‘It's super disrespectful': WNBA players exasperated after sex toy thrown onto court for second time in a week
In the third quarter of the Golden State Valkyries' 73-66 win over the Chicago Sky on Friday night, the bright green toy was thrown from the stands at Wintrust Arena in Chicago and landed just out of bounds underneath one of the baskets.
With the Sky on the attack, the game was halted and an official kicked the object to the side, where it was picked up with a towel and removed.
'It's super disrespectful,' Sky center Elizabeth Williams told reporters afterward. 'I don't really get the point of it. It's really immature. Whoever's doing it just needs to grow up.'
The incident came just three days after another sex toy was thrown onto the court during the Valkyries' 77-75 victory over the Atlanta Dream at Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Georgia.
Following Friday's reoccurrence, a number of players from around the WNBA took to social media to comment on the incidents.
'ARENA SECURITY?! Hello??!' wrote New York Liberty forward Isabelle Harrison wrote on X. 'Please do better. It's not funny. never was funny. Throwing ANYTHING on the court is so dangerous.'
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham echoed Harrison's anger, writing: 'Stop throwing dildos on the court… you're going to hurt one of us.'
CNN has contacted the WNBA for comment.
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Cole Eiserman has the scoring touch to change a game with one shot and is another productive returnee. But the Americans will have a couple of issues to contend with. One is the size of their top six. Brodie Ziemer and Teddy Stiga both play appealing, high-motor games, and certainly won't shy away from the hard areas, but they inevitably give up a size advantage in some board battles. Max Plante and Ryker Lee likewise won't be easily intimidated, but still skew smaller. It's a theme for this group (we also included the competitive and tiny LJ Mooney, who will play for Bob Motzko at the University of Minnesota and had a nice camp, as an extra). The fourth line has plenty of both size and edge, but you do wonder if the size consideration will be a factor when it comes to debates such as Cullen Potter versus Cole McKinney. 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Victor Eklund is a returnee who should be one of the top players at the event this time around, and while Anton Frondell wasn't on last year's World Juniors team, his two-way profile makes him an ideal fit atop the lineup. Ivar Stenberg looks like a potential top-five pick in 2026, and was a standout at both this week's showcase and the U18 World Championship last spring. If Sweden plays those three together, they could be right up there with the top Canadian lines in terms of talent. But there's depth to this team, too. Jack Berglund was very impressive in Minneapolis, a big body who can score around the net and win pucks behind it. Viggo Björck is an intelligent, creative pivot who has the potential to be a high pick in 2026 despite his size (listed at 5-foot-9), and showed nice chemistry with his brother Wilson, a Canucks draft pick. Linus Eriksson is a proven returnee to anchor the bottom six. And wingers Liam Danielsson and Lucas Pettersson are good complementary pieces in the top nine. Advertisement Canes prospect Filip Ekberg, the MVP of the most recent U18 worlds, slots in as an extra forward who could inject skill into the top-nine/PP if he a skill forward goes down, and speedy and determined fellow Canes prospect Viggo Nordlund slots as an extra and potential bottom-sixer. On defense, the Swedes have only one returning blueliner from the 2025 World Juniors, Viggo Gustafsson. But the big names are Sascha Boumedienne (named the top defenseman at U18 worlds) and Leo Sahlin Wallenius (who had a strong week in Minneapolis). There are other players to watch — Maple Leafs prospect Victor Johansson showed he could play physical and be hard on top players this week in Minneapolis, and the Swedes have a pair of towering 6-foot-7 blueliners they can choose from in Carl-Otto Magnusson and Gabriel Eliasson (we lean Magnusson as the No. 7 after Eliasson had a tough camp) — but a lot will come down to how ready those top two are to play a major role. They'll likely need Boumedienne to be a difference-maker offensively, and for Sahlin Wallenius to have the big-minute, two-way impact teams need to win at this tournament. It's an inexperienced defense group, but if it can rise to the occasion and help insulate Love Harenstam and Herman Liv, this Swedish team has the forward corps to be a real threat. We would be surprised if Sabres first-rounder Konsta Helenius is loaned to play in a third World Juniors (or if he even has interest in going again), but we've decided to include him here for now because he is technically still eligible. The entire first line here didn't participate in the summer showcase, but the expectation is that the Stars' Emil Hemming and the Kraken's Julius Miettinen will return. Still, without Helenius, this Finnish team is the weakest on paper of these five. The competitive Heikki Ruohonen looks like their 1C in Helenius' absence, and Aatos Koivu was one of the standouts of the summer showcase and will play an important role in the top six and on their first power play. The strength of this group will be its blue line and in net. Aron Kiviharju is the captain and a top player at this level, and he's supported by a strong group of returning 19-year-old D: Daniel Nieminen, Sebastian Soini, Veeti Vaisanen and Mitja Jokinen. Petteri Rimpinen was one of the top goalies in last year's tournament and will be back as well. The real question is where the depth scoring comes from up front. The Czechs have been one of the World Juniors' most consistent teams in recent years, and they look strong again. They've medaled in three straight tournaments, with bronzes in Ottawa and Gothenburg and a silver in Halifax. That's more medals than the Canadians, Swedes and Finns in that period. They've got nine returnees (forwards Petr Sikora, Adam Jecho, Ondrej Kos, Vojtech Cihar and Adam Novotny, defensemen Adam Jiricek, Tomas Galvas and Jakub Fibigr, and goalie Jakub Milota) and will add first-round picks Radim Mrtka and Vaclav Nestrasil to that group, as well as rangy second-round defenseman Max Psenicka. Diminutive Wild prospect Adam Benak is also a top player in this age group, and defenseman Vladimir Dravecky, who played well at their recent three-team tune-up with Switzerland and Finland, is a potential first-rounder in 2026. Advertisement Novotny is the real player to watch, though. He also impressed against Switzerland and Finland a couple of weeks ago and enters his draft year as a potential top-10 pick and one of the top imports in the CHL (he'll play for the Peterborough Petes). (Photo of Carter George and Gavin McKenna: Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press via AP)
