r/wnba • u/Tooezboi • 1d ago
News Kelsey Mitchell On The Noise Around The Fever This Season
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u/logomyego CCs Thighs Save Lives 1d ago
The people saying Kelsey and Caitlin aren't a good fit are confusing me, they play extremely well together. The problem it brings though is 2 high caliber offensive players that lack on the defensive end.
They just need to find a piece like an Azzi that can hit some shots when needed and are lock down defenders. Raven has good potential, especially on the defensive end once she has time to develop
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u/RMbeatyou 🪣fanclubOGLynxFan🥽Tank4Juju⚡️ 1d ago
It’s crazy because right wingers, and MAGA attached themselves to CC, and the Fever. CC doesn’t play into, I secretly think she loathes everything about that part of her fanbase, but Sophie definitely panders to that crowd, which is both unfortunate, and selfish
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u/buidoibrew59 1d ago
Agreed! And Cunningham was still in Phoenix during Clark's rookie season. The cockroaches appeared in droves starting last season, and then truly mutated into the scum that they are this season imho.
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u/Former_Compote_8191 1d ago
We all have good and bad days she’s still one of the best ones out there and a class act!!!! I thank her for giving her all.
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u/ginosebleed 1d ago
everything you do bad is going to be, you should have passed it to caitlin basically is what she is saying. I love CC but her fanbase (the ones that do this) are relentless. the pressure on her and the trickle down to anyone around her on the team, probably besides sophie for reasons that don't need to be said, is so hard every day.
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u/Revolutionary-Gear76 Fine. I'll Root for Stew-York Now 1d ago edited 1d ago
To me, this is why Sophie cannot be on this team next year. Her persona just makes all this shit worse.
Having said that, I just watched Amber's exit interview and it was not as positive about Sophie as the earlier paraphrasing had me believe. Basically, she praised almost all of the players on the roster for various roles they played, but said the Fever's top priority was re-signing Kelsey and then they would decide how to fill in around the big 3, with the priority being: 1) deeper front court; 2) better defense; 3) better production from the wings. Fever want Kelsey back because they think continuity in the Big 3 is important for championship contention, citing the Aces.
I'm really hoping they cut Sophie loose and those new "fans" leave with her. That's not a 100% fix, but it would be an important start.
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u/buidoibrew59 1d ago
As a Lynx fan since day one, and a WNBA fan 2 seasons longer, I agree 100%!! Yet, I read this morning that the Fever have offered Cunningham an extension before free agency kicks in following the finals. That would be a worst case scenario if she accepts and signs.
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u/coltraine77 1d ago
The more popular the team or the league is the more crazy fans will bother the players. No way around it. I’m not saying that makes it alright, but the deal is you get paid a lot more to deal with it
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u/Lazy_DreadHead Aces 1d ago
Trying to say she gets “paid” to deal with it is laughable. No matter how much someone gets paid they shouldn’t have to deal with the BS fans that comes along with it. DT didn’t have this problem. AW didn’t have this problem until a certain player came into the league. Instead of making excuses why not just call a spade a spade and work on what needs to be fixed.
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u/coltraine77 1d ago
I’m not saying she SHOULD have to deal with it. I’m saying it’s inevitable. Do you have so idea of how to solve it that no one else has thought of?
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u/Lazy_DreadHead Aces 1d ago
Acknowledging it for one. We can start there. Multiple players have stated all around the league about fan behavior that seems to stem from one organization and instead of acknowledging it… they act like it doesn’t exist.
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u/External-Mammoth678 1d ago
I get what you’re saying but disagree. No other team in the league is surrounded by as much drama as the Fever. At some point you have to look internally to why that is
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u/coltraine77 1d ago
That’s because they are the most popular team by a lot. Look how many of their games are on national tv vs other teams
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u/Chellybeanz29 Angel “This My Shit” Reese 1d ago
What’s funny to me (not really) is how people (Fever fans who live whataboutism) keep claiming that the behavior Kelsey is referring to from people who should root for her if rooting for her team but don’t is such a common occurrence. Where? Drop the examples. Even in Dream socials there’s not people around claiming to be a Dream fan and yet constantly dragging and disparaging Angel. There’s no Wings fan trying to knock Paige down. No Tempo fans harassing Marina. “Well, they’re not real fans!” Yeah but your own player can’t tell that. Probably because there’s so many.
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u/JacobiSimpson FO a Ponzi Scheme? what yall got for me 1d ago edited 1d ago
And you're using players who are the faces of their team which is a false equivalency
Paige and Angel and Caitlin are arguably the faces of their franchises. They all have people who have grinded through low points and stuck with their team for better or worse ( arike rhyne kelsey)
How those players are treated by fans should be the arguments
And since you're asking for examples
Rhyne had to come out in make a statement about her 5 necklace
There was a good stint on threads this season saying Jordin Canada was deliberately looking off Angel despite her being one of the best pgs in the league
Fans were saying that rhyne didnt deserve to be the face of Atlantas franchise (mind you she was there first just like kelsey)
Every single one of these players get along with their respective stars of the franchise in real life BTW, but stans won't allow it
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u/Chellybeanz29 Angel “This My Shit” Reese 1d ago
I didn’t even know Rhyne had a five necklace. Will have to look that up
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u/JacobiSimpson FO a Ponzi Scheme? what yall got for me 1d ago edited 1d ago
I beg you to look at how pazzi stans talk about Arike, to the point a reporter had to quit his job because he was giving arike props
Edit: same fans complained about Jess Shepard stealing rebounds from paige during a game. Said she didnt deserve most improved player because shes actually a paige merchant (gee it sounds like the same thing crazy fever stans are doing to kelsey)
The parallels are crazy because Arike literally willed wings to not getting swept by going super saiyan just like kelsey did last year, but no one is seeing it as similar for some reason
Edit edit: this all to say this Stan behavior is not a monolith and it does a disservice to think it is
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u/Chellybeanz29 Angel “This My Shit” Reese 1d ago
Read your edits and wanted to respond to say that I agree that the stan behavior isn’t limited to the Fever and that’s an important distinction to make.
My next question and I have my opinion is if the Fever Org handles it the worst by far?
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u/JacobiSimpson FO a Ponzi Scheme? what yall got for me 1d ago
Yeah I agree with you on thst 100 percent.
Especially if they end up resigning Sophie
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u/Chellybeanz29 Angel “This My Shit” Reese 1d ago
I do remember the Pazzi bs of this year. I do. But admittance, is it worse than the Fever? Because I won’t pull a Fever GM and claim that no other fans ever do anything ever. I won’t. But as I said yesterday, pretending that people dislike Fever fans (generally) and the Fever team off a whim and not because of actions and situations that keep happening is disingenuous. This GM/player shit, has proven my whole point from yesterday. It’s seems cultural. You got a GM claiming everybody is lying and their own players is like “Hahaha. No they’re not.”
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u/JacobiSimpson FO a Ponzi Scheme? what yall got for me 1d ago
I'm just answering your post
You asked for examples and I gave you some
And now i lowkey seeyou're using whataboutism now by saying but is it worse than the fever lol
I'm not accusing the bad actors within the Fandom and the gm can and should have addressed it in a more pr friendly way
But I am also not going to sit here and act like the other nil baby stars dont have stans being ugly to their teammates and reporters as well
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u/Chellybeanz29 Angel “This My Shit” Reese 1d ago
You’re right. I asked. Thank you for the example. I hope that all organizations can work towards a safe and healthy environment that puts their players first. That means listening and acknowledging their feelings.
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u/Revolutionary-Gear76 Fine. I'll Root for Stew-York Now 1d ago
This is the only comparison that I can think of similar to the dynamic the Fever have going with some fans. It hasn't reached the same pitch with the Wings, but the underlying dynamics are very similar. The treatment of another star player as somehow "robbing" their fave of opportunities to shine when I don't think any of the players involved see it that way at all. I've seen nothing but love among all of the players.
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u/BigBlueWatcher Fever Valks Enthusiast 1d ago
Don’t forget what former Sky players went through last year. Some breaking down in tears from the hate they’ve received from some Angel fans.
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u/Cool-Tour-1962 Angel, A’ja & Buckets 1d ago
My locked sista ✊🏾
Professional athletes did sign up for visibility and criticisms. They did not sign up for abuse, harassment and death threats. Wishing her and everyone else dealing with toxicity over BASKETBALL the best 🩵
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u/Pokemathmon 1d ago
If we had any sense we would've banned gambling ads yesterday, but now basically every broadcast has 2 or 3 gambling partnerships. It's super fucked up.
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u/Zero_Griever Aces 1d ago
It was fun to root for her, can't stand the Fever. I hope she gets paid elsewhere. She was the engine behind their run.
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u/ConsequenceBusy8726 WNBA 1d ago
Wherever she lands whether its with Fever for another year or with a new team I wish her the best. Class act and so fun to watch hoop!
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u/madam_deville Valkyries 1d ago edited 1d ago
Kelsey was drafted by Indiana in 2018 (1st round, 2nd pick) and has been on the team ever since but yet made the statement, being on "her team" (the teammate) when it should be KM's team but we get it. Hope she leaves because apparently nothing is going to change. She's 30 yrs old and still has more years to ball out if she chooses.
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u/Fantastic_Pollution2 Fever 1d ago
Well whatever happens, I hope KM gets all the endorsements and the best possible deal available. Wherever she ends up, I'm a fan of that team.
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u/External-Mammoth678 1d ago
Be careful what you wish for. You make very valid points but moving off of a stud like KM will probably be difficult. Either way, I’ll be watching regardless when I get a chance
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u/WrathfulHero Fever 1d ago
Unfortunately, I agree with this. She's a great player, and I genuinely wish it was a different situation, but she really only brings offense to the team. When her shots aren't falling, she's essentially just a negative because she's not a good defender.
Caitlin has her issues too, but if I absolutely had to choose between the two of them, it feels like a very clear choice to me.
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u/Fantastic_Pollution2 Fever 1d ago
if you go into a professional athelte's dms, you are hands down a psychopath. I would never... not for a negative comment, not for a positive one. I would just never assume to have (or desire to have) that kind of access to someone.
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u/BGDutchNorris 1d ago
Agreed. The problem is that psychopaths won’t check themselves. It’s on people like you and me to check those in our respective communities who are psychopaths
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u/wvtarheel Fever 1d ago
I'm always surprised they have DMs open on Twitter. I have a public facing job and shut mine down the first time I got a death threat there's just no benefit to it
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u/Chellybeanz29 Angel “This My Shit” Reese 1d ago
The only reason I can imagine a professional athlete having any ideas open especially maybe a WNBA player because they’re paid way less is for potential deals offered. They’re probably treated the same as influencers in that regard. I saw after that funny press conference with Ty and Caitlin about Caitlin hiding the olipop drink because they Donny pay her they contacted Ty in her DMs and she got that deal. But a lot of sick people in this world ruin things.
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u/bug_gribble Mercury 1d ago
I don’t know you but getting a death threat is absolutely insane
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u/SockPenguin Fever 1d ago
Genuinely the weirdest part of social media to me is how comfortable people are telling complete strangers they will kill them or hope they die.
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u/uhlaynuhhh Fever, Dream, & Wings💕 1d ago
Saw this egregious comment on fb earlier. Case in point. As an og fever fan, I'll loudly say I hate most of these new bandwagon jumpers. I like caitlin, I think shes talented, but I hate the negative that comes with her and the FO for not nipping this in the bud.
I'll continue to watch and support kelsey to whatever team she goes to if she leaves.
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u/fatiguedpickle 1d ago
You do realize this type of shit happens with fans of literally every team in almost every sport, right?
It’s not right, but you aren’t going to change it. “Condemning it” will do absolutely nothing.
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u/cbrighter 1d ago
People say this, but I don’t buy it. I simply dont see this kind of toxic nonsense in my feed for any of the teams I follow (which is mostly Valks for wnba and a few ncaa wbb teams and wsl).
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u/Chellybeanz29 Angel “This My Shit” Reese 1d ago
But the team’s GM is claiming these people don’t exist at all. Bri Turner is saying players in and off the Fever file grievances and have zero to show for it.
You know what the Fever situation remind me of? The Cornell rapists. You have a “small” group of individuals doing despicable things and you have a large group who has various amounts of excuses from laughter, to ignoring, to encouraging. Etc. Because the culture has allowed people to downplay what victims are telling is people a problem. Same thing here. You own players are telling you they’re being harassed by people in Fever gear. She’s telling you that there people who should love her and cheer for and hate her despite playing for their team because z, y and z and all you got is whataboutism. All the GM got is “You’re a liar Kelsey.” What are they doing with formal complaints? Throwing them in the trash? But at least it’s not everyone.
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u/fatiguedpickle 1d ago
Turner was saying bs that has already been proven wrong.
Far from the same thing. Ew.
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u/Chellybeanz29 Angel “This My Shit” Reese 1d ago
What has been proven wrong from Turner. She said that people file grievances (that plural) and the organization doesn’t respond. When has that unequivocally been proven wrong? That would mean that all people who have filed grievances would have to reveal that and reveal all of them got formal resolutions. Did that happen?
Oh, I don’t think I didn’t notice you hopped, skipped and jumped over Kelsey completely. Telling. If/when that girl leaves the slander is going to be one for the books.
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u/fatiguedpickle 1d ago
Her statement isn’t backed up by actions that were taken. Most grievances also weren’t backed by legitimate evidence. The dolphin noise comes to mind. A’ja’s most recent actions that were all on her. No credibility was given to AT’s assertions. Bonner complained about being booed, well no shit. That tends to happen when a player quits on a team.
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u/Chellybeanz29 Angel “This My Shit” Reese 1d ago
You don’t even have a clue what the grievances were nor who all has even filed a grievance. It’s funny, you only think of what you hear is all you get but at the same time what you hear out, your old player’s mouth is all lies and deceit. Funny how that works.
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u/fatiguedpickle 1d ago
Yeah you do. The players room their grievances to twitter. This league is arguably the least transparent.
If something is bad, produced credible evidence and it will be handled. Fever did do that this season and last. Rarely was credible evidence given.
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u/uhlaynuhhh Fever, Dream, & Wings💕 1d ago
"This happens all the time" should never be a reason to not call out racism, abuse, or any other type of harm.
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u/fatiguedpickle 1d ago
You can call it out, but you’d be wasting your breath.
It will continue to exist. You can put people on blast from DMs, you can take it to people’s places of work, and it may help for a time. It will come back.
The best thing KM and players in general can do is remove the access. Many professional organizations do this. It doesn’t stop Larry on Twitter from saying crazy shit.
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u/uhlaynuhhh Fever, Dream, & Wings💕 1d ago
Its that terrible attitude like yours that is the reason that women didnt even have their own national basketball league until 47 years after men got a national league (50 years if you count the ABA)..
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u/fatiguedpickle 1d ago
It’s not a terrible attitude. It’s recognizing reality. You can push for change, but systemic issues persist.
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u/Gen-Jinjur Lynx 1d ago
Long time WNBA fans know that you OG Fever fans are not the problem. The Fever beat my Lynx in 2012 and were great. Tamika Catchings, man. One of the best ever.
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u/fatiguedpickle 1d ago
There are problematic OG fans too.
There are probably a similar percentage of problematic fans in every fanbase. The problem is a larger fanbase with the same percentage means a larger number.
The simplest action is to get off social media. Protect yourself.
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u/uhlaynuhhh Fever, Dream, & Wings💕 1d ago
This game was one of my best childhood memories. I was in 6th grade and me and my friends all raked leaves to buy tickets. Our whole neighborhood on the east side of indy was helping. Local businesses and everything.
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u/innerfart Aces + Mystics 1d ago
The org has the power to change things. It doesn't matter if she's planning on leaving or not, she's speaking her truth with receipts. The org should hold people accountable. In my city, at most games, they make it clear what's acceptable and what's not at the beginning. This is about racial reckoning that they dont wanna do. I would leave if the org didn't respect my talents. Plenty of teams would love a KM.
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u/fatiguedpickle 1d ago
Stop it. No it doesn’t.
Hate is rampant in every fanbase in every sport. It is rampant in society.
Believing a sports team is going to solve what society and no other sport can is incredibly foolish.
You can hold people accountable. It won’t stop it.
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u/innerfart Aces + Mystics 1d ago
Who are you talking to? Consider changing your attitude -- you can have an opinion but shutting down others' opinion is off putting and doesnt prove anything. Orgs can change culture; it does take time.
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u/fatiguedpickle 1d ago
I’m talking to you. My attitude is fine. Don’t get defensive.
Orgs can’t change fandom. Problematic fans exist and will continue to do so. That is the problem and it is a societal one.
She said the organization is amazing. It clearly isn’t them.
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u/innerfart Aces + Mystics 1d ago
Good luck with forcing your opinions on people. Btw, orgs influence societies at the local level + KM is still employed by the org, meaning they sign her checks and she's headed into negotiation with them.
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u/fatiguedpickle 1d ago
I’m not forcing my opinions on anyone.
KM said the organization was amazing. Negotiations will go as they go.
Organizations exist in cities. Cities are already largely liberal. It doesn’t extend much beyond that. It’s just the reality of the situation. Indiana as a state is about as red as it gets. Outside of Vegas is pretty similar.
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u/innerfart Aces + Mystics 1d ago
Good luck anyway.
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u/fatiguedpickle 1d ago
Good luck with what?
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u/Pecan_Artist Aces 1d ago
KM to Houston or LA wanna bet?
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u/madam_deville Valkyries 1d ago
I agree, it could be LA or another team that has potential of making it to the playoffs or Championship.
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u/SuccinctSnail WNBA 1d ago
She said the quiet part out loud. This is why i give front office some grace for off season flubs. Fans don't know what other players got contract offers, they see the end result of dantas and billings. And majority of players would rather play for less money and be out of media spotlight.
What players still fail to understand is that it's that fever fandom is coming to franchise near you. The faster you learn to ignore online stuff, the better your future will be. Dana evans and izzy harrison left chicago sky pressers in tears because they felt angels fans rage rained down on them. Wings beat reporter quit his job because of azzi stans, but we don't talk about that because there is 10x media frenzy if it happens around clark and fever. Spreading hate is cash cow for media and nobody is bigger in media than fever and clark.
Amber cox pulled a leslie knope quote today when she basically said "i don't see a lot of people hating, i see a lot of people caring loudly"
It's much easier gig playing for new orleans pelicans than playing for new york knicks and 90% of the leagues players are still fighting tooth and nail trying to be backup singers while bitching about not being paid as headliners.
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u/randomstripper10k SwinTweetyRuthCherylPlenetteKatie & Bill Laimbeer 1d ago
What players still fail to understand is that it's that fever fandom is coming to franchise near you.
No it isn't. The Valkyries sell out every game and lead the league in attendance and their fanbase is not similar to the Fever's, in fact their players go above and beyond to make sure fans know bigotry is not accepted. Same for the other team with higher attendance than the Fever this year, which was the Liberty. Neither of those teams have fanbases like the Fever.
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u/Certain-Goat-3473 Fever 1d ago
You're saying the two huge cities with built-in basketball fans and lots of money have less problems weeding out the bigots at their sold out games? Wow, color me shocked!
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u/randomstripper10k SwinTweetyRuthCherylPlenetteKatie & Bill Laimbeer 1d ago
No, I'm saying that a fandom like the Fever is not being fostered in any other WNBA arena and the other teams' cultures do not welcome bigotry. It's that simple.
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u/natthedem 1d ago edited 1d ago
I'm legitimately curious what it's going to take for someone in the Fever org to take any accountability over this.
When A'ja or AT or Dijonai say something, it's because they're jealous.
When Syd or Breezy say something, it's because they're mad they aren't on the team anymore.
Now KM and Aliyah say something, they are actually talking about other fanbases, not us...look over there and see what everyone else is doing....
Why not just acknowledge that all these people cannot be wrong and work to change the culture?
I mean, it's fine, I guess if you want to keep your head in the sand about it, but when the only free agents you can attract are Mercedes Russell and Monique Billings, don't ask why.
(Edited to reflect Aliyah's comments as well.)
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u/jeedel WNBA 1d ago
How many people here are going to listen to the whole interview? From that interview I would not be surprised if KM signs another contract with the Fever.
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u/SilverKry The 22s + 24 1d ago
She's been with the fever since 2018 and the last 3 years have been the best of her career. Wanting her to sign elsewhere is wishful thinking.
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u/Gen-Jinjur Lynx 1d ago
The Lynx will take her…
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u/ChoicesCat Liberty 1d ago
That won't fix any of your problems. You don't need yet another small guard.
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u/Legitimate_Stay_6519 Tempo Valks 1d ago
I mean - she says she like the organization, and then quickly follows it up with a "but..." She may still resign with them, but I will also not be surprised if she goes elsewhere.
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u/liberderci Fever Tempo 1d ago
she also said she can see herself retiring here. she’s all over the place in her comments, which makes sense cause her season just ended.
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u/madam_deville Valkyries 1d ago
Hope she retires elsewhere, nothing wrong with change. Nneka was with LA for 11 yrs, went to Seattle for 2 years but returned to LA (she loves LA). If KM leaves, I doubt she will return to Indy to retire with them.
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u/Legitimate_Stay_6519 Tempo Valks 1d ago
Yeah, a lot of uncertainty for sure. It kind of reminds me of the situation Phee is in. Will she stay? Will she go? Time will tell!
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u/Academic-Childhood40 WNBA 1d ago
Kelsey is out of here next season. I wasn’t sure before, but I am certain of it now . Good for her!
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u/jeedel WNBA 1d ago
The very next question: “Would you be content with finishing your career with the the Fever organization. “ KM “Heck Yeah!”
So we will have to wait and see.
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u/Academic-Childhood40 WNBA 1d ago
I feel you, but she is out.
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u/jeedel WNBA 1d ago
With the Fever she gets the second most shots in the W. She gets massive tv coverage for branding. Look at KP she went to LA and her coverage in the second largest media market was thin at best. The Fever new training facility that is opening this offseason is second to none. This is the closest W City to her hometown of Cincinnati, even two hours closer than Cleveland.
Arike in Dallas has been treated similarly to Mitchell if not worse. The grass is not necessarily greener.
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u/nawdawgrawdawg Fever 1d ago
:(. Makes me really sad. She doesn’t deserve this at all. Incredible player and person. Sad
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u/Meweighteen Valkyries 1d ago
No one deserves threats or anything like that of course, but it’s hard to feel bad for a team that has Sophie (the gremlin) Cunningham on it
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u/GoddessHealer WNBAStorm 1d ago
Sophie’s the one who has brought so much negative juju to the Fever.
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u/strangelystrangled safe from playoff A'ja | dream on 1d ago
at least we had two giant lesbian legends on our roster to help balance out her crazy. they don't have that unless we're really amplifying MHA and Ty here
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u/ValPrism Liberty 1d ago
I mean, she’s too smart to say “Cunningham is a loser” to the sports page.
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u/Risingsunsphere Fever 1d ago
“Sophie Cunningham is like the glue stick of this team. Without her, we wouldn’t be where we are.” —Kelsey Mitchell, June 16, 2026
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u/JacobiSimpson FO a Ponzi Scheme? what yall got for me 1d ago edited 1d ago
Idk where Kelsey stands on Cunningham tbh
I follow her on insta and shes posted Sophie in her story several times
And liked her message (the only players that didnt were caitlin and ab)
It's weird because a lot of the uproar to end the seaosn was a direct cause of sophie lol
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u/DizzyReference1028 kitron '27 eurostep to the finals 1d ago
kelsey not addressing the SC undercurrent of this question at all should tell you where she stands. also why do fever fans keep saying that aliyah snubbed the post? she liked it
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u/GoddessHealer WNBAStorm 1d ago
Of course KM is not gonna say anything out loud about what she’s really experiencing.
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u/Key_Maize9685 1d ago
Kelsey, Caitlin and most if not all the Fever players like Sophie. Let’s not pretend Caitlin dislikes Sophie or gives her the cold shoulder lol. I dislike Sophie’s views too but she’s well liked by her teammates and was well liked at the Mercury too.
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u/Risingsunsphere Fever 1d ago
“Sophie Cunningham is like the glue stick of this team. Without her, we wouldn’t be where we are.” —Kelsey Mitchell, June 16, 2026
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u/fshippos Fever 1d ago
If I'm reading the subtext of what she said right, it sounds more like "CC stans say wild shit to us any time we struggle" than anything to do with Sophie. And/or maybe "CC haters lump us in with her".
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u/Unlucky-You-1334 Fever 1d ago
I’m not totally sure how KM sees the Cunningham stuff. She’s going to Liberty U which is very conservative
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u/SilverKry The 22s + 24 1d ago
I feel like if Sophie was actually locker room poison like people so desperately want to believe we'd have heard about it by now.
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u/Risingsunsphere Fever 1d ago
“Sophie Cunningham is like the glue stick of this team. Without her, we wouldn’t be where we are.” —Kelsey Mitchell, June 16, 2026
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u/Meweighteen Valkyries 1d ago
I mean locker room poison or not, she’s league poison. She almost single handedly gave dweebs like Enes Kanter the opportunity they craved to turn the season into a political trans-vestigation campaign
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u/paperbackpiles 1d ago edited 1d ago
Phenomenal player who put her heart into an organization. She had to be the target of every single loss other than the Coach. Rough.
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u/SilverKry The 22s + 24 1d ago
Are you saying she got more hate when the fever lost than Caitlin? Cause I doubt that.
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u/paperbackpiles 1d ago
CC never got blamed by her own fans. Ever. Same went for Magic, Curry, Lauren Jackson, Maya Moore. Lead star usually gets off, especially ones that fans live vicariously through.
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u/oledawgnew 1d ago edited 1d ago
Hmmmm, how many losses did CC get blamed for? If CC had a bad game it seemed to me the fan base always blamed the referees.
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u/SilverKry The 22s + 24 1d ago
Said elsewhere but fans always blame refs in any sport when their team loses. But in a loss you'd see a bunch of people here going "this your goat!?" As some sort of insult for example. And even when it's not an insult it's some kind of backhanded compliment cause they couldn't stomach to say she did good even if they lost or won.
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u/paperbackpiles 1d ago
Truth. Fans live vicariously through her. Like they do with Ohtani, Curry. That would be like blaming yourself. Human nature is to pass the pain/fault.
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u/Recent-Barracuda-234 Sirens 1d ago
The Fever haters are irrational. That said, I think it’d help if the team and Clark more aggressively said they don’t want bigots as fans. It’s also help if Clark was less whiny like Luka on the court.
And they need to tweak the team and get rid of Cunningham to win in the playoffs.
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u/Due-Breadfruit8230 Valks, spectacle respecter 🤓, PB5 1d ago
Well half of liberal Fever fans believe she's condemned it strongly enough (she hasn't) so let's start there
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u/darthpeggy Mystics Dream ➡️ PHILLY 1d ago
Apparently A'ja was soft but now the Fever fans want us to feel bad for KM. Can't make this shit up.
Fever fans think they should he welcomed as saviors everywhere and the rest of the league should put up with being treated subhuman.
Maybe if Fever fans didn't condone and welcome racism and transphobia and say its "just how sports are" none of this would be happening.
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u/WrathfulHero Fever 1d ago
So we're just talking out our asses making shit up now? I'm so fucking sick of this narrative that Fever fans as a whole are shitty. Broad generalizations are never the way to handle things.
A fanbase cannot be held responsible for a vocal minority. What do you want us to do? Stand out in the town square and yell about how much we hate racists and transphobes? What good is that gonna do?
Bottom line is, as long as Sophie is in the team and the organization refuses to say anything, that's how it's gonna be. I don't like it, but there's no reason to demonize people for simply being a fan of a team.
Maybe try to see things with a bit more nuance instead of black and white.
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u/ixipennythrower 1d ago
Fever fans welcome racism and transphobia? Do you really believe that represents the fanbase in totality? Do you think sports media and social media have anything to do with the chaos around the Fever this season?
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u/darthpeggy Mystics Dream ➡️ PHILLY 1d ago
Silence is compliance.
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u/ixipennythrower 1d ago
I’m literally saying something in a public forum right now. All Fever fans I know in my personal life, are not racist or homophobic. You are being disingenuous by painting an entire fanbase as being homophobic and racist. The fans I know are as sick of all this shit as you are.
All fan bases have shitty fans. The CC phenomenon is truly uncharted waters for the W.
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u/ChemistRound1083 1d ago
The league simply was not ready for the kind of attention that Caitlin brought. Had they responded better towards her a lot of the animosity would not have happened.
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u/5_Star_Safety_Rated Choo Choo! 1d ago
I know it’s the weekend, but don’t go through a bottle this fast.
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u/kseveru79_v2 + interloper 1d ago
I still haven't figured out whether it's possible to have this conversation in a constructive way, without it just turning into "it's mostly YOU guys! No, it's mostly YOU guys! No it's these people -- no, it's those people --" We can and do go around and around with that for hundreds, at this point probably thousands, of comments. Is there any next step?
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u/freeman1231 Wings #5Aces #22 Merc #25 1d ago
Society as a whole is a cesspool of vocal minority opinions getting more attention than they deserve due to social media.
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u/OverallFrosting708 Fever 1d ago
It's remarkable to see how this thread declined into that in response a statement that is frankly pretty unambiguous in pointing out "the problem" is several different problems coming from several different directions.
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u/BeMoreClever Fever 1d ago
I don’t think that conversation online is possible at this point.
KM is referring to both things here - people who are fans take missteps, losses, or bad games as an excuse to hide online and be a bully, as well as those who feel like they are justified in being a bully to Fever players because the Fever have haters who will give them likes. If you add in sports betters to this mix (à la Chelsey Gray’s published dm) it amplifies further.
I think it’s naive to think we can stop it - neither end of the spectrum is open to listening. Those in the middle get lumped in with one of those groups by the other.
You can be a Fever fan and dislike Sophie and the way that she makes life worse for trans people - it’s hateful, bigoted, and I hope we don’t resign her because it’s distracting grifter behavior.
You can also be a fan of CC and adore what other players like Kelsey, AB, KK, and others contribute to the team. Basketball is a team sport. I walked in as a very casual prior WNBA fan and a big CC fan and now I’m a full-on Fever fan and watching as many games across all the teams that I can in a week. I’ve got favorite players across many teams, and many of those are former Fever players (EW). It’s also been fun to learn more about the history of the league, the stars who built this league, etc.
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u/wizletj 1d ago
Impossible conversation to have because the outrage machines that are social media and the shouty shows on tv constantly validate whatever POV you have. We can only try to have empathy for the players stuck in this situation
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u/darthpeggy Mystics Dream ➡️ PHILLY 1d ago
"Whatever POV" and one of them is "Caitlin Clark should be handed everything and all these black lesbians are jealous." and the other being "We don't want this to be a safespace for racists and homophobes."
Sure, those are totally equal.
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u/wizletj 1d ago
If you want to be reductive about it sure but I feel like we can be adult enough to recognize there’s a little more going on than that. For example I think the Black players on Indy get a particularly tough ride from every single direction just for existing. Being in Ty Harris’ mentions and calling her a c00n because she had an opinion over reffing isn’t in service of trying to create a safe space free from racism, abuse or homophobia. It wasn’t cool either when the supposedly middle of the road ‘we are just sports fans’ section were complaining about a broadcast team just paying her a compliment when CC missed a game. The pathetic losers all up in DMs and abusing everyone after being whipped up by YouTubers also suck.
Just because you think you’re doing the right thing doesn’t mean we can’t be critical of how you go about trying to do it. We can walk and chew gum
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u/JacobiSimpson FO a Ponzi Scheme? what yall got for me 1d ago
Unfortunately not.
And I forsee the same types of posts coming as long as Caitlin is still in the leauge and remains popular and decent player
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u/lostcat223 Miles Stewie Gabby Paige 1d ago
I find Kelsey such a mystery. Has the heart of a sweetheart, attends evangelical LGBTQ+ hatefest Liberty University. Is a more reliable shooter than CC (last few games excepted, but she was gassed), and the fan base likes her but if it's her or CC, they're picking CC.
I have often had the thought that it's no fun to play for this team when everything is amplified to 100, and I say that as someone who finds the Fever hard to watch even when they're being blown out by some favourite team of mine. There's just a weird energy.
Elsewhere in this press conference she does also say she needs to be selfish at this point in her career -- I don't think anyone can disagree with that either. If she wants a break from the Fever spotlight it kind of makes sense to me. She would be the star shooting guard on any other team.
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u/strangelystrangled safe from playoff A'ja | dream on 1d ago
I will say that Liberty has one of the most flexible remote post-grad programs. I had some moderate to liberal acquaintences that went there because of that
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u/lostcat223 Miles Stewie Gabby Paige 1d ago
They wasted their money because a lot of places won’t look at it as a real doctorate, not just because of liberty’s politics but because of low credit hours and its diploma mill reputation… won’t hurt Kelsey I imagine because she comes with other qualifications.
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u/DizzyReference1028 kitron '27 eurostep to the finals 1d ago
yup, that phd is prob a rubber stamp for a coaching or coaching adjacent job at a big college
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u/strangelystrangled safe from playoff A'ja | dream on 1d ago
Yeah I think they went for a masters, not a PHD. Regardless I’m not sure how many other programs would work with her schedule like Liberty
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u/Legitimate_Stay_6519 Tempo Valks 1d ago
Great points, she also tends to carry more of the defensive load than CC, and is more consistently successful. I think the dynamic with CC does unlock a lot of shooting opportunities for her, and helps really set her up to have an incredible offensive performance - but I think you're totally right, if they gotta choose one, they aren't choosing her.
I think more broadly than that, if they have to choose between the fans CC has brought in, and her - again, they aren't choosing her.
It would cool if the Sirens were ready to rock next season, as her being from Ohio would be a really great homecoming I think! I like the idea of her being the franchise player for the Comets too!
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u/WrathfulHero Fever 1d ago
As someone who watched almost every Fever game this season, she absolutely does not carry more of a defensive load.
She's a great player, don't get me wrong, but she ranges from bad to awful on the defensive end. Caitlin isn't a world beater on defense either, but she's dead average, and has games where she's very good. Not to mention she brings a lot more in offense than Kelsey.
Would rather she still be here next season, but for the money she's going to want, I'm not sure she will be.
Would love if they found a way to get rid of Sophie, Lexie, and Mo Billings though. One is a piece of shit, and the other two bring nothing to the table. Would be great to have that money spent on contributing players.
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u/SilverKry The 22s + 24 1d ago
She's a more reliable shooter but Caitlin brings more to the table than just shooting. If she would be a star on any other team why were the Fever one of the worst teams in the league from 2018 to 2024? She needs someone like Caitlin to help her game.
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u/Academic-Childhood40 WNBA 1d ago
She does need a person like Clark to complement and expand more with more looks. But she don’t need the fandom abusing her after every loss. I can’t imagine what’s in her DM.
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u/WrathfulHero Fever 1d ago
I'm not blaming her in any way, but at a certain point I would probably just have my DMs closed if I was in a public facing position like that. People can be terrible, regardless of fanbase.
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u/GiftNatural9841 1d ago
She is right I went to game one and game three at the playoffs and Vegas fans were aggressively against Fever. The overwhelming boos and how loud they get when they’re shooting free throws, I know that’s part of the culture but I even went to a sparks vs golden gate and they didn’t even do that for the other team. As soon as Caitlin walked out she was boo and it’s like damn she just warming up….
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u/WrathfulHero Fever 1d ago
This is basketball. That's going to happen, especially in the playoffs.
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u/lopezandym Liberty 1d ago
It’s an Aces home playoff game. If they weren’t aggressively booing the Fever, it would be embarrassing. Philly has notoriously toxic fans, and they were called out in national media for how apathetic they were this playoffs against the Knicks, and for selling tickets to NYers.
This your first experience with playoffs?
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u/anb1975 1d ago
Was it A'ja's first playoff game? An opposing fan had the gall to point at her & say "that fouls on you."
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u/lopezandym Liberty 1d ago
And? Weird thing to bring up that has nothing to do with the conversation.
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u/anb1975 1d ago
I was responding to someone thinking Aces fans were mean to the Fever in LV. Which is ridiculous. Much like A'ja leaving the court to confront a fan was.
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u/lopezandym Liberty 1d ago
You didn’t respond to that person though? And again, bringing up the Aja situation has no bearing on this convo. You’re weird.
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u/elestud Just wanna see good ball 1d ago
She’s talking about Fever fans here (and more specifically CC fans). She specifically mentions being part of a team where those fans are constantly on the attack and can’t accept her being who she is
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u/WrongVisit3757 1d ago
Are you talking about going to a home game for the Aces in the playoffs and them being against the opposition team?
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u/BigBlueWatcher Fever Valks Enthusiast 1d ago
I see a lot of people in this thread assuming she’s just talking about Fever fans. But if you’ve seen SM you know these women are getting a lot hate from fans outside of Fever fandom. Watching what Raven, AB, Ty, MHA, CC have been subjected to online this season has been brutal. They’re now going after AB’s physical appearance. I can only imagine what kind of threatening and disgusting DM’s all the Fever players get.
But to ignore the toxicity of non-Fever fans is problematic and unfair to them. They shouldn’t receive hate because they happen to play with a team or with another player they don’t like. No matter what fandom they come from that is unacceptable.
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u/ixipennythrower 1d ago
No, no, no, only Fever fans are bad racists and homophobes. All other fan bases fans are amazing and lovely people. They don’t point fingers, they don’t yell at players, they are just great bball fans.
/s
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u/Steadyandquick Go rookies! 1d ago
Becky and Aja both said in their presser how much they love Kelsey.
I hope she is going to thrive. She seems like such a great human and I love watching her play.
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u/Ancient-Jury1363 Fro Miles 1d ago
Go where you appreciated queen
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u/Gullible_Bowl7746 Fever 1d ago
She’s appreciated by the vast majority of fans here.
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u/leastdumbidiot 1d ago
Then the vast majority of you should appreciate that when she says “showing up every day to compete for fans who may or may not like you is hard,” she’s really saying something about her experience that needs to be addressed if you expect her to stay.
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u/elestud Just wanna see good ball 1d ago
It really hasn’t been like that. Been having to argue with our fans for 3 years about her being a valuable member of the team
It’s nonstop shade/hate for somebody who has played her position better than anyone else in the league
Every praise for her is responded to by people who don’t want her to shine because they think it takes away from CC. It’s exhausting
There are some fans who stand up for her, but it’s been a minority
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u/ixipennythrower 1d ago
You’re wrong. The Fever fanbase overwhelmingly loves her. Please stop this.
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u/Different_Case9032 1d ago
She literally said “competing for fans that may or may not like you is hard”. Is she lying? Do you think she’s talking about other fan bases when she says competing for? This is the downplaying type of stuff that makes it so easy to dislike the Fever. How can you confront a problem if you refuse to acknowledge a problem exists?
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u/Gullible_Bowl7746 Fever 1d ago
She is saying both. She gets flak from shitty fever fans. And her and her black teammates are getting called terrible names for simply being on a team with Caitlin
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u/ixipennythrower 1d ago
Yea, agreed. Kelsey never said all or every or whole. She hears those fans at the game. She knows there is a lot of love out there. She also knows there a lot of negative bs going on right now and bad actors are latching on to anything viral they can sink their teeth into. Fever fans aren’t the only ones latching on to negative viral bs.
Lots of people using all, every and whole these last few days.
It’s lazy and disingenuous. It’s binary thought. Maybe some people can’t help it and I should just ignore it, but it’s hard to read when I know it’s not true.
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u/thatkidqa WNBA 1d ago
Kelsey is talking about WNBA fandom as a whole just as much CC haters think she's talking about Fever fans. The amount of times other Black WNBA fans have called Kelsey and other Black Fever players less Black, called them slurs and wished injury on them and said they deserve hate is frustrating. Especially when it comes from fans of a league that claims to want to empower Black women.
But it gets ignored because, like Kelsey said, they're teammates/friends/get along with CC.