The WNBA has historically been the most forward-thinking sports league in America when it comes to gay rights. The league has actively courted LGBTQ fans for several years (, if anything), has had several star players come out of the closet with little controversy, and generally been ahead of the NBA, its relatively socially progressive parent league, on every related issue. While the WNBA hasn’t always made the LGBTQ community proud with how it chooses to promote and accommodate its gay players, it’s fair to say that they’ve made meaningful strides. There’s a level of acceptance on the court, in locker rooms, and in the stands that virtually every other pro league in the United States cannot match.

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One prominent retired WNBA player says that culture consequently makes it difficult for straight players to thrive. Candice Wiggins, the No. 3 pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft and a champion in 2011 with the Minnesota Lynx, announced her retirement last March. In a new interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune, Wiggins says that “98 percent” of the WNBA is gay and that she would have played two more years if not for the “toxic” environment that affected her as a straight woman:

“I wanted to play two more seasons of WNBA, but the experience didn’t lend itself to my mental state,” Wiggins said. “It was a depressing state in the WNBA. It’s not watched. Our value is diminished. It can be quite hard. I didn’t like the culture inside the WNBA, and without revealing too much, it was toxic for me. … My spirit was being broken.”

Wiggins, a four-time All-American at Stanford, asserts she was targeted for harassment from the time she was drafted by Minnesota because she is heterosexual and a nationally popular figure, of whom many other players were jealous.

“Me being heterosexual and straight, and being vocal in my identity as a straight woman was huge,” Wiggins said. “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. […]

“People were deliberately trying to hurt me all of the time. I had never been called the B-word so many times in my life than I was in my rookie season. I’d never been thrown to the ground so much. The message was: ‘We want you to know we don’t like you.’” […]

“It comes to a point where you get compared so much to the men, you come to mirror the men,’ she said. “So many people think you have to look like a man, play like a man to get respect. I was the opposite. I was proud to a be a woman, and it didn’t fit well in that culture.”

Players’ union president Nneka Ogwumike, reigning WNBA MVP and a Stanford product like Wiggins, released a statement on the comments to Howard Megdal of VICE Sports:

“Our union is only as strong as our loyalty to and support for one another. What is key to that loyalty and support is our commitment to diversity and inclusion. As a union, we should and we will continue to celebrate the diversity that makes us special and lead by example. We must respect the rights of those we don’t agree with when they speak their mind. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the comments made recently by a former player or whether one has seen or experienced anything like what she has described, anything that impacts an inclusive culture should be taken seriously.”

Megdal also reached out to WNBA president Lisa Borders, who declined to comment.

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Several current players have strongly disagreed with Wiggins:

Bria Hartley, Mistie Bass, Dearrica Hamby & Taylor Hill have had babies in the past year. So according to the numbers, I identify as gay now — Devereaux Peters (@MsPeters14) February 20, 2017





How i feel reading the recent article about heterosexuals being bullied in the WNBA .. ???????? pic.twitter.com/aGIgDMBNNR — Tiffany Mitchell (@TiffMitch25) February 20, 2017





It’s tough to assess all of Wiggins’s statements, because she is ultimately describing a personal experience that have not yet been refuted. It’s entirely possible that she was bullied by her teammates and had such a bad experience in the WNBA that retirement was her best option. Plus, the interview features several less controversial reasons for her decision to step away from the game, including the toll of having to play a physically demanding sport year-round due to the salaries in women’s basketball.

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