Commissioner says WNBA has a ‘Bird-Magic moment’ with a white Caitlin Clark, Black Angel Reese

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert is being criticized by some of the league’s players and their union for what she said — and didn’t say — in response to a question about “menacing” and “uncharitable” comments made by fans on social media regarding players like Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever and Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky.

While interviewing Engelbert on Monday’s episode of “Power Lunch” on CNBC, anchor Tyler Mathisen mentioned that an on-court rivalry between the rookie superstars seems “to have taken a darker turn, a more menacing turn” among some fans on social media, “where race has been introduced into the conversation, where sexuality is sometimes introduced into the conversation.”

Mathisen asked Engelbert: “How do you try and stay ahead of that, try and tamp it down or act as a league when two of your most visible players are involved — not personally, it would seem, but their fan bases are involved — in saying some very uncharitable things about the other?”

Engelbert’s response focused mainly on how such rivalries actually can be beneficial to the league.

Read more: Caitlin Clark marketing boom is celebrated but also draws questions of race and equity

“The one thing that’s great about the league right now, we do sit at this intersection of culture and sports and fashion and music. Like, the WNBA players are really looked at now as kind of cultural icons. And when you have that, you have a lot of attention on you,” she said.

“There’s no more apathy. Everybody cares. It is a little of that Bird-Magic moment if you recall from 1979, when those two rookies came in from a big college rivalry, one white, one Black. And so we have that moment with these two.

“But the one thing I know about sports, you need rivalry. That’s what makes people watch. They want to watch games of consequence between rivals. They don’t want everybody being nice to one another.”

Engelbert added that she advises players to ignore social media trolls.

“It’s a balance,” she said, “but certainly from a marketing [perspective], the corporate partners are stepping up to endorse these players much more so than they were five years ago because they see the benefit of having women and diverse women representing their brand.”

Read more: Is Caitlin Clark behind WNBA’s new popularity? Angel Reese says it’s more than ‘just one person’

Women’s National Basketball Players Assn. executive director Terri Jackson considered Engelbert’s response to be a missed opportunity.

“Here is the answer that the Commissioner should have provided to the very clear question regarding the racism, misogyny, and harassment experienced by the Players: There is absolutely no place in sport — or in life — for the vile hate, racist language, homophobic comments, and the misogynistic attacks our players are facing on social media,” Jackson said in a statement Tuesday.

“This is not about rivalries or iconic personalities fueling a business model. This kind of toxic fandom should never be tolerated or left unchecked. It demands immediate action, and frankly, should have been addressed long ago.”

Engelbert addressed the controversy Tuesday night with a post on X.

“During a recent media interview, I was asked about the dark side of social media and online conversation about WNBA rivalries and race,” she wrote. “To be clear, there is absolutely no place for hate or racism of any kind in the WNBA or anywhere else.”

Clark and Reese have yet to address Engelbert’s comments directly, although Reese reposted Jackson’s statement on X and her Instagram Stories. Last week on her podcast “Unapologetically Angel,” Reese said that some of Clark’s fans, but not Clark herself, have been “very disrespectful” toward her and “I think there’s a lot of racism when it comes to it.”

In June, Clark was asked about people who use her name to push things like racism and misogyny.

“Yeah, I think it’s disappointing,” she said. “I think everybody in our world deserves the same amount of respect. The women in our league deserve the same amount of respect. People should not be using my name to push those agendas. It’s disappointing. It’s not acceptable.”

Read more: Caitlin Clark on culture wars: Don’t use ‘my name to push’ racism, misogyny

Many WNBA players have spoken their minds about the commissioner’s comments during the CNBC interview.

“I think that it’s kind of disappointing to hear because the way that the fans have surged, especially behind Caitlin and Angel coming to this league, but also bringing, like, a race aspect, to a different level,” New York Liberty star and WNBPA vice-president Breanna Stewart said Tuesday.

“And you know, there’s no place for that in our sport. I think that’s really what it is. We want our sport to be inclusive for race, for gender, and really a place where people can be themselves. So we wish, obviously, Cathy would have used her platform in a different way, and have made that a little bit better, kind of just telling the fans enough is enough.”

Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum told ESPN on Wednesday that it was “hard to hear” Engelbert’s remarks.

“It’s pretty clear, there’s a difference between rivalries and racism,” Plum said. “Big difference.”

Read more: Pat McAfee says ESPN didn’t tell him to stop talking about Caitlin Clark. ‘God’ did

Teammate Alysha Clark told ESPN: “I think there was an opportunity for her to really be able to take hold of what’s been going on and let people know that regardless of the amount of dollars that are coming in, regardless of whatever, racism and misogyny and homophobia, they have no place in our league, and they have no place regardless of how popular our sport is.”

She added: “It’s taken a darker turn in terms of the types of comments and the vitriol that’s coming through to the players, and it’s not OK. I wish [Engelbert] would have just said that — ‘It’s not OK.'”

Connecticut Sun guard DiJonai Carrington told reporters Tuesday that Engelbert came up short after being given “a silver platter to address” a serious issue for her players.

“You can’t control social media,” Carrington said. “But that has nothing to do with what you can do and using your voice and your platform to try to put a stop to it.

“Or to just say, this is not the type of behavior that we endorse as the league. And as the commissioner who has what, probably 90% Black people or people who identify as Black in some way shape or form in the league, I think it was kind of eye-opening because the things that we have all experienced this season have been pretty sickening.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.