WNBA sets July 25 for return to action

The WNBA season is scheduled to tip off July 25 with all games that weekend dedicated to the Black Lives Matter movement.

All 12 franchises will play the opening weekend and honor victims of police brutality and racial violence. Team uniforms will display Breonna Taylor’s name. Players will each have the option to continue to wear Taylor’s name on their jersey for subsequent games.

Taylor, a 26-year-old Black emergency medical technician, was shot eight times by plainclothes Louisville police officers serving a narcotics search warrant at her apartment on March 13. No drugs were found. Her family and protesters around the country have called for swift action against the officers who shot Taylor.

Additionally, throughout the season, players will wear warm-up shirts that display “Black Lives Matter” on the front and “Say Her Name” on the back.

The league’s 24th season will be played at a single site in Bradenton, Florida. Each team will play a 22game schedule, facing opponents twice. One game will be designated as a home game and the other one a road contest.

The league will have three games a day, playing on the two courts at the Feld Entertainment Center, which is near the IMG Academy where the players are staying.

The season is set to end on Sept. 12 with the playoffs beginning soon after. The WNBA is using its traditional playoff format with eight teams reaching the postseason and a single-elimination game being played in the opening two rounds.