WASHINGTON — At the podium after a win on Thursday, flanked by her star rookie and one of her veterans, Chicago Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon was asked to describe her team to people who may be watching for the first time. She began with a defense of their humanity.
“Before we talk about basketball, they're great people,” Weatherspoon said. “They're loving, they're kind, they're caring. They want to give their time. They understand the magnitude of this job. They understand that they have to be about people, be about community, be about loving and caring.”
The first-year head coach had spent much of the last week steering the group past a maelstrom of discourse. It had been five days since the hip check heard ‘round the world: Sky guard Chennedy Carter’s hard foul on Fever rookie phenom Caitlin Clark set off seemingly endless national discussion. The foul was later upgraded by the WNBA to a Flagrant 1; Weatherspoon issued a statement calling it “not appropriate,” adding that it had been handled internally. Both teams moved on with their schedules. But the conversation kept going, on television and in newspaper columns and on social media, now as an abstract referendum on race, physicality, gender, the health of the league and more. It was perhaps the first time an individual WNBA foul received its own segment on Good Morning America. A Congressman called on the league for answers. NBA commissioner Adam Silver was asked to weigh in. Even days later, the reach of the discussion could seem immediately, frighteningly tangible. When the Sky arrived at their hotel in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, they were confronted by a man in an interaction where security had to intervene.
