“We believe that basketball can be a unifying force – a place where people from all walks of life come together not just to watch a game, but to connect,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. Indeed the women’s sport has seen a major transformation over the years where players and fans from every corner of the world come together to celebrate the sport. But the same cannot be said about the league’s first regular weekend.
When the nation’s biggest rivals locked horns on the Gainbridge Fieldhouse arena on May 17, 2025, the gruelling match took a grave turn in the third quarter. From the negative chants as Chicago Sky stepped on the court to the infamous flagrant foul, the sportsman spirit turned into dirt as fans snowballed the issue online.
With alleged hate comments and racial slurs hurled against Sky player, Angel Reese during the first regular weekend matchup, the WNBA eventually had to step in and probe into the matter.
The investigation, launched on May 15, is part of the league’s ‘No Space for Hate’ campaign, rolled out before the 2025 season to tackle racism, misogyny, and harassment in arenas and online. Using AI-powered tools to monitor social media, the WNBA aimed to create a safer environment, but the reliance on online reports has sparked debate about how the league verifies claims.
While several analysts were speculating fan comments to range from alleged animal noises against Reese to online hatred against Indiana Fever team, the fans have crossed the line and urged the league to investigate the underlying issues.
On the other hand, ex-ESPN host and national analyst, Rachel DeMita had a different take on the investigation. She showcased a clip on her latest YouTube video where Chicago Sky head coach Tyler Marsh denied hearing any hate comments from the spectators. In fact, Marsh came to know about the investigation around the same time as everyone else did. On being questioned whether he had issues with fans while coaching in Indianapolis, Marsh was heard saying, “My focus was always on the team and on the organization and doing my job as best as I could.”
Looking at Marsh’s statement regarding the fan behaviour during the season opener, DeMita remembered previous statements from Caitlin Clark and Reese, who also denied listening to hate comments on the court. The analyst clearly pointed at the fact that none of the people on the court could actually affirm whether the incident actually occurred during the game or not. Which confirms DeMita’s concern. “It kind of confirms my hypothesis that the WNBA was looking at stuff on social media and thought it was a good idea to open an investigation based on social media claims that didn’t have any validity to them,” DeMita said.
The league keeps tabs on social media and opened the investigation solely based on claims made by fans online. These claims suggested hate comments with racial innuendoes against Reese. In fact, the matter blew out of proportion, with Fever being considered an “unsafe place to play in” and with arrest petitions for Caitlin Clark. With so much drama ensuing online, sports columnist for USA Today, Christine Brennan, tweeted a revelation in the matter. She confessed of being told that the W has no set timeline for completing the investigation. Besides, she also said that the league will refrain from making any official announcement on the occurrence of incident until the review is completed.
“It’s not a great way to kick off the season when basically the biggest storylines in all of this were that there were fans that were being hateful and racist towards the players. If you open an investigation like this, I am gonna stand on this at some point in time when you complete the investigation,” DeMita said. She highlighted that the most compelling storyline that drew a lot of attention to the Indiana Fever-Chicago Sky match was not just two rivals pitted against each other, it was also the respective fanbases.
But with an investigation that focuses on fans spilling hatred through comments laced with racial undertones, the audience needs to know the nitty-gritties of probe. And not letting them on the matter is indeed an uninteresting manner to kick off the season.
Unamused by the recent action strategy of the league, Rachel DeMita suggests that WNBA should be transparent in dealing with issues concerning racial matters. They should keep the public updated on where the investigation is headed and how much progress has been made. Talking from an audience’s perspective on the matter, she said, “We need to hear exactly what you were investigating, exactly what prompted you to open this investigation, what you found and what you didn’t find and what you’re going to do moving forward. That’s the most most ethical way to go about this and the fans deserve to know.” DeMita aptly refers to transparency in the investigation as being one of the most ethical ways of dealing with sensitive matters. Besides, the more transparent the league is in dealing with such cases, the less chances are of such occurences.
Not to forget, even the league needs more substantiation, proof, and general clarity on the issue that has been making rounds. And simply sticking to social media would not help the cause. Rachel finally added,“The WNBA in general needs clarity on this because if you are going to open investigations based on social media claims then you might as well open an investigation after every single game because social media is the wild wild west,” and rightly so! As an independent entity, the league can simply not be influenced by social media and what fans and supporters write as perceptions change with every game and so does fans’ behaviour. The WNBA cannot take their comments seriously or base an investigation entirely around the online claims.
Internet is flooded with petitions against Caitlin Clark
In the wake of the whole Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese drama, the one eventful incident that should have died down with the flagrant foul snowballed into a greater online rivalry between the fan bases. While Clark’s fans were accused of hate comments and racial slurs against Reese, the Chicago Sky’s fans went a step ahead and launched an online petition against Caitlin Clark.
The petition revolves around sending the 2024 ROTY to jail for her recent actions. Spreading like wildfire online, the arrest petition charges Clark of inflating her statistics instead of revealing her true numbers to the public. She has been widely accused of stat padding, making her the sole reason that people like Dave Portnoy are earning lump sum amount from betting and gambling activities.
He placed a bet worth $25,000 on Clark, stating that she would record a triple-double during the season opener, and she did. Guess what this lead to! Portnoy won a whopping $350,000 profit. And with these details out in the public eye, there is a social media petition against the Barstool Sports owner. Referring to his previous betting incidents, the petition strongly condemns Portnoy and states that he should be banned from all NBA and WNBA games.
On the other hand, while WNBA is still investigating the racial comments against Reese, other players like Alyssa Thomas have come forward to confirm the deed. Referring to Fever’s fans, she said, “I think in my 11-year career, I’ve never experienced the racial comments (like I have) from the Indiana Fever fan base.” With the matters not looking to die down any soon, how will the season translate for Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky? With this incident etched in history books, only time will tell how the teams progress towards the championship title.
The post Hard-Hitting Probe Launched Into WNBA’s Investigation Involving Angel Reese & Caitlin Clark by Ex-ESPN Host appeared first on EssentiallySports.