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Let's get into it:
The WNBA should kick out every single player who refused to stand for the National Anthem. In a playoff game between the Atlanta Dream and the Golden State Valkyries, both teams chose to walk into their locker rooms and stay there while the anthem played, not coming out until it was over.
The League, an offshoot of the NBA that in large part funds the women's basketball teams, has a rule that requires teams and players to stand and line up for the anthem. However, in this case, the League has chosen to say nothing at all and to instead fine both teams $30 for their refusal. No, that sum isn't missing any zeroes; it's just $30. Why have a rule that will only be ignored?
That was the first playoff game, and the teams were back Monday night for round 2. Again, they refused to stand for the anthem, exiting the court less than a minute before the anthem was belted out by singer Alanis Morissette. As soon as she finished her rendition, the teams were back on the court—within seconds.
This makes it clear that the ladies were listening for it and deliberately avoiding the anthem. In 2020, the Atlanta Dream issued a statement saying that "the anthem does not represent freedom, justice and liberty for all Americans." They're wrong, of course; it does.
The refusal to stand and line up is part of a broader problem with the WNBA, where somehow a league of professional women basketball players seems to have nothing but grievances. They get angry over pay with absolutely no gratitude for their position.
They get angry when Sophie Cunningham speaks out in favor of women's rights. They get angry when Caitlin Clark brings so many fans out to watch her play. Everywhere the women of this league turn, they see red. It has become substantially tedious—and I say this as someone who is decidedly not a women's basketball fan.
I'm not a fan of most sports, to be honest, I just don't really care. Sure, I love a baseball game, and I think football is pretty fun to watch, but when it comes to the WNBA, all I get is hoops and hair extensions in my face whether I seek it out or not. And what do I hear when news of the WNBA comes my way? It's almost entirely negative.
Like anyone who supports women's rights to free and fair competition, I was happy when Cunningham spoke out for the athletes in middle schools, high schools, and colleges where they are forced to play alongside men who claim to be women. But for the rest of it, whether it's Angel Reese complaining about something or female sports writers complaining about Clark, it all makes me never want to watch a game, even if I ever wanted to watch a game which I never did anyway.
But when you live in the greatest country on earth, a country that is actually wealthy enough to support a women's basketball league with fans and playoffs and revenue and everything, the absolute very least you can do is stand for the anthem. And if you can't, I think we'd all be better off watching you walk off the court for good.
Libby