Cathy Engelbert fumbled a perfect opportunity to denounce racism when asked about Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese rivalry

In what would have been a perfect opportunity to denounce the racism that some WNBA players have experienced this season, the league’s commissioner Cathy Engelbert completely missed the mark.

Engelbert was asked how the league can get ahead of some of the online hate players have been subjected to in an interview during a segment on CNBC’s “Power Lunch” television show, but ducked the actual prompt, which referenced race and sexuality.

First, here’s the full question that was asked of Engelbert by anchor Tyler Mathisen:

“It seems, on some social media channels, to have taken a darker turn, a more menacing turn, where race has been introduced into the conversation, where sexuality is sometimes introduced into the conversation. How do you try and stay ahead of that, or act as a league when two of the most visible players are involved — not personally, it would seem, but their fanbases are involved — in saying some very uncharitable things about the other?”

Here is Engelbert’s full response (with the video below):

“Well, 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. There’s no apathy. Everybody cares. It is a little bit 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 makes people watch, they want to watch games of consequence between rivals. They don’t want everybody being nice to one another. Social media is different today than it was in 1979, when it didn’t exist, but I always tell the players — I was told a long time ago. If someone’s typing something in, and you wouldn’t ask their advice, ignore it. It’s a balance, but certainly from a marketing dollars, corporate partners are stepping up to endorse these players much more than they were five years ago, because they see the benefit of having women — and diverse women — representing their brand.”

There are a couple of blatant issues with Engelbert’s remarks. First, had the question about the rivalry been asked in a vacuum, this response could have been perceived as sufficient. But, Mathisen specifically brought up the “menacing turn” of social media… “where race has been introduced to the conversation, where sexuality has been introduced to the conversation.”

At the bare minimum, the commissioner’s initial response should have been to immediately denounce the racism, homophobia, and other forms of bigotry that WNBA players have faced in the league this season. In an ideal world, it would have extended even further, delineating how the league plans to mitigate the online harassment players have endured, and how their well-being comes first and foremost. (The Sky, for example, launched an AI campaign to prevent online harassment and bullying this season).

Instead, Engelbert used the moment as an opportunity to discuss how the rivalry between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese has been financially lucrative, failing to address the darker corners of the internet that it’s brought to the forefront. Cathy Engelbert can’t be held responsible for the behavior of every fan, but to denounce these behaviors should be a no-brainer.

Additionally, by telling players to simply ignore the comments, Engelbert signaled that she’s not taking the issue at hand seriously enough — and not acknowledging that it extends far beyond just mean comments. We’ve seen disgusting images of Black WNBA players’ faces pasted onto the victims of police brutality among plenty of other nasty, hateful comments online, but there have also been incidents where that hate has extended offline, whether it’s Sky players getting harassed outside of their hotels, or worse.

In her new podcast, “Unapologetically Angel”, Reese shed light on some of what she’s encountered when asked about her rivalry with Clark:

“Caitlin is an amazing player, and I’ve always thought that she’s an amazing player, so I really think it’s just the fans – her fans, the Iowa fans, now the Indiana fans. They ride for her, and I respect that, respectfully. But sometimes it’s very disrespectful, and I think there’s a lot of racism when it comes to it, and I don’t believe she stands on any of that. But when it comes to death threats – like I’m talking about people come down to my address, following me home, it comes down to that. Multiple occasions people have made AI pictures of me naked, literally. They have sent it to my family members, uncles are sending it to me, like ‘are you naked on Instagram?’ It sucks to see that, and it’s really hard that I have to go through that, and now seeing other players having to go through that, but like at the end of the day it’s a game that we do both love, but there is no hate.”

It’s possible that Engelbert didn’t know that Reese, among others, has had to deal with death threats, people following her, and people generating naked AI pictures of her. If that’s the case, it’s her job to get informed and up to speed on what women in the league are dealing with. To choose to brush it aside because it’s the easier thing to do is unacceptable.

While many WNBA players did not explicitly comment on Engelbert’s remarks, several sent out timely tweets that appeared to react to the surfacing quote, including Michaela Onyenwere and Brianna Turner of the Chicago Sky, Alysha Clark, Queen Egbo and Sydney Colson of the Las Vegas Aces, and DiJonai Carrington of the Connecticut Sun.

Turner also tweeted: “I stand against all forms of discrimination, hatred, and bias, especially in reference to sports. The intersection of racism and sports should always be rejected. No platform is too big or too small to stand for the right thing. No excuses.”

Given that the league is at such a critical moment of growth, the consequences of the commissioner’s words (or lack thereof) could have a lasting impact. It’s critical at this moment that players feel protected by the league — at least as much as possible. And, it’s important that the fans who engage in these behaviors don’t feel empowered to continue. A repudiation of some of what the players have had to deal with would have been the bare minimum. Instead, Engelbert completely passed on the opportunity.

Update: Shortly after this article was published, the WNBPA put out a statement condemning Englebert’s remarks.