Controversial retired soccer star Megan Rapinoe has thrust herself into the simmering racial tensions in the WNBA.
Speaking to partner and retired WNBA legend Sue Bird on their podcast, Rapinoe blasted the ‘racist’ question at the heart of USA Today columnist Christine Brennan’s war with the WNBA players’ union.
‘My visceral reaction was like: ”That’s not good. That doesn’t feel good. That feels racist, to be honest”,’ Rapinoe told Bird.
The controversial question was directed at Connecticut Sun guard DiJonai Carrington, who has been in the crosshairs of Caitlin Clark fans ever since she poked the Indiana Fever rookie’s eye in last month’s playoff opener.
Brennan asked Carrington last week if the eye poke was intentional, which the player denied. Likewise, Carrington also denied laughing about the incident after cameras caught her giggling with teammates later in their Game 1 victory. (The Sun would go on to beat Clark’s Fever in the best-of-three series to advance to the semifinals)
Caitlin Clark (right) is seen being defended by DiJonai Carrington in their first-round series
Sue Bird (far left) and Megan Rapinoe (near left) took aim at Christine Brennan (right)
But while Carrington answered Brennan’s questions without complaint, the WNBA players’ union responded with a scathing statement directed at the famed columnist.
‘To unprofessional members of the media like Christine Brennan: You are not fooling anyone,’ read the WNBPA statement.
‘That so-called interview in the name of journalism was a blatant attempt to bait a professional athlete into participating into a narrative that is false and designed to fuel racist, homophobic, and misogynistic vitriol on social media. You cannot hide behind your tenure.
‘You have abused your privileges and do not deserve the credentials issued to you.’
Brennan, a 66-year-old sportswriting pioneer, has been defended by scores of journalists since the controversy began, including some from both sides of the political divide. For instance, liberal Keith Olbermann and conservative Jason Whitlock have both condemned the WNBPA for their statement.
Furthermore, USA Today released a statement saying the newspaper rejects ‘the notion that the interview perpetuated any narrative other than to get the players’ perspective directly.’
No foul was called despite the contact leaving the 22-year-old in agony on the floor
Rapinoe, on the other hand, believes the columnist was instinctively defending Clark, who happens to be the subject of Brennan’s next book.
‘I think it’s so disingenuous for Christine Brennan and other media members to be like ”I am just asking the question,”’ Rapinoe said.
‘But really what is happening is your natural instinct to protect and narrate white players versus ”go after and narrate black players.” That to me is the issue.
‘The premise of the question relies on the belief that DiJonai is targeting, that DiJonai is specifically swatted or swiped into Caitlin’s eyeball,’ Rapinoe continued.
Both Bird and Rapinoe were quick to dismiss the eye poke as unintentional.
‘First of all, the square footage of Caitlin’s eyeball is very small,’ Rapinoe said.
‘That was my first thought,’ Bird agreed. ‘Do you know how hard it would be to aim and poke someone in the eye?’
And although Clark suffered a black eye, she has also dismissed the incident, saying she doesn’t believe Carrington intended to hurt her.
Still, that hasn’t stopped fans and media for calling for a suspension.
‘DiJonai Carrington stabbed Caitlin Clark in the eye with a fingernail,’ Whitlock later wrote on X. ‘It could’ve damaged the career of the WNBA’s meal ticket and the biggest American women’s sports star of all time. ESPN and the WNBA have yet to address this story. Carrington should be suspended.’
Clark was sporting a clear shiner on her right eye in her postgame press conference
Carrington was not suspended, nor was she even whistled for a foul on the play – two things that have fueled some fans’ belief that Clark is the victim of anti-white racism.
The storyline has been a constant theme throughout the 2024 season as the WNBA has broken all sales and television audiences records. Many players and teams have called out racist fan abuse, much of which has centered around the rivalry between rookies Clark, who is white, and Angel Reese, who is black.
Asked about the problem while appearing on CNBC last month, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert likened the Clark-Reese dynamic to the NBA’s famed Larry Bird-Magic Johnson rivalry, which also featured players of different races.
‘That’s what makes people watch,’ Engelbert said. ‘They want to watch games of consequence between rivals. They don’t want everybody being nice to one another.’
Speaking to Bird, Rapinoe rejected that explanation wholeheartedly.
‘She basically implied that the racial tension is good for business, invoking Magic and Bird,’ Rapinoe said.
And Rapinoe’s problems with Engelbert didn’t stop there.
As she and Bird explained, racism occurred in the WNBA long before Clark’s arrival attracted waves of new fans. The problem also exists at the college level, where Reese and her LSU teammates as well as defending-champion South Carolina faced racist online abuse in recent years, according to Rapinoe.
Engelbert, Rapinoe said, should have anticipated this problem.
‘I also feel like [WNBA players] have been greatly failed by the league and by Cathy the Commissioner this year,’ Rapinoe said. ‘Like [Bird] said, this isn’t new. This has been coming.’
Jason Whitlock claimed ‘Dijonai Carrington stabbed Caitlin Clark in the eye with a fingernail’
And the issue hasn’t gone anywhere in the playoffs.
Following the most successful regular season in league history, the ongoing WNBA postseason is at risk of being overshadowed by the controversy.
While many Clark supporters have accused the league of conspiring against its biggest star, a number of players have voiced frustrations about racist fan abuse, much of which appears to come from Clark supporters.
‘I think that in my 11-year career I never experienced the racial comments like from the Indiana Fever fan base,’ Thomas said Thursday.
Clark addressed the racist remarks directed at her black colleagues with reporters last week following the Fever’s first-round playoff defeat.
‘It’s definitely upsetting,’ Clark said Friday morning. ‘Nobody in our league should be facing any sort of racism, hurtful, disrespectful, hateful comments and threats. Those aren’t fans. Those are trolls and it’s a real disservice to the people in our league, the organization, the WNBA.’
