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Olivia Miles Disagrees With WNBA Players Who Complain About Scrutiny
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- Olivia Miles Disagrees With WNBA Players Who Complain About Scrutiny
Minnesota Lynx star Olivia Miles might not be a fan of hecklers, but she's not going to let them throw her off her game.
Miles, the 2026 WNBA Rookie of the Year, averaged 19.8 points and 6.0 assists per game for the Lynx this past season. Her excellent rookie campaign kept Minnesota afloat while Napheesa Collier was recovering from an ankle injury.
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During the latest episode of "The Young Man and The Three," Miles addressed all the discourse surrounding the WNBA. While she'd like for the focus to be on basketball, she acknowledged that athletes have to take the good with the bad.
"It's good for our game to have discourse. I think some of the topics get dicey, and maybe that's what I would change. Maybe we focus a little more on basketball and less on the external stuff," Miles said. "Even so, having people talk and pay attention is what we ask for. We can't ask for all the good and have no bad as well."
Jul 30, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Minnesota Lynx guard Olivia Miles (5) dribbles against the Toronto Tempo during the second half at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images© Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images
Sophie Cunningham would agree with that take.
During the Indiana Fever's first-round playoff series with the Las Vegas Aces, A'ja Wilson was involved in a heated incident with a fan. After investigating this situation, the Fever said the fan didn't violate their code of conduct.
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Cunningham later went on her podcast to tell WNBA players they need to "grow up" and learn how to handle adversity.
"Us women in sports yell from the rooftops that we want equality. We want to be treated by the men and we want all this stuff," Cunningham said. "If you're asking for all these fans to come [support] and you have real sports fans do something that a sports fan would probably do, we're going to go for them just saying you fouled? Like grow up, what are we doing? We ask all these things and then once people come out and support us, we get mad and then its inappropriate."
Hopefully, this topic isn't as prominent during the 2027 season. Of course, it just takes one fan to ruin everything.
This story was originally published by The Spun on Nov 5, 2026, where it first appeared in the WNBA section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
