Chicago Sky coach James Wade said Thursday that the WNBA informed him it was investigating a complaint he filed about a “disrespectful” comment an official made about him to a player during Tuesday’s game.
After a 90-83 loss to the Atlanta Dream at Wintrust Arena, Wade said an official told a Sky player to talk to Wade by saying, “Explain to your boy …” about a call.
“Once you go to someone’s players and you talk like that about their coach to a player, I’ve never seen that before,” said Wade, who is Black. “I couldn’t imagine that happening on any other platform where a referee would say that to a player about their coach. It’s divisive as well. My players see me as their coach. They look to me for counseling and look to me for advice and for direction. I’m directing their ballclub. I’m not their ‘boy.’ “
Wade is seeking “accountability” from the league but said he does not want the referee to lose his job. The WNBA, like other leagues, typically investigates such complaints by reviewing game video and interviewing the subjects involved.
Wade, who is also the Sky’s general manager, is one of three Black coaches — and one of two Black male coaches — in the WNBA.
“Boy” historically has been used as a derogatory term toward Black men. Wade said he didn’t know if the official, who is Korean-American, intended to use it in a racially demeaning way.
The other two officials who worked Tuesday’s Sky game are Black.
A Sky spokeswoman initially identified the referee as white to the Tribune after the game.
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“I just know it was disrespectful and has no place in our league,” Wade said Thursday.
Wade’s “antenna” has been up since an incident in 2019 when a referee referred to him as aggressive for questioning a controversial call that led to an ejection of a Sky player, he said. He called that event the most uncomfortable of his coaching career.
“I was accused of being aggressive when I only asked a question,” he said. “It gave me thoughts of what it felt like when someone says, ‘Stop resisting.’ “
Tuesday’s incident was his “tipping point,” Wade said, because the comment was directed at his players.
“It’s affecting my ability to do my job,” Wade said. “It’s putting a stereotype on how you see us. I can’t have that. That would not happen to any other coach.
“It would not happen to (Seattle Storm coach) Dan Hughes. It would not happen to (Washington Mystics coach) Mike Thibault. I can’t imagine them going to (Mystics player) Elena Delle Donne and saying, ‘Tell your boy to do this’ or going to (Storm player) Breanna Stewart and saying, ‘Tell your boy to do that.’ I don’t want to be a victim. This is just what it is. It’s not going to affect me to a point where I’m going to be quiet about it and I’m going to hide in a corner.”
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