The WNBA rescinded the fines it levied against three teams and several players for showing their support of Black Lives Matter and recently slain police officers.
“All of us at the WNBA have the utmost respect and appreciation for our players expressing themselves on matters important to them. While we expect players to comply with league rules and uniform guidelines, we also understand their desire to use their platform to address important societal issues. Given that the league will now be suspending play until August 26th for the Olympics, we plan to use this time to work with our players and their union on ways for the players to make their views known to their fans and the public and we have informed the players that we are rescinding the recently-imposed fines.”
The Indiana Fever, New York Liberty, and Phoenix Mercury had been fined $5,000 and their players $500 each for violating the league’s uniform policy. The fines were levied last Thursday morning, and by Thursday evening, the players had clapped back by refusing to answer any basketball questions during post-game interviews—they would only take and answer questions regarding Black Lives Matter. The players stressed, however, that their gesture was also in support of recently slain police officers.
Some of the shirts worn during the protest were solid black, while other carried the words "#BlackLivesMatter" and "#Dallas5," referring to the five police officers killed in Dallas earlier this month.
"We really would appreciate that people stop making our support of Black Lives Matter, an issue that is so critical in our society right now, as us not supporting the police officers," Liberty forward Swin Cash said Thursday, Sports Illustrated reported. "I think people need to understand that it's not mutually exclusive."
Kudos to the players of the WNBA for standing their ground and sticking to their principles. And kudos to the WNBA for coming around to the right decision.