Players from the New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury and Indiana Fever teams donned black warm-up shirts instead of their regular uniforms to protest at a series of shootings by police officers.
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“Today, I chose to not be silent in the wake of the WNBA fines against the New York Liberty, Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury, due to our support in the #BlackLivesMatter movement”.
WNBA players aren’t the only ones who can’t understand why their social activism has resulted in fines by the league.
After Thursday’s game, players from the Liberty and Fever openly discussed their support of Black Lives matter and the WNBA’s decision to penalize them for it.
After the game, which was won 82-70 by the Fever for what it is worth, the Liberty’s Tina Charles accepted her award for player of the month with her warm-ups turned inside-out, saying on Instagram that she had “decided to not be silent in the wake of the WNBA fines”.
But WNBA president, Lisa Borders said that while they are happy with the ladies stepping into the roles as advocates, she also expects them to comply with proper uniforms. Borders told the Associated Press the fines weren’t necessarily about the athletes taking a public stand on social issues. Underneath was the message ‘Black Lives Matter’. WNBA rookies like New York’s Adut Bulgak make roughly $40,000.
The New York Liberty lost to the Indiana Fever on Thursday, but that wasn’t the biggest headline of the game. As such, the WNBA handed each team a $5,000 fine and each player who took part in the protest a $500 fine. “I think it’s important that us as players – being able to utilize our voice, and being able to stand for, and stay united for what matters to us”. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement after the players wore those shirts supporting the players for their personal views but preferring they adhered to on-court attire rules.
After the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Florida, the WNBA immediately sent their players new gear to wear to show support for what was happening and that was considered okay.
No NBA players wore the “I Can’t Breathe” shirts after Silver’s statements. I’m OK with the leagues acting like the businesses they are, except the way they also hold themselves up as moral leaders first. “As to where you would draw the line when it’s appropriate for a particular player to use that, use a game, pregame, as a political forum, I think it’s a unsafe road for us to go down”. Previous year when National Basketball Association players were “I can’t breathe” t-shirts, National Basketball Association commissioner Adam Silver also said while he supported their activism, he would prefer if they not violate uniform rules. As a player rep we are going to continue having these conversations, she said.
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Even though the fines may appear to be egregious to some, the blowback from such disciplinary action is drawing further attention to the issues at hand, which should only help the players’ activist efforts in the long run.
