Former WNBA All-Star Angel McCoughtry's remarks questioning rookie Hailey Van Lith’s place in the league sparked backlash on social media this week, with fans slamming the comments as an example of toxicity in women’s basketball circles.McCoughtry, the No. 1 pick in the 2009 WNBA draft and a five-time All-Star, made the remarks during Wednesday’s episode of the “Let Her Shoot!” podcast. She speculated whether Van Lith’s social media presence played a role in her professional opportunity."Hailey Van Lith, she's a decent player,” McCoughtry said. “Is there players out there (outside the WNBA) who may be better than Hailey Van Lith? I believe so… (but) they're not popular."If Hailey Van Lith had 10,000 followers, would she be in the league? Honestly, if we just talk about her true talent, take away the followers, just from her talent right now, would she be in the league if she had 10,000 followers?"Fans slammed McCoughtry’s comments."WNBA might be more toxic than the NBA," one user commented. Joe〽️ess @THEEJoeMessLINKYes. Yes, she would. There are plenty of women in the wnba that she clears by a wide margin. She has high basketball iq and she's a playmaker. Courtside Commentary @CourtsidecomLINKI feel like that’s a really disrespectful thing to say Outlier Sports @OutlierSports_LINKThe overtly negative discourse within the WNBA realm is one of the biggest things holding the league back from being bigger.LowkeySportsizRight @LowkeyRealmLINKTf 😭😭She definitely deserves to be in the W.CartierFamily @cartierfamilyZLINKThis is why this league will never succeed. Too many jealous hatersVan Lith, who has more than 1.4 million followers on Instagram, played college basketball at Louisville, LSU and TCU.She averaged 17.9 points, 5.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds during the 2024-25 season at TCU, leading the Horned Frogs to their first-ever Elite Eight appearance. She was selected No. 11 in this year’s WNBA draft by the Chicago Sky, joining former LSU teammate Angel Reese.Hailey Van Lith says she’s not chasing starting role just yetHailey Van Lith has stepped into an expanded role following a season-ending ACL tear to Chicago guard Courtney Vandersloot earlier this month. Despite the opening, the rookie said she isn’t pushing to start.In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Van Lith said she’s not actively working for a starting role.“If I’m playing the way that I feel like I need to be playing, who cares if I come off the bench my rookie year?” Van Lith said.“It’s very rare for rookies to start. And honestly, for me, if I changed my mindset from being off the bench or a starter, it would get me in some trouble regardless. I’d start heading down a path I won’t want to go.”Van Lith recently posted career highs of 16 points and five rebounds in a win over the Connecticut Sun. Through nine games this season, she is averaging 5.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting 41.0% from the field.