The Biggest WNBA Controversies That Rocked The League
From public cheating accusations to historic brawls and culture-shifitng rivalries, these controversies kept the WNBA at the center of the conversation.
The WNBA has never received more attention than it does right now. Ironically enough, more eyes on the league also means more attention on everything that happens away from the basketball court. That became painfully clear when the private breakup between DiJonai Carrington and NaLyssa Smith suddenly turned into one of the messiest public controversies the league has seen in years.
Carrington publicly accused Smith, her former girlfriend and teammate, of cheating on her with multiple WNBA players. Carrington named Deja Kelly and Aaliyah Nye in social media posts, while Smith later questioned why her ex decided to make the allegations public long after their relationship ended. Neither Kelly or Nye has publicly addressed the accusations, and Carrington’s claims have not been verified. Still, the situation quickly swallowed the WNBA conversation following All-Star Weekend and showed just how closely fans are now following the players’ lives beyond basketball.
The Carrington-Smith drama is only the latest example of controversy becoming much bigger than the league initially expected. Over the years, the WNBA has dealt with everything from explosive accusations about its locker room culture or international political crises, violent on-court altercations and debates that became conversations about race, sexuality and gender. Here are some of the biggest controversies that rocked the league.
DiJonai Carrington Accuses NaLyssa Smith Of Cheating
Carrington and Smith’s relationship was already well known among WNBA fans before their breakup, making Carrington’s allegations especially explosive. The drama intensified after Smith reportedly attended an All-Star Weekend party hosted by Carrington’s friends, leading Carrington to publicly accuse her ex of being unfaithful with several women around the league. Smith responded during a livestream, criticizing the decision to bring their private relationship online, but the full story remains disputed and largely based on public accusations rather than established facts.
Candice Wiggins Says She Was Bullied For Being Straight
Former WNBA guard Candice Wiggins caused a firestorm in 2017 when she said she had been bullied during her eight seasons in the league because she was heterosexual and presented herself in a traditionally feminine way. Wiggins described the league’s culture as harmful, claimed other players intentionally tried to hurt her and estimated that 98% of the WNBA was gay — an unsupported figure that drew immediate criticism. Several players disputed her characterization of the league, while her former Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said the comments sounded homophobic, turning Wiggins’ personal account into a larger and deeply uncomfortable debate about sexuality, acceptance and the WNBA’s culture.
Brittney Griner Is Detained In Russia
Brittney Griner’s detention in Russia transcended sports and became an international political crisis. Russian authorities detained Griner at a Moscow-area airport on Feb. 17, 2022, after vape cartridges containing cannabis oil were discovered in her luggage. She was later convicted and sentenced to nine years in prison, spending nearly 10 months in Russian custody as the United States worked to secure her return. Griner was finally released on Dec. 8, 2022, as part of a prisoner exchange involving Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Although the ordeal was not a “WNBA scandal” per se, it rocked the league, with players, teams and fans spending the entire 2022 season demanding that Griner be brought home.
The Sparks & Shock Brawl
One of the ugliest altercations in WNBA history happened on July 22, 2008, when a game between the Los Angeles Sparks and Detroit Shock erupted into a full-scale brawl. With only seconds remaining, Sparks rookie Candace Parker and Shock forward Plenette Pierson became tangled before falling to the floor and exchanging blows. Players and coaches rushed into the confrontation, Detroit assistant coach Rick Mahorn knocked Lisa Leslie to the court while attempting to intervene and Cheryl Ford suffered a season-ending knee injury during the chaos. The league responded with multiple suspensions and fines, but the lasting image was of two championship contenders completely losing control on national television.
The Never-Ending Debate Over WNBA Physicality
Physical basketball has always been part of the WNBA, but Caitlin Clark’s arrival brought unprecedented attention to how games are officiated. Chennedy Carter’s off-ball hip check on Clark in 2024 became a flashpoint after officials initially called it a common foul before upgrading it to a flagrant violation. Similar confrontations involving Clark, Angel Reese and other players created endless arguments over whether Clark was being targeted, whether officials were losing control or whether new viewers simply were not accustomed to the league’s physical style. The debate escalated again in 2026 after controversial contact involving Clark (and the Phoenix Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas) prompted congressional questions about player safety — an insane development for what began as an officiating discussion.
Caitlin Clark & Angel Reese Become A Culture War/Rivalry
The tension attached to Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese started before either woman entered the WNBA. Their rivalry exploded during the 2023 NCAA championship game, when Reese pointed to her ring finger and used Clark’s own “you can’t see me” gesture as LSU defeated Iowa. Their professional matchups drew enormous audiences, but the basketball rivalry soon became entangled in arguments about race, media coverage, popularity and respect. Clark and Reese have repeatedly avoided directly attacking each other, yet nearly every foul, celebration, facial expression or handshake between them gets dissected online. What should have been a compelling rivalry between two young stars instead became a proxy battle for fans determined to tear one woman down to support the other.
The Backlash To Players’ Social Justice Protests
The WNBA has frequently found itself at the center of political debates because its players have been more outspoken than athletes in many other professional leagues. In 2016, the WNBA initially fined the New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury and Indiana Fever after players wore unauthorized black warm-up shirts in response to police killings and violence against Black Americans. The league eventually rescinded those fines following widespread backlash. Years later, players helped campaign against then Atlanta Dream co-owner Kelly Loeffler after she criticized the league’s support for Black Lives Matter, openly backing Raphael Warnock in the 2020 U.S. Senate race. Warnock eventually defeated Loeffler, creating one of the best examples of professional athletes using their platform to influence a political contest directly.
The WNBA’s biggest controversies have rarely stayed confined to the basketball court. They have touched politics, relationships, sexuality, race and international diplomacy, often forcing a league that was once fighting for attention to navigate more scrutiny than ever before. That attention has not always been comfortable, but it is another sign that what happens in and around the WNBA now carries enough weight to shape conversations throughout the sports world.
