WNBA's Natasha Cloud Believes Her 'Activism' Has Harmed Career

[RandySF]

“My free agency was interesting, to say the least. It’s no surprise that I didn’t expect to be where I was,” Cloud said. “Everyone wants me to have an answer. I don’t have an answer for why my situation was what it was.”

Well, it appears Cloud finally has an answer for why she remained a free agent for so long.

Cloud told WNBA legend Sue Bird that her activism led to teams staying away from her.

“My contract was terminated because I hired an outside marketing agency. Because I was a really happy with the agency that I was with on the court, [it] was amazing; always got my contracts, my basketball deals on the court, but when it came to off the court, I was just being told I wasn’t marketable,” Cloud said, via Awful Announcing. “I was being told my activism was a reason as to why I wasn’t getting certain deals and sponsorships.”



https://thespun.com/wnba/wnbas-natasha-cloud-believes-her-activism-has-harmed-career

[JT45242]

1. More likely it is being 33 with low productivity the last 3 years

Since the 2022 season when she was first team all defensive team, her stat line has been mediocre: about 11 points per game (only 10.1 PPG last year); about 0.3 blocks per game; about 1.2 steal per game; 3.8 rebounds per game. With 2.5 turnovers per game.

There are only about 8 players in the league older than her.
Maybe it was her activism, but more likely, teams did not want to pay a player with a mediocre stat line on the wrong side of 30.

I have heard Charles Barkley and others say that coaches and front offices will put up with a lot of BS from a start player, but when your productivity is less than the headache that you cause, then they let you go.

Last year, on a good team that she could get open shots, she had very mediocre stats.