WNBA players respond to fines, boycott interviews

After getting fined by the WNBA because of wearing protest shirts during warm-ups, WNBA teams and players answered back by boycotting media interviews and refusing to answer questions not related to "Black Lives Matter."

It happened after the Indiana Fever's 82-70 win over the New York Liberty on Thursday afternoon at the Madison Square Garden.

Via Excelle Sports' YouTube channel:



According to the Associated Press, the WNBA recently fined three teams -- the Liberty, Fever, and Phoenix Mercury -- and their players for violating the dress code, a move that has received a backlash from the league's players.


Liberty guard Tanisha Wright and forward Swin Cash said per Tom Ley of Deadspin:
“We feel like America has a problem with the police brutality that’s going on with black lives around here, and we just want to use our voices and use our platform to advocate for that," Wright said. 
“Just because someone says ‘Black Lives Matter’ doesn’t mean that other lives don’t matter. People put out this imaginary ‘black lives only matter’ whenever people say, ‘Black lives matter.’ What we’re saying is, ‘Black lives matter, too.’ Period.”
“We really would appreciate if people stopped making our support of Black Lives Matter, an issue that is so critical in our society right now, as us not supporting the police," Cash said. 
“There’s a lot of women in this room right now, in the WNBA, who have family members who are in law enforcement ... People need to understand that it’s not mutually exclusive. You can support both things.”
Liberty center Tina Charles tweeted that she does not want to remain silent regarding their stand on the recent deaths due to gun violence. Charles even posted on her Instagram account why she wore a shirt inside-out while accepting a Player of the Month honor.



New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, who has been very vocal about the recent deaths, told Marc Berman of the New York Post that he does "not see (any) reason" for the said WNBA teams to get fined.
“I don’t see no reason to fine them. 
If anything you should want to support them. I don’t know details, but don’t see a reason to fine them.” 
“A bunch of teams did it. 
Everyone has their own freedom of speech if they decide to use the platform. I don’t see no reason for anybody to get fined. We did it (3 ¹/₂ years ago after the Trayvon Martin shooting). The NBA did it. The NBA was very supportive. I don’t see any difference in this matter. Right now the players have a very strong stance in what they believe in right now. I don’t think anyone should be fighting that at this moment.”
The move done by the Liberty and Fever, as noted by ESPN reporter J.A. Adande, looked like the "exact opposite" of "basketball questions only."

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