Stephen A. Smith: WNBA media ‘afraid’ to cover controversial issues surrounding the league
· Yahoo Sports
As the WNBA continues to grow in popularity and be used in culture war conversations in the media, Stephen A. Smith wants more from both the league office and the media that covers the league.
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During a rant Wednesday on his radio show about the last-ditch effort to host WNBA Finals games at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Smith called out what he sees as a “dereliction of duty” that the league was caught off guard by the scheduling conflict. And he added the situation to a larger web of controversies that he believes people around the league have “cowered” away from this season.
Smith repeatedly asked “What are you here for?” while calling out the voices around the league for shying away from difficult conversations.
“Have some damn guts,” he said.
“Sophie Cunningham from the Indiana Fever makes noise for her political position, and you’ve got a whole bunch of people cowering away from it. Kelsey Mitchell speaks out about how uncomfortable it’s been being a member of the Indiana Fever, even from her own fan base. And it takes Caitlin Clark sitting at a podium, answering questions, for people to be willing to talk about it. You’ve got elected officials sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong, and we’ve got a bunch of people cowering away from tackling the issue. Well what are you here for? Every single supposed controversial issue that has become associated with the WNBA, we see the league cowering away from the issue. What are you there for?”