"Sometimes people think that if you're always helping people up and never hit someone with a hard foul, you're automatically a good sport. I don't believe that"
About this Quote
Sue Wicks is pushing back on a feel-good version of sportsmanship that prizes optics over truth. The image she invokes is pure highlight-reel morality: helping an opponent up, avoiding the “hard foul,” performing kindness in the most visible, camera-friendly ways. Her blunt “I don’t believe that” punctures the idea that niceness is the same thing as integrity. In her world, being a “good sport” isn’t a posture; it’s a standard you’re held to when the game gets tense, physical, and unfair.
The subtext is about competitive honesty. A hard foul can be reckless, even cruel, but it can also be a legitimate boundary in a contact sport: a refusal to be pushed around, a message that skill still has consequences in the paint. Wicks isn’t endorsing cheap shots; she’s rejecting the way audiences (and sometimes leagues) confuse cleanliness with character. People can be polite and still cut corners, complain nonstop, showboat, or disrespect opponents in quieter ways.
Context matters here: women’s basketball has long been asked to prove its palatability - to be tough but “classy,” intense but not “too physical,” competitive without making anyone uncomfortable. Wicks, a bruising forward from an era when the WNBA was still defining its public image, is insisting that real sportsmanship includes edge: playing hard, taking contact seriously, and respecting opponents enough to compete without theater. Her line is a reminder that character isn’t measured by gestures; it’s measured by choices when no one’s clapping.
The subtext is about competitive honesty. A hard foul can be reckless, even cruel, but it can also be a legitimate boundary in a contact sport: a refusal to be pushed around, a message that skill still has consequences in the paint. Wicks isn’t endorsing cheap shots; she’s rejecting the way audiences (and sometimes leagues) confuse cleanliness with character. People can be polite and still cut corners, complain nonstop, showboat, or disrespect opponents in quieter ways.
Context matters here: women’s basketball has long been asked to prove its palatability - to be tough but “classy,” intense but not “too physical,” competitive without making anyone uncomfortable. Wicks, a bruising forward from an era when the WNBA was still defining its public image, is insisting that real sportsmanship includes edge: playing hard, taking contact seriously, and respecting opponents enough to compete without theater. Her line is a reminder that character isn’t measured by gestures; it’s measured by choices when no one’s clapping.
Quote Details
| Topic | Sports |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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