WNBA players and union speak out against commissioner after she failed to condemn fan racism

WNBA players and their union spoke out against Commissioner Cathy Engelbert's recent comments on a TV show that failed to condemn racist and bitter criticism from fans toward the Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese rivalry.

Engelbert made an appearance on CNBC’s “Power Lunch” on Monday and was asked by anchor Tyler Mathisen about what he called the “darker” tone taken by fan bases on social media that brings race and sometimes sexuality into the conversation.

“How do you try and stay ahead of that, try and tamp it down or act as a league when two of your most visible players are involved — not personally, it would seem, but their fan bases are involved — in saying some very uncharitable things about the other?” Mathisen asked.

Engelbert responded by saying, "There’s no more apathy. Everybody cares. It is a little 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 what makes people watch. They want to watch games of consequence between rivals. They don’t want everybody being nice to one another.”

WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson issued a statement Tuesday disagreeing with Engelbert's comments.

“Here is the answer that the Commissioner should have provided to the very clear question regarding the racism, misogyny, and harassment experienced by the Players: There is absolutely no place in sport — or in life — for the vile hate, racist language, homophobic comments, and the misogynistic attacks our players are facing on social media,” the statement said.

The union statement went on to say that fandom should “lift up the game, not tear down the very people who bring it to life.”

Engelbert clarified her initial remarks on social media late Tuesday night, writing, "To be clear, there is absolutely no place for hate or racism of any kind in the WNBA or anywhere else.”

Clark and Reese have brought new attention to the WNBA this season with attendance and ratings soaring. The pair have been rivals on the court since their college days when LSU topped Iowa in the national championship game in 2023.

Union vice president Breanna Stewart was disappointed in Engelbert's initial comments.

“To be honest, I saw the interview today, and have been in talks with Terri at the WNBPA,” Stewart said after a win over the Dallas Wings. “I think that it’s kind of disappointing to hear because the way that the fans have surged, especially behind Caitlin and Angel coming to this league, but also bringing, like, a race aspect, to a different level.

“And you know, there’s no place for that in our sport. I think that’s really what it is. We want our sport to be inclusive for race, for gender, and really a place where people can be themselves. So we wish, obviously, Cathy would have used her platform in a different way, and have made that a little bit better, kind of just telling the fans enough is enough.”

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

FILE - Iowa's Caitlin Clark, left, poses for a photo with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, right, after being selected first overall by the Indiana Fever during the first round of the WNBA basketball draft, April 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File)

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen is expected to unveil the members of her new team for the next five-year tenure at the head of the bloc on Tuesday.

But it has been a tumultuous ride to get it ready for office — the search for the 26 members of her college was chaotic and scandal-ridden even before the parliament is to start hearings on whether to accept each proposed candidate.

French heavyweight Thierry Breton resigned and openly criticized von der Leyen for allegedly “questionable governance” on Monday and accused her of backroom machinations to oust him.

Many saw his shock resignation more as a removal by von der Leyen of one of her most open internal critics after exerting pressure on French authorities.

Compounding such problems was the defiance of many of the 27 member states as von der Leyen struggled to get anywhere close to gender parity on her Commission team — they staunchly refused to give her a choice between a male and a female candidate.

After days of secret talks with individual European governments about their picks, von der Leyen huddled with the leaders of the political groups at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, to discuss the makeup of her college.

Her full announcement was expected later Tuesday.

Even if the Commission's makeup has hardly become the talk of bar rooms or barber shops across the vast EU of 450 million people, it has enthralled the upper echelons of politics and bureaucracy, as they sought to boost one candidate or undermine another.

The Commission proposes legislation for the EU’s 27 member countries and ensures that the rules governing the world’s biggest trading bloc are respected. It’s made up of a College of Commissioners with a range of portfolios similar to those of government ministers, including agriculture, economic, competition, security and migration policy.

The Commission is to start work on Nov. 1, but speculation is rife that it might not get down to business before January.

A former German defense minister, von der Leyen has been pressing smaller countries to change their minds. In recent weeks, a man who was the preferred candidate of the government in Slovenia withdrew and a woman was proposed in his place.

She decides which country gets which portfolio, and some of them, like those involving trade or finance or EU enlargement, are coveted by certain countries. Plum jobs like the post of vice president — the commission has seven of these — are also much sought after.

FILE - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, second right, speaks with from left, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton and European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi during a meeting of the College of Commissioners at EU headquarters in Brussels, on June 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)