There are multiple quotes that either Reese or Clark apparently said that have spread like wildfire in the WNBA fandom. \u201cY\u2019all make $1400 a week, I make $1400 in 7 days.\u201d A post alleged that Reese said this. It had more than 100k likes across social media. \u201cThis post has 111K likes on Instagram, and there\u2019s no record Angel Reese ever said this,\u201d SB Nation\u2019s Noa Dalzell shared. \u201cMisinformation\/fake news is just getting so insane. I don\u2019t even know how you combat this.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Then the popular parody account NBA Centel put out a post which alleged that Clark said this after Angel Reese appeared on the NBA 2K26 cover, \u201cAt first I thought it was a prank. I\u2019m happy for her, though.\u201d This post has 72k likes. It\u2019s obviously a manufactured quote, but on the fly, it could be perceived as real by some. However, this is just the nature of the account across the WNBA and the NBA. No one is spared from the trolling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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via Imago<\/p>\n
AP Photo\/Michael Conroy<\/p>\n
It\u2019s just that a part of the WNBA fanbase has little information regarding this and takes things literally, without verification. The fake news problem is prevalent in the social media era, and the WNBA is just getting affected this year because of its massive increase in popularity. Courtesy of the pay-per-interaction model of social media, this clickbait type of quotes and fake news is never going to go away. The solution is always verifying each piece of information from trusted sources before concluding, be it regarding the player you support or a rival.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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That\u2019s where people get it wrong: they selectively verify the information because of confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is the tendency for people to seek out, interpret, favor, and remember information in a way that confirms their existing beliefs or preconceptions. This cognitive bias leads individuals to focus on evidence that supports what they already think while ignoring or dismissing information that contradicts their views. Like Katie Nolan further said, \u201cIt informs an opinion they already have. They scroll past it and then they use it in conversation if they if it ever comes up.\u201d<\/p>\n
We need WNBA and sports fans in general to beat this and start rigorous verification. On the other hand, you can\u2019t control social media spirals, but the mainstream media should be following this, too. While it starts as harmless trolling, it turns into something more ugly, eventually affecting the players.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n WNBA Under Fire: Security and Hate Issues Mount<\/p>\n Over the period of the 2025 season, there were multiple incidents of fans throwing d\u2013dos on the court towards the players. The players could have gotten hurt, but fortunately, none did. However, it did impact the optics of the league.\u201cEveryone\u2019s trying to make sure the W is not a joke and it\u2019s taken seriously, and then that happens,\u201d Caitlin Clark\u2019s teammate Sophie Cunningham said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The WNBA responded in a statement: \u201cThe safety and well-being of everyone in our arenas is a top priority for our league. Objects of any kind thrown onto the court or in the seating area can pose a safety risk for players, game officials, and fans.\u201d\u00a0 Beyond those multiple incidents, Angel Reese has been a victim of racist abuse on social media. However, that is not limited to the WNBA and has been consistent since her LSU days.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been through so much,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve seen so much. I\u2019ve been attacked so many times, death threats, I\u2019ve been sexualized,\u00a0 I\u2019ve been threatened. I\u2019ve been so many things, and I\u2019ve stood strong every single time.\u201d That hasn\u2019t changed much in the WNBA. The misinformation is a part of a much larger hate train towards athletes, be it WNBA or NBA. Brittney Griner faced a wave of this during her controversy, where she was detained in Russia. Even later on, Stephen A Smith interpreted one of her fake quotes regarding Caitlin Clark and called her out while saying, \u201csomebody who is now free, back in America, on home soil, would not have too much to complain about.\u201d<\/p>\n via Imago<\/p>\n CHICAGO, IL \u2013 AUGUST 19: Angel Reese 5 of the Chicago Sky looks on during the second half against the Seattle Storm on August 19, 2025 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. Photo by Melissa Tamez\/Icon Sportswire WNBA, Basketball Damen, USA AUG 19 Seattle Storm at Chicago Sky EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon250819040<\/p>\n The players are affected because of this, leading to the WNBA\u2019s on-court product decreasing in quality. In response, the WNBA rolled out the<\/a> \u201cNo Space for Hate\u201d campaign aimed at reducing hateful language. Before games, Commissioner Cathy Engelbert\u2019s recorded message asks for civility and respect from he attendees. The league also improved its mental health offerings. The WNBA has equipped players, their families, and league staff with Social Protect, an AI-powered app that automatically deletes hateful and abusive comments across TikTok, Instagram, and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n This tool, already trusted by Australia\u2019s rugby governing body, puts real-time digital protection right in the hands of those facing online hate. The fires haven\u2019t been put out despite the measures. \u201cI don\u2019t think the league has done enough,\u201d said Sami Whitcomb. It\u2019s a complicated problem to solve, but the league should at least ramp up its efforts to do so.\u00a0 With the CBA situation around Caitlin Clark and Co.<\/a> still in the grey, this problem has taken a backseat, but something that needs to be addressed soon.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While friendly rivalries have existed in the W, things never got as heated as they have with Caitlin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":{"0":"post-227507","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"article-image\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/imago1065359076-e1757038505195.jpg\")
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