Candice Wiggins says she was bullied throughout her WNBA career because she’s straight

Candice Wiggins retired from the WNBA in 2016. At the time she said that she felt it was time to move on from professional basketball.

Wiggins spoke to The San Diego Union-Tribune on Monday wanting to explain her experience in the WNBA.

“Me being heterosexual and straight, and being vocal in my identity as a straight woman was huge,” Wiggins said. “I would say 98 percent of the women in the WNBA are gay women. It was a conformist type of place. There was a whole different set of rules they (the other players) could apply.”

She claims that initially her plan was to stay in the league and play two more seasons, but the conditions inside the WNBA “didn’t lend itself to my mental state.” Wiggins only mentioned the WNBA in passing in her 2016 retirement post on The Players Tribune, but did mention admiration she had for other players in her profession.

“I can’t explain how much respect I have for the women who play 11 months out of the year for a decade or more. You rarely see your family, and if you don’t take impeccable care of your body, you’re done.”

Some women play in multiple leagues because of lower-than-average salaries, meaning many play in two or three different leagues a year. Wiggins played professionally in Spain, Israel, Greece and Turkey but her presentation of the WNBA painted an image of a league devoid of respect in lockers rooms and on rosters.

“People were deliberately trying to hurt me all of the time. I had never been called the B-word so many times in my life than I was in my rookie season. I’d never been thrown to the ground so much. The message was: ‘We want you to know we don’t like you.’”

Wiggins told The San Diego Union-Tribune that she is writing an autobiography titled “The WNBA Diaries,” which will detail her time at Stanford and her experience while playing professional basketball. Wiggins said she isn’t holding any grudges against the women she claimed made her time in the WNBA difficult.

“I want you to understand this: There are no enemies in my life. Everyone is forgiven. At the end of the day, it made me stronger. If I had not had this experience, I wouldn’t be as tough as I am.”

On Tuesday afternoon Los Angeles Sparks’ forward and WNBA players’ union president Nneka Ogwumike said the following: