The WNBA has been home to several intense rivalries that captivate fans, but something about the Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese situation feels different.
WNBA analyst Rachel DeMita shared a bold take on what many expected to be a defining rivalry.
According to DeMita, the WNBA will never be considered a serious league, given the current situation.
“If there are fans who are saying racial slurs, they should immediately be kicked out and banned. And that is something that has been done in the NBA,” Rachel said while bringing up the ongoing investigation from the WNBA.
“We just had it happen recently with Draymond Green. There was somebody who was saying hateful things to Draymond Green, and he was kicked out and he was banned. There’s stuff that has happened with Russell Westbrook. There was something that happened even last season with Caitlin Clark,” she continued.
“Those things, I am on board with the league. I’m on board with you guys. Yes, please. There’s no space for that. There’s no space for that. But if you want to grow as a league, you have to make space for actual sports fans. Booing, cheering, chanting, sound effects. I feel like I’m preaching to an elementary school. Do I have to teach you guys what sports are about?
And also, the players on the court, you should thrive in arenas where you feel like you’re walking into enemy territory. Like those are the games that you get up for because you know people don’t like you. Let’s talk about game seven. OKC versus the Nuggets. Nikola Jokic is warming up. He’s getting booed in his warmups 45 minutes before the game starts. 45 [3.4s] minutes before the game starts, and OKC fans are booing him. He’s smiling it off. He’s laughing it off. He’s a big player. He’s arguably the best player in the world right now. He’s going to get booed. He’s walking into enemy territory. He’s walking into an arena where every single person has a blue OKC shirt on. That’s what real competitors get up for. They get excited for that. That’s the moment where you go out and you try to show them who you are. We cannot let the basketball be overshadowed by the drama like they did last season, or this will never be a serious league.
DeMita then shifted the conversation to why everything surrounding Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese will turn fans off.
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“I’m not here for the politics. I’m not here for the reality show element. I’m not here for the race wars. I’m not here for that. I’m actually here for the basketball,” she said.
we cannot let the basketball be overshadowed by the drama or the WNBA will never be a serious league. pic.twitter.com/5j6ElrexEv
— Rachel A DeMita (@RADeMita) May 20, 2025
“And you guys are making it impossible for me to be here for the basketball. There’s going to be fans like me who are going to be like, yeah, I’m good. Have your league. It’s embarrassing. It’s embarrassing as a woman as well. This is not a good representation of women’s basketball,” DeMita continued.
“And it’d be one thing if the WNBA did their investigation, didn’t make a big comment about it, or it’d be another thing if they have already come out and said what they’ve found in the investigation, but we haven’t heard anything. And what I absolutely need from the WNBA, they need to come out and say exactly what they have found. They need to come out and say exactly what they found, exactly what they were investigating, where that came from.
And I’m sorry if there’s somebody spreading lies online, like those are the people that you should be looking at. And I also don’t understand why, in all of this, again, it’s only things that were said to the Chicago Sky team, but have you seen the kind of things that are being said to the players on the Indiana Fever?
And it’s not just Caitlin, it’s everyone. Aaliyah Boston, Dewana Bonner, who had an historic night that we haven’t even been able to celebrate because of all of this crap. The kind of stuff that’s being said to them, the stuff that’s being said to Kelsey Mitchell, the kind of things that are being said to Natasha Howard are actually wild. People have taken a photo of these women and circled a bullseye on them and have said, it’s on site when I see you. Those are actual threats.
So, the WNBA is investigating nothing to do with that because they retracted their original statement and made sure that everyone knew that the only thing they are investigating has to do with the Chicago Sky. They’re not protecting the Indiana Fever.”
Caitlin Clark Backs Probe Into Alleged Racist Comments To Angel Reese
People are talking about the Indiana Fever’s lopsided victory over the Chicago Sky in their first 2025 regular season game, but only for the altercation that happened and the alleged racist remarks that were made.
Indiana Fever players spoke Monday after practice about the WNBA investigating allegations of “hateful fan comments” toward Chicago Sky player Angel Reese.
“There’s no place for that in our game, there’s no place for that in society,” Fever guard Caitlin Clark said.
“Certainly, we want every person who comes into our arena — whether player or fan — to have a great experience. I appreciate the league doing that [investigation]. I appreciate that the Fever organization has been at the forefront of that.”
Also Read: Angel Reese’s Mom Faces Major Backlash Over Controversial Caitlin Clark Comment
