London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Aug 29, 2026

WNBA Players Didn’t Kneel During The National Anthem - They Walked Out

WNBA Players Didn’t Kneel During The National Anthem - They Walked Out

“We’re dedicating this season to Breonna Taylor,” said New York Liberty player Layshia Clarendon.

The players of two Women’s National Basketball Association teams walked off the court as the national anthem was playing during a season-opening game in Florida on Saturday in an act of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

At the game in Bradenton, the Seattle Storm and New York Liberty players were also wearing black sweaters with the words “Say her name” written prominently on them, as part of a tribute to Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old Black woman whose death at the hands of Louisville police has helped trigger national protests.

Athletes have protested during the national anthem before, but this appeared to be the first time members from two entire professional teams had walked out altogether while it played.

The players’ walk-off was part of a season-long initiative called the Justice Movement that the WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) had announced earlier this month. Through a series of coordinated actions, the organizers of this collaborative effort hope “to be a driving force of necessary and continuing conversations about race, voting rights, LGBTQ+ advocacy, and gun control amongst other important societal issues,” according to a WNBA statement. The two organizations hope to raise awareness through community conversations, roundtable discussions, and podcasts among other initiatives.


This is not the first time that WNBA players have protested during their games. As ESPN reports, Indiana Fever players knelt in solidarity with NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick in 2016 as part of his protests against the police killings of Black men. According to ESPN, the Los Angeles Sparks also walked off the court in 2017 to raise awareness about the Black Lives Matter movement, while in 2016 Minnesota Lynx players wore pre-game warm-up shirts that featured Philando Castile and Alton Sterling in an effort to draw attention to police brutality, according to the Guardian.

There is a long history of basketball players protesting myriad social justice movements, including NBA players who boycotted games to highlight the racial segregation of hotels or those who marched in protests after Martin Luther King Jr.’s death.

President Trump and other high-ranking members of his administration have castigated athletes who take part in protests during the national anthem.


Earlier during Saturday’s game, the two teams had observed a 26-second-long moment of silence in honor of Taylor — one second for each year of her life.

“We’re dedicating this season to Breonna Taylor, an outstanding EMT who was murdered over 130 days ago in her home,” said New York Liberty player Layshia Clarendon, who is also the first vice president of the WNBPA and is one of the leaders of the initiative. “We will say her name."

Clarendon further noted that the organizations are dedicating this season to the “Say Her Name” campaign which is committed to fighting for social justice for Black women, mentioning other victims, including Sandra Bland who died in police custody 5 years ago.

As is the case for many American sports, the WNBA season was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Hill, all games for the abbreviated 22-game schedule will be held at the IMG Academy in Bradenton.

The Seattle Storm players won Saturday's game 87 to 71, according to ESPN.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Police Intensify Investigation Into Organised Crime-Linked Violence in Middlesbrough
UK Small Businesses Face Continued Revenue and Tax Pressures, Federation Says
M&G Real Estate Buys West Sussex Affordable Housing Portfolio for £29 Million
Royal Navy Warship HMS Tamar Visits Cambodia for Regional Security Engagement
UK Government Brings Forward Benefit Payments Ahead of August Bank Holiday
Four Men Plead Guilty to Arson Attack on Jewish Community Ambulances in North London
Ofgem Raises Great Britain’s Household Energy Price Cap by Four Percent From October
UK Government Rejects Green Party Call for Artificial Intelligence Datacentre Moratorium
Millions of UK Benefit Recipients Receive Payments Early Ahead of August Bank Holiday
UK Prime Minister Meets Northern Ireland Leaders in Belfast Over Budget Crisis
Crypto Tax Gains Reach One Point Three Eight Billion Pounds Among UK Investors, HMRC Data Shows
UK Corporate Confidence Rises to Highest Level Since March, Lloyds Survey Shows
Mike Ashley Attacks UK Government Business Rates and Cost-of-Living Policies
Scottish Universities Face Two Hundred Million Pound Annual Funding Gap, Report Warns
Entertainment Figures Urge UK Government to Protect People From AI Voice Cloning
Manchester Airports Group Confirms Customer Data Breached in Cyberattack
Seven Charged Over Vandalism at Donald Trump’s Turnberry Golf Resort in Scotland
Nearly 23,000 UK Households Expected to Move Home on Busiest Day of 2026
UK Benefit Payments to Arrive Early Ahead of August Bank Holiday
Reform UK Pledges to Replace GDPR and Cut Tax Administration Red Tape
Andy Burnham Launches Work Experience Plan for One Million Young People Outside Education or Work
Andy Burnham Faces Labour Backlash After Dropping Support for Political Donations Cap
Andy Burnham Announces UK-Wide Summit With Leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Met Office Warns of Heavy Rain and Flood Risk Across England and Wales After Summer Heat
Bank of England Warns AI Adoption Could Reduce Demand for Automatable Jobs
UK Confirms National Salmonella Outbreak With More Than 200 Cases
UK Airports Handle Record 81 Million Passengers Despite Middle East Disruption
Ofgem Raises UK Energy Price Cap by Four Percent to £1,723
Cyber Attack Hits Customer Data Systems at Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands Airports
TSA Unveils Major Airport-Security Overhaul as It Drops Gold+ Privatization Plan
CIA Chief Warned Russia Against Attacking NATO in Secret Moscow Mission
Raheem Sterling Charged With Dangerous Driving After Lamborghini Crash
The Secret Dolly Parton Kept Until Her Death: "She Was Much Sicker Than She Let On"
Middlesbrough House Fire Kills Woman and Seven-Year-Old Girl
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Return to UK Amid Renewed Media Attention
Raheem Sterling Charged With Dangerous Driving After London Collision
Greenpeace Threatens Legal Action Over Crown Estate Offshore Wind Leasing
Nvidia Revenue Surges to Ninety-Six Point Two Billion Dollars on Artificial Intelligence Demand
Meta Agrees to Global Youth Safety Changes Following Multi-State Legal Settlement
UK Government Plans Autumn Summit With Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish Leaders
CMA Caps Veterinary Prescription Fees at Twenty-One Pounds
Thames Water Pilot Records Forever Chemicals at Thirteen Times the Legal Limit
Kent Meningitis Outbreak Reaches Thirty-Four Confirmed Cases
Forty Children Missing From UK Asylum Accommodation Remain Unaccounted For
UK Court Upholds VAT on Private School Fees
US Designates Palestine Action as Foreign Terrorist Organization
UK Approves Massive New Chinese Embassy Complex in London Amid Security Concerns
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Visits Kyiv and Offers Cruise Missile Designs to Ukraine
Glacier Collapse, Not Earthquake, Triggered Deadly Nepal-Tibet Flood
Andy Burnham Drops Plan to Cap Political Donations
×