Sandy Brondello is apologizing this week over her controversial in-game remark about Angel Reese.
The Toronto Tempo played Friday night against the Atlanta Dream. During the second half at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, Ont., Tempo forward Nyara Sabally was called for a foul on the Dream star Reese, and Sabally fell over injured in the process.
The Tempo head coach Brondello did not agree with the call. The television broadcast caught Brondello yelling at the referees by saying of Reese, “She’s a protected species!” Here is the video.
Toronto Tempo HC Sandy Brondello just called Angel Reese a “protected species.”
— HOOPS NATION (@_HoopsNation) July 18, 2026
Completely unacceptable and out of line
(via @TimeoutSPORTS3) @Reese10Angel @SBrondello pic.twitter.com/k5hUx3vm2S
After the game, which the Dream won by a final score of 111-92, Reese called out Brondello over social media for the comment.
“ARE WE SURPRISED?! @SBrondello,” Reese wrote along with a clown emoji while replying to another user’s post that read, “Calling a Black woman a species…”
ARE WE SURPRISED?! @SBrondello https://t.co/moNbYdDYo3
— Angel Reese (@Reese10Angel) July 18, 2026
In a post to her X page on Saturday, Brondello issued a lengthy apology to Reese and the Dream.
“Angel, I’m sorry,” Brondello wrote. “Last night, in the emotion of the moment after Nyara’s injury, I used a phrase that I shouldn’t have used, and I take full responsibility for that. My frustration was with the officiating, but my words unfairly put the focus on you.”
Brondello also added that “I also understand that my words carried an impact beyond what I intended, particularly for Black women in our league.” You can read Brondello’s full apology at the link here.
A former WNBA All-Star player and a two-time WNBA champion head coach with the Phoenix Mercury and the New York Liberty, Brondello, 57, is in her first season as head coach of the Tempo. As for the three-time WNBA All-Star Reese, 24, she is known for publicly calling out perceived slights and put the league as a whole in her crosshairs earlier this month.
