Fever coach Stephanie White gives WNBA fans a statement worth hearing

WNBA fans might have forgotten what leadership sounds like.

There have been plenty of empty, unfeeling statements as the league has grown, and players have borne the ugliest costs of its mainstream attention.

Fever coach Stephanie White’s remarks were a reminder.

White opened her news conference Wednesday by addressing the harassment Mercury star Alyssa Thomas has received since her flagrant foul on Caitlin Clark.

White already had called the play ‘‘egregious.’’ The league later upgraded the foul to a Flagrant 2 and suspended Thomas for one game. Thomas called the contact accidental.

Since then, Thomas said she and her family have received death threats, that she has been targeted with racial slurs and that she and her teammates have been ‘‘painted as thugs.’’

The moment brought several recurring WNBA tensions together:

1. There is still a clear lack of trust in officiating among coaches and players, even after the league announced changes.

2. Thomas has a reputation as one of the most physical players in the league.

3. Anything that happens to Clark is sensitive.

4. Black players have faced increasing harassment in recent years, especially when they are viewed as standing opposite Clark.

The first three threads are complicated and worthy of debate. The harassment shouldn’t be.

Speaking before the Fever’s practice Wednesday, White condemned it.

‘‘Before we start with questions, I just want to address what’s going on with [Thomas],’’ White said. ‘‘First and foremost, it’s absolutely unacceptable. As a league as a whole, there’s been so much more toxicity, racism, homophobia, straight-out nonsense. Hate nonsense. It is absolutely unacceptable.

‘‘Most of this [is] coming from the online community. Most of this, in my heart of hearts, I believe [is] not coming from WNBA fans, Indiana Fever fans. I believe this is people who are using our league, using our players, to further divisive agendas. It’s not acceptable.’’

White went on to acknowledge that basketball is going to come with criticism and that fans have a ‘‘love-hate relationship’’ with players and teams.

‘‘But it’s not hard to not be a jerk,’’ she said. ‘‘If you are one of these people who are online doing this, do not call yourself a WNBA fan.’’

The statement carried weight, partly because of whom White is. She played from 1999 to 2004, when the WNBA still was fighting for oxygen, and understands what’s at stake now that it’s finally mainstream.

She also acknowledged her belief that the hateful rhetoric isn’t coming from ‘‘real’’ WNBA fans might be privileged or naive.

That was the right instinct. Good leadership leaves room for other voices, especially the ones closer to the harm.

Reacting to White’s comments after the Sky’s practice Wednesday, Elizabeth Williams, a veteran leader in the players’ union, said WNBA fans aren’t immune from the darker parts of the discourse.

‘‘There are definitely ‘W’ fans that are going to get sucked into these narratives just by the nature of social media,’’ Williams told the Sun-Times.

Still, Williams agreed that much of the prejudice comes from outsiders.

‘‘There are a lot of people that have never watched us play and have come up with their ideas of who we are without actually knowing or watching,’’ she said. ‘‘I just think it’s very interesting that it’s with us, with a league of mostly Black women. Because I think there are a lot of people that don’t like certain sports but don’t treat them like they’re ‘less than.’ ’’

The WNBA’s demographics — majority Black, female and very queer — have made the league a target as it has moved deeper into the mainstream. But that also gives the league its culture and tradition.

White’s statement didn’t shy away from that.

‘‘Our league is about inclusiveness,’’ she said. ‘‘Our league is about competition. Our league is about elevating women, elevating marginalized communities and being inclusive of all walks of life. That is what our league has always been about from day one. That is what our league will continue to be about.’’

For once, enough said.