WNBA player Brittney Griner, known for her infamous stint in a Russian jail, has recently found herself in the spotlight once again. On May 22, 2025, Griner was reportedly seen on camera possibly referring to Caitlin Clark as a “trash (expletive) white girl” after being fouled out in a game where her current team, the Atlanta Dream, faced Clark’s Indiana Fever. Due to the absence of a microphone to capture this incident, there is uncertainty regarding the exact wording and whom Griner’s comments were intended for. To avoid any ambiguity in future references, Griner made sure to make her presence undeniably known by cutting off an on-court halftime interview during the Dream’s game against the Dallas Wings on May 24, 2025, to openly criticize the game officials, telling them to “be (expletive) better.” Quite the spectacle.
The incident on May 22, which might have been directed at Clark, drew the attention of Riley Gaines, an outspoken advocate for keeping women’s sports exclusive to women.
The precise nature of Griner’s remarks, along with the intended recipient, is still uncertain. As of now, neither Griner, Clark, the teams involved, nor the WNBA has officially addressed the situation. ESPN, as expected, has also remained silent on the matter.
ESPN has also missed Griner berating the officials on May 24 (language warning).
About the only thing left for Griner to do this season is throw hands. The season is barely underway, so plenty of time remains for such.
Snark aside, if Griner said what she stands accused of saying about Clark, it is not a good look for her or the WNBA. Players trash-talking one another has been part of sports since the original Olympics in Greece when two marathon participants spent the race’s entirety insisting the other’s technique was to running what Pandora was to following instructions. Racially-charged epithets, however, are unacceptable regardless of originator or subject. Also unacceptable is dropping bombs on live TV when you know the sound is on.
It’s not as if this is the first time the WNBA has had an issue with players doing a much better job of playing Mean Girls instead of basketball. Not that you would know it from watching most any given broadcast of a WNBA game, with the announcers seemingly mandatory unrelenting onslaught of lavish praise on all participants for so little as successfully not tying their shoelaces together before running onto the court, but a lot of WNBA players are not very good. Sadly, far too often, it appears that the fundamentals of shooting the ball — the ABCs, if you will — suffer from the misinterpretation of being Airball, Brick, and Clunker. When a player with authentic skill, such as Clark, comes along, instead of responding by putting in the work to up their game, a lamentable number of players spend their time being put out of shape while bathing in their tears.
If the WNBA wishes to be taken seriously as a professional sports league, it must embrace the practice of disciplining its own without catering to the soft bigotry of low expectations. The incessant “what about me” whining by players such as Angel Reese should be an embarrassment. Likeability is neither defined nor limited by skin color or preference. Neither is boorish behavior excused by past grievances or accomplishments. Brittney Griner’s on-court accomplishments are unimpeachable: a WNBA championship and three Olympic gold medals. Regrettably, the off-court lack of common sense that led to her arrest and imprisonment in Russia has now made itself onto the playing surface and an astonishing inability to keep her mouth shut.
