WNBA's Angel Reese, DiJonai Carrington Suffer From Mina Kimes Syndrome As Perpetual Victims | Bobby Burack

The mean girls of the WNBA suffer from Mina Kimes syndrome.

Like Kimes, Angel Reese, and Dijonai Carrington want to participate in the culture war with their anti-Caitlin Clark rhetoric and actions. However, they do not have the emotional stability to withstand the inherent heat that comes with it.

Kimes is ESPN's golden girl. For years, she has blurred the lines between sports and social commentary. She has repeatedly violated the network's ban on politics, the policy that led to Sage Steele's suspension in 2021.

In August, Kimes praised Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz for his "masculinity." OutKick noted the hypocrisy in ESPN allowing Kimes to endorse political candidates after its treatment of Steele. 

Naturally, online users criticized Kimes for her endorsement. Backlash is inevitable when a public figure openly supports a polarizing political candidate.

However, instead of ignoring the trolls, Kimes told her followers she was a victim. She blamed OutKick for spreading "horrible lies" about her and inciting racist harassment. 

Two months later, Kimes has yet to provide a single lie we told about her. Rather, she just bemoans that she received mean tweets after her endorsement of Walz.

Per Mina:

Sure, mean tweets are unfortunate. However, ESPN pays Mina Kimes around $2 million a year and features her on its most prominent properties. She uses those properties to push overtly left-wing cultural war ideas.

Nearly every pundit with a similar platform to Kimes is the subject of the same online vitriol. The others just don't cry about it on social media. They understand that mean tweets come with the territory.

Nearly the exact same phenomenon is occurring in the WNBA.

The current narrative is that Caitlin Clark's fans are targeting and threatening black women with racism. The most recent accusations pertain to Sun guard Dijonai Carrington. 

Last weekend, Carrington jammed her fingernail into Clark's eye. The play was dangerous. And several video angles of the incident indicate Carrington stabbed Clark on purpose.

Carrington receives less of a benefit of the doubt than the average player. For months, she has mocked Clark on the court and on social media. Carrington had previously accused Clark of hiding behind her white privilege.

"Dawg. How one can not be bothered by their name being used to justify racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia & the intersectionalities of them all is nuts," said Carrington on X, referring to Clark. "We all see the sh*t. We all have a platform. We all have a voice & they all hold weight. Silence is a luxury."

Carrington claims she received the following threat via email after "accidentally" poking Clark's eye:

If Carrington is actually concerned about that email, she should turn it over to the police or WNBA security. Instead, she posted it on Instagram to frame herself as a victim.

While the email is obviously distasteful, Carrington made herself national news by verbally and physically targeting Caitlin Clark. 

Unfortunately, people in the national news often receive threats from anonymous trolls. Clark probably receives death threats and racially charged messages daily – she just doesn't make a scene about it.

Carrington got what she wanted. The league put out a statement addressing the email on Tuesday.

"The WNBA is a competitive league with some of the most elite athletes in the world," the statement read. "While we welcome a growing fan base, the WNBA will not tolerate racist, derogatory, or threatening comments made about players, teams and anyone affiliated with the league. League security is actively monitoring threat-related activity and will work directly with teams and arenas to take appropriate measures, to include involving law enforcement, as necessary." 

All this wannabe victim-ing has Angel Reese hot and bothered. She wants her flowers, too.

On Thursday night, Reese tried to remind people that she was the original victim of Caitlin Clark.

Here's the problem with Reese's telling of the past two years: it's not honest.

Like Carrington, Reese is only a mainstream figure because of her opposition to Clark. Two years ago, during March Madness, Reese cast herself as the lead villain of Caitlin Clark's story by ripping off her "you can't see me" hand gesture and waving it in her face.

Reese has continued to try and make herself a rival of Clark's by tweeting about her and elbowing her on the court. In May, Reese cheered when teammate Chennedy Carter tried to take Clark out with a vicious cheap shot in May.

Even Dan Patrick, arguably the least controversial radio host on-air, admitted that Angel Reese is only in the news because she doesn't like Caitlin Clark.

"Reese's attention, her notoriety is based off Caitlin Clark because she wins the national title, the first thing she does is mock Caitlin Clark. And then, she doesn’t even celebrate with her teammates. So, she’s made it personal with Caitlin Clark. Then, she’s played off of that," Patrick said on his radio show in June.

"Even Caitlin Clark getting knocked down in the game on Saturday. Who’s standing up applauding but Angel Reese. So, she’s sort of embraced a Draymond Green role here. But the eyeballs on the WNBA really have to do with Caitlin Clark. You might, if you stay long enough, might be able to see someone or something, and you go, ‘OK, I’m entertained by this.' But there’s nothing wrong with admitting that you watch a sport because of one singular person."

Reese and Carrington rode the Clark phenomenon to fame. But fame has a price.

The two of them love to soak in the benefits of their celebrity status, such as dancing on stage with rappers and launching podcasts. But the nasty comments from faceless trolls are too much for them to handle.

Mina Kimes is the same way.

The press and their allies perpetually tell these three women they are trailblazers. Maybe they are. Yet none of them are above criticism. Their catty and entitled behaviors suggest they think they are. 

They are led to believe anyone who dares to question them must be racist, sexist, or threatening. They can't fathom anyone could see them as anything other than beauties and inspirations.

Reese, Carrington, and Kimes wanted to be key figures in the American culture war. They got their wish. They are not victims.