In previous years, it is safe to say that the WNBA has indeed succeeded in turning its All-Star Game from merely a standalone event into an entire weekend.
It used to arrive in a city without much fanfare. Now, it has become one of the biggest events of the summer for whichever locale is hosting.
As we inch closer and closer to this year’s All-Star weekend in Chicago, more news will trickle in regarding who the top vote-getters will be, what commissioner Cathy Engelbert will say during her State of the W address, participants for the 3-Point Competition and Skills Challenge and a possible halftime performer for the game itself. One would think Sabrina Ionescu and Caitlin Clark would participate in the 3-Point Contest.
Considering that All-Star is also taking place during the same weekend as the Nike Nationals, the WNBA may do another collaboration with the national travel event as was the case in 2022 when Chicago last hosted.
The most recent news regarding All-Star weekend should trouble many a WNBA fan. There is a Sportico report suggesting that “USA 250” patches could be worn on All-Star jerseys. On the surface, this may not sound like a big deal. But when one finds out that the finds out this is actually a partnership between Fanatics and this White House, it makes it completely puzzling when looking at it from a WNBA perspective.
Things were clarified in a later report by Callie Fin at USA Today. She found out that the WNBA is “non-committal” on the USA 250 patches but it still could happen.
Based on what has been reported, it appears the W may or may not have a say-so in this matter. It was reported that the WNBA has not initially part of the original USA 250 plans but those may or may not have changed over time. At the end of the day, this may or may not have more to do with Fanatics moreso than the WNBA itself.
Considering the connection that these patches have to this current White House, this would be another public relations rake the WNBA is stepping on roughly a month and change prior to All-Star weekend.
Brianna Turner blasted this decision on her social media account recently. Turner is not only a forward for the Las Vegas Aces but she is also a treasurer for the WNBPA. Turner correctly mentioned how the majority of this country’s inhabitants would not have had their freedom in 1776.
Black and LGBTQIA+ players make up the bulk of the WNBA. The optics of a league having its mostly Black and LGBTQIA+ player base wearing patches “celebrating its history” when they would have been enslaved 250 years ago are anything but good.
Fin made an excellent point in her report for USA Today. She mentioned how in this year’s NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs that both of those teams are also sporting USA 250 patches. Interestingly enough, when the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson got injured in Game 1, he returned to that contest with a jersey without the USA 250 patch.
Again, this may or may not have more to do with Fanatics than the W itself, but it is tone deaf when one looks at this from a WNBA perspective. In addition, this appears to be an instance of Fanatics potentially not understanding the WNBA’s audience – or prioritizing overall profits at the expense of alienating the W’s audience.
These jerseys will not only be worn on the court by players when they take the court at the United Center in Chicago. Replicas of these jerseys will likely also be on sale at WNBA Live. Considering the controversial ties of these patches, they are meant to appeal to a specific audience when the fanbase that was watching the W before it became cool to watch the W may decide to balk at purchasing these threads either at WNBA Live or at the WNBA online store.
One gets that this is this country’s 250th anniversary, but one must also take heed of the different initiatives that have the 250 brand. USA 250 and Freedom 250 are both directly tied to this White House which has drawn the deserved ire of many a WNBA player. The America 250 organization is bipartisan – and was actually included in a recent NBA Cares post on Memorial Day.
Remember when so many musical acts – including Morris Day and the Time, The Commodores, Fabrice Morvan of Milli Vanilli and Young MC – recently balked from performing at a concert in Washington, D.C. for the nation’s 250th birthday? Those acts believed it was an America 250 initiative when it was really a Freedom 250 concert. So many artists balked it has even become a meme on social media. More than likely, you reading this have backed out of said concert.
Even though the WNBA has attempted to de-emphasize its reality to appeal to a broader audience, social activism and the struggle for equality and justice are in the W’s DNA. Wearing a patch that is directly linked to this explicitly anti-woman White House flies directly in the face of one of the elements of the W that makes it the W.
Turner is also correct that this was, more than likely, a financial decision before anything else. But while money is important, it is not the only thing. Hopefully, that report from Fin remains true and the WNBA remains “non-committal” on these USA 250 patches.
One can only imagine what the reaction to this must be within WNBA player circles as they have a lot more than 250 reasons to blow the whistle on this.
