The WNBA media constantly demands that Caitlin Clark answer for internet trolls. They tell her she needs to condemn “racism, misogyny and homophobia,” even though she has nothing to do with the messages other players receive on social media.
But does that standard change when the players facing online trolling are being attacked due to their proximity to a different WNBA star, one who receives very different treatment from those same commentators?
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Atlanta Dream players Jordin Canada and Rhyne Howard are now on the receiving end. And the hate isn’t coming from supposed Caitlin Clark fans; it’s coming from supposed Angel Reese fans.
Will the commentators who keep assigning Clark responsibility for other people’s behavior apply their standard to Reese?
Don’t hold your breath.
For the record, I don’t think either player owes anyone a statement. Neither Clark nor Reese is responsible for what other people do or say online. However, I do think the people who keep demanding condemnations from Clark owe us an explanation as to why they aren’t keeping up that energy when it’s Reese at the center.
The responsibility assigned to Caitlin Clark
The list of WNBA media members who have openly called for Clark to denounce online hate, something Clark has done multiple times by the way, is almost too long to count. But let’s recap a few of the biggest ones:
- Nancy Armour: The USA Today columnist called on Clark “to publicly call out the racist and homophobic trash purporting to be her fans.” Armour acknowledged Clark had already condemned the behavior but discounted that response because it came after a question rather than on Clark’s own initiative. Her conclusion: “She at least needs to try.”
- Sarah Spain: On her podcast, Spain praised Armour’s column and said, “Caitlin didn’t ask for any of this, but she is still sort of responsible for helping shut it down.”
- Elle Duncan: Duncan wanted Clark to tell supposed supporters: “stop that s–t, I don’t want it, I’m tired of it.”
- Charlotte Wilder: The podcast host acknowledged Clark had spoken out but wanted “something a little more forceful.” She suggested telling abusive supporters, “You are not a fan of mine if you are perpetuating this behavior and these actions.”
- Etan Thomas: The Guardian columnist argued Clark should keep condemning fans, writing that “staying silent just isn’t an option.”
Those examples span from 2024 through this season. So, this isn’t new. These people have been making demands of Clark for three seasons, despite her repeated condemnations of the behavior.
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On July 3, Clark once again delivered a lengthy statement condemning online hate. She explicitly extended that condemnation to the treatment of opponents, teammates and coaches.
“The harassment, the hate, none of that is okay. … There should never be question of character. Like I’ve always stood up here and said that and that’s truly what I believe. That’s how I was raised. … none of that is okay. And I don’t want anybody to ever experience that,” Clark said.
A reporter raised the subject again at her October 8 season-ending news conference. Asked about Kelsey Mitchell’s comments on the treatment she receives, Clark was also asked to address “the attention this team receives because of you, but maybe not attention that you necessarily asked for.”
There’s that familiar framing again. Other people send the messages, but Clark gets asked to account for the attention surrounding her teammates.
So she answered. Again.
“As far as people that have used me to demonstrate racist rhetoric or hate or discrimination, that’s not something I stand for,” Clark said.
The expectations come from commentators, the questions come from reporters, and Clark keeps giving them an answer.
But apparently, that still wasn’t enough.
On October 23, ESPN analyst Monica McNutt said: “There is no way that someone would use my likeness to support causes that I am against.”
Clark has already told people she opposes that behavior. Repeatedly. How many more statements would satisfy McNutt?
And now that people defending Angel Reese are attacking Reese’s own teammates, does McNutt expect the same response from her?
My guess? Not a chance.
Where are the calls for Angel Reese to condemn online trolls?
Jordin Canada returned to social media after avoiding it during the playoffs and immediately found a reminder of why she had stayed away.
“It blows my mind that as fans yall CHOOSE to say the hurtful and cruel things out loud and on here,” she wrote, describing the comments as “heartless, rude, insensitive.”
Some of the posts targeting her and Howard make their allegiance clear. One account accused Howard, coach Karl Smesko and the Dream’s owners of selling Reese out in a supposedly rigged Finals. Another defended Reese while calling Canada and Howard “BOTH selfish players and human beings” and accusing them of not caring about winning. And some of the attacks were explicitly racist, including posts using the N-word.
So where is the insistence that Reese address online trolls “invoking her name” as an excuse to attack other players? So far, the WNBA media has been silent.
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Reese, meanwhile, outlined her plans for the next six months. In an Instagram post (on her private secondary account), Reese announced she is pausing her podcast for the offseason, plans occasional YouTube vlogs and will spend time resting and working out in Florida.
Her explanation: “i’m dedicating this off season to myself.”
Can you imagine Caitlin Clark announcing that she’s taking the next six months to focus on herself while her teammates are complaining about receiving nasty messages on social media? The WNBA media might never recover from such a scenario.
We’d get days, probably weeks and maybe even months of lectures about leadership, accountability and whether Clark was abandoning the teammates receiving online abuse.
Think pieces would be plastered all over The Guardian, The Athletic, ESPN and other left-wing sites explaining how White women have the privilege of focusing on themselves while Black women have no choice but to always worry about everyone else in their “community.”
They would all demand that Caitlin Clark issue yet another statement. Then, they would complain that the statement wasn’t enough. The whole cycle would fuel the WNBA media ecosystem through the entire offseason.
So, where are the lectures for Angel Reese? Anyone see any think pieces about how Reese is being selfish? Didn’t think so.
The WNBA’s obsession with online trolls
All of this unfolds in a league that spends an extraordinary amount of time talking about what people (and bots) say on the internet.
In August, after Sophie Cunningham’s comments about “biological men” competing in women’s sports sparked a debate over eligibility, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told teams an upcoming meeting of the league’s anti-hate task force would address whether males should be eligible to play in the WNBA.
Yahoo Sports reported that meeting instead largely focused on online hate directed at players. Even with eligibility rules on the agenda, the WNBA couldn’t stop talking about internet trolls.
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That’s what I wanted to ask Engelbert about when I attended her October 17 press conference before Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. Why does online commentary warrant so much of the league’s time and attention? And does repeatedly highlighting negativity overshadow the positive things happening with attendance and television audiences?
I wasn’t called on.
Engelbert nevertheless returned to the subject in her final answer, condemning people who sit “behind a keyboard to spew vitriol and hate and racism and misogyny at our players.”
After all those meetings, statements and lectures, you’d think the reporters, analysts and commentators demanding more from Caitlin Clark would recognize a familiar situation in Atlanta.
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Where are you, Elle Duncan, Monica McNutt, Sarah Spain, and Nancy Armour? Where are your demands for Angel Reese to defend her teammates?
Again, I don’t think Reese owes anyone a statement. Clark doesn’t, either.
But the people who have spent three seasons assigning that responsibility to Clark should explain why their standard apparently disappears when applying it would require them to make demands of Reese.
In the WNBA media’s world, Caitlin Clark has to answer for the internet.
But Angel Reese gets to focus on herself.
