Borders offered her support for the players via Twitter as well, writing, “Appreciate our players expressing themselves on matters important to them”.
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WNBA president Lisa Borders released an official statement Saturday about the fines.
“We want the players to know that we have supported them in the past, support them today and will continue to support them in the future”, she said.
“Carmelo Anthony also expressed his disapproval for the fines, pointing out that the National Basketball Association was supportive of players who wore hoodies and shirts for Trayvon Martin in 2012”. “I don’t see no reason for anybody to get fined”, Anthony told the New York Post. “I’m really proud of some of my former players and the way they’ve stepped forward and spoken their conscience and express their feelings”.
“We are proud of WNBA players’ engagement and passionate advocacy for non-violent solutions to hard social issues but expect them to comply with the league’s uniform guidelines”, WNBA President Lisa Borders told the Associated Press. Read the full statements below. They didn’t wear those shirts on the court to avoid getting fined.
Liberty president Isiah Thomas concurs and added, “We commend Lisa Borders for recognizing how the players of the WNBA felt and the sensitive time that we’re living in and being willing to re-evaluate their decision”.
“We’re sick and exhausted of waking up every morning and seeing something like this (shootings) happen”, Mystics player Ivory Latta said after her team played its final game before the Olympic break.
“It’s a huge win overall”, said Fever All-Star Tamika Catchings, who is president of the players union.
Charles was happy that the league rescinded the fines. “I think people need to understand that it’s not mutually exclusive”. We have followers now because of who we are, not what we do’.
“Our players are important to us”. They were fighting for what they believe to be right, and their league is now finding a way to support them.
The NBA and WNBA are now trying to find a balance between maintaining discipline when it comes to policies created to protect agreements with various sponsors and not restricting the free speech rights of the players regarding an emotionally charged issue.
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We are pleased that the WNBA has made the decision to rescind the fines the league handed down to the players on the Fever, Liberty and Mercury. We want them to be the people they are and we’re proud of them.
