Just as the NBA itself made a statement regarding one of the biggest social issues facing the United States today, it’s counterpart in the women’s professional basketball ranks is attempting to mute its players’ activism.
The WNBA just recently fined the New York Liberty, Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury organizations $5,000 each for their players wearing T-shirts showing support for the Black Lives Matter movement. The players who took part in the silent protest were each fined $500.
Courtesy of the NY Daily News
New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony — an outspoken figure on the most prevalent issues in the United States today — took exception.
“I don’t see why there would be a reason for those ladies to get fined,” Anthony said, via the NY Daily News. “Everybody has freedom of speech. This is a platform right now where everyone is affected and everyone shows their frustrations in different ways. And I don’t even think it was frustration on their behalf.”
To be clear, the shirts themselves are a violation of league policy. While they do sport the WNBA-mandated Adidas brand, uniforms are not to be altered in any way. This comes a month after the league itself issued shirts for players to wear in support of June’s terrorist attack in Orlando.
“We were OK with that, we wanted to support that, but also they can’t pick and choose what initiatives to support and what not to support just because it doesn’t push their agenda,” Liberty guard Tanisha Wright said. “This is important to us.”
For their part, the Liberty wore these shirts four times in the past. They did, however, opt to go with the traditional and league-approved black shirts on Thursday.
Anthony’s voice serves as an extension of the women basketball players who find themselves a bit upset over the league’s stance.
The WNBA is fining $5k per team + $500 per player = $33k. Excessive. For using this platform to speak out! Says a lot!
— Skylar Diggins-Smith (@SkyDigg4) July 21, 2016
Worried about a cause that speaks to 70% of our league? Yes, we might lose a little. But ever think we might gain more… Respect? #WNBA
— Chiney Ogwumike (@chiney) July 21, 2016
Following Thursday’s game, members of both the Fever and Liberty refused to take questions on any topic not relating to Black Lives Matter and the WNBA’s response to their protest.
LIVE on #Periscope https://t.co/Cc4rbHOROL
— Excelle Sports (@ExcelleSports) July 21, 2016
It will be interesting to see what comes of this all. What we do know is that the less-than-popular league has now put itself in the news for all the wrong reasons.