Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that players left the court before the national anthem was played, not while playing.
The WNBA season began on Saturday with a statement against racial injustice. Before the national anthem was played before the start of the game, the Seattle Storm and New York Liberty players dropped their basketballs, left the court and returned to their respective locker rooms.
Earlier this month, the league announced that the 2020 season will be dedicated to sensitization on social justice issues. The effort includes warm-up uniforms with “Say Your Name” and “Black Lives Matter” messages and the creation of a gamer-led Social Justice Council.
Before the season began, Liberty guard Layshia Clarendon and forward Storm Breanna Stewart addressed the Black Lives Matter movement and dedicated the season to Breonna Taylor, a black emergency technician who was killed by police at her home in March.
“Breonna Taylor was dedicated and committed to uplifting everyone around her,” Clarendon said. “We are also dedicating this season to the Say Your Name campaign, a campaign committed to saying the names and fighting for justice for black women, black women who are often forgotten in this fight for justice, who have no people marching on the streets for them. “
“We will say his name: Sandra bland, Atatiana JeffersonDominique Remy Fells and Breonna Taylor, “Clarendon said.” We will be a voice for those who have no voice. “
The teams were silent for 26 seconds to represent how old Taylor was when he died.
Taylor was asleep in her bed the night of March 13 in Louisville when police used a no-hit order to enter her and her boyfriend’s house and opened fire. Police have said they were searching for narcotics as part of a drug investigation, but according to a your family’s demandNo drugs were ever found.
Police said they opened fire because her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, had shot them first. In the lawsuit, Taylor’s family says the officers never announced or identified themselves before entering the home, and Walker had shot them because they thought it was someone who had broken into.
None of the three officers involved in Taylor’s death has been charged. One of the officers was fired from the Louisville Police Department.
Before Saturday’s game, Liberty posted a video message with players demanding justice for Taylor: “A black woman, daughter, sister, loved one,” they said before telling the details of Taylor’s case. “It is our turn to fight for justice.”
Many other sports leagues and players have followed similar actions in recent months.
During the opening of the MLB season on Thursday night, players in the Washington Nationals and New York Yankees He knelt down for a moment of silence and held up a long piece of black cloth in support of the ongoing protests. the Tampa Bay Rays He tweeted Friday that opening day was “a great day to arrest Breonna Taylor’s killers.”
The showdown between Storm and Liberty, which aired on ESPN, featured the highly anticipated professional debut of Sabrina Ionescu, whom Liberty selected with this year’s WNBA draft overall first pick. Ionescu scored 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in the loss to the Storm. This year’s season was shortened by the coronavirus pandemic and will be played in a bubble at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
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