A Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray shared a racist DM she received on Instagram after Sunday’s loss to the Indiana Fever. By Tuesday evening, the man who sent it had been fired from his job at Hilton Grand Vacations.
The hotel chain confirmed the termination in a statement to ESPN. “The person responsible for posting this information is no longer with the company,” Hilton Grand Vacations said. “His behavior was in violation of multiple company policies and does not reflect our company’s values in any way.”
The timing isn’t a coincidence. After Gray posted the message on her Instagram story, social media users tracked down the account and identified his employer. Calls to Hilton followed, and the company moved fast.
What Gray Shared
The Fever blew out the Aces 109-75 in a game that had been hyped as a showdown between two of the WNBA’s best teams. Afterward, Gray got a direct message that crossed a clear line. She didn’t blur the contents. She put it up on her story for everyone to see.
“People act like we just make this s— up,” Gray wrote in the post. “And the audacity to tell us as athletes to ‘shut up and dribble.’”
That phrase — “shut up and dribble” — has been used against athletes for years, especially Black athletes who speak out on social issues. Gray’s post made it clear she wasn’t going to let this one slide quietly.
This Isn’t a One-Time Thing
The incident comes just two weeks after Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas dealt with her own harassment following a game against the Fever. Thomas didn’t hold back when she talked about it on June 30.
“We’re so concerned about the safety on the court, but time and time again, we’re having people threaten our lives,” Thomas said. “Leaking addresses out there. Putting crazy pictures that have nothing to do with basketball. It’s really unacceptable. It’s something that needs to change in this league, and I’m just really sick and tired of it.”
It’s worth noting that Caitlin Clark’s rookie season has brought a massive wave of new attention to the WNBA — and with that attention, some ugly stuff has surfaced. Clark herself has been the target of racist and sexist comments, but opponents like Gray and Thomas have also faced harassment from fans who seem to treat the Fever’s games like battlegrounds.
The league has been dealing with this for years, but the scale feels different now. More cameras. More engagement. More people willing to send a direct message they’d never say out loud.
Gray hasn’t commented further since her Instagram story. The Aces haven’t put out a statement. But the message is pretty clear: if you send a racist DM to a professional athlete, there’s a decent chance your boss finds out about it.
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