and was taken second after Clark in the draft. “Some of my teammates are more masculine. Some of my teammates go by they/them pronouns. I want to bring more acceptance to that and not just have people support us because of the way that we look. I know I can feed into that because I like to dress femininely, but that’s just me. I want everyone to be accepted — not just paid attention to because of how they look.”
Or we could return to the last century, with Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman saying: “Well, if I were Caitlin Clark, I would’ve punched her in the face. I’m from New York and I would’ve told her to f–k off. … Damn, where is Caitlin Clark’s teammates? I’d be pissed as s–t at my teammates if nobody came to my defense.”
Politicians are involved. An Indiana Congressman, Jim Banks, sent a harsh letter to Engelbert after Carter’s ramming of Clark. “It was a cheap shot that could have resulted in an injury and should not be tolerated,” said Banks, saying the WNBA “refuses to hold hostile players accountable. It is not only a disservice to Clark and the Indiana Fever, it’s a disservice to the millions of young girls who are watching with dreams of playing in the WNBA one day.”
Until the power people take charge, more police will be necessary, on and off the court. What’s curious is how Clark is trying to lay low. “I watch the other WNBA games as much as I can,” she said Wednesday. “Movies, random shows. My little brother is living with me so he plays a lot of video games so sometimes I get caught watching that. I don't really hear the noise. I just come here and play basketball every single day, and that's what I focus on, and this is my job. Everything else, all the external noise, doesn't faze me.”
It will if a stranger shows up at her hotel. Or if TV networks blast out the grime for more weirdos. Guess who’s all over the next Sky-Fever game? CBS, a week from Sunday.
We want ratings for fine basketball. We don’t want them for thuggery.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.