Now, the New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony has stepped up to voice his disagreement with the WNBA’s fines that were assessed to players who stood in solidarity by wearing black warm-up shirts to show their concern about the recent shootings by and against police officers.
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The T-shirts initially stoked controversy including four police officers leaving their off-duty jobs as security guards to a Minnesota Lynx game because they took offense to what they felt was anti-police rhetoric. As a league with Players and fans a part of the LGBT community that’s exactly what should have been done… Starting in early July, Minnesota Lynx and Liberty players had warmed up in T-shirts that pushed for an end to the violence that’s destroying this nation, and this week, players from the Liberty, Fever and Phoenix Mercury donned all-black warmup tees to convey the same message.
According to The Associated Press, the New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury and Indiana Fever were fined $5,000 – and their players were each fined $500 – for ignoring a memo sent out by the league reminding teams of uniform policies.
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.
WNBA players have been speaking out on social media about the discrepancy.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma, whose U.S. Olympic team will begin practicing Saturday in Los Angeles, said he is proud of Charles.
James and the Cavaliers wore “I Can’t Breathe” warmups in 2014 after Eric Garner died in police custody. “The league’s decision to try and suppress our players’ desire to express themselves is shortsighted and arbitrary, and we hope they will reconsider”. In fact, just last week there was an Associated Press story with the headline, “With league support, WNBA players make voices heard”. “And I don’t even think it was frustration on their behalf”.
“If they’re trying to silence us on our platform wearing our t-shirts, then we can use [the media] as a platform and just use you guys to try to force this matter”, said Charles of the blackout, which she hopes other WNBA teams will support in the near future. This is important to us..
The league just doesn’t want them to do it on the court if it violates the WNBA uniform rules.
Players from the New York Liberty and Indiana Fever, two of the teams that received the fines from the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), refused to take questions about any subject other than Black Lives Matter, and the WNBA’s response to their protests.
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“Our weeklong schedule of All-Star events and activities is meant to be a global celebration of basketball, our league, and the values for which we stand”, said the NBA in a statement.
