Prime Video WNBA broadcast crew embarrasses itself with coverage of A'ja Wilson fan incident
Prime Video's coverage of Tuesday's Aces-Fever playoff game came with a remarkably simple explanation for A'ja Wilson's confrontation with a fan: Wilson was upset, so the fan must have done something wrong.
The Fever, however, said arena security spoke with the fan and witnesses and found no violation of the Fan Code of Conduct. The team's statement never made it into Prime's postgame discussion.
"Following a report of a comment directed toward a player, arena security spoke with the fan involved and witnesses. Security determined there was no violation of the Fan Code of Conduct, the fan was not removed from the arena. We consider the matter closed," the team said.
A nearby spectator told OutKick the fan was disputing the foul call while pointing at Wilson.
Wilson received a technical foul after the fourth-quarter confrontation during Indiana's 99-89 victory, which tied the series at one game apiece. Prime's broadcasters immediately defended her reaction without establishing what the fan had done to warrant it.
Following the incident, color analyst Candace Parker acknowledged, "We don't know what was said." But that didn't stop fellow analyst LaChina Robinson from describing Wilson's reaction as "not even in line with her demeanor unless it's absolutely necessary."
Absolutely necessary? How could Robinson know that from watching Wilson react?
And it's not as if there was no context available, either.
Watching live, I noticed an arena security guard seated directly in front of the fan. He didn't react or stand up until Wilson had aggressively crossed the baseline, and the fan was already seated by then.
One might think a security guard sitting directly in front of a fan would intervene if he heard something inappropriate or saw the fan enter an area where he wasn't allowed. That would have been useful context for the broadcast to note. Instead, the broadcast treated Wilson's reaction as the only one that mattered.
Play-by-play announcer Michael Grady described the stoppage as officials clearing things up and getting "this fan out of the building." The fan was not removed from the arena, according to the Fever.
Parker also invoked previous incidents, saying, "I feel like this has happened several times here in Indiana."
Well, previous complaints about Indiana fans haven't always held up under investigation.
In August, after Aces guard Jackie Young complained about a fan during a game in Indiana, the Fever said security found no Fan Code of Conduct violation. The team said that fan was not removed from the arena but elected to leave.
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Last year, the WNBA investigated allegations of racist behavior by Fever fans toward Angel Reese and said those allegations were not substantiated. In that case, it was ESPN rushing to embrace those allegations before the investigation was complete.
Parker didn't identify which incidents she meant. But prior complaints don't become proof of fan misconduct just because a broadcaster brings them up again.
By the postgame show, Prime had more time to gather information. Lindsey Harding instead offered viewers certainty based on her familiarity with Wilson.
"I know something was said. Something was said, disrespectful, to a point for her to do that, and it's not okay," Harding said.
OK, what was it?
Harding didn't identify the comment. She went on to say, "It's always a player that gets attacked and has to stand up for themselves. And you know what? She stood up for herself, and she got a technical foul for that."
Harding described Wilson as defending herself without establishing that the fan attacked her.
Swin Cash also relied on Wilson's character, telling viewers, "So whatever was said, whether it was pointing, something happened."
Teresa Weatherspoon referred to "the words that were possibly said" before telling the fan to "back that crap up and sit down."
Host Allie Clifton responded, "Well said by all three of you," without pushing back on any of them, even though all three made claims that deserved further inspection.
Clifton then clarified that the fan remained in the arena and was not ejected. But the discussion never addressed security's finding that he had not violated the Fan Code of Conduct.
The Fever's statement was circulating on X by 8:53 p.m. ET, roughly 15 minutes before Prime's postgame discussion began.
Prime then aired part of Wilson's explanation, which focused on the fan's movements and pointing.
"I don't give a damn what you said. I don't give a damn how you said it, the tone. That is unacceptable," Wilson said.
Wilson was describing her objection to a "man" stepping toward her. Her account did not support Harding's claim that the fan had made a disrespectful comment. Nor does a player's objection to being pointed at establish that a fan broke arena rules.
Cash responded to the clip by saying, "Now, there may have been other things that were said and whatnot."
Oh, OK. Wilson focused on the fan stepping toward her and pointing, but Cash still wanted to speculate about "other things" he might have said. What information supported that speculation?
They also didn't take Wilson to task for escalating the exchange, overreacting to standard sports fan behavior, and costing her team a technical foul at a crucial late-game moment.
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Of the seven Prime broadcasters, not one raised the most likely explanation: Wilson was frustrated with the way the game was going and took it out on a fan. She had dominated Game 1 with 38 points and 16 rebounds. At the time of the confrontation in Game 2, she had 14 points and the Aces trailed by 11 with 4:10 remaining.
Indiana fans have become an easy scapegoat, and the reaction on Bluesky showed how little information some people needed to blame them. One user wrote, "I don't really care what the fan said. If it upset Wilson that much, toss him." Another demanded that Wilson's technical be rescinded and blamed "racist bastards."
I wouldn't be surprised if Wilson expected people around the WNBA to rush to her defense in a confrontation with a Fever fan. Prime's panel certainly obliged.
And for all the talk about diversity in sports television, where was the diversity of thought? Prime's seven broadcasters included five Black women, one Black man and one White woman, yet nobody in the game or postgame discussion challenged the assumption that the fan must have done something wrong.
Seven different people reached roughly the same conclusion because that's what happens when "diversity" means "not White men" instead of diversity of thought.
OutKick asked the Fever whether the guard seated in front of the fan was among the witnesses security interviewed and what its review established about the fan's words and movements. We also asked when the team provided its findings to Prime. The Fever did not respond to those follow-up questions before publication.
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OutKick asked Prime to explain the reporting behind its commentators' assertions and account for its handling of the Fever's statement. Prime did not respond before publication.
Seeking the Fever's account was a basic reporting obligation.
The panel spent several minutes condemning a fan without presenting arena security’s finding that the fan had not violated the conduct code. That's a complete dereliction of journalistic duty.
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Harding told viewers, "I know."
It's pretty easy to "know" when you've decided the outcome without needing to see any proof.