UConn’s Geno Auriemma is concerned about the direction that WNBA chatter is headed.
In an interview with CNBC this week ahead of the release of a documentary chronicling his Huskies program, Auriemma said he was worried that the conversation around the WNBA had been “hijacked,” and offered a warning to commissioner Cathy Engelbert and players that “nobody’s watching” the league to “watch another protest movement.”
Auriemma’s comments came after recent media firestorms around Sophie Cunningham coming out against transgender women competing in women’s sports, and DiJonai Carrington claiming Cunningham (it seems) was a beneficiary of white privilege after the two faced off during a physical play in-game earlier this month.
“The unfortunate thing … is people have hijacked it, and it’s become whatever station you watch, whatever point of view you want to take, you’re going to have an opinion on what’s going on in the WNBA,” Auriemma said.
“Isn’t that great? Well not if you’re not talking about the game itself. Not if you’re not talking about the brilliance of the individual players, the teams that are playing incredible basketball. If you’re not talking about that, then no, the kind of attention that is being thrown at the WNBA, no, that’s not the kind of attention that you want for women’s sports.”
The legendary coach has been at UConn for more than 40 years; many of the league’s top stars, including Paige Bueckers and Napheesa Collier, came through his program. Auriemma said the WNBA is “getting all the attention they ever wanted,” but the conversation around the league is far more politicized than any other.
“You don’t see that in other sports,” he said.
Asked by CNBC whether Engelbert would be able to shut down the chaos online and in the media, Auriemma was more direct.
“What you can do is you can constantly reiterate to the players and to all the stakeholders, how do we want to be perceived? How do we want to come across?” he asked. “We all want to be honest, we all want to be authentic, we all want to be truthful and stand up for what we believe in … there’s got to be a way to get your message across that’s different. And maybe that is something that the commissioner can do.”
Auriemma said he has always allowed his players to stand up for what they believe as a head coach, but also urged the WNBA to keep its eyes on the prize.
“Nobody’s coming to watch another protest movement. Nobody’s coming to watch another political statement,” he said. “They’re not. They’re coming to watch a basketball game.”
As for the transgender participation policy specifically, Auriemma was dismissive of agitators in the media blowing the issue out of proportion. He said he did not think players should be put in position to address the issue, even as reporters have put the question to them repeatedly in recent weeks.
Auriemma’s quip suggesting players shouldn’t engage in public displays of protest or political activism runs in contrast to many players’ positions. The league memorably swayed the U.S. Senate race in Georgia during the 2020 election cycle away from one of its team owners. Still, recent headlines suggest that the added attention around the league may force a heightened level of strategy around such organizing going forward.
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