Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese has had an incredible effect on the WNBA since joining the league in the 2024 draft, along with Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark. The two young stars have helped propel the league to record numbers for in-game attendance and television viewership, which in turn is leading to rapid expansion, with the league set to have 18 teams by 2030, up from 12 in 2024.
However, the popularity has led to a lot of hate online, especially on social media, which former First Lady Michelle Obama weighed in on recently.
“I think the tough thing is the social media element to it. But that’s true across the board. I mean, we’ve talked about this on our show; it just takes a normal occurrence. These young kids today, what they have to go through, what they have to be able to withstand, because social media is such a huge part of the world,” Obama said, per Awful Announcing.
“There’s the hate. But now the hate is in your room, on your phone, with you all the time. And you can’t, for whatever reason, tell these kids to turn it off, because they’re making their living that way. I mean, now they are expected to stay engaged.
“So, I think that makes it feel even worse. But I think, as you point out, that’s happening in sports across gender. It’s just harder not to withstand other people’s horrible, horrible opinions.”
Fans reacted to Obama’s take on social media.
“She’s probably trying to cool things down and remind people it’s just sports, not something worth turning into a personal feud,” someone else added.
“Oh look, as usual she misconstrues the problem, blames outside influences and ignores personal responsibility and generally and nothing is valid to the conversation in any way,” one fan added.
“This is the same woman that got upset because someone asked her to get something from the top shelf at a store. PS I do that on a routine basis for people. It’s not a big deal,” another fan added.
It’ll be interesting to see if the league does anything to better protect its players from online harassment.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.