Over the past several weeks, there has been a lot of discourse about a negative side effect of the WNBA's boom – harassment and criticism from fans. This comes after Indiana Fever star Kelsey Mitchell opened up about the criticism she faced as a teammate of Caitlin Clark. But one WNBA superstar isn't exactly worried about it.
In an interview earlier this year, Minnesota Lynx star Courtney Williams threw some cold water on all that concern, claiming that the added attention is "what we wanted" and urging her fellow players to "press the block button" when they face harassment. Now, given Mitchell's recent comments, Williams' approach is gaining a lot of attention.
During a recent press conference following Indiana's season-ending loss, Mitchell opened up about how difficult it is to face the criticism that has come her way over the past few seasons.
"Showing up every day to compete for fans that may or may not like you is hard," Mitchell said Saturday via The Athletic . "… I think this organization is unbelievable, man, but I think that when it comes to, like, really trying to be yourself, it hasn't always been easy."
Mitchell says that the negative attention is especially strong when you play on the same team as Clark.
"I don't think people really understand how much we endure," Mitchell continued. "Like, if I showed y'all my DMs about the hate and all of the stuff that comes with being a professional athlete, but specifically being an Indiana Fever basketball player, it's a lot that goes into that. And those days are hard as hell, man.
"Playing with (Clark) and having the eyes that she's got (on her), we get a lot of flak just from being on her team."
Williams, meanwhile, has a very different response to the negative attention from fans when asked about it earlier this year.
"Honestly, I think you just got to be built for it, man. The internet is not a real place. So I think when you treat the internet like a real place, that's when you get everybody like, 'Oh my God.' But it's like, bro, you don't know these people in real life," Williams said earlier this year in a video that has resurfaced after Mitchell's comments. "Just press the block button, bro. Press the block button and then move on. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, take your time one night, go delete everything, block everybody, and then you don't got to worry about it no more."
Williams went on to explain that the added attention is something the players wanted, and now they have to learn to cope with the added attention.
"The people that want to be there won't get blocked. The people that's showing love won't get blocked. If you on the internet acting like you know you wouldn't act if you was in front of this person in real life, you deserve to get blocked. And I think that's what more people need to do. Just block the people and move on, bro," she said. "Like, this is what we wanted. We wanted more eyes on the game. We wanted more people talking about the game, whether it's good or bad.
"It don't matter if you don't like it. Block them. Move on. But this is what we want. This is what we always wanted. So let's embrace this."
Obviously, harassment is never justifiable, but Williams' approach seems to be a popular one.
The post 'Press the block button': WNBA star's advice gains attention after Kelsey Mitchell comments appeared first on The Comeback: Today's Top Sports Stories & Reactions .
