Editor’s Note: The article originally stated that players walked off the court during the national anthem, citing ESPN’s reporting. ESPN later corrected its tweet to say that the athletes left the court prior to the national anthem performance.
The New York Liberty and the Seattle Storm walked off the court Saturday prior to the national anthem.
As the anthem was played prior to the game, players just walked right off the court and went to the locker rooms instead of standing. Both teams also spoke out in support of Breonna Taylor, who was killed by police in Louisville. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
You can watch the moment unfold below.
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
Say Her Name pic.twitter.com/JrQMltcwvP
— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) July 25, 2020
Correction: Players left the court before the national anthem was played, not during. https://t.co/MdW7HtMO1P
— ESPN (@espn) July 26, 2020
Congrats to the WNBA for finally finding a way to get attention on the league. When you can’t get eyeballs to watch because of the actual basketball, you walk off the court prior to the national anthem to get people talking.
What an absolutely absurd situation. What are these players doing? They’re paid to play basketball. They’re not paid to be political activists.
I can’t imagine how outraged the league’s dozens of fans must be by this move.
.@sabrina_i20 putting last year’s DPOY Howard on skates ???? pic.twitter.com/mCY2MwAVPS
— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) July 25, 2020
When did people lose pride in America? When did people stop being proud of the national anthem? I remember back when I was a kid, we were all proud to be Americans.
This country isn’t perfect, but it’s the one we have. We can fix our flaws and still be proud of this country. What happened to Breonna Taylor should be investigated, and answers should be given as to why she died. Speaking up about that isn’t a crazy thing to do.
However, how does walking off before the national anthem accomplish any goals at all? Walking off before the national anthem plays doesn’t fix anything. It just divides people and turns sports into a political debate instead of a competition.
Highlight: @readdanwrite asks @drewbrees what the star NFL quarterback thinks about “players kneeling again when the NFL season starts.”@drewbrees: “I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country.”
Full exchange: pic.twitter.com/MpCkFyOMed
— Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) June 3, 2020
Let us know in the comments what you think about the national anthem debate. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s going away anytime soon.