It’s happened again in the WNBA.
A bright green sex toy was launched onto the court in the first half of the Los Angeles Sparks' 100-91 win over the Indiana Fever at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night. It marked the latest time within the past week that such a sex toy has made its way onto the court.
After Sparks guard Kelsey Plum made a free throw in the final minutes of the second quarter in Los Angeles, the sex toy was thrown from the baseline and landed near Fever star Sophie Cunningham’s leg — which sent her hopping up and down in shock. Plum wasted no time, and immediately kicked it off the court.
The toy was immediately covered up by towels, and security started investigating. It’s unclear if the person who threw it was identified.
"It's ridiculous. It's dumb. It's stupid," Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said after the game of the string of incidents. "It's also dangerous, and you know, player safety is No. 1, respecting the game, all those things.
"I think it's really stupid."
Plum jumped in and said they just want to ignore it as much as possible.
“I thought too we did a great job, Indiana included, just playing on," she said. "Don’t give it any attention. The refs, I really appreciate them too.”
The incidents started last Tuesday, when a green sex toy was thrown onto the court in Atlanta in the final minute of the Golden State Valkyries’ win over the Dream. It happened again in the Valkyries’ win over the Chicago Sky on Friday.
After the second toss, multiple players started speaking out and Cunningham addressed it on social media:
“It’s super disrespectful,” Sky center Elizabeth Williams said Friday. “I don’t really get the point of it. It’s really immature. Whoever is doing it needs to grow up.”
Then on Saturday, the WNBA announced that a person had been arrested for throwing the sex toy during the Valkyries-Dream matchup. The fan was later identified as Delbert Carver, 23, according to Cleveland.com. He was charged with disorderly conduct, public indecency/incident exposure and criminal trespass. The league also promised to immediately eject any fans who throw objects onto the court, as well as pursue criminal charges and hit them with a one-year ban.
The incident wasn't isolated to Los Angeles on Tuesday night, either. A similar sex toy was thrown onto the court during the New York Liberty-Dallas Wings game at the Barclays Center on Tuesday night, too. The Liberty declined to comment.
While plenty have spoken out already, and the league is already pursuing some very significant punishments and legal action, the incidents only appear to be escalating across the league.
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