The Caitlin Clark-Alyssa Thomas incident has prompted uncomfortable conversations about players’ security in the WNBA. In a snowball event that led to Thomas getting targeted on social media in the aftermath of Thomas’ hard foul on Clark, the negative influences threatening the W’s growth have emerged. Now, the national NFL Network and Women’s Sports Now’s Colleen Wolfe has shared her take on the trend of personally attacking players online.

“Growth isn’t just always great,” Wolfe said via Women’s Sports Now on ESPN. “There is a downside too, because when you have more attention, yes, that brings new fans, but that also brings trolls and bad actors and people that are just looking to provoke. That’s not just a WNBA problem. We see it all over the sports. But it just feels like athletes should not have to normalize online abuse because that’s what it feels like.”

“It’s not the cost of doing business. It’s not just, ‘oh, you’re famous, you’re in a prominent position, now you have to deal with this.'” There’s something else that’s done, and maybe it’s not just the WNBA that needs to do something; maybe it’s the social media platforms as well.”

The WNBA is currently in the best shape of its history. Star players across the league have signed million-dollar ‘supermax’ contracts after the new CBA this year, and regular-season games featuring Caitlin Clark have broken viewership records since 2024.

However, the most recent incidents like Alyssa Thomas and then Chelsea Gray have shown that the league is struggling to curb harassment directed toward players on social media.

On June 30, Thomas called out the W and commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “We still have yet to hear anything from Cathy. It’s no surprise. You can see what’s being said on social media. It’s unfortunate, but as usual, she remains silent.”

While an uproar followed, including players and coaches standing up for Thomas and even the league condemning it within two weeks, Las Vegas Aces veteran Chelsea Gray faced something similar.

Gray even shared a screenshot showcasing brutal attacks on her Instagram DM’s. Besides these veterans, young WNBA players like Clark are bashed on social media threads.

This toxicity across the league has become an urgent issue that the league is still struggling to address. This is where Wolfe feels that social media platforms can also help prevent this toxicity from escalating further in a major league like the WNBA.

Now the WNBPA has stepped in. The players’ union has set up a meeting with commissioner Cathy Engelbert to discuss this persistent issue on Tuesday. Whether this latest effort ends up helping the league remains to be seen.