Natasha Cloud is one of the more well-known players in the WNBA.
Since coming into the league, the defense-first guard has developed a loyal following by melding an admirable, hard-nosed style on the court with open, personal messaging online and in the media. Often, Cloud has connected with fans of the WNBA, a league that attracts younger, more progressive followers, by taking strong political stances.
Cloud has been outspoken about gun violence and racial justice, and even campaigned with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani last year. And, during Israel’s latest strikes, Cloud has been a vocal advocate for Palestinians in Gaza.
Throughout that time, Cloud has been a fixture of successful teams across the WNBA, winning a championship in 2019 before locking down the perimeter for playoff teams in Phoenix and New York over the past two seasons. But after starting 41 of 44 games for the Liberty last year, and despite the salary cap windfall created by the league’s new collective bargaining agreement, the 34-year-old Cloud remains unsigned with less than two weeks to go until Opening Night.
The questions around the lack of a market for Cloud quickly fed into a churn of theories from online content creators and influencers, some of whom expressly told their audiences that the WNBA was conspiring against Cloud because of her political activism.
A video captioned “Natasha Cloud is being blackballed by the WNBA for being pro Palestine,” posted by popular creator and Hoops for Hotties host Mariah Rose, collected more than 350,000 views across Instagram and TikTok. Dozens of YouTube videos, some coming from creators who sympathize with Cloud and others who clearly want to see her face consequences, almost universally come from the perspective that she is being punished. At The Nation, even longtime columnist Dave Zirin openly speculated that Cloud might be “getting Kapped,” in reference to the NFL’s conspiracy against Colin Kaepernick a decade ago.
Yet the WNBA is not running away from the Cloud story. Instead, multiple reports citing both on- and off-the-record league figures seem to explain why Cloud remains a free agent.
Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb went out of his way to address the situation with Cloud at a press conference over the weekend, telling reporters “there’s a lot out there that I’d just like to dispel.”
Kolb then praised Cloud as a player and person before explaining that New York moved on from her because of salary cap constraints as it brought in two younger free agent forwards in her place.
Reports from The Athletic and The IX Sports also revealed that Cloud hired new agents twice in the past month.
But just as fans were beginning to get some clarity into Cloud’s status, her partner once again created confusion. In a reply to an aggregator account citing The Athletic’s reporting that multiple teams had shown interest in Cloud during free agency, center Isabelle Harrison, who was publicly dating Cloud as of last year, wrote “this isn’t true.”
Shortly after, Harrison deleted the post, and Cloud offered a statement on her Threads account.
“I have yet to speak. That’s intentional & my power,” Cloud wrote. “I’ve just worked. No sulking, no whining. Work. & I will continue to work as I always have. Proving myself right year, after year, after year. (11) to be exact. I know who I am. I know my value/worth. & ain’t nothing traditional.”
While Cloud wants to own the narrative around her free agency status and share the story directly with her passionate fan base, the apparent issues behind the scenes and questions about her market have left an opening for others to run away with the story. Whether they support Cloud or detest her, while Cloud has “yet to speak,” creators are pushing a narrative that she is either being black-balled or getting her comeuppance.
In reality, Cloud seems to be falling victim to the same forces that every free agent must deal with.
Certainly the story could change, and one side could be proven correct. The instinct to stand up for athletes who may be on the receiving end of backlash over their political views or personal beliefs is welcome among a new generation of media stars who came up outside the more cautious environment of traditional journalism. But while this story is far from complete, the messaging around Cloud’s career hiccup this spring is far more definitive than the truth seems to be.
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