WNBA rescinds imposed fines, plans meeting with players

.@WNBAPrez, Lisa Borders statement on recent team and player uniform violation fines. pic.twitter.com/RJMZHQ0htL

— WNBA (@WNBA) July 23, 2016

Following the resentment of a handful of WNBA teams, the league on Saturday has rescinded the fines it had previously handed out to three teams over wearing protest shirts during warm-ups.

WNBA President Lisa Borders said in a statement:

"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 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."

Appreciate our players expressing themselves on matters important to them. Rescinding imposed fines to show them even more support.

— WNBAPrez (@WNBAPrez) July 23, 2016

The WNBA imposed fines ($5,000 per team and $500 for each player) earlier this week to three teams -- the Phoenix Mercury, New York Liberty, and Indiana Fever -- after wearing black warm-up shirts to protest the recent deaths due to gun violence, which basically violated the league's dress code.

The move led to the Liberty and Fever staging media blackouts after their game last Thursday. Various players also posted on social media their resentment to what the league did and noted that they all refuse to be silent regarding important matters in society.

Not long after, the Seattle Storm and Washington Mystics also took part in media blackouts.

The Minnesota Lynx also wore "Change Starts With Us" shirts last week in one of their games.

As mentioned in the statement, Borders said the league will use the Olympic break to further discuss the matter with the players and their union.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver spoke earlier this month about players wearing shirts to express themselves on important issues. While Silver preferred his players to use media interviews, social media, and the like, he did acknowledge that when it comes to the dress code, it is a "slippery slope."