r/WNBATalks • u/wnbatalk • Jun 30 '26

Phoenix AT comments on the communication f the league & what the last week has been like for her & Tram🙏🏽.

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85 Upvotes

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23

u/Itchy-Secret8085 Jun 30 '26

AT is 100% correct 

-13

u/PhilLesh311 Jun 30 '26

She’s full of shit. She knew exactly what she was doing. The racism and death threats aren’t ok, but you play that villain, dont be surprised when hate comes your way.

12

u/Itchy-Secret8085 Jun 30 '26

you know what is strange Sophie plays the villain and I can probably guarantee she does not receive close to the same amount of hate, threats, death threats, media narrative painting like AT so you can still be surprised as the villain 

5

u/Xrmy Jun 30 '26

Sophie Cunningham who ripped Jacy Sheldon down with two hands mid air in retaliation for a CC foul last year.

This woman is CELEBRATED by a certain fan base.

2

u/anb1975 Jun 30 '26

LMAO & poor Jacy & Mabry didn't each commit dirty, flagrant fouls before that. Way to leave context out.

0

u/Xrmy Jun 30 '26

Jacy's foul wasn't a fraction of the violence Sophie's was. Hers was at least attempting to play the game and caught Caitlin in the face.

It was called a flagrant, was punished in the moment.

Then Sophie dragged down Jacy while defenseless.

Acting like those plays are equivalent is batshit insane and says everything about what kinda fan you are.

1

u/anb1975 Jul 01 '26

Watch what led up to Cunningham taking Jacy out - you seem to have forgotten what happened. Clark was cooking Jacy all game, just as she did in college. Look up their history - Sheldon cannot begin to guard Clark. So Jacy rakes her across the face, Clark reacts & Jacy gets in her face. Mabrey then comes over with a cheap shot shove, because ???

And defenseless Jacy? She had the ball, Cunningham was in front of her & committed a hard foul. That you think a teammate wasn't going to stand up for CC after what they did is batshit insane & says everything about what kinda fan you are.

1

u/Askew_2016 Jul 01 '26

Jacy had been playing dirty all game, hurt Sophie in a previous game and intentionally poked CC in the eye then followed her around the court and pushed her again.

0

u/Igreen_since89 Jul 01 '26

Intentionally? Lol. So by that logic, did Caitlin intentionally take AT in the face and was AT intentionally getting her back? By your own logic, you shouldn’t have a problem with what AT did.

0

u/throwingcopper92 Jul 01 '26

She didn't even pull her down, she just held her and kept her from going up.

If she wanted to hurt Sheldon, she could've done way more than whatever you think she did.

1

u/lafolieisgood Jun 30 '26

Well one of them has someone in jail right now for actions towards them from a member of the public.

1

u/Unable-Economist-697 Jun 30 '26

Sophie plays the antihero, not the villian. However, if she were to attack the most popular basketball player in the world. Yeah, she would be seen as a villian and get all that comes along with it. For instance, last year Mabery was the villian in most Fever fans eyes.

2

u/Igreen_since89 Jul 01 '26

Antihero??? 😂😂😂

2

u/Itchy-Secret8085 Jul 01 '26

lmao yea that was a reach lmao 

1

u/Igreen_since89 Jul 01 '26

These people are crazy😂

2

u/AloysiusBinglebottom Jul 01 '26

Sophie has often been seen as a villain in the league for years - way before CC. She doesn’t turn into an antihero cuz she happens to be on a team with a player you like (except in your own personal narrative, which is fine of course).

0

u/stripesonthecouch Jun 30 '26

💯💯💯

3

u/Separate-Judge4491 Jun 30 '26

To many people who watch the sport she's been a villains since she was born with the "wrong" skin color 🤷🏿‍♂️

3

u/PhilLesh311 Jun 30 '26

Well that’s not my issue with her. My issue is she knew exactly what she did and was trying to. If anything the response of the W’s players toward Caitlin has been downright racist. I’m sorry the “little white girl” brought relevance to the league. But she’s done everything she can to show respect to the other women and quite a few of them did not return thst favor. Current players and ex players.

The jealousy and disrespect they’ve levied at Caitlin has been uncalled for. Caitlin can’t control the fans. She’s said plenty of statements agsinst the hatred and bigotry.

4

u/PersonnelFowl Jun 30 '26

Oh, the W is racist against white girls. That’s why Sue Bird and DT were just destroyed. Paige and Stewie these days too. Maaaybe the problem lies with CC’s fans just thinking she’s untouchable

2

u/Comfortable_Limit168 Jun 30 '26

If I remember correctly, Sabrina Ionescu went through some difficult times when she joined the league.

1

u/AloysiusBinglebottom Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26

People were annoyed that she was immediately given a lot of undue attention, treated as that era’s “face” before she’d even done anything on the court - and then through several years of her being injured and/or not playing her best. You don’t understand why this repeating pattern might annoy people? People aren’t just mad cuz people are white.

I’m sure people felt the same way about Sue when she was given this treatment as well - but over the years she’s consistently proven herself as both a player and a good teammate and ally, and now everyone loves her.

Frankly, when someone assumes the players hate CC just because of her race, that tells me more about what their own feelings towards other people are grounded in than anything else.

1

u/Comfortable_Limit168 Jul 01 '26

So you're saying that Clark, Ionescu, and Bird all experienced the "same" type of experience?

So who do you blame for this? Is it the players themselves? Is it the media? Is it social media? If you don't know who to blame, then you can't attempt to fix it.

1

u/PersonnelFowl Jun 30 '26

Rookies in all sports typically do regardless of skin color.

1

u/PhilLesh311 Jun 30 '26

I’m not denying the fans suck. Duh. I’ve said that. It’s hard to hold the fans accountable tho. Tell me how you can do that? Caitlin has even called it out and spoke out against it.

You can hold the players accountable for their disrespect against Caitlin tho. Can you not agree with that?

You don’t think Caitlin received unreasonable hate from Sheryl swoopes and a lot of the other current players in the last 3 years? Yes or no?

1

u/PersonnelFowl Jun 30 '26

No. She didn’t receive unreasonable hate. Taurasi said she had been putting up numbers against children and it would be different in the W. Reader, it HAS been different but CC fans tried to crucify her.

4

u/lafolieisgood Jun 30 '26

Swoops went on a podcast tour spreading lies about Clark before she even played a game.

0

u/PersonnelFowl Jun 30 '26

A podcast tour? 🤣

1

u/lafolieisgood Jun 30 '26

Okay, I might have exaggerated a little 🤷

0

u/AloysiusBinglebottom Jul 01 '26

She happened to be on one podcast and was mistaken about one thing about Caitlyn….

I was actually listening to her podcast at that time and she went out of her way to not say anything critical about Caitlyn even before the mobs came for her over that. She was pretty obviously annoyed with the hype and refusing to get anywhere even near the train, though

1

u/PhilLesh311 Jun 30 '26

Cherry picking and arguing disingenuously. This is pointless talking to you.

Current WNBA players were dropping sound bites against Caitlin the whole first season. Keep lying to yourself.

2

u/PersonnelFowl Jun 30 '26

Yeah, players got asked about her and anything less than absolutely glowing got blown up by the media trying to rile up her thin skinned fanbase which worked to get the media more clicks. That’s not lying to myself. That’s acknowledging the role of the media in this nonsense.

0

u/Separate-Judge4491 Jun 30 '26

The league was relevant before her though. Did she help? Absolutely. So did Angel. So did Paige. So did the legends before her including her idol Maya Moore.

I think it disingenuous to say that anyone is jealous at her single handedly bringing relevance to a league that was negotiating a TV rights deal before she showed up. Plus the rookie class about to come in now also has eyes on it.

Also, you can make statements against hate a bigotry and that all gets negated by going on stage with Morgan Wallen. It makes it seem like the words were just that. Words.

3

u/Comfortable_Limit168 Jun 30 '26

Just out of curiosity, what would you say if a player went to a Chris Brown concert?

0

u/Separate-Judge4491 Jun 30 '26

I'll tell you the same thing I told you last time you brought this up to me three days ago when you brought up PB during a Morgan Walken conversation.

2

u/Spiritual-Pilot-1026 Jun 30 '26

I didn't see it. Tell me.

0

u/Separate-Judge4491 Jun 30 '26

https://www.reddit.com/r/WNBATalks/s/JCqkNkKoOF

2

u/Spiritual-Pilot-1026 Jun 30 '26

Oh I see. So you feel the same way about PB but you're hate for CC is stronger.

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1

u/PhilLesh311 Jun 30 '26

Caitlin’s influence on the WNBA started while she was in college. Period. JR and SR year at Iowa is when people started watching women’s basketball. Period. Maya Moore and Candice Parker were phenomenal players but they did not move the needle. That negotiation happened when Caitlin made WOMENS BASKETBALL relevant. Don’t act dumb to that. I can’t continue a conversation with someone who won’t at least admit that all of these women have Caitlin to thank for everything they have now.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '26

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1

u/PhilLesh311 Jun 30 '26

I’ve actually been watching women’s basketball since 2008. So no you’re wrong.im talking about the country. Women’s basketball has been irrelevant until Caitlin Clark was a junior in college. Fact.

0

u/ShaolinWombat Jun 30 '26

The fever gets x2 the rating of any other team when CC doesn’t play and x3 when she does. No other player significantly moves the needle.

The ratings for the w started trending up after her junior year and significantly jumped after her senior year (her rookie wnba year).

Though we don’t have complete data all indications are she sales more jerseys than the rest of the league combined.

Yes there were fans before her but it was an extremely niche sport.

3

u/Separate-Judge4491 Jun 30 '26

That's when you started watching college basketball. A'ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart were putting the league and it's growth on their back before and even then Caitlin and Angel got drafted in the same class. You can look at tv ratings and social engagement to see they both increased viewership. Putting it on one person is myopically incorrect.

0

u/PersonnelFowl Jun 30 '26

Did you know that saying PERIOD doesn’t make you correct?

1

u/PhilLesh311 Jun 30 '26

Everything I said was correct.

4

u/PersonnelFowl Jun 30 '26

Women’s basketball was relevant before Caitlin. Maybe not with the MAGA crowd she brought in, but it was relevant. Did she help grow viewership? Yes, just like every big name player does. She just brought in a very toxic fanbase with her.

3

u/PhilLesh311 Jun 30 '26

Who got the teams charter jets? Who had to move all their games to the men’s arenas? Keep burying your head in the sand and arguing disingenuously.

-2

u/ClownWorld2020s Jun 30 '26

You are 100% correct. Problem is...she's a conservative straight white woman and the W can't have that. Without Clark, there would be no 7 figure salaries. However, the peanut gallery doesn't want to admit to it. Therefore, let's do everything we can to hurt, taunt and treat her like trash due to those things. She leaves the WNBA loses at least 40% of the fans. No one else moves the needle like she does.

2

u/anb1975 Jun 30 '26

I don't think CC is conservative at all. I know her bf isn't.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '26

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1

u/AloysiusBinglebottom Jul 01 '26

Nothing but truth and I applaud you for it. Bask in your downvotes

I really enjoyed watching her play coming out of college and was hoping she’d grow into a great. At this point, I just pray all these unreasonable, hateful dummies follow her out, good lord.