Wiggins Trashes WNBA Culture

[Bedford fan]

Well, Broadway is pretty gay too, doesn't mean the singing and dancing are no good. I hear that the league is and has had mostly gay players. Might even be challenging to straight kids sometimes, socially etc.
Bullying is a completely different story and is not based on sexual preferences. It's awful. And yes, NFL culture is beyond anyone's imagination, nasty and exploitative. Grown-ups playing kid games for money, not the NY Philharmonic.

 

[Plebe]

She can't be making all this stuff up just to sell books. She also can't be the only player in the league that was bullied or uncomfortable with the style of play or number of gay players. What advantage would they have to publicly speak up?

People do make stuff up for any number of reasons. Or that might be her distorted perception of how she was treated, when in fact she was the one who was or came across as standoffish or arrogant, or had some mixture of a princess mentality and victim complex.

 

[Wbbfan1]

So many are Quick to Discredit Candice's Words, but if it was a member of the LGBT Community saying she was bullied, they quickly agree,. even if they don't know all the facts/situation.

 

[j66kicker]

People do make stuff up for any number of reasons. Or that might be her distorted perception of how she was treated, when in fact she was the one who was or came across as standoffish or arrogant, or had some mixture of a princess mentality and victim complex.

I suspect it's some mixture of both ("make stuff up" and "distorted perception").

One other possibility no one seems to be considering is that it's ~100% true. ???

In any case I expect there is some dose of truth in there somewhere (smoke/fire theory). As someone mentioned, she's a smart person - could she really be that tone deaf? Anyway I'm not sure "truth" is universal in this case. Everyone probably has their own truth - no 2 players treated exactly the same.

 

[oldude]

The more serious charge is that of "bullying" which may have an element of truth to it, but Wiggins undermines her own credibility with the claim that 98% of the players in the WNBA are gay. How can she possibly know the sexual preferences of 150 other players in the league?

 

[Scotter]

Wiggins went from a college star with a promising rookie WNBA season to quickly being a barely functional WNBA player after the injuries started. I'm sure in that situation someone that had never really failed up until that point feels a need to look for outside reasons for the failure.

I did find the comments about playing like a guy interesting. I wonder how literally she meant that. When I project players forward to the NBA one of the main things I look for is to what degree they play basketball like a guy in terms of their skills, a particularly shooting form. Especially as the skill level to play in the WNBA continues to increase.

I agree with Wiggins in that she did not play like a guy. Her shooting form did not allow her to come off screens and shoot quickly. She couldn't really fade away. The difference in shooting form between Wiggins and someone like Maya is enormous. Her ability to finish driving to the basket was also limited. She quickly became a player limited to being a spot up shooter in the WNBA as she didn't have the shooting form or ball handling ability to create opportunities in a WNBA environment.

 

[Vowelguy]

So many are Quick to Discredit Candice's Words, but if it was a member of the LGBT Community saying she was bullied, they quickly agree,. even if they don't know all the facts/situation.

1) when you state something clearly false - 98% - funny how the rest of your comments are met with skepticism

2) uhh, well there's a long history of discrimination against LGBT, so yes it is much easier to believe in anti-gay discrimination

 

[topogigio]

I think Candace may have exaggerated her statistics regarding sexual identity in the WBNA, but she just may not be too far off. I believe her "league experiences" needs to be examined a bit more before people start criticizing her. The more I think about it, the more I believe the culture she described is very plausible.

 

[Plebe]

I think Candace may have exaggerated her statistics regarding sexual identity in the WBNA, but she just may not be too far off. I believe her "league experiences" needs to be examined a bit more before people start criticizing her. The more I think about it, the more I believe the culture she described is very plausible.

Somewhere right about now, Rene Portland is smiling.

 

[lne001]

One anecdote on this topic. My niece played and coached basketball from the age of 6 to 33 - playing rec league, AAU, high school, college (Div 3), coaching high school and college.

She is a lesbian, publicly coming out after high school. During a conversation once I asked her what percentage of the female players/coaches in her experience were lesbians. Her answer - 75%. If accurate, I'm sure the WNBA is higher.

I don't see how any of this matters, however.

 

[Los24]

She can't be making all this stuff up just to sell books. She also can't be the only player in the league that was bullied or uncomfortable with the style of play or number of gay players. What advantage would they have to publicly speak up?

I like to hear more before pre-judging one way or the other. I do not know why people would assume she is up to no good or being dishonest about her overall feelings when being in the league. As is often in life, feelings are not based on 100% facts, but perception of intention on certain actions/behaviors. However, she should scale back on the hyperbole a bit if she wants people to take what she has to say a bit more seriously in the book.

 

[dennismenace]

Glory Johnson had two babies in the past year - which side does she count on?


Doesn't pro beach volleyball have rules requiring participants to wear skimpy unis? It always seemed to me they were intentionally pandering to objectification.

I like this phraseology!

 

[iamcbs]

Candace Wiggins is an intelligent person and she had to know how her comments would be perceived. To say that 98% of any population is one thing or another is very provocative and renders every other point she made moot. I feel she's correct about public perception about the WNBA as it relates to acceptance by fans, if the NBA didn't subsidize the league it would have folded years ago. The Cleveland Rockers were one of the original eight WNBA franchises and operated from 1997 until 2003, the players on the team were beloved here Mery Andrade, Jenny Boucek, Jen Rizzotti, Lynette Woodard, Penny Taylor all spent time here, but no one went to the games. They would have promotions and events around the city and fans showed up in Rockers gear to support, but Gund Arena would be empty come game time, they averaged less the 3K fans per game. While I'm dubious of many of the claims Wiggins makes, especially her claims of rampant homosexuality and bullying because of her own sexuality, we all see that the WNBA doesn't have a lot of popularity. IMHO, this interview is a cry for relevancy from a woman that was a superstar on the college-level, whose skill and talent level didn't translate well to the pro game.

 

[Vowelguy]

I like to hear more before pre-judging one way or the other. I do not know why people would assume she is up to no good or being dishonest about her overall feelings when being in the league. .

Who has criticized her Feelings?

I criticized her use of a patently false number. THAT calls her honesty into question.

I don't doubt that she didn't fit in well. I doubt the reasons were as tidy as she suggests.

 

[Orangutan]

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I like iamcbs post above. I think there is truth, obviously, to the issue of lack of league popularity. Likewise, I don't doubt a "play like a guy mentality" (wouldn't phrase it that way, however); that is really acknowledging the difference in style between college and international ball and the WNBA. Is there bullying - probably to some extent, it seems endemic to sports teams, whether we would wish it were otherwise. Why in her case - don't know.

As to the percentage of gay players - even if over 50%, which I suppose is likely - why does it matter.

 

[Wbbfan1]

While I wasn't specific, if you read Twitter about Candace's remarks, there are many that discredit what she said and saying its only a comment to sell a book. I stand by my comment. There were many that were saying "IF" her comments are true, while if a Lesbian would make similar comments, many/most would just accept them as fact with the same amount of knowledge as they have in Candace's situation.

1) when you state something clearly false - 98% - funny how the rest of your comments are met with skepticism

2) uhh, well there's a long history of discrimination against LGBT, so yes it is much easier to believe in anti-gay discrimination

 

[CL82]

The 98% number is obviously hyperbole. Why does it matter?

The take away, as at least one other poster pointed out is that Candace had problems wherever she went and she looks to justify them by a "they just hate me because I'm so pretty" argument. I feel sorry for her and I hope she finds some peace in her future endeavors.

 

[Florida Fan]

Support from whom?

Did someone tell Wiggins that this was the right time to turn back the clock on tolerance? Beyond Candace's cumulative disappointment, her remarks do not serve any useful social benefit or help the league that needs to survive.

 

[Plebe]

Did someone tell Wiggins that this was the right time to turn back the clock on tolerance? Beyond Candace's cumulative disappointment, her remarks do not serve any useful social benefit or help the league that needs to survive.

This is the thing that gets me. Whatever may have been her actual experience and genuine perceptions, she just gay-baited the entire league. It's almost McCarthyite. Her ludicrous "98 percent" statement inevitably prompts people to start wondering which players may or may not be straight or gay. It makes heterosexual players out to be some sort of unicorn, and it casts a pall of guilt by association over any player who identifies as gay.

Her narrative — and again, I'm not questioning that she may have had negative experiences — plays right into the hands of all the haters whose two favorite talking points are the allegedly rampant lesbianism and the (by NBA standards) sparse attendance.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Well, Broadway is pretty gay too, doesn't mean the singing and dancing are no good. I hear that the league is and has had mostly gay players. Might even be challenging to straight kids sometimes, socially etc.
Bullying is a completely different story and is not based on sexual preferences. It's awful. And yes, NFL culture is beyond anyone's imagination, nasty and exploitative. Grown-ups playing kid games for money, not the NY Philharmonic.

Exactly what are you inferring here???

 

[BroadwayVa]

The more serious charge is that of "bullying" which may have an element of truth to it, but Wiggins undermines her own credibility with the claim that 98% of the players in the WNBA are gay. How can she possibly know the sexual preferences of 150 other players in the league?

Emotional people throw numbers around 86.3 percent of the time knowing 47.8 percent will understand those number are only to show their personal outrage 27.6 percent of the time.
I liked and like Candice Wiggins even when she devastated a Uconn team that I thought should have beaten Stanford. She's been called a lot of names here in--
I don't know this woman personally, or what her current conditions happen be---a bit ago to day i tried to be funny saying ---Judge not lest ye be judged---now I think it fits.

 

[BroadwayVa]

I suspect it's some mixture of both ("make stuff up" and "distorted perception").

One other possibility no one seems to be considering is that it's ~100% true. ???

In any case I expect there is some dose of truth in there somewhere (smoke/fire theory). As someone mentioned, she's a smart person - could she really be that tone deaf? Anyway I'm not sure "truth" is universal in this case. Everyone probably has their own truth - no 2 players treated exactly the same.

My admiration for Candice Wiggins as a Stanford player and all around nice kid---makes take a role of defender--I never saw her WNBA games, ever.
Perceptions be damned--she to me was exaggerating for effect--knowing full well the numbers were not exact. Or she had the infirmity of someone my age who know the exact number but it just won't be dumped from the brains computer.
If you knew the levels of defense i have given the local Gay community you'd realize I'm not phobic.
The bullying part --and wanting retribution--may have driven her to depths/heights she felt she had to pay back in some way--regardless of what the future may bring.
Regardless of the inaccurate numbers in every regard--she has something to say and said it.
Until I know the whole story--I'll be damned if I shall damn her.

 

[TitleTown]

The more serious charge is that of "bullying" which may have an element of truth to it, but Wiggins undermines her own credibility with the claim that 98% of the players in the WNBA are gay. How can she possibly know the sexual preferences of 150 other players in the league?

While I agree that the 98% figure she used is an exaggeration, there is little doubt that she as a straight woman was definitely in the minority. I am also pretty confident that the sexual preference of most players in the WNBA is common knowledge for another WNBA player.

 

[Vowelguy]

This is the thing that gets me. Whatever may have been her actual experience and genuine perceptions, she just gay-baited the entire league. It's almost McCarthyite. Her ludicrous "98 percent" statement inevitably prompts people to start wondering which players may or may not be straight or gay. It makes heterosexual players out to be some sort of unicorn, and it casts a pall of guilt by association over any player who identifies as gay.

Her narrative — and again, I'm not questioning that she may have had negative experiences — plays right into the hands of all the haters whose two favorite talking points are the allegedly rampant lesbianism and the (by NBA standards) sparse attendance.

drop the mic