Brittney Griner, Russian Merchant of Death and Caitlin Clark Part of Fresh Controversy Courtesy Riley Gaines

Brittney Griner and Caitlin Clark faced off against each other when their respective teams battled at the State Farm Arena on May 23rd.

Brittney Griner, Russian Merchant of Death and Caitlin Clark Part of Fresh Controversy Courtesy Riley Gaines

Riley Gaines claims Brittney Griner used racist language against Caitlin Clark (Image via FirstSportz)

The 2025 WNBA has just started, and already, fans have witnessed enough ‘controversy’ from the likes of Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and a few other players as feisty and competitive women’s basketball returned. In between all this, Brittney Griner saw her name go viral after Riley Gaines‘ social media post.

Riley Gaines became popular for her opposition to trans women participating in women’s sports. Her movement gained a lot of traction before Donald Trump returned to power, and she was extremely vocal about Imane Khelif‘s participation in women’s boxing at the Paris Olympics.

Back in 2023, she attacked Brittney Griner for supporting trans athletes’ participation in women’s sports. Gaines believed it was ‘demeaning’ to women athletes, especially coming from a woman who was successful in the world of sports. The latest controversy has nothing to do with any of that. Instead, Riley Gaines shared a video where her caption read:

Brittney Griner appeared to call Caitlin Clark “trash” and a “f***ing white girl” after fouling out last night. Just a reminder: this is who we traded for the Russian Merchant of Death. Now, imagine if Clark had said the inverse.

Riley Gaines wrote on X

She claimed Brittney Griner cussed out Caitlin Clark after fouling out in the Atlanta Dream’s loss to the Indiana Fever yesterday. Sure, the game had some testy moments involving Clark, but Gaines claims Griner was also involved.

The NCAA swimmer reminded her followers that America had to let go of the Merchant of Death, Viktor Bout, to bring back the Paris Olympics gold medalist. All that for her to cuss Caitlin Clark. But some pointed out that this post was misleading.

Inaccuracies in Riley Gaines’ attack on Brittney Griner

Usually, whenever Riley Gaines comes out with a controversial post involving trans women or LGBTQ athletes, it attracts a lot of attention. Most of those who reacted to her post condemned what Brittney Griner allegedly said, or trolled the Atlanta Dream star, calling her names.

Brittney Griner had fouled out after sending Natasha Howard to the free throw line
Brittney Griner had fouled out after sending Natasha Howard to the free throw line (Image via Atlanta Dream/X)

But there were a few fans who wondered if the 34-year-old WNBA champion was even saying that. They were not sure Gaines got the lip reading right. Another fan pointed out that the WNBA champion did not have any altercation or was not even battling against Caitlin Clark at the time of fouling out.

Even the end of the video shows that Indiana Fever forward Natasha Howard was at the free-throw line. Which means Brittney Griner must have fouled Howard. This incident happened with 3:38 left in the game, after which the Fever star converted both her free throws to extend their lead.

The problem is that, this post has gone viral and has been viewed more than 3 million times. Along with Gaines, there are many others who have posted the clip with similar captions. Some have even revealed that they reached out to the WNBA to ask if there would be an investigation, just like the investigation they started for alleged racist calls towards Angel Reese.

Will the WNBA investigate the matter?

Last season, controversy followed Caitlin Clark from the moment she announced her decision to enter the WNBA draft. Be it perceived jealousy towards her fame, racial bias, players bullying her, etc., the WNBA had its hands full trying to deal with the matter.

They are doing their part to investigate and find out the sources of hate-laced attacks both inside arenas as well as on social media. Now that this new controversy is taking shape, the WNBA might be forced to look into it.

But it is not clear if the league can do anything to stop any hate-filled attacks. They have a team of investigators and have clarified that they will partner with law enforcement to ensure players are not subjected to any harrassment.

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