The WNBA is painfully selective.
The WNBA continues to deny OutKick a credential to cover Atlanta Dream games. The team and league claim they can’t accommodate our requests due to “very limited space.”
We appreciate the emphasis on “very.”
Still, no one actually believes the WNBA can’t find the “space” for us to cover a regular-season game involving the Dream and Connecticut Sun. WNBA games in June are hardly the Super Bowl, where reporters from all across the country clamor for access.
In fact, the Sun granted several media credentials to OutKick last year, including a playoff game featuring the Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark.
What changed? Put simply, Brittney Griner.
The WNBA won’t credential OutKick for Sun games because it doesn’t want us to ask Griner about a viral clip in which she appears to utter “trash f*cking white girl” from the bench in a matchup against the Fever.
Watch below:
For background, the WNBA launched a “no space for hate” and “zero tolerance for racism” campaign before the start of the season. Already, the league spent 10 days investigating a dubious claim of racist chants towards Angel Reese last month. (The league found no evidence of such).
However, the WNBA has shown no interest in investigating or even commenting on Griner’s remarks. OutKick has asked the league several times for comment.
We also asked Griner’s management team to clarify, in the event she said something else (she didn’t). We have not heard back from either party.
Moreover, OutKick is one of the most influential brands in sports media. A professional sports league banning our access reflects poorly on the WNBA as a whole.
Thus, we inquired with the NBA on Friday.
See, the NBA still owns 42% of the WNBA, the highest stake of any party. The WNBA would not exist without the financial support of the NBA. So, what does the NBA think about its charity league banning reporters from asking questions? Like the WNBA, the NBA and a PR official for Adam Silver’s office refused to provide a comment.
For reference, the NBA is very familiar with us. Since 2019, I have received pages and pages of emails from the NBA regarding my coverage of its ratings. Now, all of a sudden, the NBA doesn’t want to communicate.
Here’s the truth: the NBA and WNBA are hypocrites. Both leagues attach themselves to social causes, like fighting racism, but are shamefully selective.
In 2020, the NBA painted “Black Lives Matter” on the court but didn’t say a word when Montrez Harrell called Luka Doncic a “bitch ass white boy” weeks later.
Imagine that.
In both leagues, accusations of racism against black people are treated with the utmost sensitivity. Meanwhile, actual racism against white people is ignored entirely.
And most of the sports media are fine with that.
As of publication, not a single credentialed WNBA reporter has asked Griner about the clip. Nor has any reporter around the league asked Angel Reese about sharing a video on TikTok mocking Caitlin Clark as a scared little “white girl” afraid to fight her.
In other words, the WNBA handpicked an entire press pool of propagandists masquerading as real journalists.
So, of course, the league won’t credential OutKick. It knows Griner couldn’t defend her remarks in the video. You can read her lips: “Trash. F*cking. White. Girl.”
The WNBA and NBA know that.
