Brandon Tatum, widely known as The Officer Tatum on YouTube, has recently criticized black WNBA players for adopting a victim mentality.
His remarks follow comments made by Alyssa Thomas about receiving racial slurs on social media after the Connecticut Sun’s victory over the Indiana Fever.
Tatum played a clip of Thomas expressing her frustrations about online trolling. He pointed out that the increased visibility due to popularity of Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark has led to more viewers—and consequently more negative comments.
He emphasized that while the league seeks greater viewership, players must understand the repercussions that accompany increased attention. Tatum remarked that many of the accounts sending insults are not dedicated fans, but rather anonymous social media users.
“For some reason, black people in America have an issue dealing with past trauma,” Tatum stated. He expressed confusion over why players complain about online negativity when they have a broad fanbase supporting them. “I don’t understand why these women are complaining about people trolling on the internet,” he added.
“And some people who begrudgingly watch the WNBA because they just want to see y’all do better,” he continued. “Why would you care about somebody saying something to you on the internet that don’t know you and you got hundreds of thousand and millions of people watching y’all on TV that’s bringing money to put in your pocket.
“And the same people that’s saying ‘uh racism, why do we have to deal with racism, it just hurts sometimes’ and they play the game of basketball full of white people in the stadium. Ain’t nothing, but while people watching y’all! Your salary, the owners of the teams 99% of this is white people support black lesbians playing basketball. And then you get one white girl in there that just having to be a GOAT. Can y’all stop wearing my color and just look at the girl’s skill set?”
Tatum further noted that players should appreciate the financial rewards that come from their viewership. He asked, “Why would you care about somebody saying something to you on the internet that doesn’t know you?” He highlighted that the majority of their salaries come from predominantly white fans.
He shared his own experience watching women’s basketball, revealing that he watched to see Clark. Tatum admitted that he typically does not enjoy women’s basketball, yet recognized Clark as the standout player in a recent playoff game.
“I’m in the cigar lounge in Memphis the last playoff game that the Fever played. I just happened to see basketball on TV is women’s basketball. I would never watch women’s basketball because I don’t think it’s entertaining at all,” he said.
“I happen to look and I say ‘Oh, that’s the team Caitlin Clark play for, let me watch it I want to see her play. I like her. I think she’s a great athlete, I think she has a lot of accolades, she’s a great personality, but I hadn’t watched none of the games because that’s not my thing. I don’t like basketball anyway,” Tatum said. “Caitlin Clark was clearly the best player on the court. Clearly. I’m just objectively watching.”
“Women’s basketball is so bad. I don’t know how anybody watches it,” he said. Tatum argued that the WNBA players should be grateful for any attention, suggesting that the viewership is not due to the quality of the games. “They should be happy that people want to help you ’cause they not watching it ’cause it’s great basketball,” he emphasized.
Tatum questioned the players’ reactions to negative comments from social media users who lack credibility. “You don’t even know they’re really fans of the Fever or they just trolling you,” he remarked. He continued, “Nobody prominent, nobody’s serious, nobody with a blue check mark… I put my life on it that none of these people have a real account.”
He expressed frustration over the focus on victimhood among players. “The people watching you at the game are white,” he noted, highlighting the irony in their complaints about racism. He stated, “How are you getting offended by some rando on a bot account on social media?”
Tatum suggested that with increased viewership comes a wider range of opinions, including criticism. “What comes with more eyeballs is more people and more haters,” he explained. He added, “Y’all want a Cinderella story. You don’t get 7 million more people watching your stuff without the riff raff.”
He observed that the growing interest in the WNBA correlates with male viewership. Tatum stated that men prefer to watch women they find appealing, rather than players who appear like men.
“The reason why the WNBA is getting a little more attraction, the reason why some of these girls are more popular than previous women because men are watching the game and men like feminine women to be out there killing. They don’t want to watch a dude dress like another dude play a dude sport. Men don’t want, that’s not attractive,” he added.
According to Tatum, if women united to support women’s basketball, attendance and viewership would soar. “If women really stuck together…y’all would have the biggest league because if women would go to y’all games and buy y’all tickets, y’all would have more views than the NBA. But the problem is y’all ain’t that good. I’m sick of hearing them whine,” he asserted.
In closing, Tatum urged black athletes to adopt a stronger mindset. He stated that athletes should not let online trolls affect them, especially when they earn substantial salaries. “You a boss, why you care what some trolls say that don’t make half the money you make?” he asked in reaction to a tweet by Angel Reese.
Tatum concluded by emphasizing that players like Clark handle criticism gracefully, contrasting this with some players who perpetuate a victim narrative. “Caitlin Clark could be playing victim,” he stated, “but the difference between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese is that Angel Reese has to stop playing a victim and play the game.”
