Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White denounced racism and all forms of hate after Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas revealed she was subjected to online abuse in the aftermath of her on-court incident with Caitlin Clark.
One day after Thomas said she faced death threats and racial slurs, White condemned anyone engaging in that "absolutely unacceptable" behavior.
"I think as a league, as a whole, there's been so much more toxicity, racism, ****** phobia, straight-out nonsense... it is absolutely unacceptable," White said at practice on Wednesday, July 1. "If you are one of these people that are online doing this, do not call yourself a WNBA fan."
White also said she believes a majority of the toxic discourse impacting Thomas is the direct result of online agitators using the situation to push an agenda, rather than the real reactions of true fans of the Fever or the league.
"I truly believe that it is an online community that is using our league, that is using our players to continue to further divisive, hateful narratives," she added. "We are not about continuing this narrative, and it's just absolutely unacceptable... We've got to continue to support our players in our league."