The WNBA condemned harassment that Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner apparently endured from a social media personality on Saturday morning at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
Alex Stein, a Dallas-area YouTube personality, professed to be the person filming Griner at the airport. He posted a photo on Twitter, saying “I just met my favorite WNBA player Brittney Griner. Video coming soon,” and later posted an 11-second video of him shouting toward Griner as she walked through the concourse.
“Do you still want to boycott America, Britney?” Stein asks Griner as she walks by. Some men get physical with Stein at this point before he asks, “What about the merchant of death, Brit?”
Stein, 36, said he will air the video on YouTube on Sunday.
Griner spent 10 months in a Russian jail after being detained for marijuana possession in February 2022. In December, she was released in a deal in which the United States agreed to release imprisoned Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
The WNBA released a statement criticizing Stein well before the video snippet was released.
“As we gather additional information about today’s incident at the Dallas airport, it has come to our attention that this was orchestrated by a social media figure and provocateur. His actions were inappropriate and unfortunate,” the league said in a statement. “The safety of Brittney Griner and all WNBA players is our top priority. Prior to the season, the WNBA worked together with the Phoenix Mercury and BG’s team to ensure her safety during her travel, which included charter flights for WNBA games and assigned security personnel with her at all times. We remain steadfastly committed to the highest standards of security for players.”
Brianna Turner of the Mercury provided some context of what happened at the airport.
“Player safety while traveling should be at the forefront,” Turner said on Twitter. “People following with cameras saying wild remarks is never acceptable. Excessive harassment. Our team nervously huddled in a corner unsure how to move about. We demand better.”
The WNBA players union said the league needs to do a better job of providing charter flights.
“As we continue to hear from our members throughout the start of the season and particularly today with the situation involving the Phoenix Mercury at the Dallas airport, we are quite clear that the matter of charter travel is NOT a ‘competitive advantage’ issue,” the union said in a statement. “We cannot help but wonder if the league and teams preclude more reasonable and flexible rules regarding charter travel in 2023 in order to seek leverage on this issue at the bargaining table.
“What BG and all of her Phoenix teammates experienced today was a calculated confrontation that left them feeling very unsafe. Everyone who was paying attention knew this would happen. We could have and should have been more proactive.”
The Mercury lost Friday night in Dallas and were travelling for Sunday’s road game against the Indiana Fever.
–Field Level Media