As Twitchy reported Thursday night, every player and coach from the Nationals and the Yankees took a knee on the field before standing for the anthem, so it seems they found a workable compromise: stand for the anthem, kneel separately.
The WNBA doesn’t seem to have reached any such compromise, and ESPN reports that the New York Liberty and the Seattle Storm both walked off the court as the national anthem was played Saturday. They were all wearing matching Black Lives Matter shirts as well as far as we can tell from the video.
As the national anthem was played, the @nyliberty and @seattlestorm walked off the floor as part of the social justice initiative. pic.twitter.com/VihH5X3Yzh
— ESPN (@espn) July 25, 2020
And nothing of value was lost.
— Tested Negative for Coronavirus 2x J.G. Petruna (@jgpetruna) July 25, 2020
Who? What league? Wait they still play?
Huh.— guy of random (@good1eclectic) July 25, 2020
To most Americans, this is embarrassing. And when all these high-paid “athletes” let us know WHICH National Anthem is better than the ??, I’ll keep rolling my eyes
— SeldenGADawgs (@SeldenGADawgs) July 25, 2020
They could be like the NFL and test out the “black national anthem” before games or take the Los Angeles Times’ suggestion and just play “Lean on Me” in place of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Good thing no one was watching!
— Lisa Boothe (@LisaMarieBoothe) July 25, 2020
Well, no one will watch the @WNBA now.
Oh wait… ?
— Matt Barber (@jmattbarber) July 25, 2020
Like every season … pic.twitter.com/1HOoW4lIP6
— LeoTrollstoy© (@SpaceForThePapa) July 25, 2020
Even THEY don't want to be at the game.
— Ackchyually Joe (@jmotivator) July 25, 2020
Looks like attendance is actually up.
— Federalist Musket?? (@Patriot_Musket) July 25, 2020
I'm hearing that three of their six viewers were offended by this move. They may have just cut their audience in half. Not smart.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) July 25, 2020
Congrats, you just made your most watched highlight ever.
— matt’s idea shop (@MattsIdeaShop) July 25, 2020
if a tree falls in the forest, but no one watches the wnba, do we really care?
— Jessica (Fletcher) O’Donnell (@heckyessica) July 25, 2020
This is literally the only 23 seconds of the WNBA I have ever watched
— Emily Domenech (@ehdomenech) July 25, 2020
Sadly, they later returned to the floor and played basketball
— Vic Rhombus (@victorfrhombus) July 25, 2020
More people saw this tweet than will watch the games all season
— Ryan English (@gruevy) July 25, 2020
I am going to protest by still not watching.
— Scott E. B, Phetasy Doctorate (PhD) (@ScottishDuke) July 25, 2020
They’re going to protest their way right out of a paycheck
— John Betts (@JohnFromCranber) July 25, 2020
The left is turning our national anthem into Orwell's Two Minutes Hate.
— Aldous Huxley's Ghost™ (@AF632) July 25, 2020
Making a living playing women's basketball is the most privileged thing I can possibly think of. The league wouldn't exist without the NBA, and the only reason they did this is because they don't have any viewers to lose.
?
— L (@SomeBitchIKnow) July 25, 2020
Exactly zero viewers upset because zero people are even watching them play.
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) July 25, 2020
….and no one noticed or cared…..
— Habitual Linestepper (@FergusFSU) July 25, 2020
Women started a basketball league????
— big bird (@inhiding199) July 25, 2020
You can take issue with things going on in the country, we all take issue with some things, but this is terrible optics. As someone who defends the right to protest, if I’m being honest, this offended me as an American
— Kemba (@kembageorge) July 25, 2020
Welp, can’t boycott what I don’t watch.
— David (@DSmykal) July 25, 2020
Even cardboard cutout fans won't attend these games.
— G (@stevensongs) July 25, 2020
Related:
After Dr. Fauci’s opening pitch, both Nationals and Yankees all took a knee before the national anthem https://t.co/9nTjLKDymF
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) July 24, 2020
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