Opals Divided By Alice Kunek's Blackface Controversy; Twitter - Bafflingly - Turns Its Anger To Liz Cambage

Well, here’s another Kanye West-related controversy that, this time, wasn’t actually started by West himself.

Over the weekend, Opals forward Alice Kunek uploaded a photo to Instagram of her dressed as Kanye for a ‘Silly Sunday’ costume party. And yes, she painted her face black to complete the costume, not aware of – or totally disregarding – the disturbing and horrendous historical connotations that will forever be tied to the act of ’blackface’. (Very simple rule of thumb for those who want to be respectful to their fellow human beings and not embroil themselves in controversy: umm, don't ever do it.)

Kunek was later called out by her teammate Liz Cambage, who is of Nigerian descent, on social media.

I'm am so shocked and disturbed to see this behavior from someone I'm meant to call a "teammate" pic.twitter.com/Rz9Hp33oCs

— Elizabeth Cambage (@ecambage) February 21, 2016

People wonder why I have issues with some @BasketballAus teammates, I've been dealing with these behavior since we were kids

— Elizabeth Cambage (@ecambage) February 21, 2016

Kunek subsequently took to Twitter to clarify her intentions (without explicitly apologising for her actions or addressing Cambage’s complaint).

1/4. I'm sorry that people would think my support of Kanye as being racist in some way.

— Alice Kunek (@AliceKunek) February 21, 2016

2/4 People who know me, know that I don't judge others based on the colour of their skin.

— Alice Kunek (@AliceKunek) February 21, 2016

3/4 One of the things I love most about basketball is that I get to play with and against women from different countries ,

— Alice Kunek (@AliceKunek) February 21, 2016

4/4 religions & upbringings and be united as a team. I never meant to offend any team mates, fans, or people in the community.

— Alice Kunek (@AliceKunek) February 21, 2016

Though Kunek was subjected to much criticism over social media, so too was Cambage. The Opals' center shared some of the messages she received from "white males" in the aftermath of her initial Tweets.

I have learnt so much from white males today on racism, thanks so much guys X pic.twitter.com/H5ERb87YW3

— Elizabeth Cambage (@ecambage) February 21, 2016

Cambage later said she was “sad to see” ex Opal Natalie Porter liking Tweets that similarly targeted her for expressing disappointment in Kunek.

sad to see Natalie Porter ex @AussieOpals "liking" these tweets @NPIREaustralia pic.twitter.com/ilAcDNDCrR

— Elizabeth Cambage (@ecambage) February 21, 2016

Four-time Olympian Lauren Jackson told the Sydney Morning Herald that she “feel[s] for Alice” but “at [the] same time you have to be aware of the racial implications.”

"It's important people understand the past and why this is an issue," she said. "It's important it's talked about but in same breath people need to understand that people make mistakes - in hindsight [Kunek] wouldn't do this again."

Kunek, Cambage and Jackson are all vying for spots on the 2016 Olympic team, in the hopes of representing Australian basketball at Rio. Question is, can the team be united before the Olympic campaign begins?

Photo: Instagram.