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The lessons of the WNBAs triumphant All-Star Weekend: get off the net and lean into the joy
Jonquel Jones celebrates with Team Spoon teammate Caitlin Clark after their win in Saturday nights WNBA All-Star Game in Chicago.Photograph: Sage Zipeto/Getty ImagesIf your perceptions of what the WNBA is like in 2026 are largely shaped by narratives derived from and driven by social media, the scene in Chicago at WNBA All-Star Weekend would have proved a surprise.The mood Friday morning at the Barack Obama Presidential Center was downright ebullient. And, sure, to a degree that was because No 44 himself clocked in for about an hour of practice. The former president briefly showed off some moves in his jeans and loafers after he was surprise-attacked by the New York Libertys Jonquel Jones.But there was something else in the air: everyone was just excited to be there. All-Star provides a brief respite from the slog of the regular season, a couple of days of either total rest for those who arent playing or the chance to spend time alongside friends they dont usually play with for those who are.Related: Sign up for WNBA 30: a limited run womens basketball newsletterLast years All-Star Game was held in Indianapolis under a cloud of tension. The players were preparing for what would prove to be a months-long period spent negotiating terms for a new collective bargaining agreement. Fans, who often get their WNBA news from social media, made their support for the athletes known; the game ended with chants of Pay them! ringing out in Gainbridge Fieldhouse.A year later, the CBA is done and players are getting paid, but the weeks preceding this summers All-Star Game were filled with no shortage of headaches and problems. An offseason taskforce designed to improve foul calls and officiating resulted in changes in policy and practice that are still being rolled out; incidences of hard fouls, such as when Alyssa Thomas accidentally pushed her fist into Caitlin Clarks throat during a game last month, were handled through the proper league channels but were inflamed online, by people genuinely invested in the league but also those who just want to stir up problems.And thats not all: the week before the All-Star Game saw two incidents that went against the spirit of the leagues No Space For Hate platform, which was unveiled last year and reflects the WNBAs unwavering commitment to protecting its players and upholding the values of inclusion, respect, and unity. The Toronto Tempos head coach Sandy Brondello was caught on a hot mic calling Atlanta Dream star Angel Reese a protected species, and Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham brazenly used transphobic language in an apparent attempt to defend herself against the nickname Maga Barbie.Brondello issued a heartfelt apology to Reese and was suspended for one game. Cunningham told ESPN she wants to protect young girls in the locker room from biological men a phrase that GLAAD has identified as a hate term and then doubled down on her stance.Coverage of those events (and more) appeared to have reached even Obama himself. Youre great. Youre fantastic. Dont let all this nonsense get you down, Obama told Clark. To have that much immersion in nonsense ... dont lose that joy. The games the game, and youre a hooper. Youre always hooping, and youre on a nice little run right now.(My hands were getting a little bit sweaty, and I dont really get nervous for anybody, Clark told reporters after the interaction. But thats somebody like, just his presence commands a room.)In other words, this years All-Star Game could have been messy. Instead, it was one of the best weekends in league history, and ended with a historic attendance (19,783 people showed up for the game at United Center) and a series of announcements from Commissioner Cathy Engelbert including a replay center that should make for stronger officiating next season that indicate things are only getting better for the WNBA.Throughout the weekend, players and coaches embraced the success of the league while acknowledging theres room for more. Speaking to reporters Friday, Minnesota Lynx guard Courtney Williams emphasized staying positive when she can. I lean into the love, for sure. I feel in the W, as opposed to mens sports, theres more pressure to be online, she said. I feel it just depends on who you are. If you like to be on the net, be on the net. If you dont like the net, get off the net.Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon echoed that sentiment. When it comes to how stories about the WNBA reverberate through the media and social media, Hammon said: I think the biggest mistake is maybe the people that talk the most know the least on some of these topics. They dont have a good pulse on our league at times.Honestly, I dont really pay attention so much to what everybody else is saying either. Im busy trying to win games and put a great product on the court, she continued. And, hopefully, as many people as possible want to come to see great basketball.Not everyone in the league is as offline. The average age of WNBA players is approximately 27; adults in their 20s have nearly universal internet use. The StudBudz the duo of Williams and Seattle Storm guard Natisha Hiedeman ran a 24-hour Twitch livestream of the weekends events, and plenty of people use Threads and Instagram to speak to and interact with fans. The internet can be a dark place, but its also one that can be a lot of fun.Theres a lot of great players here with different backgrounds, different stories, Dallas Wings forwardJessica Shepard told the Guardian on Friday. Those differences only make the league stronger, she added.I think anytime you have diversity, anytime you have people who have different stories, it definitely creates a nice environment, Shepard said of the league. I think also for the younger generation, it gives everyone someone to look up to that maybe has a similar story to them.Thats what All-Star is really all about, Las Vegas Aces center and four-time MVP Aja Wilson told the Guardian. We come together in this place.If theres one person in the WNBA who cant avoid the internet, its Engelbert. As the head of the league, Engelbert bears the brunt of joy and disappointment from fans, coaches, owners, and, most importantly to her, the players.While addressing the media on Saturday, Engelbert admitted her leadership could improve. She acknowledged there are processes around fines, suspensions, and investigations, and dismissed the idea that the league only looks into certain instances in response to social media outcry. The CBA negotiations were contentious, she added, but Engelbert said that this year were in a really good place.She also explained player safety is constantly top of mind, and that includes what happens on and off the court.The internet is a very complicated place, Engelbert said, a sentence that practically vibrates with relevance in 2026. And, someone gave me this term, keyboard warriors are very, very adamant to get their messages through to our players, whether its through DMs, whether its through other means.One way Engelbert personally plays to continue to nurture a safer environment for the leagues athletes is to reach out directly more frequently. The commissioner said she believed players dont want to hear from us all the time, but learned at a meeting with the WNBPA last week that crucial league communications are often missed by players who didnt receive them or arent reading articles about those announcements. When it comes to that two-way street between the league and players, theres no doubt I need to be better, Engelbert said. Everybody needs to be better at communication, I think, all the time.The city of Chicago and maybe even the WNBA (including Engelbert, who oversaw it all) can bask in a job well done and a weekend where joy and celebration of 30 seasons of WNBA was the mission. The entire league gets back to work this week, but will do so after riding a very singular, and very special, kind of high.
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