Sky Coach Shares When He Found Out About Alleged Fan Misconduct at Fever Game
The Chicago Sky were defeated by the Indiana Fever by a score of 93-58 for the first game of both teams' 2025 WNBA seasons on May 17.
In the wake of that game, the WNBA released a statement on social media that read, "The following is a statement from the WNBA regarding yesterday's game in Indianapolis: The WNBA strongly condemns racism, hate, and discrimination in all forms — they have no place in our league or society. We are aware of the allegations are are looking in to the matter."
This statement was reposted on social media by Front Office Sports' Annie Costabile, who added, "Sources with knowledge of the situation say this statement is in response to allegations of racial comments directed at Angel Reese by fan(s) in the crowd."
Sources with knowledge of the situation say this statement is in response to allegations of racial comments directed at Angel Reese by fan(s) in the crowd.
— Annie Costabile (@AnnieCostabile) May 18, 2025
It is not in response to the take foul that was upgraded to a flagrant 1. https://t.co/Zft4hfVUAC
Sky head coach Tyler Marsh spoke with the media after his team's practice on May 20 and shared an interesting sentiment regarding this investigation.
"I think we're in compliance with them, and obviously there's no room or space in our game for hate," Marsh said when asked about the investigation.
When asked when he had become aware that there was hate speech that allegedly happened during the game, Marsh said, "When everyone else did. I think it's something that we heard about, and so we're just forthcoming with anything that the league is able to do, investigation-wise."
Tyler Marsh says the Sky were not aware of any hate speech during the game and only found out reports from social media. the WNBA investigation is based on social media reports pic.twitter.com/5fQz5dKjvZ
— correlation (@nosyone4) May 20, 2025
According to Christine Brennan of USA Today Sports, the WNBA will not provide updates on this investigation until the entire thing is concluded, regardless of whether or not anything is found.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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