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Sydney Colson Speaks Out on Racism in Fever Fanbase and Organization’s Failure to Act

October 8, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JUNE 19: Indiana Fever guard Sydney Colson (51) looks on before a WNBA game between the Golden State Valkyries and the Indiana Fever on June 19, 2025 at Chase Center in San Francisco, CA. (Photo by Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The former Fever guard opened up about the A’ja Wilson incident, fan culture and her disappointment with the WNBA’s changing identity.

Former Indiana Fever guard Sydney Colson called out the organization’s lack of condemnation for racism in its fanbase in the latest episode of Unsupervised, her podcast with former teammate Theresa Plaisance. “We have done little to nothing to address the problems that happen within Gainbridge Fieldhouse and in arenas where the Fever are playing,” Colson said in the episode titled, “Based in Reality.”

Colson and Plaisance began by acknowledging their presence in a scene between A’ja Wilson and a fan at the Aces vs. Fever game on September 29. Wilson exchanged words with a fan after a play when he stood and pointed at her as he walked towards her. Colson and Plaisance, who were seated courtside, backed Wilson up, calling out the fan who was later said to have not violated the Fan Code of Conduct.

Colson went on to explain that while this specific fan was not necessarily doing anything racist, the environment of hate she has witnessed within the Fever fanbase, coupled with the organization’s lack of intervention, has charged moments within the arena and heightened the experience of Black players. “This environment is not discouraging people from showing up and being hateful, racist, homophobic, sexist, any of those things. It’s a problem and it’s not new and there’s a common denominator. We need to stop acting like sh*t is not based in reality. Because it is,” Colson said.

The Indiana Fever quickly re-made headlines following their early playoff departure when the team’s General Manager Amber Cox and star guard Kelsey Mitchell made separate, conflicting comments about the organization’s fanbase.

Cox told reporters during her end-of-season press conference on October 3, “The attacks on our fanbase have no basis in reality, and they need to stop.”

In her end-of-season press conference on the same day, Kelsey Mitchell, who averaged 24.7 points per game this season and is now a free agent, spoke about the hate she has received specifically from Indiana Fever fans over the past few years. “I think we as players endure a lot that people don’t necessarily really understand,” Mitchell said. “Showing up every day to compete for fans that may or may not like you is hard. I don’t think people understand that…I think this organization is unbelievable but I think that when it comes to really trying to be yourself, it hasn’t always been easy.”

Sydney Colson reshared Mitchell’s press conference clip to her Instagram story and wrote on Threads, “I’ll air allllllllll this shit out lmao it’s a lotta bold face lyin goin on.” Brianna Turner, the Las Vegas Aces forward who played with the Fever in 2025, also chimed in to respond to Cox’s statement writing, “This is an unequivocally false statement. Players inside and outside the organization have repeatedly issued complaints with the Fever Fanbase. While it’s not all Indy fans, it’s certainly a trend. To say the attacks have “no basis in reality” is disingenuous.”

On Thursday, October 8, Caitlin Clark held her end-of-season press conference where she directly stated that she loved playing with Mitchell and said, “I know this organization is going to work our butt off to get her back…I hope for the rest of my career I get to play alongside her.” Clark also addressed Mitchell’s comments saying, “As her teammate, it makes you upset because you care about your teammates so much…As far as people that have used me to demonstrate racist rhetoric or hate or discrimination, that’s not something I stand for. That’s never been something I’ve stood for.”

In the podcast episode, Colson remarks that in the nine years she spent in the league before the “new wave of fans” arrived, she had never received the kind of hate that is normalized in the league today. 

Colson also tearfully reminded fans that the league once stood up for Black social justice causes, dedicating their COVID season to the family members of those killed by state violence. As a part of the league’s Social Justice Council, players would meet with social justice activists like Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw to discuss how they could make meaningful change through the league as players. Both Colson and Plaisance shared their disappointment at the lack of players who have continued the league’s tradition of speaking out against injustice and have called out white players for not standing alongside their Black teammates who have spoken out against the prejudice they’ve faced.

“If you never speak up about a damn thing when you know it’s impacting the people that you claim to love, care about, you know, ‘we’re fighting together as a team,’ sisters…for the white players in the league, when you don’t say sh*t and, even worse, when you say things that are harmful, talking about the trans sh*t, nobody respects you. Shut the f•ck up,” Colson said. “Y’all ought to be ashamed to act like you’re cool with people, to act like you care about sisterhood and all of these things…you’re fake.” 

The former Fever player did note that her experience with Fever fans was not always bad, sharing that she had positive experiences with many fans. “It’s not every Fever fan, but it’s enough for me to tell you that there’s a problem that you need to address.”

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