I know you guys want to back hand that beach and show her who's boss. Not going to work. You're going to become a pariah so fast you won't know what hit you.
Will any sponsors want to get involved with our home team now? Sure!
Chicago Sky players harassed outside team hotel: ‘Couldn’t even step off the bus’
CHICAGO, IL - MAY 30: The Chigaco Sky huddle up during the game against the Los Angeles Sparks on May 30, 2024 at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL.
By Mark Puleo, The Athletic
Jun 5, 2024
Multiple Chicago Sky players shared their accounts of being harassed outside the team’s hotel in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night, with star rookie Angel Reese saying a teammate had a camera put in her face as she got off the bus.
“This really is outta control and needs to stop,” Reese wrote on X.
The Sky arrived in Washington, D.C., ahead of their game against the Washington Mystics on Thursday night. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the team was harassed by a man targeting Chennedy Carter, who has received nationwide attention for her hard foul on Caitlin Clark in the Sky’s game against the Indiana Fever on Saturday. The WNBA later upgraded the foul to a Flagrant 1.
Sky forward Brianna Turner said she wasn’t at the scene of the incident, but “the absurd headlines recently has certainly created an unstable environment for our safety.”
Turner and Sky general manager Jeff Pagliocca credited team security for de-escalating the situation and separating the man from the players.
“Thank God for security,” Sky forward Isabelle Harrison posted. “My teammate being harassed at our hotel is insane. Couldn’t even step off the bus.”
A video circulating on X on Thursday showed an interaction between an unidentified person repeatedly asking Carter, “Have you gotten a chance to reach out to Caitlin?” as Carter walked from the team bus.
Carter did not appear to respond to the questions in the video clip, which showed another individual stepping between her and the person holding the camera, attempting to block the camera’s view. It is unclear if the clip showed the entire interaction.
Carter’s hip check on Clark has triggered a week of attention, both within the league and far outside of it. On Monday, Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon called Carter’s foul “not appropriate.” On Wednesday, Indiana Congressman Jim Banks penned a letter to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert about opponents’ treatment of Clark.
Banks also called out Reese for cheering on Carter in the moment of the foul. On Tuesday, Reese said she’s okay with being the “bad guy” in her years-long rivalry with Clark if it helps grow women’s basketball.
“I’ll take the bad guy role and I’ll continue to take that and be that for my teammates,” Reese said. “And if I want to be that, I know I’ll go down in history. I’ll look back in 20 years and be like, yeah, the reason why we’re watching women’s basketball is not just because of one person. It’s because of me, too. And I want y’all to realize that, like, it’s not just because of one person.
“A lot of us have done so much for this game, and Chennedy has been here before, obviously, but there are so many great players in this league that have deserved this for a really, really long time and luckily it’s coming now.”
WNBA rescinds second technical foul on Angel Reese that resulted in ejection vs. Liberty
Indiana Congressman questions WNBA over ‘excessive attack’ on Caitlin Clark
Chennedy Carter, Angel Reese don’t mind being the ‘bad guy’ in this Caitlin Clark story
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