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Championship series are supposed to bring fans together around great sportsmanship — but the WNBA Finals are instead turning into an embarrassing spectacle.
In Sunday’s Game 1, both the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream retreated to their locker rooms as the National Anthem played, returning only once it ended.
Players skipping out on the anthem dates back to 2020 and the height of the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests, but that posturing has since faded across most professional sports.
Heck, Angel Reese and Rhyne Howard managed to stand proudly on court for the anthem during last month’s FIBA World Cup Final.
But the WNBA, despite its desire for broader success, seems determined to stay niche.
The league’s base, too: Valkyries fans on Sunday pointedly heckled XX-XY Athletics founder and “no men in women’s sports” advocate Jennifer Sey and her companions over the logo on their shirts — even trying to get security to eject them.
All this obsessive wokery follows the harassment of Caitlin Clark, a player who’s bringing huge numbers of new eyes to the league.
Supporters claim “everyone watches women’s sports,” yet league knuckleheads are doing all they can to turn many fans off.
If the WNBA keeps treating its audience like political hostages, fans won’t just tune out — they’ll bolt for the exits.
Guess we’ll see if the Women’s National Basketball Association can actually manage to grow up.