A’ja Wilson lost her temper at a fan in Indianapolis on Tuesday night, and the loudest response has come from a player who was not in the building and whose season is already over.
Natasha Cloud of the Chicago Sky took to Threads and put the responsibility on the home team. “Imma be the one to say it’s time for Indy as an organization to start denouncing some,” she wrote, with an expletive the outlets censored.
She was not finished. “No it’s not our job to continue to fix the job is to hoop and be safe doing it.”
What Happened in Game 2
Indiana beat Las Vegas 99-89 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to even the first-round series at a game apiece. Midway through the fourth quarter, Wilson got tangled with Sophie Cunningham fighting through a screen. After the foul was called on Cunningham, Wilson turned on a male fan seated behind the basket who had stood up, pointed and shouted at her.
Teammates and officials pulled her back. Wilson took a technical foul. The fan was briefly escorted away from the court area, then returned to his seat and was seen celebrating with the people around him.
Wilson’s postgame explanation was not an apology. “If I see a man come at me, taking steps toward me and pointing at me, I don’t give a damn what you said, that is unacceptable,” she said. “You don’t know me to step toward me and point at me. I’m not for that.”
Then the part that will get quoted for a while: “You don’t have to like me. But you don’t know me. But I guarantee you will respect me.”
Indiana Closed the Book Immediately
The Fever’s statement, reported by James Boyd of The Athletic, explains why Cloud is angry. “Following a report of a comment directed toward a player, arena security spoke with the fan involved and witnesses. Security determined there was no violation of the Fan Code of Conduct, the fan was not removed from the arena. We consider the matter closed.”
No penalty came for Wilson either. A person familiar with the ruling told the Associated Press on Thursday that the league did not suspend or fine her because she never left the court area while pointing and shouting. The same person said the fan had not violated the code of conduct and was therefore allowed back to his seat. There is no on-the-record league statement and no named official attached to that reasoning.
Why Cloud Has Standing Here
Her reference to “the 2nd man to take a step towards the court” is the key to the whole post, and it is about her.
In August, former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom was removed from Wintrust Arena during a Sky game after standing from a courtside seat and exchanging words with Cloud. He was then banned from Chicago home games. Sky owner Michael Alter said Freedom became a potential threat when he stepped toward the court. Freedom has since filed a federal lawsuit against the Sky alleging he was ejected over his speech and viewpoint.
Freedom also weighed in on Wilson this week, and he picked the opposite side. “I think A’ja Wilson should be suspended,” he said. “Listen, he did not do anything wrong. He was just very passionate about the game.”
The Inconsistency Is the Story
Chicago banned a man for stepping toward the floor. Indiana reviewed a man who stood, pointed and yelled at a player from behind the basket and decided nothing had been violated. Both cannot be the right standard.
Cloud is asking the Fever to pick one, and she is right to ask. The Aces and Fever play a deciding Game 3 in Las Vegas on Thursday night, where this becomes somebody else’s security problem.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.