The WNBA Finally Has Stars. Why Is It Fighting Them? | The Riley Gaines Show
Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham are giving the WNBA exactly what every league says it wants: attention, rivalry, ratings, personality, memes, and real fan emotion. So why does the league keep looking uncomfortable with the very energy that is making people watch? On this episode of The Riley Gaines Show, Riley breaks down Clark’s return to elite form, the Fever’s surge, the technical foul controversy, and Sophie Cunningham pushing back on the "enforcer" label. This is not about painting Caitlin Clark as a victim. It is about a bigger question for women’s sports: can the WNBA embrace stars who are intense, competitive, physical, marketable, and unapologetically themselves? From officiating debates to viral moments the league seems hesitant to monetize, Riley argues that women’s sports do not grow by sanitizing rivalry. They grow when athletes are allowed to have edge, personality, loyalty, toughness, and a point of view.
I've got good news and bad news for the WNBA ...
The good news? The trans drama has subsided, at least for now. All has been quiet on that front for a few days. A nice little summer break, I guess.
The bad news? The sex toy drama has returned. That's right. Remember the drama from last summer, when there was a serial sex toy thrower on the loose? Man, those were the days. Simpler days. Simpler times.
Everything is so serious now. We've spent all summer fighting about very serious issues (despite the left swearing it's not), and, while important, it's also been exhausting.
Sometimes, you just need a break from the real stuff, and you need to get back to basics.
Angel Reese No. 5 of Atlanta reacts during the WNBA game between the Indiana Fever and the Atlanta Dream on Aug. 16, 2026, at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Ga. (Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
And that's what happened last night in Los Angeles (shocker), where a sex toy appeared to make its way to the court in the third quarter of the Dream-Sparks game.
Guess who was QUICK to point out the perpetrator, too? Angel Reese!
What a night:
Old WNBA drama resurfaces
My goodness. Sometimes, you think the perfect video(s) doesn't exist, and then the content Gods throw you a softball right down the middle of the plate. Amazing sequence here.
The green sex toy that we all grew very familiar with last summer returning to the court. Angel Reese's reaction. The video of the alleged man fleeing the scene.
It was all perfect. It certainly brought me back to last summer.
Angel Reese of the Atlanta Dream reacts as she is defended by Cameron Brink of the Los Angeles Sparks during the first half at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif., on Aug. 20, 2026. (Getty Images)
For those who forget — or blocked it from their minds — the WNBA had a serious sex toy problem for about three weeks last year. Purple and green ... sex toys ... were being tossed onto the court at various WNBA games on random nights, and it was all anyone could talk about.
We were all on high alert. All on edge. At one point, betting markets were allowing you to wager on the next color sex toy to hit the floor. It was the Wild Wild West.
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) reacts against the Phoenix Mercury during an WNBA game at PHX Arena on Aug. 7, 2025. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
There were two (!!!) arrests eventually made by August, and Sophie Cunningham was even hit by one back before she became a household name.
SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM TAKES VICIOUS ELBOW TO FACE, AND FANS FUME AT WHAT REFS DID NEXT
Take a look:
"Stop throwing dildos on the court… you’re going to hurt one of us," Cunningham jokingly posted just days before getting hit by the projectile.
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"This did NOT age well," she added in the aftermath.
See? She was even likable last summer when nobody really knew who she was!
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Doesn't seem like Angel Reese had the same sense of humor last night.
Zach Dean is a writer for OutKick.
