At least six WNBA games have been disrupted over the past couple of weeks by fans throwing sex toys onto the court. Yes, it's juvenile and weird, but it's also something worse, in a not-so-subtle way.Ìý
A cryptocurrency group with a lewd name has claimed credit for the incidents, but doesn't seem to be behind all of them. Two people have been arrested in connection with these incidents so far, and neither one was affiliated with the crypto group.Ìý
However, both were young men. 23-year-old Delbert Carver, who was arrested after the first incident occurred during a July 29 game in Atlanta, told police "This was supposed to be a joke, and this [joke] was supposed to go viral," USA Today reported.Ìý
18-year-old Kaden Lopez, according to USA Today, threw one of the objects at a game in Phoenix last week. His throw was underpowered and the object didn't quite make it to the court. Instead, the sex toy hit a man in the crowd who was watching the game with his 9-year-old niece. Lopez was arrested and reportedly told police the whole thing was a "stupid prank that was trending on social media." Lopez had bought the thing the day before the game, which really ups the idiocy of the situation. He paid for a sex toy and bought a ticket to a WNBA game so he could throw the object onto the court, which he didn't even accomplish, and now faces criminal charges. What a creep.Ìý
The whole thing reached peak stupidity when Donald Trump Jr. shared a photo on social media of his father, President Trump, on the White House roof (something that actually happened) altered to make it look like the commander in chief was tossing a sex toy onto a basketball court on the lawn.Ìý
What a time to be alive.Ìý
The crypto bros claiming responsibility for inspiring this trend told USA Today it's all just marketing.Ìý
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"We didn't do this because, like, we dislike women's sports or, like, some of the narratives that are trending right now are ridiculous," a spokesman said. "Creating disruption at games is, like, it happens in every single sport, right? We've seen it in the NFL, we've seen it in hockey, you know ... fans doing random things to — more or less — create attention."
Yes, fans sometimes do things that interrupt games. In hockey, throwing things on the ice (hats, plastic rats, octopi and — briefly in Nashville — catfish) has a connection with tradition that is generally celebrated. However, most incidents of fans disrupting a sporting event are not everyday occurrences and very few are remembered positively. Sports enthusiasts don't bring up the incident of Philadelphia Eagles fans throwing snowballs and batteries at a man dressed as Santa Claus because they think it was awesome. They use it as an example to bolster the argument for the stereotype that Philadelphia sports fans are insane, terrible people.
In this case, throwing sex toys at WNBA players is not only immature and potentially dangerous, but it's also blatantly misogynistic. How else is throwing a synthetic phallus at a woman supposed to be interpreted?Â
It's clearly an effort to say, among other things, "Well, you're still just a woman."Â
And there's a reason immature and insecure idiots would want to project that message: They feel threatened. The WNBA is popular. In 2024, about 2.5 million people attended a WNBA game, which was more than double attendance for 2022, according to Yahoo Sports. League-wide, the average attendance per game was nearly 10,000. The average attendance for an NBA game for the 2023-24 season was 18,324, according to ESPN. Obviously, the men's professional league ranks higher in per-game attendance, investment and revenue. When it comes to TV audiences, the NBA is dropping in ratings but still dwarfs the WNBA. However, no one can deny the WNBA is growing.ÌýÂ
WNBA investment and franchise value is up, and the league now has a crop of young stars it can heavily market. For whatever reason, some people — typically angry men — resent that. So, they throw sex toys on the court and wind up facing criminal charges. Yeah, that'll show 'em.Ìý
