The WNBA’s Crash Course In Sports Fandom: Dealing With Crazy Fans Is Part Of The Job

This article was written by Mark J. Burns and published on Sport & State, a new media company founded by Clay Travis that is built around sports, culture, original voices, and live conversation.
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Years ago, a popular t-shirt read like this: ‘Everyone Watches Women’s Sports.’

It should have also included the eye-opening fine print, ‘And Fans Behave Like Fans.’ Imagine that.

In 2026, the WNBA is finally learning what every other professional sports league in the world has known for decades.

Fans — short for fanatic — are loud, passionate, crazed, spirited individuals who, for three to four hours on gameday, become a different version of themselves as they cheer on their favorite team. Yes, there’s arena regulations and policies that protect the athletes and fans, but players don’t get to dictate the terms of that fandom, for better or for worse.

Case in point: during Game 2 of the WNBA’s opening round of the postseason, Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson lost her collective mind when an Indiana Fever fan pointed – with a capital ‘P’ — and likely raised his voice at the star center. Wilson proceeded to confront the fan and have a hissy fit in the postgame press conference, failing to actually explain what the fan, who exhibited normal fan behavior, said to her.

It’s another example of the disfunction in the WNBA that keeps the publicly engaged with its product, as pointed out by my Sport & State colleague Karen Crouse.

Fever forward Sophie Cunningham sounded off on the entire incident in a new podcast episode with basketball trainer Drew Hanlen.

“I’ve heard the worst of the worst. It’s part of it. It’s part of it. Like, who cares?” said Cunningham, adding that she has been “sh*t on” for the entire 2026 season because of what she has stood for publicly, which includes protecting women’s sports.

“You should be grateful to be on this platform. You should be grateful to be playing basketball for a living and inspiring the next generation. If you really want sports fans, then you’re going to get sports fans. That includes pointing, that includes getting yelled at, probably getting called names.”

Sophie Cunningham tees off on WNBA players whining about fans. Watch this, it’s absolutely perfect. They should make her commissioner. https://t.co/N2eBznQYSr

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) October 4, 2026

Cunningham isn’t wrong, though fans are animated and obnoxious, sometimes crossing a line and needing to be reprimanded accordingly. This fan in particular did no such thing.

The outspoken Cunningham, who sparked more outrage by mocking Wilson in a recent TikTok video, told the Aces’ player multiple times in the podcast to “grow up” after she decided to confront the courtside fan.

Cunningham continued, “Who would thought someone pointing would just cause so many people to go into a mental spiral. That says a lot more about you and your mental status than anything that the fans are doing.”

Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell also recently addressed the realities of being Fever player. There’s toxic parts to making a living as a professional athlete in our social media, keyboard-warrior era. Just ask NFL and NBA players what they experience on a regular basis.

Kelsey Mitchell discusses all the noise surrounding the Indiana Fever this season:

“Showing up every day to compete for fans that may or may not like you is hard…Playing with CC & having the eyes that she got, we get a lot of flack for just being on her team” https://t.co/j1KoWps8df

— Kyle Ingram (@SnapshotKyle) October 3, 2026

“If I showed y’all my DMs about the hate and all of the stuff that comes with being a professional athlete, but specifically being an Indiana Fever basketball player, it’s a lot that goes into that,” Mitchell said. “Those days are hard as hell, man. … Showing up every day to compete for fans that may or may not like you is hard. I don’t think people understand that.”

Mitchell added, “Playing with [Caitlin Clark] and having the eyes that she got, we get a lot of flak for just being on her team.”

Yes, that’s 100% true but conversely, if it wasn’t for Clark, in large part, there arguably wouldn’t be as many fans watching in the first place.

There was always going to be a tradeoff. Now, like every other league, you don’t get to choose what type of fan shows up to watch.

Follow Mark J. Burns on X Twitter @markjburns88

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