The Atlanta Dream evened up the WNBA Finals against the Golden State Valkyries at 1-1 on Monday night behind a dominant 30-point, 16-rebound performance from superstar forward Angel Reese, as this year’s DPOY showed that she can be just as dominant a force on the offensive end of the court.
As great as the first two games of the Finals have been, they’ve been unfortunately overshadowed by what’s been happening pregame, when both Dream and Valkyries players walked off the court prior to the performance of the national anthem.
“Both the Dream and the Valkyries left the court prior to the playing of the National Anthem before Game 1 of the WNBA Finals,” Dan Zaksheske of OutKick wrote on X. “Both teams also returned to the floor seconds after the anthem concluded. They literally left the floor for only the two minutes the anthem was played. Guess that’s just part of the pregame routine though.”
“OutKick asked the WNBA if there is a rule that teams must be on the court for the anthem and if they had any comment about their two Finals teams skipping. They did not immediately respond. We also asked both the Dream and Valkyries for comment. Neither team responded. Finally, we attempted to ask both coaches during the postgame press conference, but we were not granted the opportunity to ask a question.”
The WNBA’s official anthem policy, found in Section H of the II. BASIC PRINCIPLES portion of the rule book, reads:
“Players, coaches, and trainers are to stand and line up in a dignified posture along the sidelines or on the foul line during the playing of the National Anthem,” the policy reads.
However, both teams’ players were also off the floor during Monday night’s Game 2, and former Auburn Tigers men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl weighed in on X.
“We teach our campers how to honor the flag before we start summer basketball camp,” Pearl posted.
We teach our campers how to honor the flag before we start summer basketball camp. We bring in military hero’s to talk to our players about what the flag means to them and how they are willing to fight for our freedoms. These players should be grateful to this country and show it
— Bruce Pearl (@coachbrucepearl) October 20, 2026
“We bring in military hero’s to talk to our players about what the flag means to them and how they are willing to fight for our freedoms. These players should be grateful to this country and show it.”
It’ll be interesting to see if the WNBA directs the players to stay on the court for Wednesday’s Game 3, even if only to avoid more distractions from parties attempting to make the conversation about anything other than the actual basketball being played.
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