Instead of celebrating the quartet of first-round sweeps, where the likes of A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, Sabrina Ionescu and Alyssa Thomas delivered some all-time performances for their victorious squads, attention wandered elsewhere in the world of women’s basketball this week.
Yes, it’d be nice to just focus on basketball, but, as many of the players who compose the WNBA carry multiple marginalized identities (woman, Black and queer), segments of society have a hard time reckoning with their presence and power, and therefore respond with a reactionary stew of racism, misogyny and homophobia. As Andraya Carter asserted about the WNBA on ESPN on Wednesday night:
It’s also a league that thrives on women that truly take pride in inclusivity, in diversity, and welcoming others and protecting marginalized groups. And so there’s no room for racism. There’s no room for bullying. There’s no room for derogatory comments.
As much as we want this league to grow, we will grow slower if it means leaving those fans out of the mix.
On to the details about the week’s news:
WNBPA calls out Christine Breannan
On Friday, WNBPA Executive Director Terri Jackson released a statement on behalf of the union’s 144 members that called out USA TODAY’s Christine Brennan,…
