Things are moving pretty swiftly with the WNBA. Just Thursday, the WNBA fined the New York Liberty, Indiana Fever, the Phoenix Mercury and their players for wearing their black warm-up shirts inside out in response to shootings by and against police officers. It just so happens that New York and Indiana were playing against each other that night, and players on both teams made it clear they would not be silenced.
Players on both teams refused to take media questions about the game, telling the media they could ask questions about anything going on in society.
“We really feel like there’s still an issue here in America,” Tanisha Wright of the New York Liberty said. “And we want to be able to use our platforms, we want to be able to use our voices, we don’t want to let anybody silence us in what we want to talk about. So you guys can ask away about anything that’s happening in society.”
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“It’s unfortunate that the WNBA has fined us and not supported its players,” she added.
Fever forward Tamika Catchings also weighed in on the media blackout.
“I think, no matter what our success is on the court, basketball is just that, it’s just basketball, and there’s a whole other world outside of that, and it’s way more important than what we do,” she said.
Deveraux Peters, also from the Indiana Fever, posted to her Instagram page about the issue.
“People must understand that Black Lives Matter has nothing to do with being more important than any other race,” she said.
Tina Charles, who was awarded the WNBA’s player of the month award, posted to her Instagram stating she and her teammates will “continue to use our platform and raise awareness for the #BlackLivesMatter movement until the WNBA gives its support as it does for Breast Cancer Awareness, Pride, and other subject matters.”
“After seeing the African-American male shot three times after helping an autistic person out this morning in Florida, I knew I couldn’t be silent,” Charles said after the Liberty lost to the Fever. “Knowing the player I am representing this organization, if anybody was going to wear it, it had to be me. I have no problem wearing this shirt inside out for the rest of the season until we are able to have the WNBA support us.”
“What’s most upsetting is the way it was handled,” Indiana Fever player rep Briann January said, according to ESPN. “You have a league that is 90, if not above 90 percent African-American, and you have an issue that is directly affecting them and the people they know and you have a league that isn’t willing to side with them. It’s not a race issue, not an anti-police issue, not a black or white issue. It’s a right or wrong issue.”
