Retired WNBA athlete Candice Wiggins is speaking out about her experience in the basketball league. According to her, she had a not-so-pleasant experience due to the league’s alleged unpopularity with her being heterosexual.
In an interview with the San Diego Tribune on Monday, Wiggins explains, “Me being heterosexual and straight, and being vocal in my identity as a straight woman was huge.” She further reveals, “I would say 98 percent of the women in the WNBA are gay women. It was a conformist type of place. There was a whole different set of rules they [the other players] could apply.”
Wiggins, who has played for the Lynx, Shock, Sparks and Liberty, further vents about how women basketball players aren’t valued. She states, “It’s not watched…I didn’t like the culture inside the WNBA, and without revealing too much, it was toxic for me…My spirit was being broken.”
No one has yet to back up Wiggins’ lesbian statistics, but there are definitely some out and proud players playing the game. Some of Wiggins frustrations with the league is understandable with only 7,655 people averaging attendance for a 2016 season WNBA game — the highest it’s been since 2011.
But is Wiggins’ credible with her feelings of straight marginalization within the league? It does bring to question what happens on and off the court. Maybe more details can be revealed once more attention is paid to these less recognized athletes.