We’re almost a full year removed from Christine Brennan’s controversial line of questioning towards then-Connecticut Sun player DiJonai Carrington over an incident involving contact to Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark’s face during a first round playoff game.
As has been well-documented, Brennan inquired about the incident in a manner that some WNBA players and media peers took exception to. “DiJoinai, did you, when you went and kind of swatted at Caitlin, did you intend to hit her in the eye? And if so, could you just- or if not, either way, could you talk about what happened on that play?” Brennan asked.
In the ensuing days, the WNBPA called for Brennan’s press credentials to be revoked, releasing a lengthy statement on social media attacking the veteran journalist. “Instead of demonstrating the cornerstones of journalism ethics like integrity, objectivity, and a fundamental commitment to truth, you have chosen to be indecent and downright insincere. You have abused your privileges and do not deserve the credentials issued to you,” the statement read.
The merits of Brennan’s exact wording of the question can be debated, but the ultimate end of the question cannot. The USA Today columnist was asking a question of great public interest. The incident between Carrington and Clark had taken over WNBA discourse, and fans wanted to hear straight from the source.
Was Brennan’s wording sloppy? Yes. Saying Carrington “kind of swatted at Caitlin” rather than saying something along the lines of “contested Caitlin’s shot” is leading, and implies there was malicious intent in her actions. But in no way was Brennan’s question out of bounds. It was simply asking a player to give her perspective about a play that had garnered a lot of attention.
As such, Brennan has fiercely defended herself, saying she’d ask the question “100 times out of 100.” In the weeks following the incident, Brennan took aim at the WNBA for not preparing its players to face tough questions.
“The national scrutiny that the WNBA is getting is something that maybe a lot of the players were not prepared for,” Brennan said at the The Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism Symposium in November. “I do wonder if the WNBA was preparing its athletes properly for questions that would come.”
Now, it seems like Brennan had good reason to believe that is the case.
In an excerpt from her forthcoming book “On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women’s Sports,” Brennan reveals that a WNBA official explained to her how unprepared its players were for rigorous media coverage.
“Unfortunately, most of our players have zero idea what real media exposure is,” the league official told Brennan. “They don’t know what real coverage is, they have been shielded at college, and then they come to the WNBA not knowing what real questions are. Frankly, our players just don’t get it.”
That is a pretty damning statement to come from a league official and suggests that the WNBA has failed its players by not preparing them for the increased spotlight Clark and others have brought to the league. It cuts right at the heart of the union’s suggestion that Brennan’s question was “designed to fuel racist, homophobic, and misogynistic vitriol on social media.” Instead, it suggests the league thought Brennan’s question was a fair opportunity for its players to set the record straight.
Do WNBA players have every reason to be skeptical about the media’s motives based on the many bad-faith arguments that take hold on social media? Sure. But that doesn’t mean journalists are looking to fuel those narratives. In fact, as Brennan suggests, they might be looking to give you an opportunity to redirect those very narratives.
And the fact that at least one league official saw the reaction to the Brennan-Carrington incident as a failure of preparedness is telling. WNBA players, just like athletes in every other pro sports league, should expect to face tough questions from the media. Reporters are not employed to serve as evangelists for the league, as much as players might prefer that.
This entire saga might prove to be a good lesson for both the WNBA and its players. No longer is the league flying under the radar, avoiding tough questions because few are paying attention. Now, everyone is paying attention, and that means addressing topics that might’ve been avoided once upon a time. That’s the price of popularity.