i don’t think the resentment would be even 5% of what it currently is if cc was the same player but she looked like seimone augustus. there’s been a whole lot of evidence posted in this thread and online that cc being straight, white, and apolitical (up until recently) drew the ire of the rest of the league because she’s not “one of them”.
i think that the most similar nba comp is jokic and how his peers have downplayed his greatness his entire career. aloof foreigner with a unique skill set that nobody else in the league possesses; he’s not “one of them”, and that’s why a largely black, american league has rated guys like tatum, dame, booker, and other absolute jokers ahead of jokic for so long. the difference is, and people don’t want to hear this, the women seriously are 1,000x more petty, catty, and jealous than the men. that’s why jokic shows up 5th on “best player in the nba” lists and gets picked last for the all star team (clear, indefensible hate, but not cases of players going out of their way to hate on him constantly), while the wnba as a collective was like, “fuck this bitch she sucks and she’s taking all our shine.” nobody hates like women do, and women don’t hate anybody like they hate other women.