Following Alyssa Thomas’s call, the WNBA condemns hate speech from fans

Connecticut Sun star Alyssa Thomas was asked Wednesday night about her team’s ability to “block out the noise” that reigned on social media during the WNBA playoff series against the Indiana Fever.

Thomas gave a thoughtful response that ended with a request for the league to help quell the noise.

After Connecticut’s decisive 87-81 win over Indiana, Thomas said she had never experienced the type of “racist comments” she had seen from the Fever fan base. “I’ve never been called what I’ve been called on social media and there’s no place for that.”

“It’s inappropriate and something needs to be done, whether it’s controlling their fans or controlling this league. “There’s no time for this anymore,” she added.

Shortly thereafter, the WNBA released a statement supporting Thomas and the rest of the league’s players.

“The WNBA is a competitive league with some of the best athletes in the world. While we welcome a growing fan base, the WNBA will not tolerate racist, derogatory or threatening comments about players, teams and anyone associated with the league. League security actively monitors threat-related activities and will work directly with teams and arenas to take appropriate action, including involving law enforcement as necessary.”

Before the game, Suns guard DiJonai Carrington posted on her Instagram Stories a screenshot of a shockingly graphic and racist message she received the day before. In Sunday’s series opener, Carrington stabbed Fever star Caitlin Clark in the face while playing for the ball, resulting in a black eye for Clark.

Both Carrington and Clark have stated that the contact was unintentional.

Carrington sat next to Thomas during Wednesday’s postgame press conference. Sometimes she nodded along while her teammate spoke.

“Basketball is going in a great direction, but we don’t want fans demeaning us and calling us racist names,” Thomas said. “I mean, we already see what’s happening in the world and what we have to deal with in that regard. And we come here for work to play basketball and it’s fun, but we don’t want to go to work every day and blow up social media over stuff like that.”

Speaking one-on-one with reporters, Connecticut coach Stephanie White learned of Thomas’ comments and had a lot to say on the subject.

“I feel like we allowed the trolls on social media to frame the story. And it’s unacceptable,” White said. “We have to do a better job.”

She added: “I just encourage everyone to take a step back and think about whether it’s your sons or your daughters or your nieces or your nephews or your children, for heaven’s sake, because if my children were harassed like that, I would not sure what I would do. …And I’m not talking about criticism, because that comes with the territory. That’s it. That’s part of it. But the narrative doesn’t have to be controlled by people just sitting at their keyboards spewing hate and negative vitriol everywhere.”

Fever coach Christie Sides spoke to reporters in front of the Suns players and coach. When asked what she said to her team after the season-ending defeat, Sides also spoke out against the “unacceptable” behavior the players had to endure.

“There is a lot of hurtful, hateful speech and that is unacceptable,” Sides said. “There is no reason for it. And these guys need to hear and watch this. Social media is her life. That’s what they do. And they have to read and see these things all the time, and just all the stories that are made up of what people see or think they see.”

She added: “It’s just this new world we’re living in and it’s just not acceptable for it to get personal for these boys to have to deal with.”