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As WNBA training camps have come and gone and pre-season games begin this weekend, one of the most prominent stories around the league is the still-unsigned status of fan favorite Natasha Cloud. Cloud is a veteran point guard, WNBA champion, and defensive powerhouse who is known for her outspokenness on political issues, from gun violence to racial injustice to Palestinian liberation. She’s coming off a season with the New York Liberty that saw her popularity rise to new heights, playing on a big market team alongside her girlfriend, Isabelle Harrison.

"What she stands for is what I believe in, speaking up for the voiceless,” New York Liberty GM Jonathan Kolb said at a press conference this morning. “There is no better body than Natasha Cloud and she puts her life on the line every single day... Tash is amazing, look what she did. She's a New York legend in one year here because of who she is off the floor, but also on."

As a result of Cloud’s visibility and popularity last season, which included winning the skills contest at WNBA All-Star weekend, many fans are surprised that she is not on a roster. And as people look for explanations as to why that might be, Cloud’s politics have taken center stage as a reason she hasn’t yet been picked up by a team. From influencers like Mariah Rose at hoopsforhotties to sports columnists like Dave Zirin at The Nation (hi, Dave! You know I love your work!), speculation that Cloud is being blackballed from the league for her political views—a la Colin Kaepernick—has run rampant.

I am someone who has made a career writing about activism in sports and am constantly engaging with the topic. I’ve been monitoring which athletes have been speaking out about Palestine since October 7th happened, and I have spoken with Cloud directly about the ways in which her politics and gender presentation impact her ability to get sponsorship deals. All of this is to say, I am not one to dismiss the idea that one’s political views have an impact on their career opportunities.

I also understand why people might question whether Cloud’s outspokenness about the genocide in Gaza has led to her being blackballed by the league. There is precedent for this happening in many areas of society. Outside of sports, people have been fired, arrested, and blacklisted for speaking out in support of a free Palestine. It makes sense to wonder if that’s what’s happening to Cloud.

But I just don’t think that’s what’s happening here. Of course, I don’t know for sure and I am willing to be proven wrong on the matter. It’s just that when you look at the full picture, there are other explanations that seem much more likely. I’ve spoken to many WNBA reporters and none of us has heard even an inkling that Cloud’s politics are an issue for anyone. Correlation does not necessarily equal causation; Cloud can both support Palestinian liberation and be currently unsigned to a WNBA team.

"There’s a lot out there right now that I would just like to dispel,” Kolb said this morning. “When it comes to Tash, she's a phenomenal teammate, she's an awesome human being, she's a phenomenal basketball player, she belongs in the WNBA."

Cloud is 34-years-old. By any metric, she’s towards the end of her basketball career. She is coming off a season in New York where she didn’t start and she struggled offensively. At the end of the 2025 season, Kolb made clear that he didn’t like the backcourt fit of Cloud and Sabrina Ionescu—and Ionescu obviously wasn’t going anywhere—which meant the writing was on the wall for Cloud’s future in New York.

“Something that we also have to remember is Natasha Cloud’s skill set is sort of being phased out of the league, too,” Jackie Powell, The IX’s Liberty beat writer, said on a recent podcast. “She’s a (33.8%) 3-point shooter. So that’s part of this equation too. It’s the basketball fit, and that was very much so part of the reason why it didn’t work with the New York Liberty for another year.”

She made public comments on her way out of Washington, Phoenix, and Connecticut—some of those comments justified and understandable—that likely burned bridges with those franchises and make it unlikely that she would return to any of them. That’s now four teams off the table. She also made quite clear that, with a new collective bargaining agreement in place and higher salaries available, she was looking to cash in. It makes total sense, especially considering she doesn’t have many more years of playing left, to want to get the payday while she can.

How many teams can afford—or are willing to pay—what Cloud is probably looking to make and need what Cloud brings to the court? Likely a small number. There is still a learning curve for both athletes and teams as they navigate the waters of the new CBA and the result, especially in the first season it’s operational, is that the WNBA’s middle class is being squeezed a bit. Unfortunately, Cloud sits in this bracket of players and, ironically, made comments during CBA negotiations worrying that the middle tier of players could be de-prioritized.

Then there are the less tangible issues of “fit.” While fans love Cloud, some teammates and front offices haven’t always. “A big reason fans love Cloud is her willingness to say what she thinks,” Andrew Hauber wrote at No Cap Space. “Unfortunately, that can land her in hot water as it did this offseason where her commentary around the CBA negotiations wasn’t rooted in fact and treated as a hindrance to negotiating progress as opposed to a help…. After a certain point, you can become labeled, fairly or unfairly, as something of a shit stirrer in your office and it’s rare that GMs want that.”

In a younger player, the upside may be enough to ignore or overlook issues around personality or fit, but with a player Cloud’s age there’s less incentive for teams to want to deal with them. Cloud has also changed agents twice in the last few weeks, including in the middle of free agency, according to Powell. That indicates that something else is probably going on and it absolutely impacts her ability to negotiate with teams, as her new agents get settled and try to figure out the lay of the land.

It would be easy to argue that issues of “fit” and teams’ potential unwillingness to pay Cloud’s asking price could just be excuses to avoid anyone coming out and saying that her politics are the issue. So let’s actually look at how Cloud’s—and other WNBA players’—solidarity with Gaza has been received.

Cloud played last season with “Save Gaza” written on her sneakers and wore a keffiyah with one of her pre-game tunnel fits. She was heavily marketed by the Liberty, who knew she was a fan favorite. She was featured on a Nike billboard in Times Square with her “Free Palestine” bracelet visible and clearly legible. Her outspokenness is nothing new; as Zirin breaks down in his column at The Nation, Cloud has spent her entire career advocating for issues that could jeopardize her career. She even sat out the 2020 season to engage in protests and activism following the murder of George Floyd.

The WNBA also markets itself as an activist league, despite being increasingly overrun with and run by girlboss capitalists. There have been documentaries promoting the league’s (or really, its players’) history of activism, from Shattered Glass—the documentary about the founding of the WNBPA—to Power of the Dream—the film about how the players worked to flip a Senate seat and get the then-owner of the Atlanta Dream voted out of office.

Temi Fagbenle, another player who has been outspoken in her support of Palestinian liberation, just signed a million dollar contract with the Toronto Tempo. Kierstan Bell, who has also expressed support for Palestine and was one of the signees of the Athletes For Ceasefire pledge, has been signed with the Las Vegas Aces despite bringing little but bench vibes to the team for the past several seasons (and despite the team having an ADL partnership!).

I actually think Cloud’s politics, in this case, are a plus for her. The league likely recognizes that a lot of its fanbase is very aligned with Cloud’s views. It's good for them to have a player that fans like and respect in that way, as much of the league’s more progressive activism gets defanged thanks to more mainstream attention and billionaire investors. Teams know that fans love her! That’s an asset!

So, is Cloud unsigned because of her politics? Maybe. But are there way more likely reasons that she isn’t currently on a W roster? Yes, absolutely. So far, there hasn’t been anything to indicate her politics are responsible for what’s going on. It’s damaging, in my opinion, to spread the narrative that she’s been blackballed when there isn’t any evidence to support the theory. It is detrimental to the very real instances where activism does have negative impacts on an athlete’s career.

“I’ve given my heart to every team and community I’ve been part of, never fully knowing if the impact I hoped for was truly felt,” Cloud wrote on Threads, in her only public comments on the matter thus far. “In this moment, though, receiving so much love, support, and advocacy means everything. It’s a powerful reminder that the impact I’ve wanted to make beyond the court is real — and aligned with what I believe God has called me to do through this game.”

None of these reasons are necessarily Cloud’s fault. I can see why fans of the league, who overwhelmingly love and support a high-profile player like Cloud, are shocked and outraged that she hasn’t found a team yet. I can also understand why her politics seem like low-hanging fruit in terms of providing an explanation for her continuing status as a free agent.

I also believe that Cloud deserves to be on a WNBA roster. She’s a veteran player with excellent defensive skills and can be an enthusiastic leader in the locker room.

The season hasn’t officially started yet. There are still injuries that will happen, trades that will be made, and additional contracts that will be signed. I have to hope that there will be a team who will see the benefit of adding Cloud to their lineup. I am willing to be wrong about why Cloud hasn’t yet been picked up, but I think there needs to be way more evidence before suggesting a narrative like this one. If it turns out to be the case, I’ll be the first to bang the outrage drum—it’s what I do, after all! Until then, I’m going to go with what my decade of WNBA reporting indicates is most likely.