Multiple sex toys were thrown onto the court during the third quarter of the Chicago Sky’s 73-70 victory over the Golden State Valkyries on Friday night at Wintrust Arena, briefly disrupting play. Arena personnel removed the objects while players remained on the floor.
Sydney Taylor hit a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer for the Sky.
Veteran point guard Natasha Cloud, who led Chicago with 17 points, addressed the incident afterward and directed her comments primarily at the men she said are responsible for most of these acts.
“Y’all lame as f–k,” Cloud said, via the Chicago Sun-Times. “In most of these occasions, it’s men. And I want you to know that the gayest thing you can do is to go to a sex shop, buy a dildo, and come to a women’s game and throw the dildo on the court.
“I’m a firm believer that anyone that has so much of a problem with a marginalized group, just come out and say that you’re a part of our group, because the hate is unwarranted. It says more about the internal struggles of the individual than it ever will say about the collective group.
“The men that are throwing it, shows that you are weak. Like, extremely weak. And it says a lot about how you feel about women.
“But we don’t care. It’s a disruption of the game. Y’all lame to us. Y’all gay to us. We see it. Keep throwing them if you want to keep telling us you’re gay.”
The disruption marked the second consecutive night a WNBA game was interrupted by a sex toy thrown onto the court. A similar incident occurred Thursday in Los Angeles, where the individual involved was arrested and banned from the arena.
The trend first appeared last season in connection with cryptocurrency promotions and has drawn criticism from players who view it as disrespectful and potentially unsafe.
The Sky are reviewing camera footage to identify those responsible for Friday’s incident.
