Another sex toy interrupts final seconds of WNBA game, as commissioner Cathy Engelbert denounces ‘totally unacceptable' trend

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21 hours ago

The Atlanta Dream defeated the Chicago Sky to win their fourth straight game. (Shaina Benhiyoun/SPP/Sipa USA//AP via CNN Newsource)
Yet another sex toy was thrown onto a WNBA court, this time in the closing seconds of the Atlanta Dream's 86-65 win over the Chicago Sky.
With just under six seconds remaining at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago on Thursday, play was momentarily stopped after a purple toy was thrown from the stands – the fourth in growing lists of recent copycat incidents.
According to Front Office Sports reporter Colin Salao, a second sex toy was thrown on Thursday but only made it behind the Dream's bench.
Two people were questioned by security shortly after the incident, according to Salao, but were let go as there was no evidence they were responsible.
CNN Sports has also reached out to the WNBA, the Chicago Sky and the Atlanta Dream for comment.
Earlier this week, the WNBA said any fan caught throwing sex toys onto the court will face prosecution as well as a ban from the league.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has also denounced the trend, calling it 'unacceptable.'
'I'm almost in my 40th year in business and unfortunately we get these kinds of acts and it's totally unacceptable,' Engelbert said to Sportico Sports Business, before the latest incident on Thursday.
'These people are trading whatever notoriety they're getting for a felony conviction. So, we have caught two of the guys and they're being charged with felonies and it doesn't make any sense to me for whatever their little joy ride is.'
She added: 'Hopefully, it just ends with the fact that, if you want a felony conviction on your record, go ahead and do it. But obviously it can be very dangerous to throw anything, let alone what they are throwing.'
It is the second time a Sky game was interrupted by an incident. Last Friday, a sex toy was thrown from the stands during the team's game against the Golden State Valkyries. The toy landed just out of bounds underneath one of the baskets.
A 'distraction'
Earlier on Thursday, Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve called the growing number of incidents a 'distraction.'
'This has been going on for centuries,' Reeve told reporters. 'The sexualization of women. This is the latest version of that. And it's not funny and it should not be the butt of jokes on radio shows, or in print or any comments.
'The sexualization of women is what's used to hold women down and this is no different. This is its latest form and we should write about it in that way. These people that are doing this should be held accountable and we're not the butt of the joke. They're the problem.'
Thursday's incident also comes two days after a green toy was thrown in the direction of Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham during the team's game against the Los Angeles Sparks at the Crypto.com Arena.
The 28-year-old Cunningham had previously asked people to stop throwing such objects earlier this week on social media but appeared to be struck on the leg by the toy during Tuesday's game.
'this did NOT age well,' she wrote on X after the game, replying to her own previous post calling for spectators to stop throwing sex toys on the court.
She also had posted a message on her Instagram Stories, saying: 'No way that thing actually hit me. I knew I shouldn't have tweeted that.'
The Valkyries and Dream were also subject to an incident at Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Georgia last week.
The individual involved in the incident in Atlanta was identified and arrested, according to the WNBA.
They are reportedly charged with disorderly conduct, public indecency/indecent exposure, and criminal trespass, according to Reuters, with a court date yet to be established.
According to social media posts seen by the Associated Press, green toys were also previously thrown in Phoenix and New York, but didn't reach the court.
A growing trend
On Thursday, a group of cryptocurrency meme coin creators claimed responsibility for some of the incidents.
In an interview with USA Today, a spokesperson for the group said members had started throwing the green items to coincide with the launch of a new meme coin, the name of which is a play on a type of sex toy.
The spokesperson told the outlet the new coin was in protest of the current state of the crypto market, and the group said they were 'viral stunts' to gain attention for the coin, rejecting the narrative that the incidents were disrespectful towards women's athletes.
'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,' the spokesperson 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.'
By Jacob Lev, Ben Church, CNN