WNBA investigating racial slurs made at Angel Reese by fans during Indiana game, AP source says
NEW YORK — The WNBA is investigating racial comments directed toward Angel Reese by fans during the Chicago Sky's loss to Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever in Indianapolis on Saturday, according to a person familiar with the situation.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Sunday because the league had not publicly identified who the taunts were directed toward or who made the allegations.
'The WNBA strongly condemns racism, hate, and discrimination in all forms — they have no place in our league or in society,' the league said in a statement. 'We are aware of the allegations and are looking into the matter.'
Reese, who is Black, and Clark, who is white, met for the seventh time in their ongoing — and much talked about — rivalry. Clark was named Rookie of the Year last season and Reese finished second in the voting.
The WNBA players' union released a statement soon after the league's comment on the matter.
'The WNBPA is aware of reports of hateful comments at yesterday's game in Indianapolis and supports the WNBA's current investigation into this matter. Such behavior is unacceptable in our sport,' the statement said. 'Under the WNBA's 'No Space for Hate' policy, we trust the league to thoroughly investigate and take swift, appropriate action to ensure a safe and welcoming environment for all.'
The Sky and Fever will play four more times during the regular season this year. The two Sky home games in that series, scheduled for June 7 and July 26, have been moved to the larger United Center from Wintrust Arena.
'We are aware of the allegations of inappropriate fan conduct during yesterday's game and we are working closely with the WNBA to complete their investigation,' the Fever said in a statement. 'We stand firm in our commitment to providing a safe environment for all WNBA players.'
Reese had 12 points and 17 rebounds in the 93-58 loss to the Fever. The Sky forward and Clark had an incident on the court with 4:38 left in the third quarter. It started with Reese grabbing an offensive rebound and Clark slapping Reese's arm hard enough to jar the ball loose and knock Reese to the floor.
When Reese got up, she tried to confront Clark before Indiana center Aliyah Boston stepped in between the two players. Clark's third personal foul was upgraded to a flagrant 1 while Boston and Reese each drew technical fouls following a replay review by the referees.
Both players downplayed the play after the game.
The league launched 'No Space for Hate' this season, a multi-dimensional platform designed to combat hate and promote respect across all WNBA spaces both online and in-arena.
The league is focused on four key areas: enhanced technological features to detect hateful comments online; increased emphasis on team, arena and league security measures; reinforcing mental health resources; and alignment of core against hate.
This will be the league's first test of it.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Packers DL Kenny Clark needed surgery in January to correct season-long foot injury
Quarterback Jordan Love wasn't the only member of the Green Bay Packers to suffer a season-changing injury in Brazil during Week 1 of the 2024 season. Veteran defensive lineman Kenny Clark revealed Tuesday that he needed surgery this offseason to correct a toe/foot injury first suffered in the season-opener against the Philadelphia Eagles last September. "I had surgery on my foot in January," Clark said, via Ryan Wood of Advertisement Clark, who signed a three-year, $64 million extension with the Packers last July, said the surgery helped correct a bunion and bone spurs. Clark was consistently listed on the injury report following Week 1 but never missed a game. In fact, he never even received a playing status designation ahead of a game and ended up being on the field for almost 700 total snaps. However, Clark's impact suffered. He finished the 2024 season with 1.0 sack, four tackles for loss, five quarterback hits and only 34 total pressures -- all numbers setting or coming close to setting new lows since his rookie season in 2016. Clark's 60.0 overall grade at PFF was a new career low. "It was tough. It was a tough year for me," Clark said. Advertisement The foot injury helps explain the drastic drop off for a Pro Bowl player. Clark said the injury negatively impacted him for much of the season. For bigger players like Clark, who is listed at 314 pounds, injuries to the feet can be crippling. "A lot," Clark said when asked how much the injury affected his play in 2024. Clark said he is over the injury now and excited for the 2025 season. The Packers signed Clark to a third contract knowing the risk of injury for a player who has played a lot of football is approaching 30 years old. Can Clark bounce back from a foot injury that plagued him throughout the 2024 season and give the Packers an elite season in 2025? This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Packers Kenny Clark toe foot injury surgery offseason January 2024 season
Indianapolis Star
43 minutes ago
- Indianapolis Star
The Sports Bra, West Coast sports bar known for showing only women's sports, coming to Indy
A West Coast-based sports bar is branching out to Indianapolis, and Hoosiers largely have the Indiana Fever to thank. The Sports Bra, a Portland, Oregon-based sports bar known for exclusively showing women's sports on its TVs, announced in a press release June 3 that it will be opening franchise locations in Indianapolis, Boston, Las Vegas and St. Louis. In the news release, Sports Bra founder and CEO Jenny Nguyen said the four cities' professional women's sports teams and fan bases made them attractive destinations for franchises, forming a "starting five" with the brand's Portland eatery, which opened in 2022. "Together, we're serving fans nationwide who are hungry for spaces that not only champion women's sports, but create a community where everyone feels like they belong," Nguyen said. "There is no better moment than this to open these places." The release did not specify a location for an Indianapolis Sports Bra nor a timeline for opening. Indianapolis found itself at the center of the women sports world last year after the Fever used the first overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft to select Caitlin Clark, a sharpshooting phenom from Iowa whose ascent to superstardom has coincided with massive jumps in women's sports viewership, revenues and financial investment. The Sports Bra has ridden that wave to expansion; since opening in 2022, the brand has received investments from the 776 Foundation, a fellowship program started by tech entrepreneur and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, who is also the husband of tennis legend Serena Williams. Hoosiers can expect familiar sports bar fare at the Sports Bra like burgers, appetizers and a full bar, with options for a wide variety of dietary preferences including vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, non-alcoholic and dairy-free offerings, according to the news release. While Fever games could take center stage in Indy during the WNBA season, the bar also purports to show effectively every televised women's college sport. Each of the four new Sports Bra locations will be locally owned and operated with food from nearby producers and "support their hometown teams" with decorations and team memorabilia, the release said.
Miami Herald
43 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Saniyah King left her mark at Howard. Now she eyes success in the SEC.
Saniyah King, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year, did not land at Mississippi State for the next chapter of her basketball career due to a lack of success or a winning pedigree. The ex-HBCU point guard averaged 11.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, and a MEAC and Bison-best 4.5 assists per game while starting in 31 of 32 games for Howard University last season. She also dished the second-most assists (145) among freshmen in the nation behind Florida Gators guard Liv McGill. King wants to continue her basketball evolution with dreams of playing in the WNBA after college. With the departure of MSU's guards Jerkaila Jordan and Eniya Russell to graduation, and Denim DeShields taking her talents to Mississippi (Ole Miss), the Bulldogs needed another collection of elite point guards. King is what Purcell needs while also believing the Bulldogs' coach and his staff will help her fulfill her hoops dream. "My main goal [for entering the transfer portal] was development," King told HBCU Gameday. "I know [Mississippi State] is going to help me become the best version of myself." Things will look extremely different for King this fall. She spent her entire life in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) region with her mother, Stacey Pettiford. However, Pettiford - an HBCU alum from Howard University - tried to get the 5'7" point guard to leave the DMV to explore her basketball dreams elsewhere. "I wanted her to go away," Pettiford said. "It's a big world out there, and she'd experienced the DMV all of her life." King wasn't ready to take her talents from the big city to a new hoops terrain. But now, as she transitions to Starkville, Mississippi, the sophomore floor general is ready to embrace her next chapter, one that will include some "peace and quiet." "I wanted to slow my life down," King said. "I don't know what life is like without hearing trains, ambulances, and cars constantly passing by. I wanted new scenery. That helps me feel at peace now." King's choice and determination to ditch familiarity for the Magnolia State would not be possible without confidence in her dream, faith in God, and the lessons learned at "The Mecca" of HBCU culture. King, who at 10 years old did not have experience hooping with an elite club team, strolled into a DMV gym for a tryout with the Lady Prime AAU basketball team, coached by then-Washington D.C. street hoops legend Lonnie Harrell. Tons of budding, young female basketball players graced the court. After a couple of drills and some intense 5-on-5 action, Harrell walked over to Pettiford and did not waste any time in his desire for King to join the team. "I remember [her tryout] like it was yesterday," Pettiford said. "Harrell was like, 'we need her' and asked 'how long had she [Saniyah] been playing?'" King's genesis in basketball began with playing with boys at the park during recess in elementary school and running a few houses down the street in her Bowie, Maryland, neighborhood to play pickup games during the week. "I didn't think I was good," King said with a laugh. Her talent reached new heights when she joined Lady Prime. That season, King and her teammates didn't lose a game. As her skills grew with Lady Prime, it later opened the door for success at Bishop Ireton - a private Catholic high school in Alexandria, Virginia - as well as on the AAU circuit playing for Team Durant EYBL, named after 15-time NBA All-Star and DMV native Kevin Durant. However, a "turning point" in her personal development came during the height of the coronavirus pandemic when she completed workout sessions three times per day with Joshua Morgan-Green, the founder of the Triple Threat training regimen based in Annapolis Junction, Maryland. "I was probably there from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.," King said. "When I was younger, I was always stronger and a little faster than my peers. That summer, I really got skilled. My ball handling went to a different level, I perfected my shot, and learned how to work. He [Green] changed my life." King entered the Washington, D.C.-based HBCU after excelling in the classroom as an AP scholar and becoming one of the top 15 point guards in Virginia for assists per game. She held a long lineage of Howard pride in her family. Pettiford, one of King's 11 family members to attend HU, played a key part in her daughter's interest in attending Howard after many years of taking King to basketball games and events on the HBCU campus. King, who had spent all of 18 years of her life living with her mom prior to attending HU, saw Pettiford depart the DMV to move to Atlanta during her freshman year. "When I was at home with her [Pettiford] every day, I would spend most of my time in my room," King said with a laugh. "Seeing her leave helped me mature emotionally." With a 10-hour trek separating the two, King began to realize the lessons Pettiford shared with her about life, time management, and avoiding worldly distractions in pursuit of her dreams, both on and off the court. However, when she entered the gates of the renowned Main Quadrangle, walked across The Yard or stepped inside Frederick Douglas Memorial Hall and Burr Gymnasium for the first time, she quickly found out that Howard was the epitome of "Black excellence" but also a place where she had to grow up and balance a myriad of priorities as a student athlete. "I underestimated college," King said. "Howard helped me come to that realization very fast. It wasn't the normal college experience. … Howard really prepares you for the real world." While pursuing a degree in psychology, King navigated her way as the only freshman on a veteran HBCU women's basketball program - coached by Ty Grace - that featured a combined dozen seniors and grad transfer players, including her friend and teammate, Destiny Howell, the Bison's leading scorer in 2024. "Saniyah is just the player you enjoy and want to play with," Howell previously told Howard Athletics consultant Rob Knox in December. "The first thing I noticed about her is that she is not scared of work, she does not duck no smoke. …She is a good person, making it easier to be a good teammate." King shared similar sentiments about Howell and also credited her leadership. "Destiny [Howell] always sat and watched game film with me and offered encouraging words," King said. "She would tell me that I'm "HER" and to walk like it." But with Pettiford away and a surplus of daily college life distractions around her, it forced King to find herself while remaining focused on her goals in the classroom as well as becoming the best point guard on the hardwood. King leaned into her faith in God to navigate her challenges. Each day, she logged into Instagram, swiped to her bio section and visited one of her highlights named Daily Words of Encouragement (DWOE), which listed her favorite Bible verses and quotes. One of her go-to scriptures comes from Matthew 19:26, which reads, "Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'" As her freshman season progressed, when she wasn't in class, at practice, or lifting weights with her teammates, she watched sermons and read the Bible, drawing closer to God when she was unable to attend Sunday services at Kingdom Fellowship AME Church in Silver Springs, Maryland. "I was in a place where I had to find and put God at the forefront of my life," King said. "His presence in my life strengthened my mindset and my vision to conquer my goals." As King embraced her walk with God, she matured in the face of adversity. King, who became a force for Howard in HBCU women's basketball, captured Rookie of the Week honors 11 times. With three games remaining against North Carolina Central, South Carolina State, and the defending MEAC champions Norfolk State, Howard sat in second place (17-9) in the MEAC standings. The Bison entered their clash with NCCU, winners of seven consecutive contests and 10 of their last 11 games since league play began on Jan. 4. And for King, her focus remained on finishing the season strong and getting another chance to face the Spartans. However, things took a twist for the Bison point guard. King injured her left foot in Howard's 74-51 victory against the Eagles, sidelining her for the final games of the regular season. She wasn't a stranger to foot injuries. King struggled with bone bruises over the years due to the absence of an arch in her feet. But with the MEAC tournament around the corner, her shot at helping Howard dethrone the Spartans and securing an automatic bid in the women's NCAA tournament remained in motion. However, with an injury comes a wave of emotions and physical challenges. When she returned to the court for the league tourney - specifically in Howard's matchup against Maryland Eastern Shore in the MEAC semifinals - King didn't feel like herself on the court. "I played a little scared," King said. "I wasn't trying to land a certain way [on my foot] and I kept thinking about that. That's not my usual mindset." HU's win set up the MEAC title against the Spartans and future 2025 WNBA signee Diamond Johnson, a player whom King respected, studied, and watched from afar throughout her college career in the Big Ten and HBCU hoops. But like the first two contests, NSU defeated Howard 68-56, ending the Bison's NCAA tourney hopes. "This was supposed to be the time that I shined [on the court]," King said. "It was almost like they [Spartans] had every single play we tried to run rehearsed." Still, the Bison received an automatic qualifying bid to the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT), defeating Siena at home in the first round before losing to Charleston in the second round. Despite the loss, King felt like she took a step forward in her progression after the injury. "My shot was falling, it was like I had woken back up," she said. As King transitions to Starkville, she's embracing the progression of her game. Her daily 7 a.m. workouts include weight lifting, watching film, listening to basketball podcasts as well as improving her technique and feel for reading ball screens and elevating her shooting percentage from beyond the arc. "I hate waking up early," King said. "But since the season ended, I continued that habit. … Losing in the [MEAC] tournament and heading to a new school has inspired me to work even harder this summer. I want to improve my vision to open up the floor more for my teammates." King will have the opportunity to upgrade those skills and more as one of the Bulldogs' floor generals, in addition to pursuing a business degree at MSU. As she navigates her process, King is catching up on family time with her grandfather - who never missed her home games - and spending time with her four little brothers all under the age of 12. She's also going on nail appointments, along with brunch and dinner dates with Pettiford. And when the two aren't tasting new foods at a restaurant, King is whipping up delightful meals in the kitchen, featuring entrées like whole fish, alfredo, roasted Branzino, along with an occasional sweet potato casserole. "She's really a whole chef," Pettiford said with a laugh. "Cooking in the kitchen and on the court." For King, Howard University and her time in HBCU basketball symbolized family on multiple fronts. While she won't walk across The Yard every day this fall, she will take the memories of her teammates and a stronger relationship with Pettiford to Mississippi for a new beginning. "God gave me the older sisters I always wanted but I never had when he brought me to Howard," King said. I love and will miss them all. The post Saniyah King left her mark at Howard. Now she eyes success in the SEC. appeared first on HBCU Gameday. Copyright HBCU Gameday 2012-2025
