WNBA fans online united to defend Napheesa Collier against attacks regarding her biracial identity. Collier, whose father Gamal hails from Sierra Leone and whose mother Sarah is white and grew up on a farm in Missouri, faced criticism from some individuals who sought to undermine her mixed heritage. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, a fan named Raquel, with the username @SOULbeautifulme, condemned those attempting to diminish Collier’s biraciality. Raquel asserted that such individuals are not true basketball fans, as they focus solely on race instead of recognizing the talent displayed on the court.

“I just want y’all to know these women do not like basketball at all & it was never about ball & I tried to explain this all season. Now Napheesa isn’t black enough & no one ever gets to call us black women out on ignorant statements!! But I will do it.

“They went from hating on Caitlin for being white to now hating on any black player that is supposedly lighter than a paper bag or mixed. This isn’t what supporting women’s sports should be like & idc who feels someway about what I said this is just IGNORANCE,” the fan tweeted.

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Other fans rallied behind Napheesa Collier for her advocacy in calling out toxic individuals who attempted to make her biracial identity a point of contention. Many supporters believe that Collier deserves to be recognized as the MVP due to her immense value to the Minnesota Lynx. They emphasize her significant contributions to the team and highlight her importance both on and off the court.

“I think the unfortunate thing is that the more they target players and fans on the basis of race, the more we see what really matters to “fans” like that,” a fan replied.

“I agree….it’s getting ridiculous. @PHEEsespieces in my honest opinion is the most “valuable” player on the planet,” one fan wrote.

“Convo is never about ball with #them. Phee just tryna win a ring and mind her business,” another fan commented.

While the WNBA increased in popularity, the number of toxic fans has also soared.

“Sports generally was a lot less toxic in the days before social media,” a fan opined.

“Watching CC and her teammates is watching fun basketball. All this other stuff is exhausting,” one fan responded.

“First it’s “white privilege” what is it now? Mixed privilege? They don’t want to grow,” another fan remarked.

Napheesa Collier on what it was like to be mixed race growing up

While race has been a divisive topic in the United States, Napheesa Collier didn’t look at it one way or another. Collier told the Harvard Business Review that she grew up in a normal household that didn’t put too much focus on skin color even as a mixed family in a predominantly white community in Missouri.

“My dad is from Sierra Leone, and my mom is from a dairy farm in Missouri, so very different backgrounds. And we never really, when I was really young, talked about race; it was just normal. My dad was black; my mom was white,” Collier said.

Collier added that her parents only instilled a work ethic in her when she was growing up and never really needed to talk about race. She acknowledged having problems with some classmates in high school but knew how to handle it.