In an interview this week, former WNBA star Candice Wiggins said that part of the reason she abruptly retired from the league last year was because she was targeted by other players for being straight.
Wiggins, a number 3 overall pick in 2008 out of Stanford, where she was a four-time All American, retired last year at age 29 despite originally having plans to play for another few years. In an interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune published Tuesday, for the first time Wiggins revealed the real reasons she had retired. The league, she said, was "toxic," in part because of widespread attitudes about heterosexuality, which she herself had been the victim of throughout her eight-year career with the "very, very harmful" league.
"It wasn’t like my dreams came true in the WNBA. It was quite the opposite," said the championship-winning player. One of the reasons it proved to be such a disappointment was the lack of support for what she called the "survival league," which is still struggling for legitimacy even after 20 years of existence.