The WNBA said in a statement it was looking into the team’s run-in with a “social media figure“ whose “actions were inappropriate and unfortunate.”
Brittney Griner and her Phoenix Mercury teammates were confronted by a “provocateur” at a Dallas airport on Saturday.
The WNBA said in a statement it was looking into the team’s run-in with a “social media figure” whose “actions were inappropriate and unfortunate.”
“The safety of Brittney Griner and all WNBA players is our top priority,” the league said, without specifying what exactly happened.
Before the season started, the league had discussed with Griner’s representatives and the Mercury security concerns when the All-Star center traveled for road games after she returned from detainment in Russia. The thought was that the highly publicized case compromised her and others’ safety. The league granted Griner permission to book her own charter flights.
The WNBA added charter flights for the playoffs this season, but only a handful of back-to-back regular-season games were scheduled for such flights.
WNBA teams have flown commercially during the regular season since the league’s inception in 1997. The league typically doesn’t allow teams to charter because it could create a competitive advantage for teams who can afford to pay for them.
“Prior to the season, the WNBA worked together with the Phoenix Mercury and BG’s team to ensure her safety during her travel, which included charter flights for WNBA games and assigned security personnel with her at all times,” the league’s statement reads.
