Megan Rapinoe says the WNBA has “failed” to protect players from racism, but has no evidence

Megan Rapinoe may be retired from soccer, but when there are allegations of racism, even in a sport she didn’t play, she rises to the occasion as the all-world virtue signaler she is.

Some folks in the sports world couldn’t possibly let Caitlin Clark be the story of the 2024 WNBA season, despite her being the sole reason anyone was even paying attention to the league. Those people focused on race, because that’s what they do.

READ: Megan Rapinoe Joins Group Advocating For Men To Play Sports Against Women

Clark is a white woman in a league that is mostly made up of black women. That statement is a fact, but just because that’s the case doesn’t mean racism took place. Race and racism are two words with vastly different meanings, but some can’t differentiate the two. The Rapinoes of the world see a white person, a black person, and they immediately focus on race instead of human.

Throughout the WNBA season, players and media members alike screamed about racism that black players allegedly endured from fans. Some even said the quiet part out loud by claiming it was Clark supporters using racial slurs towards players.

Rapinoe believes that the WNBA failed its players this season. 

It feels important to note that the WNBA had its most successful season in the history of the league this year, but that can’t fit the narrative because Clark was the driver of that.

“Racism is never okay, sexism is never okay whether online or in real life, misogyny, homophobia, all the things are never okay and this is where I feel the [WNBA] Players have failed the most,” Rapinoe said on her podcast “A Touch More.”

“I feel like they have been badly let down by the league and Cathy [Engelbert] the commissioner this year. This is nothing new, this has been coming for a long time… “With Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark you had real superstars at what was actually an incredibly exciting time when everyone can celebrate the explosion of women's basketball into a whole new stratosphere. We've all seen it.” “We've all seen it,” Rapinoe said, referring to racism.

“The WNBA and league office, and Cathy's role in particular, is fundamentally to protect and serve the league from both a business perspective, a player welfare perspective, a health and safety perspective, and a growth and investment perspective,” continued Rapinoe continued. “And this is where I feel like she failed. We have room for error, but we saw this coming. It needed to be clearly stated that this is who we are and this is what the WNBA is.”