Chris Jones-Imagn Images
Aug 2, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Wings head coach Jose Fernandez reacts during a break in play against the Connecticut Sun during the first half at College Park Center.
If it seems to you like the WNBA can’t go one week without some sort of major controversy, you’re not alone. Despite the league coming down the stretch toward playoff time, all of the talk is about things other than basketball.
That includes the talk surrounding the Dallas Wings, who took down the Toronto Tempo on Wednesday to move to 20-14 on the season, a huge improvement on their league-worst 10-34 record a year ago.
However, after the game, head coach Jose Fernandez had some harsh words for Wings fans, particularly those of star rookie Azzi Fudd, who harassed beat writer Grant Afseth so badly that he opted to stop covering the team.
Dallas Wings Fans Bullied Beat Writer Into Submission
Afseth is an independent journalist who covered the Wings, Mavericks, and several other teams in the area. But his recent coverage of the team, and Fudd in particular, has drawn the ire of a certain subsect of fans.
One fan even DM’d Afseth and told him that they would track him and his family down and cut their heads off. That ultimately led Afseth to announce that he’d no longer cover the Wings.
After the win over Toronto, Fernandez made it clear how he felt about the behavior.
Jose Fernandez closes his press conference with a statement in support of @DALHoopsJournal’s Grant Afseth, who recently stepped away from the heat after receiving harassment for his coverage.
“Nobody should go through what he went through.” pic.twitter.com/lOqi8GIa2b
— Drake (@DrakeKeeler) August 13, 2026
Jose Fernandez Speaks Out Against Harassment
“Even before I got here to Texas, there was a certain gentleman that really took a lot of pride in covering this team. A very talented reporter. Passionate, talented, prepared, and it’s really sad that he’s not in this room like he should be because what he went through,” Fernandez said.
“Nobody that covers any sports team should go through. And it’s really disappointing. I’m 54 years old, father of five. I have a great agent, a team of people that look at stuff. We have incredible security here with the Dallas Wings organization,” he continued. “I told Pam….maybe after the season it’ll be take the trash out Tuesday. I’ll print out everything that’s very similar to what Grant went through. Even some of my social medias got hacked. So if that’s happening to coaches in this league, just imagine what players are getting. Which is very, very disappointing.
“Grant was at every road game, as you know he’s always in here, not biased at all, did his research, so I wanted to share that evidence will be missed. Hopefully, with y’all’s support and our support, we can get him back in here doing what he loves to do because he really cares about the Dallas Wings, and nobody should have to go through what he went through. So I’m going to leave it at that.”
Hopefully Fernandez’s support gets Afseth back on the beat. But it’s easy to understand why he’d want nothing to do with the WNBA in its current state.