The Indiana Fever defeated the Atlanta Dream 81-76 on Thursday. The result may be forgotten within a couple of days, but a moment captured by cameras appears to be what lingers for certain people. Dream center Brittney Griner had five fouls when she re-entered the game with four minutes remaining and the Fever leading by three.
Almost immediately, she was called for her sixth foul on what one Peachtree TV announcer called a “ticky-tack” foul. Griner appeared visibly frustrated while huddling with her teammates on the floor before leaving the game. It’s worth noting that Griner was called for a foul on Fever forward Natasha Howard. (It’s also probably part of why she’s so fired up with refs these days.)
Having fouled out, Griner went to the bench, where Peachtree TV cameras caught her frustratingly talking, though there was no audio. It appears that she is saying “f*cking trash” before saying something that some people have interpreted as “f*cking white girl,” presumably about Indiana’s Caitlin Clark, who has been at the center of ongoing narratives around her relationship with Black players in the league.
Clark, who saw her streak of games with at least one three-pointer (stretching back to her time at Iowa) end, finished the game with 11 points and six assists. She was also involved in an incident during the first quarter in which she and Dream guard Rhyne Howard bumped into one another and traded barbs. Clark could be seen telling Howard, “I’m not scared of you” afterward.
The clip of Griner speaking on the bench, which lacked the abovementioned context, spread on social media and went viral via several conservative-leaning media outlets and personalities, such as Riley Gaines.
“Brittney Griner appeared to call Caitlin Clark “trash” and a “f***ing white girl” after fouling out last night,” wrote Gaines on X. “Just a reminder: this is who we traded for the Russian Merchant of Death,” referring to Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was part of prisoner swap with Russia that allowed the United States to get Griner home following her detainment and arrest over traces of hash oil.
Jemele Hill caught wind of Gaines’ post on Saturday and couldn’t let it slide.
“I get that your whole personality is caught up in stuff like this, so you don’t care about spreading misinformation,” wrote Hill. “1) the foul call made on her had nothing to do with Caitlin Clark. It was because she fouled Natasha Howard. 2) She clearly says “trash” and “f*cking WACK CALL” But carry on with your grifting ass.”
That garnered a response from Gaines, who tried to pivot towards the issues of transgender women participating in women’s sports, which she has become a staunch opponent of after competing against Lia Thomas in college swimming.
“I didn’t ask for the platform I have,” replied Gaines. “I simply said men in women’s sports is wrong which you, as a self-proclaimed women’s sports enthusiast, have yet to do. So I’ll ask directly, do men belong in women’s sports? Silence is an answer btw.”
Never one to remain silent, Hill responded.
“So I called you out on your obvious bullsh*t and because you have no response, you shift back into the grift that made you popular,” wrote Hill. “Go buy Lia Thomas some flowers and thank her for you becoming a media figure.”
The interactions appear to have ended there, at least as of the time of this writing.
Did Brittney Griner say “f***ing white girl” or “f***ing wack call”? When you actually consider the full context of the situation, it seems very unlikely she said the former. At the very least, even if she did say that, she probably wasn’t talking about Clark, who had nothing to do with the play in question.
Of course, all of that might not matter. What matters is that the truncated clip featured someone that a certain political sphere doesn’t like, presumably saying something about a different person that sphere does like, allowing them to build their own context around it. It wouldn’t be the first time, and sadly, it won’t be the last time.