So many WNBA problems double as accidental WNBA solutions. It’s the Truman Show meme where the director played by Ed Harris injects some chaos just to keep us paying attention.
The league killed its zeitgeist momentum by taking a FIBA break concurrent with the NFL season starting? Well, just have reigning MVP A’ja Wilson get cooked by Caitlin Clark in a playoff game. Have Wilson then knock Sophie Cunningham over and flip out on a pointing Indiana Fever fan. Easy. I could feel myself caring less about Thursday Night Football the moment it happened.
It’s a flashpoint that’s somewhat specific to Wilson’s Nike-informed beef with Caitlin Clark, but it’s probably not incidental that a Fever fan became the focus of ire. I believe Matt Calkins, the former Seattle Times columnist who left over that paper’s ideological constraints, has identified a subplot in this whole WNBA saga of the last three years. Within WNBA culture, the Fever fans became this stand-in for the bad conservative other. It’s such a powerful meme, within a bubble that extends beyond the WNBA and into mainstream sports media, that it’s inspiring players to see villains where regular people stand.