SHIRT CITED
Libs players speak out after getting docked for attire
The Indiana Fever may have beaten the Liberty for the first time this season on Thursday at the Garden, but the biggest statement of the game came before the opening tip.
The Liberty and the Fever, along with the Phoenix Mercury, were hit with hefty fines by the WNBA for wearing all-black warm-up T-shirts in the wake of the recent police shootings of black men across the country.
The teams were f ined $5,000 each and the players $500 each.
Though the Liberty wore their regular warm-up shirts before Thursday’s game, following the announcement of the fines, Charles turned hers i nside- out before accepting her third consecutive WNBA Player of the Week award.
“If I feel passionate about something, if I feel that I can make a difference, if I feel that I can be a reflection of the WNBA family and the 11 teams by doing what I did on that platform with me knowing that I was gonna receive that award, I’m all for it,” Charles said after the 82-70 loss.
Charles said events as recent as Monday played a role in her decision to make such a statement. She noted the shooting of Charles Kinsley, an unarmed black man who was trying to help a patient with autism at the group home where he works in North Miami as being influential.
“That really, when I heard about [that] news, I just couldn’t be silent. Just knowing my status, just knowing the player I am, representing this organization — if anybody was going to wear it, I know it had to be me, so for me personally, it’s just all about me continuing to raise awareness. I have no problem wearing this shirt inside-out for the rest of the season until we’re able to have the WNBA’s support.”
The Liberty wore their all-black warm-up shirts for four games before the league hit them with the fines. With the month-long Olympics break starting on Saturday, the players said they are unsure how they will proceed with showing activism once the season resumes.
“It’s unfortunate that the WNBA has fined us and not supported its players,” Liberty guard Tanisha Wright said. “We don’t know what’s going on right now as far as what we’re going to continue to do, but what we will continue to do is we’ll continue to advocate for what we feel is important and what we feel needs to be spoken about.”
Coach Bill Laimbeer said he let the players go about their advocacy business on their own terms.
“All I did the other day in practice was read them a letter we got from the fashion police at the WNBA saying ‘Don’t do that anymore’. … I never was in the middle of it to begin with, it ain’t my business. That’s the players’ business and the Players Association and the WNBA.”
With more than 70 percent of the league’s players black women, it is an issue that affects many of them directly. Though they are looking to send a strong message with their support, they also acknowledged the movement’s purpose can be taken differently than intended.
“We feel like America has a problem with the police brutality that’s going on with black lives,” Wright said. “We want to just use our voices and use our platforms to advocate for that. Just because someone says black lives matter, doesn’t mean that other lives doesn’t matter. ... What we’re saying is, black lives matter, too. Period.”
Veteran Liberty forward Swim Cash, who is in her 14th and final season, added she and her teammates are not looking to be adversarial toward the league, but rather, they are attempting to gain its support.
“We’re not in a form of defiance to the league. ... We would just hope that the league would be more open to working with the players because ... the majority of our players are passionate about this.
“And if we can use this platform, not only now, but continue through the offseason, we’re gonna do that.”