Tara VanDerveer said she doesn’t know what former Stanford guard Candice Wiggins went through in the WNBA, but the Cardinal women’s head coach defended the league from Wiggins’ sharp criticism. Wiggins, a four-time All-American for the Cardinal (2004-08), said in an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune, which The Chronicle printed Tuesday, that she was bullied during her eight-year WNBA career because she is heterosexual. VanDerveer said she “loved coaching Candice,” Stanford’s second all-time leading scorer. What I know about the WNBA, under (WNBA President) Lisa Borders and (NBA Commissioner) Adam Silver, is that an inclusive, supportive workplace is really high on their agenda. In the Union-Tribune interview, she depicted the WNBA as a “survival league” that that still struggles for attention and legitimacy after 20 years of existence. Wiggins, 30, announced her retirement in March. Besides helping Minnesota to the championship in 2011, she also played for the Tulsa Shock, Los Angeles Sparks and New York Liberty. VanDerveer also was disappointed that Wiggins’ remarks were given such extensive media play but Nneka Ogwumike, another Stanford alum, was given much less coverage for her MVP season in 2016 and her game-winning shot for the Sparks in the championship game. DeLisha Milton-Jones, an assistant coach at Pepperdine who won two WNBA titles and appeared in more games than any player in league history, said her experience in the league was a “complete contradiction of what’s been stated by Candice.” Chicago center Imani Boyette, a WNBA rookie last season, wrote in a blog addressed to Wiggins, There is literally a woman from every walk of life in the league, which is why I love it so much. San Antonio forward Monique Currie wrote in a blog that in her 11 seasons in the WNBA she has not experienced or witnessed the bullying that Wiggins described. In response to Wiggins’ allegations, the WNBA players’ association released a statement from Ogwumike, its executive committee president, that didn’t directly address Wiggins’ allegations