Legendary women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma has weighed in on a WNBA season with as much coverage of what’s happening off the court as on.
Auriemma, a towering figure in the women’s game with a record 12 NCAA titles at the University of Connecticut, spoke on TODAY Aug. 12 about the state of the women’s professional game. He was asked broadly about controversies facing the league and “the “conversation around the differences between the players.”
“It’s a shame because for years we’ve wanted more attention paid to women’s sports, craved the attention, wanted it, deserved it, and it never came to the extent that it is today,” Auriemma said. “And now the attention unfortunately is on the wrong things.
“So they need to figure out a way to bring the attention back to the incredible young players that have come into the league, the incredible teams that are in the league, the level of play, how much it’s changed,” he added.
He said he wants to see the conversation “get back to the game.”
“Let’s talk about the game instead of these hypothetical things that may or may not happen down the road,” Auriemma said.
The WNBA has been roiled with issues this season, including the physical play from opponents against Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark. Then on Aug. 8, the WNBA rescinded a technical foul from Clark, her eighth of the season, that would’ve resulted in a one-game suspension.
Her Fever teammate, Sophie Cunningham, also has been a lightning rod for her comments in an ESPN story published on July 21 in which she said she wants “to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”
Her remarks became the latest fodder for online culture wars regarding transgender athletes. The WNBA has never had an openly transgender player in the history of the league.
A flagrant foul against Cunningham by Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington in a game on Aug. 8 also made headlines, with Carrington posting “WHITE PRIVILEGE” on her Threads account shortly after being ejected from the game. Carrington then denied that her social media post had any connection to the hard foul in a post on X on Aug. 11.
Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White, accused of not supporting Cunningham after the flagrant foul, gave a statement to reporters Aug. 11 broadly slamming hate and divisiveness in the WNBA.
“The hate, the fearmongering, the divisiveness, the stuff that’s trying to hijack our league will not win,” White said, according to ESPN.
“We are united. We are connected. We will not be divided,” White continued. “Every day, these women put their a– on the line. Every day, when they go low, we go high. Love will win, grace will win, humility will win, and kindness will win. I stand by them. I will always stand by them. Everybody else can go to hell.”
Auriemma, 72, who has coached many of the WNBA’s biggest stars at UConn, did not address any specific league controversies in his comments on TODAY but emphasized returning the focus to the play on the court.
“I have a thing at Connecticut. If it doesn’t impact winning, I don’t want to talk about it. So what’s this have to do with winning?”
Auriemma’s tenure at UConn is the subject of a new three-part documentary, “The Dynasty: UConn Huskies,” that will begin streaming on Apple TV on Aug. 21.