Dawn Staley watched Aliyah Boston play in person this past weekend and continues to support the second-year Indiana Fever player after coaching her in college at South Carolina.

South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley publicly defended former player Aliyah Boston, now a member of the Indiana Fever, amid negative social media commentary surrounding her recent WNBA performances.

Boston missed a late shot near the basket during Indiana’s loss to the Connecticut Sun on Monday after briefly deleting her social media accounts due to hate she’d received in prior games. Staley wrote afterward, “And I’m still going to give the ball to [Aliyah Boston]!! Believe that!”

The post player was taken No. 1 overall in the 2023 WNBA Draft and is a cornerstone piece in the Fever’s rebuild. However, she’s under increased scrutiny following the arrival of Caitlin Clark and millions of new viewers. Even before this season, she warned of the wrong turn women’s basketball fandom is at risk of taking.

Last month, Boston revealed that a social media account on X was created solely to troll her, with the profile’s banner image a picture of her crying after a Final Four loss to Stanford in 2021. She received hate from the account while working as an ESPN analyst during the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

“At some point we have to accept the fact that this isn’t fan bases vs fan bases this is pure hatred in peoples hearts,” Boston wrote on X. “I clicked on a person’s profile today because they were being disrespectful… and their banner was a picture of me crying after Stanford loss.

“And it’s weird that they have so much hate in their hearts because after that Stanford loss I was a natty champ, multi-defensive POY, #1 pick in the wnba draft, Roy, and more. But yet people are praying on other peoples downfall.”

Last month, Boston revealed that a social media account on X was created solely to troll her, with the profile’s banner image a picture of her crying after a Final Four loss to Stanford in 2021. She received hate from the account while working as an ESPN analyst during the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

“At some point we have to accept the fact that this isn’t fan bases vs fan bases this is pure hatred in peoples hearts,” Boston wrote on X. “I clicked on a person’s profile today because they were being disrespectful… and their banner was a picture of me crying after Stanford loss.

“And it’s weird that they have so much hate in their hearts because after that Stanford loss I was a natty champ, multi-defensive POY, #1 pick in the wnba draft, Roy, and more. But yet people are praying on other peoples downfall.”