Source: Eakin Howard / Getty
The WNBA has made the first step in making sure the sex toy throwing incidents of the last week don’t become the latest TikTok trend.
The league has now confirmed that the fan who tossed the toy onto the court during the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries game earlier this week was arrested.
To further ensure it doesn’t happen again, offenders will also face a one-year ban from the arena and have to deal with whatever charges the police throw at them.
“The safety and well-being of everyone in our arenas is a top priority for our league. Objects of any kind thrown onto the court or in the seating area can pose a safety risk for players, game officials, and fans,” the league said in a statement, according to ESPN. “In line with WNBA Arena Security Standards, any fan who intentionally throws an object onto the court will be immediately ejected and face a minimum one-year ban in addition to being subject to arrest and prosecution by local authorities.”
The person’s name, method of smuggling the object in —we don’t even want to know, honestly— or criminal charges haven’t been announced.
It all started last week on July 30, with about 50 seconds left in the game, and both teams were tied at 75. Maya Caldwell was blocking a Tiffany Hayes three-pointer when the object came flying from the stand and landed near the free throw line, then bounced and landed at the feet of people sitting in the front row.
“No room for any of that type of activity,” the announcer said, before the camera operator zoomed in on the sex toy, and she exclaimed, “Oh my God. Inappropriate, get ’em out of here, whoever it is.”
Players were annoyed at the potential danger of the stunt, but also couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.
“I mean, first of all, it was super dangerous. And then when we found out what it was, I guess we just started laughing,” Valkyries forward Cecilia Zandalasini said postgame while laughing. “I’ve never seen anything like that. I’m just glad we worked through that situation. We stayed locked in, we stayed concentrated.”
But then it happened again on Friday when the Valkyries were playing the Chicago Sky. The cameraman again zoomed in on the toy before a staffer concealed it with a towel while picking it up.
The Sky’s Elizabeth Williams called it “super disrespectful” and “really immature,” adding that “Whoever is doing it needs to grow up.”
New York Liberty‘s Isabelle Harrison called out arena security for not being thorough enough, while Angel Reese took a lighter approach.
“Hey [Sydney Colson], why do you keep throwing your mean green in different arenas…. It’s getting weird,” she tweeted.
Now that the cops are involved, see how social media is reacting below.