WNBA cancels fines against teams wearing black warm-up shirts

All three teams were fined $5,000 and each player was fined $500 as the shirts violated the league’s uniform policy, which requires that uniforms are not altered in any way. All because they were showing support after the shootings in Louisiana, Dallas, and Minnesota.

With the WNBA season now suspended due to the Olympics, Borders plans to use this time work with 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”.

“As a proud American, a father who lost his own dad in a senseless act of violence, and a black man, I have been deeply troubled by the deaths of African-Americans at the hands of law enforcement and angered by the cowardly and hateful targeting and killing of police officers”, Jordan said in a statement. “In order to do that, stop what you’re doing now, take a breath and re-engage”.

The WNBA got to their senses and chose to rescind the penalties given to the Indiana Fever, New York Liberty and Phoenix Mercury for wearing black warmup shirts. On Friday, per Nina Mandell of USA Today, Mystics players staged a media blackout following their game against the Los Angeles Sparks by only answering questions relevant to social issues in the world. There also was public criticism of the fines, including from National Basketball Association star Carmelo Anthony.

The organization’s retraction on the fines and penalties, and Border’s statement comes only after the players refusal to stop protesting. “There was no right way to deal with it”. We had a traditional response to a nontraditional situation. “Our players wanted to lift their voices on the court as well as off the court”.

The players were happy that the league had changed course and rescinded the fines.

“It’s a huge win overall”, Fever All-Star and players’ union president Tamika Catchings told ESPN. “That’s a great thing”. We’ve gotten players more engaged with the union and on social issues. “I’m really proud of some of my former players and the way they’ve stepped forward and spoken their conscience and express their feelings”. They will talk a lot during the monthlong Olympic break.

“The majority of this league is made of black women”, she continued.

“Rev. Sharpton is an unbelievable man and had an fantastic history in civil rights”.

Seattle Storm and Minnesota Lynx players also tweeted out pictures of their teams wearing black T-shirts featuring a Martin Luther King Jr. quote before their game. “And I don’t even think it was frustration on their behalf”.