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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe WNBA is investigating alleged racial comments directed toward Angel Reese by fans during the Chicago Sky’s loss to Caitlin Clark and the Fever in Indianapolis on Saturday before a sellout crowd of 17,274 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, according to a person familiar with the situation.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on Sunday on condition of anonymity because the league had not publicly identified the subject of the alleged taunts or who made the allegations.
“The WNBA strongly condemns racism, hate, and discrimination in all forms—they have no place in our league or in society,” the league said in a statement. “We are aware of the allegations and are looking into the matter.”
Reese, who is Black, and Clark, who is white, met for the seventh time in their ongoing—and much-talked-about—rivalry. Clark was named Rookie of the Year last season and Reese finished second in the voting.
The WNBA Players Union released a statement soon after the league’s comment on the matter.
“The WNBPA is aware of reports of hateful comments at yesterday’s game in Indianapolis and supports the WNBA’s current investigation into this matter. Such behavior is unacceptable in our sport,” the statement said. “Under the WNBA’s ‘No Space for Hate’ policy, we trust the league to thoroughly investigate and take swift, appropriate action to ensure a safe and welcoming environment for all.”
Sky president and CEO Adam Fox said later Sunday in a statement that the organization welcomes the league’s investigation.
“We will do everything in our power to protect Chicago Sky players, and we encourage the league to continue taking meaningful steps to create a safe environment for all WNBA players,” he said.
The Sky and Fever will play four more times during the regular season.
“We are aware of the allegations of inappropriate fan conduct during yesterday’s game and we are working closely with the WNBA to complete their investigation,” the Fever said in a statement. “We stand firm in our commitment to providing a safe environment for all WNBA players.”
Reese had 12 points and 17 rebounds in the 93-58 loss to the Fever. The Sky forward and Clark had an incident on the court with 4:38 left in the third quarter. It started with Reese shoving the Fever’s Natasha Howard with two hands under the basket before grabbing an offensive rebound and Clark slapping Reese’s arm hard enough to jar the ball loose and knock Reese to floor.
When Reese got up, she tried to confront Clark before Indiana center Aliyah Boston stepped in between the players. Clark’s third personal foul was upgraded to a flagrant 1, while Boston and Reese each drew technical fouls following a replay review by the referees.
Both players downplayed the play after the game.
The league launched “No Space for Hate” this season, a multi-dimensional platform designed to combat hate and promote respect across all WNBA spaces both online and in arenas.
The league is focused on four areas: enhanced technological features to detect hateful comments online; increased emphasis on team, arena and league security measures; reinforcing mental health resources; and alignment against hate.
This will be the league’s first test of it.
“It’s nice in words, but we got to see actions,” Aces star A’ja Wilson said Friday after practice. “Hopefully people can take actions and understand this is bigger than basketball. We’re true people behind it. Any shoe that we wear, any jersey we have on, we’re human. People have to respect that. I hope they pay attention and listen to the words.”
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Welcome Indiana.
Not unexpected. But why attend games with players you hate.
Indiana certainly is not alone with badly behaved spectators, be it professional or amateur sports. Is the behaviour crass . . . yes. But is it illegal? Can someone be removed from an event for spewing racist comments? While many state opposition to racist, sexist, or other negative comments, how can speech at events actually be controlled.
I love our sports teams but hate to attend games or even root for them simply because the fan base. If you have an issue with African-American players or African-American people in general, don’t attend sporting events.
BTW, our second and third best players for the Fever can ball and just so happen to be African-American. Clark is very good, but she isn’t winning anything without them (and her other teammates of various races and ethnicities).
This is another AP article by a group of mostly out of towners and based on heresay and internet trolls. Too bad our local journalist don’t write about our local sports teams.
The people I talked to that went to the game, and Dave Portnoy’s own article in Yahoo sports, said there was no racial slurs. Don’t let the internet idiots ruin our local teams.
As always, laughing at the IBJ employees pandering to their target audience.
Nate, did you include a link to the racist post from the racist player (for the Democrats, it’s NOT Clark) who is crying Racism!?
Of course not, this is just , as always, the IBJ carrying the Democrat water