Shane Gillis stood at the ESPYs podium Wednesday night with a room full of sports stars in front of him. What happened next had everyone talking, but maybe not for the reasons he hoped. The comedian’s viral WNBA joke pulled back the curtain on something nobody wanted to admit: how many people in that star-studded audience actually knew the league’s players.
What Made Shane Gillis’ WNBA Joke Go Viral?
The comedian and actor Gillis hosted the 2025 edition of the ESPYs on Wednesday. The ESPY awards, which honor athletes for their achievements in the past year, have a long-standing tradition of choosing comedians or actors to host the show. Gillis joined a list of presenters that has included celebrities like Seth Meyers, Samuel L. Jackson, and Jamie Foxx.
One particular joke that Gillis cracked, which took a dig at the popularity of the WNBA, is doing the rounds on social media and has attracted over 300,000 views.
Shane Gillis fooled the ESPYS crowd into thinking his friends wife is a WNBA star 😭
“4x WNBA All-Star Brittany Hicks is here. Give it up for Brittany, everybody…. I’m just joking around; that’s my friend’s wife, I knew none of you knew WNBA players.”pic.twitter.com/1bXZRqWxyq
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) July 17, 2025
Full Court Pass, the NBA tracker on X, posted a video clip featuring this joke and wrote, “Shane Gillis fooled the ESPYS crowd into thinking his friend’s wife is a WNBA star 😭. ‘4×WNBA All-Star Brittany Hicks is here. Give it up for Brittany, everybody…. I’m just joking around, that’s my friend’s wife, I knew none of you knew WNBA players.'”
Brittany Hicks is the wife of comedian and writer Matt McCusker. As Gillis cracked the joke, the camera panned to Hicks, who gave a small wave and then laughed. Her husband was also pictured sitting next to her and laughing.
The setup was simple but effective. Gillis and McCusker host the comedy podcast Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast, which recently released its 567th episode. Some of the show’s most viewed episodes have over two million views on YouTube alone.
How Did Fans React to the WNBA Joke?
The response was mixed, sparking conversations about both comedy and the league itself. One follower of the basketball tracker on X responded to the WNBA joke by sharing a GIF that showed NBA legend and broadcaster Shaquille O’Neal hiding his face behind a sheet of paper and laughing.
— YoSteve0 (@Johnsonfasho) July 17, 2025
“Good jokes, but delivery is hella awkward,” one fan said in response to this joke, to which some fans of the 2025 ESPY Awards host replied, saying that that was how Gillis’ style of comedy worked.
Despite the clip of the WNBA joke going viral, it appears that Gillis’ opening monologue was not very well received.
However, the WNBA itself had plenty to celebrate that night. Despite his joke, which seemed to take a dig at the popularity of the WNBA, one WNBA legend and one current-day superstar took home ESPY awards on Wednesday.
14-time WNBA All-Star Diana Taurasi, who retired in February, was given the Icon Award, which she shared with retired US soccer legend Alex Morgan. Meanwhile, Caitlin Clark won the 2025 ESPY for Best WNBA Player, an award Taurasi won thrice during her playing career.
Although the WNBA is not as popular as the NBA, the league has been growing over the past few years. ESPN announced in June that “The Indiana Fever’s victory over the New York Liberty on Saturday (June 14) delivered the 3rd most-watched WNBA game on ABC EVER.” The game had 2.2 million average viewers and peaked at 2.8 million. Overall, ESPN says that WNBA on ESPN viewership is up 14% compared to last season.
nobody will care about the wnba, except the wnba