“The league fined players from the New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury, and Indiana Fever for wearing black warm up shirts with “#BlackLivesMatter” and “#Dallas5” on them after the recent shootings by and against police officers.
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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. The shirts were branded with Adidas, which is official outfitter of the league, but teams can not alter the uniforms.
Minnesota Lynx players, who avoided a fine, only wore their shirts once and said they will shift their focus to addressing the issue in other ways.
Several WNBA teams and their players were fined by the league after they wore warmups in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and to honor the victims of a series of violent incidents, prompting a media blackout by the players.
“We are extremely disappointed the league chose to punish our players for bringing attention to an issue that continues to impact families and communities across the country”, the WNBA Players Association said in a statement.
After the shooting at the Orlando gay nightclub that killed 49 people, the WNBA distributed T-shirts bearing a rainbow heart with the words #OrlandoUnited on them for a night.
My favorite example: When asked about players wearing “I Can’t Breathe” shirts a couple years ago, Silver always started by enthusiastically praising them speaking their minds then added a caveat. I don’t see any difference in this matter.
Prior to the fines, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve indicated that the WNBA was supportive of the protesting teams.
In an interview with the Indy Star on Tuesday, Indiana Fever veteran Tamika Catchings said it was hard to follow the uniform rules – which require uniforms not be altered in any way – but said it was important for the players’ voices to be heard.
NY has now worn plain black shirts to warm up four times while Phoenix and IN have only done it once.
Mistie Bass of the Phoenix Mercury took to her Twitter shortly after the fines were assessed to criticize the league’s decision to penalize them for using their platform to take a stand.
His death and that of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge sparked protests across the country, including a Black Lives Matter march in Dallas that ended in the death of five police officers in a coordinated sniper attack. When a handful of WNBA players failed to heed the warning and continued to wear the t-shirts, they were fined. For now they are back to wearing their normal warm-ups. I think it’s a very slippery slope.
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Paul called on modern players to follow the example set by role models like Jim Brown, John Carlos, Tommie Smith and Billie Jean King and Wade urged the crowd, featuring some of U.S. sports’ biggest stars, not to shy away from conversations that may be inconvenient and uncomfortable. The timing of them releasing the statement and giving us the papers was very timely on their part..
