WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert sat down in New York on Tuesday night with the WNBPA’s executive committee and the union’s Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee for a roughly 90-minute meeting that zeroed in on a surge of racist, threatening and abusive messages aimed at players. Star leaders including Breanna Stewart and Elizabeth Williams joined the league’s security chief at the table, and people in the room later described the conversation as serious and overdue, if still only a first step. Several players said Engelbert acknowledged the league has to get better at communicating about security and backing athletes once they leave the court.
League and union issue joint statement
Afterward, the WNBA and WNBPA released a joint statement saying the discussion "marked the beginning of an ongoing dialogue" and that the league had agreed to beef up security resources and look at new partnerships, according to Front Office Sports. The call brought together members of the union’s executive committee and JEDI committee, while the league side was led by Engelbert and Leon Newsome, the WNBA/NBA security chief.
Incidents that pushed leaders to meet
The sit-down came on the heels of several ugly episodes. Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray posted a screenshot of a direct message that included a racial slur. Hilton Grand Vacations later said the employee tied to the message was no longer with the company, as reported by CBS News. Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas has also said she and her family received death threats and racial slurs after a June on-court collision with Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark, a backlash detailed by The Guardian.
Players pressed for concrete fixes
Union leaders said they pushed the league for cleaner lines of communication between team and league security and for real consistency in how every case is handled. Stewart told reporters the league informed the committees that only 42 of the WNBA’s 181 players had actually turned on the Social Protect moderation app, according to New York Daily News. Social Protect describes its tool as one that scrubs abusive social media comments in real time and quietly saves the removed posts for evidence and potential escalation, a feature players said could be a lot more useful if more of the league actually used it.
What comes next
The league promised to keep ramping up security resources and to work with player leaders on concrete follow-up moves. Front Office Sports reported that Nneka Ogwumike said she, Engelbert and WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson have already locked in monthly meetings to keep the pressure on. Players described Tuesday’s session as a largely positive reset but said they will be judging the effort on what actually changes in day-to-day communication, monitoring of abuse and enforcement when lines are crossed.
