WNBA players and coaches admit playing without fans will be tough, vow

Connecticut Sun guard Jasmine Thomas knows what it’s like to play professional basketball in near-empty arenas. Months after helping the Sun make the Finals for the first time since 2005, she landed in Gorzow Wielkopolski, a city in western Poland, to play in the country’s top league, Basket Liga Kobiet. The BLK shut down because of COVID-19 before its postseason began, but not before it switched to fan-free games. 

“Things got pretty scary,” Thomas told CBS Sports. “We were one of the first teams in our country to start playing with no fans. When that started happening it made everything pretty real. You know, this is affecting everyone, not just certain locations. We played two games with no fans, and then pretty quickly the travel ban was issued.”

Thomas left Poland on March 13 and quarantined at home in Virginia, where she is still using her Peloton in her house, working out in her garage and getting shots up on the outdoor court in her neighborhood. Like everyone else in the WNBA, she is waiting to hear what comes next. While the NBA appears poised to resume sometime in July at Disney World, the immediate future of its sister league is murky. 

Reports have indicated the WNBA could join the NBA in Orlando or set up a bubble of its own in Las Vegas. Thomas said that Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut — where the Sun play their games — is a potential third option. Regardless of time, place and format, no one expects there will be fans in the stands, at least in the short term. To get a sense of how that will impact the game, CBS Sports talked to players and coaches around the league.

“You feed off the crowd, and when they start getting into it, it helps you play better and gets in the other team’s head,” No. 3 overall pick Lauren Cox of the Indiana Fever said. “So it’s definitely gonna be hard if it comes to that. But at the same time it’s about our health and safety, and the fans’ health and safety, so that has to be the No. 1 priority.”

Another rookie, No. 10 pick Jocelyn Willoughby of the New York Liberty, said that she believes fans have a tangible impact on games, acting as the proverbial “sixth man” and elevating the home team. The players will compete when it is time to do so, but, she conceded that the game will feel different without the noise of the crowd. 

“It’s difficult,” Thomas said. “You play the game because you love it, because of the essence of basketball. But a huge part of that, especially as a professional athlete, is that atmosphere. You know having your fans there, whether it’s your fans or the opposing fans, it just brings an energy and a whole different environment that feeds into that adrenaline, feeds into that excitement to play the game.”

This is a bizarre environment for pro sports, the likes of which we’ve rarely seen in basketball. The only points of comparison are the G League Showcase and summer league in Orlando, both of…