The conversation around trans athletes and the WNBA has broken containment as former NBA athletes turned conservative media characters Enes Kanter and Royce White step in with a publicity stunt to attempt to play in the women’s league.
Gender politics suddenly took over WNBA news last month when Indiana Fever forward Sophie Cunningham shared her desire to keep transgender women out of women’s sports locker rooms in a profile at ESPN. While Cunningham’s initial comments centered on youth sports, others quickly took the baton to weave a story around how the WNBA itself could be overtaken by transgender women.
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Since Kanter and White’s pronouncements, right-wing commentators have expressed glee toward the pair’s efforts to undermine WNBA rules regarding who can compete in its league. But this week, former ESPN analyst Ryan Clark had some choice words for them in a recent video for his podcast, The Pivot.
“If we are men, and as former athletes, and we understand how hard it is to get respect in the game, don’t make a mockery about what these women are going through. Don’t make jokes about things you’ll never understand,” he said.
“Stay out of it. If you don’t have some input, either right or wrong, that could be impactful or helpful, let these people be. Because dudes who could never play who want to make jokes about something that is incredibly serious are absolute clowns.”
In the same clip, Channing Crowder criticized the league and its broadcast partners for giving in to these storylines, warning against allowing WNBA coverage to be overtaken by “gossip.”
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“Why aren’t we talking about the game? Why aren’t we talking about the game like we talk about the NBA?” Crowder asked.
“WNBA, NBA, same damn three letters, but it’s always a tabloid, it’s always some … gossip. And I don’t think the gossip of it is what you want to build your league around. So that’s what I think: the publicity around the WNBA is built on gossip. Why are we looking at a 9-2-2 lady every time I look at ESPN?”
But the league’s participation policy is not the only broader social issue that has become part of the national WNBA conversation. Last weekend, Chicago Sky defensive stopper Dijonai Carrington posted the phrase “white privilege” and tagged the Fever’s official account after she was called for a Flagrant 2 foul for a physical play on Cunningham. While Carrington has since disputed that she directed the comment specifically at Cunningham, the inflammatory post opened the door to further distraction from the play on the floor.
Fred Taylor laid out how the WNBA’s players and media partners walk a fine line between continued growth in the league’s audience and revenue and some of the league’s larger social justice efforts.
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“As a fan, even of the game, you’re gonna be turned off by it. There’s too much politicking going on in the WNBA,” he said. “The media can help you in one light because they need the TV rights and the TV deals to increase their pay. But on the flip side, with social media, you’ve got the fighting over it, the politics, and the social awareness stuff that not many people like. You’ve these women fighting for social justice to try and help a class of people who have been pushed down and discriminated upon.
“But not everybody wants to hear that. And sometimes, the people that pay your bills or help increase the money that you’re bringing in, those people aren’t supporting the league a lot of the time. So I just think it’s a slippery slope that these women are on, because enough is enough.”
As the noise around the WNBA all season has proven, the league has a clear messaging problem. Even former coaches and players in the league who are sympathetic to the causes it supports are suggesting the narrative is building in the wrong direction.
Clark joined a growing chorus of voices in the national media calling on commissioner Cathy Engelbert to get a handle on things or step away.
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“To me, it’s about pushing the right things. Not only if you’re the executives, but the players as well,” Clark said. “Talking about the right things, making sure the right things are at the forefront of people’s minds.”
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