Natasha Cloud became the latest WNBA player to advocate for enhanced player safety.
Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray recently shared a screenshot of a racist message from a hotel employee on social media. The incident occurred two weeks after Phoenix Mercury star Alyssa Thomas said she received death threats and was subjected to racial slurs after putting her fist into Caitlin Clark's throat.
Per Colin Salao of Front Office Sports, Cloud commended Gray for shedding light on the hateful message. The WNBA veteran shared her own harrowing experiences.
"I'm called a bitch, I'm called a n*****, I'm called everything under the sun," Cloud said. "I've been told that they hope that our plane crashes on the way home," Cloud said.
Cloud implored WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert to take action to protect players.
"I think as one of the main faces of our league, too, it creates a dialogue that needs to be had. It puts pressure on Cathy, who we've been begging to step up for us in these spaces," Cloud said. "Now I think it demands her to actually take some initiative and to do something about it. I don’t know what it is that she's going to do, but I also think that simple statements of not condoning s*** is also really good for public relations as well."
"The hate's always been there"
© Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images.
Cloud blamed sports gambling for fueling animosity toward professional athletes.
"We got NBA players being followed out in public because of not hitting parlays," Cloud said. "I get that it's really great for our league. It's great for the business that is the NBA and the WNBA, and it helps expand. But at the end of the day, your job, your first priority is on the protection of the players, the protection of your investment into your players, and the safety surrounding the players.
"So for both Adam (Silver) and Cathy, there still has to be dialogue around this as our leagues continue to expand and as we continue to navigate what this betting world is. ‘Cause we want to be in it; it’s great for our league, but also within it, we have to be protected as human beings when we take these jerseys off."
Cloud's teammate, Elizabeth Williams, told FOS that a player leadership group has a meeting scheduled with Engelbert next week to discuss player safety and other concerns. The 33-year-old believes the problem stems from beyond gambling.
"I think it's just exposed it a little bit more because the hate's always been there," Elizabeth Williams said Wednesday. "I think people are kind of hiding behind sports betting and using it as an excuse when in reality, they were probably racist before and just needed a reason to try to act like they weren't."
