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The WNBA’s LGBTQ+ evolution

Brittney Griner drives on Amanda Zahui B. during a game between the Mercury and Sparks. (Meg Oliphant / Getty Images)

When Sue Bird entered the WNBA in 2002, the league was just beginning to take small steps toward LGBTQ+ inclusivity. She remembers, for example, the New York Liberty introducing a “Kissing Cam” for gay women early in her career — only after a lesbian group protested the team’s treatment of LGBTQ+ fans by kissing during a televised game betwen the Liberty and the Miami Sol in 2002.

“What’s interesting is the league embracing its fan base, but then from a player’s standpoint, there really weren’t that many people who were open,” Bird says. “There weren’t that many players who were coming out. So it was kind of this interesting place because it was just this unspoken thing. Everybody knew it, but nobody really talked about it.”

It would take a decade for the culture to shift in a meaningful way, and almost two decades for the WNBA to become the most socially conscious and active professional sports league in the country.

In the years after the WNBA launched in 1997, it was clear the strategy was to market to certain demographics by portraying its athletes as family women and traditionally feminine. In 2000, the league issued a press release of a list of players who were recently married along with the names of their husbands. Queer athletes did not talk openly about their sexuality in the WNBA, just as it was largely taboo in society at the time.

The WNBA’s embrace of “family values,” as former Liberty player Sue Wicks explained in an October 2020 interview with Fanbyte’s Natalie Weiner, alienated its LGBTQ+ players and fans.

“That’s how it was promoted,” Wicks said, “and I wouldn’t say it was subtle because every advertisement featured families in the stands and that type of thing. They showcased the girls that had husbands or kids, or other family ties. And it certainly was a true representation — it’s one facet of the league, and it was the one that they were selling then.”

Wicks, whose career on the court is often overshadowed by the fact she was the first WNBA player to come out as gay and talk openly about her sexuality, was an outlier. Though she doesn’t consider herself a trailblazer, her courage forged the path that so many WNBA players now walk.

“Everything changes as time goes on, and I think we’re just at a point in life where we shouldn’t see what a person likes, who a person likes, or anything like that,” says Connecticut Sun guard Natisha Hiedeman. “I wish it could have been like that a long time ago, but I think it’s super important for everybody to just be who they are.”

***

In 2013, Brittney Griner sat at her first official press conference, ready to discuss the start of her WNBA career after being drafted first overall by the Phoenix Mercury. When Griner casually commented on her sexuality, it wasn’t considered a big deal. At that time, athletes who came out in professional women’s sports did so to little fanfare and media attention. It was a sign that society was becoming more accepting of queer women.

Griner’s authenticity had a ripple effect. Slowly but surely, other players came out, too — some outright, some in interviews, some never needing to make an announcement at all.

Elena Delle Donne, drafted second overall in 2013 and now a star with the Washington Mystics, believes the WNBA has always been a safe place for her to express herself, but she admits it took her some time to embrace that part of her identity.

“I came into the league and was not out, so over the years I was able to truly come into myself,” Delle Donne says. “I often felt like I was a robot at times because I wasn’t able to truly be myself until I was open and honest about my sexuality.”

In the spring of 2014, the NBA and NFL were having a reckoning of their own after Jason Collins and Michael Sam came out as gay. The WNBA went further, becoming the first professional sports league to launch a marketing campaign targeting the LGBTQ+ community. Starting that season, teams and players would participate in Pride events and there would be a nationally televised Pride-themed game.

The campaign marked progress on the surface, but internally the WNBA was still taking steps to feminize the players. Griner talked about how the league had proposed new, shorter and slim-cut uniforms for the upcoming 2014 season.

“They want more male attendance, and for us to change our uniforms to ‘sleek and sexy’ takes away from what we’re trying to do on the court,” Griner told Mother Jones at the time. “I want you to come watch my game, not the uniforms. If you wanna come just because we look sexy, then I really don’t want you there. I feel like we need to get away from that.”

While some old-fashioned, stereotypical beliefs remained, the players were no longer going to stay quiet about them. And today, their voices are stronger and louder than ever.

“Players are being more open and talking about this and using their platform to help others. That’s really where I’ve seen the biggest evolution,” Bird says, “Right now, I think we’re on a pretty amazing trajectory overall as a league, and I think if we continue on that path, that’s where I would like to see things go — just continuing to talk about things, speak about things and push it forward.”

That path includes a younger generation of bold and authentic players entering the league and challenging the status quo. Atlanta Dream guard Courtney Williams, for one, has always been unapologetic about who she is, though she says people have considered her more outspoken since she gained more exposure.

“The only difference, I guess, is the more clout, the more people dive into who you are,” Williams says. “I’ve kind of always been the same, you know? I just got a little bit more clout around my name. But man, I think it’s dope that the league is supportive. I mean, they should be. The majority of the league is gay, bi — whatever people want to call themselves.”

If the league weren’t supportive of players living their truth, Williams says, then it would be “super contradictory.”

“It’s important because I think it’s real. This is people’s truth. This is their everyday life,” she says. “It’s not one of them things where it’s like, you go home and things change or you step on the court and it changes. Like, this is who people are. People are gonna walk in their truth regardless.”

Layshia Clarendon of the Minnesota Lynx exemplifies Williams’ point. As the WNBA’s first out nonbinary athlete, they’ve often felt alienated even as the league increasingly embraces individual differences. An emotionally affirming step for Clarendon was the support she received from the WNBA when he decided to get top surgery earlier this year, which he described in a recent Sports Illustrated cover story by Britni de la Cretaz.

Clarendon is also a key voice of the WNBA/WNBPA Social Justice Council, whose top priorities this season are LGBTQ+ advocacy and trans rights along with health equity and civic engagement.

***

On June 10, the Indiana Fever’s Danielle Robinson and Victoria Vivians attended a Fever Pride event at Indiana Youth Group, a local organization that is working to solve LGBTQ+ homelessness.

“It’s important for there to be events during Pride Month,” Robinson says. “Our league is very inclusive and supportive of its players, so to be able to help so many people in our own markets and communities is an honor to have that platform and be able to give back in the way that we can.”

At the beginning of June, which is nationally recognized as Pride Month, the WNBA announced a handful of initiatives that “advocate for, support and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and its allies.” Teams changed the icons on their social media platforms to rainbow colors, held events in their communities and hosted Pride-themed games. Sparks center Amanda Zahui B. wrote an op-ed for the WNBA website about coming to terms with her own identity.

“The league is so supportive, whether it’s adding gear or changing team logos throughout the month. It shows they care about who we are and the decisions we make,” Robinson says. “That has certainly been a great change since I came into the league.”

For the Mercury’s seventh annual Pride night, the team honored former Suns, Mercury and Warriors president Rick Welts. Welts, who is gay, was part of the intial NBA group that helped launch the WNBA in 1997. He represents yet another historical throughline connecting the WNBA to the LGBTQ+ community.

Griner, who is now in her eighth season with the Mercury, sees events like Pride nights, parades and panels as significant markers of how far the league has come.

Diana Taurasi, Griner’s longtime teammate in Phoenix, never made a grand announcement about her sexuality. By the time she married former Mercury teammate Penny Taylor in 2017, there wasn’t an expectation for WNBA players to do so. Taurasi has observed the WNBA’s evolution from her veteran perch, having been in the league for 18 seasons. And she’s proud of what the league stands for today.

“I think it’s been an amazing transition to being able to come to WNBA games, whether you’re a fan, a player, a coach, a front office worker, and just be yourself,” she says. “I think that’s the whole purpose of life — to live life authentically and to be yourself. And I think the WNBA has given different sectors of life a safe haven to come and enjoy games and, at the same time, express themselves.”

USC’s McKenzie Forbes: From Gap Year to the NCAA Tournament

As part of our 1-v-1 video series, USC’s India Otto sat down to interview her teammate McKenzie Forbes. 

Here are five things to know from our conversation with the graduate transfer from Folsom, California.

#1 Inspired by USC’s Head Coach, Lindsay Gottlieb, McKenzie wants to be a basketball coach or work in the front office in the future.

When weighing in on what makes a good coach, McKenzie said x’s and o’s are important but “Coaching is a lot of relationship managing and people managing. I think you have to be a good people person and be able to build those relationships, but also in that same breath, you can’t be afraid to have people dislike you in moments. I think that’s a big part of leadership.”

#2 McKenzie says the trajectory of her career changed when she made the decision to transfer from Cal to Harvard.

 In order to transfer, she was forced to take a gap year and spend a lot of time in the gym. “I completely transformed my body and, going into the Harvard season, felt like I was a completely different player. Going to Harvard and playing in a more mid-major conference, I had the ball in my hands a lot more than I might have if I transferred to another Power 5. It really developed other parts of my game.”

#3 How does McKenzie think USC will do in the Women’s College Basketball Tournament?

“I’m not going to give a typical interview answer. I want a Final Four. We have that potential and capability. Like why not? Why not us? I think we have all the pieces.”

#4 Her older brother, Marcus, was her biggest mentor growing up.

“He was basically my trainer from Elementary school on until he went to college.”

#5 Fun facts about Forbes:

She can juggle and she was the quarterback of her Pop Warner football team. “I was slow but I could throw it!”

Watch the full conversation on the Just Women’s Sports YouTube channel.

Christen Press back training with Angel City FC

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 15: Christen Press #23 of Angel City FC waves to fans following a game between the Portland Thorns and Angel City FC at BMO Stadium on October 15, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)

Christen Press continues to inch her way back to a return, having returned to training with her club team Angel City. 

Angel City FC coach Becki Tweed said on Wednesday that Press is back with the team full-time as she continues to make her way back from an ACL injury. While she’s still working on rehab, her being back with the team gives staff a better picture of her progress. 

"Christen [Press] is back with us full time which is amazing,” she said. “Having her in and around the team every day, continuing to work hard on rehab ... she's in a space where being in with the team is really important to her and her progression as well.”

The status update comes days after Press posted videos to social media that featured her doing lateral movement in cleats on grass. 

“Look out world she’s on the move !” Press captioned it. 

Press has been sidelined with an ACL injury since 2022, which caused her to miss the 2023 World Cup. She’s since had four separate surgeries to help repair her ACL.

Press told The Athletic a month ago that she’s been “relentless” in her optimism with her recovery despite it being a “slow process.”

“I have a bit of relentless optimism,” she told The Athletic. “I never, ever doubted that I would make it back on any of the timelines I’ve been on."

"Every single time I’ve heard, ‘You have to have surgery,’ I’m completely shocked,” she said. “When somebody asks me how it’s going, I’m like, ‘It’s going great. And it was going great every time. So I don’t know what to tell you anymore!’”

Sophia Smith re-signs with Portland on record deal

(Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports)

Sophia Smith is now the NWSL’s highest-paid player. 

The Portland Thorns announced on Wednesday that they have signed Smith to a new contract through the 2025 season, with an option for 2026. While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, the team did reveal that Smith is now the highest-paid player in the league on an annual basis.

It’s the latest in what has been a series of record-breaking contracts in the NWSL offseason. 

Chicago Red Stars forward Mallory Swanson, Bay FC forward Racheal Kundananji, and Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda all signed multi-year deals worth between $2 million and $2.5 million in total. While Smith’s contract is shorter and not worth as much over the long-term, the annual worth is higher. 

“We are over the moon to have Soph commit again to the Thorns. She is a proven, world-class talent and one that we are excited to have contribute to the team’s continued success,” said head coach Mike Norris in a statement. “We look forward to working with her in a Thorns jersey as she continues to shine as one of the top strikers in the world.”

In just four seasons in the NWSL, Smith has led the Thorns to five trophies – including the 2022 NWSL championship – while winning league and championship MVP in 2022. In 61 appearances with Portland, she has 34 goals – including a brace to start this season against Kansas City. 

She’s also a member of the USWNT, having scored 16 goals in 44 international appearances.  Set to become a free agent at the end of this season, she told ESPN she “thought of all the options” but ultimately Portland felt like the right decision.

"There is no place like Portland," Smith said in a small roundtable interview that included ESPN. "I don't believe there's an environment like Portland to play in and it's a city that's so special to me and a city that I feel like I've grown up in almost and become who I am."

She also told ESPN that the team’s new ownership “changes everything.” The club is now led by the Bhathal family, who bought the club after Merritt Paulson was forced to sell it following his part in the NWSL’s abuse scandal. 

"Since I've been here there has been a lot of things going on with this club -- a lot of not-great things going on with this club -- and I have just been waiting for some stability and some reassurance that this club is headed in the right direction, and the Bhathal family coming in is doing exactly that, if not more,” Smith said. 

"Their vision for this club is so exciting, and you can just tell how passionate they are about making this what it should be and continuing to push the standard in women's soccer globally.”

Caitlin Clark offered $5 million to compete in Ice Cube’s league

IOWA CITY, IOWA- MARCH 25: Guard Caitlin Clark #22 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates as time runs out in the second half against the West Virginia Mountaineers during their second round match-up in the 2024 NCAA Division 1 Women's Basketball Championship at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 25, 2024 in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)

Caitlin Clark has been offered $5 million to play in Ice Cube's Big3 league, he confirmed on social media Wednesday after the offer leaked.

"We intended the offer to remain private while Caitlin Clark plays for the championship," Ice Cube wrote on social media. "But I won't deny what's now already out there: BIG3 made a historic offer to Caitlin Clark. Why wouldn't we? Caitlin is a generational athlete who can achieve tremendous success in the BIG3."

While there has yet to be a women's player in the league, both Nancy Lieberman and Lisa Leslie have been part of the league as coaches and won championships.

"The skeptics laughed when we made Nancy Lieberman the first female coach of a men's pro team, and she won the championship in her first year," Ice Cube continued. "Then Lisa Leslie won it all in year two. With our offer, Caitlin Clark can make history and break down even more barriers for women athletes."

Ice Cube, whose name is O’Shea Jackson, says that the offer was made with the intention that Clark be able to compete in the WNBA “offseason.” Clark is largely expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft in April. But it’s unclear how the scheduling of the two leagues would work. 

The 2024 Big3 season is set to tip off on June 15, with 10 games spanning through mid-August. The WNBA regular season, meanwhile, begins on May 14 and ends on Sept. 19.

On “The Pat McAfee Show” on Wednesday, Jackson said that the league has yet to hear back from Clark. 

“We just need an answer, as soon as they are ready to give it to us,” he said. “It’s always 50-50 till we get a no. At the end of the day, it’s a generous offer.”

The offer – as well as the confusion on Jackson’s part about the timing of the WNBA season – caused some current WNBA players to react. 

"It's funny cause I be seeing his son at W games.. they don't talk?" wrote former No. 1 pick Rhyne Howard

"So no other women's basketball player has came to mind in the last 7 years?" wrote Lexie Brown, adding that she'd support if Ice Cube wanted to build a women's iteration of the league. She later discussed it on the Gils Arena Show, noting that his reasoning of wanting to “uplift and support WNBA players and women athletes” is a “cop out.”

Kalani Brown, meanwhile, told Clark to "take that money" and start a women's Big3.

WNBA salaries has been a talking point in recent months as more collegiate stars declare for the league. WNBA stars have often made more money playing abroad than they have in the WNBA. Clark is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft on April 15, with a rookie salary of $76,535 for lottery draft picks (Nos. 1-4) that rises to $97,582 by her fourth season. But she also has an NIL valuation of almost $3.5 million.

Diana Taurasi famously skipped the 2015 WNBA season at the request of her Russian club, who paid her more to sit out than she would have made in the W. Her contract with the club was reportedly near $1.5 million per year.

Jackson also seemed to suggest that his league could be an alternative to going abroad

“America’s women athletes should not be forced to spend their off seasons playing in often dismal and dubious foreign countries just to make ends meet,” he wrote. Although it’s unclear whether or not the rapper intends to make offers to additional WNBA players. 

While the league does hold prioritization rules in its CBA, those typically apply only to players playing in overseas leagues. It’s unclear whether or not that would prevent Clark’s participation in the Big3 league.

WNBA players that don’t want to go overseas currently have the option of playing in Athletes Unlimited, which competes in the WNBA offseason.

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